Beauty and A Beast (ON HOLD)

Chapter 22

'Care to explain to me what you're doing out here? I'm almost certain I told you to stay inside.'

'Well I'm almost certain that I said that you couldn't stop me.' I was looking up into his eyes, staring him down. 'What did Lydia mean? She said she made you an offer.'

Kol continued to stare at me; his eyes never wavering. Suddenly, he took my wrist, pulling me along after him as he made his way to the house. 'Kol? Kol!' I said as I tried to get him to release his hold. 'Kol!' I shouted, though firmer this time.

He stopped abruptly, turning round to grab my shoulders; tight enough to leave a bruise but not so bad that I was in pain. 'We have three weeks until you turn 18. That means we have three weeks to get you to control your powers so that when the shield goes down, you defeat the witches. It's either you or them.'

'But we always knew that! What I don't know is what Lydia was offering you.'

'That's not your concern-' he said as he turned away but my words stopped him in his place.

'To hell with that, Kol! Of course it's my concern! If I'm going to be staying here with you for another three weeks, you can't just keep secrets like that from me!'

Kol whipped round; staring at me intently. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, as though deliberating whether or not to tell me but, at the last minute decided against it. 'My job here is to make sure you're prepared for when you gain your full powers and not to get yourself killed. I owe you nothing more.'

I watched as he turned to walk away, stalking into the shadows as he made his way to the house. The Kol I knew before our arrangement was flirty and constantly tried to get me to fancy him yet, the Kol I was sharing the house with was completely different. But, was that because of his recent talk with Lydia or something else? After all, his attitude had changed completely when Elijah left.

*

By the time that I had reached the house, Kol's 'friend' was long gone. The house was silent and dark, as though I was the only one staying there.

I made myself a cup of tea in silence; my mind wondering to where Kol was and what he was up to. I almost envied their vampire hearing. It would have made living with Kol a lot easier. Then again, if he was going to have more of his 'friends' over, it was probably a good idea that I didn't have it. It would have helped me hear Kol lean against the kitchen door though.

'It's nearly 2am. Why are you not in bed, Cassandra?'

'I guess I just needed some time to think,' I replied, filling my mug without looking up.

Kol was suddenly beside me, leaning against the counter; his eyes watching my every move. 'You're not frightened, are you?'

I laughed quietly as I added the sugar to my drink. 'It would be silly to be, wouldn't it? I mean, I came to Mystic Falls not a couple of months ago and yet, so much of my life has changed.' I turned my head to face him with a sad expression. 'So much crap has happened in my life and then this great bombshell is dropped on me, telling me that everything that I've ever known is wrong. It just...kind of makes you wonder how much of your life is because of the supernatural.' I opened my mouth, debating about whether or not to tell him the truth; my big secret. Despite Kol getting on my nerves more often than not, I did feel strangely comfortable with him. It was a different comfort to what I felt with Elijah; not more or less just different.

Kol's two fingers on my chin, lifting my head, made me focus on his eyes. He was waiting for me to say something, for me to be okay and realise that he wasn't as bad as I had thought. I already knew that but letting someone in who had betrayed your trust and tried to kill was quite hard to do. 'My house burned down when I was a kid. It was what killed my parents. That's why I had to go and live with my grandfather. Then he died and I got expelled from school for burning down the gym and after that, I got shipped off to Mystic Falls.