Klaus returned to New Orleans.

Given how sick Finn seemed to be feeling, according to Freya, it seemed best that he head back so that he could give him his blood and alleviate his pain. Maddy remained behind to tend to the wolves.

"It's okay," she said gently, seeing they were still huddled together. "You're free. Does anyone want more blood?" Many shook their heads. "Alright. Follow me, I'll drive us to somewhere that you can all get new clothes and some food before we head to New Orleans."

"We're not from there," said one of the older wolves. "One was. He died last week."

Maddy frowned. "So... you're not Crescents, then?"

"No," replied another. "We're from the seven packs."

The first man spoke again, "Deep Water, Malraux, BasRoq, Barry, Poldark... I'm a Paxon. They wanted our venom." He glanced over at the dead vampire. "They kept... pumping it into her over and over and over again. Then they'd heal her with some drug. Except the last time. They shot her up with something so powerful... there was no saving her."

Her eyes seemed to darken. "Come on," she said, urging them to follow her back outside. "Soon as we're out of here, I'm burning this place to the ground."

They followed behind her obediently. They all cringed seeing the sunlight, and she helped them get to a spot in the shade before she dashed inside, started a fire, and rushed out as the building began going up in flames.

She compelled a man to give her a bus, helping the wolves get in comfortably before driving to the nearest hotel. She got the receptionist to get them all the rooms on the first floor— enough for all of them to have their personal shower and a spot to rest and eat while Maddy went to fetch them some clothes. She'd ensured that they all got a good amount of food and water before she went to the nearest store, getting underwear for all, and comfortable sweaters, shirts, and sweatpants for all the wolves.

They were glad to change into proper clothes from the bathrobes they'd all been wrapped in following their showers. Maddy went room to room, helping them contact their family members and booking flights or rides, depending where they needed to get to. Most of them needed to fly to different states, where their family members would be meeting them to take them home. Maddy drove them all to the airport, where nearly everyone got off the bus, thanking her profusely as they went on the private jet that would be making multiple stops and keeping them away from crowds while they readjusted to freedom. She waited with the others who were being picked up by relatives in the area. Once everyone had been accounted for, she started to head back to New Orleans.

The house was quiet when she arrived. Slowly, she moved up to the study, and found Freya clutching her pendant tightly, in tears. Her siblings were around her, all with grim expressions on their face.

Shit.

"What happened?" Maddy said quietly.

"My blood was not healing him," said Klaus softly. "His body died. We couldn't stop it."

"He's in the pendant again," said Freya miserably. "But I am not entirely sure that it worked. It was so sudden... I just hope he's alright."

"Valerie attempted to siphon it the way she did Rebekah's hex," said Kol. "It didn't work. Normally siphoners can absorb the magic in wolf bites to heal them. But when she tried, it burned her."

"Lucien did all of this to become like his maker, and yet, my bite cannot kill an Original," said Klaus miserably. "What are we up against here?"

Elijah shook his head. "I truly don't know."

"He combined the strains of venom from each different wolf pack," said Maddy. "At the lab, they told me that they were from the seven packs. All of them had their venom harvested. Together, they create a more lethal strain than anything a wolf can manage with a singular bite."

Freya huffed, " Well, that must be what he added to the spell to make him whatever the hell he is now. He kept boasting about having something that would make him better than an Original."

"And that must be why I cannot cure this bite," said Klaus. "I come from only one wolf pack."

"I'm guessing you could heal most other bites because there are hardly any pure wolves anymore," said Maddy. "As long as they have even one ancestor shared with you in some way, you would be able to heal their bite, because your strains of venom would have some sort of similarity."

"What are we to do now?" inquired Kol. "Are we to be trapped in this bloody house all over again?"

Elijah assented. "As much as it pains me to say it... yes. Lucien meant to bite Stefan. Finn shielded him. We ought to assume that he intends to hurt everyone we care about to either lure us into a trap or cause us to react violently, in which case we'd be delivering ourselves to him on a silver platter."

"Then we should get Marcel and Cami to come here, too," said Maddy. "And the wolves. And I should call Meredith and Jenna and Alaric and Matt and get them to come here, too."

"No," said Kol, shaking his head. "It would be risky bringing them here. Lucien would need to go out of his way to harm them. It's better they are warned, and go into hiding on their own terms if they see fit to do so. The wolves... we ought not move them, either. Lucien's venom won't hurt them. The only one that could be affected is Hayley, due to her vampire side. And she will be safer in the Bayou. Marcel and Cami, however, yes. We ought to bring them here."

"I'll contact them," offered Elijah.

Maddy assented. "I need to go check on my brother. Excuse me."

She went to Stefan's room, finding that he and Valerie were both perusing through grimoires. "Stefan," she said as she entered. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," he assured her. "Didn't get bitten."

"But you almost were," she said gravely. "There would have been no pendant to place you in. You would have just been dead. They said Finn's body died. They were extremely lucky that his soul was able to be safely placed in a different location. We don't have any way to preserve ourselves if the same thing happens to us."

"Hey," said Stefan, "don't worry. I'm fine, Mads, he didn't get me. And I'm sure as hell not gonna leave this house anytime soon. We're safe. Everyone we care about is here."

"Not everyone," she said softly. "Most, yes, but there are others." She pressed her palm to her forehead. "I need to warn Kai and Monique, too. They've been having the time of their lives but I keep in touch with them often and even if we're not close, Lucien might hurt them just to get back at me."

She forced herself not to tear up, feeling for the first time ever a horrible pain in her stomach just thinking about all the people Lucien could hurt to get his revenge after knowing she killed Aurora. Maybe it was bad that Klaus had been cruel to too many people and now had loads of enemies, but perhaps it was also bad that Maddy had been far too nice and now had a mile-long list of loved ones that Lucien could pluck at one by one to devastate her.

Cami and Marcel agreed to come and stay with them. They were each going to spend the night packing before coming to the Compound just before midday. That meant that no one slept, aside from Anita and Hope, who were comfortable in their cribs. They were constantly rotating who watched them while the witches drove themselves mad going through all the grimoires in the house, attempting to figure out a way to put Lucien down. Everyone else was cleaning the empty rooms and contacting their connections across the world, to hear advice from any other witches who might be able to figure out what to do.

"Marcel's calling," said Maddy tiredly the next morning after checking in with the witches, just to hear that they were making no progress. "He and Cami must be ready." She clicked the 'accept call' button. "Hey, are you on your way?"

"Is Cami there already?" Marcel asked worriedly.

Maddy frowned. "No, she said you were giving her a ride. I offered to pick her up but... wait, is she not home?"

"No, she's not home. Her stuff is still there."

Her heart sank. "Lucien. It has to be. I'll get the witches to do a Locator Spell. Someone has to be able to find her."

She hung up and sped into the room. "I'm so sorry," she said, knowing the witches were swamped enough as it was. "Cami's missing. We need to find her."

Davina took charge of the spell while the others continued their work. Marcel arrived with one of Cami's sweaters, and her hairbrush. The young Harvest witch let her hands hover over a map of New Orleans, chanting lowly, before frowning. "I can't sense her. It's like... she doesn't exist anymore."

"No," said Marcel softly. "No, no, she can't be dead... she can't be..."

Davina winced. "Maybe she's just cloaked, I can try again..."

But the second spell yielded the same results as the first. Marcel had to turn around, swearing quietly and bringing a hand to cover his eyes, wanting to cry but not allowing himself to.

"He killed her, didn't he?" he said weakly as all movement in the room stopped, and they turned to face Davina, who had gone pale, realizing that this meant the worst had indeed happened. "He killed her... but why? What does she have to do with anything?"

"He's trying to tear us all apart," said Freya softly. "First Finn, now Cami... he's targeting all of us. Cementing a feeling of distrust, of insecurity. He knows which of us are most likely to act rashly and which of us are most likely to hold those people back. He wants conflict, he wants us to stop functioning as a group so that he can tear us apart piece by piece and eventually reach the center..."

"The Originals," murmured Liv. "And Maddy."

There was a knock downstairs. All of them went rigid. Marcel was the first to dash down, followed by Maddy, and then by Rebekah, who'd heard it from the library where she and her brothers were examining Esther's grimoires, despite the fact Freya had already stated there was nothing useful there.

"Oh my god," said Marcel when he saw Cami in the doorway, dazed and with her throat covered in blood. "Hey—" he helped her inside, and she immediately crumpled into his arms, groaning.

"Lucien," she panted, gripping his arm tightly, "message... for Klaus..."

"She's in transition," said Maddy worriedly. "He turned her."

A tear slid down Cami's face as she nodded, confirming that to be true. "Says he wants Klaus and Elijah," she managed weakly, "to turn themselves over to him. Or someone else will be next."

There was no way of knowing who was going to be next on the hit list. They focused on Cami, getting her situated in one of the rooms. Though reluctant, she completed her transition. Within an hour, a daylight ring was made for her.

"This is crazy," said Maddy when Klaus and Elijah agreed to Lucien's terms. "You can't turn yourselves over, it's suicide."

"Who will be next?" said Elijah worriedly. "Who else will he hurt? Marcel is already saying that he wishes to take Cami, Davina, and Jeremy to a safe house. We would be down one very capable witch, a hunter, and a vampire. If we do not give into the demands, he will poke and poke until our family has fallen apart."

"Maybe we ought to take that risk," said Damon. "Everyone that doesn't live here has been warned. Hayley and the wolves are taking an impromptu trip up North to visit some of the other packs. Marcel's vampires already went their own way. Meredith, Ric, Jenna, and Matt all went to one of the safe houses. There isn't anyone else for him to snatch up. And it would take a whole lot of work to find them. No, we need to stay here. All of us."

"But that'll just make him angrier," said Enzo reasonably. "He might launch an attack on the house itself."

"And then," added Stefan, "we're putting the entire city at risk. He might start killing civilians. Innocent people will get hurt. We can't let strangers be collateral damage in a fight here. If they want to go... maybe we just need a plan to back them up when they confront him."

"This house is guarded by powerful magic," said Kol. "We're all safe here. This is madness," he faced his brothers, "You cannot do this— it is very unwise. We don't have a plan. If you do go, you'd be entirely alone. Our magic can only do so much against him when he's in this state. We need more time."

The two brothers shared a look. "Nik," pleaded Maddy, "don't. If you do this now, there's no guarantee you come back alive. With time we can figure out a backup plan to at least hold Lucien down long enough for us to all get away. It's too soon."

Perhaps it was foolish of them to ignore Lucien's demand. But it was what they decided as a group. A risk they were all willing to take.

"Any word about random deaths in town?" asked Enzo the next morning at breakfast, after Marcel had kept his word and taken his two girls (and Jeremy) out of New Orleans. "Or have things been quiet?"

"It's hardly been quiet," said Maddy, leaning back in her chair. "The babies were up all night, nobody has slept, and Lucien hasn't made a move... that we know of."

"Bummer." He sat beside her, picking a piece of bread off of her plate. "This is the saddest breakfast I've had here in awhile. Usually the table's full. And now..." he gestured at the empty seats.

"The ones who have the power to do something about this are up there doing it," she said, pointing at the ceiling to indicate the upper floors of the house. "Klaus and Tyler are coordinating with Hayley and Ansel to find pure wolves based on what we know about the ones we rescued at the lab. None told me the specific locations of their packs, but it helps knowing what state they're in. With any luck we can get enough pure wolves to be willing to donate their venom to us so Freya can make a cure."

Enzo tilted his head. "There's something you're not saying. Go on, spit it out."

"Vincent spoke with the New Orleans Covens," said Maddy gravely. "The Ancestors are helping Lucien. Which means the only way to kill him would be using that same Ancestral Magic. But the only way to access the amount we need is through sacrifice. Something like the Harvest ritual. After the way the last one went, no one is willing. And most of the witches are eager to see the vampire species fall. Lucien promised the Ancestors that he'd get rid of the Mikaelsons and the rest of us. So... they're not going to be useful."

"Couldn't Vincent just... pick the worst witch he knows, and we kill them?"

"I think there need to be four of them, not just one. I don't know... I hate not having any magical knowledge. I'm basically useless. The best I can do is give people food and change diapers."

"That's more than I've been doing," said Enzo. "With all the years I was trapped with Augustine, I lack the sort of connections that the rest of you have. I..." his jaw went slack. "Augustine. They had loads of research on vampire blood. And that ripper serum Dr. Maxfield tried to make."

"But we burned all of it," said Maddy. "It's gone, Enzo."

He shook his head. "No... there must be some old archives... somewhere. If we could find that... we could determine how best to either make as much of the cure as possible or... destroy Lucien from the inside out. If we were to get a sample of his blood and his venom, I could take Jo and Liv to the lab there and they could potentially whip up some sort of... paralytic or perhaps a virus that will render him unable to use his abilities. It could undo what was done to him. Or even better, we could also fabricate a cure for the venom without needing to find pure wolves."

"One slight problem," said Maddy, "the Ancestors are helping him. So we'd need to cut off his access to that magic beforehand. And... I actually don't know if that's possible or not. Your idea is brilliant though. As long as we stop the Ancestors from aiding him, that just might work."

"We need to get to that lab," said Enzo. "We need to find all the records we can of Augustine. Elena's father was a part of it... surely he had other documents saved someplace." He got to his feet. "I must tell Liv, Jo, and Vincent. If they believe it's possible, we must leave now."

Maddy refrained from mentioning that if they left, they'd be down two witches (even though one didn't use her magic) and another vampire. Not to mention Enzo would be out of the house's borders, and vulnerable to Lucien.

"It's a good plan," said Jo reasonably when they all met at lunch to discuss it. "It'll likely be faster than finding pure wolves and traveling to get their venom. Because from what we're hearing, Lucien covered his tracks well. A lot of the pure wolves he used were slaughtered."

"We haven't been able to locate anyone from the Malraux, Poldark, or Deep Water packs," said Klaus. "I can supply venom from the North East Atlantic Pack. Hayley can supply Crescent venom. We have a few BasRoq wolves willing to help, and the one Paxon wolf you helped, Madeleine. But the others are gone, completely. We'd need to search the laboratories yet again, and I imagine that Lucien now knows we went through them, which would mean all evidence would be destroyed."

"Shit," Maddy said softly, glancing at her brother. "Enzo, are you sure you three are willing to risk leaving? You might not find anything. We destroyed basically everything the Augustine had because we never thought it would be relevant again... because we wanted to be free of it forever. You could be going on a wild goose chase."

"We have to try, Lanie," he replied. "If we don't, we may never defeat him. We must get a headstart on this now. That way, we are looking for multiple solutions simultaneously. It ensures we are successful one way or another."

Maddy cried that night. The three had left for the airport at dawn, concealed by Cloaking Spell to ensure they would not be seen. She'd held Hope tighter than usual, frightened by the sight of everyone leaving. Worried they'd just end up dead.

The doorbell rang shortly after they'd gone. Suspiciously, those remaining in the house had gone downstairs.

Valerie had let out a scream.

"No!" she yelled out, rushing to where a body was laid down. Maddy didn't immediately recognize it. But when the Heretic turned the woman around, she staggered back against her brothers, seeing who it was.

Lily.

"No," she breathed. Lily was desiccated, and the large bite on her neck suggested Lucien had bitten her, just as he'd done to Finn. "Why would he bite her? Surely he knows she means nothing to us... to me... if that's who he's trying to hurt..."

Valerie dug through Lily's pockets immediately, finding a small note. "Please, no," she said softly. "Please, no..."

"What does it say?" asked Stefan, worrying that Lucien may have either bitten the other Heretics as well, or taken them hostage.

She didn't speak, initially. "Malcolm is dead," she read. "Lily.... Oscar... no, no..." her eyes welled up with more tears. "He says Beau, Nora, and Mary Louise are next if you don't meet him."

"That's why it took him so long to strike back," said Freya sadly. "He was hunting the Heretics. He must have assumed we'd reach out to them for help and sought to kill them before they could aid us. Valerie, I'm so sorry..." she then frowned. "Wait... move your hand. Is there something written on the back?"

Valerie flipped over the small note, seeing there was indeed another message. "Maddy," she murmured, "this one is for you."

She stepped forward immediately, taking it from her and reading what was written on the back, before reciting it aloud for all to hear, "'Madeleine, love, I wished to let you know that Sarah was delicious.'"

Her hand trembled as she dropped the card. "No, no, no," she said, before rushing upstairs. Klaus and her brothers followed after her, watching as she tore through her room, grabbing a second cell phone she had hidden, and immediately beginning to dial different numbers. "He has to be bluffing, he has to be..." she forced a deep breath before speaking to the person who answered, "Hi, I wanted to ask if Sarah's there? She... she isn't? She's at school?"

She immediately hung up, dialing the school's number and waiting a moment before saying, "I need to know if Sarah Nelson is in class today." A pause. "She left early? Well, her parents don't know that, so who the hell picked her up? You don't know? No, you listen to me, tell me who the fuck—"

Stefan yanked the phone out of her hand. "Stop it," he said, seeing the wild look in her eyes. "Maddy, stop."

"He has her," she said shakily. "He took her, Stefan, he took her and he killed Lily and three Heretics... and Sarah is probably dead and she must have been so s-scared—"

"Freya will perform a Locator Spell," said Klaus immediately. "Do you have something of hers?"

"I do, but what difference will it make?" she shrieked. "The Ancestors are helping him! Even if by some miracle, she's alive, she'll be cloaked, and by the time we find her she could have bled out or been imprisoned somewhere else!"

"Mads," said Damon, "you're not breathing—"

"How am I supposed to breathe?" she snapped. "Lily is dead, Damon. Any chance we might have had of rekindling our relationship with her is gone forever. Valerie's friends are dead and all they ever did was help us, and protect Hope even when they owed me nothing. And now Lucien has hurt Sarah! I was an idiot to trust that she'd be safe! I left her helpless and he hurt her. He hurt her and she's either dead, or alive and suffering, and it's all my fault, because I killed Aurora! I killed her because I was being a jealous and vindictive little bitch instead of thinking clearly and keeping her as leverage!"

Damon seized her shoulders, shaking her. "Stop it," he demanded. "She threatened Hope and Sarah, and you did what any mom would have done, so don't you dare blame yourself. We are gonna do a Locator Spell, we're gonna see what we find, and if nothing turns up, we're gonna go with what we have and we're killing Lucien today."

"With what fucking weapon, Damon?" she shot back. "Enzo is halfway across the country following a lead that might not even exist. The pure wolves we need are probably all dead and we don't have a solid plan for anything! Lucien has every advantage right now and we have nothing!"

"I'm not so sure about that."

They turned to see Vincent in the doorway. "I have an idea that could cut off the Ancestors' ability to help Lucien," he told them. "It's gonna affect all the witches here, and they won't like it, but if I do this, we could channel that same power and use it to kill him permanently."

Klaus nodded. "Very well. What do you need from us?"

Vincent winced. "One hell of a distraction. I can take Ansel with me to the Lafayette Cemetery. As long as you guys are keeping Lucien occupied, the Ancestors won't be able to stop us from executing this plan. But keep in mind this is only killing Lucien, if it even works. If any of y'all get bitten in the process... we don't have a cure for that."

"It's settled, then," said Klaus. "Tonight... we battle."

A/N: Special thanks to daughterofthedemon on Archive Of Our Own for giving me an amazing idea that will be incorporated a little later in this story. Comment for more!