I n t o T h e W i l d

Bonnie did not come home, she was busy preparing to their trip to find the cure.

Malik was alone in the living room, covered by a blanket laying on the sofa in silence. His eyes were red, no tears left for him to cry.

His mind was flooded by images, memories. His feelings were all over the place.

His chaos was only interrupted when someone knocked on the door. The boy slowly turned around but then returned to his original position, not caring at all who wanted to find him.

"Malik? Come on I can hear your heartbeat, don't make me wait. Open the door" came the voice of Rebekah which surprised the boy.

Malik slowly got up and walked to the front door, opening it he didn't say a word, didn't even try to smile, he just looked at the original vampire silently.

"Hey. You alright?" asked Rebekah worried and tried to move closer but she was stopped. Looking around the door she looked back at Malik and asked gently. "Can I come in?"

Malik just nodded his head. It was enough for Rebekah to cross the threshold and to the warlock's surprise she embraced him gently. Once again he began to cry as he finally began to let his emotions go, and the two of them moved to the living room.

They sat down on the sofa and Rebekah looked at the boy gently and spoke quietly.

"Thank you, for mourning my brother... it means a lot to me."

"I wish I would have gotten there sooner" admitted Malik. "Kol was out of control but he seemed to listen to me. If only I could have..."

"It's not your fault" interrupted Rebekah immediately. "Don't forget he was acting out, endangering himself. You couldn't be with him all the time to save him from himself. Don't beat yourself up."

"I know that" spoke Malik and tried to smile. "My feelings are somewhat heightened and I don't know why... Anyway, you came here because you needed something, right?"

Rebekah kept eye contact with the warlock, however instead of asking for the favour she got up to leave.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter."

"No, come on. Rebekah, I'm okay. If something's wrong, tell me."

"I wouldn't say something's wrong. I was just hoping you would accompany me to find the cure. I know they're your friends but I don't trust them. And after everything that happened I have some trust in you and Stefan."

Malik just let out a sigh and getting up from the sofa spoke gently.

"Let me get my stuff."

Shane stood on the beach, looking on at the island as the others unloaded from the boats on the shore.

The others continued to unload, each with varying expressions of uncertainty and curiosity on their faces as they took in their new surroundings.

Malik remained close to Rebekah, refused to leave her side. Even when Bonnie or Jeremy tried to talk to him he just listened to them trying to tell him everything was fine, but for some reason, he didn't feel safe around them.

Everyone was preparing to leave, Malik just sat there silently and watched everyone. His gaze stopped on Damon, who was sharpening a knife on the beach when Shane approached him.

"Couldn't they have hidden this cure in Hawaii? Where the hell did you take us?" complained the vampire to which Shane had an easy response.

"Two hundred miles off the Nova Scotia mainland. If you recall, the whole point was to hide the cure on the world's most obscure, desolate island."

"Oh yeah? I thought the whole point was that no one found Silas, the oldest, deadliest freak in the world."

"Yeah, that too" Shane held up sunscreen and offered it to Damon. "Sunscreen?"

" Is that a joke?"

"Right."

Malik just smiled at that and moving closer to Rebekah noticed how Stefan was working hard to tie a knot with some rope, while Rebekah was standing there glaring at Elena as she walked past.

" You know, you're not really helping."

" You're perfectly capable of tying a knot."

"He means you giving Elena the evil eye is what's not really helping" clarified Malik with a smirk but Rebekah could tell the warlock was highly amused by all of that.

"She killed my brother, tried to get Stefan to put a dagger in my back. She's lucky all she's getting is the evil eye."

"You know I can hear you, right?" commented Elena without turning towards them.

"You know I don't care, right?" countered Rebekah easily.

Elena stopped walking and vamp sped towards Rebekah, grabbing her neck pointed the white oak stake at her chest. In an instant however Rebekah flipped her over and pushed her to the ground.

"Go ahead, try and kill me. But then you'd have to face your real problems. Like the fact that Stefan invited me here, himself. I guess he likes me again."

Rebekah walked off, Stefan approached Elena and offered to help her up, but she ignored him and walked away looking irritated. Malik was having a really good time seeing all that happen in front of him, but it was time to finally face Bonnie and Jeremy... he had to make peace with his feelings with the two most important people in his life.

He walked up the rocks and finally found them, but seeing that Jeremy was half naked and Bonnie was taking pictures of Jeremy's tattoo with her phone the warlock stopped and with a sly smirk on his face watched the two interact.

"Sorry, if there was a less awkward way to do this, I would."

"Doesn't bother me" reassured Jeremy which only made Bonnie smile.

"These symbols must have been left for the hunters, so they can find the cure. And this must be the story of Qetsiyah and Silas. According to Shane, Silas asked Qetsiyah for help making a spell for immortality. She helped make him immortal, only to learn that he planned to use the same spell on another women, not her. When she found out, she freaked."

"So, Qetsiyah killed the other woman?" asked Jeremy intrigued trying to take out the story from the tattoos.

"Yeah. Silas was immortal. She couldn't kill him. So she trapped him in a cave, and buried him alive instead."

"Does it say anything about the hunter's purpose in all this?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask. Qetsiyah created a cure for immortality, and then she buried it with Silas, hoping that he'd take it and die, and end up on the other side with her for all eternity. But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. So, many centuries later, her descendants created the hunters to find him, cure him and kill him. You know what? I'll explain on the hike. Come on. We gotta get going."

Suddenly some of the rocks cracked which made them all turn and finally Bonnie and Jeremy noticed Malik who had a serious look in his face but the warlock had his eyes on Shane.

Without a word Bonnie rushed to her brother and jumping on him hugged the boy. Malik was surprised but feeling the warm and calming sensation he hugged his sister back.

"I'm sorry Bonnie..."

"You don't have to feel bad" interrupted the witch. "I get it, just let us be there for you. Okay?"

"Sure..." spoke Malik and suddenly he felt two strong arms pick him and his siter up and turning his head he stared at Jeremy's bare chest.

Looking at it he swallowed hard and averting his eyes just smiled.

"You're one dramatic person Malik" came the voice of Jeremy. "But you're my best friend!"

Hearing that Malik just leaned against Jeremy and once the hunter put them down he wrapped his arms around his best friends.

"Thank you Jeremy. I don't know what I would do without you."

"You would be bored" responded the hunter. "Let's go, before crazy professor runs off into the woods."

The group was hiking together, Shane got out his phone but hearing the beeping voice coming out of it they could all tell what it meant.

"Is anyone else a little creeped out?" asked Elena nervously looking around the forest but Rebekah was quick to react to it.

"So then leave. Out of everyone, your presence is the least necessary."

"Please don't start" sighed Stefan exasperatedly but it seemed the blonde original wasn't going to back down.

" I'm merely stating the facts. Jeremy has the spell on his body. Bonnie and Malik are the witches who can unseal the cure. Shane is the human compass. You and I have the tombstone, which does god knows what. And Elena has no point."

Malik was very appreciative of the situation but because of Jeremy and Bonnie he tried to hide his amusement. Luckily Damon decided to weigh in as his name wasn't mentioned in the line up.

" What about me?"

"You have a nice behind."

Malik just smirked hearing that but unfortunately to him that was all the entertainment he got. Hours later, it was finally night-time. The group was still hiking through the woods using flashlights which he did not really appreciate but remained silent about the matter.

"Centuries after Qetsiyah died, there were these miners who were excavating a well on the island. Suddenly went mad. They bled themselves dry. No apparent reason. So, the legend spread that these miners, in exchange for a drop of their blood, saw visions of their lost loved ones in the well they were digging. The word travelled and explorers sought out the well to see if the legend was true" commented Shane looking around.

"So, the well was magic?" questioned Bonnie.

"Well, you know, some people believe the voices of lost souls were just a wind vortex whipping through the caves, and visions were caused by inhaling the island's poisonous plant life."

"And what do you believe?" asked Elena curious, hoping all of this was real.

"I believe in magic. My wife and my son died within months of each other. And so... I decided to try the well out for myself. I offered up my blood and I waited..." as Shane spoke Malik's right eye turned golden which he tried to hide and luckily to him Jeremy was quick to provide coverage for him.

"Hello? Hello?"

"Atticus?"

"Caitlin?" called out Shane desperately.

He began to rappel down into the well with some climbing gear.

He continued to hear indistinct whispers echoing around him, which made him panic, loose his grip on his rope and fell down onto the well floor.

He shouted in pain, grunting as he tried to catch his breath back. That was until he suddenly saw a woman standing over him.

" Hello, Atty."

" Caitlin."

"I saw my wife. I saw her eyes, her smile. My blood let me see her again."

"Yeah, got it. Don't eat the poisonous flowers" commented Damon judgingly and continued walking and the others followed him until suddenly Shane shouted.

" Wait. Stop. Stop" hearing all of that everyone stopped. "Is everybody paying attention? Our first lesson in survival "he thew the rock and it triggered a net trap that swung up into the trees. "Stay together. Keep your eyes open."

They climbed for a little longer in the dark until they got to a little cottage which intrigued everyone , but Stefan was the first to make a comment on the ominous building.

"What is this place?"

"According to island lore, a group of college kids came here for spring break. A few weeks later, they were all found dead, completely drained of blood" explained Shane which just made Bonnie and Malik exchange a look of concern.

" Well, tragic for them, brilliant for us. Who sleeps where?"

As they all have decided on where they were going o sleep, Bonnie was looking at the photos of the tattoo, even asked Malik to try and find the spell hidden but as the boy was looking at the pictures he just shook his head.

That was the point when Bonnie walked off from the tent hoping to find Shane and finally get answers out of him. Malik was following behind but kept his distance top make sure Shane revealed everything. It seemed Damon had similar ideas but less secretive.

"I've been staring at pictures of Jeremy's tattoo and there's no spell."

"Expression doesn't require a written spell. Just think of it as a way of accessing magic that already exists inside you. You just have to want it bad enough."

"And I'm just supposed to trust you?"

"Bonnie, listen, I taught you Expression so that you could access the cure. I'll be right there with you the whole time, I promise."

" You didn't answer the trust part" spoke Damon stepping forward while Malik remained hidden behind the wall.

"All right. Let me put it this way. You need me to help you through it, Bonnie. Because as you've demonstrated, Expression can get messy. Believe me when I say I've seen it get a lot worse."

"How much worse?"

"When we lost our son in the car accident, my wife kind of lost it. She tried to resurrect his body using magic."

"Your wife was a witch?" questioned Bonnie but Malik was just as shocked as his sister.

"She was a powerful witch. And incredibly undisciplined."

"And you never thought to tell me?"

"I just didn't want to scare you. The truth is, she tried to bring our son back using Expression, and it overwhelmed her, and she died."

"You taught me and my brother the same magic that killed your wife?" asked Bonnie angrily, Malik was just as triggered but tried to control his emotions.

No, this wasn't the time yet to lose control. He had to keep his emotions in check for a little longer. His plan was simple. All this anger had to go somewhere... He had the perfect target for it.

"Yeah, but I've learned the warning signs, all right? I can keep Expression from consuming you."

"Downside is, you turned her into a bomb that only you can dismantle" stated Damon immediately, also pointing out the obvious as both Bonnie and Malik were aware of this little hick up.

"Don't you think I know how this ends? I came here to raise Silas so that he could bring back the dead, but you're never gonna let that happen. The second I point to a cure, you're gonna kill me. Now Bonnie has to keep me alive so I can keep her alive."

Hearing all of that Malik revealed himself which startled Shane. It seemed the professor was wary of the warlock. His hypnotic techniques failed on him and now he was there.

"She doesn't need to keep you alive. I told you before... I'll do everything in my power to keep her alive. Let's go. "

Once they've left, they finally got back to their tent, but before Malik could have entered he got a phone call from Tyler. Looking at his phone he wasn't sure if he should answer it or not, luckily to him Rebekah appeared and taking the device spoke gently.

"Forgive me but... I doubt this is important. Let's just clarify, were you expecting a call from Tyler Lockwood?"

"No... he probably wants something. Knowing the history between him and your brother."

"I get it. Not wanted. Quick question... do you have any emotional attachment to this phone?"

"Not really, I was just about to buy a new one. Why?"

Rebekah easily crashed the phone with a smile on her face in return Malik just smiled and shaking his head spoke up.

"Tad dramatic don't you think?"

"Nonsense" shrugged the original playfully and the two of them just laughed.

Malik and Bonnie camped together, getting into the tent both of them got ready to sleep. In the dark the boy was nervous, sensing this Bonnie just gently grabbed his hand. Rubbing it gently Malik managed to calm down and soon enough fell asleep.

Thanks to Bonnie his uneasiness disappeared, that was until the morning when they woke up, and Elena was running around frantically.

Jeremy disappeared.

"Jeremy!" shouted Elena then turned to the siblings as they returned to the campsite. "Did you find anything?"

"He's not on the trail" spoke Bonnie since Malik was very worried and kept thinking of scenarios to try and find his best friend.

" His gear's still here" commented Shane while holding up a bag.

"He's not at the quarry, either" spoke Stefan once he and Rebekah arrived.

"Let's split up" offered Damon, Bonnie and Malik were quick to go their way.

"We're gonna stay and try a locator spell."

"Okay. I'll stay here. I'll make sure they're safe" offered Shane a bit too quickly which made Damon turn his focus towards the professor immediately.

"I'll stay here and make sure you're not lying" commented Damon to which Malik just smirked.

"Fine. We'll keep searching the island" sighed Elena and followed Stefan and Rebekah.

Once everyone moved Damon looked at Malik again and spoke up.

"I don't trust professor creepy. He's up to something... can you get into his head?"

"I'm not sure" admitted Malik. "I might accidentally fry his brain in the process and since he's the only one who knows where the well is so..."

"Alright, let's call that plan B."

Damon walked off and Malik followed after him, it seemed the vampire was adamant on getting answers out of Shane and at this point, so was Malik.

Approaching the shed both of them remained silent but only Damon went to the entrance, Malik stopped on the side, not wanting to see what was about to happen. He only wanted to hear the answer.

"Thought it didn't work."

"Yeah. I'm just-- just checking the signal."

"So you can call someone? Like whoever took Jeremy?"

"This place has a habit of getting to you, doesn't it?" asked Shane jokingly but shoved his phone at Damon's chest. "See for yourself."

"I'm done trusting you" responded the vampire easily and pushed Shane down onto a chair with vampire speed. "Where's the cure?"

" You know that magical well I was telling you about? Silas and the cure are buried deep below it."

"So, you've seen it?"

"No. But you could say I heard it from a reliable source"

Malik was surprised to hear that, Shane began to explain how he saw his wife but Malik wanted to see it. Almost on command his vision changed and while being aware of his physical surroundings he also saw an image of Shane lying on the ground, looking up at his wife.

"Caitlin. How is this happening?"

"You're bleeding."

"Oh my god. Oh my god" panicked Shane but his wife immediately began to reassure him.

"No, it's good. It's okay. It's what's keeping me here."

"If a single drop of blood can give you a vision, could you imagine what two litres could do?" explained Shane to Damon.

"What does your dead wife have to do with a cure?"

"She's got nothing to do with a cure, but she has everything to do with Silas."

"I'm so sorry I let things get out of control. I should've stopped you."

"Sweetheart, it's okay. You wanted Sam back as much as I did. What if you had a second chance to bring us both back?"

"I can't, baby. I'm not a witch."

"We have a witch. His name is Silas. If you set him free, he'll help those who have helped him."

" Set him free from what?"

"He's entombed in the caves below us, but it's impossible to get him out without a spell. You need to get the spell."

"And that's when she explained everything that I had to do" commented Shane to which Malik closed his eyes and cutting off the connection was ready to walk in. "Complete the hunter's mark to access the spell and empower a descendant of Qetsiyah to perform it."

"We are related to this witch?" asked Malik suddenly earning the attention of both Shane and Damon.

"Yeah but you... you weren't supposed to be alive. But to ensure Bonnie would not reject this I taught you expression as well... but after seeing what you can do I must admit I have created something even I won't be able to control. If you're not careful enough you will die. No one can possess this much power without consequences. The spirits will come for you."

Malik was taken back, he began pacing hearing those words while Damon decided to continue his interrogation.

"So you have the rock, hunter, Bennett witches. What about the dozens that died in sacrifice? Where do they fit into all this?"

" As you can imagine, that was not an easy pill to swallow."

"Yet you manipulated the pastor to blow up a farmhouse full of people. Oh my god... You promised him Silas will allow him to come back and see his dead wife" deadpanned Malik looking at the professor.

" He just wanted to see his wife again."

"We need three massacres. Fire at the Young farm. Hybrid slaughter. What mass blood-letting am I forgetting?" interrupted Damon, wanting to know more.

" You're not."

"I think you need to tell me where this magical well is."

" You know I can't do that."

"Oh, I know. I know" spoke Damon and slapped Shane's shoulder before walking away.

Shane looked at Malik, trying to figure out a way to get the warlock to help him but Malik was not fazed by the situation. After hearing about all of this drama he needed to remove himself.

Walking out of the shed he saw that Bonnie wondered off, thinking she found a lead to Jeremy. This allowed him to walk to the fireplace and looking around he moved his hands, carving a circle in the ground sat down and raising a barrier around him began thinking.

Tyler called him about an something, which meant it involved Klaus. He had to check on Klaus... but how was he supposed to do that?

Closing his eyes he began mediating, clearing all of his thoughts, only allowing the hybrid to accompany his mind. As this memories for them two began to surface he pushed himself one last time and opening his eyes he stood in the Gilbert home.

But what shook him was Caroline on the sofa lying while Klaus stood at the entrance of the living room. The blonde was breathing raspingly and spoke out weakly to Klaus.

"If you don't feed me your blood, I'll die."

"Then you'll die, and Tyler will have learned his lesson the hard way" responded Klaus not looking at her.

"How could you do this to him? To his mom?"

"I'm a thousand years old. Call it boredom."

" I don't believe you."

" Fine. Then maybe it's because I'm pure evil, and I can't help myself."

"It's because you were hurt. Which means that there is a part of you that is human."

Hearing that Klaus approached her and sat on the table next to the sofa, intrigued by what she was saying.

"How could you possibly think that?"

"Because I've seen it. Just between us... Malik told me he... after he saw your gentle side he caught himself wishing that he could forget all the horrible things that you've done."

" But he can't. Can he?" asked Klaus accepting everything, but Caroline continued weakly.

" I know that you're in love with him. And anybody capable of love is capable of being saved."

Klaus' eyes started glistening, and Malik noticed how Klaus' expression changed: he was moved by Caroline's words. Malik looked between the two of them and saw how it started to affect Klaus, but the hybrid turned away and spoke quietly.

"You're hallucinating."

"I guess I'll never know" responded Caroline her breathing caught.

"Caroline?"

Her breathing was laboured then weak and fading. Malik began panicking and looked at Klaus, noticing that for a moment longer Klaus looked torn. Finally he lifted Caroline into a sitting position, sat behind her, bit open his wrist and put it to her mouth and she started drinking. Malik let out a sigh and happy tears appeared in his eyes while Klaus smoothed her hair as she regained strength and continued to drink.

Malik pulled away from them and returning to his reality noticed how everything was dark and no one was around. Removing his barrier began to look around but he couldn't find Shane or Damon, Bonnie and Jeremy were still gone too.

Seeing the light from one of the tents he walked there quickly, hoping to catch someone still around.

"You think I would do that? You think I would let some psychopath run off with the cure? Every single moment of my last 146 years has been ruled by the pain of being a vampire" spoke Stefan in a determined voice. "And this cure ends that. It ends the guilt and  the suffering. Do you really think I would jeopardize that?"

" Fine. You didn't take it. But that doesn't mean I trust her" stated Rebekah pointing at Elena.

The girls stared at each other for a moment until finally, Elena bent down and lifted up some material from the ground and withdrew the white oak stake from under it.

"I didn't take it, but here" offered the doppelgänger and extended the stake toward Rebekah. "Consider this a peace offering."

"Don't you get it, Elena? There is no peace. We're all screwed."

"Exactly, Rebekah. We're screwed. Bonnie is gone. Shane got the tombstone. Jeremy's missing. Malik is nowhere to be found. Who knows if Damon's coming back. So, us three, right here, this is all we've got. So we're either in this together... or it's over. For all of us" she held out the stake to Rebekah again and she took it.

"You're not screwed" came the voice of Malik from behind them making the trio spin and for the first time Rebekah seemed relieved. "We will find it and I will make sure Shane won't get away with this. We just need to find another way. Don't forget at first we didn't know Shane had the map... so there is someone else who can tell us where it is."

"Klaus."