32 | Here I Am Indeed

𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 and only I will remain.

Those were the words uttered from the unholy, cherry lips of the former queen before consciousness abandoned her mind and body, leaving her limp in the arms of Kol Mikaelson himself, worry and panic flashing across his face.

And it had stayed on his face for as long as Mary had remained unconscious. And it was a while. Little did Mary know about the things that were already happening while she was asleep in their quarters. The atrium of the compound was so open that anyone could watch what was happening from all angles.

Finn came over and locked both the werewolf and the vampire factions inside the compound when they came over at Hayley's request. A truce planning gone wrong. They were stuck inside with bloodlust brainwashing the vampires brought on by the spell of their spiteful eldest brother.

And while Davina and Kol had succeeded in bringing down the barrier for a few seconds to get the wolves out of there to prevent bloodshed from happening, another problem had presented itself.

Rebekah was missing and Kol had something to do with it. And even though the youngest brother admitted it to be a harmless prank, Klaus didn't find hilarity in it at all.

That was how Kol came to be locked in a house full of hungry vampires with the only source of satisfaction coursing through his veins...with his body lying at their feet with his consciousness trapped somewhere else, in a Chambre de Chasse.

But not for long.

Kol gasped awake, finding himself on a couch with his forehead and nose bleeding from his encounters just a while ago. The first people he saw when he awoke back to his body were the same hungry vampires eager to divulge into his own supply of human blood.

"Is it too late for an apology?" Kol said, his gaze flickering between the vampires standing before him, ready to pounce.

The starving vampires came at him and the blonde witch was snatched by Marcel and sped to another room, saving him. Which, in truth, was a bit surprising for Kol. But then again, he was the only one who knew about Rebekah's whereabouts. It was clear that Marcel was making sure that the witch's blood and air stayed right where they were.

"Thanks, mate." Kol said.

"Don't thank me yet." Marcel said, his hands balled into fists as he was already getting ready to beat the witch up before Kol had stopped him.

"Woah. Hold it. Hold it together. Just for a little while longer." Kol said, his hands flying in front of him to keep the vampire away from him. Then he looked out the window. "A few minutes to be exact."

Marcel followed the witch's gaze, looking out the window with the light of day shining on his face before walking past Kol with a question.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Kol turned around to fixate his eyes on Marcel as he answered. "Finn. He plans to release the lot of you at sundown."

Marcel mentally cursed as he realized the artful intention of the eldest Mikaelson brother.

"The streets will be jam-packed with people, right outside the gate." said Marcel.

"You'll be crazed with hunger. You'll feed your way through the crowd. And that will be the end of vampires secretly living off the fats of New Orleans." Kol explained, rather grimly.

Kol intended his words to be harsh and dour. It was a way to persuade the vampire to keep it together just enough to ask everyone else to keep it together. But instead of getting the reaction that he expected, Kol witnessed the vampire zone out, staring right past his shoulder like he was in a daze.

The male witch knitted his eyebrows together before looking behind him and seeing nothing but the door he had locked. He looked back at the vampire and snapped his fingers right at his line of sight to earn back his attention that had obviously wandered off in the middle of conversing.

"Marcel." Kol called out as he snapped his fingers. The vampire returned back to his mind and shifted his gaze toward Kol, collecting himself. "Listen to me. You are outmaneuvered, outmanned, and quite frankly...you're out of your mind."

The male witch sighed deeply as he shook his head. "You're not gonna get out of this alive."

Marcel quickly refused to accept that.

"No, we're all getting out of this alive."

Just when the conversation was getting a lot more intense, a gasp that came from the bed just a couple of feet away from them was heard in clarity. Kol felt like his entire soul leaped out of his chest as he scrambled his way toward the woman tucked underneath the sheets.

Mary Stuart.

"Mary?" He called out, seeing the auburn haired heretic open her eyes and scan her surroundings. Marcel took a few steps forward to watch as well as Mary took in the scene before her.

"Well, ain't that fast? It's only been almost a day and you're awake." Kol said, remembering how many days the woman was out the last time she had used her magic.

Kol noticed the change in Mary's eyes. It wasn't the color. It was the same deep brown color that Kol admired. But it wasn't the same woman.

There was something missing. Something he was searching for. He searched for it in her brown eyes, but only saw its absence. She looked at her and there was...nothing. She was void of emotion and it was as clear as day.

"Oh, bloody hell." The male witch cursed under his breath before quickly reaching forward and snapping the woman's neck before she could process what was happening.

"Hey!" Marcel exclaimed, bewilderment swallowing him as he watched Kol snap the neck of the so-called love of his life. "What was that?"

"That is called saving our arses." Kol answered before pointing toward the woman he was so sure wasn't the woman that he knew and loved. "That wasn't Mary. The spirit took over. And if we're still stuck here by the time she wakes up, take a guess on what will happen to us here."

Marcel clenched his jaw and released a deep exhale through his nose before nodding.

"I'll get Max and the shackles." the vampire said before rushing out of the room. Kol, on the other hand, waited for the vampire to be out of sight before turning around to look back at the woman laid on the bed with a broken neck.

"I'll get you back, Mary. I promise." He whispered under his breath.

• ─────────────── •

"Ah, Kol. What a nice surprise. I wagered you'd be in the wind right about now given what you did to our sister." Klaus said when he answered the phone call with Kol's name on the screen.

"The spirit has taken over Mary's body." Kol didn't waste a second hearing more of his brother's comments and threats. "I snapped her neck and now she's shackled. But Nik, I don't know how to bring her back."

The original hybrid tightened his grip on the phone as he closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. They were willing to set aside their differences and disputes, if it meant making sure that Mary was okay.

"I'm on my way." He answered before hanging up the phone.

On the other side of the just ended line, Kol and Maxime were standing in front an unconscious and possessed Mary forced to be on her feet as she was shackled to the ceiling of the dungeon beneath the Mikaelson compound.

"Did she say anything when she woke up?" Max asked, his eyes fixated on the woman.

The witch shook his head. "No. But I could tell just by looking at her eyes that she wasn't herself. After what happened last night, it shouldn't be much of a surprise."

Max uncrossed his folded arms with a sigh and finally shifted his gaze from Mary to Kol. "I'm calling Davina. Let's hope she finally trusts me enough to help us."

Kol merely nodded before Max walked past him and out of the gates of the dungeon while he looked down on his phone. The blonde witch's gaze followed Max until he was nowhere to be seen before another voice echoed in the dungeon and Kol whipped his head toward her.

"Am I to believe I'm trapped here for the rest of my immortal life?" Kol looked at the woman in front of him. He found her now standing on her own two feet with her brown eyes looking at him like she found this ridiculous.

"Not at all, love. You are to be expunged from the face of the Earth." Kol retorted, a mocking tone hinted at his voice but not a single trace of amusement could be traced on his face, not even a spiteful grin.

The redhead narrowed her eyes at him before a smile curled on her lips. Now she was amused. "It's killing you not knowing how the woman you love is feeling right now."

Kol did not blink at all as he glared at her but he did tighten his jaw and ball his hands into fists as he stood firmly in his position.

"Don't worry, she's perfectly suffering." the spirit in possession of Mary's body added.

"Not as much as you will be."

"You won't hurt me."

A bitter chuckle left the lips of the male witch before shaking his head and going over to the table that was placed just a few feet from him where all Klaus's torture toys that he wanted to use on Finn was laid out.

"Oh, just because you're using the very perfect body of the very perfect woman I know, doesn't mean I wouldn't hurt you." He said as he went through the sharpest tool she could find, grabbing one of them and then turning toward her again. "If it means getting answers on how to get her back, so be it."

"Oh, I know. This body won't die however you torture it." The woman said, confidence oozing out of her. Not a shred of fear to be heard from the way she spoke. And with good reason. "But I can't say the same for the little one."

The mischievous look on Kol's face disappeared and it seemed as though his face became as white as a sheet. Like blood had been drained from his face because of how pale he had become.

And his reaction was like a masterpiece to the woman.

"You don't know." An amused smile tugged on her lips.  "But I guess that shouldn't come as shock seeing as Mary doesn't either."

Kol tightened his grip on the sharp tool in his hand while he swallowed hard.

"You're bluffing." He said. "Mary can't have kids, she's a vampire."

"And a witch. So technically, she can. But go ahead. These are my terms..." The woman taunted as she watched the man with curious and provoking brown eyes that normally made his heart flutter but right now, made him boil in fury. "Torture me, as painfully as you can. Then I'll bring control back to Mary. I would very much like to see her reaction when she finds out you killed your baby."

The blonde witch could not help the shaky sigh that left his lips. He was fighting the way his hands were starting to tremble, nervous about the recent turn of events. The universe really loved giving plot twists to this certain couple, Kol noticed that now.

"The baby already took a toll earlier when you snapped my neck. Hurt me any further and it won't see the light of day." She threatened.

Kol gritted his teeth behind his clamped mouth as he fisted his hands, the whole situation so tormenting to him that he didn't know what to do.

"If Mary really is pregnant with my baby, that's all the more reason to get rid of you." Kol said, his eyes still blue yet one didn't have to look closely to see the way fire ignited in them because of how provoked he was.

Messing with Kol Mikaelson was one thing. But messing with the love of his life?

That's a whole other story.

"By all means, do try."

• ─────────────── •

A lot of y'all are probably tired with the pregnancy trope in The Originals. Believe me, I am, too. But I have such a mind-blowing plan for it. However, be warned. Just in case you forgot, the title of act two is Ode to the Star-crossed. It's named like that for a reason...