Five years.
Five years of searching.
Five years of random surprises of sharp pains, from whatever Marcel is putting Nik through.
Five years with Bexley and Hope asking questions about their family.
Five years without Davina and Cami.
Five years without Nik.
Hayley and I have spent every bit of free time we have, outside of raising the twins, on searching for the ingredients for Freya's poison, Rebekah's curse, and the brothers' bites. Mary is a lot of help. She watches the girls when we find an ingredient, or we need to find a witch for help. So far we can cure Rebekah and Freya, but we are still missing one thing for Elijah and Kol. One last element and we can wake them and go free Nik.
Only Hayley and Freya know about mine and Nik's bond getting stronger, and every time Marcel does something to cause Nik severe pain, I can feel it. More often than not, Marcel does something that causes a sharp pain in my chest, before it fades to a constant dull ache and then suddenly, days, weeks, months, or sometimes years later, the pain disappears. I can assume Marcel has Papa Tunde's Blade and he uses it as a way to keep Nik subdued and in agony. If the episodes happen in front of the kids I lie, which I hate, and tell them it's heartburn or I can play it off as I'm tried. I don't want to tell them the torment their dad is going through.
The last five years I've spent most my nights crying or without sleep. Davina's death still affects me and being away from Nik doesn't make it easier. There's, also, this constant fear that at any moment Marcel can decide he's tired of keeping Nik alive and he can kill him. Finding everything we need has taken way longer than I'd ever thought it would.
I walk down the hall of the safe house we live in, to the twins' shared room. Hayley and I got a witch to cloak it in protection spells to keep us all safe. I lean against their door unnoticed and watch as my two beautiful girls draw pictures on their beds. They remind me more and more of their dad as the days pass. Both of them love to color and draw. They're stubborn and sassy. Hope is a bit shyer and Bexley is outgoing. They're eyes are an identical brilliant, bright shade of blue. Hope's hair is fiery red, and Bexley's is a soft blonde. Both of them have come more and more into their witch powers, so to keep them from being track I have them keep on the bracelets we used to suppress their magic from Dahlia.
A vehicle approaches outside and Hope and Bexley look up from their paper. Hope turns towards me and smiles. "Is that her?"
"Is it Grandma Mary?" Bexley repeats, excitement on her face, too.
"Let me go see. Stay inside." I tell them. I walk towards the front door, passing Hayley coming down from the attic, where we keep the Mikaelsons. She goes up there daily to see Elijah.
We walk onto the porch and watch a blue pickup pull into the driveway. Hayley and I walk off the porch and meet her as she exits her truck. She looks at us with a smile and we return it.
"Well now, aren't you two a sight?" Mary greets us.
"You're sure no one followed you?" Hayley inquires.
"I've been avoiding trouble since well before you were born." She says. "Now, where's those two little girls?" She goes to walk pass, but I stop her.
"Did you find it?" She hesitates. "Mary, please. After five years, we are so close to having our family back."
"We found a cure for Freya's poison; we got a witch to syphon Rebekah's hex." Hayley continues.
"So, you're really gonna do it?" Mary questions. "Cure 'em and then wake 'em up? Did you ever stop to think, Hope and Bexley might be better off without 'em?"
"We made a promise." Hayley states.
"To who?" Mary inquires. "To Elijah? Klaus?"
"To my daughters." I answer. "They were promised a home where they would feel safe and protected by the people that love them." I sigh deeply. "They're Mikaelsons', too. They both inherited all their enemies and a power that... I need help understanding. They need someone to teach them control. We can't do this alone." I tell her honestly. "And for five years, every time Nik is tortured, I feel it. I can't hide that from them forever. Eventually, I'll have to explain to them the bond Nik and I have. And how can I do that and tell them that I could get their father back and just didn't."
Mary sighs. "You told me to wake the Mikaelsons' you needed to find all seven werewolf packs. You two found six. The last one-- the Malraux-- I thought they were killed off." She pulls out a piece of paper from her pocket. "According to this, there might be one left." Hayley goes to grab the paper and Mary stops her. "Hayley, Kelsey. You looked for five years. You found nothing. Suddenly, I get word of a lead. What if someone else found it, too? What if it's a trap?" Hayley looks at me and nods, knowing whatever it might be we have too much to lose not to try. Hayley nods back and turns to Mary, taking the paper.
We lead her inside to see the twins and Hayley and I get the coffins from the attic and move them to the moving truck. The twins stand side by side next to Mary as Hayley and I pull down the door on the truck.
"Do you have to go?" Hope asks, making Bexley look in questioning too, as I walk towards them, Hayley following.
"We do." I tell them. "But your Aunt Hayley and I will be back very, very soon." I smile at them. "And we will bring special guests who are dying to meet the both of you." Excitement fills their eyes as they smile at me. "I will call you guys every night, before you go to sleep." I wrap my arms around both of them and they encircle their arms around my waist. I pull away and kneel down to their level. "Until then, you guys listen to Mary. Deal?"
"Deal." They say in unison, and I give them both butterfly kiss on their cheeks, making them giggle. I quickly hug them again, before backing up and letting Hayley hug them goodbye. Then, we start walking to the truck, Mary following.
"Keep your guard up. Stay moving." She instructs. "You smell trouble, you run." She knocks on the truck. "Those folks back there, they had plenty of life. What you two need to do is stay live for those little girls."
"Everything we do is for them." I tell her and Hayley nods in agreement. Hayley jumps into the driver's seat, and I vamp around to the passenger's side.
____________________________
We traveled to Austin, Texas and to a small bar. The last Malroux werewolf is a few tables away with a couple of other women. We have been watching her from a distance as she drinks with some friends.
"Ooh! I'm getting the next round." She tells them after knocking back a shot and walking away. "Just take a sec, pull yourselves together." Hayley and I stand and approach her, now that she's alone. "Another round, please. Thanks." She order from the bartender. I let Hayley do the talking and she waves for a beer.
"You look like you're having fun." Hayley starts. "What's the occasion?"
"I just finished my residency, which makes me an official ER doctor." She says.
"Congratulations." Hayley and I say simultaneously, and she smiles.
"Thanks."
"Does it help with the guilt, given what you are?" Hayley inquires.
Her smile falls and caution appears on her face. "What did you say?"
"Keelin, you need to listen to us." Hayley says, lowering her voice.
"How do you know my name?" Keelin inquires.
"Got it from a friend." Hayley tells her. "She said your grandma's maiden name was Malraux." Keelin scoffs and tries to leave, but I block her, and Hayley grabs her arm. Keelin snatches her arm back.
"You better back off. Right now." She warns us and her eyes change to ember.
"I wish we could." I respond as Hayley and I turn our eyes ember, too. "We need a favor." Our eyes go back to normal. "Five minutes. Outside. We can explain."
She takes a moment to think about it and then, she nods and follows us out the back door. As soon as we are out the door, Keelin elbows Hayley in the face, knocking her back into me. Then, Keelin takes off running. While she runs around the building, we take a short cut and met her as she jumps over the wall.
"Do not do that again." Hayley tells her, as she looks at us in surprise.
"I'm not going without a fight." Keelin states.
"Would you relax?" I sigh. "We don't want to fight you. We need you."
"You're the last of your pack." Hayley says and we walk closer to her. "That makes you special for reasons that are too complicated to explain."
"I don't care about your problems." Keelin deadpans.
"You should." Hayley counters. "Because there are others who know how important you are. And they will come for you."
"Look, I have a life, a career, relationships." Keelin says. "Someone tries to take that, they're gonna have to kill me."
Glass shatters in the distance and Hayley and I turn our ears to the commotion. "Where is she?" A man yells. Hayley sighs.
"I'm sorry." She tells Keelin. "We don't have time for this." She vamp slams Keelin's head into the brick wall next to us and picks her up over her shoulder and we vamp away.
______________________
We go to an abandoned warehouse to wake the siblings. Hayley tries Keelin to a chair, and we start putting the cures together, as a train passes by. Keelin comes to and she tries to yank her wrist free with a grunt.
"Relax." Hayley calls out to her with our backs facing her. "We're not your enemy. If we left you where you were, you'd be dead already."
"Let me guess, we're on the run from vampires?" Keelin questions. "You both have the same stink they do."
"We're special." I explain. "We're hybrids. Half werewolf, half vampire."
"And considering that we saved your ass, you should show us some respect." Hayley sasses as we turn and look at her.
"How do I know you guys weren't the ones that led them to me?" She inquires.
"Does it matter?" Hayley shrugs. "They know who you are, and they want you dead. The only way to survive is to do exactly what we tell you."
"It's not like I have a choice." Keelin scoffs. Hayley takes out the venom extractor from the bag. "Hey, look, I don't know what kind of pervy stuff you're into, but I am not that kind of girl."
"This is a device to extract your venom." Hayley explains. "And before you ask, yes, it will hurt." I remove the tarp off the four coffins. Hayley walks over and opens the closest one to us.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Keelin asks.
The coffin she opened reveals Freya. She looks like she's peacefully sleeping. "We are trying to save our family." I answer looking at Keelin. "The people in the coffins are dying. The only thing keeping them alive is a sleep spell, and she is the only one that can cure them." I point at Freya.
"She's a witch, and she left us instructions on how to wake her up early. The only thing we're missing is your venom." Hayley continues to explain. "Once she gets on her feet, we can give her the ingredients we got. And, with any luck, no one has to die."
"So, if I give you what you want... will you let me go?" She questions.
"Absolutely." I nod. "We don't want to hurt you; we just want to save them."
"You have our word." Hayley promises.
____________________
After we extract her venom, we put it with the others.
"Okay, you got my venom. When do I get to go?" Keelin asks.
"As soon as we know it works." Hayley says.
"And when will that be?"
"Believe me, you'll know when you see it." Hayley responds, going through the bag.
"You have to wake up Sleeping Beauty, right?" Keelin inquires and my heart clinches at the nickname I haven't heard in five years. "How do you do that?" Hayley passes me the needle.
"You know, you ask a lot of questions." I say, showing her the needle and going over to Freya. I take a deep breath and stab the needle into her chest. Freya's eyes fly open with a grunt. Then, she gasps for a deep breath, flinging herself up and panting.
"Freya." I grab her attention and then, surprising both of us, I hug her and Hayley hugs the both of us. "Are you okay?" We pull back.
"Did you get the ingredients?" She asks.
"Why else would we wake you?" I smile sarcastically and Hayley nods to the table.
"Good, I need to begin." She replies and we help her out of the casket. "If I can't turn all that into a cure... Elijah and Kol are going to die."
Freya gets chalk and candles. She sets everything up on the ground and starts drawing symbols on the concrete. "How much longer do we have?" Hayley asks.
"Maybe an hour." Freya says. "Assuming they live that long."
"Do you have everything we need?" I question.
"Venom from the seven packs, along with Klaus' blood." Freya explains as she puts the vials of venom at each point of the star she drew out. "Infused by my magic and magnified by the Dark Objects. It's going to take all of my strength and more than a little luck, but it should be enough to fashion a cure to save my brothers."
"'Should'? What do you mean 'should'?" Hayley questions, putting her hands on her hips.
Vehicle tires squeal up to the warehouse and my guard goes up. Hayley and I hear three cars pull into the warehouse and several vampires get out of the cars.
"They found us." I inform Freya and Keelin.
"Hayley, Kelsey, let me go, please." Keelin pleads. "If it's vampires, they're gonna kill me."
"They must have been tracking her." Freya states, about Keelin. "I need more time."
Hayley and I immediately vamp away. We stand in front of the car lights and look around at the vampires surrounding us.
"It took us a long time, but we finally caught you two." A man says walking towards us.
"Or maybe we just stopped running." Hayley muses.
"We've faced far bigger evils, than the likes of you." I scoff.
Hayley and I vamp at two of the men and rip their hearts out. Another one charges at me, and I punch him in the face, hard enough that his neck snaps. Then, I kick the next one into the one behind him. They start to circle Hayley and I, weapons ready in their hands.
They charge at us, and I flip one over my back. The next one swings at me, and I grab and bite his arm. Then, I yank the heart out of the one to my left and throw his body at the man on my right. A woman sneaks up behind Hayley and I yank her back by her hair and bite into her neck as she screams.
Soon, bodies litter the ground and the man that taunted us walks forward. "Ooh. Your bites are nasty. But your outnumbered." He says. "Give up now and we'll end this quick."
"I have a better idea." Hayley states and her eyes go ember.
Then, she shifts into a wolf and jumps on the man, growling and snarling as she bites his neck. She turns and looks at the remaining vampires around us.
One by one we take out all of the vampires, Hayley in wolf form and me still human. Their screams bouncing off the walls. Hayley turns back into her human form, blood covering her naked body. A couple of vampires stand up, injured and panting.
"You want more? Come on!" She yells, and I stand next to her.
Suddenly, the men behind him grunts and fall to the ground dead. While we are looking at him the last one screams and disappears. A presence stands behind us and Hayley closes her eyes and breathes in relief, as I turn and see Elijah putting his jacket over her body.
"Welcome back." I nod and I vamp away to where Kol and Rebekah, should be awake.
Kol is standing next to Freya, talking to her and I smile widely. I quickly wrap my arms around his waist in relief. Surprised by the sudden disruption he staggers back. When he realizes it's me, he laughs and hugs me back.
"Well, hello Claire." He greets.
I pull back and smile at him. "I'm so glad you guys are okay."
"Thanks to you and Hayley." He nods.
"Don't forget about me." I hear behind me, and I turn and laughing in disbelief, seeing Rebekah alive and well.
"Never." I shake my head and attack her into a tight hug. "I'm so happy you're okay."
I pull back and smile widely at her and she returns it. Without warning I gasp in pain and grab my chest. My knees wobble and Rebekah is quick to steady me by grabbing my shoulders.
"Kelsey? What happening?" Rebekah worries, catching Kol, Freya, and Keelin's attention.
"Kelsey?" Kol questions, coming up next to me.
The sharp pain burns, through my chest. I pant, taking in deep breaths. Slowly, the pain dulls and turns to an ache. I put my hand on Rebekah's arm and nod, letting her know I'm okay and she can let go. She releases me reluctantly.
"Marcel, just stabbed Nik, with what I can guess is Papa Tunde's blade, because the pain turned into a constant ache." I swallow some breaths.
"You can feel what Nik does?" Kol questions and I nod.
"If it's intense pain, yes."
"When did this start?" Rebekah scrunches her eyebrow in confusion.
"The day Lucien and Davina died." I admit. "Davina was with me the first time."
"So, all this time, Marcel's been torturing you too." Kol scoffs.
"Not as bad as Nik." I shake my head. "He has it much worse, and Marcel doesn't know I can feel when Nik is in pain, and frankly Nik doesn't know either."
"Kelsey..." Rebekah says in sympathy.
"Don't worry about it." I brush her off. "Let's just worry about saving Nik."