Part One; mentions Fierce Heart, Hope and The Wily Fox

Deadly Vengeance.

Rembrandt/ 1593610

Everything seemed to be in order. It had been over a year since he and Caroline had sought out his young protege Brandon Skyhawk for help with their problem. Klaus was old enough to know that to every problem out there, a solution existed. Not every solution that existed was without consequence. There was time to pay the piper in a manner of speaking. However, the solution for this problem was not one he was willing to pay. He was certain that Caroline wouldn't either.

Normally he could stay at home in the spacious estate that Klaus had paid for when he'd brought the Mikaelson Family back to Mystic Falls, but today he'd been called away. The town's new mayor Matthew Donovan had sought the assistance of the Original Hybrid with some rebuilding projects for the town. Granted Klaus had very little time nor desire to spend with one of his wife's former lovers, he reluctantly agreed to become a patron of the town even if to just keep Donovan from his front door with a shotgun and some sliver of white oak he may have found in the archives of The Armory. His wife had her duties at the Salvatore School to attend to at the same time. This left nannies and other guardians with his and Caroline's son who was approaching a year of age.

Mercutio Lorenzo Mikaelson was a beautiful child. He had porcelain skin like his mother and her energetic smile that seemed to turn Klaus into a puppy every time he saw it. He had curly brown hair however that was not completely unlike the hair his uncle Kol had as a boy millennia ago in another place and time. Mercutio had something however that was not unlike that of his older sister Hope. Every time Klaus held the child, he could see a hint of the devil in his eyes. Both of his children got that from him through and through. Klaus gave his life for Hope once and he would easily do the same for Mercutio. He had never imagined becoming a father not only once but twice in his life. But this was part of the problem he possessed along with Caroline. His wife was a vampire. She was dead.

Magic was a way to bypass everything including death itself. He and Caroline had gone in search of a particular spell that would bring life to the dead. The search for this spell had brought him to Brandon Skyhawk. Brandon had been converted to a vampire after having nearly been murdered by those agents of the Grandfather in Washington, Andrew Jackson in 1831 which they had set upon the wholesale slaughter of an entire race of people. To the Cherokee, Klaus Mikaelson was no villain. He was The Golden One who had given the people a gift to help fight back. There was a Shaman Brandon knew who had given Caroline Mikaelson the path to her heart's desire. Her heart's desire was the same as Klaus. The dead needed to become alive again.

The Shaman knew of a cult of Apollo that possessed this knowledge. The only problem was, the magic involved was dark and laced with evil. Black Magic had allowed Caroline to become alive again only but for 24 Hours. She did become human for only long enough that a child could be conceived. Given that she had already been magically implanted with witch children before, being able to conceive with the help of magic was not entirely unlikely. Once conception had occurred she became a vampire again. There was an unusual side effect of the black magic spell. Her womb alone remained alive so as to protect the child. Laying eyes upon the newborn babe, Klaus knew again his life was changed.

Mercutio was a bright child. His smile was bewitching and those baby curls were innocent and beautiful. On that day, Caroline had gone to the school early. Klaus had his meeting with the Mayor that lasted far too long for his tastes. He returned home to find a scene that set free the beast within.

~*~

Klaus exited his vehicle and approached the door to his home. Every ounce of his body told him something was wrong. He saw that the door was slightly askew. Anxious fingertips pressed against the door opening it more.

Everything as far as the eye could see was destroyed. The antique doors that he’d had specially imported from England had been shattered. The rugs that came from China were torn and left in ribbons. Broken glass was everywhere and so was blood. His nostrils flared. The smells all assaulted him at once. His optics immediately went golden and black as the blind fury of the Original Hybrid began to take control. “MERCUTIO!” He shouted at the top of his lungs.

At the top speeds, he began to check every room in the house. In room after room he found nothing but destruction and chaos in his wake. There was so much blood that Klaus was growing more intense in his anger and his fury. So far, he could find no bodies. This was both a blessing and a curse. His son was nowhere to be found. Finally he made it to the nursery.

The hand carved baby bed was made of the purest cedar. Klaus had been doubly sure of this little tidbit as he didn’t need pieces of the White Oak suddenly manifesting at the most inopportune times. The bed clothes were rumped and stain free. Mercutio was nowhere to be seen. Someone else was in the room however. It was Brandon Skyhawk, his friend and acolyte. Brandon was laying beside the bed with his shoulder staked to the ground with a piece of Spruce fir another piece of Spruce fir was in his stomach. He was alive, but he was dying.

Klaus pulled the stakes out of his friend and cradled him in his arms. He immediately bit his wrist to try and feed his healing blood to Brandon. “U-wet-si, who did this to you? Where is Mercutio?” Klaus was speaking in cold rage. He needed to know what had happened and who he needed to kill.

Brandon did his best to drink from Klaus but the pain wracked his body. Every breath he took was something he struggled and fought to gain. He drank from Klaus knowing that his blood was enough to heal everything. “They ...came for... him. There were so many of them.”

The still golden hues of the Original Hybrid started to gain more black to them. He didn’t have to know who it was. Klaus knew. That cult that Klaus, Caroline and Brandon had left in ruins in the highest peaks of the Smoky Mountains had more members than he realized and now, they came back seeking revenge. Mercutio was gone. It was simple. Klaus was going to kill them all.

Still holding onto Brandon as he started to slowly breathe on his own again, Klaus dialed Caroline’s cell phone. He had barely given her a chance to answer, when he replied. “Mercutio has been kidnapped, Caroline. You need to come home now.” He clicked off the phone. Knowing his wife as he did, this was just the beginning of a murder spree that would bring back this child that shouldn’t have even been born in the first place.

It took only a moment for Klaus to do it. His humanity switch was off. Death’s finest soldier was back in the game.

To be continued by Fierce Heart