(1) Bloodlines: The Curse (A Vampire Dairies Fanfiction)

21. That Changes Everything

It probably should have been something that Alex could have predicted. Klaus was known to be elusive and manipulative. His plan of possessing Alaric to spy on them would have been clever if it hadn't been used against them. There was no way to know how long Klaus had been in control until they got Alaric back. Alex knew that for certain it had happened since she had returned, and it had only been a few weeks; there was something she had missed.

Damon and Stefan checked the whole school and confirmed that Klaus—or Alaric—was gone. There was no sight of him. Jeremy had already left with Bonnie, and it seemed that Caroline hadn't known what was going on at all.

Alex found Elena standing out in the car park with Stefan. When she approached them, Elena rushed over to hug her.

"Are you alright?" asked Elena.

Alex nodded. "I'm fine."

"Will Alaric be alright?" asked Stefan.

"If we can get Klaus out, he should be fine," said Alex.

"How do we do that?" asked Elena.

"We don't. I do. But first, we need to find him." Alex pulled out her phone and called James.

"Hey, how was the dance?" James asked.

"Informative," said Alex.

"What?" asked James, confused.

"Klaus is possessing Alaric's body."

"Shit."

"Exactly." Alex rubbed the back of her neck. "I need you and Robert to search for any witches you can find. Klaus has at least one witch working for him and would need to be in Mystic Falls to take over Alaric."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll call you back once we have something."

"Great, thank you." Alex hung up her phone and considered her next step.

"Who's Robert?" asked Elena.

"Someone from the Council?" asked Stefan.

Alex frowned. Klaus had to open that can of worms.

"There's no Robert on the Council," said Damon.

"I don't think Alaric—Klaus was referring to the town's Council." Stefan crossed his arms.

"There's another Council?" Damon looked between Alex and Stefan.

"They don't matter right now," said Alex. By ignoring their questions, Alex knew that it would only make them want to know more. But she needed to find Klaus and get him out of Alaric.

"You sure?" pushed Stefan. "Because when Klaus brought them up, you looked like a deer in headlights."

"Thank you for your cliches, but we don't have time for this." Alex moved past them. "Elena, go home. Tell Jenna and stay there until I call you."

"Alex, wait." Elena followed her to her car.

"Elena, please."

Elena took Alex's hands and said, "I thought we agreed to no more secrets."

Alex sighed and couldn't argue; she didn't want to lie to Elena; she never had. But she knew that once she explained it, there would be no going back. But it was too frustrating to try and keep everything together with some much happening.

The look that Elena was giving Alex made her want to explain everything and help Elena understand why she viewed the world differently. Elena knew small pieces, the bits that Alex had given her to help them reach what Alex had hoped would be their peace throughout the whole thing, but it seemed that there was no lying about it anymore.