Savior | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 45

Stefan and Elena were on board.

Maddy knew they would be. If it meant they got to live, they'd be fine with donating more blood. The pain would be temporary, and they could cope with it as long as they weren't kidnapped this time.

The three met the large group of Travelers in the stockyard. The brunette that Maddy had seen before, with Wes, stood waiting for them.

"I'm Sloan," said the woman once they approached, all curiously staring at the Travelers who seemed to have settled into a very crappy campground between old and moldy-looking trains. "You two met some of the other Travelers when they were taking a bucket of your blood."

"Oh, yeah," said Stefan. "How could I forget?"

"Why do you need our blood?" asked Elena curiously. "We'll cooperate but... why?"

"Our leader, Markos, wants the blood from the last remaining pair of doppelgängers," said Sloan. "Now that Katerina Petrova is dead, we need to finish off the others so that your blood can be useful."

"Useful for what?"

"It's special for a spell that we need. I won't reveal any more. It isn't your concern. All you need to know is that your blood, mixed together, is useless unless the other doppelgängers are dead."

"So what?" asked Stefan. "You do a Locator Spell until you find this guy and then you kill him?"

Sloan pursed her lips. "It's more of a linking spell. It may have some... side effects."

"Side effects?" snapped Maddy. "Like what?"

"If there is a doppelgänger still alive, it will cause quite a bit of pain. And it could result in temporary memory loss."

Elena's mouth felt dry as her eyes flickered to Maddy. "I'll go first, I guess," she said. "What do I—?"

"Sit," said Sloan, pointing to a chair that resided beside a small saucer and a knife. "We'll need your blood for the spell."

Elena held out her hand as she sat down. Sloan took the knife, slicing into her palm and having her bleed into the saucer. She then dipped two fingers in as the Travelers gathered around. She went to stand behind Elena, pressing her fingers onto her forehead, where the blood had been gathered.

The Travelers spread their arms, and stared intently at Elena, chanting, "Odka na vonas czech nat misteni. Odka na vonas czech nat misteni..."

Elena didn't seem to be in any pain. The Travelers noticed this, and after the fifth time chanting, stopped completely.

"Congratulations," said Sloan, though she didn't sound enthusiastic at all. "You're the last Petrova doppelgänger."

Elena smiled slightly as she got out of the chair. Stefan took her place. Sloan removed the saucer, replacing it with a clean one and wiping the knife off with her sleeve. She cut into Stefan's palm, gathering a bit of his blood and getting back in position.

He, unfortunately, was not yet the last doppelgänger of his line.

Stefan yelled out in pain, twitching in the chair and gritting his teeth tightly. Sloan hardly reacted. She and the rest of the Travelers kept chanting, over and over again, while the vampire in the chair continued to wriggle around.

"Stop it!" said Maddy, when she saw Stefan was starting to go pale. "You're hurting him!"

"We haven't established the link yet," said Sloan. "We're almost in..."

"Should this be taking this long?" asked Elena uncomfortably as Stefan's fist tightened over the armrests.

"Just a little deeper," said Sloan.