"Are you sure this is it?" I asked.
I stared down at the scroll Monna had brought me, studying the symbols and coordinates written across the parchment. If what she was saying was true, then this information could change several things I had been planning.
But something didn't add up.
Because if I remembered correctly, the only reliable way to find Silas—and the Cure—was through the Hunter's Mark carried by one of the Five. The magical tattoo would eventually reveal a map leading to the island where Silas had been entombed.
Without that mark, locating him should have been nearly impossible.
That thought stayed in the back of my mind as I looked up at her.
"Yes," Monna said firmly. "I'm sure."
I leaned back slightly in my chair, folding my arms.
"Because if I remember correctly," I said slowly, "the only way to locate Silas is through a vampire hunter's mark. That mark eventually reveals the path to the island where he's buried."
Monna sighed.
"I thought the same thing," she said. "I tried spell after spell to find another way. Scrying, location magic, ancestral guidance—nothing worked."
She paused.
"Eventually… something happened during one of the spells."
"What happened?" I asked.
She hesitated for a moment.
"I died."
That made me raise an eyebrow.
Because as far as I could see, she was standing right in front of me.
Before I could speak, she lifted a hand.
"Before you say anything, let me finish."
I gestured for her to continue.
"When I died," she said, "I went to the Other Side."
The room grew quieter.
The Other Side was something I knew about, though not many supernatural creatures truly understood it. It was a form of afterlife created specifically to trap the souls of supernatural beings after death.
A kind of supernatural purgatory.
"And while I was there," she continued, "I met one of my ancestors."
That made something click in my mind almost instantly.
There was really only one Bennett ancestor powerful enough to know something like this.
Qetsiyah.
Also known as Tessa.
The witch who had created the Other Side itself.
The same witch who had imprisoned Silas two thousand years ago.
I leaned forward slightly.
"And what exactly did this ancestor of yours say?" I asked.
Monna's expression grew serious.
"She told me where to find Silas."
That alone was significant.
But then she added something else.
"And she told me to pass a message to you."
That made me pause.
"To me?" I asked.
Monna nodded.
"She said that if you give Silas the Cure… and then kill him… she will reward you."
For a moment, I said nothing.
I leaned back in my chair, thinking carefully.
Qetsiyah was arguably the most powerful witch who had ever lived. The magic she had created—the Cure, the immortality spell, the Other Side—had reshaped the supernatural world for thousands of years.
If what Monna was saying was true…
Then earning a favor from Qetsiyah could be extremely valuable.
But there was a problem.
I already knew how the future events surrounding Silas were supposed to unfold.
And I didn't want to disrupt the timeline too much.
At least not that part of it.
Silas, the Cure, the doppelgängers, the collapse of the Other Side… all of that played an important role in shaping the supernatural balance of the world.
If I interfered too early…
I could change things in ways I couldn't predict.
Still…
I tapped my finger lightly against the table.
"So," I said slowly, "the most powerful witch in history wants me to free her immortal ex-lover… only so I can kill him afterward."
Monna shrugged.
"When you say it like that, it sounds a little strange."
"A little?" I said with a smirk.
Axel, who had been quietly standing by the door the entire time, finally spoke.
"Boss," he said, "who exactly is Silas?"
I glanced over at him.
"A very old problem," I replied.
Then I looked back at Monna.
"Did your ancestor say anything else?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Yes."
"What?"
Monna's expression hardened slightly.
"She said time is running out."
That made me pause again.
"Running out for who?" I asked.
"For the doppelgänger," she said.
Now that…
That was interesting.
Because at this point in history there was only one Petrova doppelgänger alive.
Katherine.
And if she was running out of time…
That meant she was probably already planning something.
Which meant only one thing.
Katherine Pierce was about to run.
–
POV: Elijah
She had run.
Katherine had run.
My brother had informed me of this nearly an hour ago, though "informed" was hardly the right word. Niklaus had stormed into the room in a fury I had rarely seen even from him. In his rage he had seized me by the collar and thrown me against the wall as though I weighed nothing.
"Find her," he had snarled, his eyes blazing with anger. "Or I swear to you, Elijah, I will put you in a box beside Finn."
That threat had been enough.
And so I had come to the woods.
The night air was cold, the forest silent except for the sound of animals moving through the underbrush. I moved quickly, scanning the ground and the air for any trace of Katherine's scent.
Then I heard a voice behind me.
"Hey, Elijah."
I turned.
Standing several feet away was Nero Tone.
"Mr. Tone," I said calmly. "Can I help you?"
"No," he replied, "but I might be able to help you."
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"And what exactly do you mean by that?"
"I know about your missing doppelgänger," he said.
Before he could say another word, I moved.
With my superior speed I crossed the distance between us and slammed him against a nearby tree, gripping his throat tightly.
"I am only going to ask this once," I said coldly. "Do you know where she is?"
"No," he said, struggling slightly as I held him there.
My grip tightened.
"But," he managed to say, "I can help you."
I held him there for another moment before finally releasing him.
He dropped slightly and coughed as he caught his breath.
After a moment he stood up straight again.
"I have vampires stationed throughout this region," Nero said. "A few of them reported seeing a woman matching her description heading east."
I studied him carefully.
"If you are lying to me," I said quietly, "I will hunt you down and kill you slowly."
Without waiting for a response, I rushed off toward the east.
Katherine Pierce would not escape us.
Not tonight.
POV: Nero
They were harder to deal with than I had expected.
The urge to simply kill Elijah right there in the forest had been incredibly tempting. But I couldn't afford to do something like that yet. Killing one of the Originals now would change far too many things.
So I played along.
One thing that had always bothered me in the show was how easily the Originals were sometimes defeated. For beings that were supposed to be the strongest vampires in existence, they were occasionally overpowered by vampires barely two hundred years old or by hybrids who had existed for only a few months.
The later events improved that a little, but it still never fully made sense.
In reality…
The Originals were monsters.
Ancient, powerful monsters.
And while I was stronger than any of them individually, I had no interest in revealing that yet.
Still, plot armor wasn't going to save anyone from me.
Especially not Katherine.
If I was being honest, I actually liked her more than Elena. She was clever, ruthless, and far more interesting.
But that didn't change the fact that I needed her blood.
The blood of a doppelgänger was an incredibly powerful magical ingredient, and it would be extremely useful for my future plans.
I had sent Elijah toward the exact place he would end up in the original story while searching for her.
But unlike him…
I knew exactly where she was.
I arrived at a small wooden house hidden deep in the woods.
My enhanced hearing immediately picked up several heartbeats.
Three inside.
Two outside.
Rose and Trevor.
I watched them quietly for a moment. They were arguing just outside the house, too focused on each other to notice anything else.
Perfect.
While they were distracted, I slipped past them and entered the house silently.
Two elderly humans sat inside, terrified but unaware of my presence as I moved through the building with supernatural speed.
Then I entered the back room.
Katherine was there.
The moment she saw me, terror filled her face.
She probably thought Klaus had sent me.
"No… please," she said quickly, backing away. "Please don't do this to me."
"Shhh," I said softly, raising a finger to my lips.
I smiled reassuringly.
"You won't remember any of this."
Her eyes glazed slightly as my compulsion took hold.
"Stand still," I ordered.
She obeyed instantly.
I stepped closer and carefully took the blood I needed from her wrist, filling a small vial.
Once I had enough, I smiled again.
Then I bit into my own wrist and held it out to her.
"Here," I said. "Drink."
She hesitated for only a second before drinking my blood.
That would heal the wound I had made.
But more importantly…
When she eventually killed herself to escape Klaus…
I would be the one who turned her.
And that gave me another advantage.
I had discovered something unusual about myself not long after becoming a hybrid. Very few vampires possessed this ability.
When most vampires turned someone, the new vampire simply belonged to their sire line.
But with me…
Sometimes a sire bond formed.
The vampires I turned became deeply loyal to me.
Not completely mindless servants—unless their willpower was weak—but loyal enough that betrayal would be extremely unlikely.
When Katherine finished drinking, I looked directly into her eyes.
"You will remember nothing about this," I told her. "You will forget that I was ever here."
Her mind accepted the command instantly.
Once I had everything I needed, I slipped out of the house just as quietly as I had entered.
By the time Rose and Trevor realized anything had happened…
I was already gone.
When I returned to my mansion, I immediately called for Axel.
He entered the room quickly.
"Axel," I said, "tell everyone to pack their things. We're leaving."
He nodded and left without asking questions.
A moment later I sat down in my chair.
Not even ten seconds passed before Elijah appeared in front of me.
"Hello, Mr. Tone," he said.
I looked up calmly.
"Hello, Elijah," I replied. "I trust you retrieved what you were looking for?"
"No," he said stiffly. "She escaped. And apparently she is now a vampire… which means she will no longer serve our purposes."
I put on a sympathetic expression.
"Well," I said, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Elijah studied me carefully for a moment before speaking again.
"I would also like to apologize for my earlier behavior," he said. "It was… unnecessary."
He paused.
"It's just that—"
"There's no problem, Elijah," I interrupted calmly. "Let bygones be bygones."