ALL REVIEWERS AND READERS-
Thank you for reading (And possibly reviewing) It means a lot that you've stuck with the story despite my horrible updating times! :)
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IMPORTANT::
I do not own TVD, if I did you would have seen all of this on TV lol
Thanks to all reviewers!
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"Damn it!" Maddie exclaimed, frustrated at yet another failed attempt to get the last coffin open. This morning she had gotten up at the crack of dawn just as she had been doing for the past few days. It wasn't that she suddenly had a change of heart and loved mornings, but really early and really late were the only times she could get to the coffin without Bonnie there.
She had heard about what Stefan had done to Elena after she had left and felt a small wave of guilt wash over her. If she hadn't had left, then she might have been able to stop it. Yeah, she was mad at the girls and all, but that didn't mean she wanted them to get hurt, she just needed some space, which for the most part she had been given. Of course the girls had tried to get her to talk to them when they saw her at school the next day, Elena especially wouldn't take a hint, but after she had ignored them through the entirety of Alaric's class, not sat with them at Lunch, and offered to work with Tiki's practice squad as their flyer for the week instead of Caroline's they had backed off.
The thing was, space got lonely. More often then she liked, Maddie found herself thinking she would just go to the boarding house and hang out with Rebekah instead of wallowing in her passive aggressive attitude towards her friends... But then she remembered that Rebekah wasn't at the boarding house anymore. She was off sunbathing in Florida, or shopping in Paris, and had left without even a goodbye.
With all this free time you would have assumed that Maddie would have been enjoying the sweet relief of nothing. Well that would have meant that you'd have forgotten about a significant player in the game. Katherine. True to her word, Katherine had called her the day after Caroline's birthday with a meeting spot. Against her better judgment, and fueled by her anger towards her friends, Maddie had gone. it had been the same thing the day after and the day after that. Each day at some point she would get a phone call or a text telling her where and when to meet Katherine. The meetings normally had her busy for several hours at most, and an hour at least.
Maddie wasn't sure if the girl had a change of heart or not, but she wasn't about to start that conversation if she could help it which meant that she just needed to avoid them. The easiest way would be to just stop helping, but that would mean she had given up. And Maddie Donovan didn't give up. Plus, Maddie wasn't about to listen to Bonnie and stop using her magic. She would admit that something weird was going on, but since she didn't know how to stop it, she didn't think it was worth halting part of her life. Lately the dreams had been more frequent, happening once when she fell asleep each night, and then after she woke again in the middle of the night with a start and a bit of blood dripping out of her nose. Bonnie had been right about her being channeled, she could feel it at night sometimes, someone tapping into her powers. The bright side was that it hadn't been nearly as much as before... But the bad part was that she had no idea who it would be. Actually, scratch that. She had a bit of an idea. A lot had happened in Europe... Maybe I left something there, I'll call the Salgado's this afternoon. She thought to herself before letting out a breath and walked around the large coffin to look at the three others.
The little blonde witch slowly opened the lid of one of the coffins and found herself looking down into the cold dead face of Elijah. She felt her lips turn down into a soft frown as she gazed at him. She didn't know him personally, but she couldn't help the feeling that she knew him somehow, and chalked it up to the dreams again. After all, if your dreaming about someone two-three times a night, plus the oh so pleasant occasional waking vision, you get to know a person. Elijah didn't deserve to be daggered. Maddie reached out and gently tugged at his toe, straightening it from it's previously crooked position. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't hear the two girls behind her come down the steps.
"Maddie?" Their two voices mixed as one and confusion, albeit happy sounding, coated their voices.
Maddie's golden locks flowed out around her as she spun around in surprise. "Oh my god!" She exclaimed, jumping in shock and placing a hand over her heart. "Don't sneak up on me!" A moment later her mind caught up with the situation and she glanced at her watch with a frown, thinking she had stayed to long. Nope, it's not time for her to come yet...
As if reading her mind, Bonnie started to explain. "I-I wanted to show Elena the coffins..." She stuttered, unsure about how to handle the situation. She had known that the younger witch had been coming to try and open the coffins because Stefan had told her as much. In light of what her friend had said a few days ago, she had let it slide, like Maddie had said, she had been a witch for a while and Bonnie was trusting her to keep herself under control and safe. Plus Maddie had made it clear that she didn't want to talk to them, but there was no avoiding it now... The only question was, should they bring up what happened or just pretend that it didn't happen? It seemed that she didn't need to make the choice because Elena spoke next.
As she gazed at the different coffins she muttered, "So these are the rest of his family?" After a quick thought, she had decided to save confronting Maddie for later and just hope that she decided to stay long enough to talk to them for now. Both she and Bonnie waited with baited breath for the blonde Mikaelson witch to say something, and let out matching sighs when she did.
"Yeah." She muttered under her breath, deciding that since they had already caught her down here, she could be pissed and helpful at the same time. She glanced down at Elijah's gray corpse before striding over to the other two and opening them both, naming the inhabitants inside as she went. "You already know Elijah. This is Finn and Kol." She introduced almost as if they were living.
Then, still with bit of hesitancy, Elena asked, "Wait- how do you know which one's which?" and pointed to the brothers.
Maddie, being tired and grumpy as it was absently muttered. "I saw them in dreams." Under her breath, but then quickly moved on, shaking her head a bit to clear it. "That's the one we can't open." She prompted.
Bonnie waited for the girl to further explain but to her disappointment, Maddie just walked back across the room to her Grimoire that was still laying open onto of the locked coffin. So she walked over and gently shut the grimoire that she was looking at and muttered. "I don't think you'll need to look anymore." Maddie frowned, irritation clear on her face, but that only ushered Bonnie more quickly into her explanation. "I think I know how we can open it."
Maddie, to both older girl's surprise, smiled. "Great!" She said in an almost cheerful manner before picking up the spell book she had been looking at and courtly quipping. "I guess that means I can leave." Without another word the girl started towards the stairs only to be stopped when Stefan's hand wrapped around her arm.
"What the hell did you two do?" He asked monotonously, looking back and forth between the two witches after sending a glance towards Elena. He had given them two jobs. To open the coffin and not to tell Elena. Stefan didn't think that was so hard, just do your job and keep your mouth shut, but in the course of two weeks they hadn't done either and Klaus was getting antsy.
Maddie sent his a glare, but didn't use any magic to make him let go. He wasn't worth it. "Well it wasn't me." She snapped, frustration coming off her in waves.
Stefan's frown stayed for a moment before he let out a dry chuckle and muttered, "Right. You four are 'fighting' aren't you." half to himself, half to the group as Maddie tugged her arm free from his grasp. He dismissed her by giving a quick nod towards the steps and heard the witch let out a frustrated huff before she started out of the witch house. "I needed you to keep her out of it, Bonnie." The vampire said darkly, turning to look at the Bennett witch once more and going back to the conversation at hand. Then despite himself, he let out a small chuckle as he heard a sound coming from the upper floor with his vampire hearing.
"Damn Salvatores." Maddie murmured before slamming the door behind her.
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Not wanting to brave sleep, Maddie went home and did some homework instead. After a while she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and pulled it out, answering without checking the caller ID first, something she regretted as soon as she answered and heard the elegant greeting.
"Katherine." She said the name with a sigh in her voice. "Great."
"Well don't sound too excited." She heard the vampire say in a voice that was all too teasing. "I bet you've been dying to hear from me, huh?"
Maddie rolled her eyes, but didn't hang up like she would have liked. "Oh this is the highlight of my day." She snapped back sarcastically, matching the doppelganger's too-sweet tone.
To her dislike, Katherine just laughed softly, amused and impressed once again by the little witch. "I think this day just might be bearable." She proposed more to herself then to Maddie. She wasn't sure what it was but Katherine found Maddie to be... Tolerable. When the idea to get on the Donovan girl's side had first crossed her mind she had dreaded the operation, but she was starting to realize that the girl might actually make a descent protégée. She had a fire that glowed inside her, much like Elena actually, but Maddie acted on it while her dull as dishwater doppelganger just suppressed it. Katherine had also noticed a family trait. Maddie hated to fail and hated to be told what to do, just like her siblings, but the difference was time's cold hand had already chilled the Original's hearts with power, fear and heartbreak. That made her teachable.
Unlike her siblings the witch hadn't discovered the thrill of having power, being in control instead of following orders, or on a more complicated level, tasted the joy of the kill or the thrill of the hunt, and Katherine knew from experience that you never forget the person who revealed that to you. You would think back upon them for the rest of your life, knowing in the back of your mind that they were always your ally, tat they were the one who made you what you are today. Just imagine having her on my side... A witch, an inside member of Elena's merry little gang, and the best part, she's one of the Mikaelson siblings! It would change the whole game. All to soon though Katherine snapped herself out of her reverie so she could continue the conversation. "You know where the tomb is?" She asked, or requested more like.
"I know it's under the old Fell's church in the forest, but not really. Why?" Maddie asked, confused.
Katherine smiled, glad that things seemed to be going her way. "You'll see." She answered cryptically. "Get there in ten." The vampire started to hang up before she remembered something and suddenly added. "Oh, and don't forget your grimoire. We'll need it."
Maddie frowned, feeling her confusion double. "Katherine wait-" She tried to ask, but the only answer she got was a dial tone. Maddie pulled the phone away from her ear to look at it and then sighed. "Fantastic." She muttered sarcastically before reluctantly getting to her feet and grabbing a bag. Looked like she was going on a trip.
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"Katherine!" Maddie called with a sigh. She had been walking around the woods for a while now, and needless to say she was getting tired of it. "This isn't funny!"
On the contrary, Katherine thought it quite amusing from her perch in one of the tall oaks nearby. She stayed silent as she listened to the witch's shouts, waiting to see if she would figure this out on her own. As she waited, Katherine thought back on her plans. She needed to get the girl to trust her, but more importantly she needed to make sure Maddie wouldn't get herself killed before she became useful. The easiest way to get both was to train her, so that's what she was doing.
The first thing Katherine had Maddie do was, oddly enough, meditate. For a vampire the girl was well informed about witches, she had Maddie doing various spells and reading from her grimoire. Katherine was anything but a fool, after working with them on and off for 500 years she knew what kind of power witches held, most of them were just too worried about spirits to use them. She wanted to know what the girl could do, so she had given her assignments, like magical classwork to get done in front of her.
After that there was the fighting. Despite the power that witches held, they weren't hard targets. Katherine had killed many witches in her time because of one reason, they relied on their magic. Put them in a position where they couldn't use it, or didn't have time to think up a spell and it was like stealing candy from a baby. So that was why she added Vampire 101 to Maddie's class list. It wasn't that hard to do, she had trained several of her sires before, Pearl and Anna for instance, and in both cases they had managed to survive for a good while. She did however tone it down a few notches, remembering that Maddie was still very mortal and that meant she was still very breakable and wouldn't mend herself back together... Without vampire blood that is. Maddie though was rather firm about not wanting it, and Katherine had used that to her advantage, making it a test of sort, seeing how long the witch could defend herself until Katherine got to her. The next day Maddie had come with a spell prepared to patch herself up after the session so she would avoid the vampire blood. The only drawback was that it apparently took up quite a bit of energy, so they could either train physically, or magically, not both on the same day.
Katherine didn't particularly care what the witch preferred and personally, Katherine would rather just shove some blood down her throat and get both done, but she still needed Maddie's trust.
"Katherine!" Maddie called again, but this time there was something different in her tone. There was surprise and irritation and a tad of relief. When Katherine looked down at her newest student, her brown eyes met blue and she smirked.
"Took you long enough." The vampire quipped before leaping down from her perch and landing nimbly on her feet in front of the witch.
Maddie took a step backwards out of instinct as the vampire landed hardly two feet away from her and then sighed. "Well I didn't know you'd be playing hide and seek." She pointed out only to get an irritated frown in return.
"Don't whine." The vampire practically ordered before shifted her weight into a more casual stance and gesturing to the over the shoulder bag Maddie was holding. "The book?" She asked, waited until Maddie nodded to continue. "Good. Now lets get to the tomb, we've already wasted enough time." With that the vampire sped away leaving only a breeze in her wake.
Maddie resisted the urge to groan before she took off in a run after Katherine. It wasn't that she thought she could catch up, it was just she had no idea where the tomb was and needed to try and get there as soon as possible, Katherine didn't like waiting.
It was definitely an odd relationship she had formed with Elena's doppelganger. Everyday since Caroline's party, Katherine and she would train, and if Maddie was being honest, it was a pain. She had better things to be doing then practicing her magic or getting her ass handed to her in a fake fight. When she had her powers she was fine and had thrown Katherine to the ground a couple of times, but when Katherine called for no powers, she couldn't say she enjoyed it. She had learned how to handle herself with a stake, but that didn't mean she was ready to take on a 500 year old survival pro with nothing but instinct on her side.
She had been surprised though with how Katherine handled each of these secret meetings. Each of them was in the forest somewhere, sometimes different forests, but always in different places. When she had first showed up she had expected a cold greeting and then an exchange of information, but that wasn't what she got. Instead Katherine seemed to be interested in her not what she knew or what she could do for her. Each time she was thrown down Katherine had come over and helped her up, with the occasional exception here and there and the vampire had been fairly nice to Maddie overall. Strict and demanding maybe but not mean.
In the back of her mind, Maddie knew that Katherine was supposed to be the enemy but there were four things that kept her from acting on the thought. 1) When she was with Katherine she wasn't in danger of running into Elena, Klaus, Caroline, Bonnie, Damon, Stefan, or anyone else that she didn't want to see. If Katherine didn't want them to be found they wouldn't be found. 2) This had been going on for a week now, if Katherine wanted her dead, she would have tried to kill her already! 3) Discomfort and irritation aside, the lessons that Katherine had been giving were actually helping. She felt more prepared now then she had before as silly as that sounded. 4) Katherine had said she knew something about her family, and that was something Maddie desperately wanted to know more about.
So without another thought, Maddie took off in a run after the speeding vampire, ready to go through what she expected to be a long day.
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After an hour or so of Katherine lecturing her about some spells and giving her what seemed like foolish tasks from the grimoire, Maddie felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket. She looked over at Katherine who sat on the steps up from the tomb and noted that she was absorbed in her own cell phone. So seeing nothing wrong with it, Maddie answered. "Hello?" She asked as she pulled the phone to her ear.
The voice on the other end confused her. It was Bill Forbes. "Hello Maddie."
The little witch crinkled her nose in both distaste and confusion. "Mr. Forbes?" She asked slowly, not understanding why he was back or why he was calling her. "I didn't know you were in town... Do you need something?" She inquired, her tone showing her confusion.
Instead of answering any of her questions, Bill got straight to the point. "I know what you are."
That caught both Maddie and Katherine's attention. The vampire's head whipped up, a frustrated look in her eyes as she started to sort through was of fixing the setback without being discovered. After all, Maddie was the only one who knew that she was in Mystic Falls anymore and it needed to stay that way if she wanted to stay alive. Meanwhile, Maddie's mind was going about a hundred miles per hour as she thought of all the ways Bill could have found out, after all she wasn't reckless. "I don't understand..." She said into the phone, faking confusion.
Bill didn't seem to care about her act, and instead of going along with it just went on with getting what he needed. "You are going to help me get rid of Tyler's sire bond." He demanded.
Before Katherine could stop her, Maddie's temper got the best of her. If there was one thing she hated it was being told what to do. "Excuse you!" She exclaimed, narrowing her eyes. "I'm not doing-"
"Yes you are." Bill replied firmly. "You are going to do exactly what I say because if you don't I will tell your friends what really happened while you were overseas." He threatened lowly.
Maddie felt herself tension as her mind wandered back several months. "Your bluffing." She said softly after a moment or two, acutely aware of the curious-looking doppelganger that now stood beside her. Earlier Katherine had been angry, now she was reconsidering. Bill Forbes didn't want to expose her little ticket to freedom, he wanted her to find out how to break a sire bond, and that could come in handy. Klaus had waited a thousand years to be able to build his hybrid army, and now that he had it he was even more untouchable then he had been before, and he was that much harder to avoid. Katherine had seen how he treated his hybrids and if the sire bond was gone, well lets just say they weren't going to be kissing his boots again any time soon. If Maddie could break the sire bond of one hybrid, she could break all of their sire bonds and that would give Katherine an advantage. The enemy of my enemy after all. Then there was the matter of whatever had happened in Europe that Bill was threatening Maddie with. Yes it was coming in handy now, but later along the line he might get Maddie to do something that wasn't in Katherine's favor. He was a loose end, and Katherine liked her tied up. Hum... She thought before coming to a simple solution. I guess I'll just have to kill him.
While Katherine was having her conversation with herself, Bill continued to speak. "While I was away I came across a vampire. Said she knew someone named Nicolette who had been hanging around a powerful young witch named-"
"I got it." This time Maddie was the one to cut him off. The girl paused for a moment, closing her eyes to think and clutched her necklace between a few fingers. No one was supposed to know about what had happened, but if John had gotten the story from a friend of Nicolette's then who was she to test fate? After what felt to Maddie like a lifetime the little blonde let out sigh and asked. "Where?"
She could practically see the man's prideful smirk as he said. "My house, ten minutes." The next thing she heard was a dial tone.
She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked down at the screen in surprise. that surprise quickly turned to frustration as she realized. "Did he really just hang up on me?" Then she rolled her eyes and bent down to grab her grimoire from where it rest on the floor.
"Where are you going?" Katherine asked, mildly annoyed. "We aren't finished with today."
Maddie didn't bother looking up at the vampire as she replied. "Yes we are." Once she finished collecting the items she had gotten out for the spells she had been preforming, the witch stood up again and faced Katherine. "You heard him, I'm needed elsewhere." She rolled her eyes at the mere idea, not liking the thought of him holding anything above her head. She watched as Katherine crossed her arms with enough attitude for both of them before sending a nod towards the stairs she had been sitting on earlier as a motion of dismissal. Maddie sent a parting smirk towards her new teacher before taking off in a run up the stairs. As she moved through the silent woods she couldn't help but think about that day.
Suddenly the nipping cold didn't matter as much to her. All she could comprehend was her friend running towards the horrific scene. "Chris!" She shouted, taking a few steps towards him before he yelled at her to stay back.
"No! I'll go check it out, you stay there, Mom'll kill me if you get in trouble." The light haired teen instructed, walking backwards so he could talk to her before spinning around and running again towards the wreck. Against her better judgment she listened and stayed put. She waited several long moments before she realized she couldn't just stand there and she dropped her bag beside his, taking off after him towards the overturned vehicle. She forced herself not to look at what she knew to be inside the broken windows and instead hurried to the other side of the car.
What she saw shocked her, "Oh my god is that-
Maddie shook her head to clear it when she reached her own car. "That's not what I need to be thinking about on the road." She whispered to herself as she started up the engine. Flicking on the radio in an attempt to distract herself, Maddie started her drive towards Caroline's house.
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Caroline walked into her house and set her purse down on the little side table by the door before turning to walk into the living room. She wasn't sure what exactly she planned to do with the day. Maddie hated her so she couldn't go shopping or hang out, Elena and Bonnie were on a road trip to find Abby Bennett, her boyfriend had just bit her last night so she couldn't go to him, and her mother was at work as always. She had already tried to make up with Maddie after the fight, but the witch was clearly avoiding her, and she was doing a pretty good job of it. At school she would hang out with the other Sophomores and a cheer practice she went to work with Tiki instead of her, and then after school she just seemed to disappear! Caroline had checked the grill, her house the witch house and even with the Salvatore's at one point thinking she had been hiding there. Caroline would have kept thinking about the conundrum if it wasn't for the shocking sight she found in her living room.
She watched frozen with her surprise as Tyler Lockwood stood up from where he had been sitting on her couch. He moved slowly as if trying not to spook the blonde vampire. Caroline was silent for a moment as she tried to gather her thoughts, after a moment though she was able to think clearly enough to form a sentence. "What are you doing here?" She asked slowly. In any other occasion she would be happy to see him. She loved him. After what had happened though she had herself wondering if that love was enough or if she was just tying herself to something that never should have happened in the first place.
"I came to apologize." Tyler started, his eyes never moving from Caroline's. He watched as she let out a laugh of disbelief.
"Apologize?" Caroline asked, shifting on her feet. "You bit me." She reminded him, her voice coming out harsher then she had intended. Actually, no, he doesn't get sympathy right now. She thought as she continued to speak. "I could have died. I think we're way past apologies Tyler!" Her eyes narrowed at the guilty looking hybrid as she recalled the painful infection that the bite had caused and the hallucinations that followed.
Tyler nodded, knowing all of what she had said was true. "That's the problem." He insisted, working hard to keep his anger in check. He wasn't mad at Caroline, no, he was mad at himself for doing it in the first place and Klaus more than anything for making him. The hybrid walked around the coffee table that sat between him and Caroline. "Klaus told me to do it and I said no... And then it just happened anyway, like it was completely out of my control." He watched as Caroline shifted on her feet, not comfortable with him coming that close. She wasn't sure what he would do anymore with Klaus as his master. After he explained though she realized that he was right. She shouldn't be upset with him because it wasn't his fault. It was Klaus's. Klaus was the one she should be upset with. He probably thought this whole thing up so he could swoop in and play hero. She realized as Tyler continued to talk. "That's why I had your mom call him." Tyler turned and looked over at the side of the room where Bill had been watching the whole exchange silently.
When Caroline saw her father the shocked look that she had had when she first spotted Tyler returned to her face. "Daddy?" She asked softly, new wave of emotion sweeping over her again.
Bill smiled softly and gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head. "Hi Caroline." He murmured in greeting.
"I thought, since he could resist compulsion," Tyler started, watching Caroline carefully as her eyes darted from him to her father and back again. "That maybe he could teach me to resist the sire bond." He finally reveled.
At first Caroline didn't know quite what to say. The two men who had hurt her the most were here in the same room, working together to try and help her. Once her mind caught up with the situation she softly asked, "Can you help him?" The question directed at Bill.
To her relief he nodded his head, glancing over at Tyler as he muttered. "I can try and I think I know someone who can." Suddenly the door opened with a soft creek and a familiar voice called into the house.
"Mr. Forbes?" Caroline's eyes widened ever so slightly as she recognized it as the very girl she had been trying to reach for the past few days.
"Just in time." Bill said more to himself then the two vampires.
A second or two later the blonde walked around the corner just as Caroline had done and had to jump backwards to avoid walking into her friend. "Oh." She muttered as she saw not only Bill but Tyler and Caroline as well. The teen swallowed as she looked over the group, "I didn't know we were doing this now." She said trying to avoid looking at Caroline.
Care wasn't bout to make that easy for her though. She started to reach out to Maddie but then pulled her hand back to her side, not knowing if the witch would be alright with it. So instead she hummed softly at the awkwardness before asking. "Um, Maddie, what are you doing here?" Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Caroline quickly backpedaled and exclaimed. "Not that I'm not happy to see you- I've been trying to talk to you all week."
Not giving Maddie the chance to answer herself, Bill jumped back into the conversation again. "She is going to help us." He said, looking directly at Maddie almost as if he was daring her to speak out against him. As he predicted the girl lowered her head ever so slightly as she met his gaze, signaling that she was backing down from the silent challenge he was presenting. She was going along with it.
After a second of the stare down Maddie finally looked back at Caroline. "If you let me anyway." She said coolly, bringing up the argument they had had at the party in hopes of renewing some guilt. The comment had the desired effect seeing as Caroline deflated ever so slightly.
To Maddie's frustration, Caroline didn't stay down for long. The next instant the blonde had her head held high once more, a gleam of determination in her eyes. "It's fine." She said, surprising the witch. Maddie frowned and tilted her head ever so slightly in confusion at the sentence, since when was her doing magic fine to the supernatural trio? Luckily Caroline continued before she had time to think to hard about it. "You know what your doing and I trust you." With that she let out a sigh and her shoulders slumped again in disappointment with herself. "Look," She started, looking at her feet. "I'm sorry, Ok? You were right, I was being a little overbearing but-"
"You can stop there." Maddie interrupted, holding a hand up. Caroline's expression sank as she assumed that her friend was denying her apology. "That's all I wanted to hear." With that Maddie's smile returned and her hand fell back to her side. "Apology accepted."
Caroline let out a squeal of relief and launched herself at the girl in a very Caroline-like fashion, glad to have her friend back.
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Music blared from the underused stereo sitting in the Salvatore's living room as Stefan opened the door to the boarding house. The ripper frowned in confusion. Damon was at the grill and Rebekah was daggered with Klaus, not that this was the kind of music that she would listen to anyway. He vaguely remembered hearing something like that in the background while he played twister with his lady friends a few weeks ago, but he didn't have a clue who could be playing it now. In an attempt to satisfy his curiosity, Stefan stalked over to the room and looked around. This day just keeps getting better. He thought sarcastically when he spotted Klaus sitting in Damon's chair drinking bourbon.
Without saying a word he walked around the chair and picked up the remote to the stereo. He flipped it around with a toss of his hand before pointing it at the machine and lowering the volume a few notches. Why waste a good song? Then he walked back around to stand in front of the original hybrid. "What are you doing here, Klaus?" He questioned, not bothering with pleasantries.
In response, Klaus continued to stare at the ceiling and blankly replied. "Enjoying our stalemate." His tone was wrapped in what could be boredom or emotionlessness.
Stefan gave a half nod at the answer before continuing his interrogation. "What do you want?" He gave fake smile before his face went blank once more.
Klaus glanced up at Stefan for the first time, emotion returning to his chiseled features. Irritation was clear in his voice as he said, "The question is what do you want?" throwing the phrase back at the younger vampire. "My hybrids left town as you demanded, so please tell me what I have to do to get my family back."
"Well, ahem," Stefan started, clearing his throat to stall as he tried to think up some way to stall. The truth was he wasn't going to give back those coffins until Bonnie managed to open the locked one- or Maddie whatever came first. Stefan didn't care who did it, it just needed to get done and fast because if Klaus knew what was going on he wouldn't be so cooperative. The vampire turned around and sat down on the other chair facing the Original Hybrid as he continued. "See, Klaus..." He trail off for a moment before a smirk grew on his face at the same moment as a lie came to mind. "I'm not negotiating."
Klaus decided to amuse himself by continuing with this useless conversation. "And you do understand that holding them indefinitely is the same thing as dropping them in the ocean?" He proposed, not quite sure how Stefan thought this deal of his would go.
"No, no." Stefan corrected, turning his gaze towards the windows nearby as he explained his latest terms of surrender. "You leave Mystic Falls, give me a call in a few years and..." He paused and jutted his jaw out in contemplation before nodding and turning his gaze back to Klaus. "We'll talk."
Klaus finished off the sip he had been taking of his drink and chuckled to himself. funny how arrogant Stefan was being when they both knew Klaus could easily rip his heart from his chest without blinking if he so desired. Then his face turned serious. "I'm going to give you another chance." He explained, pointing at Stefan with the hand holding his glance. "Just one more. Let's make a reasonable deal."
Stefan shifted in his seat and then leaned out over the armrest towards his nemesis. "Or what?" He questioned lowly. "You make one move ad I will drop-"
Klaus cut off what he believed to be an empty threat with a laugh. "yes, that's right." Klaus chuckled, refilling his glass. "Crazy Stefan." He reminded himself of what Damon had said to him the other night when the Ripper had almost killed Elena to get the upper hand. "Mmm... How's that working out for you?" He questioned, glancing back at the man he had once been so close too. Stefan's smile twitched downwards ever so slightly in confusion and irritation. "Any friends left?" At that the green eyed vampire's smirk disappeared completely and he leaned back in his chair, saying nothing.
Klaus seized the small victory against his opponent and decided to move on with the second reason for his visit. "Now, how about you tell me what I need to know so I can be on my way." The man leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as his eyes scanned over Stefan who had turned to look at Klaus once more with a curious look. He wasn't sure what the hybrid could want other than his coffins. "Where might the lovely Miss Donovan be today?" Klaus asked.
Stefan cocked his head and sat up straight once more, putting aside what was said moments ago. "Why do you want to know?" He rivaled, eager to get some new information.
Klaus smirked ever so slightly. "I believe that's my business, mate."
"Maddie is powerful witch that could do a locator spell on those coffins for you. That makes it my business." Stefan replied. He didn't mind mentioning the locator spell because he had Bonnie and the witch spirits blocking the location anyway and the though had surely crossed Klaus' mind before now. After living for a thousand years he must have some tricks like that up his sleeve.
Klaus smirked and looked down at his glass as he contemplated what to reveal. He had to tell Stefan something if he was to tell Madelyn's whereabouts to him. "I'm not allowed to pay a friendly visit to my relative?"
Stefan shrugged and casually reminded Klaus, "Well, considering most of your relatives are in coffins..."
Klaus let out a dark chuckle of agreement and raised his glass ever so slightly in a toasting gesture. "You would know wouldn't you." He quipped lowly before turning back to the situation at hand. After downing the remaining contents of his glass he decided on what to tell the younger vampire sitting patiently in front of him. "I have acquired something that maybe of use to her in her fruitless search for family."
Stefan leaned back again in his chair, figuring Klaus was lying to him. "And, what, you decided to do this out of the goodness of your heart, Klaus?" He declared skeptically.
"No, Stefan, but it in my vast time on earth I've learned that always helps to be cordial with witches, and seeing as Maddie is kin to the woman who created our kind, I've decided to extend an olive branch."
Stefan paused, considering this. If Klaus gave her whatever it was, Maddie would certainly go looking for her family, and with her gone, Elena might be more inclined to do things his way. It could even distract Elena entirely, leaving Stefan to do as he wanted with the coffins and Klaus without her nagging at him, and Maddie would never help Klaus anyway so it couldn't hurt his plan. With that in mind Stefan nodded. "Alright fine." He murmured before saying, "The Donovan house is a ten minute drive from town square. Ask someone for instructions and you'll find her there."
The news made Klaus smirk, at least something's gone my way today. He thought before setting his glass down and standing up. He didn't bother with any goodbyes as he strode out of the boarding house with his latest purpose in mind. Looks like it's time to wake up, little sister.
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Maddie shut her car door behind her as she pulled her cell out of her pocket. She had planned on calling tonight, but things had gotten a lot more complicated then channeling magic and there was no time like the present. Without thinking much of it, Maddie clicked on the contact and started the call as she started the car. "Pick up, pick up, pick up..." She muttered under her breath before putting the cell phone on speaker and placing it on her lap so she could drive and talk at the same time. To her relief before the end of the second ring, someone answered.
"Salve?" It was a woman who spoke. Her accent one of Italy, as was the language.
Maddie smiled a bit despite herself at the voice. "Ehi, indovinate chi?" The witch asked cheekily, her tone light hearted for the first time that day. (Hey, guess who?)
The woman on the other end let out a laugh of surprise and happiness before switching languages, her accent still rich despite the English words. "Maddie! It's nice to finally hear from you, dolcezza."
Maddie chuckled at the term Dolcezza, it meant sweetness, and it was her friend's go to pet name. "I'm sorry I didn't call sooner, Teresa." The little blonde apologized, "Things have been busy over here."
"Busy with school or busy with whatever you've often yourself into now?" The woman questioned knowingly. When she got no answer in return she assumed it was supernatural as she had guessed. "So another vampire problem then?"
"Vampires, witches, ghosts, hybrids, the works." Maddie replied with a sigh of irritation.
Maddie couldn't see her, but she could bet that Teresa was frowning by now. "Alright, well what do you need, we can catch up later." She pointed out, knowing it to be true. IF Maddie needed something she had learned in the time she had known her that it was best to fix the problem before continuing pleasantries.
Maddie smiled at the easy switch of conversation before saying. "I actually needed to talk with your sister. Any idea where she is?"
She heard Teresa let out a little hum under her breath as she thought. "I think she just went out for a bite, but she'll be back later." She explained.
"Any idea when?" Maddie tried.
She heard Teresa laugh. "Dulcezza, you know better than to think I could keep tabs on her. Nicolette Salgado does what she wants, when she wants." She reminded gently, amused at the idea of trying to keep Nicolette in check. Maddie sighed in agreement with the older woman before Teresa offered something out in attempt to reassure Maddie. "I can tell her you called when she gets back, Maddie. Don't worry just give her a some time and she'll be home."
Maddie nodded to herself and then murmured "I guess your right, Ter..."
"Of course." The woman joked. "But while I'm here is there anything else you need?"
"Oh!" Maddie exclaimed as she recalled the original reason for her wanting to call that morning, being channeled. "Ter did I happen to leave anything at the house when I left?" she questioned. She hopped she had, because if she hadn't then she had no idea who might be channeling her. At least this way it was someone she knew and she could tell them to stop. Otherwise she was literally helpless.
There was a pause on the other side of the line before Teresa spoke again. "I thought I had sent the rest of it back with the last of your clothes a few weeks ago... Anything in specific?" She questioned, sounding like a concerned mother.
Maddie frowned and shook her head. "No... Nothing I can think of..."
"Well I can ask Chris if you want. Your rooms were right next to each other, maybe I put something in the wrong room when I was cleaning up last year."
Maddie smiled at the woman's thoughtfulness. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks Ter." She turned into her driveway and frowned as she caught an odd sight. Someone was sitting outside the door to her house, and it wasn't Matt. "Um... Teresa, I've got to go..." She said slowly, confusion seeping into her voice as the man turned around and she caught a look at his face.
The woman on the other end either didn't notice or decided to ignore the obvious tone of her voice and instead just said. "I'll let you go then, call back soon, Maddie."
"I will." the blonde replied immediately, "Tell Joey and Chris I miss them, and let me know when your sister comes home please."
Before Maddie had a chance to hang up, Teresa spoke up again. "I will, but Maddie I mean it about calling us back. Everyone misses you."
With that she gave her goodbyes which Maddie returned with a smile before getting out of the car and sliding the cell into her back pocket. Her eyes shimmered with confusion by the time she made it to the edge of the patio-like area in front of the door inside. Taking in a breath she muttered, "Klaus." As a way of greeting, thought it sounded more like a question.
The hybrid smirked a bit as he looked down at his sister's confused face. She looks the same. He thought again as he noted the way she tilted her head when confused and scrunched her eyebrows closer together. "Madelyn." He greeted in return, though his sounded more amused than anything else.
"What... Are you doing here?" She asked slowly, stuffing her hands into her pockets and shifting ever so slightly from foot to foot. A moment later Maddie realized what this must be about and frowned, a not amused look on her face. "If your here to ask for help with Stefan you might as well leave. There is nothing for you here." She declared, and Klaus had to admit, she sounded quite official.
Instead of bothering to try to gain a new ally he moved on to the next topic of conversation. "No, love, I suppose there isn't anything for me here... But as it seems I might have something for you." If there was one thing he knew about Madelyn, it was how stubborn she was. If she didn't want to help him then he wouldn't waste breath trying to convince her for the moment.
"What could you have that I want?" Maddie asked, sounding skeptical to say the least. After a moment she refrained the question. "Better yet how do you know what I want?"
Klaus chuckled to himself at her distrust and muttered. "I know lots of things love, not the least of which is your desperate search for your biological family." He glanced over at Maddie and found that she was frowning at him, but she averted her eyes when she saw him looking. "I have something that might be of use to you in that quest." He admitted after a moment of watching her.
Maddie didn't bother getting excited, Klaus was bound to be lying. "I've been looking for solutions for a while now, Klaus. There isn't one." She informed him sounding sadder then she had intended.
Klaus couldn't help the frown that appeared on his face when he heard the heartache in his sister's words. "I wouldn't be so sure, love." He murmured comfortingly. "While I was away I came across a potion, made by a very powerful witch. I believe it has the potential to give you what you want."
Maddie was still skeptical but she glanced up at Klaus through her lashes and studied his face for any sign of lies. After a moment she asked. "You really think this would work?"
Klaus cocked his head ever so slightly at her words and then nodded. "I do." He couldn't help but compare this Maddie to her old one when he saw her face grow brighter with hope. He decided he liked her better like this, he liked her better when she was happy because it reminded him of times when he used to be happy as well. Times when he was human with his family and all he had to worry about was scaring off Rebekah's suitors, keeping Madelyn safe, and staying out of his father's way. She won't be happy when you wake her up and sees her siblings are all gone. A little voice in the back of his mind said. That was when things started going south. It was true, Klaus realized. If Maddie got her old memories back the first thing she would want to do was see her family, and if she realized that her mother was dead and her father was as well, both by Klaus' hand, she would need a shoulder to cry on and Madelyn certainly wouldn't want it to be Nik's. She would want Rebekah, that much was easy to piece together. Even when Madelyn didn't know who Rebekah was she still grew the strongest attachment to the girl, just like when they were human. If she remembered what state her sister was in she wouldn't be thanking Klaus for her life back, she would be furious with him at that simply wouldn't do.
That was when Klaus realized that he had to wait. He couldn't give her the remedy until he had the coffins back and at least one of them was awake. That was what lead him to say, "I can not give it to you just yet, Madelyn." He watched as her face fell into an expression of sadness and then frustration. "First I need my coffins back."
Maddie scoffed. "I knew it." She muttered before started to shove past the hybrid. "I don't know why I believed you for a second. This was all just part of your stupid plan to get your precious coffins back." At this point she was inside of her house looking back at him from the other side of the threshold. "All you do is lie, Niklaus." With that she shut the door with a soft slam.
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Caroline Bill and Tyler were waiting inside the old Lockwood cellar for Maddie to return. After the initial reunion was over the young witch had gotten some more details from Bill before leaving to get her grimoires. They had planned on meeting back up here, and now Maddie was the only one that hadn't arrived.
Both Tyler and Caroline looked up when they heard the old cellar door creak open and then slam shut again with their vampire hearing. Caroline slid her phone back into her pocket and sped towards the entrance, smiling at her friend. "Hey." She greeted.
Tyler quickly got to his feet and looked up at the girl. "Did you find anything?" He asked hopefully. At this point he would do almost anything to get rid of the sire bond. He needed to be with Caroline and was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen. He let out a sigh of relief when the girl nodded.
"Yeah. I fold something." She said but for some reason she didn't sound to happy about it. Half of the reason was she was still trying to push the conversation she had had with Klaus out of her mind and the other half was she knew this wasn't going to be much fun for Tyler if this went the way she thought it might. Bill looked expectantly at her and she let out a breath of irritation before turning to Tyler again. "I did some research and I found out that a sire bond is rooted in two things." She started. The witch took off her over the shoulder bag that held her grimoires and placed it on the ground before removing her jacket leaving her only in the red flowing tank top she had pulled on that morning. "First is the pack mentality you have as a werewolf. Your loyal to your alpha, and now as a vampire that's magnified tenfold." She explained, walking over to Tyler. "Second is gratitude. Vampires with sire bonds always had an emotional connection to their sire before they turned and they were then grateful that they could spend eternity with them... So what are you grateful for, Tyler?" She questioned slowly, hoping that she was wrong about what his answer might be.
Tyler seemed to think about it for a moment as Bill started to secure the chains around the room. He had had a hunch about the way to fix Tyler and now he knew it was true with what Maddie had said. "I owe him my life." The hybrid finally admitted.
"Why?" Maddie pressed, cocking her head ever so slightly as she looked at him.
Tyler sighed before answering. "I was cursed." He started, "Every full moon I had to change into a wolf- it was torture. Klaus took that away." He nodded as he spoke, getting more and more sure at his answer by the end.
Maddie nodded, the sad look on her face returning. "He freed you from your pain, Ty." She supplied before Bill jumped into the conversation once more.
"And now you feel indebted to him." He walked back over to the group and started latching the chains to Tyler's wrists as the teen used to do once a month to control himself every full moon. "To break the sire bond, you gotta make yourself turn."
Both Tyler and Caroline looked incredulously towards Bill before Caroline focused on Maddie. "What?" She asked, "Is it true?"
Slowly, Maddie nodded in agreement, looking down guiltily as if it was her fault. "When he owns his pain, he'll owe Klaus nothing." She explained to Caroline before turning to Tyler. "You'll be free, Tyler. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Tyler shook his head in refusal. "You don't understand." He exclaimed, his voice slowly rising in volume. "When I turn I break every bone in my body!" He yelled, looking at Mr. Forbes.
In response Bill finished securing the last of the chains around Tyler and said. "You asked for my help, this is the only way."
"I can do a spell to numb the pain." Maddie offered, rushing back to her bag and pulling out her grimoire before lowering her voice and asking. "Ty, how badly do you want your freedom?" She send a nod in Caroline's direction and Tyler turned his head to look at the beautiful blonde vampire. Slowly he nodded, not moving his eyes from his love's.
"Ok." He whispered and Bill patted his back in support.
Then the man walked over to Maddie and spoke to the other two teens. "We'll start in a minute, I just need to straighten out a few things."
True to his word, he spared only a minute to talk to the blonde haired witch before they both walked over to Tyler and Caroline again.
Things happened fast after that. Tyler pulled at his chains as he tried to trigger the werewolf inside of him and after a moment his eyes started to glow a sign that it was starting. The next few minutes his bones started to break and sickening cracks and snaps filled the room. Maddie tried to tune it out as best she could work on the pell but every scream and every crack made her feel nauseous. About ten minutes in she opened her eyes and turned to the others.
"Everyone needs to leave." Maddie said. Caroline looked about ready to protest so she went on to explain. "This is a big spell, Care. If I am going to do it right it needs to be just me and Tyler in the room." Tyler let out another cry, this one louder then the others because Maddie had stopped her spell. She watched as the vampire winced at the sound of her boyfriend in pain and instead turned to Mr. Forbes and sent him a pleading look. "You wanted me to do this, so let me do it and get out." She explained, hearing some more cracks and curses come from Tyler. Slowly Bill nodded and started to lead his daughter out of the cave.
The rest of the night was spent with her and Tyler. She helped his through his transformation and once he was a wolf he stayed strangely distant from her. Maddie had assumed that she would have had to do something to keep him away since werewolves were so aggressive, but if anything Tyler was careful not to go near enough to injure her.
After the reverse transformation, Maddie helped him get back home and explained that this wouldn't be the last time he would have to change before getting a frustrated slam of the door in her face. Then she went home and collapsed on her bed, to tired to deal with even changing into pajamas after this long, long day.
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This chapter is 10,500 words long. I hope it makes up for the time I didn't update!
Hey all! Again sorry for any typos and grammar :).
I hopped you liked the chapter! Please send me any questions, comments, ideas, suggestions etc. I love hearing them!
Sorry about the typos!
P.S. I'm super curious about what you guys think about a couple things.
1. How are you liking the story so far?
2. How are you doing? How's life?!?
3. Can someone be willing to make me a cover for this story?!? I will give you a shoutout :P.
4. Do you guys forgive me for not updating in a while?!
Thanks,
AnissaCartagena