𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄
brown hair, the crown you never take off
"SO the Lockwood's really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" Echo asked as they walked through the tunnels. "They must've really be clueless about everything."
The older man nodded as they walked along. "Yeah. Careful where you shine that thing. Bats hate the light."
Echo and Damon glanced to each other, smirking, knowing it was the perfect time to scare Elena.
Both sisters looked at each other freaked out when they heard they were bats here.
"You're kidding right, Ric?" The older of the twins, asked, frowning.
Damon and Echo made their way behind Elena, both of them whispering, "Elena."
She spun around, shining her flashlight right in their eyes. She jumped about ten feet, looking ready to run. "Really?!" She exclaimed, and glared at both of them, smacking their arms.
"Scaredy cat," Echo teased and jumped away from her when Elena went to playfully shove her.
"Just ignore them, that's what I do." Ric sighed, giving both Damon and Echo blank stare.
"Rude," Echo said before looping her arms with Damon's as they continued to walk.
Changing topics, Elena looked back at Damon, asking, "So, you really can't get in?"
Damon shook his head. "No. Seems even the ancient Lockwood's were anti-vampire."
Elena frowned as they walked through the dark tunnels, and asked, "What do you mean, ancient?"
"See for yourself. This is as far as I get to go," he answered her stopping as the twins, and Alaric kept walking before stopping in front of the wall.
The older doppelgänger shined her light against the stone wall asking, "What is all this?"
Echo walked up to the the wall, examining it closer, and running her hand across the stone wall in amazement.
Answering Elena's question, Alaric said, "Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story. In simple archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story." He watched as Echo ran her hand across one of the few symbols he did know. "That right there is a moon cycle. A man. A wolf. A werewolf."
From outside the tunnels, Damon sarcastically called out to them, "Yeah. It's the Lockwood diaries, Pictionary style."
"I don't understand," Elena began confused, "I thought the Lockwood's came here with the original founders in the 1860s."
"Ah, maybe the Lockwood's did, but according to this wall, these werewolves have been here a lot longer than that."
Turning away from the wall, Echo asked, "How long?"
"Long," Damon answered her, annoyingly vague which made the twins sigh annoyed, "Gets better. Show them, Ric."
Alaric lead the two girls over to the other set of carvings, lighting up the wall he shined the flashlight on it. "Names, and they're not native. They're written in runic, a Viking script," he explained.
"Viking," Echo repeated back in a questioning tone as she glanced back at the wall.
Alaric sighed. "That name there, when translated, it reads... Niklaus."
Echo's eyes widened as she turned to stare at the name. "Klaus?"
Moving his light to the other names on the wall, he added on, "And Elijah... And Rebekah."
Shocked, Elena asked, "These are the names of the original family?"
Echo crossed her arms. "Carved into a cave that's... That's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls or even the entire new world, for that matter."
"Okay, this has gotta be one of Klaus' fakes," Elena said, trying to make sense of it all.
"That's what I said," Damon agreed from the outside, waiting for them to finish inside. And for Echo to be in his sight again.
Alaric sighed, again. "That could be true, except the last name up here made us think otherwise."
Echo backed up standing next to her sister trying to get a good look at the name. "What's the name?"
"Mikael."
"Mikael? Mikael, as in the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?" Elena asked incredulously, shaking her head.
"Yep. And I now like to call him papa original," Damon stated sarcastically from the outside.
"THESE images tell a story. To learn the story you have to decipher these images." Ric sighed, looking at all the pictures he took of the drawings. They were currently in Ric's apartment so that he could decipher the images.
Echo brought up her foot, about to kick Damon in the groin, but he tsked, and grabbed her foot, flung her to the ground. She got up quickly and brought a fist to his face, which he caught, and then pulled her into him, their lips only three inches apart, and they were both breathing heavily.
Bringing up her foot, Echo kicked Damon in the shin, causing him to loosen his hold on her, and she slipped out of his grip. She grabbed his wrist, spun around, and threw him down on the floor. She placed her foot on his chest and smirked down at her blue eyed vampire.
She then quickly grabbed the stake out of his hand, straddled him, and held it over his heart. She chuckled and smiled down at him, and he smiled up at her, too, They looked into each others eyes for what felt like hours, but was only seconds.
Grinning, Damon quickly switched their positions. He forced her arms above his head. She breathed out before wrapping her arms around his waist, trying to throw him off of her.
It didn't work, so she leaned up, getting closer to his face, and whispered on his ear, "I love this position that we're in. If only they was under different circumstances."
Once she saw his eyes darken, she smirked, pulled her arm out of his grip, pushed him to the side, so she was now saddling him. "I win," she whispered, and winked at him before she stood up.
"Are you two done flirting with each other?" Elena asked the two with a smirk.
"Ghost of Christmas Past, Mason Lockwood, said that the cave would lead us to a weapon that could kill Klaus," Damon explained, walking up behind Echo, and wrapped his arm around her waist. "You won this time, but we're going for second round later."
Echo smirked up at him since she only reached his chin. "As if you could handle this." She pulled away from him and walked over to her towel, and wiped the sweat off. "Also, doesn't Mikeal have a weapon?"
"Yes, which means the cave will probably lead us to Mikeal. Who we've already found, and lost." Damon sighed.
"These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is." Ric shrugged.
"Then all we have to do is find out what they mean," Elena said, nodding.
"Fine, fine. If I'm being irrationally optimistic like you guys, how do you suppose we do that?" Damon forced a smile.
"Well, if the story's about the original family living here, then we go straight to the source," Elena said, and Echo looked to her, knowing exactly what she meant.
LATER in the day, the twins entered the Salvatore Boarding House, hearing music blaring.
Rebekah seemed happy as she had a glass of champagne in her hand walking towards them. "Hey, what's up?" She asked the two girls as they stood in the doorway.
Echo looked her over, nodding as she saw something she liked. "You invited us over to talk."
Rebekah smiled at the two girls. "All right, girls. Have at it." Six girls arrived into the room, standing in a line all wearing formal dresses. "Okay, now twirl, please." They all turned around showing the girls their dresses in a full 360.
"You've compelled your own private runway show?" Elena questioned her in disbelief, chuckling slightly.
"I need a homecoming dress. So what do you think? Pick one," she ordered the brunette twins.
Echo laughed, taken back, "I'm not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want us to wake up Mikael."
Rebekah smirked at her before she suddenly rushed over one of the girls with her fangs out.
"I said pick one," she ordered once more.
Elena jumped forward and said, "The red one."
Rebekah let her fangs fade away and smirked. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" The younger girl glared at her as she compelled the girls. "Go away. Remember nothing."
All the girls walked away, and Rebekah looked at the twins as she took her glass of champagne, and walked closer to them. "You do not threaten me. You will learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear," Rebekah said making Echo glare at her, but nod.
REBEKAH lead the girls up to Stefan's room, not even beginning to tell them the story yet as she asked, while snooping, "How fun is this?"
"Not fun at all," the younger twin said, crossing her arms. "I'd rather not deal with your petty rivalry with my sister, it's really childish for someone your age."
The blonde original sent daggers her way as Elena said, "We shouldn't be here."
Joyfully Rebekah said, looking away from Echo, "Of course we should. Come on. Like you've never wanted to snoop." She went through his underwear and took his boxers out, saying, "Boxer briefs. Now, that's a change from the twenties."
"Are you gonna root through his stuff all night, or are you gonna start to tell us your story?" Elena asked.
"You really are no fun." Rebekah groaned before she asked her, "What do you want to know?"
Speaking up, Echo said, "Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here? Last I checked this isn't Europe."
Rebekah sighed. "My parents had just started a family when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."
Curious, Elena asked her, "So, how did you end up here? This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet."
"Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy... Blessed by the gifts of speed and strength. That led my family here, where we lived amongst those people," Rebekah explained, her voice hinting at how sad she was about her story.
"The werewolves?"
Rebekah nodded. "To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over 20 years, during which time my family had more children, including me."
"You make it sound so normal," Echo said softly.
"It was," she answered her before she added on, "Once a month, our family retreated to the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night, and by morning, we'd return home."
Rebekah went on to explain to them the story about her family's breaking point and the moment that changed it all. Her youngest brother Henrik and second oldest Klaus went to watch the werewolves change and Henrik ended up losing his life. She said how Klaus was different, he wasn't always so cruel and murderous.
"And that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors. And one of the last moments my family had together as humans."
"So, vampirism was a form of protection?" Elena clarified.
"What else would it be?" Rebekah frowned.
"A curse." Echo stated.
"My parents saw it as a way of keeping their children alive."
"Yeah but, why stay? If they were so afraid of the werewolves why not leave?" Elena questioned, confused.
"Pride. My father didn't want to run anymore, he wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength... senses," Rebekah explained, "They begged Ayanna to help us, pleaded with her. Ayanna refused, saying the spirits would turn on them. It was on my mother's hands to protect us."
"In her hands, how could she do anything?"
"Because my mother was also a witch." Rebekah smiles.
"What?" Elena breathed out.
"The witch of the Original Family. The Original Witch," Rebekah said in a duh tone, walking into the living room, and looked around, a frown on her face. "Where do they keep the best vintage?" She turned to Echo.
"The best is in Damon's bedroom," Echo immediately stated and then bit her lip as Elena sent her an amused look.
"If your Mom was a witch, are-"
"Am I? No," Rebekah filled in. "A witch is nature's servant, a vampire is an abomination of nature." She pulled out a bottle of unopened bourbon, pouring it into two cups. She handed one to Echo who smiled and took it. "You can either be one or the other, never both. My Mother did this for us, she did not turn."
"How did you turn?"
"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient White Oak tree. One of nature's eternal objects for immortality. That night my Father offered us wine laced with blood... and that night he drove his sword through our hearts."
"He killed you?" Echo asked, horrified.
"And he wasn't delicate about it either," she stated. "My brother, Niklaus, and I woke up in a room, disoriented and... scared. I saw the blood on my gown, and I knew Father had killed me. But I didn't know how I was alive. My Father brought in a town's girl, telling us we had to finish what we started. At first Nik and I were hesitant, but we couldn't hold out for long. It was euphoric, the power was indescribable.
"But the witch, Ayanna, was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us and nature fought back. For every strength there would be a weakness. The sun became our enemy, it kept us indoors for weeks.
"Although my Mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbors who had opened up there home to us, now wanted to keep us out. The flowers at the base of the White Oak burned and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life, could also take it away. So we burned it to the ground. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated, the hunger. Blood made us reborn and it was blood we craved above all else. We could not control it. And with that, the predatory species was born."
"But, why did Mikeal start hunting Klaus?" Echo asked, feeling a little bad for the hybrid. He didn't deserve that kind of life.
"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that he became my Father's greatest shame," Rebekah explained.
"Yeah, Elijah told us this part of the story. Your Mother had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son," Elena stated, nodding.
"My Mother wanted to make it right. She put the Hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and she turned her back on him. But Mikeal's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."
"Mikeal killed your mother?" Echo breathed out, shaking her head in disgust as she finished off the bourbon.
Rebekah turned around to face them. "He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched. Afterwards he took off in a rage and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my Mother. Elijah, Klaus and I promised we would stay together... Always and forever."
"Always and forever... even though he locked you in a coffin for 90 years?" Echo frowned.
"We're vampires, Echo. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah is moral, and Nik... Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times." She looked away, a distant look in her blue eyes.
"Yet you still love him?" Elena asked, confused.
"Family above all," Echo stated, sighing as she thought about her father and uncle.
"He's my brother, and I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?" Rebekah questioned, glaring at Elena. She then shook her head walking past Elena. "You've heard the story it's time to go. I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."
"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikeal," Elena said, still not heading towards the door.
"And I've given you a thousand!" Rebekah spat. "But you will anyway, I know you want him to help you kill my brother, I'm not stupid."
"It's no secret I want Klaus dead, he has a hold over Stefan's life," Elena argued, "He killed our aunt, and me, and he made Stefan kill Echo. He has hurt my family a lot. I don't want to see my sister suffer anymore!"
"Do what you want, wake Mikeal at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart!" Rebekah hissed. "And I get my temper from my Father," she stated. "Now leave."
Elena sighed and walked quickly out the door in silence.
Echo went to follow, but then turned around with soft eyes. "Klaus is... a terrible person, Rebekah," she whispered. "He killed my aunt, almost my sister, and did a lot of other things. But, from what you're saying about Mikael - we do not want to wake him up. So, you can count me as someone who's on your side." She then sent the blonde a smile before following after Elena.