The Originals (Book of Samples)

REWIND: Prologue

The room was dark and stifling and she could feel sweat pouring down her face and down her neck, with her breath coming out in heavy pants.

If she cried in front of him and her tears mingled with her sweat, then she was going to damn well own that because there was a goddamn gun staring her straight in the face.

"The rules are this –when it's your turn, pull the trigger. When it's my turn, I pull the trigger."

"Who am I aiming at?"

"Yourself."

She flinched and stared at him, but he stared back unflinchingly. He placed the gun –a Nagant M1895, her mind whispered –onto the table with a loud clack! and waited for her.

Helo Winchester, 16 years of age and somehow a government official opposite this man, was going to play Russian roulette with her mentor and risk dying.

And for what?

There were times where she really hated the blond man in front of her.

"We'll play two rounds," Lucien Bastard Grey said stoically, and calmly sat down in front of her on the other side of the table. "Begin."

She swallowed harshly and placed the gun against her temple and closed her eyes, feeling her trembling hand hold the revolver unsteadily. She pulled the trigger and let out a breath when nothing happened.

Lucien retrieved the gun from her and placed it against his own temple, pulling the trigger without hesitation. Nothing happened then either. He held it out to her and she stared at it and then him, but he didn't move or change his position or his expression.

She shakily accepted the gun and put it back against her temple, pulling the trigger for hopefully the last time. When nothing happened again, she let out a cry of relief.

He sneered slightly and grabbed the gun from her when she practically shoved it back towards him.

Uncaringly, he put it against his temple and pulled the trigger and nothing happened.

"You're weak," he said and she flinched. "What is the lesson?"

"I don't know what the lesson was!" she shouted at him, standing up angrily.

From out of nowhere, he retrieved a single bullet and tossed it into the air, flipping the cylinder outwards and catching the bullet into one of the chambers cleanly. He pointed at her and pulled the trigger, shooting past her at the wall.

She let out a scream and covered her ears and eyes.

"You mustn't show fear. Not to your friends and not to your allies. Showing weakness will get you killed."

He placed the revolver firmly back onto the table and walked out on her, closing the door to the dark room firmly.

Why can't she ever win against him?

With a burst of lightning erupting from her body, she destroyed the table, the gun, and single light in the room, leaving her in complete darkness.