Forever Original | Alaric Saltzman

Chapter 40

They should have known better than to go after Dahlia.

The three walked into St. Anne's Church, expecting to see Dahlia there already, but there wasn't even a trace of her minions. The candles were lit and the sacristy was bare. The pews were clean and empty of the occasional bit of paper that drifted in from the open windows.

"Well?" said Klaus loudly as they moved down the aisle. He and Mikael were at the front, with Hilda bringing up the rear. He turned toward the side, expecting to see Dahlia there. "What are you waiting for, you crone?"

They all looked back at the sacristy as a presence was made apparent. "Not that you've arrives," spoke the aging but still-powerful witch, "not a thing!" Her dark eyes drifted over Mikael, who was clutching the infused blade tightly in his hand.

What became blatantly clear to the three Originals was that Dahlia indeed looked like their family. Hilda and Kol had always wondered where their darker hair came from. Hilda especially wondered why she, Elijah, and Finn had tanner skin than that of their parents and siblings.

Now, it was obvious that it came from the maternal grandparents they'd never known. Dahlia looked more like Hilda than anyone else. Though Hilda bore similarities to Freya and Mikael, she and Dahlia could have been twins, simply born decades apart. Dahlia's nose and her longer locks were really the only difference— their lips, eyes, bone structure, figure, and complexion were exactly the same. Even with her age, Dahlia retained a slight look of youth. Perhaps, an outsider would have pinpointed them as mother and daughter.

Dahlia offered them a smile. "Let us begin." She raised her arms and from the wings of the church, dozens of humans appeared, though it was a surprise to the three Originals considering they hadn't sensed their presence before. They must have been heavily cloaked.

Mikael chuckled darkly as he, Klaus, and Hilda formed a sort of triangle facing out at those who surrounded him. "We are well-met," he mused. "So be it. Are you ready?"

Klaus smirked. "I was born ready."

Hilda didn't answer. She launched at Dahlia's minions first, snarling and snapping necks easily, biting and clawing and tearing through bodies. But suddenly, Hilda let out a cry of pain, blood abruptly leaking from her nose. She saw that the woman she'd been about to attack had held her hand up, inducing a pounding headache that seemed to spread into Klaus and Mikael, who let out similar grunts, the three forced onto their knees to face Dahlia, who was looking rather smug.

"Ah, I should have warned you," she said. "My acolytes are... rather formidable." The three Originals struggled to their feet, fighting against the magic as the witch watched them closely. "I gifted them with a fraction of my own power... to help level the playing field."

Three of the acolytes thrust out their hands, and the Originals were sent flying in different directions. Mikael and Hilda were thrown on either end, smashing into the pews and breaking them into pieces. Klaus growled and lunged at Dahlia, but with ease, he was tossed so high that he broke through the balcony railing before splatting forward.

Hilda was the first to recover, but she immediately swayed. Was it normal to feel so exhausted? Mikael and Klaus followed suit, but they were all bleeding. In a fit of rage, the three lashed out at the remaining acolytes, growling and slashing and feeding on any who stood. It became obvious that Dahlia was letting this happen, but they continued until all the bodies had dropped onto the floor. It was an easy task, with all the pent up anger each carried. If there was one thing Hilda and Klaus had learned from Mikael, it was to leave only dead bodies. Though Klaus had not followed through in this and had crafted his sireline, Hilda remained fixated on the idea of death without possibility of return. No vampire would ever be born from her line unless she had a say in it.