Beauty and A Beast (ON HOLD)

Chapter 20

'Crap. This is the house?' I asked in disbelief as I stepped out of Ric's car, not paying any attention to the world around me but the house in front.

'I've seen bigger,' Damon commented as he walked around me to the front of the house where Elena and Bonnie were talking to Elijah.

True, the house wasn't startling in size, it was the appearance of the building itself that had me in awe. The house, or manor, was panelled white with four pillars at the front holding up a balcony on the second floor. Each window had midnight blue shutters, giving it an old yet modern style. There was a long gravel drive that wound through the forest surrounding the house and there was even a lake that you could reach by following a dirt path that disappeared among the trees to the left of the manor.

'Andy!' Shouted Ric, shaking me from my daze of the house. I saw that he was standing next to Damon and Elena so I quickly shuffled across the gravel towards him, feeling my cheeks blaze at the thought of how long he had been trying to capture my attention.

'Sorry,' I mumbled, looking down at my feet to hide my embarrassment yet a quiet chuckle made me look up through my hair to see Elijah looking down at me with the ghost of a smile on his lips.

'When you two are done undressing each other in your minds,' came a voice a few metres behind me, causing me to break eye contact to roll them instead.

'You took your time,' huffed Klaus as Kol slotted himself next to me. I slowly took a step away from him and towards Elijah yet, Kol seemed to notice for he leaned on his left side so that his arm was brushing against mine.

'My apologies, Nik. I was famished and I knew little Miss Cassandra wouldn't let me feast on her again at least, not without getting something in return, so I thought I would get a little meal to go.' I didn't dare look up for fear of Kol looking down at me with his ever present smirk on his lips.

'Right, well with that out of the way...' Ric said after a few moments of awkward silence. 'Bonnie; care to explain what you've done?'

I looked up to see that Bonnie had a slight look of relief on her face, probably due to getting off the awkward topic of Kol eating someone. 'Okay so, I've put something like a protective bubble round the manor. It reaches half a mile so if you go outside that-'

'Say adios to Andy,' sang Damon after which, everyone shot him a dirty look.

'The bubble protects everyone inside from spells and any supernatural creature that tries to get in.'

'Even vampires?' Elena asked to which Bonnie nodded.

'Once I shut the bubble completely, no one can get in unless they're human. But, you guys,' Bonnie continued, this time focusing her eyes on me, Elijah and Kol. 'Can leave any time you want but-'

'Once we leave, that's it,' finished Elijah.

'The bubble doesn't shield you guys completely so we'll still be able to see inside but we won't be able to get in. Only I can open and close it.'

'And it will protect against everything?' I asked, still not a hundred percent certain that something that seemed simple was exactly that.

'Hybrids, originals, covens of witches, you name it,' she replied, giving me a reassuring smile.

'Okay. Well, with that part sorted, let's get your stuff in,' said Ric with a smile which I returned.

*

'You know what, I might stay here with you,' laughed Elena as she brought the last bag into my bedroom. 'I mean, look at this place! You have a four poster bed, a balcony and you have this floor all to yourself!' she finished, falling flat on her back onto the bed.