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CHAPTER 48: MASKS OFF

❝ the world is far from perfect. ❞

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MASKS MADE LUCIEN FEEL SAFER EVEN WHEN THEY BECOME SUFFOCATING. Armor made him feel stronger even when he grew weary from dragging the extra weight around. The irony is that when he was standing across from someone who was hidden or shielded by masks and armor, he felt frustrated and disconnected. That is the paradox here; vulnerability is the last thing he wants someone to see in him, but the first thing he looks for in others.

Which is exactly the reason why Lucien could be found celebrating Thanksgiving at the compound. He stood in the courtyard as he poured himself a fresh glass of scotch. He had the feeling that this was going to be a long night. And he was correct when the sound of footsteps echoed off the stone walls. He spared a quick glance over his shoulder to find the man he loathed most in this cruel world strutting forward with a bouquet of roses clutched in hand.

"Flowers for me? You shouldn't have." Lucien teased.

"They are for the lady of the house," Tristan corrected.

"Enola?" Lucien hummed. "You do realize the woman is married, correct?"

"Not for long," Tristan smirked deviously. "Besides—the well mannered bring a gift when invited to dinner. I assume you brought . . . nothing?

"Nothing but my deepest respect for you," Lucien grinned, downing the glass of scotch in one gulp.

Lucien and Tristan share a heated glare before Klaus stepped out into the open. His dirty blond locks were styled in neat curls on top of his head. His cerulean blue eyes twinkled mischievously under the moonlight that shone into the compound from above. He was dressed in a black button up with matching dress pants and oxford shoes. He had purposely picked an outfit he was sure would match his wife who he was excited to introduce to the guests as his wife.

"Lovely. I see we are all getting along." Klaus chirped.

"Like a fuse and a match," Lucien scoffed.

The sound of high heels on cobblestone drew their attention towards the entrance of the compound where Aurora was coming into view. This was the main reason Klaus was so eager to introduce Enola tonight. So he could show her that he held no more lingering feelings for his ex. And so his ex can see that he is in a happy relationship with a woman who brought out the best in him.

"Sorry I am late. Just freshening up. I did want to look pretty." Aurora informed, eyes finding Lucien quickly. "Well, well—if it isn't my good friend Lucien."

"Hello, Aurora. It has been ages." Lucien smiled charmingly. "You look positively ravishing."

Aurora would have swooned if those words came from Klaus. But he was far too busy staring at the top of the stairs. She followed his gaze up to a beautiful woman who wore a skintight cocktail dress and platform heels. She narrowed her eyes on the woman who seemed to be returning his stare before quickly looking away.

"And who might you be?" Aurora demanded.

"I'm Enola Mikaelson," She introduced.

"Mikaelson?" Aurora echoed. "Elijah is married?"

"Oh, you have got it all wrong." Lucien announced. "Enola is married to Nik."

"No," Aurora whispered in betrayal.

"I'm afraid so, sister," Tristan clicked his tongue. "While you have spent these past few days falling in love with him all over again, he has spent them manipulating you."

"I would hardly call it manipulating," Klaus scoffed, eyes finding Enola's immediately. "We remained six feet apart at all times."

"Good," Enola shot back. "Because I was far too busy to drop everything just to kick your ass."

Klaus met Enola at the bottom of the stairs. He gave her a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. It was more of a greeting than anything. He was careful not to push her boundaries. He refused to touch her too intimately until he had her permission to do so. But this seemed intimate enough to Aurora who was far too quiet.

"Welcome to our home. I do wish it was under better circumstances." Elijah announced his presence, drawing their attention back to the stairs where he stood patiently. "We all face a common threat. A prophecy warning that my siblings and I would all fall within the year. I fear my sister already has."

"Only as a precautionary measure, I assure you." Tristan said.

"Interesting," Elijah hummed. "You see, I would have called it an entirely unnecessary measure. We need to unite to prevent this prophecy from coming to pass and since any alliance is impossible without honesty." He turned specifically to Lucien and Tristan. "Let us begin this evening's proceedings by formally acknowledging your clandestine alliance."

Both Lucien and Tristan froze. They looked between the three who stood across from them with looks that dared them to lie about something they had already known to be true. If their alliance was supposed to be a secret, they were not doing a very good job of hiding it.

"Now before—"

"Lucien, please," Elijah shushed. "Let's not ruin this dinner before it begins."

"And do try to bear in mind that we expect an honest and productive negotiation this evening," Klaus commented.

"Like how you were honest with me," Aurora bitterly scoffed, looking to Enola in distaste. "About her."

"I assure you that I was very clear about my intentions with you from the start. It is not my fault that you failed to see my disinterest in you." Klaus scoffed. "Now shall we begin? Or must I show you more disinterest before your delusions allow you to take a seat?"

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Enola was immersed in a heated staring contest with Aurora. They were seated on either side of Klaus and across from one another. They had no plans on voicing their irritation. They simply wanted to win. Whether it was the affection of Klaus or the staring contest—both were equally determined.

The silent rivalry between Enola and Aurora did not go unnoticed by Klaus. He set a comforting hand on his wife's bare thigh in an attempt to soothe her worries. It only worked enough for her to relax into her seat. But her hard gaze remained on the enemy across the table. He wanted desperately to kiss all of her worries away but knew that this was all he could do for now. So he kept his hand on her thigh, rubbing comforting circles on the bare skin with his thumb.

"It is a bit odd, isn't it?" Lucien spoke up. "Celebrating an American holiday?"

"Well, you know, Lucien, I rather enjoy Thanksgiving—the turkey, the cranberry sauce, the lies, the deceit, the betrayal." Elijah smiled sweetly. "Perhaps we should begin this evening's proceedings with a little confession, and do help yourselves."

"So this entire dinner is meant to be some boorish inquisition?" Aurora scoffed.

"What else would it be?" Enola wondered, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.

"Perhaps a more intimate gathering," Aurora shrugged coyly, shooting Klaus a naughty wink.

"We merely wish to make certain we are all on the same page," Klaus said, ignoring Aurora completely. "So who would like to begin?"

"Well, Lucien and I have always loathed each other." Tristan began. "Had we arrived as allies with news of a bleak future, you would have doubted us. We sought to remove suspicion by maintaining appearances."

"These pathetic lies promise to be as difficult to swallow as your stuffing this year, Niklaus." Elijah chuckled humorlessly. "Walnuts. Honestly."

"I offered to do it, but you know Nik." Enola shrugged. "Always has to do everything himself."

"It shall be his undoing," Elijah agreed with a sigh.

"The bottom line is," Lucien spoke up, hoping to change the course of this conversation. "We came to protect you . . . and ourselves. We have never wavered on this point."

"And the bodies on my streets—is that your protection as well?" Klaus inquired.

"It's business as usual for the Strix," Lucien shrugged, taking a sip of his wine.

"An old tactic used often and to great success. Jack to Ripper, Son of Sam. A frightened human populace is that much easier to control." Tristan shrugged. "If tourism should decline and the local vampires are deprived of fresh blood—well, you saw how quickly Marcel joined our ranks."

"Pedestrian," Klaus claimed. "I would have expected more from such gaudy theatrics."

"Well, if one wanted to obtain a certain item in, say, a private collection, but one was not invited into the home where said private collection was located—police investigation could come in very handy to remove these items as evidence." Lucien spoke in a rather cocky tone as if he knew something they didn't.

"You mean a magical medallion?" Enola hummed, taking a sip of wine.

Tristan and Lucien tensed. The time Klaus spent with Aurora these past two days finally came in handy. He had easily got her to spill her guts about this mysterious weapon they had against the originals. Though it wouldn't kill them, it would be just as damaging. It is capable of producing an unbreakable boundary. So they would be able to lock them away for centuries without having to worry about the extinction of the vampire race.

"I suppose it was my sister who shared that bit of information," Tristan sighed. Aurora grimaced.

"Don't blame Aurora," Klaus smirked. "You two are hardly conspiratorial geniuses."

"Funny story—it turns out all along that the medallion was in the hands of your dear friend Camille," Lucien hummed. "I had to get her arrested in order to search her goodies, so to speak, but I would never allow any harm to come to her knowing how much you all seem to care for her."

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Dinner was finished in silence. Enola could hardly stomach dessert. She would much rather discuss what they had done with Rebekah who had spent the past few months searching for a spell to resurrect Kol. She didn't really connect with the original last time he was resurrected. It probably had something to do with the fact that her siblings killed him. She decided then and there that she would make things right with him if he did get brought back to life. Maybe even apologize for her part in his death.

"A medallion that could lock us away hardly seems like a wise strategy for those come to protect us," Klaus chuckled before his voice dropped an octave lower. "Hand it over."

"And release Rebekah," Elijah continued.

"Your cooperation would be appreciated, but we have been known to take things by force." Enola warned.

"Just a tick," Lucien raised his hand when he noticed the last demand was thrown elsewhere. "Aurora has Rebekah?"

"No reason why I shouldn't be trusted with my sire's safety," Aurora shot back.

"Of course," Lucien nodded along. "Unless you were to have one of your episodes."

"Easy, Lucien. My sister sought leverage to protect herself." Tristan defended. "Who among us would do otherwise?"

"Niklaus, would you politely remind me why we shouldn't just compel them all to give us what we want?" Elijah inquired stoically, earning amused chuckles from the three enemies.

"I'm sorry. Did Elijah say something amusing?" Klaus questioned with a tight smile.

"We lost a century to compulsion, my love, and some of us lost a great deal more." Aurora said, shooting Elijah a pointed glare. "Surely you can't believe we would allow ourselves to come here vulnerable."

"Well, when you look at it from an outsider's perspective, Elijah did you all a favor." Enola shrugged.

"Of course you would think so," Aurora scowled. "It gave you the opening you needed to swoop right in and steal Nik right out from under my nose."

"If you loved him as much as you claim, then why didn't you come find him after the compulsion wore off?" Enola inquired. "You said so yourself; you only lost a century. So where were you for eight hundred years?"

"That is none of your concern," Aurora scowled.

"Then you have no right to be jealous that Nik has moved on," Enola countered, earning a gentle squeeze on her thigh from her husband.

"You—" Aurora growled, so close to jumping across the table.

"Our continued existence depends on the Mikaelsons," Tristan loudly began, putting a swift end to the continued bickering. "We have known that since Finn and Kol died. Unfortunately so does every other vampire in the world. Given that the sirelines have declared war against one another, you can imagine how many young upstarts have come to the same conclusion . . . kill an original, wipe out an entire line of rivals. Heavy burden, isn't it? The lives of thousands of sire vampires resting on your shoulders?" His eyes swept across the table. "In a perfect world, you would allow us to seal you away forever, thus eliminating the threat"

"Fortunately," Klaus began mischievously. "The world is far from perfect."

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Dinner was officially over. All that was left was an expensive bottle of red wine. Enola craved something a lot stronger. She would need it if she were to escape this little dinner party unscathed. She realized coming out of this with no injuries would probably be impossible with her husband's ex seated across the table from her. Someone was bound to lose an eye sooner or later.

"With all the nauseating dinner theater we have endured throughout the centuries, these performances are by far the worst." Elijah sighed. "Aurora, my sister—"

"Aurora is quite aware of our desire to see Rebekah home, and I am sure she will do everything in her power to oblige." Klaus huffed, tired of running in pointless circles.

The sound of heels on cobblestone drew their attention to Freya. She entered the compound with a deep scowl engraved on her face. She had just spent the last few hours attempting to perform a locator spell to find her sister. Key word: attempting. It obviously wasn't going as planned. Otherwise she wouldn't be here right now.

"We're welcoming our enemies to the dinner table now?" Freya scoffed in disbelief, coming to a stop right beside Aurora. "Convenient, she is the one who has the answers I want."

"Oh, for heavens sake, now I have to deal with the long lost sister?" Aurora rolled her eyes, rising to her feet in a mixture of anger and annoyance. "Nik, please spare me your family's rage and paranoia. It is exactly this kind of lunacy which led me to steal Rebekah in the first place."

"What did you do with her?" Freya demanded.

"Oh, I'm sorry, love, but this prophecy has you all acting as fools, and I have no intention of risking my life to foolishness." Aurora said. She turned to address the rest of the table. "Now I cannot trust Rebekah with any of you and I certainly cannot trust the silly dear to endure on her own, so I decided to put her some place safe. Imagine a spot where no harm could come to her where, in fact, no one could possibly even track her down. Yes, rest assured that Rebekah is perfectly fine . . . " She pulled an awkward face, leaning against the back of her chair. "At the bottom of the ocean."

Silence. No one dared to allow a single word to fall from their lips. All of them were hoping that this was all some elaborate lie. That Rebekah would be perfectly fine. But as the moments stretched on and Aurora was yet to bat an eyelash, the fury and anger in the room was slowly beginning to dissolve.

"You're bluffing," Klaus breathed. Aurora frowned. "Tell me you're bluffing."

"Oh, you should all be thanking me! Rebekah has never been safer." Aurora defended. "She has plenty of company down there. There is all the little crabs and octopus and—"

Klaus went to attack Aurora but unfortunately never got the chance. Tristan used enhanced speed to put Freya in a tight headlock. He even took a steak knife off the table and pointed it at her neck for extra dramatics.

"Harm my sister and I will be forced to return the favor," Tristan warned.

Elijah shoved Tristan away from Freya with ease. He pinned him to the far wall with a single hand before turning to look at the other guests. Everyone stood scattered and divided. Except for Enola and Lucien. They stayed seated with their wine glasses raised, almost as if they were watching a really good reality show.

"Well, this all escalated very quickly." Lucien commented.

"I'll say," Enola muttered, taking a sip of her wine.

"Enough of this," Freya spat, snapping Aurora's neck with a simple flick of the wrist.

"Freya!" Klaus groaned.

"Niklaus, which one of these two vulgar parasites would you first like to torture?" Elijah hummed, motioning between Tristan and Lucien.

"Why don't you take that stable boy?" Klaus suggested, motioning to Lucien before turning to the other. "Tristan and I are long overdue for a good catch up."

"That leaves Freya and I with your psycho ex," Enola noted. "Wish us luck!"

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Enola sat in the study as Freya saged the room. They realized that they made quite the team. They were going to get the information they needed one way or another. Even if they had to torture it out. But who were they kidding? That was their plan this entire time. Aurora finally stirred which meant the fun was about to begin.

"Took you long enough," Freya hummed.

"Oh, are we to play a fun game?" Aurora grinned.

"Actually, yes," Freya hummed. "And now that my spell has made it so no one can hear what happens . . . "

"We are going to have a lot of fun," Enola spoke up.

"Enola," Aurora smiled. "I have been dying to get you alone all evening."

"The feeling is mutual," Enola smiled, standing next to Freya.

"What are we doing here?" Aurora wondered, peering up at the two who towered over her form.

"You are going to tell us where to find Rebekah," Enola announced, folding her hands in front of herself. "Or we are going to kill you."

"I would love to see you try," Aurora scoffed.

"Where is Rebekah?" Enola demanded.

"At the bottom of the ocean," Aurora spoke in a duh tone.

Enola chuckled humorlessly before punching Aurora across the face. Since she was already seated on the ground anyway, she didn't move far. But her head slammed back against the brick wall, making her skull vibrate at the harsh treatment.

"I'm gonna ask you again," Enola began. "Where is Rebekah?"

"You are quite strong for an infant," Aurora laughed, wiping the blood that collected at the corner of her mouth.

"Thank you," Enola smiled insincerely.

Freya raised a simple hand to give Aurora a powerful aneurysm. Aurora grunted in pain before moving to attack Freya. Only Enola was right there to knock Aurora back with brutal strength. They began an all out brawl in the middle of the study. There was punching, there was slapping, and there was kicking. It was safe to say that this was no longer about Rebekah. Enola sent Aurora flying back with a roundhouse kick to the head.

"That actually hurt!" Aurora giggled, pointing a finger at Enola. "Oh, I haven't felt pain since the seventeen hundreds. Kinda tickles." Her eyes darkened. "And for that I am gonna make you suffer."

Aurora went to attack Enola again. Aurora was unable to get a single punch in before a body was standing protectively in front of Enola. She had amber eyes full of anger with black veins protruding under her eyes. Yes, Aurora knew that this must've been the third hybrid loitering about New Orleans.

"How about a werewolf bite, you psychotic little bitch?" Hayley taunted.

"By all means if only I can laugh in your face when Nik heals me," Aurora scoffed.

"Unlikely," Enola grunted as Hayley shoved Freya back.

"And even if Klaus would heal you, he wouldn't heal your brother." Hayley warned, looking to Enola with a devious smirk. "Why don't I bite him instead?"

"I like the way you think," Enola grinned.

"No one should dare harm my brother," Aurora growled. "Seeing as you are all going to need him if you want your precious Rebekah back."

"What are you talking about?" Freya questioned tensely.

"You see, while I did ensure that Rebekah was dropped in the ocean, I don't know precisely where. I had some old friends do it for me, and then I killed them. I have procured the exact location of Rebekah's watery grave in two sealed envelopes. Mine contain the latitude and Tristan got the longitude. Thus each of us has one half of the coordinates you need to find Rebekah. X marks the spot. Assuming, of course, you keep us both alive." Aurora explained cheekily. "So tell me, girls—who has the advantage now?"

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Enola sat at the dinner table with a glass of wine in hand. She was never a heavy drinker. But she was confident that she would come out of this Thanksgiving an alcoholic. Though it takes a lot for a vampire to get black out drunk considering their speedy healing. She would make it possible by the end of the night.

"Longitude and latitude. Lovely." Lucien nodded.

"Well, despite our differences, I believe that great strides were made today." Tristan hummed.

"Tristan, I can't murder you this very moment, but I could just as easily tear those eyeballs from your skull and feed them to your sister." Elijah threatened.

"Elijah," Klaus warned, voice deep and angry. "These are our guests."

"Nik, it is so sweet of you to defend us." Aurora smiled softly, shooting Enola a cocky smirk.

"You know," Klaus began. He slowly rose from his chair to address the group. "I doubted my brother's wisdom in bringing us all together today, but he was right. We must confront the harsh realities we all face and make difficult choices to ensure our collective survival." He downed the rest of the wine in his glass before walking around the table to stand beside his brother. "And I have every confidence that my choice will be the right one." He used enhanced speed to rush around the table to snap Tristan's neck, making Aurora gasp in a mixture of shock and betrayal. "Were you anyone else, the servants would already be mopping your blood from the floor. If you do not bring my sister home, Tristan will die slowly and in tremendous pain."

"You betray me after all your promises of love?" Aurora accused.

"Promises in which I made a thousand years ago! Promises in which I have made to another. Vows." Klaus claimed, giving Enola a soft smile before facing Aurora with a sharp glare. "Now I have your brother. A sibling for a sibling. I want Rebekah back."

"You will regret this," Aurora warned. She turned on her heels storming out of the compound after knocking the table on its side.

"After everything today, you just let her go?" Freya scoffed in disbelief.

"Aurora should be easy enough to control," Klaus shrugged.

"We have Tristan now," Elijah said. With a heavy sigh, Freya left.

"Lucien," Klaus smiled. "You will take me to Camille and you will surrender the medallion or you will meet an end so cruel that the devil will weep."

"Enola," Elijah sighed. "Go with them. Make sure Niklaus stays in line long enough for us to get the medallion please."

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"Where is she?"

Klaus shoved Jamal onto the ground before breaking a leg off of a wooden picture frame. They had arrived at the penthouse to find this fool cowering in the shadows. He was missing a few fingers as he attempted to explain the situation; Cami disappeared into the night with his daylight ring and pride.

"I told you. She took my daylight ring and ran." Jamal grunted.

Klaus did not hesitate to stab Jamal through the heart with the broken picture frame. He cried out in pain as his skin began to turn gray. He didn't want to die. He had hopes and dreams of his own. And then he met Lucien who promised to make all of them come true. All he had to do was babysit a human girl for a couple of hours. And now those hours had passed and he was dead.

"I thought you were supposed to be keeping Nik in line," Lucien whispered harshly.

"He is in line!" Enola argued. "How do you lose a human girl when you have the advantage?"

"This is your fault," Klaus growled, pointing an accusatory finger at Lucien.

"Well, to be fair, if Cami had done as she was told, she would still be here, so technically, it is her fault." Lucien pointed out.

"If you don't want to die, I suggest you shut up." Enola warned.

"I don't think shutting up is going to stop him from killing me," Lucien pointed out.

"I can hear you," Klaus scowled in annoyance as they spoke like he wasn't in the room. "And no. Shutting up will not stop me from killing you."

"What do I do to stop him from killing me?" Lucien asked Enola in a panic.

"You know the answer to that," Enola said.

Lucien hesitated a moment before realizing Enola was right. He slowly backed up until he reached a shelf full of unnecessary things. His hands located a circular box before he made his way to where Enola was struggling to keep Klaus calm.

"You certainly don't listen to me despite my nonstop efforts to keep you alive," Lucien huffed before pulling the lid off of the box to reveal a rather small object. Both Enola and Klaus had to lean forward to get a better look.

"If that really is the weapon that can lock me away for eternity, why hand it over?" Klaus inquired.

"Proof of my loyalty," Lucien claimed, holding the box out for either of them to take. "Yes. I sided with Tristan, but it is quite clear his devotion to Aurora outweighs the value he places on his own life." Klaus hesitated. "Take it. It is yours."

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AUTHORS NOTE.
enola and aurora finally met! what do you guys think? this chapter was really fun to write. i hope you enjoyed it. until next time, my loves!!!