nineteen. betrayal is a dagger with no white oak ash

It had taken a while for Rebekah to cry herself out. You had gone to bed when she finally got up and walked out without a word. You understood. You knew betrayal too. You had walked to your room in silence. Damon and Stefan weren't back yet when you got into bed. You didn't even want to know what they were doing but you hoped Damon at least knew what he was doing.

In the dark of your room, you looked at the voicemail icon on your phone. You still hadn't listened to his voicemail, and a part of you wanted to delete it without playing it. But another part of you wanted to know. Maybe you were a masochist. You wanted to drive the knife in deeper into your heart. You wanted it to cut all the ties that still held you to him, to shatter the last remaining feelings you couldn't seem to escape. You sighed and pushed play.

"Y/N," Klaus's voice filled the room. "I've been thinking of New Orleans lately. You were right before. It was my fault we never got to grieve Marcellus together. Perhaps, when this is all done, we could take a trip down there? We can see the final place we saw him together, our son. Would you like that?"

You felt the tears gather in your eyes as you remembered the decades you'd spent in New Orleans with your family. For centuries, it had just been you and Klaus and his siblings. And that had been enough. But in New Orleans, you gained a new family, a piece of your heart you didn't know you were missing. Mikael had taken him from you, and Klaus...Klaus made you forget. You had lost Marcellus twice because of them.

"We were so happy there, weren't we? I remember the walks we used to take through the town. Do you remember those beignets on Bourbon Street? From that one bakery. You refused to eat them from anywhere else after we found them. You even decreed no vampire in the Quarter could harm that family. Do you think they're still there? We could go see. Together." You heard him sigh. "Maybe we could start again in the street where we made our home. Maybe you'll give me another chance to show you I can still be the man you loved for all those years."

The voicemail ended, and you regretted listening to it as you wiped your eyes. Why did you do this to yourself? It didn't matter what sweet words he threw at you. You weren't the same naive, blinded by love foolish girl you'd been when you lived on this land so long ago. You weren't just going to give in just because he mentioned Marcellus. Even now, you knew he was using your emotions to manipulate you. You groaned and pressed the pillow by your side to your face. Hadn't he done enough? Why couldn't he just leave you be?

• • •

It was quiet when you woke up, but you could hear the shuffling of feet downstairs. Damon and Stefan must have returned some time in the night. You got ready and headed down, hearing faint talking. But fear took over as you froze at the door.

Stefan, Elena, Damon and Mikael were standing around the library, and they turned to look you. You instinctively took a step back. For 900 years, you had run from this man. The last time you'd seen him was in New Orleans when he killed your son and almost killed you. That was the catalyst for the beginning of the end for you.

"Y/N," Mikael said. "You're looking well. Don't worry. I'm not here for you this time."

"Why don't I believe that?" you scoffed, crossing your arms. You looked behind you, wondering if you could make it to the front door faster than him. He was already invited in, but if you could get away fast enough...

"Niklaus is not here to watch your death," Mikael said nonchalantly. "There is no purpose for it."

Your jaw dropped as you stared at him. You heard the silent message in his words. There was no purpose yet. But when they managed to get Klaus back here...that was a different story.

"She's not part of this," Damon said, stepping in front of you.

Mikael regarded him with a look. "As I said, there is no purpose for her death. As long as Stefan here plays his part."

"You don't know what you've done," you told Damon.

"Yeah well, it's a little late for regret, Y/N," Damon said.

"Alright, if we're done with the side show," Stefan crossed his arms. "We'll say that Mikael followed Elena in here. He tried to grab her so he could use her as bait."

"And you what? Vervained him?" Elena asked.

"No, we vervained him," Damon said. "The guy's an original. At least make it believable."

He walked over to pour himself a drink as you realized what they were planning. There was only one thing that would bring Klaus back here now. And there was only one person Klaus would trust to relay the news of Mikael's death...the person he'd compelled loyalty from.

"Okay fine," Stefan said. "We vervained him and in the process discovered that he had a dagger."

"Which he planned to use on Rebekah. But instead," Elena said.

"We drove it through his heart," Stefan finished.

You scoffed, looking around at them as you grabbed Damon's drink from his hand and gulped it down in one shot. "It will never work. You imbeciles are forgetting something."

"Which is?" Damon prompted when you didn't expand.

"Why would I tell you?" you rolled your eyes. Mikael sped over to you before you could even move and grabbed you by the neck. The glass dropped from your hand, shattering on the floor. Damon took a step towards you but stopped, his eyes full of worry.

Mikael looked into your eyes and compelled you. "Tell us what you know or I may just find a new purpose for your death."

You had no control as you said, "Klaus will want proof. He will never leave it to chance."

Mikael dropped you and you fell to your knees, the broken glass cutting into your skin as you rubbed your neck. Damon knelt down to help you, but you pulled away from him. You had warned him but he didn't listen.

"It's a good point," Elena said, looking at you apologetically. "Klaus is smart. He'll want proof."

"Yeah, you, my brother, have been compelled to do what Klaus says," Damon said, looking up at them. "So if the idea is to lure him back here and kill him, the last thing we need is you getting tripped up and tongue tied."

"Well don't look at me. I'm just in charge of getting him back here," Stefan said.

"Then I shall be dead," Mikael said. He pulled out a dagger and a vial of the white oak ashes and placed them on the table.

"What if he wants to see you in person?" Elena asked.

"Y/N?" Mikael prompted. "Why don't you answer her question?"

You glared at him as you spat out, "He will definitely want to see his body. He will come."

Rebekah walked in. "He'll probably want to confirm it with me too," she said, her eyes avoiding her father.

You looked at her in shock. Even if she had just learned what he had done to their mother, Rebekah had always been Klaus' number one supporter. A thousand years together and she was just gonna throw it away.

"Rebekah," you said accusingly.

"He made his bed, Y/N," Rebekah said, not meeting your eyes. You could see the regret on her face, but you also saw the resolve. She would not change her mind.

"You lure him here and I will kill him," Mikael finished.

"With what? Those daggers won't work on him," Stefan pointed out.

"Y/N?" he asked again.

"He has a stake," you tried to stop yourself but couldn't. Why was he torturing you like this? "It's fashioned from the wood of the white oak tree. He made it before they burned that damn tree to the ground."

"Where is it?" Damon asked.

"Not here. Knowing its location is my insurance policy," Mikael said. He dipped the dagger in the vial, swirling it around.

"Against what?" Stefan asked.

"Against you leaving this in my heart," he said, turning towards Elena. "As a vampire cannot wield this weapon, it falls to you."

"You want me to dagger you?" Elena took the dagger from him.

"Y/N is right," he said. "Klaus will leave nothing to chance. Especially when it comes to trust." He turned to you again. "However, neither can I."

He sped over to you and broke your neck before anyone could even blink.

• • •

You startled awake, looking around the room as you came to. You gasped and recoiled on yourself when you saw Mikael sitting on the sette in front of you, leaning forward on his knees, his eyes locked on you. You looked around. The others had gone, left you here alone with the man that had killed you. For all of Damon's words of protecting you, he had left you to the wolves.

"You know," Mikael said calmly. "It was never anything personal. My attempts to kill you."

"It sure felt personal," you rolled your eyes.

"Your father was my best friend before my son killed him," Mikael reminded you. "I always regarded you as a gentle and intelligent girl, though perhaps incompetent in your taste of men. I told you, girl, you should have chosen Elijah."

You glared at him. "Because Niklaus was so unworthy of love?"

"Yes," he said simply before standing and walking to the fire, his back to you as he stared at the flames. "I pity you for getting entrapped in his mess."

"You feel pity and yet you still tried to kill me," you scoffed. "You still killed my son."

"The vampire in New Orleans?" Mikael turned and met your eyes. "I must admit I was quite surprised when I heard Niklaus had begun referring to this man as a son. I assume that was your doing."

"It wasn't actually," you said. "Niklaus brought him home. The boy without a mother and a cruel father. He must have seen himself in the boy."

Mikael looked at you for a long moment, and you wondered if you'd gone too far, if he was going to kill you now. But if this was to be your last moment, you were sure as hell going to say what you had wanted to say to this monster for centuries.

"I wouldn't have thought Niklaus had it in him," Mikael said finally.

"Why would you? You know nothing about him," you scoffed.

"I know more about him than you'd think," Mikael said. "You, however, have always been a bit of an enigma. I could never understand how he claimed your heart so fiercely. You know the monster he is."

"He wasn't always like this," you said. "You and Esther made him into this. You want to know why I loved him? Because despite you, he was still kind and gentle. Even when he let the blood lust consume him, he was never like that with me."

"And yet, at the sign of trouble, he banished you to save his own hide," Mikael said.

"You don't know what you're talking about," you said.

"Don't I?" Mikael laughed. "Then tell me, Y/N. You're here in front of me. I could kill you in an instant. Where is he?"

You remained silent. Because what could you say? That Niklaus had left you here when he heard Mikael's name? It was true, and worse, Mikael knew it.

"That's what I thought," Mikael said. "Trust me, I am doing you and the world a favor by putting an end to that abomination."

"Abomination?" you looked at him in shock. "I know he's not your son, but he is Esther's blood. He is Rebekah and Elijah and Kol and Finn's brother. He was Henrik's brother. You want to go down memory lane? Fine. Has your immortal life been everything you wished it would be when you forced Esther to break the laws of nature? Chasing Niklaus around the world. Your greatest shame, and not a moment's rest from it for a thousand years. Has it been worth it?"

His eyes flashed at you in anger. "Be careful, girl. I could still kill you, you know."

"We both know you're still going to," you said. He didn't deny it. Maybe it was what made you so brazen. What did you have to lose? You would die either way. The only thing you could do was die without Niklaus having to see. "You're just waiting for Niklaus to come before you do. What did you say before? There's no purpose for my death if Niklaus is not here to watch."

"I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work," he said, his tone lethal. "I have spent too long on this quest to be baited with simple words."

He looked down at you. "Besides, do you think I don't know your hands are just as bloody as his? I saw you, you know. In New York." Your eyes widened at that. "Oh yes. I actually bumped into you on the street. You never even looked at me, and that was when I realized the rumors were true. Niklaus had kicked you out. I had heard it, but I didn't dare believe it. I didn't believe Niklaus would ever let you go."

"Then why am I still breathing?" you asked.

"I told you, it was never personal, your death," he said. "There was no point if Niklaus wasn't there to watch you die, to feel his heart break before I ripped it out. I could have taken you, of course. I thought about it. If there was anything that would have drawn Niklaus out, it would have been a threat to your life. But I chose to let you go."

"Am I supposed to thank you for your generosity now?"

"I saw you with a vampire I know now was Damon Salvatore," Mikael ignored your snide comment. "In the end, I decided the pain would not be as great if you did not remember him. The anguish he would feel would be diminished if you did not know what you were dying for. And so, I let you go."

Your jaw dropped as you heard his reasoning. "You're sick," you said. "Niklaus may not have been your blood, but he was your son. He loved you as only a son could. But you could not get past your own pride for an innocent child that had done nothing against you."

"Innocent?" he scoffed. "He wasn't innocent when he killed his mother, when he turned my children against me with lies. He is a coward, always has been. And his hands are bloodier than you know."

"So are yours," you said quietly.

"That is true," he said. "Though my victims were vampires, I do acknowledge it was my own doing that turned them into the predators I hunt in the first place."

"As long as you're aware," you rolled your eyes, your tone sarcastic.

He stared at you for a long time in silence. "I suppose that's enough walking down memory lane," he said finally.

He walked over to you, crouching down to meet your eyes. "Before we begin, I just wanted you to know, Y/N. My hatred was never directed as you, but as you are the thing Niklaus loves most in the world, I cannot let you go again. I am sure you will not believe me, but I am truly sorry about this."

"Stay away from me," you tried to look away, but he grabbed your chin, forcing you to meet his eyes. You tried to escape his grip, but he was too strong. He was strengthened by the vampire blood he consumed.

"You will stop fighting," he compelled and you froze. "Good. Now, you will obey me and my every instruction. You will forget about wanting to save Niklaus. You will be docile and cooperative, and you will do your part in this plan. You will not reveal anything about this plan or my presence here to Niklaus. Now be a good girl and tell me you understand."

"I understand," you blinked and he let you go.

"Excellent," he said, standing. "Now. There is a dance tonight. You will attend, and there, we will lure Klaus out."

"Yes, Mikael," you said.

He looked at you for a moment, and you could almost see pity in his eyes. "Go help Damon and Elena prepare. They went to Damon's room, I believe."

You stood up and dusted your pants off. "Yes, Mikael."

You turned and walked to the stairs.

• • •

You were sitting on Damon's bed, filling the wolfsbane grenades. Elena and Damon were standing in the bathroom, putting together other weapons. All for the purpose of killing Klaus. You thought maybe you should be upset by this, but you couldn't remember why. You couldn't focus on anything but doing what Mikael had said, helping Damon and Elena make weapons to kill him. It was like a fog in your mind.

"We can't trust Rebekah not to turn on us," Elena told Damon.

"Oh really?" Damon said. "Because those original vampires are usually so reliable."

"Bonnie was right. Rebekah may be mad at Klaus now, but he is her brother," Elena said.

"Her lying, mama-killing, dagger-happy brother. The rest of the wolfsbane's ready," he walked over and put a container on the bed. He looked at you for a moment. "I hate that he did this to you, Y/N."

"We can't trust her either," Elena said, coming by his side. "You heard her. She won't help us kill Klaus. If he didn't compel her, she'd have told Klaus and ruined the plan."

"Yeah, but still," Damon said. "She's my best friend. And I told her I'd protect her from Mikael."

"We are protecting her from Mikael," Elena said. "He will kill her if she tries to help Klaus."

Damon sighed. "Normally, I'm all for doing whatever has to be done. But something tells me I'm going to regret this."

"Grenades are done," you said absentmindedly.

"Thanks, Y/N," Elena smiled at you. She sighed and looked at Damon. "There are too many things that can go wrong with this plan. Too many people who can make it go wrong."

"She's right," you said, grabbing a stake. You spun it in your hands, looking up at Damon. "Too many variables. It's too messy."

He looked at you for a long moment before sighing. "She's gonna kill me when this is over," he grumbled before walking back to the bathroom.

Stefan walked in with several ties in his hand. "Please tell me that you have a better plan than wolfsbane grenades."

"Never you mind, brother. The less you know, the better," Damon said.

"My freedom from Klaus rests entirely upon you two executing your plan perfectly. So, excuse me if I'm a bit cynical," Stefan said.

"You're the one that we should be worried about. If Klaus asks you one wrong question, whole thing falls apart," Elena reminded him.

"You should also be worried about Rebekah," you said. "Elena's right. Niklaus is her brother, and blood is thicker than water. Besides, Rebekah believes in Always and Forever even if she's mad at him right now."

"What's with you?" Stefan looked at you oddly. "I thought you were against killing your boyfriend. Isn't that what you said when you were torturing me?"

"What?" the fog thickened in your mind.

Damon and Elena exchanged a look and Elena quickly stepped forward, covering you from Stefan's sight. "Don't worry about it," she said quickly. "It's all part of the plan you can't know about."

"Whatever," he said. "As long as it works. I mean, if I look back at our history of epic plan failures, it's usually because one of us let our humanity get in the way. So if I'm taking odds on how this thing goes down, it's certainly not gonna be me who screws it up. I'll see you at Homecoming. I can't wait."

He left and Elena let out a breath. "That was close," she said.

"What are you doing?" you asked her curiously.

"Nothing," she said. "Look, why don't you go get ready for the dance? We'll take care of the rest here."

"Mikael said I had to help you," you reminded her.

"You are helping us by getting ready " Elena said. You shrugged and got up, walking to your room.

• • •

You were standing in your room, looking at your reflection in the full body mirror. It was a pretty dress, gold satin and very form fitted. But something felt off. You couldn't place what it was, but something was wrong. You tried to figure it out, but the fog was heavy in your mind.

There was a knock on your door and you turned to see Damon standing there, leaning against the door frame. "All ready?" he asked, walking in.

"I guess," you sighed and looked back at your reflection.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, his tone tight.

"I don't know," you said. "I feel like something is wrong. But I can't figure out what. Like I'm kind of excited to go to this dance to help you guys but at the same time, I want to run and hide and kill everyone in this house."

He tensed, looking at you. You saw his face hardened for a moment before a smirk came to his lips as he stepped behind you, his eyes meeting yours in the mirror. "Don't worry, Y/N. Everything is okay. I got your back."

You nodded. "I know, Damon. I trust you."

He froze behind you before putting his hands on your shoulders. "Y/N, I just want...I need you to know. I'm sorry about this. I wish we didn't have to do this. But when it's over, and you turn it off because of the pain, just remember, I'll be here for you. I'll always be here for you. I won't abandon you. Even if you hate me."

You looked at him in confusion, not understanding what he was saying really. Why would you turn your humanity off? And why would you hate him? What would cause you pain? You were just going to kill Niklaus. That's what you wanted, right? You gasped as your head started pounding. You clenched your teeth, pressing your hand against your head. What was going on?

"Y/N?" He asked.

You breathed out. "I'm fine," you said as the pain began subsiding. He just looked at you, and you could swear you saw regret in his eyes. You just didn't understand why.

• • •

Thanks for reading! I know this one is a bit shorter than usual but the way I've planned it out, it would be way too long otherwise and this seemed like the perfect place to stop lol.

It was so hard writing her compelled lol I feel like I kind of went the Elena bashing way here but I feel like I kind of stayed in character for her lol sorry not sorry! But let me know what you thought!

Hope you liked it!