Any Dream Will Do | Hale - TVD/TO/TW [2]

7 | The Curse of the Brotherhood of the Five

1110 CE

A man stands on a makeshift stage in the middle of the large town square. People surround the stage, yelling and screaming demands of the leading man as he smirks down at them. In the back of the crowd, Klaus and Elijah stand in the shade with their eyes trained on the performance; Lexi and Rebekah are on the other side.

"Oh my god," Lydia gasps, throwing her hand in front of her mouth as her eyes fall on the platform.

When the rest of the group turns to look, each goes silent at the sight; ropes tie four dead vampires on four poles surrounding a locked box with bars for windows. Eyes peer out of the box—terrified, furious eyes— but no one can see.

"Hunters," Peter growls as his eyes glow blue. "They're hunters."

The man on stage throws his arms to the side after retrieving a key. "And now for the main event!" he shouts. The crowd roars as the man unlocks the box.

Another man lurches from the darkness within; for a moment, he smiles at the freedom. Then his skin begins to burn. Welts appear on his arms as his blissful expression twists in pain. Screaming, he falls to the ground as his body catches fire. The hunter takes a stick, poking the now corpse as the audience cheers. "Another monster dead!" The hunter yells in victory.

As the hunter concludes his show on stage, Lexi turns to her sister with a look of discomfort. "I do not like this," she whispers.

"Nor do I," Rebekah replies as the hunter leaps off the stage and approaches. "But I like him."

Lexi rolls her eyes as the hunter pauses before them. "Enjoy the show?" he asks with a winning smile.

Rebekah arches an eyebrow. "It was alright."

He offers her his hand. "I am Alexander."

She takes his hand. "Rebekah." As she stares into his eyes, a smile spreads over her lips. Only when Lexi coughs does Rebekah blink away her attraction. "This is my sister, Lexi."

"Our brothers, Elijah and Niklaus, are over there," Lexi says, pointing to the brothers.

As Alexander looks over, he almost winces under their intense gazes. Lexi watches as his throat bobs as he swallows; she has to hide her smirk behind her hand as the two walk over.

"Sister," Klaus says. "What are you up to?"

Rebekah glares at Klaus. "This is Alexander. I was just saying hello."

"Well, hello," Elijah says, never taking his eyes off of the hunter. "Would you like to have lunch with us? We would like to hear more about what it is you do."

With a beaming smile, Alexander agrees, following the Mikaelsons into their tent. It is already set up with a dining table filled with food. Lexi takes her seat beside Elijah, easily claiming the farthest spot from the hunter. Rebekah sits across from her sister with Klaus beside Alexander, who sits at the head of the table.

As the food is presented, Alexander says, "Thank you, I am not used to such luxuries."

"It is the least we could do to thank you for opening our eyes to the truth," Elijah replies as he exchanges a devious place with Klaus. "We are curious to hear more about your order. Your crusade."

As Lexi reaches to her finger, playing with her daylight ring, Alexander answers. "We are but five men. Bound by fire and the last breath of a dying wish to a single cause: the destruction of all vampires."

Lexi looks up but the rest of her family is staring at Alexander. Fear runs through her veins at the thought of danger; her father is already chasing them through the developed world—they need safety and security.

"And how do you hope to achieve this?" Klaus asks as he leans forward.

"We have the ultimate weapon," Alexander says with a smirk. "Which no vampire can survive."

—|—|—|—

A large courtyard looms around the Beacon Hills pack. Dark clouds cover the sky, heartening to pour rain upon the compound; the wind blows and topples any weakling trees. But nothing moves inside the courtyard—only the feuding brothers.

"You do not control me, Niklaus!" Finn shouts. "I am leaving, and you cannot stop me!"

"We are family, Finn—we stick together!" Klaus counters, rushing in front of him.

Finn shakes his head. "I've had enough of this."

"Always and forever, brother," Klaus says. "Or have you forgotten?"

"I never made that bloody vow!" Finn pushes Klaus aside. "It is time to end this charade of family unity. Goodbye, Niklaus."

As fury rises in Klaus' gut, he clenches his fists before taking a silver dagger out of his coat pocket. Running at Finn, he plunges the dagger into his bother's heart. "I'm sorry, Finn," he says as Finn chokes. "But I will not let this family die."

Finn's now grey body drops to Klaus' feet. Klaus straightens his back only for his eyes to land on his youngest sister. "Lexi—"

"Why?" she whispers. "Why would you do that? Why?!" She rushes forward to take the dagger out, but Klaus pushes her back. "Free him!"

"No," Klaus says. "He was going to leave us, Lexi. I cannot let that happen."

"I don't believe you," she replies. "Finn would never just leave us—"

"But he would!" Klaus roars.

Lexi pauses, taking a step back. Her eyes flicker between Klaus and Finn; her clenches fists relaxing. "Promise me you will never do that to me," she says, finally focusing on Klaus.

He scoffs and crosses his arms. "Of course, I wouldn't."

Lexi's lip tips up in a sneer. "You would have said the same thing to Finn a week ago. Promise me!"

"It wouldn't even work on you." Klaus glances down at the silver dagger. "It is silver—it does not work on werewolves."

"It may not work on you, Nik, but silver still works on me!" Lexi raises her hands before letting them drop with a sigh. "We're different kinds. It could work."

As Klaus shakes his head once more, Lexi sighs and sinks to her knees. She looks up at her brother with a defeated expression—her eyes are tired as her back sags. "It has been sixty years since we killed those hunters, Nik. Sixty years."

Klaus inhales sharply as he runs a hand down his face. "What do those monsters have to do with this?"

Lexi glances to the side. "Your visions ended eight years ago. Mine have not. Every waking second, I hear Mikael and Mother and Alexander. And I see every person I have killed. My curse has not ended. And I want nothing to do with those hunters or their weapons." She motions to the dagger. "Never use it against me, please, I am begging you."

Silence spreads over the courtyard. Tears gather in the corners of Lexi's eyes but she ignores them as Klaus kneels down next to her. "I promise," he says, her voice barely above a whisper. "I will never use one of those on you." He raises a hand to grip her shoulder. "And I know what that torment is like. We will figure it out."

Lexi barely smiles. "That's a kind sentiment. But we both know the curse disappears when it wants. I'll keep hearing the screaming until it realizes I cannot die. No matter how much I might want to."

"Well," Peter crosses his arms over his chest as he watches Klaus help Lexi back to her feet. "We know he's a lying sack of shit."

Stiles purses his lips. "I mean, technically, he stabbed her with a golden dagger, not a silver one."

The entire pack turns to glare at him.

With a shrug, Stiles holds his hands up in surrender. "Semantics."

Are there enough intergections with the McCall pack that it makes since this time? Hope you enjoyed!

-L