Daydream • K.M.

(3.15) Girl Talk

Eden awoke with a start, jumping to her feet instantly as she saw that dusk had fallen across the city. With a grimace, she rubbed the back of her neck; she was going to rip the heart out of the next person that snapped her neck. Running a hand through her hair, she looked around the room, searching for a sign of Klaus or Esther, but when she came up empty, she went into alert mode. She listened to the noises around her, drowning out the sound of the cicadas and the traffic to focus on the sound of the heartbeat that was inevitably beating from about ten feet in front of her.

"Nik?" Eden called out, stepping out of the music room and into the main hall. She looked back towards the kitchen and when she saw that no one was there, she stepped out onto the porch. Walking down the stairs, she came across a body laid out on the ground and after taking a closer look at it, she realized the body was that of her fiancee. Using her vampire speed, Eden rushed down to his side, checking for a heartbeat and trying to make sure that there were no grey veins.

"Nik." Eden whispered, shaking his shoulders and watching his head roll around in a slightly unnatural movement before realizing that he had a broken neck.

"Shit." Eden breathed out. "Shit shit shit." She was probably going to have to carry Klaus' body back to the compound, and she was sure that the hybrid would pitch a fit when he found out that-

"Be calm Eden, he'll be fine, he just needed to calm himself. You of all people know how riled up Niklaus can get." Eden wheeled around, using her body to shield Klaus' body away from Esther. She stood before Eden, a small smile on her face as she took in the sight of the young woman guarding her son.

"Back the hell away from us. Your sociopathic husband has already tried to kill us less than twenty-four hours ago and I'll be damned if I let you do it." Esther held her hands up in mock surrender.

"Eden I am not here to hurt you. Despite what my children may have told you, I want nothing more than to see them live long and happy lives." Eden raised an eyebrow.

"Well that's odd, because my first time seeing you, you were linking all your children together so that you could use Finn to kill them all." Esther let out a soft chuckle.

"You're a smart girl Eden, you must know that even with your new supernatural abilities that if I wanted to harm you, then you would already be dead." Eden paused, faltering in argument as she glanced from Esther to Klaus and then back to Esther again.

"Alright, I'll give you that. But nothing you say to me could make me change my mind about staying in the body that I'm in." Eden countered. The Original Witch smiled, strolling past the hybrids easily to take a seat on the small stone bench. Blankly, Eden recalled finding Jupiter sitting out on that same bench a few times during their stay here. After a beat of silence, Esther looked up at Eden again, although this time, she looked about a thousand years older.

"I've been hoping that I would get the chance to speak with you alone for some time now, but I had not planned for you or your cousin to be locked away so tightly." Eden scoffed, crossing her arms together.

"We haven't been locked in towers, but your sons seem to know that we would be better off the further we are away from you." Esther nodded, as though considering that as an answer before she spoke again.

"As I'm sure that Jana has told you, my offer doesn't include anything less of a long and happy life, though that life would be lived as a mortal. You would be able to start a new life. You could reconnect with your family without the fear of hurting them; get married and start a new family with more children." Eden's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her having more children.

"I don't need more children." Eden said thickly, though she knew in her heart of hearts it was lies. Regardless of the fact that she had Haven, she still always wanted a big family and regrettably, she knew that Jana felt the same way. At this, Esther sent Eden a wistful look, as though she could tell that the girl was lying just by a look.