Ch.6

The next day Damon prayed again and I came this time I saw the problem afterwards. Two tomb vampires had attacked him. One was dead while the other fled. I got rid of the dead one before telling him. "I'll take care of it. Stay here and try not to kick up a fuss. The vampire that ran off won't survive the night."

Stefan went to fixing the window while Damon nodded. "Make sure they know this crap doesn't fly."

I nodded and left. I headed to where I had the blood delivered and knocked. There the vampire that attacked Damon and Stefan opened the door with blood on his shirt from Pearl's punishment. He frowned. "You? How are you still-"

I grabbed him by the throat and popped his head like a balloon as his blood and brain matter went everywhere. The human who owned the house screamed while I turned to Pearl and the rest of the tomb vampires that hadn't left town. "If any of you go after the Salvatore brothers again you'll experience the same fate."

I looked Pearl in the eyes saying. "Any."

She nodded before telling the human to clean it up while I turned and left. I did a cleansing spell before calling Damon. "It's done. The vampire is dead and I made an impression on the rest. They shouldn't bother you again."

He thanked me and I headed home only to get another prayer the next day. Sighing I headed to him and found him outside Pearl's house with Alaric, the vampire hunter/ history teacher. "This becoming a habit Damon. It's like Berlin all over again."

He snorted. "Well at least this time I'm not the one that screwed up. They took Stefan and there are to many of them for me to simply just kill on my own. By the way, this is Alaric Saltzman vampire hunter extraordinaire. Alaric this Ryan Masters, badass witch that makes vampires heads explode."

I sighed. "Nice to meet you Alaric. Did Damon pull you into this mess?"

He shook his head. "Elena did. She's in the car."

I nodded. "Well, lets get this over with, I don't wan to be standing in the rain all day."

I walked up to the house and knocked. Arabic asked. "Are you sure this is wise?"

Damon smiled. "Just watch how the big boys do it and be very happy you didn't actually succeed in killing me. He gets cranky when people hurt his friends."

I ignored them as a random tomb vampire opened the door. I asked it. "Is Pearl home?"

He shook his head. "No, and she's no longer in charge. Stefan Salvatore will pay for what-"

That was all he got out before his head exploded. Alaric yelled. "Jesus Christ! What the hell man?"

I shrugged. "You two go get Stefan I'll clean up here. Don't worry about the vampires."

Damon smiled and went inside with the history teacher right behind him. With a thought I felt all ten tomb vampires in the house and did the same to them. The only ones left sliver were Damon, Stefan and the vampire staked to a chair in the basement.

The only humans in the house was the lady who owned the place and Alaric. With a sigh I waited and they came out stepping over dead vampires with Stefan in tow. I nodded to them and wrote a message fore Pearl to read before staking it to the door.

All it said was. (They took Stefan Salvatore. They paid the price, don't make me come back.)

We left and found Elena outside the car trying to sneak onto the property. I told Damon. "It was fun while it lasted or whatever. I'll be at the bar for a bit if you'd like to join me."

He nodded and I left heading to the Mystic Grill. There I spent the day just hanging around and getting a bit lubricated. Alaric or Rick as he preferred to go by joined me along with Damon after a while. After a couple hours he punched Damon and left.

I burst out laughing at the scene and Damon scowled. "It's not that funny."

I chuckled. "Actually I was laughing because I can see he likes you but hates you at the same time."

Damon smirked and continued to drink with me until we overheard that they found Vickie's body. Damon wasn't too awful pleased and after the town council meeting a couple days later I wasn't either. John Gilbert, Elena's secret father and total jackass had come and swung his weight around.

When the meeting ended he caught up to me in the parking lot and told me he knew who and what I was. Sighing I told him. "If this is some kind of threat Gilbert, just know that ring won't protect you from me. I can take away its little Lazarus effect at a mere glance."

He shook his head. "Kill me and everything I know will go straight to the town council."

I grunted. "Then I'd kill the council, and after that the entire town and then I'd hunt down that annoying pest you call an ex and kill her too, and Katherine as well. Are you getting the picture yet little human? You've nothing to threaten me with. The fact that you draw breath is merely because I don't waste my time with small fries."

He gulped and I smirked. "Go ahead, threaten me and change my mood. I can wipe you and this little podunk town off the map in the blink of an eye. After all, I was here first."

He started sweating and fiddling with his ring finger. Smirking still I said. "Good, you understand then. Now piss off before I squash you like the bug you are."

He left and I got in my car before heading to another venue, the triad headquarters I'd kept tabs on over the years. It amongst other things, was the headquarters of one mystical golem puddle with a unique penchant for swallowing supernatural creatures.

I'd been waiting for this day as a pregnant woman had managed to crawl her way out of it. I put everyone in the facility asleep before heading into the giant puddle room and touching the surface of the puddle.

Smiling I began to drain it of all the creatures and the magic inside them all. It rippled as it tried to resist but in the end it was stuck this way. My magic was returning to a decent sized moon in size at a rapid pace. It wasn't quite a planet sized puddle yet but it was a great return of power.

Unfortunately with so much returning the shackles on my power returned as well as my access got cut in half. Sighing I finished off the giant puddle of magical slime and it degraded into nothingness. All the magical creatures that were held inside were dead and their bodies were lost with it.

The non magical humans that were still living returned though in the crater that once housed the golems puddle. Some were awake while most were sleeping. I let them figure it all out themselves as I'd no need for them anymore.

I left the facility and went home to cleanse the dark magic is absorbed from the not so good creatures and beings, out. A week later I got a visit from Pearl saying she and Harper were leaving and that John Gilbert was looking for the device piece.

Sighing I bid her goodbye and welcomed Anna back to the house as she didn't want to stay with the compelled human they'd been living with. Pearl actually made it out of town only calling to say she'd killed John.

She hadn't known about the Gilbert family rings so I wasn't too surprised to see him at the next town meeting. Harper, her vampire friend, was dead though so Pearl had left a little angry. John was talking about the secondary device and having an informant in with the tomb vampires.

It was all very boring until he came to find me once more after the meeting. This time he was asking about the device piece I'd gotten from Pearl. Snorting I told him. "I gave it to Elena. It's her ancestors toy after all. Speaking of which, have you told her you're her father yet bug?"

He fidgeted and I shrugged with a small smile. "I won't be the one to tell her but it'll come out sooner or later so you might as well be the one to do so before someone else figures it out and squeals. Now as I said before, piss off."

He left in a rather moody way while Damon came over asking. "What was that all about?"

I shrugged. "If you weren't listening you don't need to know. By the way, Lexi's coming back next week so don't expect me to come save your ass for a while. If you pray while I'm with her not only will I not answer, I'll remove the tattoo from you. I need some peace and quiet for awhile. FYI Pearl is gone but the rest of the tomb vamps are still lingering somewhere according to Anna."

I got in my car and left him there stunned in place. Like I'd been waiting Lexi came home a week later and shit went to hell quick after that. She'd insisted we go to the founders day parade citing I was after all a founder. In reality she wanted to be there in case everything went bad or worse.

It cut into my time alone with her but I agreed to please her. I did however see Bonnie and Elena playing with the device piece in her magic study. I didn't bother her as she technically wasn't doing anything against my words.

Lexi and I watched the floats and got hang out with Stefan and Damon. They were so wrapped up in Elena's problems that it was a bit annoying even to Lexi. We said our goodbyes after they started telling Jeremy what to do in turns.

A little bit later we decided drinking and playing pool was preferable to hanging around the founding family's and the three way love fest. When the device was activated finally I tossed up a sound dampening spell on both Lexi and I before we split up to help out.

I found Anna and Jeremy in the bathroom and tossed a spell her way before helping her up. The V5 officers checked the bathrooms and found us though she and Jeremy pretended to be making out in a stall while I was washing my hands.

They nodded my way before apologizing for interrupting Anna and Jeremy. When they left I told Jeremy. "Take her home and stay there."

Jeremy went to ask. "Why? What's going on?"

I growled. "Let me rephrase that. Anna him home and stay there till I come get you. The founding families are on the move. They're taking out all vampires in town. Now move your asses."

I left them there and headed to help Lexi as I'd felt her charms activate as someone tried to kill her. I found her and a dead John Gilbert in the old apothecary/health clinic. She had a stake in her gut while Damon was passed out not far away.

I removed the stake and told her. "Take Damon and go. John'll wake up soon so his body won't be destroyed by the fire the cops are setting in the basement."

I tossed a healing spell her way and went to help Stefan and Elena. The officers were acting taking all the tomb vampires out as quickly as possible. Rick helped out with Stefan and we got him out of there.

Once we were all away and safe I called it a night after we dropped off the brothers and picked up Anna. Elena wasn't too happy with her as she'd been trying to convince Jeremy to turn and run away with her.

She decided to tell us the next day that she was leaving town and said her goodbyes. I got news from Damon that Katherine was in town to which I told him to buggar off as I was spending time with Lexi.

When Bonnie came to learn more magic two days later, she told me about Caroline being turned into a vampire and killed someone. Damon came for another talk admitting he'd snapped Jeremy's neck in a fit of rage.

I laughed when he told me about the ring Jeremy'd been wearing. Two weeks later Stefan came by asking for a favor for Caroline. When he asked me to make him a daylight ring I asked him. "Why didn't you find a witch to make Lexi one back in the day? I made her one the day after I met her. You knew her for a century before that and at no time did you ask me to make her one."

He was stunned and so was Lexi before she fumed a bit while I told Stefan. "I don't owe you and I don't know nor hangout with the preppy blond. If she wants a daylight ring she can come here and ask Bonnie to make her one."

He tried to speak. "But-"

I growled. "But nothing. You've known me longer than Lexi and yet you didn't think to ask for her. Clearly she's not as special to you as your new friend. Piss off before I remove your ring as the price for annoying me. A few centuries in the dark might change your perspective on who your friends really are."

I sent him flying out of the house and the door shut on him. Lexi spoke. "He didn't know you before maybe-"

I shook my head. "No maybes. He knew Gloria and even Sheila when she was practicing. Both of which would've done it if he'd asked. Hell, there are tons of witches out there he could've gone to. The fact is he didn't."

She went quiet for a while and mulled it over while I held her and watched Angel the tv series. Damon called to ask if I wanted to go to Duke University for a field trip so I tagged along with Lexi.

Elena was with us to Damon's amusement and she'd nearly gotten killed as well. The lady we'd met had mistaken her for Katherine. As amusing as that was we got some clues as to something or other about Katherine's life and the Petrova family line.

Or Damon did anyway while we watched him play with her. I sighed. "On a college campus and not feeding on hot young coeds, you really are changing Damon."

Now that I brought it to her attention, Elena looked at me funnily before asking. "Did he do that often?"

I nodded. "We spent a good deal of time on college campuses while he flirted and fed I read up on witchcraft and partied with him. Hell, we've partied in every corner of the globe."

Damon smiled. "Good times. Because when you're immortal why not make life a party?"

I chuckled. "I need a drink a maybe a good time of my own. Head to Georgia, let's go see this Bree you and Lexi like so much."

Damon shrugged. "Ok, sounds like a plan."

Elena frowned. "We're not going to Georgia-"

Lexi smiled. "Georgia it is. I could use more Bree time myself."

Seeing she was outnumbered and severely out voted Elena sighed. "Can you at least drop me off first?"

I chuckled. "In the complete opposite direction? Yeah, that'll happen. Relax, it'll be fun, I hope. You'll get back home before anyone strains a muscle and have blast while there. And hey, if we can't make it in time I'll just teleport us all back, car and all."

She looked shocked now. "You can do that?"

I nodded. "Easy enough. I have a veritable mountain of diamonds charging and storing magic right now including two the size of semi trucks. It makes little difference where we teleport to now as I can regain all the magic I've used as soon as we get back home."

Her brows furrowed. "Where do you even keep something like that?"

I grinned. "My basement is big, like journey to the center of the earth big. I spent years hollowing it out as storage and a hell of a long time carving runes to gather and store said magic into those diamonds. I only keep the fully charged ones in the bag I carry with me."

I took it off and handed it to her. "Go ahead, try it out. Just look inside and think about what diamond you want to see and pull it out."

She did so and a bunch of rose pink diamonds came out in her hand. She looked amazed before putting them back and pulling out a sapphire diamond. When we saw her attraction to it Damon asked. "How much do you want for it?"

I snorted and he smiled. "Right, free for me."

He plucked it from her hand and I smiled as I knew he was going to do something with it for her. It was already carved into a tear drop and full of magic. Smiling still I got in the car and we drove to see a lady named Bree.

Once we got to Atlanta Georgia, Damon pulled into a decent sized bar near a share house district. The witch inside was fairly decent and could even feel me out a bit only shying away when I turned my full attention to her. I revealed a piece of my power and she shrank away emitting terror as I got out of the car.

Smirking I told them. "She knows I'm here. She tried poking at me to see how strong I really am and I showed her a small portion of my power. She's having a panic attack right now. Lexi, you might want to go calm her down."

Lexi disappeared in a whoosh and Elena got out of the car saying. "That wasn't very nice of you."

I shrugged. "She should know better than to pry. If I were evil or even annoyed by it she would've died. There's a code most witches go by and protects the weaker ones. You don't pry unless you're looking for a fight. Weak witches are protected by it as it's meant to do so and strong witches learn not to bully or steal magic from others. If I were Bonnie she would probably act superior to me or try to enter a witches bargain."

Elena frowned. "A witches bargain?"

Damon sighed. "It's where two witches of equal standing trade spells and techniques. But if one side has the advantage they can press for more or all the spells the other witch knows. It's a bit of fun to watch when Ryan here is doing it as he tends to take all they have then some magic to boot."

I smirked. "Good times. Remember that witch down in Amherst?"

Damon burst out laughing while Elena asked. "What'd you do to her?"

I grinned. "I took her spells and magic while Damon took her blood."

Elena frowned and Damon shook his head. "We left her alive so don't worry."

I shrugged. "Bitch deserved it. She thought I was weak because I don't usually throw my weight around. She convinced me with glee I might add, to enter a witches bargain with her. I showed my full power then and she literally pissed herself. I got all her grimoires, most of which she gained through similar bargains and drained all but a few drops of magic from her. Damon did the same to her blood, leaving only enough to keep her alive."

Elena crossed her arms and asked. "You won't do the same to Bonnie will you?"

I snorted. "Please, I've no need for her magic as weak as it is and besides, I don't usually take from weak newbie witches. It's the old bitches that have what I want most of the time. Besides that I'm letting Bonnie inherit all my old grimoires I've taken from others. I've no need for them anymore and they're just wasting space now. Once she's strong enough and knows to be cautious she'll get them all."

Elena was stunned as I walked into the bar. Damon smiled and told her. "He's actually quite generous with his friends and once Bonnie girl chose to be his student she put herself under his wing. Sort of like a big brother deal-"

I quit listening as I walked over to a now rather calm witch who was trembling trying to pour Lexi a shot. I came up behind Lexi and wrapped my arms around her waist before kissing her neck. She closed her eyes and leaned into me while smiling and telling Bree. "This is Ryan. He's the one you were poking at. He's a good mate and decent person when he wants to be."

I stopped kissing and looked to Bree before reaching out with my power and sending calming energies her way. She calmed almost instantly while I spoke. "Sorry about that. Witches who usually poke at me don't get that treatment but I didn't want to start a fight so I showed a small bit of power to stop you in your tracks."

I released Lexi who groaned a bit at my absent hands while I reached out to shake Bree's. "I'm Ryan Masters. Immortal witch amongst other things. And more importantly Lexi's mate."

Bree took my hand and the static charge of power thrummed before disintegrating her meager wards. Smiling still I told her. "If you'd like I can upgrade your wards before we leave. I've some serious skills in that area and so long as the booze is free I'll even add ward stones to it so you don't have to recharge them every week."

She was instantly surprised and happy smiling. "I'd like that. I've been trying to advance my own knowledge and power but all the witches I've met of late are in covens and I can't take them alone."

I shrugged. "I can though. You're a friend of Lexi's and Damon's. If these witches give you a hard time give me a call and I'll wipe them out and steal their magic. You can keep the grimoires as I doubt any covens near here have anything I want or need. Now if you run into a New Orleans witch, I say take them for all their worth. Their covens can't act outside the city as their magic is bound to the lands and their ancestors."

She smiled deeper. "I'll remember that thanks. "

I nodded and Lexi took a shot saying. "Cheers girlfriend, you've just gotten some serious power to back you up. Ryan here doesn't care what coven in the entire world you piss off. He can take them."

I chuckled. "Just don't piss them all off at once. Then it's a toss up on how bad the planet is effected."

Bree frowned and I showed her a glimpse at my current full power. Her eyes shot open and I grinned. "Like I said, not all at once. Magic at that level tends to get wonky if it's colliding."

She nodded and I sighed putting it all away before grabbing a shot of my own. Damon and Elena came in while talking about a past run in with a coven I had and Damon ended up feeding on. It was a magical thing as he'd had an orgy of bodies while I fed off the sex magic they were doing.

He stopped to introduce himself and Elena to Bree. I smiled as they kissed and groped each other. Lexi told her a bit about Elena while Damon mentioned the tomb and Katherine not being in it. I just tossed them back and enjoyed the music.

Lexi gave me a lap dance while she danced around to the music. Elena even drank and had a good time. When it started to get light out and the crowd cleared out I threw up a powerful ward scheme and tossed some connected diamonds to Lexi saying. "These will power the wards indefinitely and protect you. You'll be able to feel the controls with the ward stones in your hands. It'll fend off a decent sized coven long enough to give me a ring."

She thanked me while watching us leave. Damon, Elena and Lexi got in the car while I smiled and put my hand on it and waved by to Bree. Drunk Elena asked. "What-"

And I teleported is to in front of her house. It was a slight jerking experience so I wasn't surprised when she got out of the car and threw up on her lawn. Smirking I said. "Welcome home Elena."

She scowled at me and I chuckled. Lexi wasn't too awful far from puking as well so after dropping Damon off we headed home. The Petrova book was still in the truck so I wasn't surprised when Damon showed up in the afternoon to pick it up.

I ignored the world for the next month a tedious shit went down. Damon stabbed Mason Lockwood and came asking about werewolves afterwards. I pointed him to a book I kept on all supernatural creatures. He thanked me and I told him I was going into a meditation retreat and to be careful as I wouldn't be able to help until I came out of it.

He nodded and left while I sealed the houses wards. I'd informed the council I'd be out of town for a few months and they accepted it. In actuality I did end up going into meditation after spending a week with Lexi in bed. She stayed awake and continued to watch her shows while I was in meditation for the most part before heading out to a party in California.

I spent most of my meditation focusing my energies on stabilizing my magic and acclimating it under my absolute control. There was still half I couldn't touch but what I could was finally fine tuned to my will. Bonnie of course spent her time in the sub witchcraft room I'd made on the property for exactly this reason.

She'd been a good student and was coming up on the halfway mark for her basic's mastery. As bright as she was I'd no doubt she'd accomplish it all in time. After all the very first part was instructions on building a mind scape. Once that was accomplished reading and retaining information was instantaneous. All it took was understanding what you'd read after that.

When I came out of my meditation a lot had gone down. Mason Lockwood was dead, Stefan and Damon had the moonstone and Kathrine had made her move during a masquerade ball. With Katherine captured thanks to the Bennett witch she'd forced to do her bidding, Damon was keeping her in the cellar till I woke up.

I agreed and put up the tomb spell again and he tossed the weakened Katherine inside. When Katherine saw me she frowned. "You're going to be killed. When the originals come-"

I sealed the stone door back after pulling it out of the dirt. Damon smirked. "Bitch finally gets what she deserves."

I shrugged and called Lexi to inform her that I was awake. She was happy to hear from me and said she'd be on the next flight back. I turned to Damon before asking. "Another Bennett witch you say?"

He nodded and I frowned. "Why did she think she needed one? You and Stefan are younger and weaker than her."

He scratched the back of his head saying. "Well, you see, we kind of sort of got little Bennett to put up a ward scheme that acted as a boundary spell. It wasn't magic per say as she did it by carving tunes and stuff into the walls so as not to piss you off-"

I smacked him upside the head. "Clearly your idea. Show me the room. I want to see her progress."

We left in blurs and headed to the Lockwood house. As soon as I saw the room I smiled. "Brilliant. And of her own design as well."

Walking to the back wall I couldn't help but laugh as I saw the sheer ingenuity of it all. She'd combined the boundary runes with the anti vampire and supernatural runes to force whoever came in to stay if they were supernatural by nature.

I memorized it all before cleaning it all up and leaving to go meet my apprentice and talk out the process she used for choosing those particular runes and what she'd used as a medium as my diamonds were locked up.

I found her at Elena's house looking worried. Damon asked. "What's wrong?"

Stefan came downstairs saying. "Elena's gone. She's not been home so she probably didn't make it home from the ball she snuck out to go to last night."

I sighed. "Grab a map and her hair bush. I'll do a locator spell."

Bonnie asked. "Can I do it instead? I've been practicing and I want to try."

I frowned but nodded. "Alright but afterwards we need to talk about your wards you used. You came Damn close to using magic outright towards the end."

She blushed and bit her lip before Damon spoke up. "He means he's proud of you. He couldn't stop smiling and laughing when he saw it all an hour ago."

I slapped him upside the head again before saying. "No comments from the peanut gallery. I'm still irked at you for convincing her there's a back door around my rules."

Bonnie smiled now as she knew I was completely impressed. Bonnie did the spell and Jeremy looked up the location on a map. The Salvatore brothers took off ready for battle and I saw Bonnie's nose bleed.

Sighing I told her. "No more magic for a week. That spell was too much for you. You're experiencing backlashes. She was too far away for you to be searching for."

She didn't argue as there was no away I'd let up. Jeremy asked. "Can't we be doing more? There's gotta be something we can do."

I nodded. "Write a short note and I'll send it to her. Tell her help is on the way."

Bonnie wrote it down and I said the spell out loud so she'd know how and what to do if she ever wanted to try. "Touve mon se kavo. Touve mon se kavo."

The crumbled paper in my hand burned in a flash and disappeared. I smiled and told Bonnie. "Now don't go and try that till I say your ready and never send it further than the city limits till you've mastered drawing magic from nature. You'll pass out from the backlash if you're not too careful."

Jeremy who barely knew me asked. "Are you some kind of witch like Bonnie? Are you teaching her?"

I raised an eyebrow before sighing. "Yes and yes. No I won't teach you, you're not a witch and you don't have a lot of potential in that area. Though if you want to learn martial arts and vampire fighting techniques I'm sure Alaric could teach you."

I stood up and warned Bonnie. "No more rune magic until you've mastered the basic's of magic. You still have three months to go to complete your first assignment. No excuses either. I gave you a month to grieve but now it's time to buckle down and show me what kind of witch you are."

She nodded and picked up the book she'd chosen before asking. "Why do all the books say the same thing?"

I smiled. "It's to teach you patience and keep you focused. Once you've mastered the basics the magic will fade revealing the real spells and magic underneath. They're actually adept spells and knowledge you'll need fore the year long test after you've mastered the basics. Once you've completed that we'll talk about you using spells and magic outside the room and my supervision."

Jeremy frowned. "Why are you forbidding her to use magic in the first place?"

Bonnie stopped him. "Don't Jer, he's far more powerful and he's my teacher. I'm lucky to have him."

I smiled before telling the boy. "She's right kid, this isn't any of your business. It's best you not pry into witch stuff or risk my ire."

He tried to bluster but I flicked my fingers and he became bound like a doll, immovable and silent. "It'll last the full day so if you want to keep talking go ahead and try kid. Next time you act like the world revolves around you it may not be me with a binding spell. It may just be a vampire that tears your throat out or some other creature time forgot that feeds on flesh."

He was sweating now so I told Bonnie. "I'm heading to the Grill for a beer. Don't try to remove the binding or you'll be punished appropriately. Wards or not."

I headed to the bar and left them there as Bonnie told him. "Sorry Jer. He's not a nice guy but he's not evil either. He's friends with Damon so you should understand he can be a bit of a dick. But he's right, you shouldn't try to interfere in my magic studies. You don't know a thing about magic and it can be dangerous that's why he's so strict. He cares under all that-"

I stopped listening as I don't really care what she thinks of me. I'd talk to her later about the wards and runes as not to give her a big head. I was at the bar for a little more than two hours before I heard Damon's prayer. I ignored it as it wasn't actually important. He was just asking for backup in case things went south.

A half hour later I got a call from him asking why I didn't come. "Because I'm enjoying my drink and you had it handled. You got Elena right?"

He snorted. "Yeah but-"

I growled. "Damon, one of these days I might not be able to help. When that time comes I don't want you dying because you depended on me like a crutch. I'd kill to protect you, you know that, but I won't be the reason you end up dead when all you needed to do was think of the solution on your own."

He sighed. "We're headed back now. FYI, dick move."

I snorted. "You'd know. I'm at the bar right now but I'll pick up Lexi from the airport and head to your house before you get back."

He sighed and I hung up. An hour later I headed to the airport and picked up Lexi before heading to the Salvatore house while filling her in. She was a bit angry I didn't save Trevor but then he wasn't actually her friend, Rose was.

We arrived at the Salvatore house just before Damon and Stefan. Rose actually showed as well ten minutes after them. We were in the library while they asked about Niklaus. Rose spoke up. "I don't know much about them, but what I do know should scare the hell out of you. I know it does me."

Damon smirked. "Well if it's about originals why don't we just ask the one we do know?"

Rose frowned. "You know an original?"

Lexi snorted while Stefan looked confused. "Know one? I've slept with one for the past thirty years give or take."

I chuckled. "Aw shucks love, cheating on me already?"

She shook her head and Stefan frowned. "You're an original?"

I sighed. "Yes, I was turned the same time Niklaus, Elijah and the rest were. I was once called Kol Mikaelson. I gave up that name the day I was turned and ripped apart a poor innocent village girl in a blood frenzy. What? Did you think you were the first ripper?"

Rose paled and Lexi told them. "Relax he doesn't feed anymore. He survives off of magic itself now. Besides Rose, he wouldn't hurt you without pissing me off and he won't do that."

I furrowed my brows. "You're taking all the fun out of it. So, what do you all want to know? Because Niklaus isn't the first vampire either. Dumb idiot likes to spread rumors and lies."

Damon asked. "What is the sun and moon curse?"

I snorted. "The werewolf species is far older than the vampire species. That alone should tell you something."

Damon caught on as did Stefan. "The curse is a fake?"

I shook my head. "The curse is real. It's just not on vampires and werewolves in general. Esther, the bitch who gave birth to me was curse happy. She cursed me the month after I was born. That curse broke the day I became a vampire. She apparently didn't learn her lesson because she placed another curse on one of my siblings, Niklaus."

Rose asked. "What is the real curse then?"

I smirked. "Well, Esther, being the whore she was cheated on Mikael, and slept with a werewolf. I know, she likes em furry, big surprise there. Back to the point though, she gave birth to Niklaus nine months later."

Damon frowned. "So Klaus is a werewolf?"

I shook my head. "Not entirely no. You see, for his entire life Esther made him were a charmed necklace that hid his natural werewolf strength that set him apart from humans. Being weak wasn't exactly a good thing in a Viking warring clan. He was beaten daily to toughen him up but all the things he tried failed as the charm kept him weak. A way for Esther to hide indiscretions to be sure. She watched him being beaten and allowed it as she knew she'd be killed if she revealed it."

Taking a deep breath I sighed. "He was the middle child of sorts. Finn and Elijah were older in that order. Then came Rebekah and me. Then Henrik."

I trailed off in memory before shaking myself out of it. "I was born different like Niklaus and different was not acceptable. Esther asked the ancestor of Bonnie lass, Ayana, to curse me. Binding my great power to the moon itself. It created a rift in my mind and left me nearly cold and emotionless. Much like a vampire whose flipped their switch. Our father was a Viking warrior and as such we were all raised to be such except Becca."

I remembered the clashes and screams of battle as men died at my blade. Sighing I told them. "Niklaus is a prodigy with a blade. Never get into a sword fight with him, well, not unless you're me. I was simply harder working and a master swordsman. If he was a prodigy then I'm at the pinnacle of sword fighting. His ingenuity though was perceived as weakness by our father and extra beatings were delivered until I was strong enough that our father couldn't win against me. Then I used Niklaus's moves to kill on the battlefields."

I poured another glass of brandy before taking as sip and staring into the fire. "I killed and slaughtered hundreds as a human. Thousands if the warriors counting the bodies are to be believed. Such prowess was respected. And with me giving credit to Niklaus's ingenuity, he was spared the beatings for a time. One instance my father called me out on it. In that moment I nearly bisected him in half but pulled back leaving him too wounded to delver Niklaus beatings for awhile. It wasn't long after that then Henrik, the youngest of us, went to see the local wolf pack change with Niklaus under a full moon."

My words drifted off again before I heard Lexi sigh and I caught myself. "They tore him apart but left Niklaus alone as he smelled like them. Their alpha was his biological father after all. The next day we lit the pyre and watched him go to the gods we prayed to. That night at his banquet of honor we were fed blood and killed by a surprise attack of our father. Each of us either had their throat slit like me or were ran through."

I looked up. "They didn't learn after I was freed from my shackles and left. With the spell broken I saw no reason to be near such people. Later during my travels with Damon here I heard the stories of my siblings and worked it out. When Niklaus turned he killed and triggered his werewolf curse. Being both vampire and werewolf he was the first true hybrid. Apart of both species but stronger than both. Esther and Mikael must've cursed him as his blood would make more hybrids if they hadn't. So, to answer your question there is a curse, it's just not on all vampires and werewolves."

Stefan spoke up. "It's on Klaus."

I nodded. "Esther tried searching for me after I'd left and at several times I shattered spells and curses she's tried throwing at me while I was away but seeing as she stopped I'm assuming Niklaus killed her. I'd have done it myself but I never wished to see her face again."

They all went quiet for a while and I told them. "If it's the doppelgänger he needs then he'll need a vampire and a werewolf to sacrifice with her. To represent his dual natures. A witch will need to perform the spell as well. Plus the moonstone Katherine has. All that and a full moon will see Niklaus freed of the curse."

Damon frowned. "Is there a way to stop it without getting everyone killed?"

I shrugged. "Sure. I can guarantee Elena lives if I have John to sacrifice in her place. A linking spell will take his life instead of hers as she dies. At sunrise the spell will take effect and she'll be alive again. As for the werewolf and vampire? We can pick a vampire up nearly anywhere but a werewolf is different. Tyler Lockwood is special as it is. His pack or bloodline I should say is dwindling and there aren't many of his kind left."

Damon clapped his hands. "I'm cool with his violent and gruesome death. Anyone else have a problem there? No? Good."

Rose asked. "You're going to do this then? Call Klaus here?"

I frowned. "Why should I? No, if he shows up we have a solution and besides, we can't exactly kill him."

Damon frowned. "Why not?"

Lexi snorted. "Because I like living!"

Damon looked stumped. "What does that have to do with-"

I sighed. "If you kill an original all those from their bloodline die as well. Everyone they've ever turned and so on and so forth. It's a rather nasty way to go."

Rose spoke up. "Well Niklaus turned me and I turned Lexi and Katherine so that's out of the question."

Stefan frowned. "Isn't Elijah an original? Did we just kill a whole line?"

I snorted. "We're not that easy to kill dingus. It takes special wood from the white oak tree. The same tree Esther bound our life forces to. A stake threw the heart with that will kill us. Anything less will hurt but we'll recover."

Damon frowned. "I'm guessing mid eighteen hundreds cost racks aren't exactly made of white oak are they?"

I shook my head. "Nope, and considering they burned the original white oak tree down there's very little chance you'll find some. Shits rare even by my standards. I mean, I could grow it but then it'd take a hell of a lot of magic and killing Lexi isn't on my todo list."

Damon snorted. "Hey!"

I shrugged. "In your terms, I'm sleeping with her so unless you're changing gender and putting out your spare blood."

He smirked. "Why thanks, a girl likes to be noticed."

I shook my head at his antics and told Rose. "Go snatch a ring from Damon's room. I'm sure you can find one that fits and that you like. I'll turn it into a daylight ring for you. After all you're Lexi's friend."

Lexi smiled. "Isn't he the sexiest when he's being all nice."

Rose smiled. "I'm more into bad boys so not really."

I growled and she took off. Damon asked. "Why my stuff?"

I shrugged. "Stefan doesn't keep a lot of stuff from the girls he's killed while I know for a fact you went through a phase where if it was shiny you pocketed it. Yours was the obvious choice."

He shrugged and Rose came back down with a ring. I chuckled. "Biker chicks eighty nine. A good choice."

It was a chain link ring with a skull on it. Damon smiled. "She was delicious. Her and her girlfriend. Good times."

I chuckled. "Didn't you get shot for that one?"

He nodded. "Her pretend boyfriend caught us in bed and got a little cranky. So I drank him her and their entire gang dry. They were murderers anyway."

I shrugged. "A decent thing to do then. Anyway, you'll have to wait until daylight for me to do the spell then it's all sunshine and puppy dogs, if Stefan hasn't drank the all by then."

Damon smirked and I took the ring. We talked about random things until Lexi decided drinking needed music and from there well, she and Rose ended up dancing on the ceiling to Bon Jovi.

Rose was a bit freaked when she got up there but Lexi calmed her down while they danced. As if my magic would fail. Anyway when the sun finally came up I brought them down and charmed her ring before tossing it to her.

The smile on her face when she stepped into the sunlight was pretty big. She even cried a bit. Lexi and I left just as Elena got there while Damon was still a bit scared Elijah would come and shank his ass. I told him to change the deed to the house to someone living.

It was as simple as that and he was off doing something with a smile. Sighing I felt the witches arriving in town not long after day break. Lexi asked what was wrong and I told her. "The Martin witches are in town."

She shrugged. "That's not our problem."

I nodded. "True but they'll want to get in good with Bonnie and I've forbid her to use magic outside my supervision for a reason. If they try to tempt her they'll die ahead of their time, I don't particularly care why they're here."

She sighed. "Then they die, don't expect me to stop you. I may not like killing humans as a rule but there are limits to even my patience."

I grinned and pulled her into my arms with a growl that had her rubbing against me.