chapter sixteen
season three, episode nine and ten
homecoming, the new deal

Mikael was laying in front of her.

Arabella stared at her fathers daggered body in disdain, staying close to the side of her elder sister and Rebekah's boyfriend. After the truth was revealed that Klaus had killed their mother, the girls cried for hours.

And then their anger set in.

The two sisters agreed to help their father kill Niklaus. Arabella may loathe her father for what he had done to her and to her siblings, but right now she hated Klaus more.

Stefan was on the phone with Klaus, tricking him into coming here. And then he put the phone on speaker, handing it to Klaus's two little sisters.

"Hello, Nik," Rebekah greeted softly.

"Hi," Ara added, desperately trying to keep her anger out of her tone.

"Rebekah, Arabella," Klaus sighed out. "What's this I hear about Mikael's tragic run-in with a dagger."

"He had the white oak stake, Nik," Arabella forced her voice to be shaky, as if showing her fear. "He was going to kill me. So I stabbed him in the heart with dagger he planned to use on Bex."

"He's finally out of our lives for good," Rebekah added. She paused for a moment before continuing. "I miss you. I'm miserable here."

"I'll be home soon," Klaus assured his younger sisters.

"Good," Rebekah nodded. "I'll see you then, brother."

Arabella hesitated, looking around at the group before her eyes went back to the phone. "If Mikael is gone, does this mean you will wake the others?"

Klaus paused on his end of the phone. "In due time, little sister."

Arabella's face hardened. "See you soon, brother."

She hung up without another word. Rebekah handed the phone back to Elena with a sigh as Theodore gave his girlfriend's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "He bought it. He's coming home."

Arabella watched quietly as Elena pulled the dagger out of her father's chest. "Keep it," She instructed. "So he doesn't try to use it on Bekah."

Elena looked at Arabella carefully. "Mikael made it sound like he was never after the rest of you. Only Klaus."

Arabella scoffed as she sunk down into the couch next to her sister. "He stabbed a sword through my chest and forced me to die in a pile of my own blood. Forgive me for not trusting the man."

Rebekah looked at her boyfriend. "You better go, Theodore. I do not want Mikael to see you."

"It would not go well," Arabella agreed.

Theodore nodded, kissing his girlfriend goodbye before he and the others cleared out of the room. The two sisters could only wait for Mikael to awake from his slumber.

Finally, the sight of his finger twitching caught her attention. She hadn't seen her father in a century, and she hadn't had a good interaction with him for a millennium. She had no idea what to say.

Mikael let out a cough as he rolled over. "Finally," Rebekah commented, glaring at her father. "Took you long enough."

Mikael looked at the pair in shock. "Rebekah," He breathed out. "Arabella."

Rebekah decided to speak for both herself and her sister. "Whatever fatherly rubbish you're thinking, save it. Nothing you say matters to either of us."

A sick thought ran in Arabella's head. Mikael had known Klaus killed his wife. She wondered if she would've done the same, if Klaus had killed Stefan. After all, she had tried to kill Klaus just for taking Stefan's memory.

But those were two different situations. Even before the truth of the affair and the murder were out, Mikael had still beaten Klaus senseless on numerous occasions, and beat anybody that tried to intervene.

Rebekah was right. Arabella did not care what Mikael had to say.

"I see," Mikael looked away from them quickly. Arabella was unsure what he had expected. He had hunted them, his children, his daughters, for a thousand years. "Where's my dagger?"

"Elena has it," Arabella informed her father.

"So you can forget your plans to use it on me," Rebekah added.

"You were never the one I was after," Mikael told his daughters, although his word meant very little. "Neither of you."

"Nik was our family," Rebekah retorted.

Arabella nodded. "If you were after him, you were after us."

"He blinded you," Mikael scoffed in reply. "He killed your mother."

Rebekah sat up, getting off the couch and getting closer to her father's face. "I know what he did, and he will pay for it with his life," She snapped. "But Nik was not born a killer, none of us were. You did this to us when you turned us into vampires."

Rebekah's voice broke on the final word, and Arabella knew Rebekah had never fully come to terms with what had happened to them. No matter how much she tried to pretend.

"You destroyed our family," Rebekah continued, blinking away her tears. "Not him."

Mikael could only watch as his two daughters brushed past him, trying to put as much distance between him and them as possible.

Arabella watched boredly as her sister got ready for the dance. Arabella didn't want to go, but she wanted to see the downfall of her brother.

Rebekah was really into this, though. She stared at herself in the mirror, an unsure expression on her face. Ara looked behind her as Elena walked in.

"Getting a head start, huh?" Elena questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Embarrassing truth?" Rebekah turned around to face the doppelganger. "This is my first high school dance."

Arabella frowned. She had forgotten about that. "Ever?"

Rebekah nodded. "I never really had time for high school before. Nik, Ara, and I were always moving around. Running. Anyway, I didn't want to leave anything to chance."

"Have you heard anymore from him?" Arabella questioned, referring to her older brother.

"No," Elena answered quickly. "But I'm sure that when he does return he'll do it with flair."

Ara let out a breathy laugh. "Sounds like Nik."

"And Damon and our father are all set with their plan?" Rebekah continued, looking at Elena in the reflection in the mirror.

"Yes," Elena confirmed.

"Don't tell us," Rebekah turned around to face her. She crouched down to grab a hairclip. "I don't want to know, I just want to go to the dance and leave the rest to Mikael."

"I know it's really hard," Elena stepped closer to the two sisters, and Ara eyed her suspiciously. "So thank you for helping us get Klaus back into town."

"Just be careful," Rebekah warned. "We have been running for a thousand years for a reason. Mikael is not a good person and he definitely can't be trusted."

"Nobody in our family can," Arabella added. She loved her family, but all of them would only look out for themselves. Even Rebekah.

"Are you okay?" Elena questioned, noticing the devasted look on the older Mikaelson's face.

"I've spent my whole life loving and hating my brother with equal measure," The blonde admitted. She paused. "I never thought that Ara or I would be the one to help drive a stake through his heart."

"He killed our mother," Arabella cut in. "He keeps our siblings locked in boxes. He deserves it."

Rebekah shook her head, turning back to the mirror. "No tears. I don't want to ruin my makeup. How do I look?"

Ara gave her a gentle smile. "Like our mother."

Rebekah grinned at her from the mirror as Elena walked up to her. "You look amazing. But you're missing one thing."

Arabella looked in interest as Elena held up a necklace, a very familiar necklace. Their mother's necklace. "My mother's necklace," Rebekah breathed out.

"You should wear it tonight," Elena spoke up as Rebekah turned to the mirror once more. "May I?"

Rebekah nodded and the hairs on the back of Arabella's neck stood up in alarm. She sat up, and watched as Elena plunged a dagger into her sister's back.

"I'm so sorry," Elena spoke, and Arabella had only just flew to her feet when a dagger was stabbed into her own chest by Damon. She let out a cry of pain, looking down.

They were so stupid. Ara would be awake within a few hours and they'd be down a dagger. Plus, her need for revenge would be insatiable.

She could only glare as the darkness consumed her.

Arabella woke hours later to Stefan pulling the dagger out of her chest. The sun had long since slipped past the sky, shadows dancing across Stefan's face.

The Salvatore stared down at the dagger in his hands, almost contemplating. Ara took a moment to recover before she spoke. "It won't work anymore." She informed him.

Stefan nodded slowly. "Your body sucked the magic out of it, right?"

The blonde nodded. Stefan took a minute to observe how drained the Mikaelson looked before he offered his wrist to her. "What are you doing?" Ara wondered.

"Drink," Stefan responded blankly. "You need strength."

The blonde took his wrist into her hand, raising it to her mouth before she suck her canines into his flesh. She closed her eyes, marveling in the feeling. A vampire's desire for blood never slowed down.

Arabella groaned as Stefan pulled her to her feet a moment later. "I'm going to murder that doppelganger bitch." She declared. She wasn't even mad that she had gotten daggered. She was mad that Elena took the dance away from Bex.

Stefan let out a chuckle of amusement, and Ara was reminded once again his humanity was gone. Stefan grabbed her hand, dragging her with him to where she assumed Klaus was.

Ara arrived just before Damon stuck the white oak stake into her brother's chest. She froze completely, and in the moment, she realized no matter how much she loathed him, she could not watch him die. "No!" She screamed.

Stefan lunged forward, knocking Damon off of her brother. She let out a sigh of relief, slumping against the wall to support her weight.

Klaus grabbed the white oak stake, leaping up and tackling their father to the ground. Ara stepped forward as his body lit on fire. Klaus killed him.

"We're officially orphans," She mumbled. Klaus did not reply, the weight of her words hanging heavily in the air around them. Emotionally, Ara had felt like an orphan for years. But something about seeing her father die made her feel it was official.

Made her feel so alone.

"What the hell did you do?" Damon glared at his younger brother as the Mikaelson siblings walked back into the home.

"He's earned his freedom," Klaus cut in. Stefan stood up slowly, walking forward until he was in front of Klaus. "Thank you, my friend. You no longer have to do as I say. You're free."

Stefan gasped as the compulsion set in, turning to find Damon was gone. Arabella looked at Klaus. She was unsure if she should inform her brother that she knew the truth.

Ara settled on no. Her family had enough drama to last eternity. The blonde didn't want to risk setting her brother off even more.

Klaus looked at his youngest sister for a moment. "Let's get a drink. Celebrate."

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Stefan took her siblings.

Arabella hyperventilated when Klaus broke the news to her. Finn, Elijah, Kol. They were taken.

Worst of all, they were taken by Stefan.

Stefan, who knew how important family was to her. Stefan, who knew without her family Arabella went on murderous rampages. Stefan, who knew she was nothing without her siblings.

"We have to get them back," Ara had cried, the house shaking as she sat down. Klaus muttered a curse under his breath as he looked up before crouching beside her.

"I know, little sister," He had replied. "And we will get them back. I promise you this. Even if I have to burn the world to make it so."

That was why the siblings were standing in front of Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore in the Grill, matching glares on their faces. "You're going to do this in the grill?" Damon questioned. "In front of everyone? Little beneath you, don't you think?"

Klaus decided to play coy. "I don't know what you're talking about," He shrugged. "I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink with my sister and a mate."

Arabella looked back at the hybrid Klaus had brought along. "Get a round then, would you, Tony?" She requested. To her dismay, Tony looked at Klaus for approval, only walking away when Klaus gave a small nod.

"I'm surprised you stuck around town long enough for happy hour," Damon commented.

"My sister seems to be missing," Klaus replied, and Ara lightly cursed herself for forgetting to inform him of what had happened.

Damon's eyes flicked over Ara. "She doesn't look missing to me."

Klaus glared at Damon, unamused. "The other one. Need to sort that out."

Damon's eyes flicked over the two Mikaelsons before he responded in a bored tone. "Cute, blonde bombshell, psycho?" He spoke. "Shouldn't be too hard to find."

Damon had to admit, he was a little surprised Arabella hadn't ratted them out yet. "Truth is I've grown to rather like your little now. Think I might fancy a home here." Klaus told them. Elena's eyes widened. "I imagine you're wondering how does this affect you. The answer is not in the slightest."

Klaus brushed past them before speaking again. "As long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves you can go on living your little lives however you choose. You have my word."

Ara let out a slight scoff. Unlike Elijah and even Kol, Klaus's word meant little. But she wanted, no needed, her family back. Elena shook her head. "What more could you possibly want?"

"Well, for starters," Klaus stepped forward until he was face to face with Elena. "You could tell me where I might find Stefan."

"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass." Damon told him, stepping between the hybrid and the doppelganger.

"Well, you see that is a shame." Klaus walked away once more. He threw a dart, it landing right in the bullseye. "Your brother stole from me, from us. I need him found so I can take back what's mine."

"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem." Elena replied sarcastically, causing Arabella's eyes to darken. Klaus stepped closer, but Damon stepped between them once more.

Klaus smirked, letting an amused chuckle slip. "Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart."

"Every hour Stefan does not show I will murder somebody in this town," Arabella spoke, crossing her arms over my chest. "And I will keep my word on that."

Arabella give them one last smirk, and in the quick blink of an eye, she was gone. If they thought she was crazy before, they hadn't seen her when her family was missing.