Davina took a big breath as she exited the house. It was asphyyxiating in there.
Indeed everyone was there. The whole village was celebrating, but perhaps for other reasons. It couldn't be possible that all of them knew what kind of hunters were to come. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't find the one she was looking for. Kol had to be somewhere around, perhaps talking to his brothers or Kyle and Ethan.
Wait... Ethan?
She saw him standing near the huge bonfire, laughing and talking with a couple of men around his age. Davina bit her under lip, hesitating to take her eyes off him. She couldn't leave without saying goodbye to him. Unlike Kol, it wasn't like she would see him ever again. She met a part of him and that's all. She did not know what happened to him afterwards, when he died or what he did. But for her, Ethan had managed to earn a special place in her heart, he had become someone that she could call a friend.
With these thoughts, she started pacing toward him, filled with courage and bitterness. Ethan took notice of her approach, smiled widely and walked away from the group as he waited for the girl to come. "Looking gorgeous as always, lovely Davina." he said to the breathless girl in front of him.
She chuckled, "I hope I did not bother you. I saw you talking to the other guys and-"
"Oh no, anywhere with you is better." he cut her off but soon, narrowed his eyebrows. "Are you okay, though? You look very sceptical tonight."
Why did everyone keep asking that?
"I'm just not used to this kind of celebrations," she grinned. "But you on the other hand.."
He scoffed cockily. "Oh yeah, I'm all about that." his smile softened. "It's too bad that I won't see you tomorrow though."
She arched her eyebrows, slightly worried. "What do you mean?"
"I'm leaving. For a while, I'll be away." he stated with a sigh. "But Kyle can keep you company. I'm sure you would both love that."
She chuckled. But it quickly faded away. She suddenly had a serious look on her face, making Ethan wonder what was troubling her that evening. The brunette raised her head to look at him again. The edges of her lips curved up, creating a pure smile. "You're a great guy, Ethan. And you deserve the best in life."
He arched an eyebrow with a grin. "Ookay, why so serious all of a sudden?"
"I just wanted to say that. Because, like you said, you're leaving. And that was something similar to a 'take care' or 'good luck'." she responded.
"Well, you can tell me that when I come back. So it will sound less like a goodbye." he said with a sarcastic tone, but deep down, he could spot the bitterness in her words. Deep down, he had realised the actual meaning behind that warm smile of hers. Or perhaps, deep down, he knew Davina Claire would be gone by the time he returned.
The girl smiled, a soft, trembling upward curve of mouth, "Yeah, I'll do that." she muttered.
Ethan tilted his head to the side, a heavy, almost shaky breath being released from his lungs. "Oh come here, you little stubborn female," he snickered and pulled her into a hug.
Ethan had to bent down a little to reach her. Davina though just placed her chin on his shoulder, soon wrapping her slim feminine arms around his torso. She knew the villagers would criticised her, hugging a guy in front of everyone, but why should she care? She knew Ethan was her friend and that was just enough for her. Besides, she never really cared about what the others would think of her.
"Have you talked to Kol yet?" he asked once they broke apart.
She shook her head. "No. I haven't found him."
He pursed his lips, looking down. With another bitter chuckle, he spoke. "You should. It wouldn't be fair to him, you know."
"I know." she muttered.
"He's lucky. Having someone like you. If I were him, I would never let you leave."
She did not speak. That was enough for him to guess why, "Or he doesn't even know what you're planning."
"Ethan, please don't tell h-"
"I won't, I won't. I promise." he lowered his voice because, he was afraid of showing the nervousness hidden in it. This is it. He inhaled deeply, held out his hand and smirked mischieviously. "You're a great girl, Davina. And you deserve the best in life."
She laughed and took his hand. It was a warm and firm handshake.
"You too, Ethan. You too."
~ • ~
Kyle was sitting on a log by the fire, staring at it while he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. For a moment, Davina thought of turning around and leave but, the moral part of her restrained her from doing so.
Eventually, she sat next to him. "What are you doing here all by yourself?"
Kyle did not move a muscle. "Thinking." he said.
Even though he still remained cold towards her, she noticed how different the tone of his voice sounded. He was more friendly than the last time they had talked. Kinda.
Silence.
"I'm sorry." Kyle said quietly, "For the way I spoke to you back in the woods."
Well, that was new.
Davina shrugged her shoulders. "It's fine. But, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"You were the one who killed that hunter, who was about to attack Kol back there. You saved him. Why? I thought you hated his guts."
He snickered, even sounding surprised. "What? I don't hate him. I just don't like him. There happened a lot in the past but, that's not a reason for me to let him die."
She lowered her head sceptically. He had a point. Even if he didn't like him, why would he want Kol dead? Well, in the present most people wanted him dead, but, not back then. He was liked by many people here.
So once again, she asked herself what made him change so much? Because it couldn't be only the vampirism.
"I didn't understand why Ethan and Kol like you so much."
Davina glanced at him.
As she was about to snap back at him, his next words stopped her. "I believed you just fascinated them because you were so different. Or because you were pretty, but that's all. But now I see that it wasn't just that."
She arched an eyebrow. "Then what was it that made you change your mind?"
"Your reaction. And your spirit."
She stood dumbfounded.
"Your reaction when you saw Kol half-conscious and your spirit when you were fighting on your own with no one to help you." he clarified and, for the first time he cracked a smile. "It was brave."
"A good word from you. That's suspicious." she said sarcastically with a chuckle.
"Well, don't get used to it." he replied, turning his head away again. It was more like he was avoiding to look at her. "That was a one time thing."
"I'll have that in mind for the future." Davina stood up and looked down at him. For the first time, he actually raised his head and had that confused look on his face. "It was nice talking to you for once without fighting."
"Yeah." he murmured and turned his gaze to the fire again. "Have fun tonight."
She gulped, supressing the feeling of nausea she had. "Thanks. See you around, then."
A tighter knot burdened her heart this time. Or was it more like an unbearable pinch?
~ • ~
He was pissed. Or annoyed. Or even both. But, seeing Ethan hugging Davina like that, was certainly irritating.
After having spoken to his siblings, informing them about what happened while he was away, Kol went in search of Davina, since he hadn't seen her since that morning. But as soon as he saw her talking to Ethan and smiling at him, he was exasperated. He didn't dare to go talk to them, no, in fact he just stood and watched them from the distance. Why was he so upset? They were just talking.
Perhaps it might have been Ethan's smile which flipped him off so much.
He couldn't stand watching this. He turned his gaze away, trying to push in the back of his head the thought of Davina. He shouldn't have let himself be so influenced by her. That has never happened to him before with no other woman. But Davina Claire wasn't just a woman. She was someone his life needed. Someone he was missing. Missing... Sometimes it felt like he actually knew her, or like he had met her somewhere else, somewhere far away from here.
He sighed. Or it was just his mind playing tricks on him.
"Now who's the one being sceptical?"
He turned around, a smile spreading across his face. "Davina Claire." he paced steadily towards her, his eyes now clearly recognising those glowing green eyes.
"I've been looking everywhere for you. I had to ask Elijah if he had seen you," she said, stepping closer, "But I saw you standing here all on your own."
"Looking everywhere for me? That's flattering." he snickered, tilting his head. "May I know why?"
She chuckled, lowering her gaze. God, why's this so difficult? She raised her head again but while trying to avoid the eye contact, the girl shrugged her shoulders awkwardly. "I just wanted to tell you something I've been thinking on lately."
"What is it?"
"Thank you." she began, breathing deeply, "For everything you've done for me ever since I came here. You opened up to me. You showed me that... cave, you trusted me and in return I..." she couldn't form a sentence anymore. Her nervousness was killing her. "I trusted you with my secret. You took care of me while we were, um, in the woods and for once, instead of me protecting someone, someone else wanted to protect me. So... I... I thank you, Kol Mikealson. For having faith in me."
His throat was dry. He couldn't hide his astonishment any longer, his lips parted, a look of confusion and relief taking over his face. Relieved. He was relieved to hear her saying all that, to hear her thoughts and understand the emotions that have been building up in her all this time. She finally opened up herself to him. He had finally broken through that wall she had built up between them and saw the true Davina Claire, the real her.
Kol smiled and with no hesitation any more holding him back, he placed his hand on the side of her neck and with the other he tilted up her face to look at her warily. "Why don't you say all that while looking me in the eyes this time?"
She chuckled, her gaze finally meeting his. Even in dim light, she could still see him so clearly, his pupils expanding and turning his eyes into black orbs, his usual cocky smirk decorating beautifully his face. He was Kol. He was the charming and attractive human that captivated her and the cunning and mischievious Mikealson who killed ruthlessly.
And Davina just happened to meet him in the wrong place at the wrong time.
She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and waited with a smile on her face. It wasn't long before his lips met hers, slowly, hesitantly. But why would he hesitate now? It was a tender and delicate kiss, his lips were carefully moving in sync with hers as if she was the most fragile thing in the world. This sweet trance they were both trapped in, seemed everlasting for the next few minutes. As if there was nothing else around them and they were just floating.
A state where the mind had given up and the heart was in charge.
But that was it. Nothing good lasts. And this kiss was nothing but sweet with a bitter aftertaste in the end as they broke apart. Davina stood breathless in front of him, the hand on her neck rubbing her skin, a warm sensation which caused the hairs in the crook of her neck rise.
She cleared her throat and smiled bitterly. She had to lower her gaze in order to hide the tears that were threatening to slip from the corner of her eyes. "Why don't you go with others? I have to find Rebekah. She wanted me to help her pick a dress." she laughed awkwardly in the end.
Kol was hardly trying to supress his wide smile as he nodded his head. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you later, then."
She sighed. "Yeah. Later."
Yes she would indeed see him later. But the next time she would see him, he would have that murderous look on his face and the desire to rip her head off.
She turned her back on him as he walked away. She couldn't look at him. She didn't want the last thing she would remember from human Kol to be his figure walking away, but his smile, filled with warmth and pure understandment. That was the Kol that had managed to touch her heart.
.... No.
Not only the human Kol. She did not believe that anymore. It was something she kept telling herself, that there was a difference between the human and vampire Kol. But not anymore. If Kol used to be like that, then a part of him deep down still reflected the man he once was. She did not know what changed him later on and made him so cold, call it vampirism, call it karma, but she didn't care. He was the same person. He was the one and only Kol Mikealson, the Original. But in the end of the day, he was just Kol. A man with a dreadful and dark past.
Saying goodbye to the people here though wasn't the only difficult thing she had to do. She didn't belong here. She had invaded Kol's mind and past and, she knew all too well that magic comes with a price. And this time, in order to return back to reality, she had to be punished. She had to kill herself in the memory, experience the agony and the pain of a real death. She had already died once. How hard could it be to die for a second time?
With all of her courage and strength, she slipped her hand in her pocket. She had grabbed the knife Kol had given her and hid it there, waiting until it was the right time for her to go. And now it was. As she pulled the knife out, her trembling hand tightened the grip around the handle, her eyes looking warily at the silver blade. A similar blade had once slit open her throat and taken her life. Davina breathed out. Okay, how should she do it? The cutting-through-her-neck scenario was out of question of course. A quick and less painful death would be fine and it would a lot easier for her.
She closed her eyes. She turned around the knife so its brink was pointing at her as she aimed for the stomach; okay, calm down. The pain would be terrible at first but then it would all go away. She would feel cold, as if she was lying on ice. But she wouldn't feel anything after that. She was strong. She had to be.
Not that she had any other choice though.
She breathed out heavily and cleared her head. She had to be ready for the impact.
... Now.
In light speed, her hand moved on its own and struck, something sharp piercing through her flesh and stabbing her stomach. She gasped, almost choking; for a second she just felt nothing, but as soon as the pain settled in, she clenched her teeth and groaned. She groaned in pain, desperately struggling to silence her screams and seal her mouth. The blood was pouring out like a river, surrounding her body as it collapsed on the floor. Nauseous because of the scent of blood, dizzy from the blood loss and numb thanks to the pain. Even though she would prefer to just pass out and not feel anything, her body refused to make it easy for her. She had to go through the pain 'til the end.
And what seemed like an eternity to her, it only lasted for a few minutes. Both pain and nausea had turned into dizziness, her head was heavier and she couldn't feel anymore her fingertips. She felt relieved as the sound of her heartbeat dropped slowly and steady and the fact that the blood had stopped gushing out from the fatal wound in her stomach meant that soon this torture would be over.
It would all finally be over.