Outfits in the external link
From 4.03 "Haunter of Ruins", in the woods, Kassandra, Rebekah and Kol were standing together.
Marcel: (voice over) "Previously on Worlds Colliding (The Originals)"
"I still became something entirely different," Kassandra told them. "I don't deserve forgiveness."
From 4.03 "Haunter of Ruins", in the barn, Mikayla, Rebekah, Kol, Rebekah and Keelin were talking.
Mikayla looked at Keelin. "If you found a way to weaken yourself, maybe you can help us do the same to Kassandra and Nicola."
From 4.03 "Haunter of Ruins", in the woods, Kassandra tried to rush away from Kol and Rebekah. Kol appeared in her way so she wouldn't disappear again. Kassandra grew frustrated and angry, so much that she pushed Kol into the tree behind him, but stopped as soon as she realized what she was doing, horrified.
Mikayla: (voice over from 4.03 Haunter of Ruins) "Kassandra won't have to worry about ever feeling this kind of agony about hurting us ever again."
From 4.01 "Gather Up the Killers", outside the warehouse, Nicola was trying very hard not to lose control, shaking from the effort, tears in her eyes, barely holding the urges back, starting to lose control completely, walking toward Kaylin, Luke, Wolf!Hayley and Wolf!Mikayla.
Mikayla: (voice over from 4.03 Haunter of Ruins) "Nicola won't have to worry about ever losing control again."
From 4.01 "Gather Up the Killers", in the farmhouse, Hope saw that Rae was tossing and turning, crawling closer to wake Rae up from the nightmare, calling out. "Mary!"
Mary walked in, turning on the light.
"I had a bad dream," Rae told her.
The drawings all over the beds and the floors made by Hope and Rae were the same Ouroboros sigils that was on the wall in the abandoned house where Adam had just been.
From 4.03 "Haunter of Ruins", in flashback to the Rayvnne House, Phelan and Gaia cut either of Young Auria's hands, pouring her blood on the symbols on the table. The same blue light started to glow around them. Young Auria watched in shock, scared and confused, while Phelan and Gaia continued to chant as if they didn't notice anything.
Witch: (voice over from 4.03 Haunter of Ruins) "They freed it, Auria, using your blood to awaken it. You're the one who gave it breath. And now it must be fed."
From 4.02 "No Quarter", in the church, Auria was looking at the book with the Ouroboros symbol on it.
Auria: (voice over from 4.02 No Quarter) "This city is in danger."
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", in the courtyard of the compound, Hope and Hayley were surrounded by the dead birds.
Auria: (voice over from 4.04 Keepers of the House) "It means the Hollow. The Hollow is coming."
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", on the dock in the bayou, Riley looked at Hayley, Mikayla, Kassandra, Caitlin and Noah. "The Hollow wants power. The kind that only comes from sacrifice."
Riley suddenly stabbed himself in the throat with the knife, shocking the others, choking as he started to bleed out.
Mikayla rushed closer instantly in denial and worry, catching Riley as he fell, kneeling down, biting her wrist, feeding him her blood. She looked at the others, shaking her head. "I can't let someone from my old pack die."
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", in the ballroom of the courtyard, Riley was just waking up, having been restrained to a staircase. Hayley walked closer.
"You think you can save me," Riley told her. "You can't."
"If anyone gets taken over by the Hollow, we want to know how to save them, if that's even possible," Hayley told him.
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", in the church, Elijah, Marcel, Auria, Nicola, Tory and Luke were talking.
Marcel looked at Nicola. "Now, the Huntress inside you and the beast that Kassandra turned into are the definitions of dark and twisted."
"Yeah, but I'm also immune to magic, unlike any of you," Nicola told them.
"The only one this thing can't get to is you, but if it takes one of us for control, you might have to let your stronger instincts take control in case you have to fight one of us, and in case you have to take one of us down," Luke told her.
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", at the ritual, Kassandra, Klaus and Marcel were trapped in the circle of fire. Tory rushed up to the circle of fire, unable to get inside. Auria ran up next to her. They tried to use magic to free them, but they were unable to. Elijah, Nicola and Kaylin rushed up next to them.
"They wanted us here," Tory told them. "They want to channel your power, and anchor the Hollow to the living world."
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", in the other world, Instead of being trapped in a ring of fire, Kassandra, Klaus and Marcel seemed to be trapped in a dark forest in a circle of snow. A bright blue light shined in front of them.
Riley: (voice over from 4.04 Keepers of the House) "It will feed, and it will rise."
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", Rae's dream, in St. James Infirmary, Auria saw the blue light glowing in the glasses on the bar, worried and breathing heavily in denial, looking at Marcel. Marcel's eyes were glowing with the same blue light.
Auria: (voice over from 4.04 Keepers of the House) "This this is dark."
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", Rae's dream, on the compound's balcony, The night sky around Klaus and Kaylin was dancing with the blue light. Kaylin was overwhelmed by the sight of the blue light, remembering what Rae had told her, turning away, looking at Klaus in confusion. Klaus' eyes were glowing the same pale blue light.
Auria: (voice over from 4.04 Keepers of the House) "It's angry."
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", Rae's dream, in Kassandra's room, the mirror started to crack and shatter in the shape of the Ouroboros symbol, glowing with the same blue light. Kassandra walked toward the shattering mirror in curiosity. When she got close enough, her eyes in the reflection were revealed to be glowing the same blue, as the glowing blue light reflected off of Kassandra's face.
Auria: (voice over from 4.04 Keepers of the House) "It's very powerful."
From 4.04 "Keepers of the House", in the nursery bedroom of the compound, Rae screamed herself awake in her bed, revealing that everything that had just been shown was a psychic dream in her mind.
Hope was awoken by the sound, looking at Rae worriedly, crawling closer. "Rae?"
Rae shook her head, looking terrified. "It's here. The Hollow. It's here."
----~----
Flashback/Hallucination - 1492
England
Night - Woods
(Song:) Ain't No Sunshine - J2 feat. Alih Jey
Kassandra was running through the woods.
Lucien was chasing her. "Kassandra!"
Kassandra looked behind her, laughing, coming to a stop when she didn't see anyone, confused, turning around.
Lucien appeared in front of Kassandra, rushing toward her, pushing her lightly against the tree behind her.
Kassandra smiled. "You're cheating. But then again, you are known for breaking the rules."
"This is said by the girl who breaks more than I," Lucien replied.
Kassandra and Lucien smiled, looking at each other happily, starting to kiss passionately for a long moment, pulling away.
"I'm glad you came to find me again," Kassandra told him. "When my father came for me and my siblings the first time and the second time and the third time, my family and Rosalita convinced me to leave you so that I would not put you in danger, and I tried to move on from you, to fill the hole that I felt where you should have been."
"But they do not make you happy," Lucien finished.
Kassandra shook her head. "Not like you. Each time I leave you, you come to find me."
Lucien stroked Kassandra's hair back. "It seems that I cannot lose you anymore than you can lose me. We always seem to find our way to each other every time." Kassandra smiled, nodding, pulling Lucien closer into a kiss. They continued to kiss passionately for a long moment, pulling away, leaving their eyes closed, breathing deeply. "I will love you forever, Kassandra Mikaelson."
"Forever is not enough," Kassandra told him. "I will always love you, as well... Lucien Castle."
They smiled, continuing to kiss. Lucien rushed closer, pushing Kassandra lightly against another tree, surprising but pleasing her. They kissed heatedly and passionately with fierce, intense fiery passion. Kassandra pulled away to push Lucien against another tree, smiling, continuing to kiss him. Lucien pulled Kassandra into his arms, lifting her up and spinning her around, making her laugh, setting her down again so he could place either of his hands on her cheeks and kiss her even more passionately than before.
Rosalita appeared nearby. "Such a sweet scene." Lucien backed way from Kassandra. Kassandra looked at Rosalita in confusion. "You had no idea what kind of pain laid ahead both of you."
Kassandra seemed to be waking up as herself from present day, realizing that this wasn't real. "Rosalita..."
"I admit, most of the wrongdoing in your family and your love life is because of me, but I'm not one completely to blame, Kassandra," Rosalita told her. "You know that."
Kassandra turned around, but Lucien was gone. "Lucien?"
----
Castle - Corridor
Kassandra turned around again, suddenly finding herself in the same castle that the Mikaelsons had been staying in Worlds Colliding (The Vampire Diaries) 2.19 Klaus, when they had originally met Katerina Petrova, AKA Katherine Pierce. She was unnerved, walking down the hallway, coming to a stop when she saw that her daggered body laid in front of her on the floor, from when she had tried to kill Katerina for coming between her brothers and Klaus had daggered her for 500 years.
Lucien was kneeling next to Kassandra's daggered body, glaring up at Klaus. "What did you do?"
Klaus walked closer. "I am punishing my sister, in more ways than one." He grabbed Lucien by the shoulder, lifting him up from the floor next to Kassandra forcefully, pushing him against the wall, compelling him. "Our father is coming, and we need to flee. You will be the distraction we need to leave."
Kassandra realized what was happening, walking closer in denial. "Nik. Nik, no."
Klaus could not hear her, continuing to compel Lucien. "From this point on, you believe that you are Niklaus Mikaelson."
Rosalita walked toward Kassandra. "You couldn't stop it then. You can't stop it now. Do you know how easy it was for me to get into Lucien's compelled mind and make everything a thousand times worse than what your brother did? Making him completely insane, but a genius at that, so that he would know exactly what to do to get to you. Who do you think helped him build his company when he didn't even know who he really was? Who do you think told him everything he needed to know to completely destroy your family's lives, Kassandra? Me. It was always me."
Kassandra angrily turned to grab Rosalita by the throat. "This isn't real. This isn't happening." Rosalita smirked, letting her eyes glow blue, revealing that she was a form of the Hollow inside Kassandra's mind. "You're not Rosalita. Get out of my head."
----
Reality
Day One
Night - Abattoir Compound - Kassandra's Room
Kassandra jolted awake in her bed, sitting up, gasping softly, looking around, realizing where she was and that she was awake, breathing heavily in relief, closing her eyes. She stood, walking toward the door, stopping next to her mirror when she saw that it was cracked in the Ouroboros sigil, like it had been in Rae's dream, looking completely confused because she didn't remember how it got there.
----
Hallway
Klaus walked through the hallway of the compound, reaching the room where Hope was now, no longer in the infirmary-like room that she had been with Rae when they had been sick, looking in to check on her. A blue light shone on him from behind. Klaus looked toward the blue light, walking out of the room, closing the door.
Hope was awake, looking nervous that what Rae had said about the Hollow was true.
(Song Ends)
----
Worlds Colliding (The Originals)
----
Day Two
Morning - St. James Infirmary
(Song:) How Long Blues (LP Version) - Champion Jack Dupree
Marcel was sitting at the bar, having a drink.
Auria walked closer, sitting next to Marcel. "You didn't come back to your place last night. What's going on?"
Marcel sighed worriedly. "I just spent the last six hours going to every palm reader, exorcist, and witch doctor I know. Now, they all say I'm fine, but ever since the bayou, something is off."
"You mean ever since you were trapped in the ring of fire with Klaus and Kassandra?" Auria asked.
"Yeah," Marcel answered. "We killed witches who follow the Hollow. They tried to anchor it to our world. Now I think it's anchored to me."
(Song Ends)
Auria looked at Marcel worriedly, clearly fidgety about everything, sighing. "My aunt couldn't save my parents, and we couldn't save those witches last night, or Will, but I have got to find a way to save you before it's too late, before it's gotten in you too deep. Because once it's in too deep, there is no saving, because you can't exorcise you or cleanse you, because you wouldn't be possessed anymore. You would become that demon, just like my mom and my dad, and my friend."
"Auria, that's not gonna happen to me," Marcel told her. "And I already promised you that I wouldn't let that happen to you."
"Good," Auria told him. "'Cause I'm not letting you out of my sight until you're cured, Marcel."
Marcel and Auria looked at each other worriedly.
----
Abattoir Compound - Rae's Room
Kaylin was getting Rae ready to leave.
Rae was tired and out of it, spacing.
"Rae?" Kaylin asked. Rae looked up at her. "What's wrong?"
Rae took a deep, nervous breath, sighing. "I had a dream last night."
"One of your more lucid, real dreams?" Kaylin asked. "Psychic dreams?"
Rae nodded. "I saw Klaus... and Kassandra... fighting in a house... near the blue light. Elijah and Freya, and you and Aunt Nikki were there. Cousin Tory, too. The blue light tried to attack all of you."
Kaylin looked nervous and worried. "How bad is it, Rae? The fight?"
Rae didn't answer, leading Kaylin to believe that the fight was brutal.
Kaylin sighed worriedly, shaking her head, looking down.
----
Living Room
Klaus walked downstairs, looking around. "Kassandra?" He continued to look around worriedly for his missing sister. "Kassandra?"
Klaus stopped at a nearby mirror, staring in shock as his eyes started to glow blue.
He was seeing hallucinations of Mikael. "Today you will die at the hands of Kassandra, unless you kill your sister first."
Klaus looked at his reflection again, but his eyes were no longer glowing blue. He saw Mikael's reflection pass over the mirror, turning to look behind him, but Mikael wasn't there.
Hope walked toward Klaus. "Dad? We're ready to go. Aren't you coming?"
Klaus was worried about what was happening.
----
Hallway
Kaylin and Klaus were walking through the hallway.
"Hayley and Mikayla will be taking Hope to the bayou, where Kacie, Luke, Tory, Nicola and Elijah are going to be to help that wolf Riley Grey get free from the Hollow," Klaus told her. "Hayley offered to take Rae with them. You should go with them, Kaylin. I'll be right behind you. Our daughters nearly died. I need to know that the threat to them is over."
"Not without me," Kaylin told him. "I need to know my child is safe, mine and yours. I can't just leave, not knowing if they're in danger or not, and the same with you. And after what Rae just told me about her dream, I'm not leaving."
Klaus was slightly amused with Kaylin's stubbornness and concern, but a little exasperated because she didn't want to leave. "So Rae, a child's nightmare has you worried for my safety."
"Rae is psychic, which means she can see things that we can't, and her dreams have never been wrong before," Kaylin told him.
"Well, Rae's not wrong," Klaus told her.
"What do you mean?" Kaylin asked.
Klaus sighed, looking down. "I've been seeing visions of Mikael, haunting me, taunting me to go after Kassandra. So the worry of you Salvatore girls is not completely unwarranted. That's why I'm relieved that the Donovan, Lockwood, Labonair girls are taking the children to the bayou."
Kaylin looked at him in surprise, not knowing what to say for a moment. "Look, Elijah and Nikki took Riley Grey to the bayou to see if they, Kacie, Luke, Hayley, Mikayla and Tory can find other Hollow guys and see if they can find a way to save anyone who was infected by this thing. Once they find out that they can, they'll be back here, and we can help you. Donovans, Lockwoods, Thompsons, Labonairs have sort o a knack for these things."
Klaus nodded in agreement. "Until then, I need to call Freya, Kaylin. She might be able to help me with this until we find a sure way of fixing this."
----
St. Louis Cathedral - Bell Tower
(Song:) Man On Fire - Earl St. Clair
Keelin was sleeping, just coming to, looking toward Freya, who was across the room, looking at a mug. "Is this for me? Oh, sweet angel of mercy." She took a drink. "Mm. This almost makes up for the whole hostage thing."
"Oh, let's not forget, that whole hostage thing kept you alive," Freya told her. "As for the coffee, it's the least I could do, considering you're helping us with our Huntress and beast issues."
Keelin stood walking toward Freya. "The last I remember was you saying your brother, sister and friend Eliza Forbes are still on the hunt for the things that I made their lists for to help Kassandra and Nicola, and then we started drinking tequila like water. So how am I borderline comatose, and you're Little Miss Sunshine?"
Freya handed Keelin a cup. "Because of this. Hangover cure. Thousand years old."
Keelin sniffed at it, taking a drink.
(Song Ends)
Keelin looked at Freya. "So, Hayley and Mikayla asked if I could help Riley Grey, that wolf that they found that was taken over by the Hollow, but I couldn't find a way to help him. But I did give you the names of the things that you need to help your sister and your friend. So, we're done, then?" Freya turned to face her, starting to get nervous and shy. "Yeah, I go back to my life, you go back to yours?"
Freya nodded, looking disappointed, fidgeting as if she was nervous. "Yeah. A deal's a deal."
"Hey, look, don't look so disappointed," Keelin told her, stepping closer. "I mean, this wasn't exactly built to be a long-term friendship."
Freya looked up. "I guess this is goodbye."
Keelin stopped a little distance away, unable to help but look a little disappointed, too. "Yeah. So, I'll see you." Freya nodded. "Okay."
Keelin turned around, walking away.
Freya looked down, sighing. Her phone buzzed. She took it out, looking at the message from Klaus.
Need to talk.
----
Bayou
Nicola was standing in a field in the bayou that was mostly made up of flowers.
Elijah walked toward her.
"Hey," Nicola told him. "This field kinda reminds me of the field we met up in in Mystic Falls after I took the dagger out of your chest."
Elijah nodded in agreement, amused. "Why did you want to meet me here?"
"Because Tory, Luke and Kacie have been trying to Riley Grey under control, and Hayley and Mikayla are gonna try to help them and tell Mary about what they know," Nicola answered. "While I've been tracking the Hollow's goons to test a theory."
Elijah looked intrigued. "What kind of theory?"
"Okay, you remember how I told you my blood is poisonous to witches, like Rayna Cruz's blood was, right?" Nicola asked.
"Yes," Elijah answered.
"So, the Hollow is basically a witch spirit, or many witch spirits, that can possess and twist people into something dark and twisted and unrecognizable," Nicola told him. "If treated too late, the victims can't be purified, they can't be cleansed."
"Nicola, where are you going with this?" Elijah asked.
"What if my blood can be used to deflect the Hollow's magic?" Nicola asked. "We already know I'm immune, and that if my blood is poisonous to witches..."
"It can be poisonous to the Hollow," Elijah finished.
Nicola nodded, smirking slightly. "Yeah. The effects might not last long, meaning that the Hollow could come back to haunt whoever I try to save, but it's worth a shot, right?"
"I definitely believe so," Elijah answered.
"I was gonna try to give my blood to Riley Grey to test it on him first, but I've been waiting because I'm not sure what it would do to him," Nicola explained. "I mean, I obviously can't give my blood to witches that have been possessed by the Hollow, because that will be giving them a death sentence either way. I haven't tried to give my blood to Riley yet because I don't know what my blood will do to humans, werewolves, or vampires for that matter."
"And you don't want to hurt any victims that have already been hurt," Elijah realized.
"Right, but I also know that we have to try to figure this out so that we can try and find a cure," Nicola told him. "And if my blood exorcises the witch spirits for a short time and it comes back, I can do it again, and again. Until we find out what the hell this thing is and send it screaming back to Hell, and anyone who stands with the Hollow willingly without being possessed, we can give them a different kind of punishment."
"Is that you or the Huntress talking?" Elijah asked.
Nicola hesitated, slightly sheepish and a little embarrassed, but still feeling a little darker. "There are times when I can't tell who's speaking anymore."
Elijah was slightly amused, nodding. "Have you ever thought of taking a break for a day?"
Nicola tilted her head a little. "Is that even a question? No rest for the wicked. You can keep telling me that I'm good and I'm still the good little girl that you knew when I was human in Mystic Falls, but I'm a little more darker and a little more twisted than you say that I am. You saying that makes me feel like not everything is totally screwed up, so I thank you for that, but we both have to admit that I have a monster inside me that is turning me into just as much of a monster as she is."
Elijah sighed, nodding in agreement, knowing that she was right. "I know. But I would much rather help you fend her off instead of turning into her."
"Yeah, well, that is easier said than done," Nicola told him. Elijah looked at her questioningly. Nicola sighed. "Look, being nice and sweet doesn't do anything but ensure that I'm gonna keep suffering because of her, and I am so tired of suffering. Now, if I shut that part of me out, then maybe I can stop being in pain all the time. Okay, I have an alter ego that is trying to make me kill everything in sight, and the connections that I have to some of the most dangerous vampires in the world allows me to think what they think and see what they see, and I can see so much darkness in the links that it is turning me into something else. Now I know why Rayna was so psychotic, because of the links to the vampires. All the clashing voices and images and... I know that going dark is not the answer, and I don't want to go dark, but I'm done with feeling like this all the time. I'm done feeling sorry for myself. Instead, I'm gonna do something and get things done."
"I'm not sure if I should be impressed or worried," Elijah told her.
Nicola shrugged. "You can be both. 'Cause I'm pretty sure that no matter how many times I tell you 'don't worry about me', you're gonna worry about me."
Elijah chuckled, nodding.
----
Lafayette Cemetery
Marcel and Auria walked through Lafayette Cemetery toward her family's tomb.
"All right, why are we here now?" Marcel asked.
"Tory and I were able to track the Hollow's guys through the ashes of the witch that we killed the other day," Auria told him. "It makes me wonder what we could find out if I channeled my own family's ashes, who basically set this thing loose."
"Yeah, using you to do it, which is why this thing is obsessed with you," Marcel told her. "Now, explain something to me. Is it trying to kill you, or trying to turn you dark like it did to the others?"
"I can feel it trying to turn me, but it knows that I would rather die and that I will stop at nothing to stop it, so if it can't convert me..." Auria trailed off.
"It'll kill you," Marcel finished.
Auria sighed. "Yeah." They stopped outside the Rayvnne family tomb. Auria looked at Marcel. "I'm just gonna go inside and get my parents' ashes. We'll go back to St. James so that I can do the spell. Just stay here."
Marcel nodded understandingly in agreement, walking away from the tomb to give Auria time.
Auria hesitated, sighing, walking inside.
Marcel walked toward Davina's grave, looking at it. He heard something behind him, turning around to see a figure passing by. He rushed toward the figure, but it had disappeared. "All right, whoever you are, this is the wrong day to be playing games."
Noah stepped out of hiding from behind the tomb behind Marcel. "Does this bravado help to relieve your pathetic fear?"
Marcel turned to face him, looking at him in confusion. "Noah. What are you doing here?"
Noah looked at Marcel, pointing up at the Rayvnne name on the family tomb. "You're afraid, just like Auria Rayvnne is. You're both strong leaders, unafraid of the city full of vampires, witches, werewolves and Originals, but you're terrified of this."
Caitlin walked closer. "And you should be. Everyone should be. 'The spirit I have seen may be the devil, and the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape.'"
Marcel looked between them in confusion and suspicion.
Noah smirked in amusement. "Do you not recall your Shakespeare, Marcel Gerard? The ghost which appeared to Hamlet. And then, of course unrelenting tragedy."
Marcel realized what was happening, glaring at the hallucinations. "You're not Caitlin, and you're not Noah."
Noah and Caitlin/The Hollow let their eyes glow blue.
Marcel was nervous about what he was seeing and thinking and feeling.
----~----
Abattoir Compound - Courtyard
Klaus, Kaylin and Freya were talking.
Klaus was having Freya test his blood with magic.
"Tell me again what happened at this ritual," Freya told them.
"All of us fought evil and we saved children," Kaylin told her. "Each of us should be given a medal."
"Instead, I've been infected by some depraved ghost," Klaus told them.
"Well, I know purging spells and cleansing rituals, so I can fix this," Freya told him. She looked at Klaus. "In the meantime, have you considered that you're not the only one infected?"
"Rae saw you and Kassandra fighting in her dream," Kaylin told him. "Kassandra was exposed, too."
Freya nodded in agreement. "In your visions, our father's goading you to go after Kassandra. If our sister is seeing something similar..."
"This is Kassandra we're talking about here," Kaylin told them. "She just got rid of the hex that made her see the love of her life that was ruined by family and foe." She gave them a sarcastic look. "Who do you think she's gonna see?"
Freya looked somber and worried. "Lucien."
"No one gets to Kassandra like Lucien does, whether he is real or a hallucination," Klaus told them. "We're all on the chopping block."
"I can purify you, but it has to be soon, because if it gets too deep, then I won't be able to," Freya told them.
"No, not yet," Klaus told them.
Kaylin turned to give him a look. "Nik."
"If the Hollow can look into me, then I can look back at it," Klaus told them. "Find out what it is, what it wants."
"It's too dangerous," Freya told him.
Klaus turned to Kaylin. "This thing came after Hope. When Rae saved her the first time, it came after Rae as well. Can you honestly tell me that you don't want to know what tried to kill both our daughters, Kaylin?"
Kaylin sighed worriedly, because she wanted to stop the Hollow, but she didn't want anything to happen to Klaus or Kassandra.
"Fine," Freya told him. "I'll give you an hour. Until then, stay away from Kassandra, because if she is being haunted by Lucien once again, then she will be very easily angered."
"And you already have a very powerful gift of pissing your sister off," Kaylin told him. "Please, just promise me that you'll make it through the day."
Klaus looked at them for a moment, not knowing the answer himself, walking away.
Freya and Kaylin looked at each other worriedly.
----
Bayou
Tory, Kacie and Luke were standing outside of a shack of sorts in the bayou.
Tory had was putting up a boundary spell around the shack.
Hayley and Mikayla walked up to them, standing next to Kacie and Luke.
"You guys moved Riley here?" Hayley asked.
"To make sure that he doesn't hurt himself or others," Luke answered. "Tory's putting up a boundary spell to keep Riley inside. We can walk in and leave as we please, but he has to stay inside until the Hollow's magic doesn't affect him anymore."
"That's why I love having a brilliant, badass tribrid for a sister," Kacie told them. Mikayla chuckled. "Where's Hope and Rae?"
Mikayla looked toward the field behind them toward where Hope and Rae were playing in the field. "We're on our way to drop them off at Mary's. She'll keep an eye on them so that we can try to get through to Riley. Or you guys, because I'm gonna stay with Mary and tell her about what really happened last night with the sacrifice, and what's happening with Riley."
"Probably smart," Kacie told them.
Mikayla nodded in agreement.
"Where's Nicola?" Hayley asked.
"She and Elijah are around here, somewhere, trying to track other Hollowers," Tory answered. "I can sense her. We think that she has a way to save the ones that have been infected."
"Really?" Hayley asked. "How can Nicola save them?"
"That is a long story that we can explain while we try to get through to Riley," Tory told them.
Hayley and Mikayla were confused and intrigued, nodding in agreement.
----
Elsewhere
(Song:) Shut Out of Paradise - Slo
Elijah and Nicola were walking along toward the others, but also a great deal away.
"It is nice out here," Nicola told him. "New Orleans. This city has its charms, even with all the supernaturals in it."
"This is where you've been spending most of your time when you're not at the compound," Elijah told her.
"Yeah, well, it's probably best for me to stay away from all the vampires in the Quarter," Nicola told him. "And I actually like it out here. It's peaceful. You know, after the Travelers put up the anti-magic spell in Mystic Falls and forced all the vampires out of town, I was actually living in a house outside the border nearby the woods, like this. I always wanted to go back home, but it was nice to be out there, too. Helped me clear my head."
Elijah chuckled. "That does sound rather relaxing. I might have to think about that."
"I think you might stand out out here in both the dark suit on the left side of your closet and the identical dark suit on the right side," Nicola told him sarcastically.
"I prefer the one in the middle, thank you very much," Elijah told her.
Nicola chuckled. "He uses sarcasm. Alert the media."
"I was actually thinking about jean shorts and flip flops," Elijah told her.
Nicola laughed. "Wow. You actually got me to laugh. That's an amazing feat. Congrats. And thank you. I haven't laughed in I don't know how long. Really needed that. Thanks."
Elijah smiled in amusement, looking at Nicola. "You haven't said much about Rebekah, Kol and Eliza Forbes's mission to help you and Kassandra, that Mikayla came up with, to help both Salvatore and Mikaelson."
"Well, they still have a little way to go before we can actually test out Mikayla's theories, because they need things to help weaken me and Kassandra," Nicola told him. "Labonair's a genius."
Elijah chuckled in agreement. "Labonair's a genius. And it's thanks to your friends of Thompsons, Donovan, Forbes and Lockwoods that us Mikaelsons made it this far, and of course you Salvatores."
Nicola smirked. "It'll take time for Rebekah, Kol and Eliza to get everything. Even though the Forbes girl is always very thorough, and you Mikaelsons have a way of getting what you want."
They stopped walking, facing each other.
Elijah sighed. "Your alter ego would still be there, but she would weakened by what they are working on. Only if you want to take this chance."
Nicola nodded in understanding. "Well, kinda shocking because I never thought that this was an option. Wait, so if I do say yes to doing this... it means that everything will be decreased? My strength, my speed, instincts, urges?"
"Strength and speed, yes, but we're not certain about the need to kill," Elijah answered.
"So, most likely, I'll still have the same mental fight, but I won't be so out of control because my speed and strength would be on the down low?" Nicola asked.
Elijah looked to be trying to figure this out for himself as well. "Theoretically, but we can't be sure."
"So, it's not a cure, but it's the next best thing," Nicola told him, thinking on overdrive, running all of this through her head. "It wouldn't solve the mental problems or conflicts with me and my other self, but it would solve the physical ones." Elijah opened his mouth to speak, but Nicola already knew what he was going to say. "Theoretically. I also have to take in account of all the vampires that I have hunted and injured that are still alive. If they learn that I lost my most of my strength, they would come after me for revenge. I can tell that they all hate me with a passion because of the links, and they wanna kill me. Most of them don't know that if I die, they'll die. So will Kaylin, Tory, Luke, Kacie, Eliza, Caroline... And I don't want to be responsible for the death of Salvatores, Donovans, Thompsons, Lockwoods or Forbes. Certainly don't want anything bad happen to Mikaelsons either."
Elijah shook his head. "I will not let anything like that happen."
Nicola smiled a small smile, still reeling. "Normally, any other day, I would say yes in a heartbeat, Elijah. But what we're up against here... the Hollow... I have a fighting chance against this thing that most of you don't. And if Klaus and Kassandra need help with getting free from the Hollow, and if I need to fight them, then I need my strength, because it took all of us to get Kassandra to calm down enough to save her from the hex." Elijah nodded in agreement. "So ask me this again after we find a way to beat the Hollow." Elijah was surprised with the answer, impressed and thankful that she still wanted to help even with everything that was going on with her, nodding in agreement. Nicola smiled a small smile. "Thank you for being there for me for all of this."
Elijah nodded. Nicola leaned closer to kiss him slowly but passionately, placing a hand on his cheek. Elijah deepened the kiss sweetly. They pulled away, looking at each other, smiling small smiles, continuing on.
(Song Ends)
----
Lucien's Penthouse
Kassandra slowly walked inside, looking around.
The Hollow was still taunting Kassandra with visions of Lucien. "It takes a lot of strength and courage to come back here after everything that happened."
Kassandra looked at him in annoyance. "I just got rid of you."
"And you just let them get away with everything," Lucien told her.
"You're not Lucien," Kassandra told him. "So why don't you show me for what you really are? The Hollow."
Lucien chuckled. "Clever girl. Such a strong warrior, and yet you let those immortal tyrants continue to wander free even after what they did to you and me."
"Do not speak as if you are him, because you are not," Kassandra told him angrily.
"You speak with such anger and hate, but they're not directed at me or even your love, are they?" Lucien asked. "It shouldn't be directed at yourself, either, though you do loathe yourself. It should all be focused on your brother."
"What do you care about my brother?" Kassandra asked. "What the bloody hell is this?"
"These visions, I'm goading you to kill your enemy," Lucien told her.
"My brother is not my enemy," Kassandra told him.
"He should be," Lucien told her. "He may very well be."
Kassandra was annoyed, sighing. "I'm never going to be rid of you, am I?"
"Not until you do what I want you to do," Lucien answered. "As long as your brother is alive, you will never know peace. Let's not forget, he killed the love of your life twice, right in front of you. Forbade you from seeing him, threatening to kill him if he caught sight of you together."
"If you're going to list all of the ways that this is his fault, I've heard it all before, and I really don't want to hear it again, so just shut up," Kassandra told him, turning away.
Rosalita appeared in front of Kassandra, making her take a step back in surprise and anger. "Seeing Lucien, even if it's in your head, gives you a sense of peace and ease, even if he's trying to make you kill your brother like your hex did by showing you visions of him."
"What do you feel about seeing Rosalita, Kassandra?" Lucien asked.
"I feel like I want to rip her bloody head off," Kassandra answered angrily.
"Exactly," Rosalita told her. "Seeing the girl that destroyed your family, destroyed Lucien more than your own brother did, and destroyed your happiness is what is going to set you into a frenzy and set things in motion." Kassandra lunged toward the apparition of Rosalita, but she disappeared. Rosalita reappeared behind Kassandra, smiling in amusement. "See, if only you showed this much anger and brutality to your brother."
Kassandra turned to face her, glaring.
"He betrayed you repeatedly without a second thought," Lucien told her. "He destroyed everything."
Kassandra pointed at Rosalita. "No, she destroyed everything. Rosalita's more of a destroyer than our father Mikael ever was."
"And you want to destroy everything that destroyed you," Rosalita told her.
Lucien appeared directly behind Kassandra, whispering into her ear tauntingly to get a reaction. "Give in to your desire. Seize your revenge."
Kassandra rushed to turn to face Lucien, but he had disappeared. She looked around in confusion to see that Rosalita had disappeared as well. She knew that the Hollow was still listening to her and playing games with her, annoyed, losing her patience. "What do you get out of me killing Nik?"
Lucien and Rosalita reappeared behind Kassandra. Kassandra turned to face them.
"You are here to deliver a sacrifice," Rosalita told her.
"Either Klaus or you, and you can't die, Kassandra," Lucien told her. "Two powerful souls, both fighting to the death, and he's the only one that can be killed... by you."
Rosalita smirked smugly, walking toward Kassandra. "Now, doesn't that sound wonderful?"
Kassandra walked toward the two hallucinations angrily, humoring them. "I have had to suffer through a hex plaguing my mind for five years. If I could survive that, I can certainly survive you."
"Can you?" Lucien asked. "The hex has left your mind weaker than it was before, more damaged, more easily swayed."
"I have long had the will to end my brother," Kassandra told them. "Now, I just might have to to get you to leave me alone."
Rosalita smiled. "Eager girl. You have shown that you have a talent for brutality."
"But can you summon that same beast to do what is necessary today?" Lucien asked. "When your brother comes to fight you, will you kill him? Or remain a broken beast that is too far gone to save?"
Kassandra smirked sarcastically, patronizingly. "Let's find out, shall we?"
Kassandra glared at them, walking quickly out of the penthouse, leaving.
----~----
Lafayette Cemetery
Marcel was still hallucinating Noah and Caitlin through the Hollow.
Caitlin looked at Davina's grave. "So young. And taken before her time."
"And while it was the real version of Caitlin Harris that killed her, she can't be the one held at fault because she was hexed and forced to kill Davina by the Ancestors, because of a deal they made with a psychic, formerly immortal witch that wanted the Mikaelsons to suffer," Noah told him.
"What is this?" Marcel asked in annoyance. "Evil spirit appears to me as Caitlin, the girl that is like my daughter that used to be linked to be, and Noah, my best friend that is more like my brother? For what? Huh? To scare me? The real Dumaine and Harris are a lot more intimidating. If this is all in my head, I could just as easily wish your asses away."
"Your wishes won't bring back the dead," Noah told him. "Nor will they grant you solace."
"Can you close your eyes and wish everything horrible that happened to you away, and wish that everything good in your life stayed good?" Caitlin asked.
"Is this just a game?" Marcel asked.
"It is a game," Caitlin answered, smirking smugly. "And it's fun." She chuckled evilly, letting her eyes glow blue. "So... much... fun."
"If you think that you're the only one we're after, you're wrong," Noah told him. "You think that you can protect Auria, but you can't. She will either turn into her mother and father, or she will die."
Marcel glared at Noah/The Hollow, rushing toward him, gripping him by the throat, pushing him against the Rayvnne tomb, coming out of the hallucination when he suddenly found that he was actually gripping Auria by the throat.
Auria was struggling to breathe, using magic to bring Marcel out of the hallucination anxiously. "Marcel. Hey, hey. It's me."
Marcel was horrified and worried, letting her go, backing away. "Auria..."
Auria sighed, breathing heavily from the pain when he gripped her throat, holding a hand to her neck, catching her breath. "It's okay. I knew this was bad." Marcel was distressed with how far the Hollow would take this, inside his own mind. "I have what I need to find out what we need to know. You're coming with me. We're gonna fix you."
Marcel nodded in agreement, still looking troubled and concerned. Auria hesitantly stepped closer, worried about him and what was happening to him, taking his hand to lead him out of the cemetery.
----
The French Quarter
(Song:) Jazz Club Blues - Richard Geere
Klaus was walking through the Quarter, looking around. He saw a trail of blood leading through the street, following it in confusion.
He saw a man reaching toward him, covered in pain and dying. "Help me. Help me."
Mikael appeared behind Klaus. "You would show mercy to an enemy? A fiend who plotted to raid our home? Mercy is for the weak, Niklaus." Klaus turned to face him, angered by his presence, looking bored and patronizing. "You... Look at you, boy. You are pathetic. You are determined to prove yourself a weakling. I should have cast you out. Better your brothers not be exposed to a coward. Mercy is for the weak." Klaus looked around, seeing that the dying man had disappeared. "I assumed you'd run. Like the pathetic, sniveling coward that you are."
Klaus smirked sarcastically. "And I assume I have the misfortune of addressing the, uh... What was your name? The inept? The vacant? The Hollow. Yes."
"You address no one," Mikael told him. "I am not here." He appeared behind Klaus, whispering tauntingly. "I'm only in your head." Klaus looked behind him, but Mikael had disappeared. Mikael reappeared in front of him. "I can see your worst fear. The father that you loathed, the terror that this is how your daughter may one day perceive you."
"A depraved demon sputtering psychoanalysis?" Klaus asked. "Perhaps you speak from personal experience." He walked closer to taunt the hallucination that the Hollow gave him. "Do you come from a broken home? Daddy drank? Mommy never loved you? You seem to think Kassandra will kill me today. But she's had five years to do that. She didn't do it then. She won't do it now. She is far stronger than either of us give her credit for. Even if she loses herself, she always manages to find her way back. I owe her the same. It's the least that I owe her."
Klaus walked away.
(Song Ends)
----
St. James Infirmary
Marcel and Auria were back at St. James, but it was closed now.
The real Caitlin and Noah walked closer.
Noah looked at Marcel. "Why did you call us here?"
"Because I needed to make sure that you two were okay," Marcel answered. "Noah, Caitlin, the Hollow's haunting got to me real bad, and it was using you to get to me. And I also need you two here to make sure that I don't hurt Auria."
"Okay," Caitlin told them in concern. "Yeah, we'll do anything that we can." Auria was setting up the urn with her parents' ashes in front of a circular totem. Caitlin walked closer in curiosity. "What is that?"
"This is a totem that represents power," Auria answered. "Added with my Phelan and Gaia Rayvnne's ashes, it's the only way to figure out how to heal Marcel and anyone else infected like him."
"Like Klaus and Kassandra?" Noah asked.
"Yeah," Auria answered. "But I have to channel it, which will give it access to me."
"That sounds safe," Caitlin told her sarcastically.
Marcel shook his head. "No. Auria, come on. You can't be serious."
"I am serious about saving you," Auria told him. "It'll allow me to find out what it wants with you or anyone else. I know you're just trying to protect me, Marcel, but you're in this mess because of me, and I'm not going to let it take you down like it took down my parents, those witches, and Will."
"Okay, look, Auria, not to tell you how to handle your sorcery, because you're one of the best witches I have ever seen, and you hate it when people tell you what to do..." Noah trailed off. Caitlin nodded in agreement, tilting her head. "But you haven't slept a decent night in days, you're dehydrated, and stressed..."
"I don't have a choice, Noah," Auria told him. She looked at Marcel. "If it means helping you avoid the fate that we know ends terribly, then I'm all in, and you can try to stop me, but let's see where that ends."
Marcel was exasperated because Auria wasn't giving up even when she knew what was on the line, but he also wanted the threat to be over so that no one had to get hurt, sighing, reluctantly, and grudgingly, agreeing.
Caitlin looked at Auria, sighing. "Okay. Then let us help."
----
St. Louis Cathedral - Bell Tower
Freya was trying a locator spell to find Kassandra and Klaus to help them and make sure that they didn't get out of control.
Keelin walked in, looking guilty.
"Forget something?" Freya asked.
"Yeah," Keelin answered. "My Hippocratic oath. I was halfway to the bus station, and I realized that you're here alone, Kassandra and Nicola still need help, and they can't get any better until Kol, Rebekah and Eliza get back from where we sent them to get the things that you need my help with combining into a treatment that can help your sister and your friend and I'm bailing on you. And, all things considered, you did cure me of my curse, so it's only fair that I help you cure Nicola of her curse, and try to find a way to cure Kassandra of hers. So let's see this thing through."
Freya was touched, nodding. "Well, I appreciate that, but, um, as usual, I'm in the middle of a family crisis."
Keelin walked closer in concern. "What'd they get into now?"
"Last night, Klaus and Kassandra were infected by dark magic, unlike any I've ever seen," Freya explained.
"The Hollow," Keelin told her.
"Yes, but it's clinging to them more than it has clung to any of the other victims besides Riley Grey," Freya told her. "Now, Elijah thinks that Nicola and Tory have a way to cure the other victims, like Riley, but this is all a maybe. I need to find my siblings before they are forced to hurt each other... again."
Keelin was a little amused by the way that she said that, but was also concerned. "You never stop, do you? Just, every day you do a spell, vanquish some evil, do another spell, rinse and repeat."
Freya looked a bit awkward. "I have hobbies. For instance, I collect the ashes of my enemies."
"My point is that even during my most traumatic hospital rotations, I'd make time," Keelin told her. "Ten minutes, one minute, whatever I could steal, to go up to the roof, look up at the sky, and just breathe. Remind myself that there was a whole world away from the madness of the ER."
Freya sighed. "I'll--I'll care a lot more about that world once I know my brother and sister are safe."
Keelin nodded understandingly.
----
Mary's Cabin - Outside
Mikayla and Kacie led Hope and Rae up to Mary's house.
Mary walked toward them.
Hope ran up to Mary to hug her. "Grandma Mary!"
"Well, hello, sweetheart," Mary told her. "Oh, Rae, hi."
Mary and Rae hugged, pulling away.
"I picked you some flowers," Hope told her.
"Darlings, why don't you two run on inside?" Mary asked. "I need to talk to your Aunt Mikayla and friend Kacie." Hope and Rae walked inside. Mikayla walked toward Mary. "Where's Hayley?"
"She's trying to help the others save Riley Grey from witch spirit possession," Mikayla answered. "Apparently Hayley made a promise about trying to save Riley so that she can make amends for the things she's done in the past."
"And Kaylin?" Mary asked.
"She is trying to figure out how to stop the Hollow from coming after anyone else, especially those two little girls inside," Kacie answered.
"So instead we get you," Mary told her.
"Mary, come on," Mikayla told her. "Kacie's a hybrid, like me and like Hayley, and like Luke. Hope and Tory are both tribrids. You can give them a little slack."
Mary sighed. "Fine. Yesterday, we almost lost Riley Grey. I wake up to hear there's been some kind of occult massacre in the woods. Let me guess. Mikaelsons are involved."
"Well, we all are, technically," Kacie answered. "That's why we're here. To talk about what really caused that massacre last night. All we know is this cult wanted to sacrifice children. Somehow, Riley Grey got caught up in it, and when he tried to get out, he couldn't, so he tried to kill himself. Mikayla gave Riley her blood to heal him, and we've been trying to get him free from the Hollow ever since."
"Doesn't make sense," Mary told them. "Someone is recruiting Crescents into a cult?"
"That's what I need you to look out for, Mary," Mikayla told her. "Anything strange."
"These people obsess over specific imagery," Kacie told her. "It's a serpent eating its own tail."
"What'd you say?" Mary asked.
"A serpent," Kacie answered. "Like a dragon."
Mikayla reached out to a notebook, pulling it out to show Mary the drawing. "When Hope and Rae were affected, they drew some. Here."
Mary looked horrified by the sight of the Ouroboros symbol as if she had seen it before, looking at Mikayla worriedly. "There's something you need to see."
Mikayla looked at her in confusion, exchanging a concerned look with Kacie.
----
Bayou Shack
Riley was restrained to a table.
Nicola was giving Riley some blood to see what would happen. Elijah stood nearby in case he tried anything.
Tory was also trying to siphon the Hollow's magic out of Riley, but it wasn't working.
Hayley and Luke were watching.
Hayley sighed in annoyance. "What is taking so long?"
"You do get that this is all a theory that we're working on, right?" Luke asked. "None of this is a for sure thing. Tory's been trying to siphon the Hollow magic out of Riley since last night, and it hasn't been working."
"And so far, Nicola's blood seems to have a bit of an affect," Tory told them. "I can hear Riley's thoughts, and they're churning right now, just because she gave him blood, and because I was siphoning..."
Nicola seemed to be getting an idea. "So what if Riley needs more than one dose of blood, and you need to be siphoning from the source at the same time?"
"It is an interesting theory," Elijah told them. "One that would probably work in the end."
"All right, so keep going," Hayley told them. "Kaylin said we need to figure this out fast, and I promised Riley that we would save him."
Nicola gave Riley more of her blood, while Tory was siphoning from him.
Riley started to stir in his unconscious state, obviously affected by their methods, struggling, seeming to be in pain, not because of them, but because of the Hollow fighting to stay.
Elijah and Luke restrained Riley while Nicola continued to give him blood and while Tory continued to siphon off of him. Hayley watched them worriedly.
A burst of blue light and black smoke seemed to be expelled from Riley, making them all jump in shock and duck reflexively, watching as the blue light and black smoke swirled around and disappear entirely.
"I would definitely say that worked," Luke told them.
"You don't say, Luke," Hayley told him sarcastically.
"Does that mean that it won't come back for this one, or..." Tory trailed off.
"I'm not sure," Elijah told them. They were all still in slight shock, looking at each other, breathless from what they had just seen. Nicola took out a tiny bottle, biting her palm to drip her blood into it. "What are you doing?"
"In case we need it for any others," Nicola explained.
Hayley nodded in agreement, checking on Riley to make sure that he was okay. "Riley's alive, just passed out. What if that thing comes back for him?"
"Then we'll keep doing this until it learns to leave Riley the hell alone," Tory answered.
"You all do realize that this is only a cure for werewolves, humans and vampires, right?" Luke asked. "That we can't do this to witches, because Nicola's blood will kill any witch that it comes into contact with?"
"We're aware," Elijah answered.
"So, what do we do when we run into a witch that's been taken over by the Hollow?" Luke asked. "Find a way to help them, too, or just finish them off because we don't know how to help them? What if this happens to Auria Rayvnne, because that thing has been trying to get to her since she was a kid, and if it does, what happens if we can't save her?"
No one knew the answer to this, all of them worried.
----
The French Quarter
Kassandra was wandering down the streets.
Hollow!Lucien was still taunting her, stopping in realization, turning to face Kassandra. "You don't intend to kill your brother, do you? You'd rather try to make things right with your family than kill him for what he's done."
"I've punished him enough," Kassandra told him. "Locking him away from the world for half a decade, having him beaten, tortured and starved."
Rosalita appeared behind Kassandra, walking closer. "Is that what you tell yourself? That enough is enough?"
Hollow!Lucien walked closer to Kassandra until he was in front of her, calling her what Lucien always used to call her to get under her skin. "Enough will never be enough, my love."
Kassandra glared at him angrily. "You do not get to call me that. You're not Lucien. Lucien's not here."
"Lucien hasn't been Lucien for 500 years, before he died," Lucien told her. "And who's fault is that? Not just Rosalita's, no. It is also the fault of your brother."
Kassandra rolled her eyes, looking from Lucien to Rosalita angrily. "More meaningless threats and taunts. Is that the extent of your power? I remain underwhelmed."
Rosalita stepped closer. "You think I'm powerless?" Kassandra was overcome with agonizing pain inside her own mind, holding her head, screaming. "I can make you see and feel whatever I like."
Kassandra was furious, pushing Rosalita to the ground, making her bash her head on the ground with a deadly wound.
Lucien circled around Kassandra in amusement. "Ruthless. Nicely done."
Kassandra reached behind her to grab Lucien by the chin, snapping his neck from over her shoulder, letting him fall to the ground.
Rosalita walked toward Kassandra. Kassandra gripped Rosalita by the throat, squeezing, ripping her throat out, letting her fall.
The three dead bodies around her were real, but they were of other people, and obviously not Lucien or Rosalita.
Kassandra was stunned to see that the bodies were real, looking unnerved.
Rosalita appeared behind Kassandra. "Imagine if I made you kill someone you cared about."
Kassandra turned away, only to see Lucien in front of her.
"Maybe I already have," Lucien told her.
Kassandra turned away, hallucinating that the female body on the ground in front of her was Freya, breathing heavily in denial, kneeling next to her. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Freya..."
The hallucination gave way, revealing to Kassandra that the body was not Freya at all, but a woman that she did not know.
Kassandra was trying to force all of this out of her head, getting angrier and angrier by the moment, rushing away from Lucien and Rosalita in the direction that they were driving her in.
----
Alley
Klaus was following Mikael, taunting him. "You know your way around, don't you? New Orleans native, I take it? I wonder, were you buried somewhere in the vicinity? Perhaps someone disturbed your tomb. Is that why you're such an angry ghost?"
"Perhaps you should be cautious about making me angrier, Niklaus," Mikael told him, taking a hallucination of the white oak stake out, staking Klaus in the heart, making him scream.
Klaus looked around for the hallucination of his father, trying his best to appear unaffected. "Do your worst. I know the truth. The white oak is gone, Mikael is dead, and you are nothing more than a bad dream."
Mikael walked toward Klaus. "Well, then maybe I'll find my way into your daughter's dreams, or in the dreams of Kaylin's daughter, who you've come to look at as your own. What fun it will be to be in their heads." Klaus furiously pushed Mikael into the wall. "I can make you kill anything that I want to, maybe even Hope and Rae."
"No!" Klaus told him angrily.
"Even if you could resist, who will stop Kassandra?" Mikael asked. "After all, I'm having my fun with her, poisoning her already broken mind and making her angry. And you've seen what your sister does when she becomes angry."
Klaus glared at him in fury. "You leave her alone."
Mikael laughed. "I will do no such thing. And I will make Kassandra tear through your family like she has before, but this time, I will make sure that she leaves no one to survive. Now, you only have the once choice, boy. Fight Kassandra or she will kill you and everyone you love."
Klaus glared at Mikael furiously, rushing toward him to push him against the wall, but the hallucination faded away to reveal that he had pushed Kaylin into the wall.
Kaylin held his arms, bringing him out of the hallucination. "Klaus, it's me. Nik, it's me. Hey."
Klaus was horrified and worried about how far the Hollow was in his mind. "Kaylin..."
Kaylin sighed, catching her breath. "It's okay. This is getting worse."
"Then all the more reason for me to hurry and find out what we need to know," Klaus told her.
Kaylin nodded cautiously, still worried and concerned about him, anxious. "And then we're gonna fix you and Kassandra so that nothing like this happens again."
Klaus nodded in agreement, sighing. "I need you to stay here, or go back to Freya, to stay away from me until I'm cured of this. I have to do this alone."
Kaylin scoffed softly, shaking her head. "Seriously? You need someone to help you keep this from taking over you completely. I'm not losing you to this."
Klaus pulled Kaylin closer into a kiss for a long moment. Kaylin was surprised but returned the kiss just as sweetly and passionately for a moment, pulling away, looking at him in concern.
Klaus sighed deeply. "What I need is for you to be safe. I don't want to hurt you, Kaylin."
Klaus walked past Kaylin. Kaylin turned after him, only to see that he was already gone, sighing worriedly and anxiously, having no idea where he was going or what was going to happen, other than the fact that she knew that Rae's dream was going to come true, which scared her about what could happen to Klaus and Kassandra.
----~----
Mary's Cabin - Outside
Mikayla was sitting outside, reading a journal.
Hayley walked toward her. "Hey, Mikayla. Kacie came to get me, saying that you have something to show me. Never knew that a Lockwood like her and a Labonair like you could get along so well."
"Yeah, that's one way of putting it," Mikayla told her, sighing. "This journal belonged to Mary's husband. He filled it in the months before he died. Most of it's revolutionist garbage. Plots for an uprising... But there's stuff about our parents in there."
Hayley sat next to Mikayla. "What does he say about them?"
"Ramblings about how they were traitors for dealing with vampires," Mikayla answered, handing the journal to Hayley.
Hayley looked through the journal. "You can see his writing deteriorate as his thoughts."
"In the end, he can't even form a coherent sentence," Mikayla told her. Hayley got to the last page of the journal, seeing that the Ouroboros symbol was drawn chaotically on the last page, looking at Mikayla in surprise. "Hayley, I think the Hollow made Mary's husband kill our parents."
Hayley and Mikayla looked at each other in concern and worry about the revelation relating to their parents.
----
St. Anne's Church
(Song:) Dynasty - MIIA
Kassandra was standing at the back of the church, washing the blood off of her hands in holy water.
Lucien walked toward Kassandra, standing behind her, looking over her shoulder to the holy water, whispering in her ear tauntingly. "If you think that is going to purify you..."
"Shut up," Kassandra told him angrily.
Lucien snaked his arms around her waist, pulling Kassandra closer to where her back was against his chest close to the way that Lucien had held Kassandra when she had taken the serum in 3.18 The Devil Comes Here and Sighs, to get a furious reaction out of her, causing her to tense up immediately in anger. "You don't want to hurt those you love, but you know that I can make you, far better than the hex ever could. You can't trust yourself. You can't trust anyone."
"I said stop talking!" Kassandra told him furiously.
Lucien stroked a finger along her cheek to make her more mad, making Kassandra turn her head away so he wasn't touching her. "You underestimated your foe. I am more powerful that you thought. I can make you see things and do things. I am inside your head." Kassandra pulled his arms away from her forcefully, pushing him back. "And you were right, earlier. You will never be rid of me. Not until you kill your brother." Kassandra was barely controlling her fury, looking at her shaking hands, looking into her reflection in the water to see that her eyes were glowing blue, slamming her hands into it angrily, breaking the statue it was held in, making the water splash up toward her. "Hunt down your brother and end this."
Kassandra turned to look at Lucien, leaning closer as if she was going to abide by the Hollow's wishes, but instead seethed her words in fury. "Leave me alone."
Kassandra rushed out of the church, leaving.
(Song Ends)
----
St. James Infirmary
Marcel, Noah and Caitlin were watching Auria worriedly as she started the spell.
Auria was sprinkling the ashes over the totem. "This spirit is ancient. It ebbs and flows like the tide, feeding and sleeping."
"So, it's awake, and I'm lunch?" Marcel asked.
"Well, it wants power," Noah told them. "That's why it goes after witch and psychic kids, werewolves, witches and vampires, right?'
Auria nodded. "Right now, it's stuck, caught between the world of the living and wherever it was trapped."
"Was trapped?" Caitlin repeated.
"It broke free," Auria explained. "When Davina and I blew the link in the Ancestral Realm, there was a massive release of energy. Now, my parents may have brought this thing here, or it used them and me to bring it here, whatever... but I think it gained more power from that night, when we severed our connection with the Ancestors."
"Great," Caitlin told them sarcastically. "We got rid of one evil to get another. How do we get this thing off of us?"
"Purification could work, but when Aunt Tia purified by parents, it came back," Auria explained. "Best bet, we'll have to send this thing back to sleep. See, spirits are just another form of power. They can be channeled, deflected, blocked." She picked up a rosary, holding them up. "Now, I can spell these beads to keep both of us safe, prevent any and all spirits from infecting our heads. I could purify some for each of you, to protect you from the influence of the Hollow, adjust them to your condition, of course."
"All right, let's do it," Noah told her. "Yeah, let's finish this. You have to channel that thing, right?"
"Yeah," Auria answered.
"Still don't like that you're practically dangling yourself in front of this thing, but you're not giving me much of a choice, are you?" Marcel asked.
"Not unless you want yourself and others like you free," Auria answered.
Marcel sighed, nodding. "That's what I thought. Let's get this over with."
"Anything strange happens, just wake me up, okay?" Auria asked. Marcel, Noah and Caitlin hesitantly nodded in agreement. Auria sighed. "Okay." She turned to the totem, casting the spell to channel it completely. "Din montre otimo sekre. Din montre otimo sekre." The blue light started to glow from within the totem, starting to get bigger. "Din montre ontimo sekre. Din montre ontimo sekre. Din montre otimo sekre."
Noah walked closer, looking worried and concerned. "This is officially strange."
Auria continued the spell, taking a deep breath. "Din montre otimo sekre."
Auria stopped chanting, looking gazing off at the blue light, holding her rosary and her talisman close, so that even if she was in a trance to get the information that she needed, her mind was protected from it.
Marcel could hear voices from the Hollow. "She's making herself vulnerable to us now. We can take her any time we want. Turn her into her worst nightmare. You will lose her forever. She will become your greatest enemy."
Marcel saw a vision of someone trying to hurt Auria, rushing closer, trying to throw them into the wall, but it turned out that he actually threw Auria into the wall, making her fall.
The blue light faded into nothing.
Noah rushed toward Marcel to push him against the wall to stop him from hurting Auria anymore. "Marcel, stop!"
Caitlin rushed toward Auria, kneeling in front of her worriedly. "Auria? Are you okay?"
Auria sighed, trying to catch her breath, holding the back of her head in pain. "That thing is definitely after Klaus and Kassandra, too. It's after everyone."
"Did you find out what you needed to?" Caitlin asked.
Auria shook her head, sighing. "No, I didn't, because I was thrown into the wall."
"Auria, I'm sorry," Marcel told her. "That thing got to me again, and it made me think that it was trying to get to you, and I acted without thinking."
Auria exhaled, looking up, nodding. "I know."
Caitlin helped Auria stand.
Marcel walked toward Auria worriedly in concern and regret because he hurt her without meaning to, placing a hand on the back of her head to check the wound that was there. Auria looked at him worriedly, because she knew that this was not going to end well for anyone.
Caitlin and Noah looked at each other in concern, knowing that they could stop Marcel from hurting Auria, but not knowing how to stop the Hollow from getting to Marcel.
----
Abandoned House - Living Room
Klaus had been driven to the same abandoned house from 4.01 Gather Up the Killers and 4.02 No Quarter.
Kassandra had also been drawn here, walking inside in confusion, seeing Klaus, stopping in surprise. "Hello, brother. What are we doing here?"
"Apparently we were led here by the Hollow, because this is the place where it has manifested itself before," Klaus answered. "It lured children here, attacked Marcel and Auria. Apparently has a fascination with the Gerard and Rayvnne. Now it wants you to kill me so that it can absorb my power, and then we'll never be able to stop it."
The door behind Kassandra slammed closed, making them both jump. They heard the Hollow set up a boundary spell around the house so that they couldn't leave and so that no one could come inside.
Kassandra looked from the door to Klaus. "Seems neither of us is to leave until one of us dies."
----~----
St. Louis Cathedral - Bell Tower
Kaylin got back to the bell tower to see Freya and Keelin standing together, walking closer, looking at Keelin in confusion. "I thought you were leaving."
"I came back to help," Keelin explained.
Kaylin nodded, still confused, turning to Freya. "Well, help is what we all need."
"What happened?" Freya asked.
"Klaus went after Kassandra," Kaylin answered. "He just disappeared. I couldn't stop him."
Freya sighed worriedly. "Of course not, not with the Hollow's influence over him. And if the Hollow has gotten to Klaus this bad, you have to consider how bad it is getting to Kassandra. That thing is forcing Kassandra to kill Klaus for a sacrificial bloodbath. We have to get there, Kaylin, now."
----
Bayou
Mikayla and Hayley were sitting together, reeling from the revelation that they had made.
"Growing up, I never belonged anywhere," Mikayla told her. "Not in school. Not in foster care. I always thought if I could find my family, I'd finally belong somewhere."
"You do belong somewhere," Hayley told her. "Okay, and I felt the same way that you do. I did terrible things to find you and the Laboanir family, Mikayla, like making a deal with Rosalita, when she did all the mind control to get everyone turned against each other. I tried to keep Kacie Lockwood and her brother, Luke and Ryan Thompson safe, and I even warned them about what happened, and that's why Rosalita made sure that Ryan got killed, because she was punishing me for warning them. And when I did find out about our family, our parents were already dead, but you weren't. And now I find out that the same people who killed our family are the ones who hurt Hope and Rae."
"I'm not letting that thing go after anyone else that I care about," Mikayla told her. "We have to stop this, Hayley."
Hayley nodded in agreement.
Elijah and Nicola walked toward them.
"Hey," Hayley told them. "How's Riley? Is he okay?"
"He is for now, that we know of," Nicola answered. "Kacie and Luke are gonna stay and keep an eye on Riley, while we leave with Tory to find out what we can do about helping others like him."
Hayley and Mikayla nodded in understanding.
Tory walked toward them.
Elijah's phone rang. He took it out, seeing that Freya was calling, answering. "Freya? What is it?"
Freya and Kaylin were walking down the street in the Quarter.
"You need to come back to the city, or Kassandra is going to kill Klaus," Freya told him. "They were both infected badly with the Hollow last night at the ritual, and Kaylin and I don't know how to help them, Elijah."
Elijah turned to look at Nicola and Tory. "I do." He hung up. "If this worked for Riley Grey, it will work for Niklaus and Kassandra."
"It might take more than one time to cleanse them like it will with Riley, but yes, it should work," Tory answered.
"Go," Mikayla told them.
Hayley nodded for them to leave.
Elijah, Nicola and Tory nodded, rushing off, leaving.
----
Abandoned House - Living Room
Klaus and Kassandra were still trapped at the house.
Kassandra was pacing. "What are you going to do, Nik? You can't kill me. You can't stop me if I try to kill you."
"I know you're seeing things, Kassandra," Klaus told her. "I know that you're seeing Lucien."
"I am seeing a lot more than just Lucien, brother," Kassandra told him. "Seeing Lucien taunt me all day I can handle because I've dealt with that for five years. Seeing the psychotic psychic bitch Rosalita, that turned him mad is more unsettling."
"Even in her death, Rosalita is making you angry, and you tend to lash out when you're angry," Klaus told her. "Might I suggest that you think this through?"
Klaus walked toward Kassandra.
Kassandra put a hand up to stop him, backing away. "Stay back. Lucien and Rosalita..."
"That is not Lucien and Rosalita," Klaus told her.
Kassandra sighed. "The Hollow made me see things and do things, and I know that it has done the same to you. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't trust myself. Not anymore."
"Then trust me, and we both will find a way to defeat this together," Klaus told her.
Kassandra lowered her voice to a whisper. "How can you trust yourself?"
Lucien appeared behind Kassandra to whisper into her ear. "He wishes to lower your guard with his lies of helping you and saving you. He doesn't care for you, Kassandra, otherwise he would not have put you through the hell that he has put you through. Don't be a fool."
Kassandra looked at Klaus. "I am no fool."
Klaus looked as if he was just as much affected by the Hollow as she was.
----
Outside
Kaylin rushed herself and Freya up to the house, trying to get inside, but the boundary that kept Klaus and Kassandra trapped inside also kept them outside.
Kaylin was beyond annoyed. "You've got to be kidding me."
Freya held up her hands to the barrier to counteract it so they could get inside. "Repo oma dal most. Repo oma dal most. Repo oma da most."
The wind started blowing around Kaylin and Freya forcefully, blowing around their hair.
----
Inside - Living Room
Klaus and Kassandra were both on the verge of breaking, trying to fight it.
"This thing is haunting you just like it's haunting me, bending the both of us to its will," Klaus told her. "It knows that I can't kill you, but it also knows that if I make the first move that you will fight back and lose yourself to them."
Mikael appeared next to Klaus. "You're both fighting the influence, but those as savage as the both of you will succumb eventually. Kassandra wants revenge against you for what you did to her, Niklaus, and no one will be safe unless she is put down."
Klaus rushed toward Mikael angrily to grip his throat, but it was revealed that it had tricked him into starting the fight with Kassandra and that he was actually gripping her throat. Kassandra broke the hold he had on her by breaking his wrist, punching him in the chest, kicking him back through the wall behind him, making him fall.
----
Outside
Kaylin and Freya stood outside.
Freya tried to get the boundary spell down, hitting the boundary in frustration.
Elijah, Nicola and Tory rushed up next to Kaylin and Freya.
Tory placed both of her hands on the boundary so that she could start to siphon it away, allowing her hands to glow red. "Need a hand?"
Kaylin and Freya smirked in amusement, relieved at their good timing.
Nicola used two needles to draw her blood into so that they could get to Klaus and Kassandra easier.
----
Inside - Hallway
Kassandra walked through the broken wall that she had thrown Klaus through, looking around. She didn't see Klaus, but she saw Lucien.
"End this, my love," Lucien told her. "There is no other way."
Kassandra rushed toward Lucien furiously, grabbing him by the throat, pushing him against the wall. "I told you not to call me that."
Klaus was revealed to be there instead of Lucien, trying to push Kassandra off of him. "Sister, please."
Kassandra still couldn't see Klaus, only able to see Lucien. Klaus gripped Kassandra by her arms, spinning to push her against the wall instead. Kassandra pushed Klaus off of her, throwing him across the room into the stairwell railing behind him, making that shatter and Klaus fall to the floor. Klaus picked up a piece of the broken wooden railing to use as defense, throwing it into Kassandra's chest as she rushed closer, and though it made her blood fall to the floor, it did not hurt her in the least. Kassandra pulled the makeshift stake out of her chest, rushing toward Klaus, driving it into his stomach, making him groan in pain. More of her blood fell onto the floor as she healed within a matter of seconds.
----
Outside
Tory was still siphoning the boundary spell away, taking in the extra power, breathing heavily at the feeling of the rush as she nearly took the barrier down.
----
Inside - Living Room
Klaus and Kassandra were still trapped, having just returned to the room.
Kassandra still couldn't see her brother. Instead, the Hollow had him replaced with Rosalita for the moment.
"You should have killed him when you had the chance," Rosalita told her. "That is and forever will be your mistake. You said it yourself, Kassandra, when you were hexed. 'Always isn't forever after all'."
Kassandra became enraged, rushing toward Rosalita, pushing her against the wall, unaware that it was actually Klaus.
Mikael appeared next to Klaus. "Fight, you coward. Or today will be your last."
Klaus tried to push Kassandra off of him. "Kassandra!"
Kassandra saw Rosalita in front of her instead of Klaus.
"You blame me for everything that happened to you, and you should," Rosalita told her. "Go ahead, take your anger out on me. You want real revenge or not?"
Klaus was still trying to reach his sister even though he knew that she couldn't see or hear anything other than the Hollow wanted her to. "I'm not this thing's puppet, and neither are you. We cannot give it what it wants. Kassandra, this isn't you. Please!"
The door blew open with magic.
Elijah, Nicola, Kaylin and Tory rushed inside. Freya ran inside to follow them.
Tory and Freya both cast a heavy pain infliction spell on Kassandra to make her let go of Klaus before she could bite what she thought was Rosalita. Kassandra held her head, getting annoyed quickly. Elijah rushed toward Kassandra to push her against the wall before she could recover. Klaus helped Elijah restrain Kassandra while Tory and Freya continued to give her a pain infliction spell to distract her so that Nicola could stab Kassandra with a needle of her blood, injecting it into her.
The spirit seemed to burst out of Kassandra in blue light and black smoke, but it seemed to be holding tight onto Kassandra, unwilling to let go completely. Nicola injected her with more of her blood while Tory siphoned the power of the Hollow out of Kassandra, expelling the magic out of her, the magic that swirled around and make them duck.
Klaus and Elijah let go of Kassandra, backing away. Kassandra stumbled, nearly falling from the effects of being exorcised from the Hollow. Elijah held Kassandra standing, supporting his sister against him protectively in relief.
Kaylin injected Klaus with some of Nicola's blood, while Tory siphoned the magic out of him to free him as well. The blue light and black smoke burst out of him, swirling around, making them all duck.
Tory, Kaylin, Nicola, Kassandra, Elijah, Freya and Klaus were standing together. They all looked at the blue light and black smoke that had been forced out of Klaus, and some of it from Kassandra even though the Hollow was gripping her so tightly that it wasn't out of her completely. The light tried to attack all of them. Tory and Freya held up their hands to use magic to keep the Fifolet light away from them, both of them angry.
Nicola took out the vial of her blood that she had drawn in the bayou, throwing it at the Fifolet light, making the glass shatter and the contents splash over it. It started to screech as if in agony, making them cover their ears from the grating, painful sound. It disappeared entirely, leaving them in shock.
----~----
Night - Abattoir Compound - Klaus' Study
Klaus was sitting at his desk, drinking a small vial of Nicola's blood to make sure that the Hollow's magic and influence was completely out of him.
Kaylin walked closer with a bottle of bourbon.
Klaus was clearly cleansed from the Hollow's influence, but still emotionally and mentally affected by what had happened today. "I prefer my mind to remain unaltered for the time being."
Kaylin tilted her head sarcastically. "Weird. I feel the exact opposite." She took a drink from the bottle. "You can relax. Nikki's blood and Tory's siphoning powers expelled the Hollow's magic out of you, and they also mostly expelled it from Kassandra, too."
"Mostly," Klaus repeated. "That's what concerns me. It let me go without a second thought, letting itself be expelled from my mind and body. Clearly, it has other plans for my sister, being that it didn't want to let her go."
"We'll figure it out," Kaylin told him. "Nikki and Tory will keep helping her, like they did with Riley Grey, and like they did with you. We'll make sure her actions and words are her own. But now that the Hollow was expelled from you, where has it gone?"
"It's a ghost," Klaus told her. "It could be anywhere, and since we know that it still wants to sacrifice someone powerful, we have to be prepared, Kaylin."
"I don't know if what that thing did to both of you today turned you two against each other, but I know that you both have gotten through worse and conquered it all," Kaylin told him. Klaus smiled a small smile, touched by what she said. "Now, that the Hollow seems to have let you go, and knowing that we will save Kassandra from its influence, do you think you're going to be okay?"
(Song:) Cloud Nine - Haelos
"Oh, I haven't been 'okay' in a thousand years," Klaus told her. "But I'll be better than what I was today."
Kaylin chuckled slightly in amusement, nodding. "Guess that's all I can ask for. I didn't fight through literal Hell to get you back just for some witch spirit to take you away again. The same witch spirit that came after the two little girls that we care about most, and tried to have your sister kill you again, so for that alone, the spirity witch bitch will pay."
Klaus chuckled in amusement, nodding in agreement. "You are good, Kaylin, but if anyone makes you angry or comes after someone that you love..."
"I get mean and I get vengeful," Kaylin finished. "Yeah. And this thing came after many people that I love, and it definitely made me angry. So what do you say, Nik?" Klaus looked up at Kaylin curiously. "We take this thing out together?"
Klaus smiled a small smile, nodding in agreement, still cautious about what this thing could do, though he was relieved that it seemed to be over for now. Kaylin looked at him understandingly, smiling a small smile, leaning closer to kiss him slowly and sweetly for a long moment, pulling away. They both managed small smiles.
----
Courtyard
Elijah and Nicola were standing on the balcony overlooking the courtyard, drinking from glasses.
"You've done well today with curing Riley Grey and Niklaus," Elijah told her. "You nearly cured Kassandra."
"Nearly being the key word," Nicola told him. "Did she seriously have Tory lock her in a boundary spell inside the same dungeon that she kept Klaus for five years?"
"For our protection so that nothing like what happened today will ever happen again," Elijah answered. "I hate that this Hollow is making her do this to herself, Nicola. She shouldn't be going through this, but because it won't let her go, she doesn't have a choice, and neither do we."
"I'll keep trying to cure Kassandra, but she's dangerous to everyone until we know for sure that she's not a threat anymore," Nicola told him. "Me and Tory, we can keep helping her and Riley Grey. At least until this thing lets her go or Eliza, Rebekah and Kol get back so that we can do what Keelin did to herself and have it to where neither she or anyone else is in danger."
"You never said if you would say yes to what Freya, Kol, Rebekah, Eliza and Mikayla are offering," Elijah told her.
"I don't want to test it until we know for sure that the Hollow isn't a threat anymore, because I am one of the strongest weapons we have against this thing," Nicola told him. "Especially if we have to fight Kassandra or others infected like her again."
Elijah nodded knowingly in understanding. "Even if we do defeat this, would you still want to accept the offer? Because it wouldn't diminish your urges or instincts."
"Just the force that I have to hurt people," Nicola told him. "And to defend myself. Would I give that up, even if I couldn't give up the need to kill? I don't know. I mean, who knows what future threat lies before your family or me, that I may need to be strong? And what if the vampires I've marked find out, the ones that don't know their lives are linked to me, and they come for me?"
"I wouldn't let anything happen to you," Elijah told her.
"I know that," Nicola told him. "Right now, it's my job to worry about everyone else."
Elijah smiled a small smile. "Thank you for doing all of this. Even if you are doing it for Kaylin and Rae..."
"And you," Nicola told him. "I'm doing it for you, too. And even if you guys are considered the bad guys to the rest of the world, so am I now. And you all would do anything for your family."
Elijah smirked in amusement. "The silver linings in the clouds of darkness."
Nicola chuckled, nodding. "Yeah. So ask me what I would do with Rebekah, Kol, Freya, Mikayla and Eliza's offer after we deal with the Hollow. We'll see then."
"And if you choose to turn it down?" Elijah asked.
"I probably won't, because I don't want to hurt anyone else," Nicola told him. "But I still have this feeling that I have to help to make amends, and that would require strength, so... who knows?" She sighed, slightly amused. "I'm not even sure how this is a debate right now, but things change."
Elijah nodded in agreement. "Yes, they do. And whatever you choose, it'll be up to you."
Nicola smiled a small smile. "Thanks, Elijah."
Elijah smiled, nodding in understanding. They looked around the courtyard in silence, content, drinking what was left in their glasses, thinking everything over. They looked at each other, smiling small smiles, leaning closer to kiss slowly and softly but passionately, pulling away after a moment, leaning their heads together.
----
St. Louis Cathedral - Bell Tower
Freya and Keelin were sitting at the table in the bell tower.
"The mighty Kassandra Mikaelson locks herself away to make sure that she never hurts her family again," Keelin told her. "I'm sorry, Freya."
Freya sighed, nodding. "Keelin... thank you."
"Is that gratitude?" Keelin asked. "From the Viking witch who spends her days battling evil spirits to save her vampire family?"
"Sometimes I'm forced to do things that I regret," Freya told her. "And for what I did to you..." She chuckled nervously. "Sorry."
"I get it," Keelin told her. "At the end of the day, what you did was for family. And if mine were still alive, I'd do the same. Just don't ever mess with me again."
Keelin pushed Freya's leg teasingly. They both chuckled and looked at each other.
----
Bayou Shack
Riley was awake and no longer restrained, sitting up on the table, looking pensive and regretful.
Hayley walked in to check on him. "Hey. Riley. You're awake."
"Yeah, I'm up," Riley answered.
"How do you feel?" Hayley asked.
"More myself," Riley answered. "But I feel like I'd still rather be dead than to live with what I did while under the influence of whatever the hell that thing was, Hayley."
Hayley sighed, shaking her head. "Don't do that."
"Do what?" Riley asked.
"Blame yourself," Hayley answered. "We've seen more powerful creatures than you fall prey to the Hollow. It's not your fault. You tried to kill yourself to get out, Riley."
"Well, that's gotta count for something, right?" Riley asked sarcastically. Hayley looked down. Riley chuckled bitterly. "Sorry. Being possessed by an evil spirit and stabbing yourself in the throat is not the easiest way to go, Hayley. Guess I should thank your sister Mikayla for saving my life."
"You can thank Mikayla once we know for sure that you're free from the Hollow," Hayley told him. "And Nicola Salvatore and Tory Donovan, they'll be back to make sure that you're free."
"Great, so I can thank them then, them and the other two hybrids," Riley told her. "Um, Kacie Lockwood and Luke Thompson, right?"
Hayley nodded. "Yeah. Kacie Lockwood is Tory's sister, and Luke Thompson is her boyfriend. But they're all helping my family, so... And two members of the Mikaelson family are away with a girl named Eliza Forbes so they can help us, too, so... Even Luke's brother Ryan Thompson, and his wife Lindsey Davis-Thompson, they've been helping from afar, recently and in the past."
"Well, that's good," Riley told her. "Your family needs all the help and all the friends it can get to face this thing. Guess I should thank you, too, Hayley. You helped."
Hayley smiled slightly, shaking her head. "You don't need to thank me, Riley."
Hayley and Riley looked at each other somberly for a moment, though they were both relieved that Riley was free from the Hollow's control, and Riley was relieved that they helped save him instead of letting him die.
----
Outside
Kacie and Mikayla were sitting at a bench, looking toward Mary's cabin where Hope and Rae were sleeping.
Hayley walked toward Hope and Rae, watching them sleep.
Kacie looked at her. "So, Mikayla, not only is the Hollow obsessed with the Rayvnnes, which is why it took over Phelan and Gaia, and probably killed Tia and Malcolm, and is obsessed with Auria... but it's obsessed with the Labonairs, too? This Lockwood is curious."
"I don't know, Kacie," Mikayla told her. "I mean, Hope is a Mikaelson, Hayley is a Marshall by adoption, and by adoption, I am a Waters while by marriage, I am a Kenner. But we're all still Labonairs."
"I'm sorry about your husband, Mikayla," Kacie told her. "Kaylin and Nicola told me a little bit about what happened."
Mikayla sighed. "Yeah. Jackson understood me, he got me. Even when I told him about a time when I was a drunk party girl that kissed anything that walked before I triggered my curse. It made me mellower."
Kacie chuckled. "Same here."
"Kacie, Jackson also said that tragedy always followed my family around," Mikayla told her. "Executions, people dying in floods, fires, or just vanishing. What if the Hollow is behind those deaths, too? If this thing is back to finish off the Rayvnnes, what if it's also back to finish off the Labonairs?"
Kacie didn't know the answer to that, looking concerned.
----
St. James Infirmary
Auria was healed from her little head bump earlier.
Marcel turned to leave.
Auria stood, turning after him. "Marcel. Where are you going?"
"Somewhere where I can make sure that I can't hurt you again," Marcel answered. "I hurt you, twice, when I didn't mean to. I would have hurt you worse if Caitlin and Noah hadn't been here to stop me. I need to leave."
"You can't be serious," Auria told him.
"Auria, I don't want to hurt you again," Marcel told her.
"The whole point of the Hollow taking you is to leave both of us in this alone," Auria told him. "And I can take care of myself, Marcel."
Marcel sighed worriedly, walking closer. "Auria..." Auria looked at him in concern, shaking her head, turning away. Marcel pulled Auria closer, kissing her slowly and sweetly for a moment, surprising her a little. Auria kissed back for a long moment. They pulled away, looking at each other. "I need to make sure that I won't hurt you again."
(Song Ends)
Noah and Caitlin led Tory and Luke inside.
"Marcel, you won't have to hurt Auria again," Noah told him.
"'What do you mean?' you ask?" Caitlin asked lightheartedly, trying to make them feel better. "I'm glad you asked."
Noah looked at Tory and Luke. "It seems that Tory Donovan and Nicola Salvatore found a way to fix symptoms like yours."
"Yeah, it turns out that drinking a bit of the witch-poisonous serum that is the Huntress' blood and the tribrid siphoning the Hollow's power out of a host can cure a Hollower Follower," Luke told them.
Tory took out a vial of blood. "This is Nicola's. I got it from her when Caitlin called for help. You drink this and let me siphon off of you, and you'll be good to go."
"Is there a chance that the influence can come back?" Auria asked.
"Yes, definitely, because it's still attacking Kassandra even after we tried to cure her, which is why she asked me to lock her away inside a boundary spell," Tory answered. "But at least it is a solution that we can repeat as needed."
"What's the catch?" Marcel asked.
"There has to be a catch?" Luke asked. "You people are seriously damaged around these parts."
Noah and Caitlin both smirked in amusement and agreement.
Tory chuckled, giving Luke a look, though she thought it was funny and true, too. "Luke."
"Kidding, sort of," Luke told them.
"Thank God for comic reliefs," Noah told them.
Caitlin nodded expressively in agreement.
Luke smirked.
Tory held the vial toward Marcel. "Here."
Marcel took the vial, nodding. "Let's do this."
Tory looked at Auria.
Auria nodded, looking at Tory in relief and appreciation.
Marcel drank the vial of Nicola's blood so that Tory could siphon the Hollow's magic out of him, expelling the blue light/black smoke that disappeared almost instantly.
----
Abattoir Compound - Dungeon
(Song:) Lover's Death - Ursine Vulpina & Annaca
Kassandra was sitting inside the boundary spell that she had Tory put up so that she wouldn't risk hurting everyone she loved while they tried to cure her from the influence of the Hollow once and for all. She had several vials of Nicola's blood nearby in case the haunting came back.
She heard Lucien's voice humming 'Become the Beast' by Karilene nearby, rolling her eyes.
Lucien knelt behind Kassandra, singing softly, tauntingly. "Become the beast / We don't have to hide / Do I terrify you? / Or do you feel alive? / Do you feel the hunger? / Does it howl inside? / Does it terrify you? / Or do you feel alive?" Kassandra rolled her eyes at the Hollow's attempt to get under her skin again, reaching for a vial of Nicola's blood on the floor. The Hollow's hallucination of Lucien grabbed her wrist before she could grab it, kneeling in front of her. "Splinters of my soul / Cut through your skin / And burrow within."
"You're not Lucien, so you singing this song does not get to me as much as you would want it to, but you are pissing me off," Kassandra told him, pushing the Hollow's hallucination off of her to reach for the vials of blood, but they seemingly disappeared from her sight, making her very annoyed. "Did you come back just to gloat and make me more angry?"
"I came to talk you back to your senses," Lucien told her.
"I am very well aware of my senses without your quote unquote 'help', thank you very much," Kassandra told him, feeling along the floor to search for the vials that the Hollow was hiding from her. "Being haunted by my ex Lucien was different when it was the hex. But seeing your imposter face is very irritating, so leave me the hell alone."
"Five years ago, you were forced to become something else entirely, Kassandra," Lucien told her. He stood, watching her. "You were fallen by friend and foe, and you lost everything and was forced to put down your family."
"Yeah, I know," Kassandra told him in annoyance. "I was there. You wanted to do the same thing to me that the Ancestors did, but you failed."
"Given the time, I would succeed, if you didn't lock yourself away in here like the martyr you are trying to be," Lucien told her.
"I'm trying to protect everyone I love from the monster that you want to turn me into," Kassandra told him angrily. "Yes, I changed into a new creature entirely, but I want to change back."
"The girl that you once were died, and she's never coming back," Lucien told her. "You've said that yourself."
"At least I can turn into someone that I can trust, because I can't trust myself with the way I am now," Kassandra told him. "I can change myself more easily than I was changed by everyone else. You, Hollow Lucien, are not needed, welcome or wanted in my mind." She rushed to her feet to glare him in the eyes angrily in determination. "Once I am free of you and once I am sure that you can no longer have a hold over me, I will hunt you down..." She lowered her voice to a taunting whisper, leaning closer to say the whispering threat into his ear like he had done to her repeatedly that day. "And I promise you I will deliver you another kind of nightmare. Sweet dreams."
Kassandra backed away, opening the palm of her hand to reveal that she had found one of the vials of blood, drinking it quickly to expel the spirit from her mind before it could stop her.
The Hollow's vision of Lucien was struggling to stay as the Hollow was trying to cling to Kassandra, while Nicola's blood was poisoning it and weakening its hold on her. "Kassandra." Kassandra took another drink, poisoning it even more, and making its hold on her even weaker. "Kassandra..." Kassandra drank the rest of it to be rid of it for now, even though she knew that it would come back for her. "Sandra!"
The Hollow was forced out of Kassandra in a swirl of black smoke and blue light, disappearing along with the vision of Lucien.
Kassandra watched it go smugly in amusement, relieved for it to be gone for now, pleased at the fact that she was able to hurt it when she forced it out of her mind, sitting down, wrapping her arms around her knees, leaning her head against her arms, looking at the many vials of blood on the floor next to her that were no longer hidden from her because the Hollow was gone for the moment, even though she knew that it would come for her again.
(Song Ends)
----
Abandoned House - Living Room
A witch was walking through the house where Klaus and Kassandra had fought, following the trail of Kassandra's blood from when Klaus had thrown the broken piece of railing into her chest, following the trail to the major puddle at the far end of the room, where a poisonous plant seemed to be growing. He smirked. He heard someone behind him, turning around, shining his flashlight on the vampire woman that had been working for Lucien that attacked Auria in 3.16 Alone With Everybody. "What are you doing here, Sofya?"
"You know what I'm doing here, Dominic," Sofya told him. "I want Klaus and Nicola dead. And if you fail to hold up your end of the deal, I will kill you."
"You could, but the you'll never get what you want," Dominic told her. He shone the flashlight on Kassandra's blood and the plant that was growing over it to show Sofya. "Kassandra's blood was spilled today. As she is the only one who can kill an Original, the Hollow has received this offering and giving us a gift in return. A single scratch from that thorn will kill an Original, or any vampire, including the Huntress. And we both get what we want."
"You want a blood sacrifice for your dead witch," Sofya told him. "I don't care. All I want is my revenge."
----~----
4.06 "Bag of Cobras" Trailer
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in the compound, Elijah was speaking to Marcel, Auria, Noah and Caitlin. "This enemy is a dark force. Can't be bargained or reasoned with. I don't bargain. And I'm done with reason."
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in the courtyard of the compound, Kaylin and Nicola were watching as the courtyard was being set up for a party.
"It's such a shame that these..." Kaylin trailed off.
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in the courtyard during a party, a crowd was gathered. Noah was playing trumpet while Caitlin was playing piano for the crowd. Marcel and Auria were in the crowd. Klaus and Elijah were watching from the balcony.
Kaylin: (voice over from 4.06 Bag of Cobras) "Linens will soon be red with blood."
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in a meeting place, Sofya was speaking, fiddling with the weapon made from Kassandra's blood. "I can deal with Nicola."
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in the compound, Nicola stood at the edge of the party. She looked as if she sensed something, looking around.
Sofya: (voice over from 4.06 Bag of Cobras) "And you will find Kassandra."
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in the compound, Josh was searching around.
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in the party, Klaus and Kaylin were dancing.
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in the dungeon, Kassandra was sitting in the middle of the boundary spell, lighting candles around the salt line in boredom. She looked up.
Nicola: (voice over from 4.06 Bag of Cobras) "Maybe I should just kill you."
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", somewhere dark, Tory, Kacie, Mikayla and Hayley were looking around by flashlight.
From 4.06 "Bag of Cobras", in the dungeon, Auria was looking at tarot cards.
Kassandra sat in the middle of the boundary spell, looking up at Auria, Marcel and Luke on the outside of the barrier. "I wish you the best of luck with finding the viper in your midst."
WORLDS COLLIDING (THE ORIGINALS)