Chapter 10

Author’s Note: Holy Crappola Batman! An Update after a …year?! I hope it does it justice. As you are well aware, Whispers in Shadows is AU. Without a doubt. Aside from the Twilight side, it most certainly is from The Vampire Diaries/The Originals. There are certain aspects of the shows I didn’t like. For the sake of this story, I am bringing Kol back from the dead. He didn’t die, and other details, are certainly out of order. Sorry. It’s my story. It’s been a year and I didn’t actually write down my thoughts at the time of what I was planning like I should have.

~o.O.o~

When Bella began to awaken the following morning, she rolled over in the bed with a sigh as her arm reached out to search for her bedmate. Finding the other side of the mattress empty, she sat up and looked around. She blinked as she worked to remember the events of the day before and felt almost exhausted enough to just lay back down and hide under the covers from everything.

There was much she knew she would need to explain. She had gained many memories back and Damon knew it was more than just old dreams now. It seemed that she’d been able to shield him from Katherine and they were both aware of that. Getting out of bed, she looked around for her bag, needing clothes, but suddenly Damon’s closet door flew open. Jumping in surprise, Bella looked around for a moment before closing her eyes to steady her racing heart. Grabbing one of his shirts from a hanger, Bella wrapped it around herself before slipping her jeans from the day before on, she made her way downstairs.

She stopped short and narrowed her eyes at seeing nearly everyone there. Her attention immediately went to Damon to find him tense and extremely displeased with his brother’s girlfriend. “What is going on?” she questioned almost too calmly, but in a tone that caused Stefan and Damon to eye her curiously.

“Nothing. Nothing is going on,” Elena answered quickly as she glared back at Damon, moving to stand beside Stefan but at seeing the way he too was suddenly uncomfortable around her, Bella raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she watched her.

“Somehow I doubt that,” she murmured. A glance to Bonnie and Caroline who seemed to be trying to stay out of whatever dispute was going on, and avoiding her eyes made it clear that there was more to the change within the group in the short time. Fixing her eyes on Elena, she waved her hand that bore a ring that had been in her possession for a long time towards the girl and spoke a couple words. “Segja sannleikann.”

Everyone froze as they stared wide eyed as Elena’s face took on a blank look, much like one under a vampire compulsion, as she responded. “I tried to kiss Damon when he came downstairs to make breakfast for Bella and was angry when he refused to admit that he had feelings for me anymore.”

“Holy…” Caroline started to say but Bonnie slowly approached Bella.

“When did you get your powers?” she asked.

The girl closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know? Something begun to manifest last night when Katherine was here and gained some more memories during the night, but nothing significant as to what my origins are or the reason for what is going on.”

“Slutpire said she let someone know about you that wants doppelgangers. Any ideas who it could be?” Damon questioned, turning his steely glare from the girl over to Bonnie.

“No. I will going back and ask the spirits again. They seemed interested in protecting Bella when I asked about her last time,” she shrugged, feeling helpless as she gathered her bag and coat and headed out the door.

“Bella?”

She sighed and pulled her hair back from her face with both hands. Flashing a glare at Elena who had come out of her truth spell that she’d been under and been looking around confused, she shook her head. “Sorry. The most I remember right now is the life with you in the 1850s and a couple basic spells like that truth one.”

“It’s alright. Let’s hope that Witchy comes back with some answers that are worth something this time. I am beginning to think that they are all hype anyway,” Damon shrugged as he handed her the cup of coffee he held for her when she joined him at his side. “How would you like to play this? We can try to push these memories and see if more of your magic kicks in.”

Bella didn’t know what to do and said so. “It started with Katherine,” she shared. “A defense mechanism of sorts? I’m not sure, but I was older and didn’t have what I have now. I don’t know how to use this but at the same time – it feels familiar.”

“Well putting your life in danger isn’t going to be an option,” Stefan spoke up, looking tired. “We’ll have to find some other way.”

Caroline had been sitting quietly, observing everything since the first person woke after her. “Okay so, I am a bit behind on the story here. Can someone fill me in on what exactly is going on? I got that Bella is somehow from your past and that Katherine has it out for her from last night. Now why don’t we just gather everything we know and go from there?”

The girl hesitated as she looked at the others. Damon had kept his eyes on her, not saying a word knowing it was her decision to make. Nodding her consent, he shared what he knew while Stefan and Bella eventually filled in the gaps with her own arrival. By the end, the group was sitting quietly as they processed what they knew.

“So no one knows how far back your reincarnations go? Just at least 500 years because Katherine knows about you,” Elena asked, making her uncomfortable, as she was unaware about the truth spell that she’d been previously under and continued to behave innocently.

After a moment, Bella nodded without speaking as she eyes her. Knowing the girl for what she was now, she was more cautious in her presence as her predecessor had killed her more than a few times before, making her even more difficult to trust especially after attempts to seduce Damon after he himself admitted his feelings for girl who she last lived in.

In the end, the group sat there until Elena’s eyes grew large. “I think I know who Katherine is trying to send,” she whispered as she looked to Stefan with doe like eyes that had him raising an eyebrow now that he was more aware of her antics.

“Who?”

“Klaus. I mean, he was after me because I’m Katherine’s doppelganger for his curse. Who’s to say there isn’t something else he wants more power for that Bella’s blood will give him?” she pointed out.

Bella looked at the vampires confused. “Who’s Klaus?”

Damon looked back to her, fear touching the corner of his eyes. “One of the original vampires. A hybrid actually,” he answered. “He was in town for awhile and sacrificed Elena to break his curse. He stuck around trying to make hybrids for awhile, fucking with Stefan before he took off with what was left of his family for New Orleans.”

She drew in a deep breath and nodded. “There is no use speculating right now. I need to get more of my memories back and perhaps it will give us the answers we need. I may know more about the history between your Isabelle and Damon from that life but that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve only met you all just the other day.”

“Well, I’m Caroline and I’m on the cheerleading squad with Elena and I am like really hungry right now,” the young vampire piped up, causing everyone to blink at her.

Bella couldn’t help but to lightly laugh and shake her head at the girl’s attempt to lighten the tension in the room. “I’m sure Damon would be happy to help you out,” she smiled before looking up at him, raising an eyebrow at the scowl he gave her before he turned and begrudgingly left the room.

“Aren’t you afraid about Klaus?” Elena asked as she stared at her and how she was making herself comfortable in the Salvatore’s living room.

Looking up at her, she frowned as she thought about it for a moment. “Strangely enough, no. His name doesn’t strike fear in me the way it does for you. There is a sense of familiarity with it I can’t place, much like it had with Damon and Stefan, but I’m sure it’ll come.”

Elena gawked at her in disbelief. “Klaus is dangerous! You should be terrified!”

Bella rolled her eyes. “Are you really concerned about my safety or your own? You admitted that when he was here last, he wanted your blood. He’s since left and you haven’t implied that he’s bothered you since. Now that he may be coming back, it only sounds to me you’re more upset that this man may be interested in me than he is in you.”

“I am not!”

“Right. Sure. Keep denying all you want princess but we all know the truth about your games,” Damon said as he walked back in, tossing a blood bag over to Caroline who happily ripped open the valve and drank as she looked around. “You’re no better than Katherine in that aspect. Doppelgangers. It’s always about you. You, you, you.”

“Damon…” Bella chastised him calmly as she saw him growing more angry with the girl. “Maybe you can take me home? My dad is going to worried about me.”

He dragged his eyes away from Elena and they softened on her. “Didn’t I tell you that we would take care of him. Everything is straightened out. Your pops and Barbie’s mom know that you two were having a sleepover with Elena and witchy here.”

“Caroline’s mom?”

“My mom knows I’m here?!” Caroline screeched, her lips slipping off the blood bag as she looked up at him.

Damon rolled his eyes. “She knows you’re here, but not what you are. Don’t worry. She doesn’t know about us. I’m on the town council for that reason!”

The girl was still afraid however and he sighed. “Look. While you mother is aware of vampires, and hunts them, I’m on the council playing along with the rest of them to steer them away from us. Keep your friends close and enemies closer. Don’t worry about it.”

“What if my mother does find out the truth? What then? Are you going to kill her?” Caroline demanded.

Damon hesitated, forcing Bella to answer for him. “No, he won’t. I won’t let him,” she smiled. “My father works on the force too and is getting involved with the council as well. I’m not exactly thrilled about his learning about the supernatural. Especially after everything we left behind.”

“You mean the sparklies?” Damon smirked at her as he ran his fingers over her wrist.

“I don’t want to talk about them,” she scowled, narrowing her eyes. “I want to get out, do something. What else is around Mystic Falls that we can do?”

“Why don’t you show her the caves?” Elena suggested.

The brothers both weren’t sure at the suggestion, especially considering they weren’t capable of entering because of the witches’ spell protecting the glyphs of the Mikaelsons’ family story but if Klaus was truly coming for Bella, it was something that she would want to see. Shrugging a shoulder, Damon looked to the young witch. “What do you think? Want to go exploring?”

Bella had been studying Elena for any clues for deception but could find none before she agreed. “Sounds like fun.”

~o.O.o~

It had taken some time to reach the particular site. The last time Elena had been there, she had threatened to kill herself because of the Original family, but thankfully they left not long after. Rebekah had taken her anger out on her brother and they all left to torment another city.

As the group made their way through the cave system, Bella was rather quiet while Damon helped her climb over the rocks and down slippery slopes. At times, she managed to take certain turns almost instinctively, leaving the others in silence and wonder as they watched her as they knew that she had never been there before.

When they reached the cavern that held the old glyphs, only Bella and Elena were capable of entering. No one said anything as they watched the seemingly new witch study the images with curious eyes.

“It tells a story of the first family of vampires…” Elena started to say but she was quickly shushed.

“I know what it says, strangely enough. It’s – an odd feeling. The hybrid killed his mother,” she said as she pointed to a set of symbols.

Elena nodded as her eyes widened. “Yeah, uh, Klaus killed Esther but let everyone believe it was their father for cheating on him.”

Bella frowned as her fingers hovered over the hybrid glyph before her attention turned to the names of the family. To the average person, one wouldn’t be able to understand the writing as it was writing in old Viking, but she was capable of reading it.

“It’s their names-” Elena started when she was interrupted.

“Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah, Henrik,” she whispered in confusion as she looked around. “There’s one missing.”

“What?” Damon questioned from the entrance, having been listening silently.

“I don’t know. I just feel like there is supposed to be another name on the wall here,” she said as she stepped into his view, pointing back at it. “Esther and Mikael had another child I think.”

Stefan looked back at his brother and shook his head at the unasked question. “Klaus and Rebekah never said anything to me in my time with them.”

“Elijah never said anything when he told me their history of another either,” Elena added. “Maybe you’re confused.

Bella shook her head, her hands digging into her hair as she was sure of her feeling, her eyes going back to the wall of names. “No. I’m positive, there’s one missing,” she repeated. “I will ask this Klaus guy when he comes.”

“Uh, I don’t think so. Not if he’s coming here for your blood,” Damon shook his head, protesting.

She glared back at him. “I’ve physically known you in this lifetime less than a week. You don’t have any right to tell me what to do. Whether or not we were to be engaged in the past has no merit. Forget the past because we’re in the 21st century and I’ll teleport your dick to Italy, to the Volturi castle, if you don’t figure out that you are not the boss of me.”

“You have no idea how much of a lunatic this guy is Bella! Let alone the rest of that family!” he argued back, his eyes wild as they stared back at her from the threshold of the cavern. “We’re only trying to keep you safe! Is that so hard to comprehend! I just get you back and you’re ready to go running off to someone who will have no issues taking you right from me for all the shit I put him through!”

“Stop being such a bloody dick to everyone then!” Bella snapped, a European accent filtering through her voice as an explosion of magic escaped through her hands, pushing the irate vampire back. It caused everyone to stare at her with more confusion, and a bit of fear. “I have no idea where that came from…” she muttered as she looked down to her hands before wrapping them around herself. “Can we go back now? I want to go home.”

Stefan and Damon eyed one another as they agreed wordlessly that the day had been long enough for her. “Yeah, let’s head back,” the younger Salvatore smiled at her, while Damon kept his distance. He knew she was upset and would only grow more so if he pushed her. While there were marked differences between this girl and the one that he was set to propose to, even in reincarnation, their strength of character was still very much the same.

~o.O.o~

Meanwhile in New Orleans…

Elijah Mikaelson sat in the study turning through the pages of his mother’s grimoire in thought, contemplating the recent events in his family. The changes that no one had ever expected were even capable, especially with that of his brother, Niklaus.

Even if he had no romantic feelings for the wolf girl, he knew he did care for the mother of his unborn child. It was only after a recent phone call that the hybrid received that raised concern in the older man. Niklaus was more short tempered after he hung up, more agitated in the confines of the house.

While he considered questioning him about the details of the call, he had chosen to wait. To wait for him to come to him for when he was ready to discuss whatever it was that bothered him so. It only was surprising that it hadn’t taken as long as he thought it would.

When the sandy haired brother entered the room, Elijah glanced up from the book, his fingers pausing on the page that he’d been studying to observe as the man paced the floor. He watched as he opened his mouth once, twice before turning to look at him.

“What is bothering you Niklaus? Ever since you received that call two days ago, you have been worse than a caged tiger,” he commented, carefully closing the grimoire and setting it aside.

Klaus’ jaw tensed, but it was more to it. His whole body was set as if ready for a fight. “Katerina Petrova is playing with fire and believes she is immune from its’ flames,” he announced as he held his head high, staring his brother down for his reaction.

Elijah was surprised to hear the name of his former lover and blinked, sitting back in his chair. “Katerina? Is that so? And what is it she had to say?”

He rolled his eyes, sniffing at the memory of the conversation, or lack thereof as he participated very little except to listen to what she quickly threw at him in lieu of his threats on her life. “She claims that there is a second doppelganger back in Mystic Falls. One that has recurred numerous times over the last several hundred years,” he stated in nothing more than a whisper.

The implications of such a phenomenon was something neither of them anticipated. “Another doppelganger? Did she say of what bloodline? One that occurs that frequently…is…”

“Not normal. Yes, I know. I do not agree that it is what she claims and I did not share such thoughts, but she is intent that I would be interested in this particular – specimen. She has insisted that she had personally destroyed the girl many times in the past. A competitor of sorts, I do not know. I tuned out her mindless babble,” Klaus waved it off. “What would occur so often after a death?”

The elder Mikaelson sat thinking, pondering the supernatural theories that he was familiar with in his millenia on Earth. “Aside from the doppelganger, there are reincarnations. Katerina is at least 500 years of age. So this girl existed before her. We would have to meet with the current manifestation and see what memories or abilities she might entail. It may give light to her origins.”

“And what do we do with Hayley? We cannot leave my child defenseless while we take a road trip back there.”

“Call Rebekah back to stay with her. I will inform the witches that we need to leave town. Perhaps they may even know something about this to give us some insight before we go in blind,” Elijah smiled.

“I could always unbox Kol and have him sort out the witches,” Klaus smiled devilishly.

Elijah frowned after a moment, pausing to eye his brother disapprovingly. “You could, but I thought you sought some level of order in your desire to rule this city. You cannot do that if you have the species at war with one another and within their own.”

He said nothing as he glared at him in return. He knew nothing of his intentions, only what he assumed. “Call Rebekah and talk to your witches. I want to get this over with quickly,” he muttered before storming out of the room, leaving his brother narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he wondered what more was going on back in Virginia.

~o.O.o~

While Elijah was off treating the witches of New Orleans to spots of tea, Klaus had snuck off from his pregnant werewolf one-night stand to where he kept the coffins of his family. While most were either dead in some capacity, one remained daggered yet. He had managed to his younger sibling before the others in Mystic Falls before they could, too, kill him as they had their much boring older brother.

Pulling the dagger out, he waited for the man to awaken with a blood bag in hand, ready for him to feed. A smile on his lips as he held it out, he greeted the fellow as he stared back at him with a suspicious gaze as he drank. Once finished, Kol threw the empty plastic bag to the floor. “Not that I’m one to question being woken, but it’s not usually by your hand, Nik.”

“True. However, aside from Elijah’s unfailing habit of studying books, you know more when it comes to witches and their craft. I am curious more about a possible reincarnation. One that occurs, possibly every century or so,” Niklaus replied as he faced his brother, all matters of jest thrown aside.

Kol looked at him in shock, his eyes assessing him as if for the truth in his words before drawing in a deep breath. “A reincarnation like that is quite powerful indeed. I had heard rumors at one point – rumors, Nik. The witches had believed the girl to come from a line of powerful witches, possibly even an original witch. No one was able to say. That was in the late 1800s I believe, maybe early 1900s. Why do you ask?”

Klaus frowned as he was hesitant to go into more detail over what he knew. “I am unsure right now. Elijah and I must leave town. He does not know that I have undaggered you. So for the sake of the family, lay low and do not let anyone know you are around. There is a wolf girl in the house. She is off limits for anything more than a friendly chat. Rebekah will arrive soon to help in her protection. I ask that you help her. If I need anything else, I will call. I do not entirely trust Elijah to share what he learns on this situation with me,” he admitted.

“No doubt he believes that you will want the reincarnation for some evil purpose. One like that cannot be harnessed, even if you wanted to,” the former witch snorted. “Especially if she is of a witch line. She would easily be able to end our family if that is the case.”

At that information, the hybrid tensed and his blue eyes burned brightly in the darkness. “Then we shall find a way to end her before she can do so,” he vowed.