26 | Sleeping Beauty With Stockholm Syndrome

     𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐗, 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆. You're still my queen and you'll have an eternity to rule over me.

Niklaus was standing beside the bed Mary was currently tucked in. He had to look away from her when he had a glimpse of what was going on inside her head once he heard her heart slowly begin to beat again. She was dreaming. Dreaming of the last conversation she had with his brother Kol.

He had never seen him like that. Kind and genuine and soft. To think that it was Mady that made him that way was still quite unbelievable when it felt like just yesterday when he felt the exact opposite toward her. It was funny how love worked. It never lets you anticipate its next move.

When Klaus felt the presence of another person enter the room, he spoke without sparing a glance.

"It's been days." Klaus noted. He paused before he went to look at the vampire that entered. "Why hasn't she woken up?"

Maxime further entered the room and made his way to the other side of the bed. He was fiddling with his hands as he did. "It's normal."

"You've been saying that a lot. Waking up hours after getting your neck snapped is normal for a vampire. I've never encountered one who had to recover this long." Klaus countered.

The black-haired vampire sighed deeply as he crossed his arms against his chest. He had been bombarded with the same question for days but he wanted to stall so Mary herself could tell them. He expected that the news would be received better if she delivered it. But she had been unconscious for days. And it didn't look like she was waking up soon. The last thing Maxime wanted was to upset the Mikaelsons further by withholding the knowledge. Mary was dear to them. Maxime was not.

"The spirit is still inside her. Cordelia said that her temporary deaths were the interval in which her body is void of magic. That's why I snap her neck or kill her in ways that a vampire could not be permanently killed everytime the spirit manifests itself." Maxime explained, his arms still folded as he let his gaze fall upon Mary, observing her.

"And how, may I ask, does it manifest?" Klaus asked, his eyebrows arching at the younger vampire.

"It does so through Mary's magic. Hence, why she doesn't practice witchcraft anymore—not unless it was completely necessary. For example, a few nights ago." the black-haired vampire stated.

He could still remember the feeling of the werewolf venom seeping into his skin and coursing through his veins. It was like his entire body was beginning to boil. It was comparable to being burned alive. Don't ask him how he knew that.

Klaus shifted on his feet as he proceeded to voice out his frustration. "That still doesn't explain the fact that she's been like this for days."

Maxime matched Klaus's irritation. At this point, he'd be spilling everything. Because one information wouldn't make sense without the others. And it seemed like Klaus was not going to let Maxime leave until he had all the answers.

"Cordelia also said that the more frequently she uses her magic, the longer the time gap between her demise and her return." Maxime pulled out his phone—which Mary had taught him to use—and fiddled with it before handing it over to Klaus. The original hybrid took the phone and looked at the screen, seeing the notes that Maxime had taken. It was a track record of the dates Mary used her magic and how long it took for her to recover. There he saw that as he scrolled down, her recovery time grew longer.

"The first time, she was only out for a few hours. The next, a couple more hours. And then a whole day. Two whole days. Three...you get what I mean. It's because each time she uses her magic, the spirit allows itself to leech on her power. That's why it takes her a long time to wake up, because the magic inside of her is already so limited." Maxime further elaborated.

Klaus clamped his mouth shut and exhaled deeply through his nose before giving back the phone to Maxime. The original hybrid momentarily settled his gaze upon Mary once again as he spoke. "Well, now that you're finally answering my question, perhaps it's time for the most important one."

Maxime watched as Klaus's eyes shifted toward him with a stern look, implying that he no longer had a reason to avoid the question.

"How is Mary a vampire and a witch?" he asked.

The black-haired vampire opened his mouth to answer, rather irritatingly, but he didn't get a chance to when another Mikaelson entered the room and blessed them with his presence and wisdom.

"Have you forgotten, brother?" Elijah was leaning against the doorframe, his attention toward the right cuff of his dress shirt before he lifted his head to meet the gaze of his brother. He saw the confusion on the original hybrid's face, the way his forehead wrinkled and his eyebrows pushed together.

"We passed a coven during the 19th century that expressed their aversion toward these...atrocities, as they liked to call it." Elijah explained as he pushed himself off the doorframe smoothly and returned to his formal and straight posture as he made his way to stand in front of the bed.

The original vampire stared at the auburn haired woman on the bed before his amused gaze turned toward Klaus to check if he had finally gotten his point. And he did.

"Heretics." Klaus answered.

"My siblings and I, thought it a myth. A typical witch prattle." Elijah let go of his cuff and let his right hand fall to his side as his left hand was moving as if explaining in the air, accompanying the words that left his mouth.

"Well, it's not." Maxime replied.

Klaus focused his attention back on Mary. He sat on the side of the bed and tilted his head while he brought his hand to her face, gently caressing her cheek with the back of his fingers. He wondered if she could feel it now that her heart was beating and that anytime she'd wake.

"A siphoner drawing from the magic of her vampirism...now that's fascinating." Klaus whispered under his breath, but still was heard by the two people in the same room as him because of their enhanced hearing. "I always knew you were special, little fox."

"I hate to take you away from her, Niklaus. But do remember we still have other pressing matters that demand our immediate attention." Elijah reminded him.

The calm and peaceful look on Klaus's face as he looked at Mary was quickly replaced by an agitated one as he withdrew his hand and stood up from the bed to look at his brother. Right. Mikael and Esther's return. Just when they thought that they'd already dealt with both of their parents in the past, now they'd returned at the same time.

Klaus then turned his gaze toward Maxime. "Get Mary away from the compound within the day. I don't want our mother anywhere near her lest she decides to choose her as her next children-killing marionette."

The black-haired vampire nodded in agreement before the two brothers left the room and Maxime began to move Mary out of the compound.

• ─────────────── •

The first thing Mary saw when she opened her eyes was the unfamiliar ceiling of somebody's home. Though the scent of the two people within the house were familiar. One she was comfortable with, the other, not so much.

"That was some good sleep you had there." Mary shot upright and saw the familiar blonde-haired, blue eyed witch leaning on the doorway with his arms crossed against his chest, an amused grin plastered on his face.

Kol's amusement was short-lived when Mary suddenly sped out of the bed to pin him against the wall by the neck. "Where am I, where's Max, and what are you doing here?"

The original inside the witch's body was starting to hate his current situation even more considering that the body he had was fragile unlike when he was his own original vampire self. If he was in his original body, he would've liked what Mary was doing to her now. Maybe even aroused him. But the fact that all he could feel was pain around his neck and the lack of oxygen in his lungs, he could not hate it less.

"Mary!" Maxime said when he entered the room and found her strangling the witch. "Put him down."

The auburn-haired heretic settled her gaze on her best friend as she released Kol from her grasp. The witch managed to remain standing though with weakened knees and while leaning back on the wall as he coughed.

"This is his house." Maxime said, pointing to Kol.

"Safe house, actually. Though, I must say I don't feel too safe in it now." Kol said, glaring at Maxime.

Mary furrowed her eyebrows at the thick British accent that the witch had. Not that she didn't notice it the first time they met when he was stalking her. But because it was starting to remind her of something or someone she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"He knows." Mary said as she looked at Kol—whom she saw as Kaleb. She remembered him being there when she used her magic. He knew what Mary was, what she was hiding. And just like Maxime had said, no one stayed alive long enough to pass that secret onto others.

The former queen made a move to come after him again until Maxime grabbed a hold of her arm, stopping her from killing the boy.

"He's not going to tell anyone." Maxime assured her.

Mary still had her eyes on Kol when she answered. "Of course not, He'll be too dead to do so."

"Mary." Maxime called her again, causing the woman to finally spare him a glance. "You will do no such thing."

"Since when do you give me orders?" Mary snarled with gritted teeth.

"Since I became the person who fought alongside you when no one else did." He argued.

Mary held Maxime's gaze as they were shoulder to shoulder. He could see how tempted she was to kill the kid. Why wouldn't she be? He was carrying the secret that she had been so careful to keep. And he was a witch, so, there was that. Witches had a tendency to dislike who she was, being an abomination and all.

"Fine." Mary said with a slight whine before yanking her arm out of Maxime's grasp. She shifted her gaze back on the witch and let herself examine him. She brought her gaze up and down him which to Kol was a satisfying and amusing scene. "But why keep him alive, though?"

"He is Davina's friend. If she finds out that he died on my watch, she'll never trust me again and there goes our whole plan to free you of that old hag." Maxime said, referring to the witch spirit.

The auburn-haired heretic closed her eyes as a deep sigh left her lips in frustration. Kol, on the other hand, wanted to keep the act up as the charming, annoying witch who just got sucked into all of their messes.

"When you said old hag, you meant the witch possessing her, right?" Kol innocently asked.

Mary let herself back onto the bed, sitting down with her hands resting behind her to balance her upper body weight. "Well, it could not have been me."

"Why not?" Kol said, having a little too much fun. "I hear you're even older than this awful city."

The former queen arched an eyebrow at the witch. Kol missed teasing the woman. He missed seeing the glares she would give him. He missed the way her lips would turn down into a frown when he would piss her off. He missed the way she would look at him when she was contemplating on whether or not she should kill him or kiss him.

"Kaleb, it would do you no good if you keep this up." Maxime warned Kol. The witch simply threw his hands up slightly as a sign of his surrender. The black-haired vampire was making his way toward Mary when Kol found another topic to open for another conversation.

"Are you two a thing?" He asked.

He knew they weren't. Kol knew Maxime was loyal to Mary but not in that way. But he hadn't heard her voice in such a long time that even the sound of her angry voice sounded angelic in his ears, so he wanted her to talk more—even if that meant her constantly threatening him.

"What?" Maxime furrowed his brows at the witch. "No."

Kol shrugged his shoulders, acting that he made a mistake for assuming the both of them were together before he continued. "Well, you said you were spoken for. Who is the lucky chap?"

Me, he thought. Just standing there and seeing the beautiful and fierce woman before him, he knew how lucky he was. And he'd be even more lucky when he's finally back together with her, because not many people travel back from the dead just to be with their love again.

Mary clenched her jaw at his words and her normal gaze turned into a grim glare. Not even Maxime wanted to stop her as she stood up from the bed once more and took threatening steps toward the witch. If Kol got himself hurt because of his unfiltered mouth, then he needed to at least be accountable for that.

The woman stopped just in front of him, mere inches as gap while Mary slightly tilted her head up to keep their gazes with one another locked. She was obviously furious but Kol was entertained, especially since it had been a while since they had been this close to one another. He could smell the scent of her hair and he almost leaned in to kiss her. He could imagine what would've happened if he really did that. And it wasn't in his favor.

"One more word from your mouth, you will suddenly find yourself without a tongue." Mary taunted.

Kol really looked like he had a death wish because instead of being frightened, the talk of tongues just seemed to turn him on, causing a smirk to curl on his lips.

"All right, that's enough." Maxime said, breaking up the tension between them which Kol liked to refer to as their sexual tension, despite Mary wanting to actually murder him. "Elijah just messaged me. Family dinner is done. They need us back to the compound now."

Mary furrowed her eyebrows and turned around, slightly slapping Kol with her rich auburn hair—which he wasn't completely mad about—before she settled her gaze on her best friend. "Family dinner? What family dinner?"

Maxime internally cursed himself, realizing that he hadn't told her anything yet since she woke up, what, with her so busy trying not to kill the witch boy.

"Right." Maxime started. "Esther and Mikael are back."

Just from that opening sentence alone, Mary had already exhaled deeply and groaned.

"It's like we're back in Mystic Falls all over again."

• ─────────────── •

Mary made sure that she was all caught up as she and Maxime were on their way back to the compound. Kol was fifty-fifty on how he was left behind. He wanted to come just so he could spend more time with Mary, but at the same time, he couldn't risk it knowing that by that time, his brothers were probably aware that he had been resurrected along with Esther and Finn.

A few more steps. A few more steps and Kol would finally be with Mary. Just a little further and they'd finally go back to how things were before he died. They could start their forever, however long that might be.

"All right, my first question would be: who bathed me while I was dead?" Mary joked, trying to lighten up the room when she entered the compound and went straight to the dining room where she and Maxime saw Elijah and Klaus standing in front of a terrified, short-haired witch looking like she wanted that chair she was sitting on to swallow her whole just to escape from the original brothers.

Though neither of the Mikaelson brothers in sight were appreciative of Mary's attempt to cheer them up. As Mary and Maxime neared them, they noticed how Klaus and Elijah shared a knowing glance—one that held reluctance and anxiety. As if they were unsure of what would happen next. Which made Mary furrow her eyebrows.

"How bad is it?" Mary then asked, dropping her bright aura.

Maxime stood beside Mary as he narrowed his eyes at the two men, trying to decipher what it was that they were hiding.

"Mary, I believe there is something that you should know." Elijah began.

The former queen looked briefly at her loyal knight, feeling her heart start to speed up as her nerves began to act up. She had a feeling that whatever it was that Elijah needed to say to her, it was something that would really change everything.

"However, as your friend, I would very much advise against resorting to acts of impulsivity once I disclose this sensitive information." Elijah proceeded as he took careful steps closer toward the auburn haired heretic.

Mary wanted to be calm. But everything about the auras of Elijah and Klaus at the moment were suggesting otherwise. Klaus had his jaw clenched, his mouth clamped shut with his eyes glaring down at the ground, unable to look Mary in the eye. Meanwhile, Elijah had the absence of his usual compassionate and calm ambiance that he always exhibited around people he cared about. His eyes were implying trouble as he stared Mary down.

"What is it?" Maxime asked, when he noticed that Mary seemed to be too confused to form words.

The original vampire in his thousand-dollar suit momentarily glanced at the vampire next to Mary, seeing his confusion as evident as the one in Mary's face. Elijah's face trailed down to the ground before looking back up to meet Mary's gaze.

"Finn has returned...so has Kol." Elijah finally said. "Esther resurrected him and placed him in the body of a witch whose identity is still being withheld from us."

Mary was suddenly unaware of the things around her. For what felt like hours when it was only mere seconds, the only sound that her ears could decipher was her own heartbeat. She could hear it pick up its pace, beating faster and faster by the second. With every clear beat of her heart came the calming sound of his voice. With every clear sound of his voice flash the image of his face before her eyes.

And she was blinded. For as long as she could remember, she was blinded by rage. But never had she experienced being blinded by love itself.

• ─────────────── •

I'm on social media break, but thought I should post this before I disappear again.