⭒❃.✮:▹
Arabella woke up not much later then she left the party. Well technically Klaus took her from the party.
The only thing that annoyed her than waking up in his house -at least she assumed it was his house- was the extremely loud noise from renovation.
How hard would it be to leave this house without Klaus knowing?
The answer was, you can't.
Well her plan had worked until she stood by the front door.
"Leaving so soon, my Angel?"
"Yes."
Buy before she could step out the door, Klaus had sped over and pushed the door closed again.
"We need to have a little talk."
"About?" Klaus didn't seem excactly happy.
"Stefan stole something from me. Any idea where he is?"
"I just woke up? How would I know?"
Can you become dumber with the years when you're a vampire?
"He stole my coffins."
"Well I have a great solution for not getting your family taken away from you."
Klaus smiled at her. "Humor me."
"Well first of all. Don't put them in coffins. Now I have to kick Damon's ass for snapping my neck. Goodbye."
⭒❃.✮:▹
Afterwards Arabella met up with Bonnie and Elena at the Mystic Grill. She had sent a text to Stefan to ask where he was, but he had not yet responded.
"I think I'm going crazy. I'm totally paranoid all the time." Elena said. The runner this morning still didn't feel right. She really thought he had been following her.
"You have a right to be. Klaus is sill out there, and he knows you tried to kill him." Bonnie said.
"Why hasn't he made a move? There's been no sign of him, nothing. Just my slow spiral into insanity."
"Join the club. Every time I close my eyes, I have that nightmare on repeat."
"The same dream?" Arabella asked.
"Yeah. 4 coffins. Klaus is in one of them. It's weird."
"What if it's not just some dream? What if it's, like, you know, a witch dream?"
"It's just stress. I'll figure it out. What about Stefan? Has there been any sign of him?" Bonnie asked Arabella.
"Haven't heard from him since homecoming." And Klaus didn't look particularly happy with her mate either.
"Come on, Ara. He betrayed us. The Stefan that we know is gone." Elena said.
Arabella wanted to reply but Bonnie cut her off. She wanted to defend Stefan because no matter what, he always came back to his old self. This time wouldn't be any different
"How is Damon handling that?"
"Damon is Damon." Elena said, shrugging.
Arabella looked over to the bar where Damon and Alaric were sitting together at the bar, Damon to many bottles of alcohol in front of him.
⭒❃.✮:▹
Damon was playing darts, while Arabella was downing a drink and Elena was calling Jeremy on the phone, sounding mad but also very worried. "Jeremy, the minute that you get this, call me." She said before hanging up. Arabella had while drinking been lecturing Damon on snapping her neck and if he did it again, she would take his bourbon away from him and stake him in his sleep.
"You're feisty when you're mad."
"It's not that I'm mad. I'm just- I'm worried."
"Why? I think he'll survive, Elena." Damon threw another dart.
"He's spiraling. Ever since Bonnie broke up with him, he's moody. He's not really talking to anyone."
"Just a typical teenager." Arabella had to agree with Damon. Teenagers this days were not the same as the ones when they where still human kids.
"Who's seeing ghosts and who's lost everyone that he cares about."
"Not everyone. He still has you." Another dart, before he took them of the board again.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked worriedly.
"What makes you think I'm not okay?"
"Well, you're a day drunk. It's not exactly your most attractive look." Damon got closer to her, smirking.
"What is my most attractive look?"
"Uh-uh. I'm not saying you have any attractive look. I'm just- Saying this is my least favorite one."
One more thing she was done with. Their constant flirting but no action.
Like come on just kiss already.
"Noted. See if I can make any improvements."
"Don't mind us." Klaus said leaning on the bar, next to Arabella.
Elena and Damon turned themselves towards the Hybrid who was here with another man. Another Hybrid.
"Klaus." Elena greeted, stiffly.
Klaus smiled at her.
"You going to do this in the grill, in front of everyone? It's a little beneath you, don't you think?" Damon asked, standing in front of Elena.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink with a mate and see my wife. Get a round, then, would you, Tony?"
Arabella saw that Elena recognized the man named Tony. She assumed that he had been the man who was chasing her this morning.
Tony left and Klaus took a seat next to Arabella.
"I'm surprised you stuck around town. Long enough for happy hour."
"My sister seems to be missing. Need to sort that out." He looked towards his mate. "Any idea where she is, my love?"
"Do you see her sitting her? No? Then there's your answer. She probably just wanted to get away from you." She added quietly. "Just like me."
Klaus gasped offended.
"Cute, blonde bomb, psycho. Shouldn't be too hard to find." Damon said, interrupting the two.
Klaus stood up and took the darts from Damon.
"Truth is, I've grown to rather like your little town. Thinking I might fancy a home here. I imagine you're wondering how does this affect you. And the answer is, not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want, and everyone behaves themselves, you can go on living your little lives however you choose. You have my word."
"What more could you possibly want?" Elena asked.
"Well, for starters, you can tell me where I might find Stefan." He looked from Damon to Arabella. Arabella was just leaning her head up with her hand, looking as if she might fall asleep anytime soon.
"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass."
"Well, you see, that is a shame." Niklaus shot another dart, hitting the middle circle this time. "Your brother stole from me. Multiple times now. I need him found so I can take back what's mine." Klaus was thinking of his family but his gaze fell on Arabella when he said mine. Not that she paid any attention to this.
"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem."
He got closer to her but Damon puts himself in front of her. Klaus looked at him and smiled "Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart."
⭒❃.✮:▹
Arabella had gotten a text from Elena saying that Tyler was sitting in the Gilbert's kitchen as if nothing was going on and asked if she could ask Klaus to stop sending his hybrids after her.
Only she didn't go to Klaus'. She went over to Elena's just in time to see Jeremy walking out of the door and standing in the middle of the street.
"Jeremy? What are you doing?" Arabella asked, but the Gilbert didn't give a response.
Alaric and Elena came running down outside, when also a car was coming in the direction of Jeremy and Arabella.
"Jeremy! Arabella! Move!" The two of them yelled together but Arabella had already grabbed Jeremy by his arm and used her vampire speed to get him of the road.
And the car drove by, driving faster as Jeremy seemed to snap out of his thoughts.
"Jeremy, why aren't you wearing vervain? Where's your bracelet?" Arabella asked, seeing his wrist with no bracelet on it anymore.
"I don't know."
Elena and Alaric ran over to the other side of the road. "It was Tyler. It had to have been. That's why he was hanging out with you, to get you off the vervain."
They moved back inside and surprise surprise, Damon had just arrived.
"Klaus is trying to send us a message. He wants us to find Stefan, who stole his coffins of all his dead family members."
"Coffins?" Elena asked.
"Yep. So all we have to do is find 4 coffins, and voila, no one else on your families Christmas list has to die."
"Wait, that's the big plan, to steal back 4 dead originals so this evil hybrid doesn't kill me. And everyone else we know?" Jeremy asked, voice louder.
"You got a better idea?"
'Yeah. Let's get the hell out of here. Pack our bags and go." Jeremy said, angrily.
"Hey, Jeremy, calm down."
"No. No, I'm not going to calm down, Elena. This happens every time no matter what we do... You get on my case about school and work. Who cares. None of us are going to make it out of this town alive." He went upstairs, leaving the others.
"He said he wants his family back." Elena said.
"No." Damon immediately said. "No, I know what you're thinking. The answer's no."
"If we give him Rebekah-"
"You have Rebekah?" Arabella asked, surprised.
"Yes."
"How?"
"I daggered her."
"You daggered her, Elena?" Arabella asked, sounding mad.
"Yeah, now Klaus will un-dagger her. First thing she does is kill you, Elena. Frying pan, fire. Not an option."
"Klaus's coffins. How many did you say there were?"
"There are four."
"How do you know?" Damon asked.
"Me and Stefan spent our entire summer with him, how could we not?"
⭒❃.✮:▹
Finally Arabella got a text back from Stefan with his whereabouts. An old abandoned house. How pleasant.
"Stefan?" Arabella called through the house?
"Bella?" Stefan asked, walking up the stairs.
"Hey, I've been looking for you, which you know since I asked you where you were and you responded."
"Yeah."
"Well, this is awkward." Arabella stated as they looked at each other, saying nothing for a few minutes. "Do you really have Klaus's family.
Stefan just grabbed her hand and lead her downstairs to the basement of the old house. Where Arabella found the four coffins. Three standing next to each other, one lying in horizontal position.
"Klaus was not happy with you this morning."
"Did he hurt you?"
"No." Arabella shook her head, before hugging him.
Him hugging her back, very tightly.
"I heard from Kath that you stopped Damon from killing Klaus to save him." She felt Stefan nodding in her neck. "Well me personally. I'm just glad to have you back."
And a heavily make out session began.
Only to be interrupted by two people.
"The dead witches were angry at her for bringing Jeremy back to life. I guess now they have something they want her to know." Arabella and Stefan heard Elena from outside.
"That's why I hate witches. So fickle, passive-aggressive." Damon responded, but was only met with an angry Arabella at the door.
"We are not passive-aggressive, asshole."
But Damon walked past her with Elena behind him.
"Come on, Stef. Olly olly oxen free." He wanted to walk further but the sunlight that hit his skin, burned. walks through sunlight but his skin burns. Vamping over to a shadow he asked to no one in particularly. "Really? Still?"
"Must be the passive-aggressive." Arabella glared at Damon.
"What?"
"The witchy spirits aren't a big fan, and they used their juju to screw with my daylight ring."
"Then wait outside."
Damon just vamped over to the border of the house.
"Why are you two here?"
"Why are you here, sunshine?" Damon asked.
"Stefan. Duh." Arabella replied, before walking downstairs again, the coffins now gone. She looked at Stefan with a question look, but he just shook his head as they heard Elena coming down the stairs not much later than Arabella had done.
"Go away. You shouldn't be here, Elena."
"I need your help. Bonnie said that you would be here."
"Well, Bonnie sucks at keeping secrets." Stefan sighed.
"Listen, you need to give Klaus his family back."
"Oh really? Is that what I need to do?"
"Klaus compelled Jeremy to stand in front of a speeding car. Don't you get it? Stefan, he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants."
"Elena, stop talking. I'm not giving Klaus anything."
"Are you listening to me? He's going to kill Jeremy."
"Not really my problem."
"Then you can go to hell." Elena yelled at his angrily.
Arabella got that Elena was mad, but she also understood Stefan's point of view. While Elena was trying to not get her brother killed by Klaus, Stefan had every right to be pissed at Klaus and take the coffins from the Hybrid as revenge.
Damon came vamping into the room not much later. Him hissing in pain from the sun burns.
"Wow. That was impressive." Stefan spoke, sarcastically. "But the coffins aren't here, so you can go away now."
"I don't care about the coffins. We need to talk." Damon stated as he got up but his skin burned, making him scream in pain, again.
"Okay. Let's talk."
"Nothing's ever easy with you, is it?" Damon snapped Arabella's neck, catching Stefan off guard as he looked down at his mate. Damon caught Stefan and rushed him through the house with him.
When they were finally outside Damon threw Stefan on the ground and kicked him before taking a branch and stabbing him with it.
"That is for screwing up my plan. You stopped me from killing Klaus, and you steal his family. Why? It doesn't make sense. Answer me!" Damon yelled.
"Piece by piece, Klaus took everything from me. I'm doing the same to him."
"But I had him, Stefan! Why'd you screw it up?"
"I did it to save you!" Stefan grunted out, pushing his brother away from him.
"What? No. No way. You didn't do this for me."
Stefan took the branch out. "He was one step ahead of us. If Klaus died, his hybrids would have killed you."
"When are you going to get it through your head?" Damon stabbed Stefan with the same branch again. "Stop saving me."
⭒❃.✮:▹
When Damon arrived back at the old house, his brain met wit an aneurism, making the vampire crouch down in pain.
"That's for snapping my neck. AGAIN."
When Arabella finally stoped, Damon stood up. "You know what I can't figure out? Why save me? Was it brotherly love, guilty conscience, Is the switch on, is the switch off?"
"Do you have somewhere you need to be, Damon?" Stefan asked, annoyed.
"Ah, deflection. That's not going to work on me. I invented that."
"We're done. Can't you just go away?"
"Not until you tell me why you saved me. You owe me that." Damon reasoned.
"I don't owe you anything."
"Fine. Next question, why did you steal the coffins?"
"Because Klaus's family is one weakness I can use against him."
"Use against him to do what? You're not going to kill him. You know how I know this? 'Cause there was only one way to kill him, and you blew that to save me."
"You're wrong, Damon. Klaus doesn't get to just live forever. There's another way. There has to be."
"Fair enough. Whatever you're doing, I want in."
"I don't need your help."
"Really? Last time I checked, you were hiding out in a haunted house." Damon said.
"I'm in this alone, Damon." Stefan answered, and Arabella looked up at him, offended, but he gave her a reassuring look.
"You go after Klaus, you're going to have to be cutthroat and devious. I'm so much better at that than you. Come on, brother. What do you say? If you're going to keep saving my life, at least make it for a good reason."
"You want in, huh? Okay. But it's just me and you. Elena stays out of it."
"Deal." Damon agreed.
"Follow me."
"Wait. I'm not so welcome in there. Damon waited at the door hold.
"Don't you worry, Damon. We all want the same thing."
They all made their way downstairs. The basement empty again.
"Have a look." Stefan said, pointing around in the room/
"What? Klaus is allergic to dust?"
"Mmm. Look again." Arabella said. Damon did and now the coffins appeared again. "Witch spirits hate Klaus as much as we do. They're using their powers to hide the coffins."
"So if he comes in the house-"
"He won't be able to find them." Arabella finished. "They witches lead Bonnie here for a reason. I think whatever's inside this coffin" She pointed at the one which was close off with a spell. "is your answer to make him suffer, Stef."
"Can't you get it open than?"
"I tried but it won't open." Arabella however looked over to a different coffin, opening it revealing the youngest Mikaelson. "We can always wake him."
"Why?" Stefan asked. "If we wake them we would lose our leverage."
"Yeah, that's true. But Kol would definitely help us."
⭒❃.✮:▹
Words: 2708
Posted: January 28, 2024
Be sure to comment. I love reading them and it keeps me motivated!
x Kat