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Chapter Text

Klaus is happy. No he is. Mildly annoyed but mostly happy. Hope is flourishing, Freya helps. Rebekah is happy wherever she is, happy to be far from the evil brother. Elijah gas become the paragon of brooding righteousness and is avoiding him, but he will pull himself together sooner or later. It's not like Klaus will leave the little wolf to her curse for all time. Eventually he will break the curse. 

He did what he had to do to defeat their evil aunt. Did he not save Hope? Freya? Besides, Hayley tried to take his daughter away from him. She has to learn the consequences of it. 

Marcel is controlling the quarter and he couldn't care less. The witches are a problem but Davina knows not to cross them, not until she has a weapon that would work and right now, she doesn't have one. 

Life is good in French Quarter. 

That is until the bodies started turning up. First it was just the humans. Mugging gone wrong, the police thought for the first two. Then it was a rich man. It made the news. Serial killer on the loose, preying on men. But the pattern changed after that. It was a witch - a woman and a non-civilian. Davina accused the vampires. Then it was a fledgling vampire who died. Marcel thought it could be the wolves behind the killing.

 Klaus knows it's only a matter of time before a wolf turns up dead and it is going to be a bloodbath. Elijah asked if he was planning something and to cut it out before it got out of hand. Klaus is amused. He cannot wait to watch the train wreck. Freya called him a psychopath for it. Elijah walked off silently. 

He rolled his eyes but tried to track the killer from the crime scenes. Apart from a faint trace scent of sulphur, he couldn't find anything. The killer is good and is leaving no clues. 

Bored, he decided to stop by Rousseau's. Camille was tending the bar. He wouldn't get a chance to have one of his chats with her, he decided to head back to the compound. Relieve Freya of babysitting Hope, so she can get on with a patron and bring him home. Maybe the green eyed handsome fella that entered after him. He is definitely his sister's type. 

The stranger went straight to the bar and spoke to Camille, she pursed her lips and frowned. Klaus focussed on the conversation. 

"I told you yesterday, you could be a serial killer. I am not going anywhere with you." She let him down gently. 

"I am much worse than that sweetheart, but... Not to someone as pretty as you." The stranger pressed. 

She looked discomforted. Klaus walked to them. "The girl said no, mate." He spoke. 

Camille rolled her eyes, "I don't need a knight in shining armour Klaus."

"The girl can fight her battles, mate." The stranger mimicked his accent with a mocking lilt.

Klaus put a hand on his shoulder, the man raised an eyebrow and stared dangerously, "I think it's time you left." Klaus compelled him. 

The man's hands itched, for a moment, the room seemed dangerously charged. Some of the lights flickered in the bar. Then he relaxed, smiled and glanced back at Camille, "Still drinking, and one more." He ordered.

His compulsion didn't work. As far as Klaus could see, he is a human. He shared a look with Camille. 

"Jana said that you were very rude to her the morning after." She said casually, he could see her mixing something in the drink. 

Klaus knew what it was. It was the special concoction that she found in Father Kieran's room of collectibles. It contains a mixture of vervain, wolfsbane and hunter's blood. 

The man tutted, "Jana talks a lot. You shouldn't listen to her." 

"I should probably listen to you huh?" She pushed the drink to him.

The man smirked, "no, you should listen to yourself screaming my name later tonight." He winked and drank. He didn't choke on his drink. 

Not a vampire, werewolf or a warlock. 

Klaus raised his eyebrows, interesting. 

"... And that's my limit. You are cut off." She said. Eager to get him out of a crowded bar.

The stranger caught her hand, "if you are not putting out, then the least you can do is get me a few more drinks."

Klaus had enough, "why don't you get him a drink, Camille, on me." He turned to the man, "then, we can go somewhere and talk? How about that.” 

The man didn't spare him a glance, "Sorry, I am not interested in you at this moment. But you can come watch us if you are into sissy cuckold stuff." 

Klaus imagined ripping his heart out. Instead, he relaxed and smiled..(He is growing as a person. Take that Elijah.) It was the smile he had when Katerina ran, when Tyler Lockwood betrayed him and a hundred other things. Each time, the smile led to hearts being ripped out or elaborate revenge plans. 

The stranger was not intimidated in the slightest, even though Camille was looking around the bar.

"She thinks you are going to kill me." He told him, smirking. "Never pegged you for a twilight fan Camille. That your thing? Fangs?" He commented. 

The smile wiped off his face. The man knew him and yet decided to run his mouth. Either he's stupid or he has some kind of leverage, some secret weapon. 

"How did you read my mind? It shouldn't be possible, I am wearing vervain." Camille asked.

"Little vervain doesn't do much against me. Now about that drink...."

"Are you a witch?" He asked. If one of Davina's witches are misbehaving, he can use that against the teenager. 

"I freaking hate witches. Why don't you wait till I finish this before I kill you, bloodsucker." The stranger said seriously. 

"Yeah, not in my bar. Take it outside." Camille said. Trying to be casual, but her body language betrayed her nervousness.

"Now she thinks you are going to rip my heart out. You care so much....awww.... It's touching. You should be worried about your twilight reject boyfriend. What did he offer you for your affection? Immortality? Sparkling body? but you already have that."

Every word from this douchebag is grating on Klaus' nerves. 

Camille looked shocked. She never saw anyone speaks so brazenly about him. He is the big bad villain of the supernatural in this town after all. 

"No, I think I am going to drain all the blood from his body and compel him to kill himself." Klaus said to Camille. 

The stranger finally gave him a side look, "that's not going to work." He said as if he already considered that option. One of his arms tracing a pattern on the other. 

He straightened suddenly when he saw something past him. Klaus turned to see, but the stranger called to him, "why don't you stay here. Get one last drink, on me. Tell your goodbyes to Bella over there. I will come back in a few minutes to kill you. Sounds good? Break."

He didn't wait for his response and walked out of the bar, he was following a man Klaus hadn't noticed before 

"Klaus..." Camille called after him, her voice laced with concern. 

"He could be the serial killer." Klaus said and walked out. He didn't have to travel far. He saw him walk into an alley. The hybrid followed.  

The stranger was smoking. No really, His face was smoking. 

"You just don't learn your lesson. Do you Cole?" The green eyed stranger taunted the other man. 

"I did my research this time. Holy water, salt. I am prepared. I am going to send you back to hell." Cole said.

"Oh really?"

"Excorcizamus te, omnis immundus..." Cole started chanting, throwing holy water and salt at the demon. 

Klaus should've realized. The sulphur should've tipped him off. He's losing his edge. 

In his defence, he didn't meet a demon since the dark ages. He preferred to avoid them, they tend to have stupid plans, have no style and they always come with hunters on their tail. 

Klaus wondered why the demon wouldn't just kill the hunter. He glanced at the pavement and saw a devil's trap etched on it. He decided to let the hunter to deal with the demon and then kill the hunter. No loose ends and all that. He sat on the top of the building and observed.  

Klaus had seen a few exorcisms in his time. The demons screamed and writhed in pain as their essence is dragged to hell with metaphorical iron chains dipped in holy water and rimmed with salt. 

This demon, just kept grinning. He only grunted in pain when the hunter threw holy water at him. 

The original hybrid realized that this hunter is a novice. He should know by now that something is wrong. 

"... Te rogamus, audi nos!" The hunter shouted and finished.

The demon screamed by looking at the sky for 3 seconds theatrically. Then levelled his look at the hunter and curled his lips in a cruel grin. 

"Sorry, no black smoke." He drawled. 

"But I ... Exorcised you. It worked on the other demon." The hunter stammered. 

The demon looked vaguely amused, "Yeah... But I am not your run-of-the-mill demon either you know? I am a knight of hell and this is not a meat suit. Original." He said, straightening his shirt. 

"So why did you let me read the excorcism? Why did you let me torture you with the holy water?"

"I wanted see how far you came along in your hunter training Montoya. I have to say I'm very disappointed. First lesson, research. You researched only on demons, you didn't even bother to question the guinea pig demon about me? If you had, he would've told you all about me. I am quite famous. Second lesson, planning. You didn't even take me to an abandoned warehouse or some other suitably dramatic location,  You decided to exorcise me in a public alleyway, where innocents could just happen upon. But then, you don't care about innocents, do you? You just want revenge."

"This town has vampires, witches and weird wolves. They wouldn't care about another monster."

"Right right, you researched the place atleast. Good. You are right though, this town is infested."

Realization dawned on the hunter, "You killed those humans."

"And the witch, and that baby vamp. Oh don't give me that look. They were asking for it. Like a stripper asking for tips, they just want it shoved in their face."

"No... Just kill me. I failed again. Why are you still talking to me. This is the third time. Just kill me." The hunter cried. 

"Fourth lesson, always stall the monster when your plan fails, until backup arrives. Keep them talking."

"I have no backup." The hunter bit.

"Me either. Anyhoo, do you know what this is?" The demon pulled out an ancient blade, even from afar it looked like a ritualistic blade. 

"It's the blade you put against my throat last time and let me go. Will you finish the job this time or will you chicken out again?"

The demon continued as if he didn't hear the man, "this blade, can cut through almost anything."

"Can it kill you?" The hunter asked hopefully. 

"No. Ownership rules and all that. It answers only to me. It is a very hungry blade you see, and it needs to be fed. If this blade is sated, I am sated. Right now, I am very hungry." He growled. 

Klaus' family always called him paranoid. Sometimes they were right. This time, he knows that the demon doesn't want to kill the hunter to sate that blade's hunger. He will go after him and his family. 

The demon held the blade and stabbed the ground, right in the devil's trap, breaking it. The energy holding the demon rebounded and the blast caused all the trash cans to fall over, the hunter fell to the ground, while the demon walked out casually, the blade in his hands, and clearing the dust off his shirt. 

"Now, what do I do with you?" The demon pulled the hunter by the neck. 

Fifth lesson, strike when your enemy is distracted. Klaus jumped the building and snapped the neck of the demon. It took a lot of his strength, but Klaus didn't dawdle. 

"Lesson six, don't waste time talking." He said as the demon fell to the ground. Klaus took the blade from the demon's hands. 

Klaus should probably kill the hunter, but he had bigger things to worry about. "Leave the town. Don't ever come back, and learn from his lessons." He compelled the hunter. 

The hunter really was a novice, he didn't even have vervain on him. He walked right off.

Chapter Text

"It looks like bone." Freya commented.

"I tried to test it and the wound doesn't heal." Klaus showed his arm where there's a small cut.

"He said he's a knight of hell?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know there was an organizational structure in hell." Elijah spoke. Klaus shrugged. He didn't know either. 

"Do you recognise the brand?" Elijah asked them. They found a mark on the demon's wrist when they searched him for any weapons. He had a mini arsenal on himself. He had a knife strapped to his shoe, switch blades and lockpicks. He even carried a gun, what demon needed all these tools? 

The weirdest of them all is the mark on his arm. Freya touched it and withdrew her hand immediately. 'its old, very old and very very dark.' she said, her face ashen before hastily setting everything up to destroy the blade. 

"No, I must search in the grimoires. Let me destroy the weapon first. Incendia." The eldest sister spoke and fire erupted around the blade. 

The blade didn't burn. Freya kept pushing. 

When her nose started to bleed, Elijah asked her to stop. The blade wasn't even charred when the flames died out. 

"Demons are hard enough to shake and you brought one into our home Niklaus." Elijah scolded. 

"I didn't need to bring him. He already knows that the town is brimming with supernatural beings. How long would it before one of the low lifes blab their mouth that the Original family settled here?"  

"So what's the plan now?" His sister asked. 

"We keep him contained in a devil's trap. Find out his plans. Freya, can you please make one? Klaus will hide this weapon somewhere until we can figure out how to destroy it. I will keep watch." Elijah ordered. 

"Where will you hide it?" Freya asked. 

"Drop it in the lake? The cemetery? Church? The vault. Whatever fits my whimsy in the next ten minutes."

Klaus and Elijah kept watch. They didn't want to leave the demon alone. He was unconscious until he wasn't. He was suddenly alert. No sluggishness at all. Klaus saw this in Damon Salvatore. He saw it in Marcel after he came back from the war. This demon is/was a soldier. 

He took in his surroundings, at the ropes, doused in holy water that bound him to the chair and the devil's trap. 

"Where's Cole?" The demon asked in a deep, threatening voice. 

"Who?" 

"The idiot who tried to exorcise me."

Klaus was surprised. Did the demon care about the naive hunter?

"He's alive. If you are worried about him." Elijah spoke, gauging him.

The demon observed his brother and his eyes landed on him and recognition dawned. "So you ditched the bar tender for him? Can see the allure, but I prefer the busty blonde."

"Niklaus, you did not tell me that the demon has a crass uncivilized mouth."

"Come in here, brown eyes. I will show you what else my mouth can do."

Seeing his brother's discomfort, Klaus killed a smile. 

The hell creature's smile faded, "where's my blade?" He asked seriously. 

"Destroyed it." He lied. 

"You can't destroy it. Where is it?" He demanded pulling at the ropes, it burnt his skin, but he didn't seem as perturbed. The demon is used to pain. 

"I left it in my coat on the coat rack. Too bad you can't get it."

"I will lodge that rack up your ass before I claim my blade to cut your head off." The demon threatened. 

"That won't kill me sweetheart." He lied. 

"Oh, so you are a new age vampire like that baby vamp. Fine, stabbing through the heart worked. So maybe I will put that coat rack in your heart."

Elijah cleared his throat, it was his power move. "I think introductions are in order before we brainstorm killing ideas." He spoke calmly. 

"You first." The demon said. 

"You're in the trap." Elijah pointed out. 

"I don't blink first."

"Well then, I must fill the blanks myself. You are a knight of hell." Elijah started. 

"That don't make you Sherlock brown eyes. Your vamp boyfriend told you that."

They both pulled a disgusted face at being called boyfriends. 

"So brothers then." The demon smirked. 

Elijah liked to play the game, so did Klaus. They shared a look and sat by pulling chairs. "By your quick guess, I'd wager you have a brother as well." Elijah deduced. 

Multiple expressions flitted through the demon. Finally masked in the same cocky expression he had been sporting since last night. "I did."

"What did you do? You kill him?" Klaus pushed. 

"I became a demon." Is all he said after a minute. He blinked and his green eyes turned black. The smirk back on his face. 

Klaus knew the silence before the answer. It was guilt. 

"You have a rather beautiful mark on your hand. What is it?" Elijah asked.

"Chinese symbol for cat, it symbolises synergy."

Elijah looked at the ceiling praying for an unknown entity to give him the strength. 

"Elijah, Klaus. You should see this." Freya interrupted at the door. 

The demon bent to see their sister. Klaus glared and shut the door behind him.

They walked out of the house for safe measure to talk. 

"I found some notes on the mark in one of mum's old grimoire."

"And..?" Klaus prompted. 

"It's the mark of Cain."

Klaus waited, "Is that supposed to mean something. It is named after an old biblical man. So?"

"No, it's the mark given to Cain by Lucifer after killing his brother. To roam the earth for all eternity. Legend says that Cain trained the knights of hell and wreaked havoc on earth for thousands of years until he went silent a few hundred years ago. "

"You're telling me that's Cain in there?" Elijah asked.

"Yes." 

"And the blade?"

"If that is Cain, then that is the first blade. The jaw bone of the cow he used to kill his brother."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He brought the world's first murderer and trapped him in some ropes in his house. Where Hope was. He severely underestimated the problem. 

"What's he doing in New Orleans?" Elijah wondered. 

"It doesn't matter. How do we destroy him?" Klaus asked. 

Freya shook her head, "We don't Klaus. He can't die. He's cursed by God to roam the earth. God." 

"Didn't take you to be a believer sister." 

"This is not about beliefs. It's the truth. He's older than us. He's one of the oldest beings on earth. There are no legends or lore on how to kill him."

"Fine. We'll ask him to leave us then." Klaus suggested. 

"You think he'll listen?" Freya asked. 

"We have to try." 

Klaus and Elijah trudged back to the room. "He doesn't sound like the oldest being on earth." Klaus commented. 

"I agree. But Freya felt the power of the mark. I don't have any magic, but even I can feel the danger that the mark is emanating."

They opened the door to find it empty. The chair broken. How did he get out of the devil's trap? 

"Let's split up and search. He can't have gone far." Elijah said. 

"He's a demon brother. He can be on the other end of the earth now." Klaus replied angrily.

Elijah shook his head, "No, he needs the blade. He won't be far. Go to Hope."

Hope was playing in the nursery, unaware of the drama all around. He closed the door and waited for the attack.

Elijah waited by the room. The demon will come back, of that he was sure. He didn't want to stand by the locker and lead him to his weapon. 

 He saw Freya preparing the spell to stop any supernatural entity from leaving the compound. They have to smoke the demon out. 

He heard a sound towards the right corner of the corridor. It's a decoy, against all instincts he turned left, scoping for the demon. 

He felt a sharp pain to his heart, and a hand across his mouth. 

"You are smart brown eyes, but I'm better." The wooden leg of the chair is driven deeper into his heart. The demon let him fall then. 

Elijah fell to his knees, trying to pull out the stake. "You can't kill an Original with an ordinary wooden stake to the heart my dear." He said and smiled, sparing a glance at Freya, she already started chanting. He had Cain right where he wanted. "It appears we are at a stalemate. Shall we talk now?"

The demon looked at him, then at Freya. "Frigging witches. Later brown eyes." He winked and disappeared. 

Fuck. 

Naturally Klaus blew a gasket. He raged at Freya for not being able to hold a devil's trap together. While Freya argued that a demon would not be able to get out of the trap, not without a weapon and they stripped him off all of them. 

After several minutes of heated recriminations, cooler heads, atleast less volatile heads prevailed. Klaus retreated to Hope's room. Elijah and Freya went to investigate how the demon got out. 

Only one side of the ropes seem to be untied. Cain broke the chair and managed to pull his hands from the ropes. It must have hurt like, well, hell. 

Freya kneeled and observed the devil's trap. "You have got to be kidding me." She complained and held up a nail from the wooden board. 

He used the nail to scrape off the spray paint of the devil's trap. 

Elijah isn't one to use expletives often, they are uncouth. But son of a bitch. 

The drama of the night was just beginning. 

Chapter Text

It started with another dead human. But the M.O. changed. It wasn't a stabbing. The police wouldn't release the details to the press, but the blood had been drained off the body, and he was tortured before death and staged post mortem. 

The well meaning warlock Vincent, led the well meaning bar tender Camille to the crime scene, for a psychological profile. 

They came back to her apartment, unsettled at the brutal crime scene they just inspected. 

"There was an unusual man at the bar yesterday." Camille started. 

"Unusual how? Is he a vampire?"

"No...  He passed the vervain test. But he could read minds."

Vincent leaned forward, "You think he is the killer?"

"He certainly fits the profile, narcissistic personality disorder. He flirted shamelessly with me and even got violent at a point. He was a jerk to my friend. Alcoholic."

"What happened?"

"He threatened to kill Klaus and left abruptly. Klaus followed him out. That was the last I saw of him."

"Who is he? Did Klaus know him?" 

Vincent was worried that there's a new player in town. The city is always at the brink of a war. Someone is deliberately forcing them against each other. They assumed it would be a wolf next. Why did the killer change his M.O? The latest death was sloppy, and brutal. He didn't torture his victims before. Why did he start now?

"No. He didn't know Klaus. The way he spoke to him... The audacity. No one who knew Klaus would speak to him that way. I thought he was suicidal. Klaus probably killed him just on principle." 

"So, if this man is the killer, How is he still alive? 24 hours after disrespecting Klaus?" Vincent asked. 

"Klaus is trying to be on his best behaviour to win back Elijah. But he would've done something about that man. He also suspected that the stranger is the serial killer."

"Can you give me his description. I will ask around, see if he's a warlock?"

She nodded and described, "Green eyes, dark hair, 6 feet."

"So ideal Vitruvian man is our serial killer?' Vincent asked incredulously. 

All the key players of the town assumed the next murder would be a wolf. They didn't assume it to be a human. Unbeknownst to them, wolves were being killed. Not by the demon, but by hunters. Not the supernatural kind of hunters on a mission, no, by civilian hunters whose motivation is money.

Meanwhile at the Original Compound, Elijah and Freya were brainstorming in Hope's room, "We need to add extra protection for her tomorrow." Elijah suggested. 

"I'm making an amulet to ward her from demons. She should be safe in the bayou for the night."

"Surely you are not planning to take my daughter out from the safety of the house brother?" Klaus walked in. 

"It is the one night Hayley gets to see her daughter. She should not be denied the privilege just because you messed up Niklaus. You are welcome to join me if you want to add additional protection." Elijah said. 

"As much as I would love to hear the litany of choice words Hayley no doubt prepared for me, Hope and I are not leaving this compound till the Cain situation is resolved."

"Don't you have that art exhibition tomorrow?" Elijah asked. 

Both Elijah and Freya knew how much it meant to Klaus. How insecure he is that no one he cared about would come to support him there. "I dont care. My daughter's life is more important."

"The amulet will work, Klaus." Freya assured him. 

"Like the devil's trap did?" 

She refused to bow down, "he doesn't know of Hope's existence. As far as he is concerned, it is just the three of us in this house. The weapon is here. Don't you think it's safer for her to be away from the compound, if he does come back?" Freya asked. 

"If he gets within an inch of her, I am going to kill him." Klaus threatened uselessly. 

"He can't be killed Niklaus."

"I will cut off his head and drop it in Sahara and his body in Antarctica." Klaus said angrily and left the room.

Hope continued playing.

It was late into the night, Freya should be sleeping, but she can't. She knew her amulet would work, but she cannot take any chances. She is just like her family, she likes to know where the enemies of her family are lurking. 

She gathered the ingredients for a tracking spell. She put the blade on the table. Klaus stood, watching. Elijah too. They weren't taking any chances. The blade is their bargaining chip. 

She cut her hand and bled on it, chanted the spell and waited for the blade to turn and point in the direction of its master. 

"Maybe it doesn't work on demons." Elijah guessed. 

"No. It will work on any being, human or supernatural, maybe even God if you have some personal artifact of his. No, the demon is no longer in this realm, or is in an uncharted place. Even then it should point in his general direction."

"He's a demon, so maybe he is in hell?"

"We can't track him, but he can find us at any moment. Perfect." Klaus complained. 

Freya slumped, defeated. 

"Well good. Let's see how he will survive without his heart, because I am going to rip it out." Klaus declared

He is unsettled, they all are. The oldest being on this planet just left them. They don't know what he wanted. They don't know why he is here in the first place. 

The morning brought fresh chaos. Elijah discovered the hunters and killed them. He found the dead wolves and panic started gripping him. Did Hayley gets hurt by these humans?

He called Klaus. "Someone is killing the wolves in the bayou."

"Well we did theorize that he would kill a wolf next, to start the turf war."

"No... Someone working for Kingmaker Enterprise. As far as I can see, they are civilians. What the fuck is going on in this city Niklaus?"

You know things are bad when Elijah Mikaelson is cursing. 

"Doesn't it make you want to rub your hands together and watch the madness as it unfolds?" Klaus asked. 

"No. I'm not a psychopath and Hayley could be hurt. Or worse." Elijah pressed. 

Klaus didn't comment on it. He stayed silent. Elijah would normally be sympathetic, but he couldn't care less for his brother's feelings right now. 

The night brought another death. Another civilian. Camille and Vincent were back at the crime scene. The media was acting up too. 

"Agent Spears FBI." They heard. Camille gasped. It's the Vitruvian man, as they dubbed. 

"Bella... What are you doing here?" He walked up to her. 

"I am helping NOLA PD, you're not FBI." She accused him.

He flashed his FBI badge, it was clearly him and it said John Spears.

FBI has supernatural serial killers?

"I guess I need to have a few words with the PD if they are allowing civilians into crime scenes, contaminating them." 

Vincent wasn't amused, "I have seen many killers in my life, but you must be one sick son of a bitch to come to the scene of crime posing as FBI. Do you get off on it?" He demanded, whispering so that they wouldn't be heard by the media or the civilian police. 

The Vitruvian man ignored the threat and spoke to her, "You ditched the cuckold. Good for you. So BBC is your thing."

Every word made her want to punch him. 

He turned to Vincent, "I'm not the killer. I am here to hunt them. So stay away."

Vincent whispered a spell and held Agent Spears' hand. 

It burnt where he caught him. The agent pulled his hand back. 

"You're not human. What are you?" Vince asked. 

"You are a witch. Ofcourse. This frigging town, it's like chicago all over again." He shook his head. 

"I won't ask again, what are you or I will start by giving you an internal bleeding, so intense, you'll drop dead right here." Vince demanded. 

"I'm tired of telling this, you can't kill me. However, since you asked so nicely..." He said and his eyes turned black. All black, no irises. 

"You are a demon." Vincent breathed and stepped back, his eyes wide. 

Demon? 

The demon smirked. "That's right. Now let me do my job." He walked past them and observed the dead victim. Paying particular focus to the killer's calling card. 

His movements clinical. Not one who is trying to relive the kill. He almost looked disgusted. He maybe a killer and a demon apparently, but he's not the one who killed these two humans. 

"We need to leave." Vince whispered in her ear and tugged her away. 

They put some distance between themselves and the crime scene. "When you said demon, you didn't mean it figuratively." Camille tried to lighten up. She didn't like the tense shoulders of the warlock. 

"I can't believe New Orleans managed to lure in a demon. You go back to your apartment and put salt on all entrances and windows. Don't leave any opening. You hear me?"

"Salt?"

"Yes. All the entrances and windows."

"What are you going to do?"

"I should fetch some holy water from the church. I have a demon to exorcise."

She had many questions, but Vince walked away. 

Camille knew that she should go back to her apartment and barricade herself. Clearly the demon is showing an interest in her. Knowing first hand, what the interest of a supernatural being would do, she should probably be more frightened. Instead, she went to the art exhibition, to ask Klaus about his interaction with the demon. 

Klaus welcomed her with a complaint of her tardiness, but she could clearly see the happiness that she came. She didn't see either Elijah or Freya there. He felt alone and guilty. 

"I have a problem and you are not answering your phone." She complained right back. Before she could ask about the demon, she saw the man Klaus was talking before he came to her. His stare was worse than the stare she got from the demon. 

"Who is this dirt bag that's eying me like I am a rack of lamb? Old friend?" She asked.

 "Old acquaintance. Nothing more." Klaus explained. 

"Old acquaintance. You wound me." The man spoke from across the room. 

"Can he heard us? Is he-?"

The man interjected, "hard of hearing. Quite the opposite actually. Side effect I inherited from Nik." 

Same narcissistic personality. Klaus explained that he would talk about this friend, Lucien, in his next chat and asked her to get on with what she came for.

She gulped, "there's been two more deaths of locals. Someone is torturing and killing them, leaving them out in the open. Bodies drained of blood. We think it's a vampire or the... Stranger yesterday-." She started, but Klaus cut her off. 

"Vampire business is Marcel's purview now. Or, Elijah when he is not busy loathing me. Why don't you check with them?" He advised, eying the exit. Klaus didn't want to talk about the demon with his old acquaintance in hearing range. 

She left huffing, playing her role. 

The question now is who's killing the locals? Is it the demon or Klaus' old acquaintance?

It was late when she went back to Rousseau's. She didn't know why she wanted to be there. Vince wasn't lifting his phone and it put her on edge, the new vampire, more so. 

She felt someone nearby. The street light flickered. She would've discounted it, but the lights inside the bar also flickered. 

She felt rustling behind her, she jumped. 

"Easy there." Agent Spears held her hand. 

She stepped back and hit her back to the door. She looked around the street, she couldn't see anyone. Is this where she's going to die? Will the demon torture her like the others?

He didn't move. Just stood there while she processed through her fear. "What are you doing here?" She asked once she got her breath under control. 

"I had a long day. Wanted a drink." His cocky tone didn't change. 

"Bar's closed. Come back tomorrow." She snapped. 

"Thought you'd make an exception, Camille."

"What do you want?"

"I just want to talk. Why are you on edge? Hiding something?" He asked. 

"I am standing alone with a demon who might torture and kill me like he did others." 

"I didn't kill those civilians you know."

"Should I believe that you are really FBI? where were you at the time of the murders?" She interrogated. 

"Would you believe me if I told you that I was in hell?"

Her brain stopped. "Hell is real?"

"Brimstone, hell fire, whole nine. Except it's more torturous now. Long, never ending queues."

"What?"

"New management. Don't ask. I was researching the local folklore of New Orleans for the last day and I thought you could fill in some gaps for me. What with you being a local, and an academic yourself, hoping you'd help me out."

She looked on incredulous. "That's what you are going with?"

"The civilian detective thinks you are a possible suspect in the murders." Agent Spears continued casually, leaning on the pole. "He digged through your family records. He would've been here if it wasn't for me."

"What did you do to him?" She asked in horror. 

"Relax. I convinced him that it's just a coincidence."

She might as well play along and buy time. She walked inside and the demon followed. "You mean you compelled him."

"I am not a new age vampire."

"No, you are a demon. That's a new one for me."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Ok .. the detective shared a lot about you and your family. It intrigued me."

Don't give them an opening. "Right. You mean you know about my brother. How he killed a church full of seminary students."

He waved it off as if it was nothing, "Oh that? No, that must've been a witch or a demon. What was it? Did you ever find out?"

"Witch." She is not used to speaking the truth about what happened to her brother. 

"I hope you killed her?"

"To what end? Revenge? That won't bring back my brother."

"I'd use the word justice. But whatever floats your boat." He looked on at her angry face. "You think the witch who made your brother kill so many people AND himself, didn't deserve to die. Wow, what are you? Gandhi?"

"What gives you the right to give out that justice?" Camille asked, sitting across him. 

He leaned back in the chair. Folding his hands. "I have my reasons. But tell me, according to you, who does have the right to give out justice?"

"We are not here to talk about my views on philosophy." She leaned back too. She learnt how to deal with narcissistic personality patients from school and douchebags from her job. She can do this. 

"Right, you are a budding shrink. Alright Doc, you can't go to civilian police. They made your brother a psychopath. Hell is a under a shitty management. So-so king, but he doesn't care about giving out justice. Angels are not going to come down and help out, not anymore, if they ever did. God is... In the building, he can hear you, but he doesn't care. He didn't care about the apocalypse or the thousand other problems this world faced, he's not going to care and give out justice for your insignificant brother, no matter how devout he was. Tell me who else is going to give out justice.... Or are you one of those who believe in karma and time will teach everyone a lesson kind of person?" 

That was a lot to unpack. Camille locked it all up for further introspection. Right now, she cannot rise to his taunts. Turn the tables around. She put the beer on the table. "So, it all falls down to you huh? The hero?"

There was the smirk again, "once maybe. You know what they say, you live long enough to see yourself .. yada yada. But I like this villain gig. I like the freedom from pesky righteousness."

"But turning into a villain, as you say, usually has a trigger point, an origin story. What's yours?"

He smirk fell, "Not important. Anyway, we are here to talk about you. After the detective tipped me off that you and your family is responsible for all the crime in this city - either causing it or covering it up, I did some digging. I found an interesting article about your grandfather, So I went back and did a little more digging in a secure place, quite risky, but I managed it. Turns out your grandpappy had a pen name that he used to talk to his friends."

She waited. A lot of people used pseudonyms in their letters during the war. 

He leaned forward, "Does the name Albert Magnus mean anything to you?"He looked at her curiously, like he was expecting a reaction. 

The name didn't trigger any bells. 

"Interesting, why are you covering up the supernatural deaths in this city?" He segued.

"If the news makes it to the papers, it will only bring more people in. Out of curiousity, as an adventure, maybe even law enforcement like the real FBI. They will die."

"Fair. But you realize, that by keeping it out of the news. You and your family allowed the infestation to grow."

She winced at the word infestation. "As opposed to what? Who's going to help?"

He was genuinely surprised. "Wow, you really are a baby legacy. Aren't you? Did your dead brother or uncle leave anything for you? A key perhaps?"

How did he know about the apartment? What did he know about her family that she didn't? Did the demon want access to the room? How should she play it?

"So they did." He guessed through her silence, "What? They didn't give you the coordinates?" 

"I'm not telling you where the room is." She said angrily. 

"Room?" He sat back and stayed silent for a moment. She could see the gears turning in his head. Whatever realizations he arrived at, he didn't share it with her, "Huh..... Ok." He said, taking a sip of his beer. 

This demon increased her intrigue with every sentence. "You're not going to force me to tell you about it?"

 "Nope." He knew that the curiosity would kill her. He smiled and took another gulp of the drink. 

"Why are you here then? If not for the location of the apartment."

"I thought you were on take. So I came to kill you. But now I realize that you are just a novice, way above your head with everything that's happening in the Quarter. You will die sooner or later."

"You said you just came to talk."

"First lesson about dealing with demons, they lie."

"They?" She pressed. 

He took another sip. "Demons lie. Second lesson, you should put more salt than what you did in the beer. This is not british food. That barely burnt my tongue."

"So salt burns. What else? How do I stop you?"

He raised his eyebrows, "Little Miss Pacifist is asking about killing someone. Interesting."

"For self defence." She said.

"You shouldn't, you can't and you won't." He declared. 

"Why?"

"Because I will kill you. Again, we are not here to talk about me. Tell me about The Originals."

"What do you want to know?"

"What are they doing here?" Did he want Hope too? Like Dahlia? 

"They just live here." She shrugged. 

He scoffed, "what? Klaus Mikaelson retired from being the big bad after becoming a daddy?"

"I don't know what he's up to." She replied. 

"Oh please, the detective snitched on that too. He told that you and Klaus meet regularly in your apartment. So unless he's fucking you that entire time. He would've spilled something."

He was deliberately being crass, just to piss her off. She forcibly kept her cool and replied, "he comes for therapy. Patient client confidentiality. I cannot give out those details."

He laughed. 

She didn't. 

"Really? You are not a full blown therapist, and he's not someone. He's something."

"I think we're done here." She said tersely. 

"No, we're not. I didn't want it to come to this." He pulled out a knife and held it in his other hand. "You're really pretty. Don't make me kill you." 

She could see the desire in his eyes, but for a second she wondered if the desire was for her or to kill her. She didn't doubt that he could kill her. 

"What have the Originals been doing since they came to New Orleans?" He asked again. 

She told what everyone in the town already knows. 

He took in everything, "The brothers are playing domestic, killing occasional monsters, but not humans. Alright, who's that witch in their house? That's not Rebekah Mikaelson."

"That is Freya, Klaus' eldest sister."

"First born witch. Hmmm. Guess the Men of Letters didn't have everything."

"Who?" Men of letters. She noted to herself. 

"Nothing. Thank you Camille. One more beer for the road? Preferably without salt this time. It's not a Margherita."

He put the knife away. She pulled out a beer. 

"Who do you think is the killer?" He asked casually pointing at her notes on the psychological profile. 

"You."

He sighed, "Do I fit your profile?"

"Narcissistic. Not human. So, yes."

"I don't drink blood. They have been drained of blood. It's a vampire and you have a guess. Who is it?"

She had to give points to the demon, he's very observant. That doesn't track with his narcissistic personality. "Why do you care?"

"It's my job."

"Demons have jobs?"

"Some of them do. You could say hunting killers like that vampire is my family business."

Them. He doesn't associate himself with the other demons. He is going through an identity crisis. 

"Lucien Castle." She told her guess. 

"Who's he?"

"CEO of Kingmaker Enterprise and a vampire. Klaus' old acquaintance." She told the truth. 

"Kingmaker .... Now that is interesting. His company killed a bunch of shapeshifting wolves today."He completed the drink. Stood and gave a two finger salute. "Evil waits for no one."

"Will you kill him just because I told you that he's the killer?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I will investigate and if he is indeed the killer, then yes, I will kill him for draining those civilians. Good bye and don't do anything stupid." He walked off around the corner. 

In New Orleans, the streets turn empty at nightfall. One would think that it's even safe to venture outside. But then the action begins, vampires come out to party, werewolves prowl the woods and the witches roam the legendary cemetery. This night started like every other night. The vampires arrived at the club after midnight, the witches are congregating, planning something. Their regent is talking to their ancestors. The wolves, well, It's a full moon night, and the wolves that run on all four to howl at the moon, walk on two. Unfortunately it is something the Crescent wolves of Bayou are used to. 

Tonight however ended different, the wolves were whining in grief even before the moon rise. Not only for their dead comrades, but for their missing alpha. 

As the night entered the twilight zone and Hayley Marshall was still missing, the Mikaelson compound was in a frenzy. Freya's locator spell failed. 

"I'm starting to think the problem is not them, it's your spell." Klaus complained. 

Freya gave him the stink eye. Her locator spell is working as expected. The demon is not on earth and the spell for Hayley returned the same result, it scared her more than the missing demon. 

Lucien Castle didn't give any leads. Elijah is on the verge of panic. Klaus is too, but he wouldn't show it. 

The high emotions around the house are making little Hope squirm in her sleep, but the family remained oblivious to her distress. 

Dawn broke and Jackson didn't wolf out. He got overly emotional at the possibility that Hayley could be dead and is on the verge of attacking someone. Not that it would severely hurt any of them. But it's a major inconvenience especially with a demon, a supposed impending prophecy, a sire war and most importantly with Hayley missing. 

Just as the drama hit the highest crescendo of the past day, Hayley walked in, covered in blood. 

Elijah tensed at the blood before he realized that it was not hers. 

Hayley, it seemed, was seeking blood, she went straight to attack Klaus. 

Jackson wanted to help his mate, but he didn't know the Mikaelsons. Freya stopped him with a spell. She knows Klaus will not kill Hayley. But he would kill Jackson, just to prove a point. 

 Elijah called out to his brother, worried that he might hit her. However, it seemed that all the caution was unnecessary. Hayley saw Hope walking in to the scene and ran to her. 

Everyone in that house is a monster with blood on their hands, but in that moment, when the mother cried for her child growing up too fast and missing the chance to experience it, they all felt tear jerked. Even the psychopath Klaus. He would deny it till his dying breath, but he felt guilty for what he had done to Hayley.

It digressed soon enough again. Klaus complained that they had bigger problems and cannot have Hope out of the house. Hayley replied that there's always another enemy with this family and threatened with a custody battle. 

Elijah jumped in between, literally, with a solution. Move across the house. Far enough to avoid drama while being close enough to help. 

The couple left with Hope.

Freya hoped she could finally get some sleep after the long night. One look at Elijah squashed her wish right out. From the look on Klaus' face, it seemed that he knew it too and is just as worried. 

Before they could get on with it though, they heard a voice. "Well, that was melodramatic."

They jumped around and the demon, walked in casually. 

"Oh don't act so surprised, you knew I would come back." He sat on one of the chairs with his legs on the table. 

Elijah, who had a long night and doesn't like feet on the furniture looked extremely pissed. "What do you want?" He demanded. 

"Where's my blade?"

"Chucked it in the ocean." Klaus replied tersely. His patience is frayed too. 

"No you didn't." 

"How would you know?"

"You didn't have enough time to travel to the beach and drop it in the time I was unconscious." He observed casually. 

"He gave it to someone else to drop it for him." Freya answered. The faster this demon is out of their house, the better. 

"His paranoid ass wouldn't trust anyone with a blade that can kill him. Would you? Niklaus Mikaelson, The Original Jefferson Starship."

"what?" All three of said at the same time. 

He explained, "You're horrible and hard to kill." He looked at their blank faces. "Never mind, the Original Werepire. That ok?"

"I prefer to be called the Original Hybrid." 

"I'll stick with Werepire. Now. Where. Is. My. Blade?"

"It's clearly not here. So goodbye." Klaus answered. 

"I can feel it here." He growled, "You can give it to me yourselves or I can burn this house to the ground and pick up my blade from the ashes."

"So what's making you hesitate Cain?" Freya asked. 

He looked momentarily confused, then threw his head back and laughed. "I am not Cain."

Freya was tired. She regretted clubbing last night. "You have the mark of Cain." She said, knowing the answer already. The demon isn't lying. He isn't Cain. He just carried the mark. Now she has to research if and how the mark can be transferred. 

"You know less than Jon Snow. For the scariest monster family out there, not knowing me is kinda disappointing."

"We've had a busy day yesterday. Come back tomorrow. Then we'll talk." Klaus spoke. 

"Yeah. Dead dogs. I've heard. I see your bitch is safe." The demon winked. 

Elijah picked the demon by his throat and pushed him to the wall. Klaus not far behind. Not-Cain kicked him in the shins and used that moment as a distraction and got out of Elijah's hold. Klaus joined the fight. 

Freya waited for an opening, to knock him out. The demon was prepared for a fight this time. Even with the speed and Klaus' strength, he was holding himself well. This demon is not just powerful, he's also experienced in dealing with vampires and wolves. 

Freya tried to give him internal bleeding. He punched her and broke her nose. 

They were all bleeding after ten minutes, half the floor was in shambles. They took a moment to catch their breath. 

The man grinned, "not that I don't like this dance, I would rather you take me out on a few dates first." He flirted with Elijah. 

Her brother sighed and stood up, flicking the dust off his suit. The demon followed and pulled the chair back up."

"Without the blade, we are, in your words Jefferson Starships and cannot be killed. We won't give the blade to you. I'm afraid we are at an impasse." Elijah spoke, sitting on the other chair.

"I said hard to kill, not impossible to kill. I have at least two other weapons in my trunk that can kill you and that's not including the White Oak."

Freya tensed. In the last day, their invincible family learned that not only is the white oak not completely destroyed but there are atleast three weapons now in the world that can kill her brothers. 

"Not that I particularly want to die, but why all this foreplay?" Klaus asked. 

The demon muttered something. She couldn't hear it, but her brothers caught it. 

"Why do you bother about the sire lines? More vampires dead. Isn't that what you want? Is there someone you care about?" Klaus asked. Freya is familiar with his methods. Klaus is fishing for leverage. 

"For a new age vampire?" The demon scoffed, "no."

"Then why?" Freya asked. 

The demon remained silent. 

Elijah leaned forward, "because it won't quench you thirst. Will it?" He said, his voice low, "Kill us and all the vampires in the world are dead. One go. But you don't want it. You want to feel the thrill of the kill. You want to feel the blood on your blade and hands, the taste of metal in your mouth."

"Speaking from personal experience. Are we, Brown Eyes?" The demon's eyes gleamed black. 

Freya is hung over. "Why are you here?" She asked tiredly, holding a cloth over her bleeding nose. 

He looked at her, sensing her dwindling patience, he said, "I am here to make a deal."

They waited expectantly, their expressions wary. 

"I will stay here, in your house, keeping an eye on my blade, you and New Orleans. Civilians are out of bounds. Witches, Vampires, skin walking wolves, whatever, You monsters can kill each other all you want. I don't care. A civilian gets hurt, I kill the one responsible with my blade and you will hand it over to me, no exceptions. I won't care about the delicate balance of the factions in this city."

"Why do you care about the humans?" She asked. It didn't make sense. 

"I have my reasons." His voice flat. 

"What do we get in return?" Elijah asked. 

Klaus remained silent. She knew this silence, he's calculating his next five moves. 

"You get to live. Break the deal or hurt someone, sire lines or not, insatiable blood lust or not, I will not hesitate to kill you."

The three of them looked at each other. "How do we know that you'll keep your end of the bargain. We are letting you in our home." 

"You already let me into your home lady. Besides, demon deals are binding. I have to hold up my end of the bargain. As long as civilians don't die on your watch, in your city, I won't kill you or any of the monsters here. In return, I get to stay here."

"Deal." Klaus said. 

"We need to seal it with a kiss to make it binding. So whenever you are ready Brown Eyes." He purred, wiggling his eyebrows at Elijah. Despite the situation and the throbbing pain, Freya and Klaus grinned. 

"You can stay at our home and call it your own as long as you stay in New Orleans. We shall not kill each other, and for the duration of your stay, any vampire, witch or werewolf of New Orleans will not hurt a civilian. If they do, you can kill them, with your blade, whoever it might be. Until then, it will be in our safe keeping. Breaking any of the stipulations by either party and the deal is forfeit." Elijah spoke the fine print of the deal. 

The demon nodded. 

"Won't even give your name? we are getting our first kiss dear." Elijah played right back. 

The demon grinned, amused. "Crowley." He said. 

They could all sense that he was lying. That wasn't his real name, but an unkillable  demon came up with a deal without bloodshed. That is the second best case scenario possible. They took what they got. 

The kiss itself was chaste and quick, but even Elijah seemed reluctant to step back after the kiss ended. His pupils, blown wide, while the demon's eyes were black with desire. 

Freya suspected that 'Crowley' and her brother are going to hook up very soon. 

"Why don't you clean up the place while I go get my stuff. See you around roomies. By the way Klaus, Camille says hi." He called out behind him.

"What did you do to her?" Klaus ran to him. 

The demon laughed and left. 

Chapter Text

Freya slumped to the ground after the demon left. Klaus offered his blood, she took it eagerly. The throbbing pain has reduced, but alas, not even vampire blood can cure hangover.

"Do you think it was wise Niklaus?" Elijah asked. Controlling the french quarter's factions to not kill is not an easy task.

They headed to the dining room. Klaus poured them a drink and took one himself.
"We bought some time until we can figure out if he's working with the sire lines to take us out and to find those weapons or to leave us alone altogether."

Leave it to Klaus to figure out the plan already. Three things then, figure out not-Cain's motives, take away his means to kill them and remove the opportunity to strike at them.

"How do we go about doing any of that?" Elijah asked, smiling. 

After months of having her brothers at each other's throats, it is nice to see them being on the same page. It is just unfortunate that it is for scheming. 

Klaus sipped his drink, "he's running from someone." He observed.

Elijah nodded in agreement.

"How do you know that?" Freya asked. 

"When you are a powerful being and still want to hide among others. It only means one thing. You're running from someone." Klaus replied. 

"We did it for a thousand years sister. Niklaus is right. We only need to find out who and hand the demon over to them."

"If it's a demon, then it's probably a hunter on his ass." She guessed.

"A hunter hunting a knight of hell? If he's running from them, that means the hunter is good. If we lure that hunter to the town, we are all dead. Especially with this new weapon Lucien is taunting us with. There's a reason 'Crowley' chose New Orleans and is dealing with us. He knows we'll never bring in a hunter."

Klaus stayed silent for a moment, "when I came to New Orleans last year, I asked Marcel how he kept hunters out. He bragged that he made a deal. He boasted that hunters are no longer a problem to New Orleans. If we can know the terms of Marcel's deal, we can add our own clause to it."

Elijah nodded.

"I'll try to find more about the mark of Cain and the name Crowley, maybe I can find something on the hunter as well." She said, she had enough grimoires, she just needed to go through them. She could use her brothers' help.

"I'll have to find Camille." Klaus said and left.

"I will ask Hayley to put up wards against demons." Elijah said and left.

Freya completed her drink to the empty room and sighed. She loved having a family, and she loved her brothers. They are also the biggest jerks on the planet. They ran off to their respective love interests, meanwhile Klaus is kicking her one night stands out of the home and now she is left to clean up the house and research ancient demonic toddlers. Alone. Fuck her life.

Elijah helped set up the house next door. It was a hassle to complete it all in a day, but he managed it.

He spent every day of the last two months trying to find a way out of Hayley's curse but she managed to find it herself. She didn't need a savior like he needed her.

Hayley, Jackson and Hope were settling into the house. He alone has access to get inside, but he knew he wouldn't go there unless it is an emergency.

Civil twilight was upon them, the street lights were coming on and he could see Hayley and Jackson kissing. Did they have to do it right across his window?

Freya locked herself in her room researching the demon, the prophecy and everything. He should probably help her, instead he stood there pining for Hayley. 

"Should I rename you as cuckold, Brown Eyes?" 'Crowley' asked. He knew the name was fake. According to Niklaus, he gave the name Agent Spears, FBI to Camille.

Elijah turned around. So far, the demon had been a cordial guest. He watched loud television all day but he didn't go poking around the house.

'Crowley' glanced around him to see the couple across the street, "Noisy neighbours, I think I should go and complain."

He glared.

"... Or not. Maybe we can be noisy too." The demon stepped closer.

The light hit the green of his eyes just right and the moment got charged instantly.
Elijah took a deep breath to realign himself and stepped back. "It is customary to not put out until the third date."

"In that case, maybe we can start now. I'm heading out for drinks. Care to join me?" The demon offered. 

"Not tonight, I'm afraid, I have a prior commitment. Maybe tomorrow?" He lied. Generally he would babysit Hope while Freya partied and Klaus painted.

"More pining for the bitc.. wolf chick huh? Good luck." The demon corrected himself, smiled and left.

Elijah didn't relax until his footsteps left the compound. He went to Freya's room. Klaus joined them soon after.

"What do we have so far?" He started the secret meeting.

"He caught the scent of Lucien. He spent all day researching about him." Klaus reported.

"So is that a problem solved for us or a new one on our hands?"

"I wouldn't bet my money on either." 

They both turned to Freya.

"I have two things, I performed a seance to see which hunter can handle a target such as this. I got only one word in reply. Winchester." 

She waited for them. 

"Do we know a Winchester?" Elijah asked.

"No, so I asked for more. It's not one person, it's two. Sam and Dean Winchester, brothers, the biggest names in hunter circles, apparently. They managed to avert the apocalypse, the ghosts said."

Klaus whistled, "did you manage to find where they are?"

"No. My spell failed. So I decided to take Vincent's help. Turns out he is also researching the demon. Even with our combined efforts, our tracking spells gave us no results. The brothers are heavily warded against, well, everything. Not even the ancestors could find where they are."

 "I am starting to think your tracking spell is indeed the problem Freya." Elijah said.

She narrowed her eyes and glared. "So Vincent decided that modern solutions are required for a modern problem. He called his detective friend."

"And?"

"And... The Winchester brothers are infamous even with the police. They were on FBI's most wanted list for years."

"Were?"

"They died a few years ago, Dean Winchester for the third time."

For a moment, his hopes were dashed until he realized the way of the hunters, "That's how they keep themselves hidden. They could very well be alive."

"That's what I said, so Vincent asked to check the case files anyway. Guess what he found?" She showed a picture on her mobile phone. It was a mugshot, from a few years ago, but there was no doubt. 'Crowley''s actual name is Dean Winchester.

So he's a hunter turned demon. Elijah wondered how that came to be. 

"So, the hunter is Sam Winchester?" Klaus guessed.

"That brings me to my second thing, I researched the mark of Cain. The lore says that Cain became a demon after he killed Abel and died. Brother's murder + Mark of Cain + death = knight of hell."

"You think he killed Sam?"

"He did say that he had a brother and then he became a demon." Klaus said.

Elijah thought back to every conversation with Dean.

"So we have nothing. Other than his name." Klaus said sadly.

Freya looked frazzled.

"Not completely. I don't think he killed Sam." Elijah guessed. 

"One kiss and you're already smitten?" Klaus teased.

He rolled his eyes, "when we were bickering this afternoon, he could see and hear us. He looked nostalgic, not guilty. I could say regret even, but not guilt. He misses his brother. Sam is alive and Dean is running from him." Elijah explained his theory.

"He's a demon Elijah, he doesn't feel anything." Klaus tried to reason.

"They say the same about us. We both know that it doesn't work that way. Demon Dean did not flip his humanity switch completely."

"It explains why a former hunter would like to keep the civilians safe in a town full of monsters." Freya spoke.

"Exactly, all we need to do is find Sam Winchester." Elijah declared.

Said Sam Winchester is currently handcuffed to a chair in the bunker's library. He is tapping his foot impatiently and the wrist of his broken arm is curled into a tight fist. There are traces of a wound forming on the knuckles. The glass shards on the table show that he punched the table.

He was meditating but he glanced at the door once in every few minutes. But more often than not, he was staring at the vial at the end of the table. His brother's gift for him.

Sam knew the statistics, chances of a relapse are less than 7% after five years, and he spent about a hundred in hell and then some more. He even went through the trials and finally felt himself free of the blemished blood in him.

Then his brother of all people, went and poisoned him. He wouldn't forget that. Ever.

15 days ago

Sam thought he was done for when Dean swung that hammer where his head should've been. He held the knife to his brother's throat on instinct, but he couldn't get himself to push it across.

He pulled the blade back, he knew what was going to happen, he accepted his fate. "There are a set of pictures in your room, I want you to keep them after you kill me. When you find yourself back Dean, and you will, eventually. Remember what it feels like, let that tell you what it feels to be good, what it feels to love." He cried and waited for the blow.

For a fleeting moment, he thought he saw something in Dean, he dropped the hammer. Sam actually sighed in relief, the knife went lax in his hand.

In just a blink, the black eyes were back, Dean snatched Sam's knife and cut across his own arm. Sam was confused until the next moment, Dean pulled him forward and held him in a chokehold, held his bloody arm to his mouth, Forcing him to drink and swallow Dean's blood.

As repulsed as Sam was, one taste of it and he remembered the rush and the feeling of power the demon blood gave him. He grew up and grew out of his anger, and craving for control. Yet, he gave in to the blood for a second too long, until Dean's wound started closing and reality sunk in.

He fought to push Dean away, "what did you do?" He demanded but his brother smiled his evil grin.

"Told you Sam, what I would do to you wouldn't be mercy. You think I'm going to kill you that easily? Do you see yourself for what you are now? Do you feel it flowing in your veins? It fit right back in. Didn't it?? You always had it in you Sammy." Dean taunted.

Anger coarsed through Sam. He had to consciously fight through it. He saw a flash of brown in the corner of his eye. 

Cas arrived, but Dean was prepared, they fought. For a moment , Cas had it. He held Dean from behind with his angelic grace. Dean was trapped.

If there was one thing that Dean Winchester never did, it was to give up. The demonic one didn't either, he tried to stab Cas' thigh and used that moment of distraction to escape. He disappeared. He didn't even take the impala.

"It seems that Dean learnt to teleport." Cas answered his unasked question after they searched the bunker up and down. 

Sam broke down right there at the entrance of the bunker and cried. While Cas gave him feeble sympathy, blinking back tears of his own.

He made the angel lock him in the dungeon for days and white knuckled his claustrophobia and visions from the blood. 

They renewed the search for Dean. They managed to map out a pattern. That was until Dean found Crowley.

Sam wasn't there, but he managed to piece it together from Crowley's bitching over the phone. Dean killed a room full of demons with just an angel blade. He caught Crowley and tortured him, prodigy of Alastair style, until the king fessed up the location of the first blade. 

Once reunited with the blade, Dean went to claim Crowley but the king was long gone. He is in hiding. He wouldn't even dare return to hell. 

Dean disappeared completely since. 

Until yesterday morning, when Crowley called and told them that Dean is in hell. 

This time they wanted to be prepared, he cannot treat this demonic version of his brother leniently. He needed to be smart. They needed to know why his brother is spending days in hell.

Crowley is worried that Dean is planning to take over hell in his absence. The idea of Dean Winchester, King of hell, corrupted by the mark of Cain is not something hell can bear. So, Sam allowed Cas to recon before they planned their attack.

However it seemed that Dean moved on from taking over hell or he's doing something far more insidious because this morning when Sam woke up and walked to the library, he found the package waiting for him, with a message 'Miss Me?' taunting him. The vial's red content taunting him more than the note. 

Sam crumpled the paper and decided that if he ever manages to get his brother back, he would tease him for being such a bad cliche. He had bigger problems though, try as he might, he couldn't get himself to chuck the vial down the garbage disposal.

When he opened the stopper, he knew it was only a matter of time before he got a taste and is off the wagon. Except this time, his brother would be right beside him, fueling his descent - an unkillable demon Dean and a blood addicted Sam is not something the world can survive. So he cuffed himself to the chair after sending an SOS to Cas.

He had been waiting for him to arrive since then. It's been hours and Sam tried to break his cuffs only five times. He came close to breaking the chair only thrice.

In all honesty, Sam was kinda, sorta proud of himself. ~10 years younger him would've chewed the cuffs off for the hit.

Yet here was, white knuckling it for hours.

The metal doors opened and for a brief second, Sam hoped/feared that it would be Dean. But it was Cas.

"Finally, get over here." He shouted.

"Sam. I've been trying to reach you for hours. What happened?"

"I threw the mobile that way I think. Can you please help." He asked.

"Ofcourse, let me pick the lock." The angel said.

"Not the lock. The vial... Cas, can you please chuck that down the garbage disposal or use your angelic powers to annihilate it. Just take it away please."

Cas' confused look cleared when he realized what was in the vial. "Did he hand cuff you and place that blood there just to taunt you? That seems unnecessarily cruel, even to this demonic version of Dean." He said.

"No, I cuffed myself. Please Cas." He begged.

He nodded and left. Sam relaxed after Cas came back empty handed.

"Dean left hell." Cas reported while unlocking the cuffs.

"I figured."

"Did you talk to him?"

"No. He came and left discreetly. Didn't even hear him."

He massaged the wrist once free. 

"So, he decided to do a blood donation out of the goodness of his heart?" Cas asked sarcastically.

"To throw me off. He knew I would figure out one way or another that he came by the bunker, so he left me that present."

Cas waited.

"I've been cleaning up after Dean's dismal organizational skills for years. I noticed this book was off its original place." He pulled out a book from the shelf. "Dean came for this book. I'm sure."

Cas saw over his shoulder, "The list of active men of letters in the last century? Why would Dean need that information? I thought they all died."

"They did. So the question is, who is Dean searching for, and why?"

"We don't know what he was looking for in the book Sam." Cas complained.

"Elementary my dear Castiel." He said going to his laptop, regretted the words as soon as they came out and cringed. "It's.." 

"Arthur Conan Doyle. I'm aware. Continue Sherlock." Cas grinned.

"Dean got a new number, but he used the wifi while searching the internet here, and nothing ever stays gone from the web. Normally I wouldn't dare go through his search history.." he grimaced and continued. He didn't need to know his brother's fetishes. Thank you very much. "Desperate times."

He typed away, "bingo. Dean was searching for someone named Patrick O'Connell."

Cas cross referenced that name in the men of letters book. "He was an active member who left to handle the New Orleans chapter after the war."

"So he wouldn't have died at the hands of Abaddon and probably went underground. Did you find out what Dean was doing in hell?" Sam asked.

"Yes, he was interrogating souls. He "spoke" with one soul for a long time, someone called Katherine Pierce."

"Did you talk to her?"

"No, I rushed out with your message. But I asked Crowley on the way over. She died recently, apparently broke the record for being the fastest soul to get out of the rack and start torturing. A prodigy, some of the demons are calling her. Crowley is conflicted whether to promote her or kill her." Cas reported.

"I thought Crowley disbanded the racks."

"He did, but Abaddon brought it back up and he decided to have some of them for fun."

Sam stayed silent while he googled, "I can't find anything on Katherine Pierce. Maybe she used a different name while she was alive? Can you ask Crowley to get his informer to send a picture?"

"Sure." Cas said and stepped back.

Sam searched for Patrick O'Connell. It didn't give him much. If Patrick lived, then he probably had other children. So Sam refined the search with O'Connell and New Orleans.

This gave him better hits.

"So get this " Sam said when Cas came back, "Sean O'Connell, a seminary student, killed nine other students before killing himself and there's Kieran O'Connell, a priest of St.Anne's church in New Orleans - died late last year, they had a funeral for him. He's survived by his niece, Camille O'Connell. A psychology student working as a bar tender at Rousseau's, in the French Quarter."

"Dean is in New Orleans?"

"Best lead we got."

"What is he doing there?" Cas wondered.

"Searching for that.... Right now." Sam quickly read through the recent news articles and then he sat back when he found one, "There's a serial killer in New Orleans, who is torturing and killing rich white males." Sam turned the laptop to show the garish image of the victims.

"Dean is working a case?" The angel asked.

"Looks like it, or he's the one doing the killing." Sam hoped he was wrong.

Cas' phone pinged. He showed the picture of a woman to Sam. "Sending it to you."

Sam ran the picture of Katherine Pierce and the name through the facial recognition software. He ran it for recently dead (It was the CIA facial recognition software, but Charlie hacked into it and created a profile with access for them to get in and out.). There were no results. He searched for educational records, dental, anything. None of it gave him any results.

"Huh..." He removed all the filters and ran the program. It would take time, but this search should result with anyone matching the features up to 80%, for all time, dead or alive.

"Why don't I get ready and grab something to eat while the program runs its course. Then we'll head out." Sam said.

Cas was going through his phone studiously when Sam came back to the library. "Anything?"

"I'm reading the latest news in NOLA. Did you know that Kingmaker Enterprise is planning to tear down the forests in the bayou region? It is home to many wolves and this company is trying to build companies."

Normally Sam would be just as affronted as Cas at the ecological impact of such an action by what seems to be an evil corporate company. But, he is fighting a bigger problem. When he gets his brother back, maybe he and Cas can hug the trees to stop the deforestation.

"There are few matches to Katherine Pierce." Sam announced looking at the laptop. 

He glared at the screen. The case seemed to get more baffling.

"What?" Cas asked.

"There's no Katherine, but there's an Elena Gilbert, 99% match. A student at Whitmore College, Virginia." Sam turned to show the picture, "she's still alive."

"Not even twins look that similar. What do you think? Shapeshifter?"

"Could be."

"Anything unusual about her?"

Sam perused and raised his eyebrows, "she has more bad luck than us. Born in Mystic Falls, Virginia. Her parents died few years ago, aunt died within a year, an uncle from father's side, also dead. She is the guardian for her brother."

"Is there any relation to Katherine Pierce, if she's not a shapeshifter running around as a dead person?"

"Apart from the obvious, Nothing I can find. The Gilberts are one of the founding families of the town, Nothing unusual for an old southern family from civil war era."

"And all the death." Cas prompted.

"And all the death." He confirmed.

"Dean is working two cases? In New Orleans and Mystic Falls?" Cas asked.

Sam held on to the hope that his brother wasn't torturing and killing humans. If he did, then it left only one option for him. The one his non-demonic brother would take.

"I don't think so. There's some relation that we are not seeing. Let's go, we can research on the way." Sam picked up his laptop and walked out.

"You want to take the impala? Won't it stand out?" Cas asked once they got to the garage. 

Sam hated that the car is being sidelined. No one puts baby in the corner, his brother would say, but his brother isn't here. 'Its just a car Sam.' his demonic brother said and that broke Sam's heart as much as the hammer to the head did. Dean really went full Darth Vader.

"Let me grab some weapons and we'll take another car. Take your pick." Sam said finally. As he was picking some weapons from the trunk, he saw Bobby's old journal and something clicked. He pushed it into his bag and rushed to Cas.

"You're driving. Let's go." Sam said and dove into the passenger side of Cas' pimp mobile. 

Puzzled Cas started the car and drove while Sam searched through Bobby's journal. He read something about NOLA there. Something that stuck him as weird.

"Ah ha... I remembered right." Sam exclaimed. "In '04, Bobby and Rufus went on a hunt in New Orleans, vampires."

"What's so special about it?"

"He didn't mention if they killed the vampire responsible for the deaths. He just wrote, made a deal with Kieran O'Connell, Marcel Gerard and Agnes."

"Kieran O'Connell? As in?"

"The priest who died last year. A Legacy. So what was Bobby doing? He scribbled something in the sidelines."

He squinted at the writing and read out, "wooden stake to the heart to kill and vervain to keep them out of the head."

"Did you hear of any vampires that are affected by wooden stakes?" Sam asked looking up.

"Yes actually, there's a small community of these uh vampires. Although vampires is not the right term, they are not your traditional monsters. They are animated corpses held together with magic. They drink blood to survive and cannot stand sunlight, at all. They call themselves vampires. A Bennett witch about 1000 years ago performed a spell to create these vampires."

"New age vampires? Alright, so with Kieran O'Connell and Bobby dead, these vamps could have returned and Dean is hunting them? We just have to find the missing link between Katherine Pierce and New Orleans."

Sam nodded off for a while after it got dark outside. The one good thing with Cas driving is that they don't need to halt for the night. He researched and spoke about it with Cas to keep the angel from losing focus on the road.

"She's adopted." Sam said out loud.

"Who?"

"Elena Gilbert. Her birth records are sealed, but I.... Hacked into the hospital site. She's born to Isobel Flemming, father unknown. Isobel was a researcher at Duke, until she went missing."

"Are you sure she's not a Winchester?" Cas asked.

"Ha ha. Your sense of humour is getting better, but you shouldn't be learning from Dean."

At the mention of Dean, they both sobered. "Does this girl have anyone left?" Cas asked.

"Well she has friends and she looks happy in her Facebook photos. Party girl. There are some recent ones too, she uploaded one from a few days ago. She's clearly not a shifter, no eye flare." Sam searched through some older pics, see if there's any sudden shift in her personality, she could be a demon. "Huh.... there's one from a few months ago, before summer, titled, 'finally feeling like myself.'" Sam tried to imitate a barely legal teenager.

Dean would've laughed and said his voice acting needed some practice.

The angel didn't. "Why wasn't she feeling like herself? Maybe we should ask her."

"We are not catfishing a teenager Cas. Even if she could be a demon. You said a Bennett witch created the new age vampire curse right?"

"Yes. They are an old natural born witch family."

"I know. Elena Gilbert tagged Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes as her best friends in that pic."

"A Bennett witch, possible demon. How did Dean even catch this case?" Cas wondered.

"You got me." Sam started searching Bonnie Bennett. "Bonnie is also born in Mystic Falls, daughter of Rudy Hopkins and Abby Bennett. Father was the mayor of the town, until he died. Jeez... What is it with deaths around these girls? She is also registered at Whitmore. I don't see any obvious witchy signs....." Maybe she and Abby Bennett didn't know about their witch heritage. He jumped another generation, yahtzee. "Her grandmother was Sheila Bennett, an Occult Studies Professor at, get this, Whitmore College. How much do you bet that granny taught baby few tricks?"

"Not much, I don't make bad bets. Sam, maybe I can drive to Whitmore after dropping you off at New Orleans. There's clearly a case there." Cas offered. Sam got thinking though, he glaringly failed at keeping Dean restrained, if his brother dangled demon blood over him... The world can handle only one evil brother at a time.

"No, you work the serial killer case and see about the deal Bobby and Rufus made. Finding this Marcel or Agnes should help. I'll head to Whitmore. Dean spent days talking to Katherine in hell. If there's a demon at the school, he would've killed her already, but he came by the bunker to search O'Connell. There's clearly more to this story."

Cas nodded. "Well then, you better get some sleep Sam."

"I caught a couple of hours earlier." Sam defended himself.

Before he could complain, Cas extended his hand and placed a finger on his forehead and that was the last thing he saw.

Chapter Text

Sam started at day break from New Orleans after getting some vervain, just in case. They were already suspicious that they found vervain so easily. They got offered it in various forms - pendants, bracelets, plain old vervain herbs, and even vervain extract.

 Sam focused on driving. Cas can deal with NOLA. 

It was already late when Sam arrived at Whitmore. But he jumped right into the case. He cannot take a break if he has to stay ahead of Dean. The semester just started and the pep rally is in full swing. 

He asked around for Bonnie Bennett, and most didn't know her. It wasn't out of the ordinary, in a school this big. One or two know of her from some class, but haven't seen her since the school year started. What was weird was their answers. It was the same, "She's ok, she's just taking a break."

The answers were varied for Elena Gilbert though. More than a few knew her. They said she was supposed to be there with a couple of friends. She even knew Tyler Lockwood, a popular football player and was roommates with Caroline Forbes. A popular and pretty girl, apparently, but too sad that she dropped out of school this year. 

So one of Elena Gilbert's best friends is not seen in a few days and the other dropped out of school. There could be a very rational explanation for this. Sam decided to do his due diligence.

He avoided the chaperones for now. The kids were drunk enough to not question why a grown ass man was asking about two barely legal teenagers. He wanted to gather some more information before donning the FBI pretext. 

He couldn't see anything suspicious that could lure his demonic brother other than drunk chicks. Scratch that, this would definitely be Dean's hunting grounds. 

A fight broke out, two kids trading angry words and shoving each other. Sam decided to intervene but he was beaten to it by another man. Sam blinked. He hadn't even seen the man approach. 

The chaperone broke the fight and took off with one of the kids. Sam shrugged and went to the office to get the last known sighting of Bonnie Bennett. 

That led to more absurdity. The office gave the same, rehearsed answer that she is taking a break and will not be joining this semester. He asked about Caroline Forbes and there was enough paper work about her dropping out.  When he asked the same about Bonnie, they had no answer. He asked for Bonnie's emergency contact. It was Elena Gilbert. 

When he asked why Abby Bennett, her mother is not listed as the emergency contact, he got a shrug in reply. 

Frustration gnawed at him, he found a motel for the night and collapsed on the bed. He opened the bottle of hard liquor he bought on the way and took a long swig. His alcohol intake increased drastically since Dean went darkside. 

He called Cas. The angel picked up immediately. "Tell me you had a better day than I did Cas."

Old Cas would've made some pointless retort. He would make a dry humour retort if it was Dean. Since it was just old him, he replied by jumping directly into the topic, "Dean is definitely here."

"Really?" He sat up, holding the bottle tight. 

"Yes. When I went by the police station, they said that they already had an FBI agent by the name Agent Spears on the case."

"Agent Spears as in-?"

"The identity that I created. Yes."

They both stayed silent for a moment. "Do you think he's laying bread crumbs for me to find him?" Cas asked hopefully. 

It hurt Sam to tell the truth. Demon or not, he knew Dean. "No, he's just taunting. Daring someone to call out his bluff." It is the same craziness that made him create a bikini inspector and Agent Stark badge. 

Cas remained silent. Sam hated himself for being glad that Cas is there with him on this. He knew the angel was still weak and is living off borrowed grace, but if there is one person on this planet who felt as deeply as he did with this entire situation, its Cas. Sam knows that the angel is crushing hard for his brother and it will only end in pain, because Dean, demon or otherwise, would face the fires of hell before acknowledging his feelings. 

Sam took a deep breath, "we cannot get emotional. Let's work the case. What do you got?"

"The bodies were drained of blood before being staged." Cas reported. 

"Vampire?"

"Yes and the police already have a suspect. Lucien Castle. He's the CEO of Kingmaker Enterprise."

"Ok, who?"

"The corporation that is killing the wolves. He's the prime suspect."

"Right right..." Sam supposed he should care a little more about the world that he fought so hard to protect.

"I found Camille O'Connell too. She's one of the civilian consultants on the case."

That's odd. "They brought in a psychology student as a consultant to a serial killer case?" 

"Thanks. I thought I was the only one who found it absurd." It would be sarcastic if it was anyone else. Cas was literal. 

"Ok what else?"

"I observed the interrogation. Lucien said that he needed to speak to Camille and the detective just left the precinct. Lucien Castle is a vampire Sam. An old one, and he seems to have some psychic power to compel people. Camille and her other civilian consultant didn't get affected. She's wearing the vervain bracelet we saw in the store. I went in afterwards, and he said that FBI has no jurisdiction and to leave the town entirely."

Vervain to keep them out of the heads. Bobby wrote in his journal. "What did you do?" Sam asked. 

"You told not to engage. So I didn't. I acted as if I got compelled and left. Camille and Vincent Griffith spoke to him. I observed. He claimed that he's not the one killing the civilians, said he's here to protect a Niklaus Mikaelson? Castle suspects that someone is trying to besmirch him and put him under the scope so that they can get to this Niklaus person." Cas explained. 

What did Dean stumble upon? "Did you find anything else strange?"

"These are not the only deaths. Few days before this, there was another killer about. Three deaths. Human. I checked the morgue, and it is definitely the first blade."

Sam squashed everything and tried to be as emotionless as he could. "Dean was already in town before this case?" He inferred. 

"Yes. Infact, on the day of the first murder by this killer, he would've been in hell, talking to Katherine Pierce."

"My head hurts with all this information. Find anything on Marcel or Agnes?"

"I asked around and got guided to a metaphysical supply store. They said that Agnes is dead and if I want to deal with any witch, I should talk to the new regent, Davina. I also went by the church where Kieran used to work, and it's a boxing ring now, run by Marcel Gerard."

"Witches?" He tried to guess. He didn't even know anymore. 

"New Orleans has always been the home for witches." Cas said. 

"But that's just a tourist trap." Sam argued. 

"Supposedly not." Cas observed. 

"Where do we go from here?" There are just too many players.

"I will talk to Vincent Griffith tomorrow. See what he knows about everything. Going to Camille now will probably tip off Dean, so I will hold off until we know everything."

"That's a good plan as any I suppose." He explained what he found. 

"We have a demon, Elena Gilbert. Bonnie Bennett and Agnes - witches. The rich CEO - vampire. What is this? Middle Earth? What's going on?" Sam complained. 

"Let's just take a step back. Rest for now. We'll pick it up in the morning. The patterns are already closing. We will find Dean." Cas encouraged. 

"Yeah. Thanks Cas." He hung up. 

He made a crime board of the case while completing the rest of the bottle. 

"Agent Smith, I am trying to find anything about a student who studied here till the last semester. Bonnie Bennett. Did you know her?" Sam asked the librarian. 

"You think I know the name of every student who comes in here??" She rolled her eyes. 

Sam wouldn't tell anyone, he had a respectful fear for librarians. Residual feelings from childhood, their family used to jump from town to town. He would be on the edge that the librarian might ask why a eleven year old wanted to read books on medieval creatures in latin or that the librarians would track him down, berate him for the book he didn't return because his father couldn't wait to blow out of town. 

"Can you please check the name of the last book she checked out and when?"

"Why is the FBI looking into this girl?"

"Some new information came up about her father's death and we tried to reach her and came up empty. She had very few friends you see, I think she might have run away, I am hoping to find a lead from the books she checked, because her friends told that she spent a lot of time in here."

"Nomadic thought and Occultism." The librarian read out after searching through the database. She went to find the book. He followed.  "You think she went into satanic shit? Why do we even have Occult Studies, I will never understand."

"I thought it was disbanded after Sheila Bennett died." Sam asked. 

"They got a new teacher, after Sheila, so they started it again, but then he took off, never came back. Atleast the current one is good looking, and you know, sane."

"Sane?"

"Yeah, old Sheila believed what she taught. Called herself a witch. Here you go." The librarian handed over the book and gave him space. 

He flipped through the book, it was about some nomadic group of witches who called themselves travelers and it spoke about spirit magic. 

Sam decided that he could get the answers if he trapped the demon in Elena Gilbert. 

He turned around and found himself face to face with someone. "Why are you looking for Bonnie?" It was the chaperone who broke up the fight last night. 

There was something intense about the way he asked the question. His pupils dilated, he remembered what Cas said about these vampires being able to compel people to do things. He decided to play along until he can get the full scoop. There's so much going on and getting involved might not give him the entire perspective. 

He gave the same answer as the librarian. 

"What new information?" He pressed. 

"That is classified. I am not given that information. My task is to find Bonnie Bennett and bring her in for questioning." He said in a monotone. He saw how people behaved when they are being mind controlled. 

"Bonnie is on a trip with her mother. She's fine and dealing with her father's loss. Rudy Hopkins case is closed. There's nothing to investigate in Mystic Falls. You will leave and forget this conversation."

"I will leave town." He repeated. 

The man waited until Sam left the library. 

As soon as he lost the tail, Sam hacked into the college website and looked for the faculty. He is the Occult Studies Professor, Alaric Saltzman.

This school has a vampire, a demon and a witch. This is like Chicago all over again. What next? The quarterback is a werewolf? Is the psychology professor a shapeshifter?

He stopped questioning his life after the suicidal teddy bear but come on. He just wanted to save his brother, now he has a board full of monsters and zero leads to Dean. 

He dove into research 

Alaric Saltzman, former history teacher at Mystic Falls High until last year, joined Whitmore this semester. His work experience had a glaring break for the last year. He's also Isobel Flemming's husband aka Elena Gilbert's birth mother. Was he following her after his wife went missing? But if he's a vampire, Isobel's missing is not a cold case, it's a possible murder case that never made the papers.

Sam stared at the board he setup in his motel room. All the pins converging on Elena Gilbert. There's a creepy vampire, a missing witch and a demon. Meanwhile there's a serial killer vampire CEO in New Orleans who is somehow linked to this entire shit show. He thought to just call Dean and meet up with him. Knight of hell or not, this is not an easy hunt and Sam shouldn't be doing this without backup. 

"Cas, tell me you found some credible information and not more tangential leads." He spoke into the phone. 

"You think our luck starts working now? Gabriel tricked Tyche to a game of astragolai once. She's hated all angels ever since." Cas replied. 

"Of course." He said defeated, not bothering to touch that with a ten foot pole. "What did you find?"

"Vincent Griffith is nowhere to be found. With no other leads, I went to the woods, help the fauna from the deforestation but all the wolves are gone."

Sam wondered if Cas would kill the douchebag vampire CEO for destroying the trees and animals in that forest. "Sorry Cas. You couldn't save them."

"No Sam, there are no tracks. I found human tracks instead, and I crashed a funeral at the end of that path, The wolves are not wolves. They call themselves werewolves, but actually they are skinwalkers. They belong to a Crescent pack. A very old pack of skinwalkers. They can transform into wolves but are supposed to be bound to the full moon."

"Supposed to be?"

"The Crescents had some bad luck these past few years. A witch put a curse on them - they were stuck as wolves except for the full moon. They broke the curse and pledged their allegiance to this vampire skinwalker hybrid named Hayley Marshall, so now they can transform at will like an ordinary skinwalker, but some other witch put the same curse on the alpha, so they were all affected. This full moon, few days ago, she managed to break that curse but Kingmaker Enterprise killed many of the pack wolves that very morning."

Sam's headache intensified. "Vampires killing skinwalkers, witches cursing them. Mind controlling Vampires. Did someone open purgatory again, what the fuck is going on Cas?"

"We just stumbled on to this now Sam. But these are communities that existed for decades, centuries even. Co-existing with humans."

"Just like Chicago. But something is stirring, dead bodies are turning up in New Orleans. Do you think it's because of Dean?"

"Maybe Hayley Marshall can give us the information we need. The wolves are not forthcoming with her address. They are hiding something, or whatever happens to her affects them, so forced pack loyalty maybe.  I am still scoping out Vincent Griffith's place. If nothing turns out today, I plan on talking to Camille O'Connell tomorrow. As a legacy she should have all the information we need."

"Sounds good. I'll try to wrap it up here tonight and join you tomorrow. Keep me posted." He thanked the angel. 

"You too Sam."

He added the information Cas provided to the NOLA board.

On the Whitmore board, he added Alaric Saltzman, and joined the link to Isobel. He focussed on the picture at the top of the board. Sam was so focussed on Elena Gilbert that he did not see another hit from the Katherine Pierce search. There was a 77% match with another picture, an old one,  Katerina Petrova, late 1400's picture from Bulgaria. But she is eerily like Elena. The baffling part? Isobel's family could be traced back to Bulgaria around the same time. 

Did original Elena Gilbert, the human, know about her ancestor? Is that why she picked Katherine as her demon name when she started torturing souls in hell. Katherine is not a common chosen demonic name. 

He sat back, staring at the wall. He felt a little like the Charlie Day 'Pepe Sylvia' meme. 

What now?  He can't hunt the creep vampire in the middle of his class. He has to risk nightfall for that. He couldn't find Elena Gilbert, all anyone said was that she is having a session in the psychology lab. Whatever that meant. 

'Nothing to investigate in Mystic Falls', the vampire professor said. He's not one to follow orders and the town is just an hour away. Sam grabbed his keys.

Chapter Text

Sam felt a change in the air as soon as he entered Mystic Falls. The town was a generic small town in Virginia, all picket fences and friendly smiles. He checked the news for the last few months. Crime actually went down. Even the animal attacks that are pretty common in this area have reduced. 

Although Sam suspected the reduced animal attacks was probably because the vampires got better at throwing away the bones after their snack or the work of witches with better cleaners.

His hunter instincts told him something was wrong with the town. The place...felt off. Like someone vacuumed out all grit and left behind a saccharine shell. 

He drove straight to the sheriff's office. He asked for the her, but she's busy on some errand apparently. 

"Do you know how the former mayor, Rudy Hopkins died?" 

The deputy stared at him, "it was a heart attack during the end of summer block party last year..."  Then his eyes flickered, and a horror dawned on him, "Oh god!! Oh my god..." Then blinked and stared again. "It was,  it was Stefan... he just cut his throat.... We all just watched it happen."

"Sorry, what?" Sam was thoroughly confused. 

"Oh my God...." The deputy looked really sick, "How did we even think it was a heart attack?"

Was this Stefan a psychic? He never heard of psychics controlling a large group of people at the same time. Could he be one of the kids Azazel bled into? He put a brake on that line of thought and backed up. Don't go off on tangents. He reminded himself. Maybe he's one of the new age vampires.  

"Are you telling me that someone killed the a man, not just anyone, the Mayor of this town in the middle of a crowd? And the official cause of written off as a heart attack?" He asked seriously, using the most severe FBI voice he could muster.

"Yes, I- I saw it happen, but the report.. heart attack. It can't be right? Right? I mean I can be wrong but not the rest of the town.. " He shook his head, "I must remember it wrong. There would be a massive panic if something like that happened right? Must have thought of something else. Nightmare. Forget my head sometimes in this town." The deputy said. "Forget I said anything."

Very very weird. "Anything else you remember from that nightmare?"

"Not much, something about drinking blood... I must've watched a horror movie. Stefan Salvatore drinking blood and killing people. Heheh". He said with a weak chuckle. 

Vampire mind melding. But, did they not do it right? Why does he remember something else now? "Can you get me the footage from the street for that night. You know, for my paperwork."

"Yes. Ofcourse" He searched through that day's footage and naturally he couldn't find any footage of that block party.

Why kill the mayor of the town publicly, mind meld the towns people to forget it and then cover the tracks? Unless someone else is covering the tracks of the supernatural community in Mystic Falls. Mayor of a town dies during a block party, even if it is a natural death, it would still make the headlines. Yet, they didn't know of this. His dad didn't get wind of Mystic Falls. That is impressive and terrifying.  

"Can you tell me, where I can find Stefan Salvatore?"

"He left town after the accident at the grill." Sam decided not to ask about the 'accident', for his sanity's sake. "Elena Gilbert might know." The deputy spoke, he still seemed shaken. 

This girl again? "And why is that?"

"He used to be her boyfriend." He leaned in and said, the horror forgotten. 

Oook. "Used to be?"

"She broke up with him to shack up with his brother, Damon. Older guy too..." The Deputy gossiped. 

Is his brother a vampire too? What the Edward Cullen is going on here?

Can you show me a picture of Stefan?" He asked finally. 

Sam ran Salvatore the younger's face through the face recognition software. The top hit was a field medic during WW2. He supposed that if one were a vampire laying low, a field medic in the war is the best place to be, plenty of discrete snacking opportunities. He resurfaced a few years back in Mystic Falls, He graduated from the local high school. 

The next hit was a recent one, he set up shop at Savannah, Georgia and is working at a Dean's auto garage. He pulled the number and tried to trace it. It stopped pinging since yesterday. 

Isn't that a funny coincidence. Right at the time he rolled into Whitmore. Did the vampires know that he's hunting them? An early warning system to warn them of potential hunters in the area?

He asked if he could find Damon Salvatore, but apparently he's also not seen in a few months. 

To recap, Elena Gilbert's boyfriend  Damon(possible vampire), and her best friend Bonnie(witch) are missing, ex-boyfriend skipped town(most definitely a murderous psychic vampire), another best friend quit college and her quite possibly dead biological mother's husband(also a vampire) seems to be following her life, while her actual soul is winning hell's best intern award and the demon in her meat suite is attending pep rallies. 

Nope. Nothing suspicious about her at all.

Sam checked his phone, there was a message from Cas. 'Found Vincent. 👍'

Sam knew that if he called Cas, he will leave for New Orleans, to Dean. He still had a case at Whitmore. He needed to find out what happened to Bonnie, get a lead on Stefan, exorcise Elena Gilbert and kill Alaric Saltzman. 

Dean just has to wait. 

Sam planned to target the demon first. It seemed that Elena Gilbert, human one that is, is linked to everything. Trap the demon and get information from her about Stefan and Bonnie, hopefully whatever the hell is going on in New Orleans and how Dean is connected to all this. 

He sneaked into the dorms. (He had some experience with Jess before they got their own place.)

He rounded the corridor and saw Alaric Saltzman closing the door of her room. 

Ewww... 

"I'm too tired to drain and compel, frankly I'm done compelling for life. Who are you?" Alaric asked. 

Sam dropped the pretense and pulled the wooden stake out. "You know I thought to give you the benefit of the doubt, but man, you are a creep." He said. He did his research, Elena was a normal high school girl whose parents died in an accident. Her life started turning worse since Alaric rolled into town. He had doubts about Elena Gilbert's parents death too. How did her parents die while she survived?

Alaric sighed, "Ok firstly, that won't kill me. I wish it did, but it doesn't. Secondly, what?"

The vampire must be bluffing about the stake. "What are you doing in Elena Gilbert's room at this hour?" Even if she's a demon, that's just nasty. 

He looked really sad, Sam could swear there was even a trace of tears in his eyes, "none of your business. She wanted me to do it." Alaric said and once he realized Sam's accusation, he looked like he wanted to throw up his last blood snack, "ok no. No no no. No no no no no no. NO. On so many levels, NO. She's like family."

Sam took a step forward, "yes.. she should have been, she was your wife's biological daughter."

"How do you know Isobel?"

"I don't. You killed her." Sam accused. 

"I didn't kill her. She killed herself, more like Klaus did. I'd really not talk about it." He slumped against the wall and continued, his shoulders sagged, "Look, Obviously you are a hunter. Not sure how we lured you here. There are no deaths. Crime actually went down and why are you even looking for Bonnie?" He didn't wait for his answers, just sighed, "Let's just sort this in my office, while I have a drink, or four, possibly fourteen?"

The 'woe-is-me-weary-underpaid-teacher' act from the vampire is note worthy, but Sam is not planning on going to an isolated place that he can't control. Yet, Alaric is promising answers. Answers he needs to trap Dean. That means following the same hunt that his brother is on, but from the other end. 

"If you try something, I am using this, and I pick the place." He pulled out the backup machete. 

"That will just be painful, but it won't kill me. I am not going to an unknown location. We talk in my office or not at all." Saltzman pressed. 

"If nothing can kill you and you have nothing to hide, why be on guard?"

"I don't trust hunters, I should know, I was one. Besides I don't have to give you any answers. I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart. You want answers. We talk in my office."

They stared at each other for a minute. Sam's phone vibrated in his pocket. No doubt from Cas. 

"I have all of eternity, something tells me you don't." Alaric taunted. 

Sam thought for a moment. "Fine. We walk to my car, I will pick up some weapons, then we go to your office and you will answer my questions."

Alaric shrugged, "fair enough. Lead the way."

Sam glared, "you first." He said with false courtesy. 

"What are you then? Psychic? Siren?" Sam asked with the stake pointed at Saltzman's back. 

Alaric's eyebrows rose, "Sirens? like the Greek myths? they are real?" He asked with morbid curiosity. 

"You're going to be giving the answers." He threatened. 

"I am a vampire, just a powerful one, created by a crazy witch. I can't be killed by any weapon made on Earth. Sunlight burns but doesn't kill, neither does werewolf venom. So let's not waste time."

Cas mentioned something about it. A Bennett witch created these new age vampires. "So you're the alpha of these new age vampires."

"Alpha is for werewolf packs. It is called Originals for vampires." 

The alpha vampire they tangled multiple times during the purgatory Eve crisis flashed to his mind. He didn't correct Saltzman. 

"So, How did you catch the case?" Alaric asked.

Sam stayed silent. He needed some leverage over this vampire before he can start giving answers.He opened the trunk of the car, asking the vampire to stay far. "No sudden movements." He threatened him. 

"I'm not going to kill you." Alaric said, raising his hands. 

He scoffed, "See now why don't I believe you?"

"Killing you means luring more hunters here. I'd rather convince you to leave. Safer and no body count."

Sam searched through the weapons. He didn't find the colt. He tried to remember packing it. He didn't. So, research wasn't the only thing that lured Dean to the bunker.

Why did he need the colt when he had the first blade? Did he misplace it?

"If something does happen to me, other hunters will be the least of your problems." Sam said and swung Ruby's knife at Alaric's hand in one fluid motion. 

The vampire was on him in a flash and pinned him to the car. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Relax, I can aim."

Even as Sam watched, the wound on the arm closed. The vampire stepped back, "you have a good arsenal, I will give you that. But if your ace in the hole was that letter opener, I'm severely disappointed."

Obviously Ruby's knife didn't work. Nothing made on Earth, the vamp said. Kurds belonged on Earth. 

Something glinted out of the corner of his eye. Ofcourse. He pulled out the angel blade and closed the trunk. 

"You think steel is going to work? Really? It's like you are not even trying."

"Humor me. Small cut." He promised and flicked the blade. 

The teacher looked at the cut, "it doesn't heal."

"Now we're getting somewhere." Sam spoke, relaxing slightly. 

"It doesn't heal." Alaric repeated. If Sam didn't know better he'd say that the vampire was happy about it. Alaric looked at his confused face and replied, "the idea that I cannot be killed keeps me up at night." 

Maybe he's one of the good monsters. "Well you can sleep peacefully in purgatory."

Alaric was still poking at the cut, "what is that blade?" He asked with genuine curiousity on his face.

As if Sam would answer that question. He saw few co-eds laughing loudly and talking. "Ok, walk to your office, or I will lodge this in your back."

Saltzman also looked at the college kids and marched forward. Sam followed close behind, the angel blade poking the vampire's back. 

"Start talking." Sam said pushing the blade just enough to brush his back. 

"You need to ask what you want to know."

Once a teacher, always a teacher. Sam knew Alaric would try something once they reached the office, so it's better he get the important information out. He knew what he wanted to know the most, Elena Gilbert, so he can track Dean. The deputy's horrified words echoed in his head, 'he cut the throat of the mayor while we all watched.' 

"Is Stefan Salvatore like you? An enhanced vampire?" He asked. 

I thought you wanted to know about Bonnie, but now you are asking about Stefan?"

He stayed silent. He isn't giving any answers and now that he had the upper hand. 

Alaric realized it too. "Stefan is not like me, he is a normal, what did you call us? New age vampire. I don't know where he is and you shouldn't kill him."

"I know where he is."

Alaric turned around, the blade tore the shirt, "where is he?" 

Sam didn't answer again. 

"Oh for fuck's sake, he's an old vampire. He'll kill you if he's in one of his moods." Alaric said and started walking again. 

"Was he in one of his moods when he publicly executed Bonnie's father in the town square?" Sam pushed. 

Alaric was puzzled, "that wasn't Stefan, it was Silas, an old immortal witch. He is dead. Not a problem anymore."

"And what? Stefan and this Silas are identical twins?" 

"No .. doppelgangers. Long story involving immortals and cosmic loopholes. The universe's way of balancing supernatural scales."

Sam heard about the concept of Doppelgangers, but clearly he didn't know as much as he should. 

"Stefan is the good one, is that what you're saying?"

"I wouldn't use the word good. We all have darkness within us, but Stefan doesn't need to be killed for a crime he didn't commit. He drinks animal blood for god's sake. Not even I can keep that shit down."

Looks like Sam needed to swing by Savannah to check if Stefan is clean. "You tap fresh blood?"

"I drink out of blood bags. I did not kill anyone. Not one human." 

Sam scoffed, "You didn't kill anyone in a thousand years? Not even a small nibble? You really want me to believe that?"

Alaric opened the door to his office, "I am not thousand. I was turned just over a year ago and most of that time I spent in limbo." He raised his hands and settled in his chair. Offered him the other. 

This case continued to baffle Sam. He missed having Dean as a partner on a case. He had a way of cutting through bullshit and getting straight to the point. Shoot first so you don't have to ask questions and endure exposition. 

"What happened to Bonnie?" Sam asked, holding the blade in his hand and in position. 

Alaric's easy demeanor vanished, a shadow of genuine grief on his face, "She died. Trying to save Mystic Falls. She saved so many that day, including me."

"From whom?"

"An evil traveler."

"The nomadic tribe of witches?" At least her last research made sense. 

Alaric nodded.

It seemed that Bonnie chose her death, Alaric is supposedly clean and Stefan is cleaner. That left Elena. 

"Tell me about Elena Gilbert." Sam asked. 

The vampire's tone turned protective. "Why do you want to know about her?"

"Why are you following her life?" Sam countered, suspicion flaring.

"What?" His confusion seemed almost comical in its sincerity. 

"You followed her to Mystic falls after your wife went missing. Her parents died in an unfortunate car accident while she survived, You briefly dated her next guardian, who also died. Now you are working in the same college where she's studying. What about all of this screams random coincidence to you?"

Alaric looked at him like he was a student who printed the assignment from Wikipedia, "I did not follow her to Mystic Falls. I came to find the vampire that I thought killed my wife. I dated Jenna because I liked her, she died because that evil hybrid killed her. I know most things revolve around Elena, but none of my decisions are because of her. She is.. was my best friend's girlfriend."

"Ok" Sam conceded. "Then tell me did you observe any change in her attitude in the past few months?" He continued his interrogation. 

Alaric looked sad now, he rubbed his forehead, "Elena has a difficult life. She lost so many people, her best friend died, her boyfriend died. She can't go back to her town. So yeah, she's acting different. But that's not a problem now. I dealt with it."

"When you say dealt?"

"Elena started spiralling after Damon died, along with Bonnie. Elena didn't kill anyone though. She just needed to see him, so she did something stupid. I compelled his memories away. She won't hurt anyone alright. That's all I will say on that matter. She is back to normal."

Sam scoffed, "she's not back to normal, is that what she told you? That she's heart broken over her dead boyfriend. The Elena in her room, is not Elena... It's someone else. She's a demon."

"Excuse me?"

"The real Elena Gilbert is dead, long gone." He broke the news without any grace. 

Alaric sighed, "Being a vampire doesn't mean being a demon. I used to think that way too. But not all of us have switched off our humanity." He explained patiently. 

Wait.... "Elena is a vampire?" 

"Yes."

"When did she turn?"

"An year? Going on two?" Alaric looked perplexed at the change in his line of questioning. 

Sam understood the feeling. If Elena is an undead vampire, Then who the fuck is in hell?

"I need to speak to Elena." He demanded. 

Alaric seemed to have enough, "You need to tell me what's going on before I bring her here. I will not let you hurt her."

She's a prodigy in hell. "Look, whoever is in there, is not Elena. I have it under very good authority that the real Elena is in hell. She is breaking records there."

"Whose authority? Hell? What are you even talking about." Alaric reached the end of his patience, which, for a teacher, was saying something. 

"A very powerful, unkillable demon and now, the king of hell have taken interest in her. So I need to know exactly what Elena did before she died. It is very crucial that I get that information and vampire or not, the Elena you know is gone. The demon probably killed her." He said, not without compassion but his brain was jumping through demonic possession logistics, Demons can possess vampires? If she was a vampire, Why is dead Elena not in purgatory? 

"Look, she was briefly possessed by an evil bitch, but that bitch is dead. We took care of it. Elena's change in personality is not because of a 'demon', which I still don't know if you're being literal or metaphorical. You can talk to her, but I will be present and you will handover all the weapons, including the shiny one."

He needed the information more, and he can exorcise her. "If she's a demon, and she doesn't go quietly," he placed the angel blade on the table, "I am using this." He placed the machete and the wooden stake too, and advised Alaric to call her in. He pulled out the spray paint and started to draw at the entrance. Devil's trap, standard procedure. 

"Is that a magic coat? What else do you have stashed in there?" Alaric asked. 

"I gave up all my weapons." He lied. He had the holy water flask in the left and his pistol with the devil's trap etched into the bullet in the right. He's getting all the answers and then he's putting Elena Gilbert to rest. 

There was a knock and a young woman opened the door. "Ric, I love spending time with you but Caroline said she'd drop by.... Who's this?"

She walked past the devil's trap. Sam sprinkled the holy water on her. There was no sizzle. 

"What the hell?" She shrieked and patted down the dress. 

She's not a demon, not a shapeshifter. What the hell is she? Well, she's a vampire but what the actual fuck. 

"Elena, he's uh..." Sam didn't offer his name, " a hunter." 'Ric' finished. 

Elena was on edge immediately. "That didn't taste like vervain." 

"It's holy water. He seems to think that you are a demon." Alaric answered. 

"Demons are real?"

"Apparently so." He turned to Sam, "Are you satisfied now? She is not a demon, just a new age vampire."

"New age?" Gilbert asked. 

"He calls us so." Alaric shrugged, "Don't know why."

"Because you are not traditional vampires. Vampires are all teeth, you have like two fangs. The monstrous vampires are children of Eve, lived long before humans existed. You are just created by magic, barely thousand years old." Sam answered absently, still trying to recalibrate his understanding of monster lore . 

"Eve like, Adam and Eve?" Elena asked breathlessly.

"Another species of vamps? Demons, hell. My head hurts." Alaric complained. 

"You're telling me." Sam sympathized. "Alright, Hi Elena, I'm Sam. I have some questions for you. I hope you can answer me honestly or we can find other ways to have this discussion." He waved at the wooden stake on the table. 

"What's this about?" She asked, eyeing the array of weapons on Alaric's table with understandable suspicion. 

Alaric just poured himself a drink and shrugged. "Just answer the nice hunter's questions, if he does anything. He's outnumbered and we'll handle it."  

Honestly Sam had no idea how to start this conversation anymore. He came up with more questions than answers in the past day. He ignored Alaric's threat. 

"Did you know that you were adopted before you were turned?"

"Yes."

"Isobel Flemming was your mother?"

"Yes."

"...and Alaric was her husband?"

"Yes. But she wanted to be a vampire and left him. She died later." She answered. 

Alaric looked shifty. Sam could see why he didn't want to talk about her. He mapped out what happened to him now. Alaric was a civilian, wife got to know about vampires, left him to become one. He thought she died because of a vampire, became a hunter, went to Mystic Falls, found long lost daughter of the wife. Sometime before last year both Elena and Alaric became vampires. He didn't know how Isobel died though. 

"Did she become a vampire?"

"Yes."

Should he even care how a monster died. He had enough problems on his plate. He put Isobel on a back burner. 

"What happened to Bonnie?"

She gave the same answer that Alaric did. She died saving the town and a lot of people. The same accident where Damon Salvatore died. 

There was a surprising lack of sympathy at the mention of her boyfriend. It didn't track with what Alaric said about her grief-stricken status. Sam shook his head, he is not getting into this teenage vampire relationship drama. 

"Do you kill people?" He asked seriously. 

"No, I drink out of blood bags."

"What happens when you can't control yourself?"

"I am a pre-med student. I am around patients and blood most of the day. I can control myself." She said vehemently. There was an indistinct sigh of relief from Alaric. 

He eyed the man. He has no way of verifying their claims unless he saw it for himself.

From his lack of reaction, the supernatural beings tensed. 

"Do you know that your family can be traced back to Bulgaria as old as 1400's?" He asked, casually, trying to lighten the mood with a boring tid-bit. Sam didn't know then, that his passion for useless trivia solved the entire mystery. 

Both the vampires stiffened immediately. 

Huh. "Does the name Katerina Petrova mean anything to you?"

The reaction was instant. If he didn't know better, he'd say it was fear in the enhanced vampire's face and the sheer anger caused Elena's face to show the red rings around her monstrous eyes. 

"Please... please.... Please tell me she didn't come back to life." Alaric begged. 

Okay, new development. Katerina Petrova was clearly more than a historical footnote. 

"Why are you asking about Katherine?" Elena stood up and walked to him. Even Alaric's fake casualness was gone.

"Katerina Petrova and Katherine Pierce are the same person? Was she a vampire?" Sam asked, his mind racing. 

"She is responsible for most of the vampires in Mystic Falls." Elena answered, with barely suppressed fury. 

"She created a nest?"

"No, she was a manipulative and an opportunistic mastermind bitch of a cockroach who can turn anyone to do what she wants in just one conversation. If she is alive, just run and never look back." Elena answered. 

"And do not fall in love with her." Alaric warned. Elena nodded sincerely.

One conversation. Dean spent weeks talking to her in hell. Is his demonic brother getting manipulated by this mastermind bitch of a cockroach?