"Don't mind me," Klaus said as he leaned against a banister in the Mystic Grill, an arm around Isa who was dressed in her usual heels, fitted black pants, and a blood-red tank top with a low cut V-neck that fish-netted its way down her cleavage, and a black leather jacket on top. Her lips were a matching red and her eyes a seductive but dangerous black. She looked downright deliciously vindictive.
"Klaus," the doppelganger said in fear and shock as Damon moved in front of her. As if he was going to stand a chance against even one of them.
Klaus smiled mischievously, but Isa's smile was wicked.
"You're going to do this in the Grill? In front of everyone?" Damon asked as if they were stupid. "A little beneath you don't you think?" he asked.
"Don't presume to know us, fledgling," Isa snapped. She was clearly very mad about something.
Klaus merely rubbed her arm with the hand he had around her as he said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I just came down to my local pub, blow off some steam, and grab a drink with my girl and my mate."
He then turned his head to the hybrid behind him. "Get a round then would you, Tony?" he asked, and the hybrid nodded as he headed for the bar.
"Surprised you stuck around town long enough for happy hour," Damon said, still in front of Elena.
Klaus's face darkened as he said, "My sister seems to be missing. Need to sort that out."
"Cute, blonde bombshell, psycho? Shouldn't be that hard to find," Damon said nonchalantly.
Isa snapped as she sped forward, lifted up Damon's shirt, and plunged her hand into his chest. She squeezed his heart to the point where she could feel the vessels and the arteries crying out as they were on the edge of bursting, but to others, it would merely seem as if they were hugging. "Watch what you say to me! Your brother already royally pissed me off, so unless you would like me to kill you in exchange for you trying to murder Niklaus, I suggest you mind your tongue," she warned whispering the last line in his ear before biting his earlobe. Then she spotted Elena over Damon's shoulder. She vamped her eyes before winking at the doppelganger that she knew was in love with both brothers. And she was right as Elena gave her a disgusted look as the vampire withdrew and moved back towards her husband who handed her napkins to wipe off her hand. Klaus sat her down into a chair as he took the darts from Damon's hand, his black shirt unchanged in colour as blood seeped into it and the wound healed.
"Truth is, I've grown to quite like your little town. Might even fancy a home here," he confessed, and Isa glared at him. She hated Mystic Falls, but Nik had already told her of his plans to stay ages ago, a mansion already being renovated and rebuilt. She'd agreed. So long as he was with her, she'd follow him anywhere. Even if it was Mystic Falls. This was their home, once upon a time. "I imagine you're wondering how does this affect you?" he asked as he moved to stand in front of the dartboard. "The answer is, not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves, you can go on living your little lives how you choose," he answered as he turned to Elena. "You have my word," he promised before lining up a dart.
"What more could you possibly want?" Elena asked.
Isa hated how innocent she sounded. Or she wanted to sound.
Elena was as easy to read as a billboard on a highway. The girl had claimed to love Stefan and only Stefan, yet Isa could see the way her body reacted to the older Salvatore. Her eyes gave away most of it. How she would always look to him for reassurance, or for protection. Just like her predecessors. Except, Elena was more useless than Tatia and Katherine. Isa refused to even think about Tatia, but as for Katherine, as much as she hated the girl, she was very resourceful. It was one of the biggest things that kept her alive for the last 500 years - well that, and the fact that they had more important things to do like breaking Klaus' curse.
But Elena? She expected everyone to bend over backward to save her life and give her everything she wanted. And when Isa had heard about the tantrum she threw when Damon had wanted to turn her into a vampire to save her from Klaus's ritual, she'd cracked up laughing. Elena thought she was moral, that she was good by not becoming a vampire so she doesn't hurt innocent people with her bloodlust, when really she was worse than any vampire there ever was. She willingly lets her friends and family sacrifice themselves for her safety. Not to mention the way she had both the Salvatore brothers wrapped around her fingers, toying with them until she got bored with one and would switch to the other.
And she had the audacity to call Isa, to call Klaus evil. The hypocrite.
"Well, for starters," Isa began before her husband could and she vamped in front of Elena, leaning in close. "I don't suppose you'd be able to tell me where your other love-sick puppy is?"
"Stefan skipped town the second he saved Klaus's ass," Damon answered as he once again moved to stand in front of Elena.
"Well, you see, that is a shame," Klaus said darkly before turning and throwing a perfect bullseye. "Your brother stole from us. Stole from me. And I need him found so I can take back what's mine," Klaus continued.
"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem," Elena said bravely and Isa cocked her head at her, biting her lip before she let out a malevolent chuckle.
"Look who took her confidence pills today," she remarked before she let her expression fall and her eyes darken. "And you can consider this, us broadening the scope, Doppelbitch," she spat venomously. Damon moved in front of Elena again and Isa laughed condescendingly at them. "You truly are pathetic." Who she was talking to was unclear but Klaus had a feeling that she was addressing them both, not that she was wrong.
Klaus then came up beside his wife, his hand slipping into her back pocket, cupping her rear. "Stefan is your brother. And your lover. Or was your lover. I honestly can't keep up at this point, sweetheart," Klaus laughed as he gestured from Damon to Elena. Then his face darkened into a glare. "He stole from us, and my very gorgeous and very deadly wife here, is very protective of what is hers. So, I suggest you help us find Stefan, because I honestly don't know how much longer I can help reign her temper in."
Isa's smile was truly everything Klaus said it was as she let the veins under her eyes ripple. "So you better move quickly," she advised. "Or else, a whole pack of animals might start killing off the population of Mystic Falls, one, by, one. Maybe I'll start with the Sheriff. Or even your brother. Clock's ticking."
And Elena was clinging onto Damon's arm as her lips were set into a hard line, but whether it was fear or anger she was trying to portray, they couldn't tell as they walked over to the bar and left them alone. The clock had just begun and they were already running out of time.
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"So, this is the Salvatore Boarding house? How....quaint," Isa remarked as she and Klaus stood on the upper floor of the library while Damon was on the lower floor pouring a drink.
"I think it's about time we had a drink, don't you?" Klaus smiled at the blue-eyed vampire.
"I'd say we're overdue," Damon agreed.
"Well, you've been so busy what with all your plotting and scheming. Sorry, failed plotting and scheming," Isa mocked as her arm was still intertwined with Klaus's.
"You know me, never miss a chance to plan an epic failure," Damon said, drinking from his glass.
"Glad you can see the error of your ways," Isa said sarcastically.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. Who could've guessed your own brother would betray you?" Klaus mused as he sat Isa down on a sofa and continued to walk towards Damon.
"Well, I did have a front-row seat when your sister lied to you," Damon retaliated and if looks could kill, Isa's emerald eyes would've massacred.
"Easy, my love," Klaus said over his shoulder and Isa calmed slightly at the sound of his voice. "And you say you have no idea as to Rebekah's whereabouts?"
"That's the thing with younger siblings," Damon chuckled. "You just, never know what they're going to do." Klaus forced a smile as he chuckled and Damon downed his glass. "Drink?" he offered and as soon as he turned all pretence of joy fell from Klaus's face as Damon poured two more glasses, handing Klaus one. He was a bit impressed that the young vampire's hands weren't shaking.
"Here, love," Klaus said as he handed Isa the glass.
"Thanks," she said giving him a quick smile as she glanced up from her phone.
"Problem?" he asked, and Isa smiled.
"Oh, no. Tony just got the car ready."
"Fantastic," he commented as Klaus copied her smile and he walked back over to Damon who handed him the other glass full of bourbon."Cheers mate," he said as their glasses touched.
"Down the hatch."
Both men finished their glasses and turned to Isa, whose nose was still in her phone as she texted. "I can drink you both under the table, so let's not go there," she said as she sipped from her glass rather than chugging it in one go.
Klaus smiled genuinely before he turned to Damon. "We've actually got a lot in common, you and I."
"Really? Huh?" Damon huffed sarcastically as Klaus moved to sit on the sofa next to his wife, an arm on the backrest behind her. "Well, yeah, maybe we can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother. Why are you so mad at him? He stole something?" Damon asked as he poured more bourbon and Isa tensed.
Klaus pulled her head towards his lips as he kissed her temple before moving his thumb to idly trace patterns on her collarbone. "Our family. The other Originals," Klaus answered. "I had them, daggered, boxed up, awaiting the day when it was finally safe enough to wake them, and he went in and pinched the bloody lot."
Isa blocked out the next bit of their conversation, trying to reign in her anger, that being harder to do since Klaus stood to face Damon. She couldn't help it anymore when she heard these words leave Damon's mouth, "I sure as hell don't work for you."
She moved so fast that both men couldn't even see the blur she became, even with their enhanced senses. Isa held him in the air by his neck, her nails digging into his skin, some drawing blood as his glass crashed to the ground. "Your drink reeks of vervain, so we can't compel you. And killing you would be redundant seeing as you're the one who's most likely to succeed in getting me back what I want. But I can torture you," she spat through gritted teeth.
"Really, love? And make my plan go to waste? That's unfair," Klaus pouted and Isa reluctantly dropped him, moving over to the drinks cart where she picked up a refilled bottle of bourbon and drank. She stuck her tongue out at the taste, the drink not burning her at all, as Klaus whipped out his phone.
"Must you put vervain in everything? It tastes dreadful," she frowned as she threw the bottle behind her, hearing it shatter against a wooden wall as the drink spilled onto the ground. When she finally found a clean bottle of rum and took a swig, Klaus clicked off his phone and smiled at her.
A smile she reciprocated because blood had just been split. The blood of Jeremy Gilbert, to be specific.
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"Here you are, Rebekah. Home sweet home," Klaus said as he laid Rebekah down on a wooden bench the workers had been using. She was still desiccated as Isa moved the hair from her face.
"To think it only took a thousand years," she said sadly.
"We want you to be here with us, Rebekah, but that's all ruined now. It's not safe just yet," Klaus said and a tear streamed down Isa's face as she saw Rebekah's fingers begin to move again. Klaus was already crying too as his hand shook with the dagger in it. "I'm so sorry, baby sister. We'll meet again soon, I promise," Nik sobbed before he stabbed the dagger back into her heart and Isa sobbed with him. Nik trembled as Rebekah desiccated again, moving back a few steps into his wife's arms who held him as she sobbed into his back.
"You had to do it. We'll see her soon. It'll be safe one day," Isa whispered before Klaus crumbled to his knees.
He sobbed into Isa's chest. "She hates me. She found out what I did. Mother. She wanted me dead," he cried as he held onto Isa for dear life.
Isa cradled his head, her own tears falling as she gently rocked them back and forth. There were truly no words Isa could offer her husband that would bring him comfort because what could she say that would make him feel better about the fact that his baby sister conspired to kill him? That she now blamed him for their mother's death when she had no idea of the real story, of the full story? It was just another thing that he would forever be blamed for and not appreciated. So, Isa could only hope that her husband found comfort in her touch and in the small kisses she would press to his head.
How broken they were, indeed.