"Mum? Can we order pizza?" Zoe called from the front room. "Yeah, sure! Let your sister know, and I'll get the laptop ready," Carolyn replied as she boiled the kettle. The quiet slap of bare feet up the stairs said Zoe had gone to let Mia know. Carolyn poured the boiling water into the cup and stirred the teabag. Carolyn let her mind wander as she stared at the calendar. It was supposed to be 3 days ago... Carolyn's concentration broke when her two 8-and-three-quarters daughters pushed their way into the kitchen. "Mum! Zoe elbowed me!"
"Not true! She pushed me!" Carolyn inhaled slowly and grabbed the two girls hands. "The day you two stop fighting will be the day that I grow wings." The two girls giggled and took the computer off the side and went to the dining room table. Carolyn reached into the fridge to get out some milk and called over her shoulder, "Girls, order your pizza and add it to the basket. Don't confirm anything, I'll need to order."
"Ok!" Carolyn walked back to the cup of tea and poured the milk in. She found her gaze shifting to the calendar once more. Once again, her concentration was broken when the girls loudly proclaimed they were done. "Ok, I'll order now. Pizza should be here in about an hour. Go play in your rooms for a bit if you want. I'll be doing some work." Carolyn said as she pulled out a chair. "Ew!" Mia giggled. "Work!" Zoe laughed. Carolyn snorted and flicked some water at them. The girls let out a squeal and ran up the stairs, arguing again.

~

It was only 20 minutes later when something banged into Carolyn's front door. Glancing at her watch and then computer screen, the pizza wasn't due for another 20 minutes at least. The front door banged again. Carolyn picked up her phone and dialled her neighbour. While the phone rang, Carolyn looked out of the window. There was no car but hers in the driveway, meaning it wasn't a family member.

The phone clicked as her neighbour answered. "Hey! What's up?" Alexa answered. "Someone I don't know is banging on my door... can the girls come to yours, please?" She replied, watching the driveway for any movement. "Oh god, of course! Do you need me to ring 911?"
"Nah, it's ok... I just don't know who it is and would rather my girls not be here in case it's... you know who..." Carolyn replied, biting her nails. "Care, I'm leaving my house and I'll be coming through your garden. And Daniel has a been placed on a restraining order. He can't get anywhere near you." Carolyn deeply sighed. "I know... but I'm still a little cautious." Alexa sighed on the other end of the phone, "I get it. All right, open up. I'm outside." Carolyn pulled the blinds shut and made her way through the kitchen to open the door. "Girls! Come here, please!" Carolyn yelled. Alexa was at the door with a sympathetic face. Zoe and Mia walked into the kitchen with frowns on their faces. "Ok, mummy has to take a work call and you need to go to Alexa's for the evening. I'll get the pizza guy to go there instead. Alright?" Carolyn spoke as she crouched down. "But mummy, you promised that you wouldn't have any work tonight!" Zoe whined. "I know baby... it shouldn't take too long... I'll tell you what." Carolyn pulled her girls in for a hug while Alexa grabbed their backpacks in case of a... Mikaelson... issue. Even though it'd been 8 years since she'd spoken to them, you could never be 100% sure. "The amount of time I spend on my work call is the amount of time you can stay up past your bedtime, ok?" Mia stared up at her mother and sighed as she tapped her chin. "I guess so," Carolyn snorted and tickled them both under their armpits. The door rattled again. Alexa shuffled the girls out of the door and gave Carolyn a small salute as she left.

Bracing herself for the absolute worst scenario, Carolyn took a deep breath. She grabbed the baseball bat she kept near the door and unlocked it.

Now, Carolyn was prepared for lots of things: a robber, a murderer, policemen, delivery guys... anything. But she was not prepared for the sight that greeted her when she opened the door.

A half-broken, blood-soaked Klaus Mikaelson tumbled through the door.

~

"Oh my god, Nik! What're you doing here? And what happened?!" Carolyn shouted as she tried to bare the hybrid's weight. They stumbled to the kitchen where Carolyn (accidentally) dropped the hybrid on the ground. He groaned loudly and arched his back. Carolyn turned him onto his side and wet a washcloth. She began to clean the blood off of his face and neck. If his wheezy panting and weak groans were anything to go by, then whatever did this meant serious business. "Ok, take off your shirt," A wheezy laugh answered her command. "There... there was a time when you would... ask me that... and then we would sleep to... together..." Carolyn swatted at his shoulder with the towel and helped him sit. "Shut up and let me help you," she replied. The hybrid's eyes were drifting shut so she only had 5 minutes, tops. "Sorry," she whispered as she pulled his shirt off. It stuck in places where his skin was broken and bloody. With every wince and every whimper, Carolyn whispered an apology. "If you say... say sorry one... more goddam time..." His sentence cut off with a harsh inhale. "What happened to you?" Carolyn whispered upon deaf ears, as Klaus had passed out.

~

Carolyn continued to clean and nurse the broken hybrid even though he was out cold. Many of his bones were twisted at unnatural angles so she twisted them back into place. When Zoe and Mia were born nearly 9 years ago, and Carolyn nearly died, she took a course in emergency first aid, in case a situation like that ever arose again. It taught her how to reset bones and staunch bleeding. It was just a precaution in case the girls ever tapped into their unknown abilities, which they undoubtedly had. Their mother was a witch and had over a century of unused magic bursting at her fingertips, while their dad was a vampire when they were conceived... the only way a supernatural creature can procreate is through strong, dark magic or you had to be a werewolf or witch.

Seeing Klaus' eyes begin to roll under their lids prompted Carolyn to push his ribs back into place. The clicked together with a loud snap and she could see the bones already healing. Most of his body would heal naturally, but she did have to staunch some large gashes and reset some bones. Calling upon her magic, (which she hadn't properly used since the girls were 2 years old) Carolyn moved Klaus from her kitchen and to the basement. She put him in the guest bedroom with 2 blood bags. "I'm sorry," She whispered, "Kembe Po transi." It was only a simple boundary spell, but only she could break it. Shutting the door with a click, Carolyn made her way back up to the kitchen and began to clean away the blood.

~

It took about an hour to clean away all the blood and make the kitchen look normal. For the first time since 5:00, (it was now 7) Carolyn sat down and bitterly enjoyed her stone-cold cup of tea. She soon found herself drifting off to sleep but was woken with a jolt when her phone started ringing. "Hello?" She asked, exhausted. "Hi, mummy!" Zoe spoke. "Hiya, baby! How're you?"
"Good! Can we stay the night at Alexa's? She has a new Xbox!" Laughing, Carolyn replied, "Yeah, sure. I'll get your bags ready and bring them round in about an hour. Did the pizza get there and is Alexa ok with this?"
"Yep and yeah! Thank you, mummy!" Before she could reply, the call had dropped. Carolyn laughed at loud at herself. She had a halfdead hybrid in her basement and her twin daughters (who were probably extremely powerful) were playing on an Xbox at 7:00 at night.

~

Carolyn stayed for a cup of tea but left afterwards and gave the girls a kiss. Carolyn was prepared to find Klaus swearing at her from his room in the basement and promising to tear her throat out, but she was not expecting him to be making a cup of tea. "What the hell are you doing!? I cast a boundary spell!" Klaus tutted and began making one for her. "Well love, as much as I enjoy getting into fights and tricky situations, I can also get out of them just as easily." Carolyn sighed loudly and kicked off her shoes. "Fine, just remember my sugar." Klaus laughed as Carolyn shuffled through to the front room. It was about 3 minutes later when a hot cup of tea was placed in her hands. The old lovers sat in silence as they slowly drank their tea. "Ok, I'll bite. How the hell did you find me? I made it impossible and then I put a boundary spell on so no supernatural creatures could get in," Klaus sighed slightly, "You know I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't desperate." Carolyn took a sip of her tea, "Don't avoid the question," She said, her voice hard. "Fine. A new threat has taken over the quarter. An army of tribrids. They have vampire speed, werewolf strength, and witch magic." Carolyn bit her lip, "In the nicest possible way, in what way is this my concern?" Klaus frowned deeply. "Klaus, I have 2 daughters to take care of, I can't just bolt off at the next threat." Klaus's eyes narrowed, "You promised to come back, and yet, you haven't." Carolyn rolled her eyes, knowing where this conversation was going to go. "Correction, I said when the girls were old enough and when the quarter was safe. Neither of which have happened yet." Klaus sighed and looked both ways. Carolyn noticed this was a habit of his when he was nervous or about to snap someone's neck... she hoped it was the former. "Carolyn, you know that I wouldn't endanger your daughters, neither would I cause them harm. You seem to have forgotten that I have a daughter as well."

She did.

Carolyn did forget Hope. "How is she?" Carolyn asked. "As any 13-year-old girl is... horrible and hormonal." The two sat in silence for a while before Carolyn yelled loudly. Klaus looked at her in either confusion or concern (probably confusion) while she had her tantrum. The Yankee candles she had lit grew in size before falling back down. "Klaus, I want to help, but what can I do with the girls? I can't trust them to anyone, and I'm not sending them to my neighbour for however long." Klaus laughed. "Carolyn, we would have 4 powerful witches, 2 hybrids, 1 tribrid and 4 originals! Your daughters would be more than fine."

Carolyn drank the rest of her tea and sighed. She pointed a finger at the original hybrid, a feat a normal person would find themselves dead for. "Any threats at my kids, any danger or anything that puts their health and safety at risk, and I'm done." Klaus smiled. "Good, let's pack up,"

~~~~

I'M BAAAAAAAAAACCKK!!!