CHAPTER EIGHT: ordinary people

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JENSEN GILBERT WALKED ALONG SIDE HIS TWIN SISTER, ELENA GILBERT. The two were following their history teacher/guardian in the tunnels in the Lockwood cellar.

"So, the Lockwoods really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" Elena questioned.

"Careful where you shine that thing. Bats hate the light," Alaric told instead of answering.

"Wait, what?" Elena asked.

When a voice lowly called for her behind the twins, Jensen immediately swung his fist in the direction of the voice.

Elena gasps. "Ah! God, Damon!" She hit his arm.

Damon looks at Jensen, as if the other had offended him. "Scaredy-cat!"

"Next time, I'm bringing a stake," Jensen threatened.

"Just ignore him. That's what I do," Alaric told the twins.

"So, you really can't get in?" Elena asked Damon.

"No. Seems even the ancient Lockwoods were anti-vampire," Damon walked pass the twins.

"Clearly they met you," Jensen snapped at him.

"What do you mean, ancient?" Elena asked.

Damon gestures forward. "See for yourself." They walk further into the tunnels, to the cave with drawings on the walls. "Well, this is as far as I get to go." Damon moved out of the way to let the twins by.

Elena enters the chamber and shines her
flashlight on the walls with the drawings. Jensen does the same, confused at the drawings. "What does it mean?"

"What is all this?" Elena asked.

"Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story." Alaric answred. "In simple, archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story." He points at the wall. "That right there, is the moon cycle." He gestured to another drawing. "A man, a wolf."

Elena stares at the drawings. "A werewolf."

"Yeah, it's the 'Lockwood Diaries: Pictionary-Style.'" Damon speaks.

"I don't understand. I thought the Lockwoods came here with the Original Founders in the 1860s,"  Elena says.

"I don't know. Maybe the Lockwoods did, but according to this wall, these werewolves have been here a lot longer than that."

"So, it's  another werewolf family," Jensen says. "How long has these werewolves been here?"

"Long." Damon answered. "It gets better. Show them, Ric."

Alaric pointed the flashlight above, on a high section of the cave. "Names. They're not native. They're written in Runic, a Viking script."

"Vikings?" The twins asked on unison.

"This name here, I translated it and it reads Niklaus."

"Klaus," Elena whispered

"And Elijah...and Rebekah."

"Elijah said his mother had seven children. But, two are dead now." Jensen announced.

"When did he tell you that?" Damon questions.

"Why would he tell you that?" Elena asked, but looked back to the names. "These are the name of the Original family?"

"Carved into a cave that's-" Alaric says, sounding as if he's geeking out. "That's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls. Or even the entire new world, for that matter."

"Okay, this has gotta be one of Klaus's fakes," Elena shakes her head.

"That's why I said," Damon spoke.

"Somehow, I don't think so."  Jensen stays looking at the symbols.

"That could be true," Alaric said at the same time. "Except the last name up here made us think otherwise."

"What's the name?" Jensen asked.

"Mikael."

"Mikael...Mikael, as in, the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?"

"Wait, Mikael, Mikaelson." Jensen says. "As in-"

"Yep. I now like to call him "Papa Original"." Damon told the two.
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Alaric had printed out the images of symbols.
"These images tell a story....to learn the story, you have to decipher these images," Alaric says.

Jensen stood by his side, also trying to help in fight out how to decode the written symbols. "We'll, this one's Klaus, and there's another symbol here, so whoever this one is, starts with a K."

"Sloppy!" Damon told Elena.

"Shut up! I'm new at this," she huffed.

'"Ghost of Christmas Past" Mason Lockwood set up the cave and led us to a weapon that can kill Klaus," Damon announced.

"Yeah, but doesn't Mikael have a weapon?" Elena questioned.

"Yes. Which probably means the wall will lead us to Mikael, who we have already found...and lost," He twisted Elena so her back would be pressed against his front, putting her arms out in front of her. "Bang! You're dead!"

He goes in to nibble on Elena's neck. She pushes him away playfully and walks over to Alaric at the desk. Jensen had glanced at them.

"These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is," Alaric says.

"Then all we have to do is find out what they mean," Elena spoke.

"Fine! Fine! If I am being irritatingly optimistic like you three...how do you suppose we do that?" Damon inquired off.

"Well, if the story is about the Original Family living here,  then we go straight to the source," Elena says

"You're joking, right?" Jensen asked. "I swear each day instead of getting smarter, you get  more suicidal."

Elena playfully shoved him.

"I am putting hot sauce in your dinner. The whole bottle."
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They had found Rebekah in the front of the school, with the rest of the cheerleading squad at practice, doing a series of gymnastic moves. She had began to do multiple cartwheels, landing herself in front of the twins.  "You! Goody." She sarcastically spoke.

Elena sighed. "I was hoping we could talk."

"About what? Stefan? Don't worry, I'm off him until he starts treating me better. In fact, you should probably take a page out of my book, if I'm being honest," Rebekah says.

"Actually, I'd rather talk about this," She holds up a photo of Rebekah's name written in Runic on the cave wall.

"We're wondering why your family  have spent a thousand years running from your father," Jensen tells her.

"I should get back to the girls. Homecoming's right around the corner," Rebekah turns to leave.

"Well then, maybe I'll ask Mikael when we wake him." Elena announced.

That has caused Rebekah to stop and turns around. "You're bluffing! You don't know where he is. No one does."

"So, then who's rotting in that old cemetery in Charlotte?"

"If you wake Mikael, we are all doomed!"

Jensen turned his head. "What did he do? Why don't you want him awake?"

"I need to get back to the girls," Rebekah walked back to the girls.
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They had gone back to Alaric's apartment. Jensen much quicker then Elena. "Elena's behind me."

Alaric had just stuck a note to the board when Elena walked in.  "I've got this, Damon. If we can figure out a way to kill Klaus, Stefan will be free of his compulsion. So...how does he look?" Elena paused, waiting for a reply. "He'll have to get over it. Call me later."

She then hangs up and turns to Alaric. "Rebekah will come around."

Alaric crossed his arms. "You're sure about that? I mean a thousand-year-old vampire, I'm sure, has learned the art of patience."

While he speaks, Elena  and Jensen receive a text message: "Come over for a chat. Rebekah"

"She's a thousand-year-old vampire, who's joined the cheerleader squad...There is a whole different set of rules that play here, Ric. I got this," Elena answered as she shows him the text.
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"I feel really bad about this," Jensen says, as they enter the building. There was music playing.

"Hey," Rebekah says cheerfully. "What's up?"

"You invited us over? To talk?" Elena asked, as if she needed to remind the girl.

"All right girls, have at it!" Rebekah called out, when Six girls in various jewel-toned colored homecoming dresses walk in the room. "Okay, now twirl please."

They twirl and show off the dresses. Neither of them speak.

Elena walked down the step. "You compelled your own private runway show?"

"I need a Homecoming dress. So, what do you think? Pick one."

Elena sighed. "We're not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael."

Rebekah rushes to one of the girls, grabs her neck and vamps out.  "I said "pick one"."

"The...red one." Elena says.

Jensen nodding. "Red."

"There. It wasn't so hard, was it?" Rebekah says, stroking the girl wearing a blue dress's hair, she turns to  the girls. "Go away. Remember nothing."

The girls leave and Rebekah picks up her champagne glass and walks to Elena.  Jensen pulled Elena a step back. "You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?"

Elena nods. Rebekah walks past her and Elena turns and watches her.
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"Okay, so, clearly Elijah is the one who got all the manners," Jensen says, then recalled how when Elijah showed up at the Gilbert house, saying how he'd help them kill Klaus, he had opened up Jensen's notebook. "Maybe not."

"We shouldn't be here," Elena says as Rebekah has opened up Stefan's bedroom door.

"Course we should! Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop," Rebekah had opened up one of Stefan's dresser drawers, she holds up Stefan's boxers. "Boxer briefs. A lot has changed since the twenties."

"This is extremely rude and an invasion of privacy. But, I physically can't stop you," Jensen sighed.

"Are you gonna root through his stuff all night or are you gonna start to tell me your story?" Elena asked.

Rebekah sighed. "you really are no fun. What do you want to know?"

Elena walks into the room. "Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here?"

Rebekah answered, still going through Stefan's stuff. "My parents had just started a family, when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."

"Elijah said you lost two siblings," Jensen says.

Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "He told you that much?"

"So, how did you end up here? This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet,"  Elena speaks, stepping closer to Jensen when she had seen the look Rebekah gave him.

Rebekah laughs. "Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy...blessed by the gifts of speed and strength. That lead my family here, where we lived amongst those people."

"The werewolves?"

"To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over twenty years, during which time my family had more children, including me."

"You make it sound so normal."

"It was."

"What happened to break the peace?" Jensen asked. "You said lived in peace for twenty years? Not longer?"

"Once a month our family retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we'd return home... One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik paid the price...And that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors.. And one of the last moments my family had together as humans."

Elena's phone vibrates, snapping them out of Rebekah's memories.
"You better get that. That'll be Damon checking up on you," Rebekah says.

Elena answers her phone. "Hello?"

Rebekah turned to Jensen as Elena answered it. "So, how much as Elijah told you?"

"Said that Klaus was a werewolf because your mother was unfaithful." Jensen answers, hesitatingly. He was unsure of what he was supposed to say.

Rebekah hummed. "Does Klaus know that?"

Jensen tilted his head. "I don't know. I know Elijah was going to help us kill Klaus, then didn't.  Klaus killed my aunt. Also Elena, for, like five minutes."
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Rebekah is lying on the bed, going through one of Stefan's diaries.

"Did you get your fill of snooping yet? Can we get on with the story?" Elena asked the blond-haired vampire.

Rebekah gets up; she picks up a photo of Elena and Stefan from a table. "Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple."

"Why would you? You don't know anything about who he really is," Elena replied.

Rebekah placed the picture back, but not standing up, placed it on its back on a stack of books. "I know exactly who he is. He's a vampire. We're a predatory species." She leans close to Elena's face. "We don't have time to care about humans and their silly little lives."

Jensen made an offended face. "Seriously, is there anyone who has manners in your family?"

Elena tilted her head. "Is that why you did that runway show earlier? 'Cause you don't care about the Homecoming Dance...You know what, I'm just gonna go."  She gets up.

"You haven't even heard half the story." Rebekah spoke, stoping Elena from taking Jensen to stand up and leave.

"And you are not going to tell it. You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with...maybe you can compel yourself a friend."  Elena starts to leave.

"The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the Original Witch," Rebekah announced.

Elena turns around. "The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?"

"Not just the hybrid curse. She's the one who turned us into vampires."

Rebekah had told them how Mikael and Ester had searched for a spell in order to protect themselves from the werewolves and illnesses.
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"I'm thirsty. Do you want a drink?" Rebekah asked.She goes down to the library with the twins following behind her.

"So, vampirism was a form of protection?" Elena asked.

"What else would it be?"

"Another curse?" Jensen suggested.

"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive."

"Yeah, but why stay, if they were so afraid of the werewolves? Why not...leave?" Elena questioned.

"Pride...My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses..."

"In her hands? How could she do anything?" Elena inquired of.

"You're parents thought of that? And your mother made the spell?" Jensen asked.

Rebekah pointed a finger at Jensen. "Because my mother was also a witch."

"What?"  Elena asked, shocked.

"The witch of the Original Family. The Original Witch?"

They enter the library. Rebekah begins to searching through shelves. "Where do they keep their best vintage?"

"Probably Damon drank it all," Jensen rolled his eyes.

"But if your mother was a witch, then..." Elena paused, letting the question hang in the air.

"Am I? No, a witch is nature's servant; a vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn."

"How did you turn?" Elena asked.

"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts."

The twins were stunned, horrified to hear the news. They both whispered. "He killed you?"

"And he wasn't delicate about it either," Rebekah ripped the neck of the bottle off, throwing it onto the fire.
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"We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual," Rebekah informed. "It was euphoric! The feeling of power was indescribable...but the witch Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back...For every strength there would be a weakness... The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks... And though my mother found a solution, there were other problems... Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out..."

"Flowers at the base of the white oak burned, and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away...so we burned it to the ground."

"Which is where the oak ash came from," Jensen realized.

Rebekah nodded, continuing the history story. "But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated...the hunger. Blood...had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it... And with that, the predatory species was born..."
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"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" Elena asked.

"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame."

"Yeah." Jensen nodded. "Elijah told us this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his birth son."

"She tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side," Rebekah began to walk around the room. "and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."

"He what?" Jensen asked in disbelief.

Elena has also been stunned by the news, whispering her next question. "Mikael killed your mother?"

"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched. Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother."
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"Always and forever..." Elena quotes. "even though he locked you in a coffin for ninety years?"

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik...Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."

"He's locked you all multiple times in a box? And you still love him?" Jensen asked.

"He's my brother. And I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?" Rebekah paused, seeming as if she was going to cry.

Jensen took a step forward, "hey, are you alright?"

"You've heard the story, it's time to go." Rebekah rushed out, walking pass them. "I said leave, Elena! I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."

"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael," Elena says.

"And I've given you a thousand! But you will anyway. I know you want him to help you kill my brother, I'm not stupid."

"We just wanted to know if waking him, was worth it. You can't tell me, that if Klaus wasn't your brother, you wouldn't want to kill him," Jensen replied.

"It's no secret that I want Klaus dead. He has a hold over Stefan's life, and over Jensen. And mine," Elena says.

"Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart. And I get my temper from my father. Now leave!" Rebekah yelled.

Jensen knew he had no chance to fight her. He took Elena's hand and the two left.
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The twins, Bonnie and Alaric had gone back to the cave.

"We, uh, filled in what we could," Alaric informed, he sticks post-its to the different symbols. "A Vampire, werewolf, slaughter, mayhem, etc."

"That's the white oak tree that was used in the spell to create the vampires..." Elena announced. "which means that was when they burned down the tree, destroying the only way that they could be killed."

"Okay. so tree equals weapon, sort of. We already knew that. What we are not sure about is this: we've got the witch symbol, and what looks like a bleeding heart. Upside down figures usually signified death, of some kind."

"Mikael killed the witch by ripping out her heart." Jensen says, then gestured to another symbol. "But...why is that one connected to the witch's death?"

"We don't know. We haven't gotten that far," Bonnie answered.

Elena looks as though she's made a revelation. "Oh my god...Rebekah doesn't know the real story."
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The twins had gone back to Salvatore house. Jensen had only gone because he didn't want to leave Elena alone.

"I thought I told you to leave. Twice." Rebekah says, only looking up at the two at the end.

"How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asked.

"Nik was there. He told me."

"He lied to you," Jensen announced.

Rebekah was clearly amused, believing the two to be lying. "And how do you know that?"

"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols," Elena  shows Rebekah the photos. "The story of your family: how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this."

"This is the symbol for hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol," Jensen placed the photo of the necklace drawing down. "And this is the one for your mother."

"Her necklace," Rebekah breathed out.

"And this is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the Original Witch. Not Mikael. Klaus."  Elena finished.

"No! No, he wouldn't," Rebekah shakes her head.

"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence...when he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father, so that he wouldn't lose you."

"These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" She takes the photos, tears them to pieces, and throws them into the burning fireplace.

"Then why are you so upset?"

"Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!"

"Klaus doesn't deserve for your to care about him," Jensen tells him. "You said it yourself, he's daggers you over and over again. Because you upset him."

"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!"

Rebekah grabs Elena by the throat and vamps out. Her hand shot out, flinging Jensen against the wall. "Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk anymore! Nothing!"

She stops, calms down slightly, and lets go of Elena. Elena ran over to Jensen, helping her brother up. Rebekah begins to gasp, slowly sinking to fall onto her knees and starts to sob, while Elena looks at her sadly and guiltily.  Jensen stares at her, feeling guilty, he didn't know what he could say to try and comfort her.
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Jensen had gone to sleep when he had gotten home.

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