Body & Soul - Klaus Mikaelson

Twenty-Eight

The basement seems even more daunting now. Where it was just once a dusty witch basement, now it feels like a dungeon of secrets. The coffins nestle in the dust, not a fear in the world. But Klaus's saving actions weigh heavy with the lies I carry on my shoulders as I hide his family from him. After everything he has done, it's getting easier to look past the bad. But they can't know that, they can't know I'm slipping more and more each time she saves my life or shows me that small fragment of humanity that is embedded deep within his soul. 

"I've been having these dreams for days now." Bonnie shrugs, as Elena and I digest the dream. It has never been odd for Bonnie to get the witch dreams, oftentimes they end up saving our asses. But this one is different, Bonnie being stuck in a coffin after being attacked by Klaus. Not the best nightmare, but we make do with what we have got. There is not a lot of leeway in that dream for interpretation, "It's like the witches are trying to send me a message."

Wish my mom would send me a message, something along the lines of why she chose to show me the coffins. Or why the other witches allowed her to do so. I know she was powerful, but overriding a hundred witches is a different type of power. But her actions, ever so scare, were something that I need an answer to. 

I know they want me to have a chance with him. But showing me the biggest secret I could keep from him right now seems all too harsh. I've dug through the memories of his brothers, I've seen how they see him. I have seen his sins of the past and yet that's all it is. What Klaus has done is in the past. They may hold a grudge, but I can't. He has promised me to do better. I may be naive about it, but I believe him. He wouldn't keep saving my life if he wasn't attempting to do better. 

Elena shakes her head, "I just can't believe you guys have all kept this from me."

We stare at the dusty basement of the abandoned witch house on the hill, the four Mikaelson coffins laid out in front of us. The fourth is still locked, unopenable and untouchable through memories. Damon hasn't been able to get through it by vampire strength and Bonnie by being a witch. It has stumped us all. 

Bonnie glances at her with sympathy, "Stefan thought if you knew where the coffins were, Klaus could threaten people to get the information out of you."

The doppelganger lets loose a heavy sigh as she bounces on her toes. I can feel the irritation radiating from her. We hide things from her so often she shouldn't be surprised, we do it to protect her. When she is in the know, she tends to do things that are rash and destroy the initial plan. None of us wanted to step in front of the reckless Salvatore brother on this one so we let Stefan have his way, "So these are the rest of his family?"

I nod, gesturing to the coffins, "Three brothers, including Elijah, all daggered for various reasons and amounts to time. And the fourth is something human, we think."

The fourth coffin infuriates me. Where I was able to reach the others, I can't find anything within the confines of the locked coffin. And yet under all that wood, all I can remember is the smallest feeling of humanity, too minute to even seem real. But it has to be something because we have nothing else to go on. This small inkling is all we have, we are desperately trying to figure out if it's true. It's like that person, buried in wood confines, is fighting life. They aren't quite in this world, but they aren't quite dead. It's not like the dagger victims. This person has power, one that is barely keeping them alive enough for me to feel their essence. 

"We can't open it," Bonnie tells Elena.

"We don't know who or what is in it," I mumble, my hand sliding across the wood again trying to pick up memories. I feel the small pull, but nothing more. It's like magic reacting to my own, but it isn't strong enough to latch onto. All I feel is the spell keeping it shut and every so often, a stab of some different magic. One that I can't place, can't catch, and have no idea where it is coming from.