-He didn't just drop a bloody vase! He murdered me!-

Kol wakes with a gasp, heart in his throat as he falls off the side of the bed and lands in a heap. He heaves for air as he stares at the dust laying spread out under the bed.

He'd dreamt of Davina again.

Tomorrow- tomorrow he can go see her.

And stalk her creepily from a distance, though he'd rather try not to.

His phone digs painfully into his hip, so he rolls over and pulls it out to see the time. Three AM. He groans against the headache thundering inside his skull and rises to his feet, looking around. He's in the room Elijah had shown him yesterday.

Walking over to the closet he finds a mixture of different long-sleeved shirts in different muted colours and brands all scream that Elijah ordered them for him. Eventually, he picks out a black shirt and pants before finding a jacket in the back and pulls it on. On his way out he grabs a blood bag, squeezing it down, his headache eases as he finally eats more.

Cold air draws pleasantly into his lungs as he leaves the grounds behind him and runs into the forest towards town, slowing his pace once houses begin appearing before him. Something… Feels wrong about him, like something is crawling over his head with painful thin legs. He claws at his scalp, scratching pleasantly and smoothing out his hair with clawed fingers.

He steals the two biggest watering cans he can find and compels a credit card and a lighter of some human. He finds himself a gas station and fills the cans with gas before pocketing the card in case he'll need more gas. Then he speeds, faster than a human eye could follow, but carefully as not to spill, back out of town.

Wickery Bridge is an eyesore as it appears before him, he isn't sure which parts of it is made from the white oak so he rips the Mystic Falls sign, that he knows holds white oak- as it was the origin of the stake that had killed him-out of the ground, and throws it onto the bridge. The sign is joined by all the wooden parts of the bridge that he can find before he pours the gas out over the pile and spreads it around the bridge. Finding he'll need more, he runs back to town with empty watering cans and fills them back up a few times. Then, when he finally deems that he's poured enough over the bridge, Kol retreats to a safe distance. He lights the lighter he'd nicked and throws it at the bridge., watching as it immediately bursts into fire, spreading out and engulfing the entire structure.

He watches the fire with a wide grin and gasps when a bright light and hot pain flash through his skull "Agh!" Kol falls to his knees, clutching his head and looks up wildly through his lashes, searching for the witch who's attacked him. He finds only trees lit by the pyre he's ignited, and then an image of himself inspecting the ruined shirt from the night before takes over his vision. The image moves like the old motion pictures, snapping through as he talks with Finn and Esther. The sound is foggy, as if he's underwater at first but gradually clears up until the reel stops as his neck broke and he fell unconscious.

Kol blinks against leaves sticking to his face, he must have fallen when the vision ambushed him. Because he's laying on the forest floor, watching as a small bug crawls over his arm that lies out over the ground in front of him.

Esther's spell must have failed. Which is impossible.

Kol is a vampire and so he's got no magical defence. Sure they hold some power over the mind, they can compel, project memories, and a lot more. But they're still defenceless against magic, Esther had presumably not thought magic would be a problem when she tried to make them "safe."

He'll look into it later, the issue holding him is that-

Esther had trusted him, And that really is the biggest punch in the gut, she'd trusted him. His mother who always speaks- who had always spoken of how his siblings are better than Kol- how they're more noble, human, good, kind, respectful, loyal, polite, generous- even when he was small and only wanted her to teach him magic.

(She'd refused to teach him for a long while, all despite her own practice after Freya was taken. Eventually, she'd relented, but only because he'd begun causing accidents with magic he didn't know how to control. Even then, most of the things he'd learned were from figuring out how to work his magic himself, basing his experimentation on observations of Esther and refusing to leave when she did magic. He'd even begged the witch Ayana to teach him, she'd refused on grounds that it was Esther's duty. After that, he'd begun secretly paging through both their grimoires at night.

A thousand years later, after hearing Freya's story, some part of him- the part that despite his will, still craves approval- had reasoned that her behaviour back when he was little, was out of fear that Dahlia would come to take him. Having met Freya and seen her magic, Kol can reasonably say he'd been almost as powerful as her- and maybe, a traitorous part of his mind whispers, that had scared his mother. But then he was dead and there was only blood, anger, and despair)

Wincing, he sits up and eases a palm over his face to remove leave and rub out the discomfort residing in his brain.

Esther's memory spell had failed.

And Kol remembers- except it doesn't change anything, as he already knew her plans and he still doesn't know what to do. He would like to go talk with her, convince her to just stop at making them human, but he knows it's impossible. Esther has never been one for seeing her own faults, she'd rather see them in everyone but herself.

Elijah and Nik can take care of it. He decides, knowing that Elijah will be suspicious enough to bring in Rebekah and learn of Esther's plan. They don't actually need him to be there, he can just lie around the mansion and wait for it all to be over.

And Kol needs something to distract himself with, he decides as he watches the fire burn up the last piece of wood sitting in the middle of the large flickering fire reaching out over the creaking bridge. Maybe he should just cook, or compel himself a Playstation or Xbox? Or maybe he should just get drunk out of his mind- except the last time he'd gone to drink his brain away in this town, Nik had been lured away and Kol had been daggered.

There's nothing left but ash and charcoal once the fire is discovered and the fire department is sent to douse the flames before they can potentially reach the surrounding forest and start a forest fire. Not that they would, Kol isn't an amateur. (and the five trees that are currently gone were all on purpose.)

He watches from the sidelines as Sheriff Forbes arrives at the scene and signs are brought over to stop drivers from driving off the ruined road and into the water below. Most of it may have been metal, but Kol doesn't trust the doppelganger not to find a splinter of white oak, just to kill them, so it all goes.

He waits until all the humans leave to double-check for surviving wood, posing as a curious bystander in case someone sees him. Finding nothing he leaves as the sun begins peeking out over treetops, regaining his stolen memories must have knocked him out for a long time.

No matter.

-:-

The zombies are dying, getting pelted down without mercy as he awkwardly turns the door handle and pushes his shoulder against the front door. He's playing Plants versus Zombies of all things. He hasn't played it in years, and usually, Davina would be the one to rob him into doing it. But there his is, playing it while carrying two bags, one hanging off the palm of his hand that clutches at his phone and one gripped in his left hand.

(he's been doing a lot of things Davina would do with him the past two days- and it's only been two days, it feels like weeks have passed.)

"Kol," Esther says, suddenly there at the top of the stairs, his head snaps up to her, startled, he almost drops the bags and phone. "Where've you been? We were worried when you weren't home."

"Needed some fresh air, no need to worry about me mother." he deflects and taps the screen of his phone a few times to collect sun energy. He listens carefully, picking up the heartbeats of the inhabitants of the house, and picks up a steady slow beat of someone sleeping from Rebekah's room- that means Rebekah didn't fall into Damon's clutches.

Good.

"I always worry about you Kol," Esther says and descents the stairs to join him. She steps over to him and peers down at the bags in his hands, seeing the odd assortment of plastic and paper packaging she frowns. "What are these?"

"Breakfast, hope you're hungry mom." he mocks and swiftly leaves for the kitchen, once inside he places his bags on the counter and runs out at vampire speed, nicking one of the house keys before returning and locking the doors that lead to the kitchen. He needs some privacy.

He mechanically spreads out the foods he'd bought with the humans credit card and pulls the bags over to the far end once they're free for food, the Xbox and games remaining untouched in them. Kol prepares the food blankly, focusing on the task to distract from his issues about being in the past.

Sometime later as he's robotically flipping too many pancakes, Rebekah knocks on the left side door and shouts for him to come out already because 'the smell is driving her crazy,' and 'Why did he have to choose such a stupid hobby anyway?'

Then, before he knows it, he's leaning against a cupboard staring blankly at an assortment of Davina's favourite breakfasts.

He needs a life besides his wife and making spells for her company to sell- which is technically still about her. Really, Kol just never found anything he enjoys quite like being with Davina, magic, cooking, and killing people.

And Davina frown at him for killing innocent people, so everything that remains can be in some way connected back to Davina. Davina is- well Davina, magic reminds him of her and their amazing ability to magically work out any problem with her power and his knowledge. Cooking and baking he started because of her and general boredom- but still- Davina, and killing mindlessly- which, while fun, is something he swore off on.

Wiping the tear from his eye Kol turns and forces his emotions down and thinks about his siblings (it's easier, he never missed them much when he was separated from them for long periods of time. But the ones here aren't the same people he knows, much less settled and much more ruled by their bloodthirsty vampire nature. He misses the future versions of his siblings somewhat. Especially since he came from a sombre but joyful last dinner with Nik, to land in the spiteful and backstabbing past.) He quickly begins cleaning up after himself, giving his eyes time to return to normal. Once he finishes he quickly slaps some water in his face and pulls the hot foods from the low heating oven and out on the central island in the big kitchen. Then he grabs some plates and forks, knives, spoons, whatever he feels might be needed and puts them over beside the foods. He quickly piles something up on a plate for himself and pours some hot syrupy blood into a flask.

He checks the time- around 8 am- and unlocks the right side door, the one that leads out into one of the living rooms, and immediately Bekah appears before him with narrowed eyes.

"Are you trying to torture us with the smell of pancakes brother?"

"I certainly did not plan on that, besides sister, the pancakes only make up around a tenth of what I made," he smirks and lifts the flask in his hand, "Bon appetit- if you dare."

Bekah scoffs, "You wouldn't poison your foods, have you no shame as a cook? Would you poison your baby sister?"

Kol remembers the time a witch who'd been secretly plotting Davina's death had dined with them, and he poisoned the amazing piece of veal he'd grilled with something he knew wouldn't affect Davina. The man had been dead three days later and his wife happily alive. "I would."

"Kol, you're finished." Esther says as she comes up.

"Have fun." he says and leaves, looking at her is worse than chores.

He flops down on a chair and sips at his blood, finding his appetite lacking before nipping at his useless foods, slowly his siblings and mother joins him, making conversation as he scrolls through the odd sites made by real witches that Davina and he had found back in the future. Nik is the only of siblings who refrain from eating the human foods, instead, he sits with a glass of blood as he sketches spells. Elijah is all too polite to refuse the food, Finn follows mother who is human and therefore does need the food, and Rebekah does enjoy the taste of human foods on the rare occasion.

"Thank you for the food brother," Elijah says, suddenly addressing Kol for the first time in ten minutes. "I'm quite surprised, this is very much unlike you."

"Yeah well," Kol says searching for anything that his past self would say about himself cooking- only problem, his past self had no reason to ever even try cooking. "Uh- it is reminiscent to magic. Gathering ingredients for a spell- or food." he lies.

Elijah doesn't look convinced, neither does Nik or Rebekah, only Esther and Finn. But then again they do know about his longing for what he once was, unlike the rest of his siblings.

He needs to control himself before Elijah does something with the suspicious look he throws at Kol every time he opens his mouth near him.

"I think it's delightful," mother says and, Kol who's focused on Elijah catches the look that flashes over his face for a beat before his brother flattens his facial expression. Kol would kill someone to not be out of practice with keeping his emotions down. "I think we should all endeavour to find hobbies so we don't just lounge around doing nothing all day."

"Bekah does have school Monday," Kol says, "She'll probably make some friends now that we're settling, and get to do all those girly things they do in my- what did you call them Rebekah? Chick flicks?"

Esther looks surprised, "You're attending the high-school?"

"Yes mother," Rebekah says, head held high despite Nik's judgemental stare. "I've been making human friends, like Matt whom I invited yesterday."

Successfully turning the conversation from himself, Kol looks back down at the phone in his hand and writes down a quick warning message on one of the spells posted. If the witches who posted the spell would use it, they'd end up killing themselves.

He misses his siblings. The ones that sat with him as they spend time together before Nik's sacrifice. They're his siblings, Bekah with Marcel, finally allowing herself something, Nik with his daughter, having finally found something to keep him going- even if that is going into death- Elijah, whom Kol doesn't think he can ever really forgive for what he did, but who is also so different from the strangers sitting before him.

Kol is truly alone for the first time in years.

-Little Brother, you always did love a dramatic entrance-

"Kol," Klaus says, stepping out in front of the television. He ignores Kol's quick and rude comment to move his arse, standing there until Kol's character on the screen dies. Gunned down it seems. "Your game is getting on my nerves, go do something else."

Kol puts the controller down with a soft snarl, "Well I'm bored Nik, and you just ruined my kill streak."

"Is killing in a video game really equivalent to the fun I remember we used to have slaughtering humans?" Klaus smirks, remembering how he and his dearest little brother would make a game of chasing and hunting down humans as they fled.

Kol leans back in the sofa, spreadning his arms over the back, he studies his nails disinterested, "Well there is a nice hunting element, Nik," he says with a lazy blink, he hasn't looked at him even once. "You should try it, it simulates the feeling of hunting quite nicely."

There's no bratty reply to rile Klaus up, really, Klaus had suspected he'd be able to start a fight or anything by ruining his game. Truly Klaus is finding his brother's new sad and demure state disturbing and forewarning.

"If you're bored brother, why don't we go have some fun? Mother seems woefully distracted by something, which leaves the whole town ours for the taking." he offers, pulling closer to Kol.

Kol rolls his eyes, stands and walks away. Avoiding him. "Not interested, sorry. Go play alone." Klaus follows as his brother wanders and sits down in another chair, pulling out his phone. He waves his hand dismissively, ordering for Klaus to leave.

"You're coming with me," Klaus says, leaving no room for disobedience. He'd threaten Kol with a dagger to the heart, but mother was right, it'll take time for their family to come together, and threatening to dagger his siblings doesn't further those goals. He grabs the phone from Kol's hand instead, pocketing it in his jacket. "Or I'll make your life the bore of a lifetime."

"Really Nik?" Ah, there's some of that familiar tone that is followed by something bratty. "You do realise I don't need technology to entertain myself right? Or have I acclimated to the new age so well you think me one of those technology addicted teens? You must be desperate for anything to entertain yourself with. But then, you must be an expert in having fun alone by now, you've got hundreds of years of practice after all. How bored you must be when I'm daggered, if this how you react from a few hours alone," His eyes closes. "Now leave me alone."

Before his brother can react, Klaus picks him up and runs through the mansion at vampyric speed. Picking up Kol and his jacket before taking his own shoes on and gapping Kol's, slapping the odd-looking red shoes Kol had found, into his chest. He speeds out, holding onto Kol as he struggles and finally dumps him on his ass in an alley just a few meters from the town square.

His brother looks up from the small cloud of dust his landing created and his furious expression freezes as he spots the town square sitting firmly on the other side of the road. Kol's anger slowly slips off his face as he sits on the ground and he pulls on his shoes, tying the laces with quick fingers. He finishes and closes his eyes as his hands fall limp by his sides, fingertips feeling at the dirty ground. He breathes deeply, something Klaus has seen humans do in moments of intense emotions, whether to quell fear, anger, or happiness.

Klaus doesn't think he's seen his brother look that vulnerable since they were turned. Maybe before, but Kol had always been odd, even as a witch. And like Klaus, the only thing he'd feared was Mikael.

Then Kol stands, a hard and determined expression on his face. "What do you want to do then?" he asks, his expression bleeding away into something not quite right for his brother, but still recognizable as Kol's band of mischief.

"You've come to your senses then?"

"Sure, why not." Kol says the same words he'd used when Klaus had demanded his loyalty right after his undaggering. He's since then heard it many times, the uncaring attitude like he's got better places to be than having fun with his big brother. He used to beg for attention all the time, now he avoids them like the plague. Only speaking to them when first questioned, always far away in his own world when they're gathered.

"Come, let's drink the grill out of business." Maybe a bit of alcohol will loosen Kol's tongue enough to reveal what's going on with him.

"Ugh," Kol complains and pulls his jacket on, following Klaus. "pretty sure it doesn't work like that."

He grins and leads his brother inside, walking him over beside the vampire hunter and his girlfriend. Kol glances at them, his gaze lingering far too long for it to be socially acceptable.

Well, Klaus thinks and looks the woman over, she is Kol's type. Why his gaze shifts to Alaric too, Klaus can't guess, the man isn't Kol's type. Alaric notices them immediately, of course he does, Klaus did loan his body once.

"Can I have the phone back now?" Kol asks the second he diverts his eyes. "I was actually doing something you know." his eyes shifts around, as if watching something.

"Staring at yourself in the blank screen?" Klaus snorts and orders them a few bottles to start off with.

"Texting an idiotic witch who thinks she's good enough to make a spell for invisibility, she's going to rip herself in half. So, will you hand the phone over?" Kol gives him a truly impressive bitchy face, it's times like these that his resemblance to Rebekah is most prominent.

"When did you become a bleeding heart?" he questions and pushes the phone at Kol with a glass almost filled to the brim with delicious golden liquid.

"Since she's paying whoever can fix her spell." Kol says and defiantly drowns the whole glass of bourbon in one go, ending it with a sharp and vicious smile. Daring Klaus to comment.

Klaus hums and watches his brother grow more frustrated as he writes on the screen, his fingers even moving to vampire speed after, maybe a few minutes of non verbally arguing with the one on the other side of the screen.

"She's a bloody moron, her calculations are wrong and she's not accounting for the water in the air, and somehow getting the brilliant idea that oxygen is the most important component," Kol groans his head slowly dipping with the rush of intoxication. It's a bit early, Klaus notes, usually takes ten times more for Kol to begin slipping like that. "Hey you people," Kol suddenly says, practically climbing over Klaus to stick his face at Alaric and the woman. "Do you have a pen or something?"

"What?" Alaric says ridiculously confused at suddenly being addressed.

"Well this moron isn't taking my very generous advice on her faulty spell, I'm going to fix it. So- pen? Yes or no? It's a simple question, isn't it Niky?" Kol turns his head, his forehead colliding with Klaus's chin.

That's enough, Klaus thinks and shoves his brother back into his own stool.

Kol sulks, but brightens when the woman holds out a marker, a grin cracking his face open as he pulls some napkins from the stack sitting an arms length away. He folds one out and begins drawing, quick lines with squiggles here and there, all things that make little sense to Klaus.

"Why did you do that?" Alaric says to his girlfriend as he begins dragging her from them. She's curious, the girlfriend replies.

Watching his brother draw out a spell is quite something, Klaus reflects as more napkins join the first in an increasingly growing spell. He'd heard that he, Klaus, looked quite like he was possessed by higher beings when he painted with his enemies blood. Even dunk as he is, Kol does look like he knows exactly what he's doing, like it's the easiest thing in the world to draw up a spell. Just like that.

This had been Kol's life once, back before they were turned. Back when it wasn't uncommon to see Kol drawing out spells in the dirt or onto trees.

Klaus hasn't seen his little brother write a spell in a thousand years.

Then he's apparently done, as he stands and holds the phone over the spell, snapping a few pictures. "Idiot." he growls as he pokes around his phone before placing it screen first into the spell and laying his head out over it.

"I feel really intoxicated Nik, are you sure they aren't doing anything to the drinks?" he should be clearing up quicker, it's like his supernatural metabolism has grinded to a halt.

"We've been drinking the same thing Kol," Klaus pats him on the back once, "It would just seem that you've become a lightweight."

"Ugh," Kol moans and pushes the half-filled glass from him his eyes dart around the grill. "I've become a sad drunk, Nik this is horrible. Dagger me now, put me out of my misery."

"Sorry brother," he lies, "But you're quite too amusing like this."

"Brother," Kol repeats, not to him, but like an echo of a long-treasured word as he sits up, leaning his side and elbow to the counter. "I miss my siblings."

"We haven't gone anywhere brother."

"But they have," he reiterates and blinks, turning his head towards Klaus with more control than he's been granted the last half hour. His metabolism must've finally begun kicking in. "Where's Bekah?"

"She went out with Elijah," Klaus answers, "Now stop this dull questioning."

Kol nods, his jaw clenches with the hand he grips at the table, he looks around and then turns to Klaus. "What was I saying?"

"About how you miss your dear siblings."

"Bloody hell," Kol says and fiddles with the marker in his hands before laying it away and taking a sip of his glass as he looks over the spell he'd written with new eyes. "Why'd I ever miss you wankers?"

Klaus thinks for a moment, about the betrayal that led to them daggering Kol the last time. "Because we're family."

His brother looks away sharply, "Do you think they serve any blood here?" he asks.

Blood? Klaus thinks, that's what's making his brother intoxicated, he doesn't have enough blood in his system. Weakened. When he thinks back, the most blood he'd seen Kol drink was the bags on the night mother came back. "Not likely, how about we go outside and get a snack then?"

Kol snorts, like the idea is ridiculous. "No, I'll just end up killing someone then. Mother would be furious and give me aneurysms," he chuckles. "I wonder if it would be enough for her to commit filicide." Kol laughs then, nonsensically.

"Come on Kol, when have you ever said no to a little hunting?" Klaus groads, there Kol does it again, rejecting fresh warm blood.

"So this is your plan? Drink the bar empty and end the night with a bit of hunting?" Kol says and watches him, eyes searching Klaus. After a bit, he nods, hopefully satisfied with what he finds. "Let's head back and get something to eat, then we can go find someone to hunt. I haven't had a good hunt in two years! My time. We can just compel the human to forget afterwards."

Just as Klaus' hopes rose, they fell crashing down. "Sparing your prey is no fun."

"You sure that's not the werewolf talking?" Kol grins, easy and vicious as he bounces off his seat and moves on the toes of his feet. His fluttering about isn't enough to distract him as a very familiar blonde walks in. "Come on Nik! Let's leave this dump!" Klaus stops him.

Kol stills at his side and jerks his head to watch Caroline walk towards them, she hasn't noticed them yet. "Seriously?" his brother whispers and sits back down again as the blonde comes close enough.

"Caroline!" Klaus says, drawing her attention, and feels his disappointment at Kol disapparate.

Caroline stops, a look of sweet annoyance settling on her features. "Oh, it's you," she says and crosses her arms.

He offers her a drink and she refuses him. "I'd rather die of thirst but thanks," her eyes slide to Kol and lightens visibly. "Kolby, nice to see you again." she says and leaves.

"Kolby?" Klaus asks once she's gone, he'd never heard his brother referred to as Kolby. Hell he'd never seen Caroline be so happy to see him or any other of his siblings. Though the expression couldn't be described as happy, mealy happier than the ones Klaus receives.

"Hmm, just a prank." Kol mutters, his eyes sliding around and focusing on the hunter playing pool with his girlfriend.

"Why does she like you?" Klaus demands, "You're the least likeable of all of us, even Finn, the dull bore he is, is more likeable than you!"

"Well brother, maybe I'm actually the most likeable of us, and you're just the dull one." Kol grins.

"Kol" he warns, if his brother is trying to do something to Caroline, he needs to know. Kol always did have the most devious and convoluted hunting plans, and he won't have Caroline trapped in one of his brothers' webs.

"Fine," Kol groans, "it's probably because I haven't tried to kill her or her friends. You should try it someday Nik, does wonders for your personal life. Who would have guessed that people actually like having their friends safe from immortal vampires?"

Klaus stares at him, combating the urge to stab his brother with a white oak ash dagger right here and now.

Kol pales, at his look. "If you wanted the girl to like you, you should just try to not kill her friends Nik," he says hastily. "You think witches trusted me because I ran around killing them all the times? No, I showed them a sympathetic side when you lot- that's you, Rebekah, and Elijah- went around killing them, it really was quite easy. 'Oh little witch, I'm so sorry my wretched brother murdered your ancestor, why don't we search for a way to kill him together?' The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that."

It's a bit late for that, Klaus thinks, not missing that Kol had described himself as his enemy. Or that he talked of killing him.

A mischievous smile spreads on his little brothers face, "Of course you could just wait sixty years for her boyfriend to die- oh wait- you turned him into one of your hybrids, so the lad will never die. Don't look at me like that Nik, most relationships in the new decade only seem to last twenty years at the maximum, then in twenty years, if she can ever forgive you, you've got your spot-" At his look Kol backtracks.

-"Or you could just stage an accident and be rid of him."

Klaus thinks it over, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He could use that, "Are you offering to kill my hybrid?" he asks, he knows Rebekah had asked him to kill her date yesterday until she'd predictably changed her mind like a lovesick puppy.

The snort his brother releases is as insolent as its mocking. "Sorry brother, I don't fancy being hunted for yet another decade. These Mystic Falls people are like fleas, always out for blood and damned hard to get rid off. If your, Rebekah, and Elijah's stories are to be believed. You're solely on your own in this endeavour."

"Well," Klaus says as he stands, putting his glass down. He can't believe he's about to follow Kol's advice and play nice with the others so Caroline will stop looking at him with annoyance and apprehension. "You stay here."

"Not bloody likely." Kol hisses and follows him, leaving the marker and drawn on napkins behind him on the table.

-Attempting to be a better man for your girlfriend?-

The walls open up as he steps outside, the feeling of slowly being squished by shrinking walls dissipating. "I'm going home, have fun being rejected Nik, text if you need anything." Kol says and finally leaves that damned grill behind him as Nik crosses over to speak with the girl Caroline.

Sniffing the air a few times as he walks, Kol clenches his jaw as his sharp teeth fall down. It's the vampire hunter following him- why hadn't they gone for Nik? He'd left him there so they wouldn't go for Kol.

No matter.

He knows they're coming.

Slipping into an alley he leans up against a dirty wall and works to retract his teeth. It doesn't work and keeping his eyes from bulging with blood becomes harder as the hunter bends the corner and freezes when he sees Kol watching him.

"Saltzman right?" Kol asks and sees the hunter's eyes drawn to the noticeable teeth behind his lips. He smiles wide, showing off one of his most deadly weapons. "Any reason you're following me? You do realize that if you poke me with anything I'll have to retaliate right? Seems like a waste of a perfectly good vampire hunter, so- why don't you skedaddle?"

"Sorry, but I can't." the hunter says, giving the expected response.

Kol sighs and runs ahead, slamming his body into the hunter, launching him at the brick wall behind him. He hears something crack. "Sorry about that." Kol mutters and pointedly ignores the blood seeping down to the dirty ground before running all the way back home, too fast for the hunter to follow.

Once inside he flops on a couch and checks the time. It's just creeping in on eight, loads of time for his siblings to end Esther's spell.

Still, worry creeps in on him.

"Stop bloody thinking brain." He says out loud and quickly rises to his feet, taking long strides to the kitchen he grabs one of Elijah's bottles of Scotch downing a tenth of it in one go. It burns pleasantly on the way down. Quickly setting it aside he pulls out blood bags and sniffs at one after ripping the cap off, discomfort and nausea rumbles in his stomach as he places the bag away from himself and stacks a few glasses up in a pyramid.

Kol steps back and sticks his thumb into his mouth and gnaws at the pad with his flat prey teeth as he stares at the assortment spread out before him. The smell from the open blood bag reaches him and his fangs fall, nicking his thumb. Blood spreads into his mouth and he grimaces, pulling out his thumb again.

Kol takes up the blood bag and hesitates before squeezing blood out over the empty glass'. Blood tickles everywhere, creating quite a mess.

Kol grins.

Oh if Davina was here she'd scold him for making a mess before squirting blood at him. Really, she doesn't have room to talk, playing with his foods like that- it's his food, he should be the only one allowed to play with it.

His grin drops off his face, his jaw clenching and Kol closes his eyes, taking a deep breath and unhinging his jaw. He watches the blood drip down glass and carefully pushes away his grief and despair for fun.

He fails.

A scream tears out of him as he throws a blood bag across the room, watching it explode before taking a swing of Elijah's priced alcohol and feeling his mind lose its focus.

He picks his phone and sets on some music as his siblings' supply of alcohol steadily disappears into his body. He dances on blood as he sips at the blood saved in his pyramid of glass, eventually slipping on the slippery floor and hitting his head against the counter as he falls.

He blinks groggily at the ceiling and glares at the drops of blood dotting the white ceiling in an odd pattern that kind of looks like a fox if he squints. A drop above him drips down, hitting him in the eye.

Kol finches, and reaches for his phone as his body begins filtering out the alcohol and his mind slowly returns to him. He shuts the music off and freezes at the footstep stilling on the other side of the door.

They followed him. Kol thinks furious, pulling a long kitchen knife from the magnets hanging above the counters. Re-adjusting his grip, finding it difficult to hold onto the knife properly with all the blood, Kol stalks to the door and kicks it open. The door slams into the wall and bounces back. There's a screech of surprises further away, in a different spot than the footstep had sounded.

Pushing away the door he kicks out and blocks the dagger shoved at his chest with the knife, guiding the dagger up, away from himself and out of his attacker's palm. Twisting the knife in his hand into a reverse grip, Kol slices and blood spouts from Saltzman's chest. Ready to dig the knife through his neck this time, killing him instantly, Kol's arm stops just centimetres from the fragile human neck as a familiar vampire struggles against his arm. Somehow summoning the strength to hold Kol's arm hostage, or maybe it's his own intoxicated state that has him at a disadvantage.

There's a twang of a bow being released and Kol jerks around, Damon, still hugging at his arm like a koala would its mother, flings around with him as he stops the wooden arrow. He throws it aside and jumps as Damon shouts-

"Now!"

-just barely evading the forward thrust of a white oak dagger aimed at his back.

Kol kicks Saltzman in the head, knocking him down and the dagger falls from his hands. Damon shouts on his arm again, suddenly biting into Kol's shoulder, spraying blood and covering Kol way more than he already is. With a hiss, Kol digs his fingers through skin and flesh and into Damon's collarbone, tensing his fingers around the bone, he rips.

Damon falls from his arm and Kol kicks him in the head for good measure.

He turns to the last human and screeches as vervain is sprayed in his face, something wooden pierces his arm and suddenly he isn't in Nik's home.

Elena and Jeremy Gilbert stand before him, white oak dagger raised before plunging into his chest. Ready to kill him. Then he's dead.

No-

NO!

Fire burns over his skin, bringing agony as his being is torn to shreds, his mind stretches, fighting the drag to the other side. It rips at him mercilessly, stretching his limbs, pulling at his skin until it feels like it's being peeled off. He falls and grabs his head, clawing at his hair as his breath shortens out, coming out short before stopping. He gasps for breath like a fish on land, curling in on himself as tears run down the side of his eyes. His entire being screams with agony and torment.

He doesn't feel pressure digging in his back as his mind blanks out- and he disappears up in flames.

-my least favourite recurring nightmare-

Damon stares at the original laying a few meters from him as Kol Mikaelson stops quivering, his body desecrating as he falls limp. Damon thinks of the panic he'd seen on his face as he'd fallen and finds it a stark contrast to the easy teasing he'd aimed at Damon yesterday during their mom's ball.

"Alaric!" Alaric murderous doctor girlfriend shouts as she rushes over to Alaric. Damon rips his gaze from the original, ignoring his confusion and crawls to his feet, giving his collarbone laying discarded on the floor a painful glance. He slumps over by Alaric and bites into his wrist, holding it out over Alaric's mouth. There's nicely smelling blood slowly pooling under him from the deep cut Kol had sliced into his chest. Damon finds he hated the sight of it.

They watch as Alaric heals, his skin knitting together as he ingests Damon's blood. The doctor slumps at his side and sighs, closing her eyes as she rests her hands over his chest. Damon watches her for a beat and turns to the original, staring at him. The doctor had sprayed him with vervain, some of which had hit Damon too, stabbed him with a stake- and then he'd just fallen.

Pulling out his phone he quickly calls Stefan. "We got Kol." he breathes.

Stefan is silent for too long. "Elijah is here, he's talking with Klaus."

"What!?" Damon screams, the doctor flinches. "Are you telling me that Esther's linking spell didn't work- wait for me I'm coming." he hangs up.

Alaric stirrers besides him, a groan pulling out between his lips as he automatically pulls himself up into a more comfortable position. "What happened?" he asks and looks over at the original.

"He…" the crazy doctor hesitates, her arms shake as she lifts them off Alaric. "I somehow triggered a panic attack, it ma- made it easy to dagger him."

"An original had a panic attack?" Damon scoffs and rises to his feet. He peeks down his shirt, his collar is almost fully healed. "Anyway, you two take him. He's somehow not linked to his siblings, but that doesn't mean we can't use him later."

Damon doesn't wait for an acknowledgement and leaves. He needs to save Elena.

Alaric can take care of vampires alone.

-Kol, finally. Did you bring what I asked for?-

Rebekah walks out from the messy kitchen to see her brothers back. "Where the bloody hell is Kol?" she asks annoyed at the mess. Kol will have to fix that himself, the bloody useless twink.

Klaus nimbly throws a phone at her. "It seems he's fled." he says sourly, she knows he'd wanted their family together. First Finn betrays them, then Elijah leaves with guilt, now Kol has apparently left without a goodbye. Without even helping them with their mother.

Turning on the phone she sees Nik's messages with Kol light up.

Nik sent: Esther and Finn are attempting to kill us all, come to the attached location.

Hours later Nik had sent: They escaped but we foiled their schemes. Meet us back home.

Then Kol replies. Farewell, I'm leaving town.

Rebekah frowns at the screen but turns it off and places it on the table.

There's a sequel half finished, once I get a break from studying I might get around to actually finishing it. But until then, this is the end.

Sorry.