My Original Family

Apres Moi, Le Deluge

I sat in the living room downstairs with Elijah, Nik, and Bekah discussing the current predicament looking over Davina's sketches.

"The Italians call them strega. The Yoruba of West Africa call them aje, meaning mother. Where my mother was from, they called them häxa, and here we call them witch. Over the centuries, vampires have fought them and fought beside them, bedded them and burned them. Whether adversary or ally, they have been a force to be reckoned with. Their ancestral magic anchors this city. There's never been one all-powerful witch until Davina." Elijah said reading a book about witches.

"Who is now tucked in safe and sound down the hall under my protection. Your Celeste was quite beautiful and a portent of evil, according to our volatile artist in residence." Nik said.

"Yes. Perhaps Davina's mistaken what she calls evil for power. Celeste was certainly very powerful in her day, but she's been dead for over two hundred years. I don't understand. Why all these sketches now?" Elijah asked looking at them with me.

"Why does any witch do anything?" Nik asked with a smirk on his face.

"To be a royal pain in the ass or to make your life miserable." I told him offering him a bitter smile. "Take your pick."

"Nicole, are you alright?" Bekah asked me. "I noticed you didn't leave your room this morning."

"Nik and I came to an understanding last night. Don't worry, Bekah, I'll be fine." I told her with a smile before looking back at Davina's art again. We all sat in silence for a moment before Nik smirked.

"Well, that's going well." He said and I gave him a confused look.

"If you were trying to win the girl's trust, perhaps poisoning her one true love was not the most splendid idea." Elijah told him.

"Oh. Are there any more inopportune deaths you'd like to wave in my face?" Nik asked him.

"Give me a month. I'll get you list." Elijah said sarcastically and I held back my laughter.

"Young, old, dead, or alive, witches are a pain in the ass." Nik said. I quickly left the room and went upstairs only to hear coughing and Marcel speaking. I looked at the door and saw it was Davina's and quickly went inside to see her coughing up dirt. I quickly went to her side and moved her hair out of her face and rubbed her back trying to offer some form of comfort.

"What's with all the racket?" Nik asked storming inside the room. I gave him a concerned and scared look as he stared at Davina and myself "Bloody hell." Soon the whole house began to shake violently, as though an earthquake was storming through the city. Davina stopped coughing up dirt and I quickly moved to the balcony overlooking the courtyard with Nik to see Bekah looking around in confusion.

"What the hell is going on?" Bekah asked.

"Davina." Nik told her.

A while later, I was in the living room helping clean some of the mess Davina's earthquake had made.

"This is madness. How can a 16-year-old girl shake the entire French quarter?" Nik asked annoyed.

"I've seen her rock the church, but I've never seen anything like this." Marcel told him.

"How did you control her when she was in the attic?" Nik asked him and AI rolled my eyes at him.

"I didn't have to. But then, I never killed her boyfriend." Marcel told him.

"Yes, yes. We've been over this part already. The point is in her present state she's useless as a tool against the witches." Nik said.

"She's not a tool." Marcel told him angrily.