After the unexplained earthquake, I didn't get much sleep. Instead, I spent the night watching the twins sleep in their nursery. When, the sun rises, and morning comes I stand and quietly leave the twins to go check on Nik.
"It doesn't matter what she wanted. She's gone." I hear him say sternly as I walk to Cami's room. Hayley is standing with her back to me as she talks to Nik. "There's no time to sing dirges. We're at war."
"Yeah." Hayley nods understandingly. "Okay." She turns and walks pass me, squeezing my shoulder as she goes. Nik turns away and starts reading a journal. I decide it's best to leave him be for right now and back track my steps and head downstairs.
________________
"That's the wrong answer!" I hear Kol yell. I stand form my spot in the study and quickly walk to see what's going on.
"No, no, no." Marcel says as him, Kol, and Elijah come into my view when I make it to the ballroom. "I know this is a war, but I've lost a lot of friends, too." Marcel says to Elijah with his hand on Kol's chest holding him back. "Today, I need your help." As I get closer, I notice blood all over Kol and him in clear distress.
"With what?" I inquire. Elijah, Kol, and Marcel all look at me and their faces fall. "What's happened?"
"And you shall have it." Nik tells Marcel as he walks down the stairs.
"Someone answer me." I state, getting nervous. Marcel looks away and so does Elijah. I turn my eyes to Kol, and he looks like a fish out of water. "Kol? I thought you couldn't leave St. James. Where's Davina?" I question as my heartbeat thumps in my chest.
"The... Ancestors cursed me." He starts to explain something. "I had this over whelming sense of hunger. So, I tried to leave New Orleans to keep her safe. But I started to desiccate as soon as I crossed the border. I had to go back to St. James and when Davina got back after you and her went to confront Lucien...."
"You confronted Lucien?" Nik turns to me in frustration, but I don't look at him. I keep my eyes on Kol and walk over to him wanting him to continue.
Kol swallows the lump in his throat and tears leave his eyes. "I made her dagger me. I knew she wasn't safe around me. The Ancestors used me to get at her. I tried to fight it."
"W-why are you talking in past tense?" I stutter as a few tears escape my eyes.
"The earthquake last night. It was the Ancestors; they overpowered the dagger and woke me up." He struggles to explain. "I didn't know where I was or what I was doing until it was too late."
"What did you do, Kol?" I demand. I scan my eyes down his shirt and over all the blood dried on it. "No!" I shake my head in denial. "Did you-- Did you ki-ll my sister?" I choke out with squinted eyes and my vision blurry with tears. Kol looks down at me with an enormous amount of regret and heartbreak.
"Kelsey?" Nik says softly behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder, but I shrug it off.
"NO!" I snap. "Is my little sister dead?" I ask Kol again. He opens his mouth to answer but can't find the words. I shove him back a bit. "Is she?" No answer, so I ball up my fists and hit his chest. "Where is she? Where's Davina?" I sob as I pound on his chest. He makes no move to stop me and I know deep down this isn't his fault, but right now I don't care.
I just continue to lose it and hit him over and over. Nik, finally, wraps his arms around me and pulls me away. I try to push him off, but I can't. So, I give up and collapse into his arms and allow my body to once again be overcome with crying. Nik holds me close, until my loud sobs grow softer, and no one says anything.
When, I slightly pull away from Nik, Marcel breaks the silence. "Listen, Kelsey, we are going to bring her back."
"We can do that?" I ask hoarsely.
"If we consecrate her, she'll be on the Ancestral plane." Marcel explains.
"But the Ancestors did this." I counter, glancing at Kol. "They'll hurt her."
"Which is why we need to move fast." Marcel says.
"Are you okay?" Nik mutters to me.
"No, but I probably won't be for a while." I tell him as he glances at his brother, who looks devastated. "Go." I nudge him and he looks at me raising his eyebrows silently asking if I'm sure, so I nod reassuringly.
"Come on, Kol." Nik says walking passed him. "Let's get you cleaned up.
When they're gone Marcel looks at Elijah. "Thank you." He says, but he obviously didn't mean it because before I walked in it sounded like Elijah was denying them the help. Elijah looks down. Frustration at Elijah rises in me, but I keep my mouth shut.
____________________
We fill in Freya on what's happening, and she gets to work coming up with a way to protect Davina from the Ancestors.
"I'll draw Davina's spirit to a circle." Freya explains to Nik, Kol, Elijah, and me. "As long as she's there, the Ancestors won't be able to torment her. With luck, that will buy you some time to find a way to resurrect her. But I'll need to channel an Original if I'm going to sustain the spell."
"Take me. Put me down, for all I care, if it keeps her safe." Kol immediately volunteers.
"No, you've been marred by the Ancestors' magic." Freya denies. "So, Klaus, Elijah, rock, paper, scissors."
Elijah steps forward and suddenly all the candle in front of Freya light on their own. "That can't be good." Elijah says.
"My early warning system." Freya states staring at the flames. "I think a New Orleans witch is trying to meddle with one of you."
"If Lucien has the new Regent at his beck and call, it's me he's coming after." Nik says, but as soon as the words leave him, Rebekah's painting catches fire.
"No." Freya breaths out. "He's going after Rebekah."
Freya magically puts out the fire that was attacking Rebekah's portrait. "Lucien thought that killing Cami would have me charging into his lair on a suicide mission. When it didn't, he set his sights on Rebekah." Nik says. "He's kicking the hornets' nests until we have no choice but to confront him."
"Presumably, he still believes she's at the bottom of the ocean." Elijah states.
"I cloaked all of you, but with the Ancestors working for Lucien, it may take a while, but if he wants to find Rebekah, he will." Freya tells us.
"I'll go get her." Nik responds immediately.
"It's not safe out there--" Freya counters.
"What, then?" Nik cuts her off. "Are we to sit here and play cards until Lucien slides Rebekah's bitten corpse down the hall?"
"Let me go." Elijah states.
Nik grabs his arm stopping him. "I moved her." And Elijah raises his eyebrows. "Don't look so surprised. I never did like you two sharing secrets."
"Tell me where she is." Elijah says. "Unless you expect me to stay here and leave our sister entirely defenseless?"
"I expect you to prevent Kol and Kelsey from suffering from another loss." Nik exclaims. "Lucien deserves our collective ire. Today, all grievances are tabled."
"Arguing about it is pointless." I cut in, making them look at me. "Lucien doesn't just want to draw Nik out. He knows I'd never allow him to go to Lucien alone. He wants to kill me in front of him and then kill him. And if he does that we don't come back. He knows that. So, the only two people who can go get Rebekah and live are me and Nik. But, whoever goes, goes alone. We're still bonded."
"Yes, but we don't know that the bond will work if one of you are bitten by Lucien." Freya counters.
"We don't know it won't." I tell her. "What we do know is if anyone else goes and he bites them, they will die."
"So, you're just okay with him going out there alone?" Elijah inquires.
"No." I snap. "But, he knows the location and I'm not stupid enough to think he'd actually tell me where she is, so I can go."
Nik nods. "She's right. I'm not sending her out there, in case the bond doesn't work. Besides, she has a sister to see to and I'll handle ours." Nik goes to walk out, but I stop him.
"Hey." I state and he turns around. "When I went with Davina so she could question Lucien, I stayed out of sight. I know he wants to kill me and I stayed hidden. I was only there to get Davina out if she needed it. She didn't. He has no idea I was in the bar. I except you to do the same and stay out of his sight. And as much as everything in you says confront him. If he sees you, you run. I don't care about your pride, not until we can kill him." He nods and walks out. I immediately pull out my phone and message Hayley. I inform her on everything that is happening and that Nik is leaving right now to get Rebekah and she responds let me know she'll go with him as back up. I let out a breath of relief and put my phone away.
Marcel enters the ballroom with a box of things Freya needs, including a hand holding a candle. The same candle Davina used to see and talk to Kol when he was on the Ancestral plane. Kol grabs it and sits it on the table.
"Freya, I need this to work." Kol tells her.
"Don't worry, brother." She says. "Eleventh-hour spells happen to be my specialty." She turns to Marcel. "Tell Vincent to begin the consecration."
Marcel does as she says. Freya takes Elijah's hand and he gets on his knees. Freya exhales and closes her eyes. As soon as Vincent says it's done, Freya begins chanting. Freya looks over at the candle as she chants and I stare at the circle standing between Marcel and Kol, waiting anxiously for Davina to appear. Freya's chants grow louder and Elijah grunts as she continues to channel him.
Davina, finally, stumbles into the circle. Her forehead is cut open and fear is evident in her eyes. She looks around her in confusion, before turning back to the three of us.
"Whatever it is you just did, thank you." She tells us. We nod and I breath out in relief. Davina's eyes begin to water as she looks at Kol. She raises her hand and he does the same, but the circle barrier keeps them from touching.
"What happened?" Kol inquires, after everyone leaves to room. I, however, refused, unable to leave her. "What did you see?"
"Van's mother, Kara Nguyen, the witch I had assassinated, she was there." Davina explains. "She tried to magically mark me. And as she did it, I felt freezing cold, and then impossible sadness."
"Did she have a dark green stone?" Kol asks and I scrunch my eyebrows, confused at what he knows. Davina nods. "Le Gemme Vitale. The Lifeblood Stone. They tried to use it on me, but my vampire soul was too stained for their magic to work. Davina, if she had succeeded at marking you, your very soul would've shredded into pieces. A fate worse than death. There'd be no rescuing you." Kol continues. "All right, that stone is your Ancestor's greatest punishment."
"Well, it's a good thing she didn't then." Davina tells him and I stay quiet. Any kind of hiccup and that's what Davina has to face if she goes back and that alone scares me more than most things. "I'm right here, and you're gonna bring me back. Today. Right?"
"I swear it." He promises. Kol's phone vibrates and he pulls it out and reads the message. "It's Vincent. He's ready. We'll have the magic to resurrect you soon." Kol turns and quickly leaves.
I approach Davina and sit crisscross in front of her, and she copies me. "I'm sorry this is happening." I tell her. "I should have done something."
"Kelsey, this isn't on you." She shakes her head. "I didn't get the chance to even tell you that the Ancestors cursed Kol to get at me."
"I know." I say. "But I came back here to protect you, and this is the second time you've died."
"And I'm coming back." She counters. "You guys will figure it out like always."
"I promise." I smile through a few tears. "I will do everything I can." Then, I look down. "But, if this doesn't work and you have to go back, don't give up. You fight them, you stay alive over there. Do you understand me? Don't let them make you feel bad or unloved. Because that's a lie. I love you more than anything and so does Kol, Vincent and Marcel. Even Nik was the first one to say yes, without hesitation, when Marcel and Kol came to ask for help in bringing you back. Granted, I didn't know what had happened yet." I chuckle.
"He did?" She asks in surprise.
"He did." I tell her. "I'm going to go find out what's going on and I'll be back, okay?"
She nods and I stand and walk into the Courtyard. I instantly see Elijah pacing with his phone out as he talks to someone on speaker and Freya leaning against the wall. They look like they're contemplating a difficult decision, so instead of joining them, I sneak under the balcony they're on and listen.
"And Freya is certain this power will be enough to kill Lucien?" Nik's voice says through the speaker.
"Yes." Elijah confirms. "We'd be placing Davina in terrible danger." Annoyance floods my body, but I stay quiet. "The only thing protecting her from the Ancestors is Freya's circle. Now, if it is broken---"
"They'll rip her apart." Hayley cuts him off. "Elijah, she's just a kid, not to mention, she's Kelsey's sister."
"What choice do we have?" Elijah questions and my annoyance chances to rage, as I clinch my fists.
"No." Nik denies and my heart flutters as he defends my sister. "Find another way. If we destroy Davina, we lose Kol, Marcel, and Kelsey. I won't have us all turning on each other. And I won't have Kelsey losing someone else, especially her sister. Keep looking, brother."
They hang up and I message Nik. "Thank you. I love you." And then, I head back to sit with Davina and wait.
_________________________
I double over in pain and Davina looks up at me quickly. "What's wrong?" She asks worried.
"Nik." I tell her groaning at the dull ache. "Something's happened."
"The bond is growing." She mutters. "You can feel he's been injured. Go, Kelsey."
"What about you?" I stand up straight again.
"It's okay. They've got me." She urges. "Go help him and Hayley."
I nod. "I love you and I'll be back soon to hug you when you're alive. I promise." She smiles.
"I love you, too."
I vamp out and to my car. Then, I speed towards the Bayou. I call Nik and Hayley over and over with no answer.
___________________________
I start to slow down when I see a wrecked car in the road. As I get closer, I realize the extent of the damage. Nik's car is smashed all to hell and the other car lays on its side on the side on the road. Destroyed and detached car parts litter the highway.
I throw my car in park and jump out. I vamp to the driver side of Nik's door to find the car empty. My heart pounds in my chest as I look through the drivers and passengers window and see Hayley laying on the remains of a broken wooden fence, unconscious. My eyes widen and I vamp over to her. "Hayley?" I mutter in concern. There's a large piece of wood shoved through her left side, coated in blood. I use all my strength and snatch the wood out of her, and she gasps awake, panting heavily. Nik's scream cuts through the air and I look in the direction it came from. A few yards away sits an abandon house. I look down at Hayley, who is also looking at the house. "Are you okay?" I ask her.
"Yeah, yeah." She nods and I help her stand. "Let's go."
Hayley and I vamp to the house, and I grab a shovel that is laying on the ground near the house. Following our ears we enter the kitchen, where Nik is on the ground and Lucien is standing over him. Lucien hears us enter and turns around. I swing the shovel, smashing it into his face, sending him into the counter. He grabs a pan and swings his body up and hits me in the face, knocking me back and onto the ground. Which, gives Nik the chance to grab the fallen shovel and stand up, hitting Lucien with it again. Lucien staggers, but then he throws the pan to the side of Nik's face, and he falls into the refrigerator. Nik turns around and Lucien grabs his throat and pins him back to the refrigerator.
Hayley grabs the shovel, this time, and goes at Lucien. But he grabs it and throws it behind him and slams her into the cabinets. Nik grabs the shovel and hits Lucien in the head. Lucien snatches the garden tool with both hands like Nik and then uses his foot to kick him back. Nik falls to the ground and Lucien holds the shovel, ready to hit Nik. I grab the wooden handle, stopping him. He twists the shovel down, ripping it from my hands, then he shoves the handle into my stomach. I groan, as I hit the floor, hearing my rib crack. Lucien goes back to what he was doing and hits Nik so hard with the gardening tool, that he goes through the wall and into the yard outside the house.
Lucien walks over to Hayley and snaps her neck. Then, he smirks with evil in his eyes. He approaches me and grabs my hair, ripping me up. "Now, for the main event." He muses. I gasp in pain as he drags me through the whole in the wall. Once, he has me in front of Nik, who is on the ground on his stomach, he stands behind me. Then, he buries his fist into my back and grips my heart. I groan in intense pain and start slowly choking on blood.
Nik stands and turns around. "Well, well." Lucien says. "A queen and a king, caught by a onetime pawn." I put my hand on my chest as he continues to move his hand around my heart. My chest is on fire, and I spit out some blood. "Thus, the game comes to its inevitable end."
"What are you proving by killing her?" Nik inquires. "It's me you hate."
"Was I not clear when I murdered Finn and Camille?" Lucien questions. "I don't care who dies. But since you do, indulge me."
"Ahh!" I exclaim, unable to hold in the excruciating torment.
"And I might spare the love of your life and the mother of your children." Lucien states brushing my hair back. "Kneel." He demands. "Get on your knees."
"OW!" I snap, gripping my chest again. I grit my teeth and groan. "Don't." I say sternly, staring at Nik. I didn't want him to give Lucien the satisfaction. Lucien's hand tightens and I clamp my eyes shut and groan.
"I can feel her heart pounding in my fist." Lucien taunts and I gasp as he loosens his grip just a bit. "Do you really want to measure your pride against my mercy? " Nik glares at him and slowly lowers himself to the ground. Nik lowers his head and I know it's a super difficult thing to do, to give into Lucien.
Lucien chuckles and sighs in contentment. Suddenly, Lucien is snatched away from me, and I fall to the ground, but I quickly regain my breath and stand up. Nik vamp speeds and grabs Lucien throwing him back to the spot where Nik was kneeling. Elijah stands next to Nik, which tells me he is the one that pulled Lucien off me. Hayley comes through the wall as Freya rounds the house, chanting. Lucien is standing still, unable to move and his fangs are forced to extend and his eyes change to bright, blood red.
Freya continues to chant and walk forward. Nik, also, approaches Lucien. The intensity of the spell makes Freya's hands glow purple. Elijah gets behind Lucien. Lucien, then, doubles over and pants as Freya stops chanting.
"His power's gone." Freya informs us. "He's nothing but an ordinary vampire now."
"You see that family drama you so joyfully deride does have its merits." Nik tells Lucien, as his face changes to fear.
Elijah kicks the back of his knees, making Lucien fall to them. Elijah holds the back of his jacket, keeping him there. "You can kill me, but the prophecy still stands." Lucien says. "You cannot outrun it."
"I've heard about a thousand years too much from you." Nik counters. "For a century, you lived with my name, and you never did quite recover from losing it, did you? You became a man of wealth and stature, but you never could crawl from my shadow. And in the end..." Nik lowers himself to the ground and grabs a piece of glass. "Despite the gift of immortality," He stands back up and walks up to him. "you have always known what you truly are." Elijah forces his head back and Nik uses the glass to cut Lucien's face. Two large lines at the corner of both sides of his mouth. Nik, then, gets on his level. "You are nothing." Nik shoves his fist into Lucien's chest, making Lucien's eye widen. Then, Nik snatches his heart out of his chest and Lucien falls to the ground. Nik stands and drops the heart as he stares at Elijah.
_______________
Night has fallen and Nik throws a lighter on Lucien's corpse. Elijah and Hayley went and got my car from the road and Elijah's car that he and Freya arrived in. He, also, moved Rebekah's casket into his car.
"Camille liked the Preservation Hall Jazz Band." Nik tells Hayley. "For the funeral, the second night, we should hold the wake at Rousseau's." Hayley nods. "Come, let's let Lucien burn alone. We should get back to Kol and Marcel."
"Klaus." Freya calls out, stopping us from walking to the car. "There's something you need to know. You too, Kelsey."
"What?" I ask.
"We didn't have time to find another way to get the power we need to turn Lucien back." Freya explains with a look of sorrow.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I state, fear raising in me. "Even after Nik told you to find another way. You banished Davina to torment."
"Lucien could bite my brothers and kill them." Freya defends, tears leaking out of her eyes. "We had to do something."
"So, you sacrificed MY sister!" I yell. "I stand by you guys every time and the first time I need you to help my family you throw her away. She's a child!"
"If there was another...."
"Shut up, Elijah." I snap at him, cutting him off. "You didn't even want to help in the first place." I grit my teeth in anger. "The both of you can go to hell!"
"Had we not done what we did, you and Klaus would be dead." Freya states.
"And you think that justifies killing my sister!" I yell at her, tears free falling down my face. "You think allowing the Ancestors to shred apart her soul was the right choice! We can never get her back now! I can never get her back. And I'll never forgive you for that."
I turn around and storm to my car. "Kelsey!" Nik calls, but I ignore him. I jump in the driver's seat and just as I am putting it into drive Hayley gets in my passengers. I accelerate out of there, not wanting to be around them.
________________________________
We make it to the Compound, and I haven't stopped crying. The whole ride was silent, Hayley not saying anything. Hayley goes and checks on the twins, since I don't want them to see me falling apart. Instead, I find Marcel in the study drinking. He hears me enter and he looks at me with just as much heartbreak as I do him. He turns back to the mini bar and grabs another bottle and holds it out to me.
I gladly take it and gulp it down. We sit in silence, drinking, until sometime later Nik and Elijah enter the room behind us. Neither of us turns around to acknowledge them. I just take another drink. Marcel's breathing gets heavier, and he can't contain his rage. He throws his bottle into the wall, shattering it to pieces. I don't react and swallow down some more.
Marcel turns to them. "I did everything you asked." He says desperately, his voice breaking. "I joined your stupid cult. I left my friends in the dust because that's what you needed."
"Marcel." Nik says.
"I fought for Hope and Bexley." Marcel continues. "I kept Hayley and Kelsey breathing. I kept the white oak from piercing your cold, black heart. I did everything."
"We know." Elijah responds and I scoff.
Marcel's voice quivers. "No, you don't. No, you don't."
"Marcel, I had no choice." Elijah defends himself.
"Oh, they were right about you." Marcel states, and I finally turn around. "Yeah. Aurora, Tristan, Lucien. Anybody who's not your family is nothing to you. Nothing."
"Marcellus, you are family." Elijah tells him. Rage overcomes me and I vamp in front of Elijah and push him back.
"You don't see him as family." I seethe. "You killed the closest thing he has to a daughter. And you sure as hell, don't put me in the family category either, seeing as my sister is dead because of you. You act all noble and like you have morals, but the truth is you have more demons behind that red door than Nik does." Elijah stares at me in shock, with slight regret in his eyes. "At least when Kol killed her, the Ancestors were pulling the strings. What's you're excuse?" I spit out rhetorically.
"Kelsey's right." Marcel agrees. "I'm not family. Not anymore." Elijah shakes his head in denial. "Never again. I am not your family."
"Marcel, come on." Nik approaches him and places his hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. Marcel shoves him off and sends him sliding on his feet back to the spot he started.
"No." Marcel says firmly, before walking out.
__________________
I go to check on the twins, but I stop at my old bedroom door that is connected to the nursery. Because inside I see Freya, entering and Nik sitting by the cribs, on the floor.
"Seeking some respite from the darkness?" Freya asks. "Perhaps there's solace in the fact that you avenged Cami today."
"And, yet, to do right by Camille, we sacrificed someone she cared about." Nik says and Freya sits next to him.
"Our family is safe." Freya states and I clinch my fists.
"Our family is fractured." Nik counters. "There is no victory to celebrate today. My demons won."
"Lucien is not your demon." Freya tells him. "You may have sired him, but you did not create that monster."
"Today, I fear we may have created a new monster entirely." Nik says. "And I don't think Kelsey will ever forgive me."
"She will, just give her time." Freya says and she stands. I quietly walk over to the bedroom door, as Freya exits the nursery. She sees me and looks like she wants to say something, but then decides against it. However, when she walks out the door she turns and looks at me. She starts to open her mouth and I shut the door on her.
I take in a deep breath and turn around. Nik is standing at the nursery door looking at me. I walk over to him and pass by closing the door to the nursery, so us talking doesn't disturb the twins.
"Kelsey, I'm so sorry." He tells me sincerely.
"For what?" I mutter.
"For Davina. We sacrificed her and..."
"Nik, stop." I cut him off. "You didn't do anything. Freya and Elijah killed my sister. You told them to find another way." Tears start to pour out of my eyes, again. "Thank you, for telling them to find another way." I wrap my arms around his neck. It takes him a minute to get over the shock, but then he wraps his arms around my waist. Sobs wrack through my body and his grip tightens. Then, suddenly, he picks me up bridle style and carries me to the bed. With one hand he pulls back the covers and then, he lays me down. We both kick off our shoes and he climbs in beside me.
I'm not sure how long I laid in his arms crying, but eventually I cried myself to sleep.