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}

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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
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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.

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Elijah walked into the compound about an hour later while Niklaus and I were rummaging around through different books to see if any possible locator spells were more advanced for Freya to use in finding out where Rebekah was located. It was about that time when we were all starting to worry about her well-being because if she were to go on a bit of a hiatus for a spell, she would pop up sooner rather than later, or call to tell us she was okay. And she was gone for far too long. Elijah; didn't expect the two of us to be in the same room considering Elijah warned Niklaus about being in the same room alone with me, but it wasn't as if he was going to listen. Besides, if Niklaus were going to start avoiding me, I was going to know something was up, and ask about it, and if I had gotten the answer that Elijah was making him stay away from me for no valid reason, then I would be extremely upset with Elijah.
"And what are you two up to?" He asked as he carried in the fairly medium-sized box that contained my birthday present, I didn't see it in his hands until I looked up at him and then down at the perfectly wrapped box. I wouldn't expect anything less.
"We're looking for a more advanced locator spell for Freya so she can find out where Rebekah is." Niklaus hadn't looked up at his brother, his eyes continued to scan the pages. Although, he wasn't ready to meet his brother's gaze for the simple fact that Elijah accused him of having unresolved feelings for the love of his life. And he wasn't wrong, but he wanted to keep that to himself for as long as he could. He didn't need the family to be divided because of his feelings.
Elijah moved over to the other side of the room and stood in front of the bookcase that contained different kinds of spell books, and when his eyes scanned over the black leather book he was looking for, he set the box down and grabbed it. He flipped it over so that the back was facing up and he opened it to reveal a disconnected, folded-up sheet of very aged paper. He picked it up, placed the book back in the space, and then walked over to me and held it out. I stood up, took it from his hands, and then opened it to reveal a spell that would work to find out where Rebekah was. I would think that my sister would want to spend time with me for my birthday, or just call and tell me that she was alright, but it had been way too long, and nothing.
"Thank you," I smiled, but it didn't take long for me to clock the box that was sitting there across the room like it had a secret. "Now, what's in the box?"
"That," He paused as he looked at the box and then side-eyed me. "Is your birthday present."
"Oh really?" My eyes lit up, and my eyebrow raised so that I could play it off like I wasn't completely excited that I had gotten to spend my first birthday with Elijah in over a thousand years. It was a happy moment for me. "Can I open it?"
"Of course you can." His smile never faltered. He went to retrieve it, and in the meantime, while he did that, my eyes scanned the room to find out where Niklaus had gone, but he disappeared before I could stop him. My hand automatically went to the ring on my finger, and I started playing with it as I thought of all the possibilities as to why he didn't want to stick around and hang out with me. I couldn't find a reason except that he went to go see Freya because the paper that was handed to me was gone too. "Now, before you open it; I have to warn you, it might make you cry."
"Why would it make me cry?" I asked it was with actual curiousness, and I wondered what it could have been. "And why would you want to gift me with something that you know would make me cry?"
"It's a good thing, Ara. It's something that would be worth crying over." He reassured me as his hands grazed my upper arms. His smile had me swooning.
I watched for the change in his face, but really, he just waited and watched me open the lid. I didn't know what it was, but it was pretty from my point of view.
"Oh Elijah, it's beautiful." I set the lid on the box down and reached inside to grab it. I asked as I looked it over, and I wasn't lying when I said it was beautiful, because it was beyond that. I just didn't know what it was, and if he could explain to me what it was then I could understand deeper as to why he wanted to gift me with it. It seemed to be made of glass, and it seemed like it was shaped like a teardrop or something close to it. It had an array of colors swirling from the bottom up, all in all, it was beautiful. But I didn't know what it was, it was why I paused. "What is it?"
"This...is Eli," His eyes moved from the heavy object to my face to watch for my reaction but all I did was look at it confused. What did he mean that that was Eli? "I know how much you loved him, and I know how devastated you were about losing him. So I thought that I'd do something that made it possible for you to be able to keep him forever and to ensure that he is always with you."
"I still don't understand," My eyebrows furrowed as I moved it around and tried to figure out why Elijah would think that this would remind me of my lost friend.
"I had Eli cremated, and with his ashes, an artist made this. So the little white particles you see around the colors, are Eli. That way you can always have him close." He placed his hand on the glass and turned it just a bit so that I could see what he was talking about, and it made sense, which made it even more beautiful. The bubbles around Eli didn't make sense at first, and after he explained it, it made my heart float. "It is common for people of this time, to keep the remains of their loved ones. Burying them is no longer the only option."
I couldn't stop looking at the masterpiece. I couldn't move my eyes from it as I stared at every white dot and bubble that was frozen in place in all of that glass, and I couldn't move, to think that that was my boy; he was transformed into a beautiful piece of art. Elijah was right because tears started welling up in my eyes and they didn't hesitate to roll down my cheeks. This did make me cry, not because I was sad, but because Elijah knew how important Eli was to me and he wanted me to have a reminder of how terrific my dog was and how grateful I was to have a friend like him. Elijah had gone completely above and beyond, out of the box for this and I wouldn't think that it could ever be topped. There were no more perfect gifts after getting such a perfect gift. I held the glass to my chest and pulled Elijah into me with my other arm. I hid my face in his shirt and I stood there, crying. It wasn't meant to be ugly. I just let the tears fall and he understood that. Most men would have just settled for fine jewelry to get for the lover's birthday. But this was important to me, for weeks Elijah was checking on the progress, and making sure it was done in time, and although he wanted to give it to me on my actual birthday, the day before was just as sweet. How could I seriously be so lucky? I knew how he felt about my dog, because Elijah never really had gotten close to the thought of owning an animal with the type of reputation that perceived him, and he didn't know that I knew about how he felt about Eli. He knew that I didn't know I was an infamous beast when I had adopted Eli and I didn't know that I had enemies until I had gotten my memories back. I was in too deep with Eli and there was no way that I could have parted with him. He was my best friend, and that was why I left him with my best friend.
"I love you so much, Elijah. Thank you for this." I let him go and then wiped under my eyes with my index finger. This was my first birthday in literally a thousand years and already it was the best one I ever had. It made me feel guilty that I didn't get anything for Elijah's birthday, but by the time his birthday came around I was already trapped by Tristan and I was already assuming that I was there for only a week.
"You deserve to have something to remind you of him." He took his hands cupped both sides of my face and pulled me closer so that he could look me in my eyes. My body felt incredibly small against Elijah, and normally I wouldn't feel that way. The longer he stared at me, the more I felt small and I couldn't pinpoint if it was because of our height difference or if it was all the sexual tension radiating off of his shoulders. As much as I wanted this moment to be serious between the two of us, I couldn't help but want to reach up and kiss him. Did I have the time to have a moment like that with Elijah? No. But I kissed him anyway. I did have to go and pick up new colors and designs to finish with Hope's Halloween costume, and I had a couple of books to go pick up that would help jumpstart planning our wedding. But a kiss between us two could be shared.
I placed the glass urn on the glass table wrapped my arms around Elijah and pulled him into me, our lips touching as soon as we came together. His hands were on my waist, and his nose exhaled slowly, knowing that the longer we stayed around one another, the more intimate we were going to get. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
It wasn't long before I was topless, left in a bra before Davina and Kol came walking in. In mid-stride, Kol stopped in his tracks, although, before he could make a sweet escape, Elijah called for him and he stopped immediately.
I rolled my eyes and composed myself; so much for having alone time.
"Seriously though, you two mate like rabbits." He joked, and that resulted in him getting his shoulder shoved by Davina because, unlike the rest of us, she was still technically a child.
"Mind your business, Kol." I laughed as I slowly placed my shirt over my head and shook my hair loose around my shoulders. I reached up next to Elijah and planted my lips on his swiftly before walking over to his brother, grabbing him by his wrist, turning him, and leaving. Elijah was confused about the whole ordeal, but he figured the two of us would have been interrupted eventually so it wasn't that big of a big deal. He could find something to do while Kol and I did what we had planned for the day, and Elijah could catch up when he was good and ready.
Elijah caught me smiling as I was pulling his brother away, which left Davina and him alone for the first time in a very long time. He didn't feel the room get awkward, but he could tell Davina had something to say, it was just a matter of whether Elijah wanted to hear anything she had to say or simply walk away.
"Will she ever forgive me?" She asked after crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head to Elijah, who happened to start putting the books Niklaus and I were rummaging through, away.
"I'm not entirely sure," He answered her honestly. He looked at the covers of the books before replacing them on the shelves, only then when his hands were empty he continued to speak to her. "She knows that your intentions were pure, but she really cannot stand people trying to take advantage of her."
"It was really important to have her help, Elijah. If I didn't do it then Kol wouldn't be here." Her justification didn't mean anything to Elijah, he was there to organize the room. What he wanted her to do, was try to make things right with me instead of trying to explain why she did what she did.
"You didn't think to ask her for her help?" Elijah walked in her direction, but only to pick up three more large books. "Arabella may look like she's not the helping type, but that is all she has done for this city. The fact that you never apologized or thanked her, is why she hasn't forgiven you."
He pointed a book at her, looked down at the title, and set it on top of the other book he held in his arms.
"I've been trying to apologize to her, she doesn't want to hear it." Davina looked down at her twiddling fingers, then looked up again like she knew that she was in the wrong, but there was no way she was going to admit it because what she did was for good reason.
"That's because she probably knows you don't mean it. Like I know you don't mean it." His attention was on where to place the books. He wasn't paying attention to Davina any more than he was obligated to, he would always be on my side, right or wrong, and that wouldn't be up for discussion. "You may think Arabella is like the rest of us, but she is not."
"So, what? She's a mind reader now?" Davina became sarcastic.
"No, but she's excellent at reading people." He ignored Davina's attitude and answered her truthfully.
"Wonderful to know," Davina rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. Elijah didn't react to how most people dealt with people like us, like Originals. Over a thousand years, one tended to grow a backbone and thicker skin when it came to people speaking ill of us or preying on our downfall. So that was why Elijah didn't react when it came to Davina and her attitude and smart remarks. He knew that a little expression of frustration was nothing, but he would not hesitate to defend my honor if he needed to. And Davina was no match for Elijah and I. She could try, and fail miserably because the moment Elijah was in any danger and Davina was involved, that was when I would snap her neck, no vampire's blood involved, and that would be the end of that. No explanation is required.

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Niklaus didn't want to be around when Elijah was, so when he popped up behind Kol, his brother jumped up higher than he normally would. He was so caught up with helping me, that he didn't realize Niklaus could pop up at any given time. And why would he want to? Kol was miserable.
"Niklaus don't give your brother a heart attack before I get these to the house," I complained while turning to the side so that Niklaus could see me. Viewing me from the front would be impossible because of how many things I was carrying.
"Did you forget that I'm immortal, darling?" Kol let out a laugh, clearly appalled that I was making fun of him.
"I didn't forget, but your brother's mean mug could scare even an Original." I joked as I handed Kol another roll of fabric.
"Ha, Ha. Hilarious." Niklaus rolled his eyes and began walking with us. He looked around a couple of times while I wasn't paying attention, by the third time he did it, that was when he piqued my interest.
"Okay, what is going on with you? You're more paranoid than usual." I clocked the books in my hands and then looked at him up and down before watching where I stepped. He didn't bother to even recognize what I was doing, and because of his lack of acknowledgment, I wondered where Hope was at that very moment. "And where is my niece?"
"She's with Hayley for the afternoon while I take care of something." He still didn't meet my eyes when he answered. Which caused me to roll my eyes and shuffle my feet as I waited for the paranoid Mikaelson brother to take something from my hands.
"And that something is what?" I shrugged my shoulders with a smug look.
"Gaspar, I caught word he was lurking in the Quarter. Precisely over by Rousseau's. He's looking for you." He said it with a sing-song voice, so I wondered what all of that was about.
"You better not try to play knight in shining leather today, Niklaus. Please, we have a party to go to tonight, and I'm taking Hope Trick and Treating tomorrow night. He's not dense enough to try and pull something on us right now." I continued to roll my eyes because I couldn't believe that he was pulling this nonsense, right now.
"It's Trick or Treating, Ara." Kol corrected me, and though I shrugged it off at first, it confused me a little bit.
"Why do you have to choose between one or the other, that's not necessarily fair, is it?" My eyes squinted while I thought about it. It made no sense at all.
"Can we not talk about this right now? Gaspar is a real threat and if he knew of Hope's existence then I have bigger problems to worry about." Paranoid Niklaus was my least favorite. And I was going to be sure that I let him know that.
"Don't you worry your pretty head about that right now, right now, we think positive thoughts." I handed Niklaus my load of necessary but unnecessary- at the moment -things. Then I stretched out my exhausted fingers because they were getting very cramped.
"Positive thoughts?" Kol asked. A small snort came out of him, and that caused him to get quiet because if he were to tell me not to laugh, I would have bursted out laughing, in his face.
"Did you just call me pretty?" Niklaus shook his head as he thought about it again. He hooked his head back in my direction, and before I could smile at him to let him know I was joking, a woman from down the street, walking in an old and tattered dress caught my attention before she disappeared into the crowd of costumed tourists. I wouldn't have given it a second thought if I didn't think the woman staring back at me didn't look incredibly similar to the woman who birthed me. That couldn't have possibly been my mother. No way in Hell.
That was ridiculous. My mother had been dead way long before I had become the queen of France. I wasn't sure I even remembered what she looked like. So why was familiarity covering me like a weighted blanket, and why did I want to chase after her like a little girl?
"Did you just see that?" I pointed down the road. Niklaus and Kol both followed my hand and looked at all the people dressed up.
"See what?" Kol asked. He wasn't sure what I wanted him to see, maybe because I hadn't said anything yet, but I was still trying to process whether or not I saw her too.
"The wo-." I looked again and saw she was nowhere in sight. So I huffed out a breath and continued to walk without talking about it anymore. "oh, never mind."
"I told you Halloween plays tricks on your mind, especially in a town like this one. You have to keep a clear head or else you'll end up going mad." Niklaus pointed it out again, especially since he did mention it earlier. But my head was as clear as it had ever been, and I hadn't thought about my mother in, I didn't know how long, so I silently wondered why she was submerging from my subconscious at this particular time.
"I need a drink," I closed my eyes for a split second, so I was sure I wouldn't walk into anything. When I looked at Niklaus, he was looking around being the paranoid pessimist he had always been. I had hoped he wanted to join me but obviously, he wasn't interested.
"We don't have time for that." Niklaus held up a hand and walked ahead of us, not before handing me back all of my things, and before I could protest, Kol had compelled someone to hold all of my things and take them to the new place that would soon be my wedding dress shop. How they would know exactly where to take it was beyond me. He would catch up with that person later, he just wanted to be sure that he helped out Niklaus before he carried on about helping me. When the second and third person took the things I was holding from my hands, the weight had already gone away but I didn't like how the two left me to go do something else. It was another excuse to not help me, and that was fine, they didn't have to help me. Though it would have been nice to have their company.
"Are you coming?" Kol asked, his body stopped but his head turned to see why I wasn't coming along with them, I had to continuously remind myself that this wasn't the same era where I needed to ask permission to tag along, Niklaus and Kol wanted me to accompany them, and I didn't know whether I wanted to feel honored, or simply question what my purpose was for coming along. I was going to find out though, no doubt.

   The three of us met with Marcel, Josh, and Aiden at the safe house across the river, so when we walked down the steps Aiden was already there meeting me halfway so that I didn't walk down alone. Niklaus didn't like that he was being so helpful, but I shrugged off Niklaus' opinion as quickly as he dismissed helping me out. I was wearing boots but that wasn't the point. Aiden was aware of who I was, and that was why he offered a friendly gesture. Especially since he was grateful that it was I who brought him and Josh together.
I didn't think it was really important to mention because I didn't want to take credit for playing matchmaker for the two of them. It was before Hayley and Jackson's wedding; Aiden had been cruising around the Quarter with some of the pack members, and they came into the bar for a drink. Josh was working that day, and I was in the back corner dusting off shelves and hanging pictures on the wall. There were pictures of Elijah and I, Rebekah and Freya, Elijah and Niklaus. Kol and Davina, then Elijah, Niklaus, Kol,   and I. I wanted people to see us, I wanted all of them to know that we were all family. I wasn't ashamed to know any of them or be in love with a Mikaelson. I wanted to show them off, and when I finished placing the last framed photo on the wall, I turned away just as Aiden and three other pack members walked in. I could tell by the look on Aiden's face when he and Josh locked eyes with one another, that he would instantly feel a connection between the two. And Josh, he felt it too but he looked away because he didn't know how to go about speaking to him. After all, he was a vampire and Aiden was a werewolf, that sort of thing didn't happen. So with Josh standing there not knowing what to do, I walked behind the bar and I picked up a glass, I walked up to the small group before placing my free hand on the bar and leaning on it, ready to greet them all.
"What can I get for you?" I asked as my eyes scanned across the four of them. My accent was more clear that day, so when I asked them, they sort of looked confused because it sounded like my French and my English accents were mixing quite a bit. Two of them looked like they could have been brothers, but the third looked the complete opposite. The two that looked related shared the same blond hair and light eyes, their heights and builds were fairly the same, but the other one had jet-black hair and brown eyes. They looked close though, and I wasn't thinking much of either of them until they opened their mouths.
"Quick question," The brother on the right asked just as a sly smile appeared on his lips when his brother started snickering next to him, that was when I figured that the question wasn't going to be a smart one. "What is a werewolf, who hates vampires nonetheless, doing hiring vampires in what I would assume would be a werewolf establishment?"
"Who said this was a werewolf establishment?" I questioned also, I looked down and licked my lips before answering. "This bar is neutral territory. Where wolves and vampires can have a drink in peace. Besides, I like this vampire."
When I hooked my thumb in Josh's direction, that was when Aiden looked at him again, that time they stared at each other for more than thirty seconds, their eye contact didn't break until their friend cleared his throat which resulted in Josh giving an awkward grin and returning to do his job.
"I don't get why; vampires are just dead-eyed freaks."It sounded like an insult, it just came out sounding stupid.
"As to what?" Josh turned around and I sucked on my bottom lip as I let him handle it. "You turn into dogs."
"You're just going to let him talk to us like that?" The brother on the left asked stupidly as if I were going to choose their side over Josh's. Josh didn't come into my bar acting like he didn't have common sense.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think I associated with you in any type of way? Because I do not." I smiled as I sided with Josh on that because I might have had a natural hatred toward vampires, but I despised werewolves who automatically believed I would include myself in their cavemen-like lifestyle. Like first, I don't live out in the bayou. And second, I live a pretty life in a beautiful home. We were not the same.
"You're just as bad as they are." The brunette added, and I wasn't hurt by that. I was an abomination. I loved myself as the monster I was.
"Whatever you think is bad, times that by twenty, because I am truly horrific." I continued smiling. I wasn't going to be intimidated in my bar, and I wasn't going to make Josh feel less because those morons wanted to start a fight they couldn't finish. "Now are you going to order something?"
"Come on, let's go." One of the brothers slapped the shoulders of the other two and they started parting ways with Aiden, somehow expecting him to follow in their footsteps. Aiden remained seated as he started to stare at Josh, but I could tell he wanted to say something, he just didn't want to say it in front of them. So I looked up from the two of them and clocked the three idiots a grin.
"He'll have to catch up with you. I have a few words to say to him." I was calm, though they thought the worst for the pack member.
"Not if we can help it." They all stood tall as if I was supposed to cower in fear. That was never in this lifetime going to happen.
"Oh please, I'm not even going to lay a finger on him," I rolled my eyes. I knew I had a reputation that perceived me well, but come on! I wasn't going to hurt Aiden, especially if I was trying to nudge him slightly in Josh's direction. "And for the record, I'd destroy the three of you with my eyes closed."
They left without another word, and when Aiden turned back around after watching them leave he sighed with relief and then blinked his eyes up at me as he saw that I was watching him.
"Can I give you some advice?" I smiled and fixed myself before giving him some words of perfect wisdom.
"You'll end up giving it to me anyway," His eyes went big while he cleared his throat and turned around on the barstool, crossing his arms in the process. "Go ahead."
"Not all vampires are bad you know. It took me a thousand years to realize that but at least I know that now." I leaned on my arms so that I looked like I wasn't so stiff.
"A thou- thousand years?" He asked, shocked by that sliver of information. He glanced at Josh somehow asking for confirmation that it was true and all Josh did was shrug his right shoulder. "So, like the Mikaelsons?"
"I was married to a Mikaelson, still in love with one." I straightened my pose and reached back and grabbed the top-shelf whiskey. When I turned back, I grabbed three shot glasses and poured a fair amount into each one.
"Don't you eat vampires though?" He turned his face up and remembered exactly what I tended to do when I was threatened or angry.
"That isn't my point. What I'm saying is, don't let anyone get in your way of getting what you want." With that final note, I pushed his shot toward him, handed Josh his, and then walked off while throwing mine back as it burned my throat.
Aiden and Josh looked at each other after I disappeared into the little back office to give them some space, I had just spoken about something they weren't even sure was there, but now that it was known and out in the open they both weren't willing to discuss it. I could only do so much.

  ...Now when Aiden saw me, it seemed like he owed me for practically helping them by giving them that small push. He didn't need to, but it was a nice gesture.
"If you all know I'm busy then why do you all insist on pulling me into your sausage party?" I asked while crossing my eyes and puckering out my lips. Niklaus and Kol turned in my direction when they processed what I just said and realized it was completely known so automatically they processed it as a new phrase I learned.
Marcel's straight face curved into a smile after he had sworn up and down that he wasn't going to fall for any of my tricks. I knew I didn't have any, but he would never know that.
"That's not at all appropriate." Kol shook his head in disbelief. "Is that what you meant to say?"
"I know what I meant to say, look at us!" I proclaimed while waving my hand around as I proved I was, in fact, the only female among five males, I didn't like it.
"You're here because we need your help," Josh spoke out above them, and when all eyes were on him, he kind of shrunk back further into Aiden's shoulder.
"Fine, then what's going on?" I seemed like I was rolling my eyes but I was looking at the ceiling. On the inside, I was rolling my eyes though.
"We may know where Rebekah is," Marcel added, and when that piqued Niklaus' interest, Marcel pulled out two small but decent sizes of paper and handed them to him. Kol was looking over his shoulder as he watched his brother open each of the notes when numbers and letters appeared in a small font and print, their eyes narrowed to what was in front of them.
"What the bloody hell is this?" Kol questioned while taking one from Niklaus' hand and walking off with it.
"We thought they might have been location coordinates, but it's impossible to tell without the longitude and latitude." Josh looked over Aiden's shoulder and spoke up.
"How did you acquire this?" I turned my head back to Marcel and saw that he was uneasy about telling us. When he didn't answer, Niklaus took that as a sign that it was from someone who held something against Rebekah, and the first person that came to mind for me was Aurora.
"Who sent these, Marcel?" He asked instead, and when Josh started backing away Kol was standing there behind him so that he couldn't go anywhere.
"We think it was the De Martel's." He sighed heavily.
"And I think Rebekah may be at the bottom of the ocean," Josh spoke up again, it wasn't making sense to either of us as we looked back at him while he stared at us terrified.
"I thought you needed the longitude and latitude to know where she was?" I asked, clearly upset if that was where she was.
"Yes, for her exact location," Aiden cleared his throat and answered Kol.
"So you're saying that what we have so far, is located somewhere in the ocean?" Kol asked slowly, not to make sure that everything was explained to him directly, but as validation so that he could flip out officially. I was thinking about joining him.
"This isn't good. That would mean that all of this time,  she has been trapped at the bottom of the bloody ocean?" Kol tried to keep a level head but it was hard when he imagined the worst for his sister.
If that were the case, Rebekah had been drowning over and over again, and every time she came back to life, she started drowning all over again. It was terrifying to think about it like that, but there wasn't anything we could do until we knew exactly where she was, and we were going to get her back. We just needed to know exactly where to look.
"I need to call Elijah." I reached through my back pocket and pulled out my phone. The moment the screen flashed on revealing a picture of the two of us, Marcellus snatched it out of my hand and then held it at a distance above my head so that I couldn't reach it. The look I sported wasn't one of beauty when I glanced eerily at him. He must have not been feeling well since he must've lost his damned mind.
"You're not going to call him, at least not right now." He held a finger up to stop me and that only made me more upset.
"And why the hell not?" I questioned, clearly annoyed.
"Because we have a plan, and it might be one you're interested in." He tried to persuade me, and at first, my answer was no, but if there was a way I could get a hold of Tristan's neck with my bare hands, slowly my mind changed.
"...I'm listening." My eyes narrowed slowly.
"Tristan is supposed to be at the Halloween party tonight, you're going to be there to surprise him." His smile returned, but that didn't ease anything for me.
"And why can't Elijah be there with me?" That was why I was skeptical. The moment Elijah wasn't going to be involved, the more I felt the need to include him. It made me feel like something was going to happen that I wasn't going to like if Elijah wasn't there with me.
"Because Elijah has a soft spot for you," Marcel explained closely, I was watching his every move and I will admit it wasn't I who was giving him the dirty looks but it was Bête. "And we don't need him running in headfirst ruining the plan we already had set in place."
"So you don't want him there because you think he will try and kill Tristan before I do? That's kind of redundant don't you think?" I looked at Elijah's brothers to see what they thought and obviously, they were on Marcel's side. I actually couldn't believe it. I bit the inside of my cheek as I looked back at Marcel, and I waited for him to continue.
"You won't be killing him tonight either, we need Tristan to get to Aurora so we can find Rebekah." He explained again, and I knew there was a catch, I just didn't think he would say it so soon. It kind of peeved me off to think that I would be seeing him but I won't be killing him. That was the point of all my training, my motivation. Now, I didn't get to do that. It was stupid.
"So, you're telling me I'm not allowed to kill Tristan?" I had to ask again because I swear there had to be some mistake. I didn't think I was hearing them right.
"You're not allowed to kill Tristan, but you can maim him as badly as you want." Marcel tried to bargain with me, but I wasn't trying to have my mind changed once it was set. Tristan was my main focus and to have that disturbed didn't put me in a great mood. I didn't want to maim him, where he could just escape, drink someone's blood, then return to perfect health. I didn't want him to return from anything. I wanted him to stay dead.
"So what is the plan once we catch him? Punch him over and over until he tells us where his sister is?" I became sarcastic, my arms were out at my sides because I didn't see the point of any of what was going on, I swore that when I saw Tristan, his life was mine. He didn't get a second chance, he didn't get to run off to a faraway place where he got to start over while in hiding. No, he didn't get to be alive, he didn't deserve it.
"Oh no, we'll leave that up to you. You're just not allowed to kill him until we get Rebekah back." Niklaus held promise in his eyes, so when I looked at him, I could feel that he meant it which made mine soften a little bit. I was still skeptical, but I trust that I was going to have help getting rid of him anyway, what was a little bit more time until that happened?
"We get Rebekah back, and you can kill them all," Marcel added with a mischievous grin, he knew that would make me happy, but he didn't know I wasn't going to stop until all three of them were all dead, including the vampires, or whoever were on their side doing their bidding.
I took another minute to think about it. I looked at Kol first because I knew if it was Niklaus I had looked at, he would have already tried to persuade me that it was the best thing to do right now. Kol wasn't trying to get in the middle of my decision because he knew in the end, whatever I decided would be the right choice, and the moment I decided I was going to help, it didn't help that I was still standing there and talking to them. I needed time to get ready for the party, and I needed as much time as I could get so that when Tristan did see me, it would be like seeing me come back from the dead. He should have made sure I wasn't going to come back and took my word for it when I told him that I couldn't die the first time.
"I'll help, but I'll need time to get ready." My arms went down to my sides at the same moment I gave in.
"Party begins at nine, you need that much time to get ready?" Niklaus asked, but only because he didn't think it took that much time for a woman to get ready. But I only needed that much time because I wanted to finish my dress and I wanted to take my time, then have time to take a shower and take the time to do my makeup. I needed everything to be perfect before I was face to face with Tristan again, I needed him to see me better and stronger than ever. I needed him to know I was going to destroy his very existence.
"Is that a real question?" I was already by the large window facing the river when I answered him. I wasn't supposed to leave because I still needed to know the details of the plan to know exactly what I needed to do. And while I waited for Marcel to explain it, I looked around and wondered why that side of the river wasn't as glamorous and cultural as the Quarter. I didn't like that.
And while looking, as the plan was being discussed; I happened to look down and see a man staring up at me. I didn't think I was imagining things, because if I had, I certainly would not have been imagining him.
"Hey Josh, do you think you could come over here for a second?" I spoke low while I played with my fingers. Niklaus and Kol heard me call for Josh and when they turned their heads, they could see the distraught on my face. Maybe they wondered why I couldn't call them over to talk, or why I was so distracted that I couldn't focus on what was trying to be accomplished. When Josh walked over to me, he looked concerned, but it wasn't like that, I just needed fresh eyes to see if what I was seeing was there, I needed him to not know who I knew it was until I was positive that it was him. And why would it be him? Why would my imagination start playing mind games with me, knowing that I needed to keep my head clear and focused?
When he stood opposite of me, he kind of lowered his head so if I needed to say something he was there to listen.
"Slowly turn your head and see if you see the same man I see, standing to the right, looking directly in this direction," I spoke low and made it look like the conversation wasn't entirely about the stranger, but he was still standing there, staring up at us.
"Why would some-" He was confused, but neither of us had time for that.
"Just do it please." I urged while keeping my head in the same position so that he wouldn't see I was still standing there, instead, if he was there, then he would only see Josh standing there and he wouldn't see me, so it wouldn't be obvious.
"Holy crap, a man is standing there. Who is that?" His head went forward a bit, but my face kind of slowly started to stare at the side of Josh's face.
My entire body froze with fear when Josh confirmed I wasn't going mentally insane, but the fact that one person who could strike that much fear in me within seconds told Niklaus something was wrong. He saw that my eyes were welling up with tears and the fear that was spread across my face was pure terror.
"That's my father." I looked up at Niklaus and Kol which gave them the most questionable look that they could give because that didn't make any sense. My father fell ill shortly after I had taken the throne and passed away. It didn't make any sense that he was there, and if I was seeing him, then the woman who I saw earlier in the Quarter was in no doubt, my mother. I could remember her clear as day, to this day, and now that I knew I wasn't crazy, I could go and find out what in the world was going on.
Niklaus and Kol both hurried to the window to see the man they hadn't seen in over a thousand years, but when they looked out the window he was nowhere in sight.
"He was there," The tears in my eyes hadn't gone away, though they weren't going to run down my face no matter how upset I became. I didn't care how things were managed or possible when it came to being a supernatural being, but I sat by my father's side when he took his last breath, I saw my father die, just like I had seen my mother die, and I knew that either of them couldn't come back. I knew it, and I will remind myself of that for as long as I need to. "Earlier, I swore I might have seen my mother too."
"Ara," Kol looked at me like I might have been going mad. But I knew I wasn't and I was going to defend that because Josh had borne witness to it, now my only question was, why were my very dead parents- who were both a million miles away from where they were buried- in New Orleans alive and breathing? "I'm not saying what you're seeing isn't true, but I think you need to take a step back and get some rest before the party."
"I'm not crazy, Kol." I defended myself as I removed my arm from his grip. I didn't like being made a fool of and he knew better than that. The last thing I needed was my best friend and brother telling me that what I saw, wasn't there at all, especially when Josh had seen him too.
"We're not saying you are, we're saying that we have too much to do tonight. So I just want you to go home, get ready, and clear your head. When tonight is through, you, Kol and I will all go out and look for your parents. Is that alright?" Niklaus was speaking to me, but all I could think about was whether or not I was insane. I know what I saw, and Josh saw him too. I didn't need them to think anything less of me.
My eyes narrowed. I couldn't believe he was calling me insane because well, he was Niklaus. But the night was still young, so all I had to do to wait for him to throw it in my face. "You don't think I'm crazy?"
"Oh, I think you're mad." He joked as he straightened his back and smiled. "But so am I, so we're even." He winked before turning me by my shoulders and walking me to the SUV which belonged to him. He wanted to be sure that I made it outside safely while he helped me into the driver's seat. When the door was closed, I rolled down the window so that I could give him some parting words, he continued to look around to see if anyone was lurking in the shadows somewhere. He was able to sense and smell someone, but no one was around. If my father was immortal, he might have been able to vanish quickly but I knew that he wasn't, something was going on that we didn't know about. We had so much going on at the same time we had to prioritize what to focus on first, and the number one person that we wanted to be rid of first was Tristan. My mother and my father could wait for one night.
"What do you think is going on? This cannot be normal."
"One thing at a time, love. We'll get to the bottom of all of this as fast as we can. But right now, I just want you to go home and get dolled up. We're in for a night of miraculous fun." His grin was real, and maybe he was right but look, it still affected my thinking in a way. I had too much to worry about and it seemed like more was already piling on to what we all needed to take care of.
"Only you could make a night about murdering a traitorous bastard, fun." I let out a low chuckle as I looked away and stared at the steering wheel.
"You were thinking about it as well, don't give me all the credit." His smile was so authentic which caused me to stare in awe but I had no choice but to shake that feeling loose. I smiled lightly so that I didn't try to come off as rude. When Niklaus didn't catch me brushing him off, he slapped the edge of the window and started walking back to meet up with his brother and Marcel. As soon as I drove off, I pulled down the visor and saw that my eyes were glowing, so I hurried up, flipped the visor back up, and blinked hard to try to get Bête under control, the last thing I needed was to try and feel a certain way when I didn't. I didn't want to give Niklaus a false sense of chance, I couldn't feel that way if I wanted to, it was physically impossible for me to love Niklaus in that sense. And I had said it before; Niklaus was not hideous to me, he was one of the most handsome men I have ever met, the two of us were not compatible. He could find every reason in the universe to think that we were, and I could prove that we were not. Niklaus was only playing a monster, the world had turned him away, and he gave everyone a reason to fear him. But he was just a man who was abandoned by Mikael, and turned from by his family, so I saw why he thought he deserved everything he was getting, but he didn't. He only went along with it because he thought if he became what everyone assumed then no one would be able to hurt him no longer. As where I; the world didn't know me long enough to see me as this horrible person. I was a horrible being long before I met the Mikaelsons, and that was a story for another day. He just needed someone on his side to remind him there would always be someone far worse than him, and that person was me.
Now; I believe it was Camille and Niklaus who were perfect for one another. Niklaus was a man who had been hurt for the majority of his life, the world was so hard towards him that he became this person that not even himself could recognize. He looked for comfort and I feel that deep in my heart, Camile was the woman for him. She hadn't faced trials and tribulations as he did, but she lost enough to know what it felt like to need someone who related to what she lost. I wondered if Camille was going to make an appearance at the party because part of me wanted her there to accompany Niklaus. Still, the other part of me didn't want her there because of the potential danger that came along with being around a Mikaelson. As long as Bête wasn't in the equation for Niklaus then I was fine, the two of them couldn't be together anyway, I just didn't want him getting the wrong idea-though that came around, already too late- the last thing we needed was everything to get complicated.

🖤

    Elijah tried calling my phone to see what I was doing, but he didn't know my phone was at the bottom of my handbag completely drained of battery life. But that was okay because he would find out where I was eventually. He concluded that I was going to be where I wasn't supposed to be, so he was already dressed and ready to go. What he wasn't expecting, however, was Hayley strolling in with a red dress on, clearly under the impression that it was an all-black and white party. She felt the need to stand out and capture Elijah's attention in any way that she could. Little did she know, Elijah was unenthused by her choice of color. She was still married to Jackson, who was also at home with Hope when she told him where she was going and why the reason she was involved, lying about any of us needing her help when he didn't ask for it. She could have stayed home and spent some time with her child, but instead, she wanted to find as many excuses as possible to be where Elijah was, and where I was not.
"How can I help you?" He asked while avoiding her glare. He was ready to go and pick me up but he didn't know that I wasn't going to be home by the time he arrived at my doorstep. I was going to be long gone, looking for a way to come in without being seen.
"I just wanted you to know that Arabella and Niklaus are plotting to trap Tristan at the party tonight." Her chin was pointed to the air, hoping that she could somehow convince Elijah to not want to be with me, but instead choose her, which would never happen again. Hayley made her choice in choosing Jackson, and although she was slowly starting to develop feelings for him, she wanted the best of both worlds. If Elijah had known, he wouldn't have had any problem calling her delusional.
"And you know this how?" He asked while looking at her through his side view. He was growing tired of constantly being told that I was up to something knowing that he was willing to help. But he didn't know that the only reason why we were doing this was to get Aurora to tell us where Rebekah was located, and I wasn't going to quit until my best friend and sister were back home and safe with her family.
"That doesn't matter right now, we need to get there before anything bad happens." She tried to convince Elijah not to go to my home, and he couldn't understand why, so when he tried to read her face, he stared for a little too long which gave her the indication that she would somehow succeed in getting what she wanted from him. That wasn't the case.
Elijah's eyes narrowed only because he wasn't sure whether to follow her. But I usually did get into something I wasn't supposed to without talking with him about it, and it did sound like something that I would do. So it was only natural to follow Hayley and get to me before I did something before it was too late. However, when Elijah exited out of the courtyard and into the opened street, the moment he looked up, Hayley was standing off at the side, and for a second he wondered why that was but it was too late because he was already injected with vervain, a burlap sack was placed over his head, and his neck was snapped.
       I was looking up and down at my gown in the mirror, in the far corner of my bedroom, and I was making sure that I was prepared for anything to happen, so underneath my dress, I made sure I was properly protected in case something were to go awry. That way I could just rip off my dress and take care of what I needed to. It was easy to hide but either way, I was going to get ahold of Tristan without him knowing I was there. He wasn't going to know what hit him.
   I was also running a little behind when my doorbell rang, and instantly I assumed it was Kol coming to escort me. When I took my time walking to the door, I concluded that Kol would have already found his way into my home, and yet there were no shadows on the other side of the door. So when I threw the door open, I was correct about no one being there, but instead, something long was covered in a cloth as it lay there on my porch. I stood there staring at it as if it were some sort of dead animal, but when I noticed nothing was moving from underneath it, that was when I moved forward and picked it up.
What I didn't expect it to be when I opened it was a long sword I hadn't seen in over a thousand years, so when I looked out to the front, no one was in sight, no one drove past, and I couldn't sense anyone near me. I looked down at the sword again, then disappeared behind the door so that I could see it without feeling like it was a setup.
Across the dining room table, the same table that technically made Elijah have a breakdown which led to getting my memories back. I peeled back the cloth. Once the cloth was unfolded and the sword was out in the open, that was when I started to feel like I was being drawn toward it. It was exactly how I remembered it, but it wasn't as vivid as I thought it was.
It wasn't until the sword was held by my hands that my eyes rolled to the back of my head, which rendered me unconscious. I fell backward, making my back hit the floor with a loud thud. My body started to convulse, and it was like the lights were cut off because I couldn't see a thing, I had no idea what was going on.
      Elijah was stripped of his suit jacket, his hands were bound and lifted above his head. Blood had stained his shirt and he was drugged out on vervain. He knew something like that would happen eventually but since he was caught up in other things he didn't think it would happen any time soon.
When Elijah began to come to, he looked around groggily and noticed that the place in which he was held captive looked familiar to the crypt where Davina performed her spells. He could tell that it wasn't hers, and he knew she wasn't capable of doing such a heinous thing to him without facing retaliation from me. He didn't expect a small-framed woman to come from outside, walking to her small alter without saying a word to him. He couldn't lift his head for more than five seconds, but from what he could see, he had never seen that woman before in his life, though he was too drained to think about why he was in such a predicament. He tried to focus his vision, he tried to gather as much strength as possible to speak but nothing was coming out.
"Don't worry baby, this won't take long." She turned her head slightly and gave him a wide smile before returning to her work. Elijah didn't know this woman, but I did. It was his mother, and if I knew then what I knew now, I would have tried to stop her. Everything came with a price, I didn't know what it was, but I would know later rather than sooner.
I had woken up to Kol shaking me violently, and when my eyes shot open, I pushed him off of me in defense because I hadn't realized it was him until he was a few inches away. He helped me stand to my feet anyway knowing I didn't mean anything by it, but he was concerned as to why I was on the floor in the first place, his first thought was that I was attacked, but knowing that far worse things happen to me if that were the case, he crossed that out almost immediately.
"Are you alright, love?" He asked as he looked me over to look for scratches and bruises but I happened to be in a complete trance as I slowly took in my surroundings and processed what happened. And my mind went to the sword that was nowhere in sight.
"Où est mon épée?" {Where is my sword?} She asked, but the way she had asked caught Kol off guard, and that was the first time he took a look at her. Her eyes were lighter but they weren't abnormal, but she looked completely lost like she wasn't standing in her own house.
"Sword? Arabella, you don't own a sword." He had to think about it, the whole one thousand years that he knew me, my guards at some point had swords, but never did I have one.
She turned to him and wondered who he was, and the longer she looked at him the longer it took me to put two and two together.
He thought she was Arabella, and she was not.
"Je suis Vera, Arabella est ma sœur jumelle."{I am Vera, Arabella is my twin sister.} She responded to the confusion which she didn't take personally because we were identical after all.
"I hate to say this, but you don't have a twin sister. You're clearly not alright, come on let's sit you down." He went to grab for me-I mean, her- and she moved her arm away so that he couldn't.
"Je suis Vera Salice Bonavich, l'héritier légitime du trône!" {I am Vera Bonavich, the rightful heir to the throne!} She tried to explain better, and the way Kol looked at her, he tried to piece certain things together to have them make some sort of sense, but he knew of Bête, though it confused him to think that I was ever a twin, or that I had named my twin, who no one heard about a French word for  no-beast. So many questions came to mind and the two he wanted to ask right away was that if Bête-or Vera- whoever was standing there with Kol, then where was I? And the second would be, how would it have been remotely possible to separate the two? By a sword nonetheless.
   I; on the other hand, had been dressed in all black, standing on top of the hotel that stood tall over the Quarter. I looked around at the guests that were walking into the party, and all I had to do was wait for Niklaus and Marcel to give me the signal. I actually didn't know how I got there, just one moment, I was at home ready to leave for the party, and the next I was here, waiting. The mood was ominous, and I stood there with the sword hanging off of my back. Honestly, I didn't understand how I came into possession of it, but it had to be for a reason. It felt powerful to me when I had it, so maybe it was meant to be mine, it felt like it belonged to me.
    
       Elijah was coming to, and the moment he felt like he could move his head, the moment he tried to break free. It was nearly impossible because every time he moved it burned his skin, soaked in vervain no doubt. It was dark enough outside for the witch that was mixing something in a bowl to have gone ahead and lit candles. So that meant the party was well underway and he had to find a way to stop me from doing the worst thing imaginable. He didn't want me to hunt Tristan because he clearly underestimated his ability to hurt him, and the last thing he wanted was for me to be in trouble again. He had to break free so that he could get to me in time.
"There's no point in trying, honey." The witch turned to her son and smiled before pouring a tanned powder into her mixing bowl.
"I need to get to Ara," He grunted against the chains, and all that resulted in was the witch clenching her fist in the air to stop Elijah from trying because all it was doing was hurting him. "She's in trouble."
"Arabella is fine, or at least, she will be. Got to usually play these things by ear." She tilted her head as she conversed amongst herself, only, Elijah had no clue what she was referring to.
"Who are you?" He huffed out a harsh breath, so when he lifted his head so that he could see her, his head fell back down soon after. She was there shortly after, picking his head back up so that he could have a good look at her.
"I'm hurt Elijah, you should know your mother better than anyone." She made a light joke because she was in a whole different body than her own. No one knew that she was Esther except for me, and there was a great reason for that. She wanted to stay undetected so that she could finish up before something happened to her. She felt like she was living on borrowed time so she had to hurry before it was too late. She didn't realize that we were all living off of borrowed time, her time just happened to be shorter.
Elijah looked at Esther long enough until she removed her hand from his chin. She walked back to her already made alter and began to stir the contents in the bowl. "The thing is; when I helped Arabella return to full health, it had drained so much out of me, that I had to ask the ancestors for help. Although Arabella may not have wanted to share with you what was wrong with her, there was plenty that needed to be fixed. So I fixed her. But with that type of magic, it comes with a price. So that is why I need you, my dear boy."
Elijah knew something was off about me when I came back to life, but he didn't think of it as something that was missing from me. He just thought it took a lot of energy to come back from something as drastic as having my heart ripped out. He didn't think anything else would be wrong, but he shouldn't have assumed when he didn't ask me. Who was to say I knew what was going on either? I could have been as clueless as he was, so I didn't want him to think he was a horrible partner because I was very much in the dark as he was. The only person who truly knew what was going on only had to be Esther, because well, she was the one who fixed me.
His face changed to the thought of her being in any type of danger.
    
     Kol had escorted Vera to the party, but it wasn't in the sense that he was trying to play it cool, it was a serious matter and he needed to find Niklaus or Marcel as quickly as possible. Kol couldn't put two and two together because what he had been told was, that Bête was such a horrible creature, but not once was he told that Bête happened to be my twin sister, who was somehow trapped inside of my body. I didn't understand it either and I wasn't sure if I wanted to. But it wasn't true. Bête was something else entirely. Vera and Bête were separate. So he walked ahead of her, which was something he normally wouldn't do if it wasn't absolutely important, but he had to find his brother, he needed Niklaus to witness what he was witnessing. Because although they just got done calling me crazy earlier for the things I was witnessing, it was Kol's turn to start freaking out.
I could see everything from a corner at the top of the stairs. It didn't take long for me to spot Niklaus walking in wearing a black tuxedo with a white dress shirt and bowtie. He looked very handsome with the scruff on his face and his hair brushed back, I couldn't help but think he dressed that way for me, and if I could read his mind he would say the same thing. He dressed that way to try and impress me, but he knew that it was a long shot. I couldn't see where Marcel was, and I couldn't sense where Tristan was, so I thought it would be a great idea to go and speak with Niklaus though it was a bad idea considering that I wasn't supposed to move from my space. I was supposed to surprise Tristan since he didn't know I was alive.
At the time being, I remained silent until it was time to make my appearance, my eyes glowed in the dark corner of the top floor as guests made their debut, smiling and laughing as they spoke with one another. And just a little bit I felt disgusted. I thought it was supposed to be a Halloween party, and here everyone was, dressed in black and white. I guess that was just the theme. It seemed a bit boring but I waited like I was supposed to. The reason I was so antsy was because the bloodthirst I had for Tristan was so big, the moment I saw him I most likely would have wanted to cut his head completely clean off his shoulders.
When Kol met up with Niklaus, he went to speak and turn him around so that he could show Niklaus what was going on but when he did, Vera was nowhere in sight, and his brother looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"Where is Arabella, we need her here if this is going to work." He looked around and didn't see either one of us.
"Yeah, about that, we need to talk about something." Kol's face was confused as he turned back to his brother, clearly knowing he had lost both of us.
"Can it wait?" Niklaus' eyebrows furrowed.
"No, it cannot. Arabella is not Arabella right now." It was urgent for them to talk about it, because if no one knew it was happening then obviously things weren't going to go as planned.
"What are you speaking about Kol?" Niklaus deadpanned as his hands fell to his sides.
"Sorry I'm late, did I miss anything?" Hayley appeared next to Niklaus' side but why she was there in the first place sent up red flags for him and it made him think back to what I had told him earlier, about her working with Tristan to try and get rid of me. He was really hoping that wasn't true because if it was then Hayley had death knocking on her door.
"Why are you here?" Niklaus' glare was as deep as a grave, and he wanted to know immediately why Hayley of all people after I had explained what was going on, would be there, especially when no one but our small group knew about it. That was one strike against her.
"Elijah told me to meet him here, have you seen him?" She lied through her teeth, and almost robot-like, I turned my head a little bit when I heard her. That was strike two. My eyes remained a bright amber color while I listened, which caused a low growl to escape from my throat and past my lips. My hand reached back for my sword, and the moment I wanted to use it I couldn't because that was when Tristan made his appearance known as he came through two large double doors in the center of the second floor. On either side of those doors, there were two sets of stairs, and from where he was standing, I was standing off in the corner where he couldn't see me behind a pillar. I wasn't going to let my anger get the best of me, I was going to wait for the right time, which wasn't something I did.
His smile was light as he looked amongst his guests, and while he spoke to them, I looked at them all too, though I was still very cautious when it came to Tristan. And it seemed that he didn't notice where Niklaus and Kol were among all of those people because he gave off the impression that he didn't see any of them. He was going on about how special the night was because everyone was gathered for the spooky festivities meaning that he had something planned for everyone also meaning that he had hired a circus to dance and act around the guests that happened to be themed to go along with the traditions and beliefs of New Orleans. When the crowd began to clap, Niklaus looked off into the corner where I happened to have caught his eye, I was not paying him any mind but obviously, he noticed my change of clothes and the rather large sword that came sprouting out of my back. He couldn't figure out what I was doing and why I was looking so barbaric in the midst of it all. He couldn't keep his eyes away either, it was something about the black ensemble that hugged my body that set a tone for destruction. He liked the look. Maybe that was what Kol was trying to tell him but he wasn't listening, it was something much deeper than that. Kol was trying to warn him about Vera, but it was already happening, Vera was making her way toward Tristan while Niklaus didn't even see her coming.
Niklaus continued to stare and he couldn't put a finger on what was going on, so when Vera made her debut coming down the stairs opposite of me, his head slowly moved while she slowly walked down. It wasn't until Tristan turned his head and recognized her presence, that his smile fell from his face. At the same time he did that, I came out from the shadows and quietly walked down the steps, meanwhile, everyone was watching the three of us like it was all a part of the show. And to me, it was a show, because I was going to be very entertaining in torturing Tristan the way he tortured me. An eye for an eye. Tristan was confused at first because he killed me, he shouldn't have seen me descending the stairs with a beautiful black gown on. Niklaus couldn't take his eyes off Vera as she calmly approached him while her hair bounced off and around her shoulders. When his eyes landed on me quietly sneaking up on Tristan, that was when he started seeing two.
"Hello again, Tristan." Vera's accent was so different from my own when she spoke, it was so thick, that not even Tristan could understand her, and that was what confused him. He wondered why none of his members from the Strix had warned him about my return, but he concluded that I had already gotten to them so that explained why no one was returning his calls, which also called for his appearance so soon. He thought that the Mikaelsons were going to reach out to him eventually, what he didn't expect was to see me in the flesh, still alive and well.
Niklaus literally could not move when he saw me stand behind Tristan who was still caught in a trance, so when my hand reached out and tapped on his shoulder, he turned around slowly. Once he saw the same face twice, that was when my smile spread wide across my face. Before he could turn to look at Vera to confirm if he was seeing two, my hands wrapped around his neck and snapped it within seconds. Before Niklaus and Kol could run up and do anything, I disappeared behind the doors with Tristan and Vera, not even acknowledging that she was right there. Everyone who was watching started to clap and no later than thirty seconds, a colorful entourage of circus characters came out and started moving and contorting their bodies while music blared through the speakers, and colors, and fire painted the walls.
Behind the doors, I dropped Tristan, watching him hit the floor with a thud. Only when he was flat on his back, I looked up and stared at the woman who shared my face. Instantly remembering who she was. As Kol, Niklaus, and Marcel made their way through the double doors, the lights flashing everywhere behind them, they closed them and looked at the two of us while we stared at one another.
Anyone would think Vera would be the one with the glowing eyes, mischievous grin, and tight outfit, so that was why it was only fair that Niklaus and Marcel thought I was Vera. That was until I opened my mouth. "Hello, big sister."
"Arabella," She stated my name with little to no emotion, and as someone who had spent the majority of her life inside of me, she wasn't at all happy to see me. "See you're still as dramatic as ever."
"That's saying a lot considering you've been parading around in my head for the last thousand plus years." I smirked as I emphasized the word. That was sure to play with a few chords.
"O-one th-thousand?! Give me back my sword Arabella or so help me, I will remove it from you myself!" Her accent was still as thick as ever but as long as I could understand her then there wasn't a problem. However, I wasn't going to hand her anything because the sword was rightfully mine. Just like the throne was rightfully mine, just like Elijah was rightfully mine.
The men's faces watch us go back and forth as neither of them believed they were actually witnessing two of us arguing with each other. And neither of them wanted to interrupt us because they were still processing the possibility of me having a sister, let alone a twin. It was really that surprising, believe it or not.
"Put your hands on me if you want to, and I'll be sure to tear them off your body." I taunted her, and all that did was make Vera walk up to me reach out for the sword. My hand grabbed for her wrist before she could touch it, and that was the start of our fight.
The men were watching us, they waited to see for the appropriate time to break us apart and they were hoping it would be sometime soon because Tristan was still temporarily dead and they didn't need to be there when he woke up. But watching the two of us while they still tried to figure out how anything was remotely possible, was just a tad bit more distracting. We were in full combat mode, and the second Vera and I laid hands on the sword, that was when we froze and started shaking as if electricity and fire were coursing through us. We fell on our backs and continued shaking for another minute until we stopped altogether. One second she was still next to me, the next she was gone. The sword laid by my head as my head fell to the side, leaving me unconscious.
"What in the bloody hell?" Niklaus and Kol spoke in unison once the room was swallowed by silence, completely questioning what in the hell just went on.
And I knew I was going to have to explain myself once I came to.

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Word Count: 16,920