infinity . kol mikaelson

vii. a game of wits

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Marie was trying not to panic as she as stood barely breathing in the broom closet Rebekah had shoved her in. There was hardly enough room to stand still, but Marie had no intention of standing still. She was about to be very busy trying to ensure that she didn't die again. She had come too far to lose it all again. 

Down the hallway, the Originals weren't idle either.

"Who?" Rebekah said smoothly, taking the attention off of Kol. She knew without even looking that  he wasn't keeping his cool as well as she was. 

Elijah was only a bit phased by her immediate and chilly response. "Do not play dumb with me sister, I know you two better than you know yourselves. Do you really think you can fool me?"

Rebekah only smiled. "No I do not, that's why I am not trying to. I am afraid I really have no idea what you are talking about brother."

The older vampire's confidence was faltering, but he knew what he had overheard, and he wasn't giving up until he got answers. He strained his ears for a moment, and then smiled triumphantly when he found what he was looking for. "You really don't know what who I speak of?"

She shook her head and he smiled almost wickedly. "So if what you say is true, and we are the only one's down here, then why can I hear another heartbeat?"

Kol's face gave everything away, and Elijah was gone in the blink of an eye. 

Watching his brother race away, towards the woman he had just gotten back, snapped Kol out of his daze. He and Rebekah sped after him, and got to their destination only a moment after their brother did. 

Much to all the vampire's surprise, Marie had not been merely sitting pretty while she waited. She had pulled her knife from it's concealed holster and had been using it to sharpen the end of one of the brooms leaning against the wall. So when the eldest Original appeared in front of her, she greeted him with a stake in the chest.  

While Elijah worked on pulling the sharpened stick out of his torso, Marie dashed past him as fast as her feet could carry her, which unfortunately wasn't very fast. The silky material of her dress whipped around her legs like it's only goal was to trip her and look beautiful while it did.

She hadn't gotten very far when she slammed into something solid and hard. Despite the death sentence waiting for her at the other end of the hallway, she stopped abruptly as she hit Kol flat in the chest. 

The next few moments were clear as day for the vampires, but a complete and utter blur for the very human and very afraid girl caught up in the midst of their family drama. 

Kol's eyes focused on the person that had just rammed into him, and when they did he felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Marie was alive, and he intended to keep it that way. He pulled her frail mortal body behind his strong immortal one, and kept a hand secured around her wrist to assure himself that she really was there. 

Rebekah stood beside him, her shoulders pushed back and her eyes burning with protective anger. She was ready to tell her stupid brother to take the lovely girl he cared so deeply about somewhere safer, but she never got the chance. 

Elijah dislodged the stake from his chest and threw it to the ground in annoyance. He was more than just curious now, he was annoyed. But even with the slight emotional fog clouding his senses, he couldn't ignore the nagging in the back of his head that maybe he had walked into something much bigger than he could have imagined when he burst through the door impulsively just a few minutes earlier. 

He made to his brother and sister in just a few steps, ready to start taking names, but he stopped when his eyes took in the scene in front of him. 

Rebekah's eyes were ablaze with a look he hadn't seen since the last time Klaus had threatened to dagger her. Kol was standing in front of the woman who Elijah assumed was Marie, like he was trying to protect her. Curiosity flooded though the eldest Original, who had never seen Kol fight for anything in his life. 

Something was going on that he didn't know about.

Something big. 

And Elijah knew in that moment that everything was about to change.