The One You Once Were

It Gets Worse

As I stepped back in the house, my body still warm and fuzzy from the kiss.

I had kissed Klaus Mikaelson. My god, I had kissed Klaus Mikaelson. Why did I do that?

The answer was on the tip of my tongue, plain and true. I couldn't bring myself to form the thought fully, frightened by what it meant for the future. For me.

Ayana inspected me and noticed my shaking hand. She wrinkled her brows in suspicion.

"Are you alright?" she asked. People should stop asking me that. I'd heard it too many times in the past few days.

"Yes," I cleared my throat, "I am. When will we perform the spell?"

Her attention turned outside.
"In a few minutes. Let's get ready, shall we?"

We put up candles all around the room and lit them up. The witch instructed me to sit and formed a circle around me with all objects requested by the spirts. A foggy haze wavered through the air, clouding my senses and making me dizzy. I blinked to clear my sight.

"At the end of the spell, I will have to touch you to complete the ritual. Only then will you be sent back, so make sure to stay near me, okay?"

I nodded wanly. It was time. I would go home. But why didn't I feel as happy as I should anymore?

Ayana took a deep breath, then started chanting ancient words. The candles flared up, worsening the blur. The fire was unsettling me.

Suddenly, the objects around me shot up into the air and were burnt to ashes one by one. The pungent stench of burned wood and natural fumes made my stomach churn. Heat pricked my skin. We were almost done.

And that's when I heard the scream. Bones broke, aching under the horrid sound of pain. Klaus. I shot up.

"Caroline, what are you doing? You need to stay by my side! Caroline!"
Her words were a mere furious whisper against Klaus' agony.

My feet moved on their own. Sounds of someone being violently dragged came to my ears. There was shouting.

I dashed to their origin and finally, the horrendous scene unraveled itself before me.

Esther stood tense, arms crossed, and watched Mikael tie up Klaus.
"Elijah, hold him still!" he ordered.
"No, Brother, please, help me!" Klaus cried in pain.

With a sharp inhale, I realized what was going on. Klaus' werewolf gene must've been activated and Mikael was forcing Esther to conceal it. This was the ritual to do so.

"Stop it!" I yelled as Klaus was pushed against the wood. All heads turned to me.

"Caroline?" Klaus voice was barely a gasp.

"Leave him alone!" I hollered. Mikael's fury, even more aflame than before, redirected itself onto me.

What was I doing? Klaus would not die in the ritual. He'd just suffer. Bad enough. He had already endured enough agony.

Esther warned me with glistening dread in her eyes.
"This isn't your business, child. You must leave."

Meanwhile, confusion settled onto Mikaels face. I had forgotten he had presumed me dead.
"How are you alive?" he wondered.

Not showing any interest in answering his question, my focus was on Klaus. The man hung frazzled in his shackles, only his head lifted to see me.

"Let him go!" I demanded once more.

"Esther, perform the spell. I will take care of her," Mikael ordered and stood in front of me within a second.
"Please don't do this to him!" I pleaded, moving away from Klaus' father in terror.

"This is none of your business, girl. You shouldn't even be alive!" he growled and rushed after me. I vamp speeded away from him to Esther's other side and tried to reason with her instead.

"Esther, please! This will cause him nothing but pain! I am begging you, don't hurt him like this!"

The witch avoided my gaze.
"I'm sorry Caroline but I must. It's my fault he is like this, Klaus must not go on this way. I shall cherish Mikael's request."

She wanted to start chanting. Mikael approached me, to kill me perhaps, I wasn't sure.

And I would never know. In my helplessness, I did something none of us were expecting - not even me.

My hand reached out, pierced her flesh and muscle, and grabbed her heart. With a jarring squash, the organ was pulled from the woman's chest and dropped from my fingers to the ground.

"No!" Mikael screamed.

There was no time for my own guilt to fester. I ran to Klaus and untied him, while Mikael kneeled at his dead wife's side. Her body was still twitching, the last life leaving her body with the peer of blood.

"You came for me?" Klaus coughed.
"Yes. Don't speak. I'll get you out, I promise!" I said and got him free. We both speeded away, further into town. Elijah followed us quietly, still in shock. Behind us, I heard Mikael mourn his wife.

"Are you okay?" I asked the hybrid. He put his hands on my cheeks.
"You are here. For me. I thought you would be gone by now," he stuttered, still stunned by the events.

"I heard you scream, I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt," my voice broke when I saw the blood on my hands. "Klaus, I'm so sorry about everything, about what I just did, I..."

"Hush, don't speak, love. You meant well. Let us not discuss this here," he smiled reassuringly. "You are with me, that's all that matters. Caroline, I love you, you do know that, right?"

His voice was so frail and loving that I couldn't hold back anymore. I kissed him once again, with a certain passion. This time, the kiss did not last long, the gravity of the situation too acute.

"I know, believe me, I know. And I," I started but was suddenly pushed back.

Yet again, Mikael was in front of me, his features hardened with deadly rage. He had rammed Klaus, who stumbled back a few steps.

"How could you!" he bellowed. Just when I thought he would kill me, he turned to Klaus instead.

In an instance, he had dug his hand into Klaus' chest and a vicious smile appeared on the man's sickened face. One brutal rip later, the hybrid's heart rested in his palm. He threw it to the ground in front of me, the heart hitting the dust with a wet thump.

"No!"
I wasn't able to move, paralyzed by disgust and ache. Klaus' body collapsed, his eyes empty and cold. Elijah was numb as well, unable to wrap his head around the death of his brother.

I had been wrong before. It had gotten worse. Unimaginably worse. Mikael came closer.
"You will pay," he growled.

Everything had happened too fast. My eyes twitched to Klaus' dead body, tears streaming down my face.
"Klaus? Oh god, no! Please, no. What have I done? This is all my fault!"

His father reached his hand out to me, ready to tear me limb from limb. When he was inches away from my face, he tumbled back and grabbed his head, a yell leaving his body.

Ayana emerged, chanting and forcing the father as far away from me as possible.

"Time to go,", she hissed gruffly. "Enough damage has been done. Reverse it."

"Klaus!", I cried, though I knew, he couldn't hear me. Yet I needed to speak my truth, even if just once, the words had to be said aloud. For my own sake.

"I love you!"

Ayana touched my arm without a trace of sympathy. My eyes were locked on Klaus' body. Then everything went black.

A/n: Okay, I know that this is a lot to take in. Please don't hate me for this, I am aware it's probably not what you expected at all, but it's essential to the plot. Just wait until next week's chapter and stay tuned for the plot which is yet to come.
I hope, you enjoyed the chapter nontheless and are curious for what's to come. Have a great week!