Black Castle 🖤 E. Mikaelson

Chapter Twenty Seven. A Spooky Halloween & A Happy Birthday

Chapter Twenty•Seven. A Spooky Halloween & A Happy Birthday
ARABELLA
{Paranoid by I Prevail}

🖤
Something isn't right, I feel it in my bones
Every time I look around, it follows me home
And I get so stressed out
With nobody here to listen
When my head gets loud
From the weight of this vision
🖤

The streets were crowded with so many people for the holiday, the one that took place on the day I was born. Niklaus explained that hundreds and hundreds of years ago a group of people came up with a way of trying to scare off spirits. And they did so much more than that and now it was some sort of sick tradition. All I knew was I was finally there to experience it and I was intrigued by how well people dressed up as a character they admired so much.
Or it went something like that. I wasn't paying attention when he explained it. My mind was busy with other important things, I couldn't get my mind off certain topics that pretty much demanded my attention.
So I walked through the streets with them, and I was happy to see how festive and imaginative the people who dressed up, were. It was different to see humans have such creative minds to come up with something so cool. But that was why I was supposed to be walking around and marveling in all of the directions around me. I was supposed to look and see what most could not, not even Elijah and Niklaus. I was supposed to see certain people sticking out, then I was supposed to trap them so Elijah could question them on where Aurora and Tristan were. If that didn't work, Elijah would hand them off to Niklaus so he could do some physical damage.
I couldn't help but take some time for myself. In the last couple of weeks, the three of us continuously hit dead ends that led nowhere to the De Martels, or Lucien, but Elijah had a feeling they were going to show up for Halloween. All in all, we had a day to come up with a plan. And in the meantime, I was going to enjoy what I was seeing. So I picked up one of Elijah's favorite suits from the dry cleaners and I made my way down the street that would soon lead to Rousseau's.
Elijah mentioned a couple of hours earlier that he had an errand to run and I wouldn't need to come along for the sole purpose of not wanting to pull me away from what I might have had going on for the day. I felt like he only said it because he knew how stressed I was about finding the three traitorous bastards that had caused my family so much pain and he wanted me to get my mind off of them and enjoy a moment of quiet where they weren't peering around every corner. And the fact we hadn't heard from Rebekah only made it worse. So much was going on, and we were finally reaching the ends of our wits about finding them but Niklaus hadn't given up. So that meant Elijah and I weren't allowed to give up either.
I would say it wasn't until five minutes had passed that I started seeing the locals, and the first one I saw was Vincent, who appeared like he was on a mission to destroy someone. And being a powerful witch/warlock himself, he was sure to come out the other side, a victor.
Maybe seeing my face wasn't one he wanted to see, so I continued to look around as I watched so many other people talking to others about costumes and plans for the next couple of days. Some were dressed as witches, some even were dressed as devils and others were creative and dressed as characters I wasn't familiar with.
Elijah warned me about the holiday and said sometimes it liked to play tricks on people. Especially in New Orleans. And if I let it then I would start seeing things that wouldn't normally be there. I refused to be subjected to such foolishness. But it was like the moment I started thinking about it, things started happening.
What I meant was for a second, I swore I thought I saw someone who looked like someone from so long ago. I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't just seeing things and the moment I looked back in the same place, I realized what I thought I saw, wasn't there.
"Halloween tends to trick one's mind into believing something is there when it isn't." Niklaus appeared from behind me and smiled when I jumped. I spun around and slapped his shoulder for doing it but that didn't stop him from laughing at me even harder.
"You arse!" I continued to hit him and the more I did so, the more he laughed.
"Relax! I was only seeing what you were up to." His hands went up and stopped me before I aimed my fist in the direction of his head. He continued to laugh while he dodged my hit again.
"I was just trying to see what all the hype was about." I dropped my hands and turned to walk away from him but he only walked with me. I couldn't hide a smile though because he did scare me. It was hard to scare me. "Trying to keep my mind busy is a chore these days."
"I know, but I have people all over, looking out for the De Martels and Lucien Castle." He tried to soothe my overactive mind but they weren't who I was focused on. They sort of blurred to the back of my mind. I, of course, was completely aware, but I had other vampires to worry about. When they were bold enough to face me then, and only then would they be worth a single thought.
"I'm not talking about them." I shook my head. When I looked up and saw Niklaus smiling, he was trying to push me to explain, I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I know you think he was just a dog, but I miss Eli."
"Hey, I don't think he was just a dog." He stopped, I turned around before I stopped and realized that Niklaus wasn't just trying to make me feel better, Eli affected him too. "Eli was your support system when you didn't have anyone or when you didn't know who you were. He was your best friend, to say the least. You're allowed to miss him."
"Thank you, Niklaus. That means a lot." I gave him a small smile before the quiet between us started to become too overwhelming. So we walked again and he added something else so that we weren't left feeling awkward.
"I would be lying if I told you I didn't miss the little golden myself. He pulled at some heartstrings I didn't even know I had." His laughter was light as he placed his hands inside of his pockets.
"He had that effect on me when I first met him too. It just really hurts to know someone so sick could do that to a helpless animal." My heart continued to ache for my loss but I knew that there wasn't much I could do, I couldn't bring him back. But I sure could make sure that I end Aurora's life once and for all. There was no coming back after that.
"That is exactly who Aurora is, she's a sick individual." He tried to play it off like the woman didn't completely affect him either. And at some point she did. But after what she had done to me and what she had done to Eli, it was unforgivable and for that, she had to face the music. And if I wasn't going to kill her then he was going to do it for me.
"Which brings me to my next question; why get involved with her at all?" My right eyebrow raised. I wanted to know not for my gain, but because I wanted to know why Niklaus thought that someone like Aurora was the type of person he deserved because he didn't. He was worth so much more than a psychotic here or there, with that type of lunatic.
"Because; once upon a time she had me convinced I wasn't some monster. I mean I was, because of what I had done to you, but she made me feel like I wasn't some werewolf's bastard child- even if I hadn't known it then. I was just a vampire who fancied her and she felt the same." He shrugged his shoulders like it wasn't some big deal, but what I processed while I listened, told me that sleeping with Aurora was an obvious cry for help and no one seemed to have noticed.
"A woman shouldn't be the one to validate whether or not you are a monster. I've been a literal monster for a thousand years because I believed myself to be one. And I like that about myself. You're not a monster Niklaus. You never were. You just go about things a different way, so people judge you for it." I stopped to explain to him that what he just said about Aurora was on so many levels of wrong. I had to let him know that the world might have seen him the same way he saw himself but he could change that. And if I had to help to alleviate his mind from further harmful thoughts of himself, then so be it.
"No, I was a monster to you. Especially for what I did to you." He tried to somehow bring it back on to me, trying to find another reason to apologize but I wasn't going to let him. We already forgave and forgotten what happened. Now, all we needed to do was move on with our lives.
"That's water under the bridge now. It's in the past, so it's best if we just leave that there and start new." I turned again so that we could walk together. The look on his face showed he didn't understand why I would be so forgiving. And he tried to see if I were being glib, of all things, but there was nothing but the utmost sincere attitude radiating off of me, that I could give him because well; I was me. I wasn't necessarily the nicest person, hardly ever forgiving.
"That's not what I do." His smirk made a reappearance at the thought of being forgiving. Half of the time he couldn't forgive his family members, and to be honest; he could use some work on that too. But if I could forgive Niklaus for what he did, then he was capable of doing it too.
"Oh, right. You stick everyone in coffins." I kept the conversation light and laughed a little just to joke about his atrocities. I would have never done that to my family members but I was sure that Niklaus had his reasons. I mean, Finn was indeed a piece of work and I would have stuck him inside of a coffin if he even looked at me the wrong way. So I got where he was coming from with that particular brother, but the others? Not so much.
"I feel like I shouldn't have been betrayed." Niklaus was trying to justify everything and I needed him to know that he didn't owe me an explanation. I was just there to hold a conversation while I took some time out for myself. But I did give my opinion because I think he deserved mine, to say the least.
"And I think you haven't been necessarily fair about that either." I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. He could feel like I was beating him up about it, but all I was trying to do was make him see the error of his ways from my point of view. I didn't have any room to talk because my past affiliations were just as bad as his horrid endeavors.
"I haven't been fair about a lot of things." His head lowered closer to mine while his hands held one another behind his back.
"And that's okay, I eat vampire hearts as a snack. I have been unfair a time or two." I laughed at the thought of knowing what being unfair was like. But a girl's got to eat right?
"How are you being so level-headed about this right now? I would be furious with me." His face became serious but anyone could tell he was feeling the humongous amount of guilt and I didn't want him feeling that way. It had been long enough, and trying to hate him would be a waste of time when I could direct that hate towards someone who actually deserved it. Niklaus was family and we were going to bump heads, there was no doubt about that, but I don't think I really ever hated him, I was just hurt, and I wasn't anymore. So like I said before, it was water under the bridge.
"Ah, I was furious with you for a long time Niklaus," I sighed and leaned against a pole that separated the two crossing streets from one another. "Now, I just want us to be the family I always wanted us to be."
"Is that possible for us?" He circled around me leaned against the same pole and looked out to the traveling tourists who glanced their way in awe as they trailed right on by. Niklaus was never hideous and he very well knew that, as women continued to stare at him, he paid none of them any mind. Maybe he was saving all his energy for Camille, or perhaps the Caroline girl that Rebekah had mentioned a couple of times. Never have I imagined it would be for me.
"Anything is possible as long as we have always and forever." I tilted my head looked above the signs and waited for Niklaus to make fun of me for being so cliche. Nothing came from his mouth though. He imagined me being mature about forgiving him but he felt something deep down inside of his heart that made him not want to believe me. For so many centuries, for such a long time, it gave me every right to want to have my revenge, but it was tiring to think about it all the time. Why not direct all of that anger and hatred toward someone who truly deserved it, I felt he no longer was the source for all of my anger. And he wasn't, three people in particular, were.
"If you truly believe that, Ara." He playfully rolled his eyes and held his face up towards the sun.
"I do," I smirked. I looked around while the quiet took over us. It had been a while since I could have just come outside and enjoyed the sun, and since it was considered the Fall season, there was a breeze sailing around through the Quarter and it was nice. "Isn't it nice to have one second to yourself? Where not a single person we know, is in sight to come and ask for help?"
"It is, but mostly everyone tries to avoid crossing my path." His head turned to the right, though he didn't open his eyes. He was hearing something, but it wasn't a priority to figure out what was happening.
"I hope you don't think that is a bad thing," It wasn't a question.
"You have to admit, it gets a little lonely when the world hates you and is terrified of everything you do." His right eye opened slightly to watch for how I would respond to that. I didn't feel lonely at all.
"No, it's not lonely Niklaus. It's only lonely when you want it to be. The people in this world are only starting to hate me, but I don't feel lonely because I have you, Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, and Hope." I explained while I kept my eyes closed, and I didn't open them again until I lowered my head before staring at him.
"That's unfortunate." He joked. I stood up straight and pushed him while walking off in the middle of laughing.
"So what is going on tonight? Is there a party of some kind?" I asked, because it was clear that I wasn't invited, and for some reason, I was in the mood to crash someone else's fun.
"Something of the sort, it's a black and white ball. Why, did you care to go?" His smile was wide and his shoulder bumped into mine once we were next to each other again.
"Only because I wasn't invited." I shrugged, holding up Elijah's suit.
"Well then, what do you say to crashing the little get-together?" His look was mischievous which made me smile due to the thought of Niklaus and I crashing parties together. It sounded like such a childish thing to do, and that was precisely why I wanted to do it. As my excitement grew, he took Elijah's suit from my hands and walked with it.
"I thought you'd never ask." I walked with him, but sooner rather than later my smile faded and I placed my hands behind my back while I walked with him. "Actually, do you think I could talk to you about something?"
"Anything, what's going on?" He asked while taking an apple off of a nearby passing cart and handing a ten-dollar bill to the vendor before the old man could say anything.
"I had gotten some news from Vincent the other day, it has to do with Hayley and I wanted to get your opinion on it." I looked down before turning my head to look at his expression.
"And you're just now wanting to tell me? What is it?" His eyebrows furrowed before he took a bite out of the fruit.
"Vincent said he was channeling into the other side, and they revealed that Hayley was the person behind my disappearance and my oh-so-temporary death. She made a deal with Tristan." I came out with it, I wasn't going to sugarcoat anything for anyone who had a hand in all the wrong that had happened to me. I was an evil creature, I killed people for fun, for looking at me wrong. Did anyone think I was going to let that slide?
"That's a pretty big accusation, Ara." He was calm, he thought about it, and he evaluated the extremity of Hayley possibly being capable of having a hand in harming me. The longer he thought about it the longer he could see her doing something like that. I came back into the picture, I took Elijah from her, I was the center of the Mikaelson family. That didn't leave room for Hayley anymore. It made perfect sense to get rid of me altogether.
"I know, that's why I wanted to talk to you about it first. Had she been acting weird while I was gone?" I asked. I didn't want it to be true, but I couldn't be too sure. I didn't care if she was Hope's mother if it came down to that. That was a whole year and some months of torture because she didn't want me to be with Elijah. If it was that serious, we were going to have a problem.
"Elijah and I weren't focused on anyone around that time, I was dealing with the werewolves and vampires in the Quarter. Elijah went in search of you. It was rare to be in the same room as her. Did anything stand out for you when you returned?" He scanned the crowd and then focused on nothing but my answer. He was hoping Hayley wasn't that dense to make a deal with Tristan, of all people.
"No, I only received the same attitude she always had toward me. There was only one incident where she seemed a little off. When I came back to life, she was standing there, then she ran off and she seemed terrified." I stayed brief with my answer.
"Maybe she was scared." He shrugged, but he knew otherwise. It wasn't like Hayley to be scared of me. If anything she would try to tell me off about how unreasonable and classless I was.
"She had seen enough to know that nothing scares her anymore, I don't know, that's why I wanted to talk to you about it. I wanted to see what you thought about any of this."
"You and I will find out what is going on. But until then, we celebrate." He smiled and offered me his arm. I returned a smile and wrapped my arm around his, then we were off to the compound.