Savior | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 31

Maddy was too late.

She had scoured the entire town, looking for Finn and Sage. She found them in the passageway beside the Mystic Grill, a scorched white oak stake lodged in Finn's heart. Alaric was off to the side, temporarily dead and with his bag of stakes. Sage was sobbing, holding Finn's desiccated face in her hands.

"No," whispered Maddy, sinking down. She rushed to the bag of stakes, and counted only nine. Nine, plus the one in Finn. Damon had said there were eleven stakes. Where was the last one?

"He used vervain," said Sage hoarsely, looking up at Maddy sadly. "He lured us out."

"How did he overpower both of you?" asked Maddy in disbelief. "Was he alone?"

Sage nodded. "He had strength like nothing I've ever seen before in a human. I don't know how..."

"Come on," said Maddy, grabbing the bag of stakes. "Let's get these and his body to the mansion. I'll come back for Alaric later."

Sage nodded numbly. She leaned down and picked Finn up gently, cradling him into her chest as she followed Maddy.

By the time they got to the mansion, Elijah and Kol were back. The siblings gathered in the entrance hall, their mouths dropping open when they saw Finn's dead body.

"There are only ten stakes accounted for," said Maddy numbly, setting the bag down. "There's one more. I'll find it, I promise."

She figured she ought to get started on that while they discussed what they were going to do. She exited the mansion, though didn't speed off immediately, since she sensed that Sage was beside her. Sage made a motion for her to continue, and Maddy sped off, with the other vampire at her side.

"I want to see him burn," said Sage angrily as they stepped over Alaric's body. "I could only snap his neck after he staked Finn. It isn't enough torture."

Maddy wasn't sure how to tell her that Alaric wasn't permanently dead. "He... he can't be burned," she said awkwardly. "He'll come back in a few hours."

"But he isn't a vampire, is he?"

"No. He just has this ring that brings him back to life. It— it isn't his fault, he's just died so many times it's starting to turn him into a vampire hunter of sorts, it's really hard to explain, but—"

Sage slammed her into the wall. Maddy crumpled down, and the elder vampire stood over her, placing her heel on Maddy's throat.

"If he's going to come back to life each time I kill him," sneered Sage, "then I'm going to make him suffer." She pressed down so hard on Maddy's neck, that she feared her head would pop off. "Tell me, who does he care most about?"

Maddy was whimpering, grabbing onto Sage's leg and trying to throw her off. She shook her head as best as she could, indicating that she wasn't going to tell her anything.

"You'd prefer to die for him?" snarled Sage. "The man who killed your boyfriend's brother? What's Klaus going to think?"

The younger vampire was slapping her frantically, unable to breathe. Just a bit more pressure and she'd be dead for real. Sage would decapitate her without much effort.

"Don't want to talk?" asked Sage. "How about I—"

As soon as Sage ducked down to see into her mind, Maddy kicked her legs up and knocked Sage back. She grabbed onto Alaric and sped off before the other vampire could recover. She rushed to the Boarding House, thinking to get Jenna out of there before Sage figured out where she was.

Unfortunately, she'd actually just led Sage to her.

She'd only just set Alaric's body down and called out for Jenna when the door flew open. Damon and Stefan rushed down as Sage and a male vampire walked in.