BLOODLINE
xxiii. original witch

BEAMS OF LIGHT illuminated the narrow damp tunnel that stretched beneath the old Lockwood property. Erin clutched the flashlight in her hand as she stepped carefully through the long forgotten maze. Hard to believe no one ever knew the place existed. She wondered how Mason Lockwood discovered it.

     The previous night had been complete and utter chaos across town. Matt's attempt to resurrect his sister, which almost led to Elena and Stefan's death, caused a mass of ghosts to descend upon them. Tomb vampires on a revenge path, Jeremy's dead girlfriend Anna, and even the tragically killed Mason Lockwood. All of them seen, heard, and felt for the first time since they died.

     Erin didn't understand how it was possible, how the supernatural dead pushed their way into the real world from their little purgatory, a place called The Other Side. She was just glad that they were gone and couldn't cause anymore trouble. The public murder of Tobias Fell already sent the town reeling.

     The one good thing out of the whole fiasco came with Mason Lockwood. He led Damon down into the old Lockwood cellar to where a set of tunnels led to an open chamber of ancient text. Written history that pertained to a weapon that could kill an Original.

     "So, the Lockwood's really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" Elena questioned as they continued deeper into the underground space.

     Erin cringed when she eyed several cobwebs. She really hated spiders. "Can't see why they would," she voiced, shining her flashlight onto the ground to not trip on the uneven terrain. "I don't think anyone's been down here for a really long time."

     Alaric glanced back at them and said over his shoulder, "careful where you shine those things. Bats hate the light."

     Elena paused at that. "Wait, what?"

     Erin snorted and continued after Alaric. They came to a stop when a light whisper echoed through the cavern.

     "Elena."

     Erin chuckled when her sister turned and came face-to-face with Damon. He popped out at her with a short yell, causing her to jump and smack him on the arm.

     "Ah! God, Damon," Elena exclaimed, releasing a long breath.

     Damon simply grinned in response. "Scaredy-cat."

     "Just ignore him," Alaric called out, giving Damon a pointed look. "That's what I do."

     Erin's gaze flicked between them, before she turned and continued through the tunnel. Seems Alaric still held a grudge. Granted, Damon did kill him. She warned him it would happen. Damon just didn't listen. If only he actually apologized for what he had done, maybe things would be different.

     But Erin knew how difficult that could be for the vampire. Damon perceived apologies like the average person viewed a snake. With caution and to be avoided at all costs.

     "So, you really can't get in?" Elena asked as they proceeded on.

     When Damon explored the tunnels with Mason, he realized the large chamber at the end prevented him from entering. An invisible force kept him at bay like a boundary spell, or more accurately, the threshold of a home he hadn't been invited into.

     "No. Seems even the ancient Lockwoods were anti-vampire," Damon replied.

     Erin's brows furrowed. "What makes you think this is from the Lockwoods?" she asked in return. "I mean, there were people who lived here way before the Founders. The Salem witches, for one, and obviously the natives."

     Damon huffed. "Okay, Encyclopedia Brown. You made your point." He gestured toward the rounded passage before them as he stopped. "This is as far as I get to go."

     Alaric entered the chamber first, followed by Erin and Elena. The space opened up into a circular room, much larger that the surrounding tunnels. A dampness clung to the walls, keeping the air cool enough to send a chill across Erin's bare arms.

     The beam of their flashlights drifted across the jagged walls, drawing their attention to the various images and symbols carved into the stone.

     "What is all this?" Elena questioned when she spotted the etchings.

     "Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story," Alaric explained, shifting his flashlight across the wall. "In simple, archeological terms, it's a really, really old story." He shone the light into a depiction of crescent moons. Each shaded differently and positioned in opposite directions. "That, right there, is the moon cycle." He posted the light to an image of a stick figure and a fanged animal. "A man, a wolf."

     "A werewolf," Elena offered.

     "Yeah, it's the 'Lockwood Diaries: Pictionary-Style,'" Damon added from his spot near the entrance.

     Erin shook her head as she took in the ancient carvings. "No, this can't be the Lockwoods. They wouldn't have drawn like this. These are a lot older than the 1860s."

     Alaric nodded, setting his bag down as he moved to another section of the wall. "Exactly. The Lockwoods came with the Founders, but according to this wall, these werewolves have been a lot longer than that."

     "How long?" Elena wondered aloud.

     "Long," Damon answered. "It gets better. Show them, Ric."

     Alaric stopped a few feet from the wall and lifted his flashlight to illuminate a series of symbols near his head. "Names. They're not native. They're written in Runic."

     "A Nordic script," Erin spoke for him as she gazed at the sharp lettering. She recognized it from the various documentaries she watched that pertained to one specific subject. "It was used in Scandinavia, but it's associated more with the Vikings."

     Elena's brows creased toward her. "Vikings?"

     Alaric pointed at one of the Runic names and said, "this name here. I translated it, and it reads - Niklaus."

     "Klaus," Elena echoed.

     Alaric moved his light to another one. "And Elijah." Then another. "Rebekah."

     "These are the names of the Original Family," Elena breathed out.

     Erin couldn't take her eyes off of the etchings. She had never seen anything like it in person. It was like she had stepped back in time, well over a thousand years into the past.

     "Carved into a cave that's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls," Alaric exclaimed with an entranced gaze. The history buff in his must've been reeling. "Or even, the entire New World, for that matter."

     Elena shook her head. "Okay, this had gotta be one of Klaus's fakes."

     "That's what I said," Damon called out to them.

     "That could be true, except the last name up here made us think otherwise," Alaric added and lifted the beam of his flashlight to the tallest name.

     "What's the name?" Elena asked.

     Erin squinted up at the angled script, being able to make out a few of the letters. They were similar to the English alphabet, making the name easier to translate than others. Guess work also came into play, but that was a given with her lack of credentials in the subject.

     "Mikael," Erin supplied, drawing all eyes her way. "It's Mikael, right?" Her stare lowers to Alaric.

     "Yeah," Alaric confirmed with a slight proud expression on his features.

     Elena's brows furrowed deeply. "Mikael - Mikael, as in, the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?"

     "Yep," Damon voiced across the chamber. "I now like to call him Papa Original."

     Erin huffed at that. And just when she thought the Original Family couldn't get anymore complicated.

__________

     Dozens of pictures were splayed across the kitchen counter of Alaric's apartment. Their new headquarters for all things Original, and also the place where Erin and Elena began to weight train. Their house lacked the room and equipment, and Alaric was more than happy to allow them access whenever they pleased.

     Erin and Alaric were left alone to decipher the ancient cave etchings, using the internet and texts the man still owned from his time at Duke University. Not a particularly difficult task, but it had become time consuming and a little confusing when many of the symbols were so similar to others.

     Damon departed shortly after they arrived to deal with an imprisoned Stefan. During the ghost debacle, Lexi Branson, Stefan's dead best friend, made an appearance and trapped him in the old Forbes's jail cells. There he remained, drying out from blood with the intention of jump starting his humanity. So far, the emotionless vampire didn't waver.

     Elena slo abandoned them, but for a completely different reason. She wanted to discover the truth of the cave etchings directly from the source. Rebekah. Erin didn't think it was the safest option, but her sister insisted and promised to be careful in how she approached the Original.

     Erin stared down at the printed images, trying to identify what they could possibly mean. And with her knowledge of the supernatural, along with what she knew of the Originals, she found the task easier than she thought.

     A handful of the pictures were labeled at that point. The depiction of the White Oak tree, and the names of the Original Family. Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah, Mikael, and three siblings. Other images were much more difficult to identify, but some came so easily Erin began to second guess herself.

     When Alaric labeled one picture as vampire, Erin hesitated. She picked up another image that looked nearly identical, but with a slight change. An etching of what appeared to be a sun, while the other resembled a moon.

     "I think this one's vampire," Erin voiced, setting it down beside the previously labeled photo.

     Alaric glanced between them and hummed. "I think you're right." He tore off the post-it note that read vampire and placed it on Erin's picture, before he grabbed a new one and wrote werewolf. "You know, I knew you were good at history, I just didn't think you rivaled me in the 'history buff' department," he quipped.

     Erin smiled with a light shake of her head. "I don't know about that. I've just always loved history. Learning things about other places and the people and how things used to be," she relayed.

     Alaric held his own smile until it grew small, falling into a frown. He tried to return his attention to the images before them, as if the expression never surfaced, but Erin noticed it clear as day.

     "What?" Erin asked, curious to know what ran through his mind.

     Alaric pressed his lips together and slightly shook his head. "It's nothing."

     Erin huffed, turning to face him. "Okay, now you have to tell me.," she prodded.

     Alaric sighed and met her gaze. " I just - I never really understood how you or Elena could ever be related to Isobel. But now, it kind of makes a little sense."

     Erin paused. She didn't expect that. In all honesty, she hadn't thought about Isobel since the day she died. It sounded cold-hearted, but her minuscule part in Erin's life didn't leave a large impact. Her grief never pertained to the woman herself, only to the biological mother she could've known. The human Isobel who wanted to meet her daughters, who loved Alaric, and who lived and breathed folklore.

     But there was no sense in harping on something that would never come to be. The Isobel she would've liked to know, and the woman Alaric married, died a long time ago.

     It simply jarred Erin that some resemblance could be shared between them. That her interest in history and cultures and origins of myths could be traced back to Isobel. She always made the connection between herself and her mother, Miranda, who prided her work with the Historical Society. But maybe, she managed to gain the passion from them both.

     Alaric's expression fell when she failed to reply. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I wasn't thinking."

     Erin shook her head and gave him a kind smile. "No. No, it's okay. Really. And honestly, yeah, it - uh, makes a little sense."

     Alaric released what seemed like a breath of relief, before he chuckled tightly and returned his stare to the cave etchings. "Right. Well, now that I've made things awkward, what do you suppose this one means?" He lifted a picture for her to see.

     Erin eyed the image, taking in the circular symbol with three wavy lines through the center and three smaller circles along the top. Her brows creased. "I don't know, but it looks familiar somehow."

     Alaric nodded and lowered the picture back to the counter. "That's what I thought. I'm just not sure what," he stated.

     Before either of them could brainstorm more about the symbol, the door of the apartment opened and Elena walked with her phone pressed between her ear and shoulder. "I've got this, Damon. If we can figure out a way to kill Klaus, Stefan will be free of his compulsion." She shut the door behind her and moved over to the kitchen counter, adjusting the phone in her hand. "So - how does he look?"

     Erin couldn't hear what Damon said, but she noticed how her sister's features dropped a bit. Not great, then.

     "He'll have to get over it. Call me later," Elena replied, lowering her phone to end the call. She sighed and glanced from Erin to Alaric. "Rebekah will come around."

     Erin snorted, leaning against the counter with her hands clasped. "Told you approaching her in public wouldn't work. She's not gonna want to talk about her family's tragic past with a bunch of cheerleaders lurking around."

     Why a thousand year old Original vampire wanted to join the cheerleading squad, Erin would never understand. Maybe turning into a vampire biologically froze one's mind. Forever stuck in the mindset and thought process of the age they were turned.

     If that were true, the lives of those turned as teenagers must suck.

     Poor Caroline and Tyler.

     "You're sure about that?" Alaric questioned, turning from where he tapped the labeled pictures up onto his kitchen cabinets. "I mean, a thousand year old vampire, I'm sure, has learned the art of patience."

     Elena looked down at her phone as she spoke. Her lips twitched up a bit at whatever shone on the screen. "She's a thousand year old vampire who's joined the cheerleading squad. There's a whole different set of rules that play here, Ric." She turned her phone for them to see. "I got this."

     A text message had appeared that read: Come over for a chat. Rebekah.

     Erin's lips pursed at the sight. "That should be interesting," she quipped toward her sister.

     Elena picketed her phone and turned to her. "Glad you think so. You're coming with me."

     Erin pushed off the counter and scoffed. "What? Why? You said you got this."

     "Because, you're the one who talked more with Elijah," Elena countered. "He told you more about their family than he did to me. You'll know what to say when I don't."

     Erin met her sister's pleading stare. Elena did have a point. With a roll of her eyes, she said, "fine. Let's go chat with the Original."

__________

     An upbeat melody played throughout the Boarding House parlor when they arrived. Erin strode into the home at Elena's side, pausing at the threshold of the open room when she spotted the smiling Original.

     "Hey, what's up?" Rebekah exclaimed, clutching a bottle of champagne and an empty flute. "I see you've brought Erin. Good, I need more opinions.

     Erin's brows furrowed at that. Opinions? Opinions on what?

     Elena seemed equally as confused, but she simply said, "you invited me over? To talk?"

     Rebekah set the bottle and flute down onto a nearby table, before she called out, "alright, girls. Have at it!"

     Erin's confusion remained until six if her classmates entered the room in varying party dresses. Each a different color and style.

     "Okay, now twirl, please," Rebekah ordered, forcing the girls to take a step and spin around to show off the dresses that adorned their bodies.

     Erin blinked, a sense of unease flooding her as she watched the scene unfold. "You compelled your own fashion show?" she questioned the Original.

     "I need a Homecoming dress," Rebekah answered in a nonchalant manner. "So, what did you think? Pick one."

     Elena scoffed lightly. "We're not here to help you shop. We're here to talk about why you don't want us to wake up Mikael."

     Erin gave her sister a sharp look. Did she really think antagonizing the thousand year old vampire was a smart move? She went to chastise her about such a dumb remark, but she froze when Rebekah soed behind the closest girl and shoved her head to the side.

     With her neck on full display, Rebekah's fangs descended and dark veins trailed beneath her eyes. "I said 'pick one,' Elena."

     Erin snapped to her sister and reached out to smack her on the arm. "Just pick one,"she hissed under her breath.

     Elena's mouth parted and she stuttered out, "the - the red one."

     Rebekah's features faded back to normal as she released her tight hold on the girl. "There. It wasn't so hard, was it?" She looked back to the others and voiced, "go away. Remember nothing." The girls exited the room without a word, while Rebekah moved to grab her champagne flute and moved toward them. Her expression hard. "You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?"

     Erin swallowed hard, noticing her sister nod out of her peripheral. She did the same, eyeing Rebekah when she stepped around them to leave the room. A breath escaped her lips, and she turned to Elena. "This isn't some regular mean girl, power struggle. She's an Original. Try to remember that before we end up dead." She then pivoted on her heel and followed after Rebekah.

___________

     Soon enough, they stood before the closed door of Stefan's bedroom. The highest portion of the Boarding House. Erin had never actually been inside. There wasn't a reason for her to.

     "How fun is this?" Rebekah quipped as she climbed the set off stairs to the door, pushing it open to reveal the room beyond.

     Erin paused on the threshold when the interior came into view. There were items catered all throughout the room. Multiple dusty volumes, stray papers, and various trinkets that looked to be much older than herself. Stefan's entire life was in those four walls. A life he so easily left behind to save the life of his brother.

     A life he left behind again when he lost his humanity.

     "We shouldn't be in here," Elena stated, glancing around the room with slight unease.

     "'Course we should," Rebekah voiced, moving toward a dresser shoved against the wall. "Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop." She pulled open the top drawer and held up a pair of Stefan's underwear. "Boxer briefs. A lot has changed since the twenties."

     Right. Erin remembered that Rebekah had been daggered since the 1920s. Ninety years, dead and left alone inside of a coffin. She couldn't even imagine how strange it must've been to emerge back into society after so much time had passed.

     Elena leaned against the doorframe and asked, "are you gonna root through his stuff all night, or are you gonna start to tell us your story?"

     Rebekah huffed, tossing Stefan's underwear back into the drawer and pushed it closed. "Ah - you really are not fun. What do you want to know?"

     Erin resisted the urge to roll her eyes when Elena sent her a pointed look. She sighed, moving further into the room. "Elijah told me that your father was a landowner in Europe, so - how did your family end up here?"

     Rebekah approached a table and grabbed a stack of papers to rifle through them as she spoke, "my parents had just started a family, when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."

     Elena's brows furrowed, and she stepped away from the doorframe. "So, how did you end up here? This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet."

     Rebekah chuckled a bit. "Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy - blessed by the gifts of speed and strength. That led my family here, where we lived amongst those people."

     "The werewolves?" Elena questioned.

     Rebekah set the papers down and moved to another table, flipping through a journal laid across the surface. "To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over twenty years, during which time my family had more children, including me."

     Erin pressed her lips together, listening intently as Rebekah relayed her story. It seemed as if her family were happy, peaceful even. "Your lives sounded so - normal," she said.

     "It was," Rebekah replied, stepping over to the closest window. "Once a month, our family retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night, and by morning, we'd return home. One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother, Henrik, snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik paid the price. And that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors." She turned away from the sunlit glass to face them. "And one of the last moments my family had together as humans."

     Erin now understood why Elijah neglected to say what happened to his other siblings. One dead before he was ever born, and another torn apart by their once peaceful neighbors.

     They were brought out of the retelling by the loud vibrations of Elena's phone. She answered and learned that Damon freed Stefan from his imprisonment in the Forbes's cells. A clear break from their intended plan to jumpstart the ripper's humanity.

     During the phone call, Rebekah snatched up another one of Stefan's many journals and lounged across his bed to read it. Erin claimed a seat on one of the larger tables, as did Elena, quickly growing bored of the Originals antics.

     "Did you get your fill of snooping yet?" Elena called out across the room. "Can we get back to the story?"

     Rebekah slapped the journal closed, leaving it on the bedspread as she climbed to her feet. She moved toward their table and picked up a framed picture of Elena and Stefan. One Erin took of them during their first pep rally last year.

     "Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple," Rebekah voiced, staring down at the image.

     Elena huffed. "Why would you? You don't know anything about who he really is."

     Rebekah set the frame down and turned toward her. "I know exactly who he is. He's a vampire. We're a predatory species." She leaned closer to mutter lowly, "We don't have time to care about humans and their silly little lives."

     "Then why did you enroll yourself into school?" Erin questioned, drawing the Original's narrowed gaze her way. "Or have a compelled fashion show for the Homecoming Dance?" She obviously seemed to care quite a bit about human life, maybe even envied it.

     Elena released a short breath and stood from her seat. "You know what, we're just gonna go. Let's go, Erin," she stated.

     Erin didn't even argue. She wasn't about to sit around and let Rebekah toy with them.

     They started for the door when Rebekah spoke, "you haven't even heard half the story."

     Elena looked back and replied, "and you're not gonna tell it. You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with - maybe you can compel yourself a friend."

     As they made a move to leave, Rebekah continued, "the necklace wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the Original Witch."

     Erin turned to her with a raised brow. "The Original Witch, like - the one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?"

     "Not just the hybrid curse. She's the one who turned us into vampires. A way to keep us alive and protected," Rebekah explained, before a grin spread across her lips and she headed for the door. "I'm thirsty. Do either of you want a drink?"

     Erin hurried after her with Elena at her side. "She created vampirism as a way to protect you?" she asked as they strode through the hallways and descended the stairs to the lowest level of the home.

     "What else would it be?" Rebekah counterd.

     "A curse?" Elena supplied.

     "My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive."

     "Yeah, but why stay, if they were so afraid of the werewolves? Why not - leave?"

     "Pride." Rebekah spun toward them when she hit the bottom of the staircase. "My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses." She began to walk again, and Erin and Elena were right on her heels. "But Ayanna refused, leaving our transformation in my mother's hands."

    The realization dawned on Erin. "Your mother was the Original Witch."

     Of course she would be. Why wouldn't they have every supernatural species inside of their family?

     Rebekah nodded, turning into the library. "The witch of the Original Family. The Original Witch." Her attention shifted when they entered. "Where do they keep their best vintage?"

     Erin blinked, pointing to the cabinet beneath the small makeshift bar alongside the backside of the couch.

     Rebekah hummed, striding down the small set of stairs to the lowest point in the room.

     "But if your mother was a witch, then..."

     "Am I?" Rebekah cut Elena off. "No, a witch is nature's servant. A vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn." She stopped beside the cabinet and leaned down to open the little door on the front.

     "So, how did you?" Erin questioned in return.

     Rebekah raised to her full height and grabbed an empty glass from the bar, clutching a bottle of alcohol in her other hand. "She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient White Oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood - and then he drove his sword through our hearts."

     Erin's eyes widened. Their own father killed them?

     Elena's expression mirrored her own, speaking her thoughts aloud. "He killed you?"

     Rebekah came to a halt beside the fireplace and faced them. "And he wasn't delicate about it, either." She grabbed the neck of the bottle in her grasp and snapped it off, tossing the glass into roaring flames. "We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual. It was euphoric. The feeling of power was indescribable - but the witch Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back. For every strength, there would be a weakness. The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks. And though my mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out. Flowers at the base of the White Oak burned and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away. So - we burned it to the ground. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated. The hunger. Blood - had made us reborn, and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it. And with that, the predatory species was born."

     Erin didn't know what to say. She never put much thought into what it took to create the vampire species. Of course she knew a witch had to put forth the effort. After Elijah's bombshell that he and his family were once human, she always assumed something happened to make them vampires. She just didn't think it came at the hands of their own parents.

     Elena appeared relatively unbothered by the sudden onslaught of information. Her train of thought remained on one track. "Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" she asked.

     Rebekah abandoned the bottle of alcohol and exited the room, forcing them to follow as she entered the parlor. "When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame."

     Erin nodded. "Elijah told me this part. He said your mother had an affair with one of the werewolves in your village. Mikael wasn't his father," she supplied.

     Rebekah tensed, turning to snatch a shirt left on the back of a couch. "She tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."

     Elena's eyes widened. "Mikael killed your mother?" she muttered.

     Rebekah tossed the shirt aside and met their stunned stares. "He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched. Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother. It was then we made our vow to one another. Always and forever."

     "Always and forever - even though he locked you in a coffin for ninety years?" Elena wondered in disbelief.

     "We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened," Rebekah retorted, turning away from them. "I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik..." she took a deep breath. "Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family, we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."

     "But you still love him?"

     Erin looked at her sister with furrowed brows. Why would she even ask that? Klaus was Rebekah's brother. They spent over a thousand years together. Of course she would still love him.

     Rebekah spun to her, holding the same expression of confusion. "He's my brother. And I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?" Her lips pursed, and she shook her head as she stormed past them. "You've heard the story, it's time to go." Neither Erin or Elena moved, and she whirled back and shouted,"I said leave! I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."

     "I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael," Elena replied in an oblivious manner.

     "And I've given you a thousand," Rebekah shot back, before she shook her head. "But you will anyway. I know you want him to help you kill my brother. I'm not stupid."

     Elena sighed and stepped toward her. "It's no secret that I want Klaus dead. He has a hold over Stefan's life, and over mine."

     Rebekah's expression hardened as she said, "do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart. And I get my temper from my father. Now, leave!"

     Erin didn't have to be told a third time. She moved forward, grabbing Elena's arm to pull her toward the home's front door. They had reached Rebekah's tolerance threshold, and Erin was not about to let her sister push her any further. For her sake and for theirs.

__________

     Once they left the Boarding House, Erin received a call from Alaric. He and Bonnie returned to the cave beneath the old Lockwood property, and now that she and Elena learned the story of the Original Family, they were finally ready to put all of the pieces together.

     A table had been set up inside with pictured symbols splayed across its surface. Lamps were placed at intervals around the chamber to illuminate the space, reducing the use of flashlights and increasing visibility in the darkened cave.

     "We, uh, filled in what we could," Alaric explained, placing post-it notes beside the etchings along the wall. "A vampire, werewolf, slaughter, mayhem, etcetera."

     Erin glanced over the images, landing on one in the shape of a tree with her flashlight. "Alright, so this one has to be the White Oak tree, since it was used in the spell that created vampirism." She shifted the bright beam to two more cravings of the tree. One held a symbol of fire beneath it, and the other an upside down figure. "Which means, this depicts when they burned it down to destroy the only way to kill them."

     Alaric followed her line of sight and nodded. "Okay, so tree equals weapon, sort of. We already knew that. What we're not sure about is this." He pointed his own flashlight onto a figure with a circular symbol above its head, along with a heart etched onto its chest. "We've got the witch symbol, and what looks like a bleeding heart." He shifted the light slightly to reveal another figure. "Upside down figures usually signified death of some kind."

     "Mikael killed the witch by ripping out her heart," Elena stated as she stepped forward and pointed toward the symbol between both figures. "But - why is that one connected to the witch's death?"

     Bonnie shrugged. "We don't know. We haven't gotten that far."

     Erin stared at the symbol for a long moment. The vampire symbol sat on top, while the werewolf one had been flipped upside down below it. A combination of the two. Hybrid.

     "Well, that symbol has to mean hybrid, considering it has both the vampire and werewolf symbols," Erin ran through her through process aloud. "And since it's included in the middle of the Original Witch's death..." she trailed off when the realization flashed into her mind. Her stomach dropped.

     "Oh, my God," Elena exclaimed, snapping her gaze to Erin. She came to the same conclusion. "Rebekah doesn't know the real story."

     Erin trailed her sister's movements as she hurried toward the lone table and snatched up several of the printed images. "What're you doing?" she questioned.

     "Rebekah needs to know what really happened," Elena replied, holding a small stack of pictures when she turned back. "The vow she made with Klaus is built on a lie."

     Erin's brows creased, and she asked, "so, what're you gonna do? Just - drop a bomb that her brother was really the one to kill their mother?"

     "It's the only way to get her to understand why we need to kill Klaus."

     "Yeah, and completely destroy her in the process," Erin countered in return.

     Rebekah revealed more to them in the last few hours than she intended. She wasn't just a thousand year old vampire who cared about no one but herself. She was simply a girl with a tragic tale who longed for the human life she never got to live.

     If she learned the truth of what happens to her mother, Rebekah would never be the same again.

     "If it were me, I'd wanna know the truth," Elena shot back, before she sighed. "Are you coming with me or not?"

     Erin shook her head. She couldn't go back to that house and watch her sister practically tear Rebekah's heart out. It wasn't right. She didn't care if Rebekah was an Original or not, no one deserved something like that.

     Elena nodded stiffly, turning on heel to rush out of the cavern alone.

<April 26, 2022>

My longest chapter yet. Thank God for copy and paste! Those dialogue scenes with Rebekah would've been hell without it.

And Erin's such a little history nerd! I love it!

Don't forget to vote and comment.

- Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.