09: Heading Your Way, José

The body of a pretty brunette female laid unconscious on the floor as she stood over her. Pulling her phone out, she had a bright smile as she waited for the call to connect. “Oh, Elijah! I found Klaus’s wife. She has a nasty bite and I think the Salvatore’s are going to require a bit of his blood. You best hurry up because I’ll only keep breaking her neck and I really don’t want to make her short list of enemies.”

Hanging up, she shoved her phone in her pocket and looked around the room at the tired, disgruntled faces. “What?”

~o.O.o~

Damon grimaced as he glared from the bite mark scarring his shoulder to the woman lying on his floor. If he hadn’t already been given the warning before her attack of who her family was, he would have thought her hot and hit on her when she woke. Despite his tendency for finding trouble and stirring it up, this creature was one bundle of disaster he didn’t want his hands on.

“So what are we going to do with Klaus’ rabid wife?” he asked. “How do we know he will even be willing to give us any of his blood?”

“Have a little faith,” Katherine muttered as she stood over her friend. She had her arms wrapped around herself, one arm folded with her chin in her fingers as she appeared distracted in thought. “Considering last night was a full moon, it was likely her first turning so let’s hope she will sleep this off for awhile. Or at least until someone from the family shows up to take her off our hands.”

“Why don’t we just throw her in the basement? It’s filled with vervain-”

“Bella is a thousand years old. And a hybrid at that. Do you really think she hasn’t built up an immunity against vervain and wolfsbane?” Katherine snapped.

Stefan let out a cry, trying to keep his own pain to himself but he’d been bit in the neck and near his heart. “It’s already been nearly two hours since you made that call. How far away could they possibly be?”

“Most much further than you think,” Klaus spoke as he walked in and went straight to his wife. He ignored everyone’s stares as he was shirtless and dirtied from his long run. His fingers traced her face, pushing her hair away. “I’m only here because I’d been chasing her as a wolf through the night. I had anticipated her stopping to rest but she was too driven to return to Mystic Falls.”

“Great. So you can take you psychotic wife and get back out of town,” Damon smirked behind his glass of liquor.

Klaus looked up from his sleeping wife with a sigh. “You think we allowed her to roam freely cut off from her humanity without a care for the rest of the humans out there? You truly are ignorant and you have no idea about the type of person that Isabella truly is. You all already know what it takes to trigger the wolf curse. In a thousand years, why hadn’t Isabella changed? Tell me.”

The witch sisters glanced at one another, one surprised and shocked, the other merely shrugged. Bonnie turned to Klaus for confirmation. “She really never killed anyone as a vampire?”

He glared over his shoulder in her direction. “No. Despite what you may think, my wife has always been pure of heart and valued humanity. Even more than what you believed Elijah to be. Whatever strife you have with me, you do not put it on my wife. Do you hear me?” While he spoke to the witch, it was clear his message was expressed to everyone in the room.

Taking Isabella’s arm and pulling her over his shoulder, Klaus stood to move her over to the couch to make her more comfortable. Turning to Katherine, he drew in a deep breath to calm himself of the ire he felt every time he saw the vampire, he knew he would not have possession of his wife if it had not been because of her. Nodding fractionally, his eyes narrowed. Sniffing the air, he could pick up the scent of werewolf venom poisoning someone in the room. It was strong, pungent. Emptying the nearest glass of its contents, he bit his hand so that his blood would drain into it.

“I can tell someone experienced my love’s vicious teeth. I will offer this as a truce for the time that we need to stay in town,” he announced, holding the glass up, eyes twinkling as he looked to the Salvatores.

Unable to deny the offer, the two accepted the glass, taking their turn sipping from the blood. Damon made his way over to get a closer look at the Mikaelson that they all hadn’t formally met previously. “I don’t get it.”

Klaus let out a deep sigh, bracing himself for the coming fight. “What is it that you do not get?” he questioned through clenched teeth.

“She’s too hot for someone like you,” Damon admitted. “Wolf issues aside of course-”

The hybrid spun quickly and grabbed the vampire by the throat. “I warned you before. Show Isabella nothing but respect, no matter the state she presents herself to you. If she so chooses to kill you where you stand, you will accept it with a smile on your face because I won’t have anyone speaking ill of her.”

Katherine let out a sigh as she leaned against the back of the couch, peering down at her sleeping friend. “Let’s put this aside for now and focus on Bella. I have no doubts she’ll be waking soon. We know daggering her until you figure out a solution is out of the question. Any chance that there might be some witchy voodoo that could keep her relatively sedated?”

Ahvitahl moved to pick up her grimoire, flipping through the pages. “I know there are ways for regular vampires and werewolves, but for a hybrid, I might have to ask the ancestors. You know how much I’d hate to go that route.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Klaus murmured, pushing Damon away from him. “If necessary, I will break her neck-”

“You’ve never been able to raise a hand to her,” Katherine scoffed. “I’ll stick around for this and handle that. It’ll just be another thing to add to the list that she can be pissed at me for later.”

He peered at her, curious as to what she’d done to garnish his mate’s wrath, however, the soft moan of Isabella stirring pulled his attention from the vampire. Taking a seat along her side as she slowly woke, he knew she’d be tasting the air in the room before she opened her eyes. He passed a gentle smile over his lips, however brief, when she released a sigh.

“So – you’ve caught me,” she muttered, opening her eyes. The coolness in them tore through Klaus’ heart. “Whatever shall I do?”

“You won’t be running off the way you have managed,” he replied.

Sitting up just enough to use her arm to prop her head up, she smirked. “You’ve been chasing my dust, Husband. I came to you with an offer to join me and you declined.”

“It won’t work Isabella,” Klaus muttered, resting his arm on the opposite side of her, caging her in a sense. “I have no need for what you wish and I hope that you realize soon that all you are doing is hurting yourself more in the long run by continuing this. I will find what will bring you back, I promise you that.”

Bella’s lips twitched before she sat up further, coming face to face with him. “You go right ahead and try. It won’t work. I’m fine just the way I am now. I don’t understand why you want me to go back. I’m stronger for this. Like you, anyone that tries to go against me are fools.”

Katherine had been watching the two converse, but was careful to watch everything about her friend and her reactions. Moving into her line of sight, she smiled, waving her fingers at the girl. Receiving a scowl in return, she grew more entertained by the new hybrid’s growl when Elena walked into the house and her human scent drifted into the room. “Well, I see someone is rather testy.”

“Go jump in front of a train, Katerina. I’m not in the mood for one doppelganger. Two is making me even more – hungry,” Bella snarled as she prepared to launch herself at the human, only to be caught by Klaus’ waiting arms.

Bending her arms behind her back, he held her tightly against himself. “Ah, ah. We need Miss Gilbert alive and human. We won’t touch her.”

Her eyes never left the fearful girl as she grinned. “No. You mean you need her. Doppelgangers bring nothing but trouble for anyone who crosses their paths…”

“Hey!” Katherine objected. “I’ve helped you out plenty!”

Bella rolled her eyes as she submitted to her husband’s hold on her. “That may be, but many of our problems start with your bloodline. It’s nothing but a curse. Besides, I think the world may benefit from a few less doppelgangers. More fun for me to do the ridding.”

Klaus’ grip slackened only slightly, but it was enough for her to break away and launch herself at her friend. It was only Katherine’s years of experience and knowledge of the girl that she was able to fend her off and keep her poisonous bite from her skin. As quickly as it started, he had his wife pressed up against the wall, his body pinning her as his lips brushed over her ear. “That was a naughty move, my Love.”

Bella’s golden hued eyes remained fixed over his shoulder on Katherine as she struggled to catch her breath. Smirking, she shrugged a shoulder. “Not my fault you’re weak,” she purred, turning her eyes up on him. “I told you to turn it off and be free with me.”

His hand slid down her body and gripped her hip tightly. “No. I love you but this is not the way,” he whispered.

“Shame,” she pouted. “It could have been fantastic.”

“Yes, I’m sure. And I apologize, Isabelle, for this,” he continued, his voice dripping with sorrow. She looked up at him, confused, just before he quickly, before he lost the nerve, broke her neck. Her body slumped against his and he held her close, his lips pressing light kisses to her exposed neck and shoulder. “How far away is Elijah?”

“Um,” Katherine stammered as she scrambled to search for her phone to check for new messages. “They just got on a plane. Six hours about.”

“I need a car. I can’t keep breaking her neck while we wait for him. We will continue moving until we get her home,” he ordered, lifting her unconscious form in his arms. Glancing at everyone that was still in the room, his eyes narrowed on the unfamiliar witch standing close to the Bennett one. “You two. Have you found any spells that would keep her subdued?”

“Do you know of any that works on you?” Bonnie questioned, her arms crossing but still keeping a distance from the hybrids. “Your only shot is vervain and wolfsbane combination, or constantly breaking her neck.”

He set her back on the couch and ran a hand through his hair. His thoughts were so focused on what would trigger her to get her humanity back on, that he hadn’t heard anyone speaking to him. Looking up to see the witch and Katherine standing together, staring at him, he blinked. “What?”

“We can take my car. Where do you need to go?” Ahvitahl, the witch whose name he learned, asked. “I’m always up for an adventure.”

“New Orleans. It was her favorite place that we’ve lived over the years,” he murmured. He nodded as she left to get her car and things together for the trip and he sent a message to his siblings to continue onward to Louisiana.

Katherine continued to stare at him, curious as to his sudden level of attentiveness. It usually did not bode well for her and had her on the defensive. “Something on your mind?”

He shifted his gaze from the cell phone he’d been toying with in his hand to Isabella before answering. “I’m trying to figure out exactly why she would do this and what it would take to bring her back. I doubt losing her friend would be so traumatic to push her to this point. There had to be something else she did not wish to share when it happened.”

“Maybe she had an affair with this friend,” she smirked, provoking him.

“I strongly suggest that you do not attempt that route again, Katherine. You know, very well, that Isabella would not betray me in that way. She is not you or your ancestor. No, there was something else that the wolf boy was able to communicate to her that set her off,” he speculated as he turned his gaze on his wife.

Katherine let out a bored sigh, knowing just how pissed the new hybrid was going to be when she woke. “Look. Why don’t you go get what you need. She’ll be down for at least an hour. I can babysit her for you.”

He glowered at the doppelganger, moving to stand between her and his wife. “I’ve been separated from her far too long in order to break this curse, and then just as I get her back, I lost her again. Only to chase her down to this miserable town. I won’t be separated from her again.”

She threw her hands up, palms facing him and took a step back. “Alright, fine. I was just trying to help. You know I would never do anything against her, but whatever,” she shrugged and moved to a nearby sofa to make herself comfortable. “So what is it that you think that triggered her?”

“I don’t know,” he responded with a frustrated sigh. “Her allegiances were always with the family first. All I could consider is that she learned something terrible towards us and was unable to handle it.”

Katherine didn’t appear as convinced. “There is always some plot against your family and she always handled it fine. In fact, she’d be the first one to rip apart anything or anyone that came after you. Unless the friends she had there had something to do with your parents, I can’t see her doing this.”

“No. Whatever she learned had to either enrage her so much, or frighten her that deep, that cutting off her humanity seemed the easiest way to handle it,” he continued to murmur to himself.

“So go into her head and find out,” Katherine replied, growing bored with his hesitations.

Klaus merely shook his head as they both knew it would be counterproductive as they each had their own turns without their humanity. An intrusion such as that, would likely force Isabella to act out even more negatively than she’s had already.

When Ahvitahl returned, making her way into the sitting room, the sound of her footfalls were enough to distract Klaus. Before he knew what happened, Katherine flashed up behind him and snapped his neck. “I sure you haven’t completely lost your mind. He’s going to be fucking pissed when he wakes up,” the witch warned.

Katherine shrugged as she moved to pull Bella over her shoulders. “He’ll get over it. Let’s hurry up and get on the road with her before she wakes up because I’m not interested in sticking around and dealing with her husband and family.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Ahvitahl sighed, scratching her neck uncomfortably as she followed the vampires out. She only hoped that the female hybrid would keep her teeth to herself, because the last thing she wanted to do was grovel to her husband for either of their blood to cure her friend.

~o.O.o~

As the Mikaelson siblings and their guests walked off their plane in Virginia, Elijah’s phone exploded with text messages and voicemails once he turned it on. He had slowed to a stop as he read through each one and it had taken a moment for the rest of the group to realize that he was no longer following.

“What’s the matter?” Rebekah questioned as she stopped to look back at him. The others turned back as well, curious as to what was causing the hold up.

“It seems that Niklaus has lost Isabella once again,” Elijah sighed, scowling at the messages on his phone. “Initially he wanted us to divert to New Orleans as he was making arrangements to bring her there after having caught up, but it appears that Katherine has double crossed him and has taken her.”

Kol raised a brow and Rebekah rolled her eyes. “What else is new? She’ll be just as fine with that crazy wench as she would be with Nik. At least when she needs to, she would not hesitate to wring our sister’s neck.”

“So where are we going now?” Rebekah demanded.

The Cold Ones in their company each wisely kept their mouths shut as the siblings argued about their plans and what to do. Jasper mainly went along to keep Carlisle, Esme, and Alice in line, while Emmett and Rosalie were following of their own free will. He knew that the Mikaelsons had yet to determine a suitable method of dealing with them for what they had put Bella through and the length they allowed Edward to go with his antics, but he had the sense that there was something else going on.

“Is it a bad thing that this Katherine has Bella?” Emmett spoke up, confused by the change of situation.

Letting out a dramatic sigh, Elijah contemplated the possible scenarios. “It is hard to say. Katherine is an unpredictable woman on her best days. She does care for Isabella so I do not believe she will bring her harm, and quite possibly is attempting to help in her own misguided way.”

“So what is it that Nik wants us to do now?” Rebekah questioned, looking around bored and making sure that there was not too much attention being drawn to them. “Surely he has thought of something.”

“He wants us to continue to New Orleans. In fact, he should be here shortly to meet us for our next flights as he has already made arrangements,” the older vampire sighed, pocketing his phone after growing more irritated by the messages he was reading. “I am certain that he will repeat his words himself quite vocally so that we all are to understand his displeasure at the situation.”

“Great,” Kol muttered with false enthusiasm to Jasper’s amusement.

While they waited for Klaus to arrive at the airport, they gathered what baggage that had been sent on the plane and kept a watch for when the hybrid would appear. Carlisle and Esme’s agitation grew the longer they waited, and Alice was even more antsy than usual, causing Jasper to move closer, giving her a healthy dose of fear as a warning for whatever she was thinking of attempting.

He had continued staring at his soon to be ex-wife, suspicious of her behavior, when Klaus came rushing up.

Stress was clear on the hybrid’s face, not knowing once again what was going on with his wife and her safety. “I picked up everyone’s tickets. The flight is in an hour so we need to get your baggage to the gate,” he said in a rush as he passed around random flight tickets.

Rebekah took hers, eyes glaring at him. “How the hell did you lose Isa again?”

Klaus turned and growled at his sister. “Her bloody doppelganger friend ambushed me from behind, breaking my neck. She took off with her body while her neck was still mending. That bloody Bennett witch can’t even track them.”

“Where would Katherine even take her?” Kol wondered.

“Katherine wouldn’t dare go into New Orleans right now. Marcel still has too much control there that he isn’t a fan of visiting vampires and anyone on Nik’s hit list certainly isn’t welcome. Witches aren’t particularly favored there either,” Rebekah pointed out. “I was getting the former Governor’s mansion suitable for us as your progeny has staked claim to our compound.”

Pausing at hearing about the vampire he had raised from childhood, Klaus eyed his sister with concern. “Did he see you?”

“No. Honestly, I was surprised to find him alive after Mikael let us believe he had killed him. He controls New Orleans – or so he believes.”

“What does all of this have to do with Bella?” Alice whined, interrupting the siblings and itching to leave the area. “Aren’t we supposed to be searching for her?”

Jasper grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her back, a growl coming from his chest low enough for her to hear but not so loud to attract humans. “We will do what they need us to do. You will only follow your orders.”

She rolled her eyes, trying to pull away from his grasp. “I know that. But surely there is something more that can be done than to just sit around and wait for this Katherine person and Bella to make whatever move they are?”

Elijah narrowed his eyes on the seer. “The two of them are extremely unpredictable right now. There is no way to know what they are intending to do, so that is all we can do.”

“Are you able to see Bella at all?” Kol curiously questioned.

Alice looked away as she made an attempt to see the girl. “I never was able to see her properly. It’s the wolf gene she carries.”

“What about Katherine?”

She shook her head, drawing an irritated sigh. “No. I’ve never met her and if I had, as long as her decisions are tied to Bella, I would be blind to them.”

Kol’s lips curled into a frown as he considered what she said and how her gift worked. “I think we might be able to get around that, but you and I would have to take a detour.”

His brother and Jasper looked to him, silently questioning his intentions. Shrugging a shoulder, Kol turned his attention to his family. “We’ll catch up later, but I want to take her to Mystic Falls and see if she can connect to Katherine through the Gilbert girl. I know of a spell that might help get around the wolf block for her that the Bennett witch can perform.”

“I don’t trust Alice not to pull something,” Jasper warned.

“I don’t either, mate. However, that’s where some compulsion comes in handy to keep your eight ball in line,” Kol grinned.

Jasper smirked, giving Alice a sideway glance as she crossed her arms and pouted. “She ain’t mine anymore.”

“Jasper!” she protested as he shrugged a shoulder, ignoring her. “Over sixty years together!”

Kol grabbed her arm and dragged her off with him, much to the empath’s appreciation. He looked over at the parentals of the Cullen family and raised an eyebrow, silently daring them to say or do something.

Klaus, having had enough of the drama from the pint sized Cold One, smiled as he watched his brother drag her off. “Well, if that’s settled, we shall continue to Louisiana, locate my wife, and force her to turn her bloody humanity back on.”

“That’s to assume that is where Katherine is taking her,” Elijah pointed out with a sigh. “For all we know, she could decide to head to Italy to stir up trouble with the Volturi.”

Carlisle pulled his wife in closer as he looked to the brothers with trepidation. “Do you think they would honestly do that?”

“It’s entirely possible, especially if Katherine manages to get Isabella to tell her what has occurred during her stay in Forks,” the hybrid thoughtfully answered. “It would be a magnificent slaughter of that city if they pissed my wife off enough. I’m almost sad that I might miss such an event.”

“Nik,” Rebecca spoke up as they made their way to their designated terminal for their flight. “Maybe calling the Volturi might not be a bad idea.”

Her brothers turned to her, looking to see where she was going with her idea. Letting out a huff and rolling her eyes, she continued. “They do have a tracker that has soft spot for Ducky. Between him and their enforcer to help fight her if she decided to get scrappy, they might have better luck at pinning her down. She knows us too well to be able to evade. After all, for all the times she’d been in your care since she flipped her switch, she escaped each time.”

Klaus scowled, turning away from his sister, hating the suggestion. He knew it was a decent idea and had its potential, but he wanted nothing to do with the Volturi if he could avoid it. Especially when it came to the friends his wife had made when they had visited them all those years past. Was he jealous of the lesser breed’s relationship with her? Yes but he was stuck in regards to how to track her.

Approaching their gate, he sighed, pulling out his cell phone. His face expressed his clear displeasure of having to place such a call. “Greetings Marcus! I require the need of a couple of your guard members…”

~o.O.o~

Somewhere on the road, hours later, Bella groaned as she rubbed her neck. “I’m going to rip the head off of whoever keeps breaking my neck,” she threatened before opening her eyes and sitting up. Taking in the girls in the front seat, one looking over the seat with her ever present smirk, she could not help but to scowl. “You must seriously have a suicide wish. Klaus will undoubtedly hunt you down for this. At least I’ll have a front row seat.”

“Perhaps, but I bought you more time away from your family,” Katherine shrugged. “Anywhere in particular you wish to go? I would consider somewhere that he would think you less likely to be.”

Bella glared at the vampire as she sat back in the seat and turned to look at the passing scenery. They were somewhere in North Carolina, if the passing signs were anything to go by. “They are more than likely going to New Orleans, knowing them. I feel like creating some trouble.”

“Trouble is something that we can definitely do, but again, your call,” Katherine repeated. “We can go back to Mystic Falls, knowing that they are leaving the area?”

The thought was enticing. She could screw around with the new doppelganger some if that was the case. Twisting a lock of hair around her finger as she toyed with a number of ideas, she soon began to let her smile grow.

Raising a brow, Katherine recognized the look in her long time friend’s eye. “Uh oh. This isn’t going end very well, is it?”

“I want to go to Mexico. I heard there is a bitch down there that needs to dropped a peg or two. Maybe we can take over her lands for ourselves,” Bella replied, a dangerous glint in her eyes that had the other vampire locked down with a shudder of fear.

“You seriously want to go into a Cold One territory war?”

“Um, just so you know, humans don’t do well around those kind, and I’m still quite human,” Avitahl spoke up for the first time since the hybrid awoke. “And I don’t particularly have the desire to be changed straight away. I like my magic, thank you very much.”

Bella leaned forward, resting her arms on the backs of the seats. “Then you better pray that KitKat will be able to ensure your life. We’re heading south for some true vampire fuckery. There isn’t a damn thing that my husband can do to convince the great Major or any of their allies to voluntarily walk their sparkly asses there.”