A step too far

"We have to tell him." Rebekah said, as she sat on the couch staring into the lit fireplace.

"No. We don´t." Her brother commented, sitting casually next to her. If she didn´t know him any better, he could have fooled her into being void of any bad conscious. But she could tell by the way he avoided any eye contact, by the way that made him just seem too casual about the matter, that he felt about as bad as she did.

It had all started as a jest among siblings. They had even meant to clear up the matter by the end of the day. Only, by then, the damage had been literally irreverisble.

"Hey brother. You think Caroline will go on a date with me tonight?" Kol had asked Nik, who had been busy in his study. Drawing her as per usual.

"Kol, you know I don´t share." Was all he had commented. He had always avoided expressing just how much he cared about the cheerleader. But his siblings new better.

"You might want to inform your hybrid, you know the dark-haired one from the football team about that. I am not sure, he knows that. But anyway, looks like I´ll be needing another date for tonight."

As he walked out, he heard his brother stop sketching. Just as he thought he would.

"What are you talking about, Kol?"

"Oh, nothing, I just saw them making out in the school parking lot this morning." He said, as he left the room.

"The longer we don´t tell him, the worse it´ll get once the truth comes out." Rebekah pointed out, shuddering at the thought of getting daggered again.

"No one but us knows the truth so if we both keep our mouths shut, it won´t come out." They had been keeping their secret for almost fifty years by now. They could take it to their graves. If they ever were to find them, that was.

"Have you seen him lately? Can you honestly tell me you hate our brother so much that you want him to stay this miserable?" For a moment neither of them spoke. Nik had been beyond unhinged lately. He had started pursuing the Salvatores and the Doppelganger not with gusto, but with force. Every drop of blood he acquired, he immediately used on making more hybrids. Some days he´d order them all to pack to move to some weird, undisclosed location, only to abort the mission completely in the evening. He scarcely talked, though it felt like one wrongfully uttered syllable could result in his siblings redaggering. Most of the time he spent painting, he scarcely slept. His blood orgies has become worse. They lost all ounces of fun and lust, and were purely animalistic now. As for his alcohol consumption, that was beyond belief. Elijah had tried to talk to him, but after a few days of this, even he had given up.

Things had taken a turn for the worse, after Elena accidentally got turned into a vampire. With the prospect of more hybrids having disappeared, his mood had darkened. More deaths, gloomier paintings. And every now and then, when he thought no one would see, he would sit, and look at the few photos he had of them together. Her and him. Ever since that fateful day, he had been broken.

"Becca, can I have a word please." She remembered him interrupting her as she was trying to find the perfect Prom dress. She had been expecting him.

"Nik, not now. I am trying to find the dress that´ll win me Prom Queen. You know, it´s bad enough that Caroline is going to be going with Tyler, which only will increase her chances. I still don´t get why you can´t just take her. Anyway. The last thing I need is to have a dress that is not twice as good as hers, so please, make it quick."

For a second Nik had looked at her, and she had felt bad. It looked just a tad bit like he was actually hurt. But she figured the two lovebirds could use a little trouble in Paradise. They would tell him that of course Caroline was not going to go to Prom with Tyler. As a matter of fact, Rebekah had overheard her telling her friends that she is going to be asking Nik as soon as she gathers up the courage to ask a millenium old hybrid to an event as human as Prom. They would dissolve it all in the evening, latest by tomorrow morning. A little fighting wouldn´t hurt the two.

"Never mind." was all Nik had said. With that he had walked out of the door, clenching his fists. If Rebekah had been honest to herself in that moment, she would have known that he was planning something he´d regret. Only those stupid dresses in her room had been more important then.

"Sister, of course I want to tell him. But if we do tell him, it´ll be us and two coffins for at least half a millenium. If we´re lucky. And if it comes down between her and us, we both know whom we should choose."

"I know."

At first, both of them had thought his anger would pass. After they had realized how he had taken their joke. They thought it would get easier. Only, it never did.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud trashing noise. In a flash they headed up to his study. When they arrived the entire room was a mess. Paintings had been thrown around the room, papers and sketches were cluttering up the floor. He was standing in the midst of it all, throwing every object in his reach against a wall.

It took both of their efforts to sooth him. To hold him down. The only reason they succeeded at all was his emotional state and his intoxication. As their brother broke down onto the floor, they saw that all the sketches, all of them, were of her. Only then did Rebekah remember that it was the anniversary. Exactly 51 years ago they had lied to him. Exactly 51 years ago he had destroyed the girl he loved.

"Why" they hurt him whisper, as they all sat on the floor.

"Why wasn´t I good enough?" The question contained so many more. Why was he the wandering Jew amongst vampires? Why was he always alone. Why had his love not been enough for small town Caroline. Why couldn´t he forgive her betrayal?

Tears were streaming down Rebekah´s cheeks as her brother disappeared into his thoughts, torturing himself with questions that only they could answer him. Her lips started to quiver. She was close to telling him what had really happened that day. Only Kol beat her to the punch.

"You were.", he said, silently waiting for the dagger to come.

They came home later that evening, finding him drinking. He was drinking both, whiskey straight from the bottle and blood straight from a red-haired tap.

"Why the party?" was all Rebekah asked.

"Yeah, and why don´t you share?" Kol added.

It was then that they noticed his dejected look as well as Caroline´s purse on the table.

"Brother, what´s going on?" Rebekah had asked.

"Nothing ,I just rectified a bad situation." he commented after killing the girl in his lap. Then he got up, to pour himself another glass.

"You know, Caroline won´t take lightly to your dinner arrangements" Kol said in a careful tone. Something was amiss. Where was Caroline.

"Don´t worry, Kol. I took care of her."

"How?" Rebekah asked in a slightly nervous tone.

"You know how I respond to betrayal".

"What did you do?" his sister asked.

"Something I only do to family. Only in her case I made it permanent." Was all he said.

"You DAGGERED her?" Kol exclaimed. How on Earth was that even possible? Caroline was no Original.

"Well, not exactly. But close enough."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a witch place a spell on her. Or rather a spell cocktail. It´s a tad bit of an immobilization spell combined with a nasty memory spell".

"And for how long will you keep her that way?" Kol asked, trying to not give away something for maybe he could rectify the situation alongside his sister all on his own.

"Forever. I put her in a coffin, had the witch block any locator spells on it, compelled a hybrid to first dump the coffin somewhere where no one will ever find it and then to commit suicide, so I´ll never be tempted to show that treacherous girl any mercy." With that he handed them both a glass.

"To family. To Loyalty. To us." After that night neither of them had ever been able to drink whiskey again.

They had tried to find her of course. No locator spell worked, and Klaus had killed the witch who knew how to find her. They had compelled armies of detectives and divers and even a few archaeologists. But they had come up empty. Somewhere out there was a coffin and inside of that coffin was a girl that suffered from horrible memories and blood thirst. And their brother had sentenced her to that based on a lie they had thought up.

Now he was looking up at them, a mixture of desperate hope and major confusion mirrored in his eyes.

"We lied." Rebekah whispered. "Everything we both said about her being with Tyler, it was all ... made up."

After that the room had gone silent. Kol thought about all the things he had yet to make up for his last coffin vacation. Rebekah wondered if he would be thinking of something worse than daggering them. Instead he vanished. In a flash he was gone, but only after looking at them in a way that went beyond hurt, beyond betrayal. Something they´ll never forget about. Something that finally manager to turn all of that guilt into self-loathing. Leaving them to wonder where he was going to take his pain.