The Apprentice (The Originals/The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter Thirty

 Mikael sat across from Seline at the diner. Next to her were two young girls. Apparently, they were Caroline Forbes' daughters, the woman he and Annette had just spoken with the day before.

 "Why am I here?" he asked. "I don't know you. I don't know what you want with me."

 "You don't know me," she said, "But I know you, Mikael. I think I know more of you than you do."
 
 "And what is that supposed to mean?" 

 The door to the diner opened again, and in came a woman with none other than Damon Salvatore.

 "Hello, sissy," the woman said to Sybil. "This is quite the family reunion you've sprung on us."

 "Hey there, munchkins," Damon said to the girls. "Remember me?" He looked over at Mikael. "Well, well, well. Papa Original, back from the dead. I got to say, you're the last person I would have expected to be here."

 "I don't know why I'm here," Mikael replied. "Your brother is concerned about you, by the way."

 "Oh, Stefan worries too much."

 "And who exactly are you?" Seline asked.

 "He's with me," the other woman replied. "And who's the blond? Seems like you have a henchman of your own."

 "I'm going to assume you're Sybil, Seline's sister," said Mikael.

 "Sybil, this is Mikael," Seline said. 

 Sybil looked him up and down. "Mikael? Oh, my. You were just a baby the last time we saw you."

 "What?" Mikael looked from her to Seline. "What are she talking about?"

 "Scooch over, would you, dear?" Sybil nudged Mikael over to the window as she and Damon sat down. "Has anyone ordered breakfast yet? I am starved." 

 "So how did you go from island cannibal to naughty Mary Poppins?" Damon asked Seline.

 "I don't think that's any of your business, Damon," Seline replied coldly. "From what I can see, you're just my sister's lapdog. I believe your brother called Mikael back to Mystic Falls to help in the search for you."

 "How do you that?" Mikael asked.

 "I told you, I know who you are. But that's a story for later."

 "Do calm yourself, Mikael," Sybil said. "Here, have some bacon. Stop fretting. I'm dwelling more on the fact that my sister abandoned me when I was taken from the armory. You blended in with your French manicure and preppy sneakers and your accent so American. Were you ever thinking about rescuing me, sissy? Hmm?"

 "I was trying to find a way to free you, Sybil," said Seline. "Not just from the vault. From everything. And I was finally on the verge, until you broke out and blew my cover."

 "Oh, I'm sorry, did my freedom ruin your idiotic plan for these children?"

 "What confuses me," said Damon, "Is how an evil siren scheme, centuries in the making, involves three-year-olds."

 "They're freaks of nature," Seline replied, "Siphon twins who share a link."

 "What does that mean?" Mikael asked.

 "She and I weren't much older when we met the devil," said Sybil. "It's obvious, isn't it? She wants to offer them to Cade."

 Mikael looked at her. "Who's Cade?" 

 "Seline, have you told him nothing the entire time you've had him?" Sybil asked her sister.

 "Child sacrifice is a little hardcore, don't you think?" Damon asked.

 "I'm not sacrificing them," Seline said. "I'm presenting them to Cade, offering them as our replacements. Obviously not right away. I didn't plan on having my cover broken three months on the job."

 "Replacements?" Mikael asked. "You're offering Caroline Forbes' daughters as a replacement for what?"

 "For Cade," Sybil answered. "If he accepts the little girls, Seline and I will be free."

 They all looked around as every phone in the diner began ringing.

 "What's an AMBER alert?" Sybil asked, looking at Damon's phone.

 "A gift of modern technology," Damon replied. "And proof that Auntie Seline's plan needs a little tweaking."

 "What now, then?" Mikael asked.

 "Yes, sissy, what are you going to do now?" Sybil asked her sister.

 "Get us out of here, of course."

~~~~~~

 Annette had been with Stefan at the armory. The police were doing what they could to find the twins and Mikael, but it didn't seem to be enough.

 "Where did Caroline and the girls' father go?" Annette asked. "Why couldn't I go with them?"

 "They need to find their daughters," Stefan answered. "Look, Annette, I know you're worried about Mikael, but he's a grown man, and an Original. Josie and Lizzie are just two little girls. They can't defend themselves like Mikael can." 

 Their conversation had been interrupted by a couple who entered the Armory, whom were introduced to Annette as Bonnie Bennett and Enzo St. John. Sybil had gotten back into Enzo's head, and was messing with his subconscious. Stefan had been able to get in as well, and when he came back out, he said to Matt Donovan, who was there as well, "Matt, I need you to pull up a list of all the diners in Oakwood."

 They waited to hear if Caroline and Alaric had found them. Finally, Stefan's phone rang.

 "Please tell me you found them. Look, Sybil is mentally torturing him and I think my prying around in his head is only making it worse. Ric-let me talk to Caroline. Just make sure she knows I'm doing everything I can." He sighed and hung up. "They found the diner they were out, but they were already gone."

 "But what she could the sirens have wanted with Mikael? I don't understand." 

 Stefan paused, like he was thinking of something. "When you guys were here yesterday, the tuning fork started messing with his head, didn't it? Maybe he has some kind of psychic powers, something they would want to use."

~~~~~~ 

 Mikael sat in the back of the minivan next to Josie while listening to the others talk about offering the twins to Cade, who apparently was the devil. The thought of it all made him feel sick.

 "You've gotten pretty quiet back here, almighty Destroyer," Damon said. "What's on your mind?"
 
 "He's waiting for his girlfriend to come save him," Seline replied. "He doesn't know that she has no idea where he is and how to find him."

 "Why is he even here?" Damon asked. "Is he gonna be the next sacrifice?"

 "Maybe," said Seline. "If Cade doesn't want the twins, I could throw him in as well."

 "Why?" Mikael asked. "Why me? What am I even doing here? I don't know you, and I haven't done anything to you."

 Sybil swiveled around to face him. "You want to know why my sister kidnapped you? She had a child once, out of wedlock. She abandoned the baby, but later learned it survived. We traced the line of descendants to you, little baby Mikael, destined to be a fierce Viking warrior. When each of us held you, we could feel the power in you, the psychic ability. You would have been a wonderful siren if you hadn't turned your whole family into vampires."

 "Why do you think you always seemed to know that Niklaus wasn't your son?" Seline asked. "How about the way you've always been able to tell things about people? It's all untapped psychic power, powers you never even knew you had." She sighed. "I should have taken you away. I should have taken you and taught you myself. The only happiness you've had since you became a vampire was Annette. It is Annette, isn't it?"

 "I remember her," said Damon. "Pretty little redhead, followed you around like a lovesick puppy."

 "The way you've been following Sybil around?" Mikael snapped.

 The car stopped as they came to a roadblock.

 "Looks your little plan has literally hit a roadblock, sissy," said Sybil. 

 "Shut up and let me handle this," Seline snapped.

 "Are we there yet?" Lizzie asked.

 "It's okay, Lizzie," Seline said. "Be a good girl and go back to sleep."

 Mikael kept quiet as she began talking to a police officer. Maybe this was it. The police would know he and the twins were here, and he could get out from under Seline's thumb.

 But when the officer opened the door, he looked as if he didn't see anything.

 "Thanks for your time," he said. "Sorry to bother you folks."

 "I don't want  to sleep anymore," Lizzie said, and grabbed onto Sybil's arm. It seemed to do something to their power, Mikael realized.

 The officer came back and opened the door, just in time to be attacked by Sybil.

 "We have to get out of here," Seline said. "Come on."

~~~~~~

 Annette was still waiting.

 "I should be out there," she said to Matt Donovan. "I should be looking for him."

 "It might be best if you stay here," Matt said. "You know, just let the authorities do their work."

 "The kidnapper is a siren who can mess with people's mind, Donovan. If Sybil could mess is Damon and Enzo's subconscious, Seline could be messing with Mikael's."

 "Hey, I've never officially met the guy, but from what Rebekah told me, he's tough and scary. I don't think he's in too much danger." His phone rang. "Hold on. It's Alaric." When he'd finished talking to Alaric, he told Annette, "They're being tracked. A state officer was killed by the side of a road. Definitely seems like a siren."

 "How can they be so difficult not to notice? Two women and two men with two toddlers. It's quite a big party." 

 Eventually, Matt seemed to have an idea of where they were. He gave Caroline and Alaric an address to a motel over the phone. And then they waited for Enzo to wake up. When he did, Stefan pulled Annette aside and said, "I made a deal with Sybil. She would let Enzo live if I came to see her alone. Something's up, but I don't know what. Wherever she is, I think Mikael's probably there, too."

 "Then I'm going with you," Annette said.

 "I figured you say that. You can come with me, but Sybil can't know you're with me. When we get there, we'll have to go in separately. Understand?"

 She nodded. "Then let's go."