Chapter 17: Love's Revenge
The flames of the old fireplace in the Salvatore house flickered slowly, crackling intermittently, casting shattered shadows on the walls.
The bloodstains were still visible on Alexander's shirt, and Klaus hadn't uttered a word for more than ten minutes, ever since they brought Rebekah and Elijah back home... exhausted, bloodied, but alive.
Bonnie was upstairs, tending to their injuries.
As for Damon and Stefan, they stood near the entrance, unusually silent.
Alexander leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, eyes fixed on the front door since the moment they returned, as if expecting it to explode at any moment.
Finally, he broke the silence in a low, sharp voice:
"Something's off."
Stefan looked up at him. "You think he'll come back?"
Alexander shook his head.
"He wasn't alone from the start."
Klaus was sitting on the chair, a glass of bourbon in hand which he hadn't touched. When he finally spoke, his voice was heavy:
"He knew too much... more than he should. He knew exactly how to strike us at our weakest points. This wasn't Kai's plan."
Another wave of silence filled the room...
Until Bonnie entered, holding something small in her hand.
A charm necklace, burned at the edges, blackened by hidden magic.
She said as she held it up:
"Rebekah found this among the debris. Just gave it to me. It's a binding spell. A strong one. Someone summoned Kai... someone paid in blood to bring him here."
Alexander's jaw clenched.
"He didn't come for me."
Bonnie nodded slowly.
"He came because someone asked him to. I already spoke with his coven. Kai's Prison World key was stolen a few days ago and someone freed him."
Everyone fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts...
Then Damon voiced what they were all thinking:
"Kol."
They all turned to him at once.
Stefan asked, incredulously:
"You think he still holds a grudge?"
Klaus let out a hollow laugh:
"Kol doesn't hold grudges... he lets them rot, until they poison the entire world."
Alexander straightened up as he spoke:
"He's angry because of that witch."
Klaus's expression changed suddenly, darkness spreading across his features:
"What was her name again?"
Damon raised a brow in surprise:
"Damn, I really can't remember."
Alexander nodded:
"I didn't know at first. Just another name in the spell Bonnie needed. But Kol—"
Klaus finished in a quiet tone, eyes fixed to the floor:
"He loved her... more than he ever let us see."
Then he stood.
"I'll deal with my brother myself," he said heavily.
But Alexander stepped forward, eyes burning with resolve:
"No. He didn't come for you. He came for me. I'll handle him myself."
Stefan reminded him, warningly:
"You already fought him... and nearly killed each other."
Alexander replied in a low voice:
"I was holding back... I thought it was just anger.
But what I saw tonight... that was revenge."
---
Meanwhile, miles away from Mystic Falls, inside an abandoned church on the outskirts of town, Kol Mikaelson sat in the darkness.
Kai stood at the altar, playing with a bloodstained knife, passing it between his fingers like a toy.
He said mockingly:
"Well, that went pretty well...
Although it would've been nice if you'd told me before we played with Original blood."
Kol's eyes were empty, as if life had drained from them:
"They killed her."
Kai looked at him, then simply said:
"Yeah. They did."
Kol muttered, his voice like it came from the depths of a grave:
"I felt it... the moment her soul left her body.
The bond snapped. She was gone."
Kai shrugged indifferently:
"So why don't we just burn them all and be done with it?"
Kol didn't answer. He just kept staring at the stained-glass window, cracked by time and war.
He saw his reflection there... distorted, shadowed, lost.
Then he finally whispered, his voice carrying a storm of pain:
"This won't end... until they taste suffering."
Kai smiled, a devilish gleam in his eyes:
"Now we're talking."
---
Back at the Salvatore house, Alexander stood alone in the hallway, gazing out the window into the dark night.
The fire inside him wasn't blazing anymore...
It was calm now...
Cold... patient.
Kol Mikaelson wanted a war?
Then he would get one.
---