Nik's plan to help the twins is to let them toss him around the Courtyard. I offered to let Bexley use her magic on me, while Hope used hers on Nik, but Nik shot it down. He doesn't think the twins will used their magic on me at their full force. I understand his train of thought, but this is just a small, temporary fix. I'm afraid it won't be enough.
Hope sends Nik flying into a table and it collapses under his weight, breaking in half. I flinch at the impacted, not liking witnessing him getting hurt, even by choice. We've been at this for a while and it's not getting any easier. Bexley had went first, but she's still pretty weak and she needed a break.
Nik grunts and pushes himself up and off the damaged wood. He has blood trailing down his neck. "Do it again." He tells Hope as she hold her head. "Harder this time." She's panting heavily and has her back to him. "All of that pain, that simmering darkness. You need to purge it before it eats you alive."
"Dad..." Hope trails off.
"Give me your anger, Hope!" He instructs.
She swings around, letting out a scream. Hope throws her arm across the front of her body and sends Nik flying through the air and into a pillar. I clinch my eyes shut and turn my head, as he hits the ground with a thud. When, I look back at him he is sitting on the ground, his back against the pillar. He's panting heavily, like Hope, and he has fresh blood running down his forehead.
"It's not working!" Hope exclaims in frustration.
"You're holding back." Nik points out. "You both are."
"You really think we want to feel this way?" Hope yells. "No matter how hard I try to get it out, I don't feel any better and Bexley looks like she's going to pass out." Hope sighs and shakes her head. "You're not the one I want to hurt."
Realization flashes in Nik's eyes and he gets to his feet. I walk closer to Hope with Bexley staying close to my side.
"Give me a name." Nik says in determination.
"For starters..." Bexley mutters, sharing a look with Hope. "I have the perfect person."
_____________________
Nik brings Roman down to the dungeon. His neck is snapped, so he is unconscious. I help Nik chain Roman's wrists to the ceiling. His arms are held above his head, as his body dangles and his feet drag on the ground. I step back for the kids and put my hands on my hips.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I ask Nik, as he grabs a bucket of water.
"If it helps them, yes." He nods.
"I'm all for that." I agree. "I'm just not sure this kid is the way to do that."
"He's not exactly a kid." Nik points out. "He's older than you."
"I just mean...." I sigh. "He went to school with them. Hope liked him. I know she feels betrayed, but this boy feels to close to home for them. I'm afraid they'll regret it."
"Maybe this will help them with closure." He shrugs.
"Maybe." Nik tosses the water on Roman's head, soaking his hair and the top of his shirt. Nik throws the bucket to the side and it clatters to the floor.
Roman jerks awake as the cold water hits him. He tries to move his arms, making the chains rattle. His breathing becomes shallow as he sees Nik and I standing in front of him. Roman panics a little and starts yanking on the chains, trying to break them.
"Have you decided how you're going to kill him?" Nik asks the twins, not removing his eyes off of Roman. The twins walk into the room, but stay in the shadows. Fear invades the boys eyes, as he turns his head to look at Nik.
"Slowly." Hope answers. Roman's eyes go wide as he hears her voice.
"Hope?" He calls out. "Hope! Hey."
"We want to do this alone." Bexley says.
"What?" Roman questions in disbelief.
"This is suppose to help us feel better, right?" Hope asks rhetorically.
Roman connects his eyes to mine. "What's wrong with them?"
"They have an affliction, for which your pain is a momentary comfort." Nik answers him for me, as he walks around Roman.
"My pain?" Roman panics.
"Mm-hmm." Hope hums. "But we don't want an audience."
"Hope. Bexley." Nik go to protest.
"If you want to help us, go." Hope says.
"Well, I was rather hoping to be part of the show." Nik muses looking at Roman. "Well, consider starting small, then." He suggests. "Fingernails, or-or... perhaps the tongue." Roman struggles to break free again. "Build the suspense." He smirks.
"Nik, they don't need torture advice." I sigh, grabbing his hand and tugging him to the door. "Call if you need us." I tell the girls.
"Hey... Hey, wait." Roman calls for us to stop. "You're not actually gonna leave me with them, are you?" Nik closes the metal gate behind us. "Hey!" He calls out again, but we ignore him and keep walking.
________________________
Nik and I wait on the stairs in the Courtyard for the twins. We want to stay close in case they need anything. Nik had grabbed a bottle of Bourbon and filled two glasses, giving one to me. I immediately swallow it all and groaned.
"I don't think they'll be able to go through with it." I tell him.
"If they don't then I will." He says.
I shake my head. "I'm pissed off too. Roman is the one that lead Greta and her followers to Hayley and me and then he tricked our girls into walking into a trap, all the while playing Hope. I'm furious, but he was just doing as he was told. Greta was a mass manipulator and she used that kid and his pain to do her bidding. I just think we are focusing on the wrong person."
"And who should we be focusing on? Elijah?" Nik bites.
"No." I snip. "I was thinking Emmett and the rest of them. There were never any extra feelings between them and the twins, just hate. Them doing this to Roman is more complicated. I just don't want them to regret it and have to live with it, especially Hope. She had a crush on him."
"We have to trust they will do what is right for them." Nik says, refilling our glasses. "And if it goes bad, we'll be there."
"So this is the new parenting style?" Elijah steps into the Courtyard. I roll my eyes and knock my drink back quickly. "Allowing your daughters to mercilessly torture that boy." Elijah hastily walks over and stands in front of us.
"That boy held them, Kelsey, and Hayley hostage, almost killed the twins and Kelsey and succeeded with their Aunt." Nik counters. "So, if my daughters decide to end his life, then that would make them someone who vanquishes their enemies, following in the footsteps of their father... and their uncle." He points at Elijah.
"Their suppose to be better than us, Niklaus." Elijah says. "Kelsey, how can you allow this?"
"You don't get to do that." I snap, steam coming out of my ears. "You don't get to judge how I handle my daughters grief. If this helps them, then I could care less about Roman."
"Their ill." Nik tells him. "If this brings them some relief, then nothing else matters."
"And then what?" Elijah questions. "When they're done with him and the darkness returns?"
"You don't think we know this is a temporary fix?" I scoff. "We need to buy time, until we can figure out a solution."
"I'm sorry, but I have to ask, as much as I enjoy your withering judgement..." Nik stands, pulling me up with him. He leads the way up the stairs. "Do you really have Hope and Bexley's best interest at heart?"
"What are you accusing me of?" Elijah inquires.
"I'm not blind, Elijah!" Nik exclaims, turning on the stairs to look at him. "If you love that woman so much, go be with her." He tells him, referring to Antoinette. "Kelsey and I have our own family to worry about and that boy is collateral damage."
"You are leading your daughters down a path that will erase their humanity." Elijah counters. "And if they lose that, the consequences will be devastating for everyone."
"Just don't." Nik exclaims.
"Don't what?" Elijah questions. "Counsel you against your worst instincts? A thousand years, I have desperately tried to sway you towards some kind of reason."
"And for a thousand years, I've trusted you." Nik retorts.
"So now what?"
"Our lives may be forever, but our allegiance is not." Nik says, he turns and continues up the steps.
"Kelsey." Elijah shakes his head. "You know this is wrong."
"Maybe." I shrug. "But, the last time you defended this retched family against us, I watched my sister get burned alive. I trust my daughters to come to the right decision for them. And my trust in them has never waivered or been broken. The same can't be said about you."
"I'm sorry about Hayley." His expression is sincere. "If I had remembered her, I never would have..."
"I know that." I snap. "But, the first time you met us you gave her your word that you'd keep her safe. You broke that. I trusted you to help us and you turned your back. If I hadn't trusted you, she'd be alive right now. That's on me and I won't make the same mistake again."
"Hayley's death isn't your fault." Elijah protest. "It's mine."
"Yeah, well, we get to share the blame." I scoff and follow after Nik.
_________________________
The twins come upstairs and call us to the dining room table. Hope holds out her arm to show us black veins running down her forearm. Bexley's eyes are dark and droopy and she can barely keep them open. Her face is pale and she looks weak. I hold her to me, as Nik and I examine Hope's arm.
"What's happening to me?" Hope asks.
"I don't know." Nik tells her honestly.
"It's bad, right?" She worries. "I mean this and look at Bexley." She gestures to Bexley, who's head is resting on my shoulder.
"I'm fine." Bexley croaks.
"You need to rid yourself of this darkness." Nik says.
"I can't." Hope admits. "I can't kill him. I won't."
"Me either." Bexley sighs. "No matter how much I hate him."
"Hope. Bexley."
"Dad." Hope mocks, wanting him to understand. "He's no more guilty or responsible than me and Bexley."
"All that power, still merciful." Nik says. "You clearly didn't get that from my side of the family." He takes Hope's hand and I squeeze Bexley to me.
"This is only gonna get worse, isn't it?" Hope asks, feeling defeated. Elijah walks in before Nik can answer her.
"Stay here." He tells us, then he stands and goes to talk to Elijah.
"We are going to figure this out." I assure them. "It won't be like this forever, I promise." Hope nods and Bexley grips my hand. "I'm very proud of you both. Deciding to let Roman live, even through killing him would help you, that's very mature of you both." My phone rings and I look at it and see Marcel's name flash across the screen. "I have to take this. Hope will you..." I gesture to Bexley.
Hope nods understandingly and gets up from her chair, walking over to me and gently switches places with me. I walk away and answer.
"Kelsey?" Marcel breathes out on the other line.
"What's happened?" I question, hearing the strain in his voice.
"Emmett." He sighs. "He overpowered me and used a witch to strap me down. He has my venom. I had to warn you."
"Where are you? I'll come get you." I tell him, while looking for Nik and Elijah.
"I'm fine." He reassures. "But, Kelsey... when Josh came to help, one of them stabbed for in the heart with a syringe."
"What are you saying?" I question swallowing the lump in my throat, as I walk into the study where Nik and Elijah are. Nik looks at me and concern takes over his face at my state.
"He's dead." Marcel tells me.
Sadness floods my body and tears leak from my eyes. I slowly lower my phone from my ear. The sadness doesn't last long, almost immediately, it's replaced with blinding rage. I tighten my grip on my phone feeling it bend in my fist.
"Kelsey?" Nik questions with scrunched eyebrows. He takes a step towards me. Elijah is watching me in confusion. I throw my phone into the wall across from me.
"I'm so fucking tired of this Vampire hate group." I seethe. "You better have a fucking plan to kill them, or I'm going to go do it myself."
"What happened?" Nik inquires.
"Emmett forcefully took Marcel's venom." I grit and Elijah and Nik step closer. "Josh is dead."
"Antoinette is gathering the group at the church." Elijah tells me.
"Great." I scoff. "Let's go."
_______________________
"I asked you here because you are loyal to my mother's cause." Antoinette says on the other side of the church doors. Hope and I stand off to the side with Nik and Bexley. Nik has his arm around Bexley's waist so she doesn't fall. "Her son, my brother, has been taken prisoner by the half-breeds Klaus Mikaelson and Kelsey Claire, and together, we are going to liberate him." The crowd applauds in agreement, some even shouting in excitement.
"We're gonna do more than that." Emmett's voice sounds, through the door, and I smirk. "We are going to end the Mikaelson rule, once and for all."
"Like my mother, we must, tonight, embrace a vision of our species that we're willing to die for." Antoinette says, with double meaning.
"I must confess that I myself have recently had a change of heart." Elijah says announcing his presence to the room. "Tonight, we go to war. But those of you who are not resolute in the belief that we are the one and the only true species... the time for you to leave is now." He gives them a chance to escape.
"We're with you." Emmett tells him.
"Yes." The lot of them yell, agreeing with Emmett.
"Now, Greta died in the name of purity, and thanks to the unwavering convictions of her followers, particularly those of you who chose to lead when she was gone, her message lives on." Elijah states. "So now, for those who stood by her, you will share her fate."
Everyone starts muttering in confusion. Nik and I push open the churches double doors and enter the meeting with the twins between us.
"What are they doing here?" Emmett questions Elijah and Antoinette.
"'The road to redemption is long and winding, but worthy.'" Elijah quotes. Emmett makes a break for Marcel's venom, but Hope's faster. She slings it across the room with her magic, breaking the vials.
"You betrayed us." Emmett accuses.
"We told you what my mother thought." Antoinette counters.
"And we never said we agreed." Elijah adds.
"You can leave them to us now." Nik tells Elijah and Antoinette and they vamp away. Marcel vamps in next to me.
"I'm going to enjoy this." He states, as the vampires in front of us start panicking.
"Me too." I smirk, hatefully. "For Hayley and Josh." I mutter.
"Josh is dead?" Bexley questions and I nod sadly at her, as her and Hope's faces fall.
Bexley's expression changes to rage and she uses the anger to push herself off Nik. She walks over to Hope and takes her hand. Over the past seven years the twins grow close to Josh. He had become a main male figure in there life, next to Davin and Declan. Though they were just friends, Josh is... was family. He acted as an Uncle to them. He looked out for them and gave them advice. He'd go on adventures with them when they were missing their family, just to take their minds off of everything and give them a break.
I guess him being so close to Davina made him feel like a little brother to me. I just wish I had realized that before these bastards took him away.
"Go on, Sweethearts." Nik encourages. "Let it all out."
Hope and Bexley take a couple of steps forward and stare dangerously at Emmett. Their breathing picks up and the crowd in front of them start getting nervous. They back away as much as possible, panic settling in their faces. The twins grip each others hands and they face their free hands out to their sides, slightly raised, palms facing the hate group. Wind starts throwing my hair around and Hope and Bexley take a deep breath, before letting out ear piercing shrieks. A bright blue light emanates from the twins and it surrounds the group. Blood pours out of their eyes, noses, and mouths. Then, they all simultaneously collapse on the ground. Hope and Bexley stop screaming and the blue light disappears, leaving a pile of dead bodies.
The twins walk to the vampires and look at them. None of them moving.
"Are they all dead?" Hope asks.
"Immortality isn't for everyone." Nik shrugs, unbothered by their death. "You both should consider what you did an act of public service."
Sensing their discomfort at what they had done, Marcel steps forward. "Hey, kiddos, you okay?"
"I... I'm, um, numb." Hope stutters.
"Me too." Bexley whispers.
"Marcel, why don't you gather up some vampires, get them to clean up this mess before anyone gets the wiser." Nik suggests. Marcel nods. I give him a quick hug, hoping to provide some comfort. He breathes deeply and kisses the top of my head, before walking out of the church.
Hope turns and faces us, as she grips her forearm. "Are they gonna come back? The lines and... and-and the whispers?"
"The exhaustion and weakness?" Bexley adds, standing on her own, much better than she was.
"I don't know." Nik answers honestly.
"Probably." I whisper to them. Fear is clear in their eyes and I wish there was something I could say to take it away.
Something clatters upstairs and there is a strained groan. We rush up the steps to the room Davina used to live in. Declan is unconscious, sitting on the ground. He has blood all over the side of his face and it trails down his neck.
"Oh, my God, Declan." Hope exclaims.
"Is he gonna live?" Bexley asks. Terror fills their face, as Nik and I approach him.
"We'll handle this." I tell them.
"You're mom's right." Nik agrees. "You two get out of here."
"Dad, Mom..." Hope protests.
"Now!" Nik exclaims.
"Girls, go." I repeat. They hurry out of the room and Nik bites his wrist and places it to Declan's mouth.
"The O'Connell's can't catch a break in this town." I mutter and Nik looks at me in confusion. "Declan and Davin are Cami's cousins." I explain. "Which is part of the reason Hayley and I decided not to tell them about... all this."
Declan groans and his breathing is unsteady. His eyes flutter open. "You picked a wrong day to find religion." Nik muses.
Declan looks around. "Where's Bill?" He asks.
I quickly stand up and scan the room. I start moving tables out of my way, looking for the other person. I swallow hard when I see white hair and an arm, the rest of the man is under a bookcase. I slowly squat and move some wood off the man. His eyes are shut and his glasses are crooked on his face. I listen closely to his chest and I hear nothing. I sigh heavily and stand. When, I look at Nik, he is already watching me. I shake my head and look down.