The Young and Gifted

2. destructive emotions

By the time they arrived at the courtyard, Caroline had appeared. "Welcome, guys! We are so happy to have you here, I hope the girls have been great hosts." A couple of mumbles were enough and she laughed. "Well, if you haven't heard, today is the first day of school and we let our students out into town to celebrate and reunite with friends after the vacation. I understand that you don't know anybody yet so don't be shy to look for these three girls."

"Please, mom no," Lizzie protested. "It's embarrassing. They'll stick out like a sore thumb."

Caroline was too distracted when her gaze fell to Hope to respond to her daughter. "Oh my god. It's you." Hope waved awkwardly and the twins took it as a cue to continue the tour. Leaving Kaura behind. "I can't believe you're here," she exclaimed and took Hope in for a warm hug. Kaura awkwardly stood back and watched the interaction.

"Yeah, Aunt Freya finally let me out on my own," she chuckled and pulled back.

"Well, I hope your first hour in is going just fine. If you need anything, don't hesitate to find me," she said and then turned to Kaura. "This is...this is Kaura."

Hope narrowed her eyes in confusion, unable to recognize the name. Freya never spoke of Kaura because she wasn't aware that the child lived. The Mikaelson eldest didn't even know the name of the child.

"Kaura Bennett Parker," Kaura elaborated to clear the confusion.

Hope gasped, eyes wide. "Oh my god." Bennett Parker as in Kai and Bonnie's child. She's heard stories about her aunt and uncle and how they sacrificed their lives for her.

Caroline watched as the two scanned each other up and down and she cleared her throat. "Well, I'm going to let the two of you catch up. I'm going to find the girls before they get bored of giving the tour." The two girls continued to watch each other in silence, both from different eyes. 

In Hope's eyes, she was glad to meet a family member, one that was around her age and understood what she was going through. A sister. But in Kaura's eyes, all she saw was the reason why her parents died. Caroline had told her the moment she turned 14 and since those two years ago, she dreaded meeting Hope. Caroline still hadn't explained everything, like the fact that it was Kaura's father who killed Lizzie and Josie's mother or the fact that Kaura had a special type of magic called the Initial Conjuration. Caroline hadn't even explained to the girls what the merge was. Regardless, Kaura tried hard to ignore the hate seeping into her veins, nearly blinding her senses.

But she managed to control the feeling and crossed her arms. "So how's New Orleans?" How's the city I wished burned with you when I found out what happened to my mom and dad? They began a steady walking pace down the paved sidewalk.

Hope smiled as she began to speak. "My Aunt Freya is running it with Jackson. He was my mom's boyfriend. And Marcel helps around too. He was sort of my father's adoptive son but things happened between them so I'm not sure I can consider him my brother. And my Uncles, Finn and Kol, are helping her control the most of it. Finn is a bit of hardass so he left town but he and Aunt Freya haven't seen each other in centuries so he makes sure to come back for her birthday."

"Caroline told me that you met Bonnie and Kai...how were they?" She said slowly. I wished it was you and not them. I wished they didn't care so much for you and didn't care enough to see their own daughter. Little did she know that Kai wasn't even aware that she lived.

"I don't remember much," she shrugged apologetically. "I just remember Uncle Kai always bringing me food and playing with me while the others did their usual mischief. And for some reason, the only memory I have of Aunt Bonnie is when she asked me to bring tea that one time," Hope chuckled nervously.

Aunt, Uncle. You're not part of the family and you never will be. I hate how you know them more than I do, I hate how you get to laugh it off, like the memories were nothing but grains of dirt, a small amount I would kill to have. Kaura tucked her hand away behind her back, hiding the fact that she was fisting her palms. Spikes of pain pierced her flesh and even as she felt the blood trickle, she continued to listen to Hope talk about the family she never got to meet. She continued to smile at Hope even as the sound of her neck snapping was in the background of her mind.

*

By the time Kaura returned to her room, night had fallen and people were already heading to the heart of the town. She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling with her earbuds plugged in. Music helped her relax after the rush of destructive emotions nearly drowned her. Instead of hearing the thrum of life shatter under her fingers, she used the thrum and vibrations of music to chase away the feeling. It took minutes, hours to be brought back from the void of mental torture. The music didn't even have words, but it was enough to soothe her.

And just as she got out of the shower, someone knocked at the door. Completely unbothered, she opened it in her towel to find Raf. He walked in casually when she opened the door for him. She flicked her wrist and the door shut when he jumped on her bed. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just wondering how you felt about the new kids. I know how you get," he said, crossing his arms behind his head and watched her. "Isn't that Hope girl your sister or something?"

"No. She's just a passing stranger," Kaura said tightly. "Our parents just happened to die in the same room, there's nothing special or familiar about her."

"Damn, that's some dark shit," Raf's eyebrows rose in question but she didn't elaborate.

Kaura crossed her arms and paced around the room. "God I hate her. Who does she think she is, coming to my school? She should have stayed in New Orleans, nobody wants her here. She's done enough, why can't she just stay with her cursed family and leave me alone? It's the least she could do after what her family did to mine."

"I saw you guys talking, you seemed like you were fine."

Kaura scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You clearly don't know me, you should know how easy it is for me to hide my emotions."

Raf sat up straight. "You know you can always talk to me, right? I listen."

"Right," she scoffed and began looking through her closet for clothes.

"Landon and I going to go downtown to chill. You should come," he offered cautiously.

Kaura sighed, shaking her head. "We broke up, Raf."

He groaned. "I know, I know. But nobody said it was a date. MG and Kaleb will be with us. Hell, I heard Penelope is back, I didn't even know she was gone."

"She left last spring break to see her sick grandmother," Kaura stated. It hurt to see her best friend leave so abruptly with no notice. She had to learn from Caroline that she left. "Anyways, I don't feel like going."

"What if I told you that we plan to break a couple of the Salvatore silver rules?" He grinned mischievously and that caught her attention.

"Oh?"

"I heard the town kids are also going out tonight. You up for some fun?"

Kaura chuckled and quickly changed. 

~

"I'm not saying that y'all should kill your mom, cause that's messed up."

try to guess who said it and don't forget to vote ;)