Chapter Forty•Three. Brothers & Sisters
ARABELLA
{Broken Glass Kygo & Kim Petras}
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And the only thing we had in common with each other
Was destroyin' everything we ever touched
So cheers to us and what we had
Let's keep dancin' on the broken glass
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Elijah and I hadn't spoken since we were back in Mystic Falls. He knew that I had nothing to say, he knew that there wasn't anything he could say. He just walked me up to the door and waited for Vera to answer. The moment the door opened, Vera didn't look like she was too happy with us, but she welcomed me inside by standing off to the side. Before I walked forward, he grabbed my hand and stopped me.
"I'll be at Mary Kenner's. If you need anything at all, I'm just a phone call away." His eyes were hard, clearly frustrated I ignored him the entire trip. Served him right.
"I can take care of myself." I narrowed my eyes and looked down at his hand on mine, that was enough to make him loosen his grip.
"Arabella, it's not the time." I yanked my arm away from him and he looked away for a second, licking his lips before apologizing again. "I said I was sorry."
"Your sorry means absolute crap to me, Elijah." My eyes snapped to him and poked him in his chest. He looked away and licked his lips again because he knew that what he did was wrong. It was the same thing all the time, it was just on a different crappy day. "How could you stand in the way, instead of just standing by my side like you should have, and letting me take care of Gia?"
"Who's Gia?" Vera froze, her hand was kind of hanging in the air as her eyes went from looking at me to Elijah quizzically.
"Some new vampire Elijah slept with while I was held captive, tortured for a whole year before my memories were wiped clean," I looked at my sister then bit my lower lip while I looked at Elijah again. I was devastated and the look I gave him proved it. He could see how hurt I was, but it wasn't like he cared anyway. If he did then he wouldn't continue to do it. "If you love her so much, go on and catch up with her. Sure she'll love that."
"Arabella, be reasonable." Elijah could be so vulnerable when it came to me but it was like everything right thing he tried to do, took a hard left and he was paying for his choices. The consequence was I pushed him away.
"Reasonable?! Elijah, you weren't forced to stand in front of me while I shifted into a monster! You did that freely on your own to stop me from killing her!" If Vera lived around people, they would surely hear everything I said. But grateful I was to have had the house built away from people in the Quarter.
"Wait a damn minute." Vera stepped out of the doorway and closed the door.
"Vera, this doesn't concern you." Elijah closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and think about what I was saying. He didn't do that for that reason at all.
"It doesn't concern me? You brought Arabella here, Elijah Mikaelson. This freaking concerns me." Vera's eyes were angered as she stepped in front of me.
"I was just looking out for you, Ara. You had gone so long without shifting, you were changing yourself so that you were safe to be around our daughters and I didn't want you to jeopardize all you worked for. You've gone years without being this person." He tried to ignore Vera and spoke to me only. I wanted to say anything, I just wanted to be silent, but the rage inside of me wouldn't quiet down.
"I didn't shift because it concerned the safety of my daughters. I shifted while I was pregnant with them! I haven't changed in years because I had my picture taken every five seconds so I couldn't expose everyone in my family! Now, find another excuse for why you thought it was okay to stop me?" I could cry for how hurt I was but I should have expected it, it was Elijah. He was meant to hurt me, I guess.
He was quiet when he thought about it. Why did he stop me from killing Gia? Of course, I would think it was because he still had feelings for her, but he would deny it until he was purple in the face. He didn't think it was because of that, he thought it was because Gia was conflicted about something that would cause her to go to great lengths to try and hurt the woman he loved. He was going to find that out on his own and then bring it back to my attention, it had to be deeper than it was. "If you need anything, I'm a phone call away."
"Don't count on it." I dropped my arms and stormed inside the door, leaving it open so that Vera could follow me in. She looked at Elijah for a minute and watched him get in his car and drive away, wondering why I couldn't just drive up alone if I was so upset with him.
Once I heard her close the door, she came into the kitchen and waited for me to grab the glass I was reaching for, her hand was angled differently, pointing toward the front door, still trying to form her question.
"Where's the truck?" Her right eyebrow rose, and the more I thought about all the money I put into it the more I wanted to throw that little twig Gia, into a wall, pummel her into it, and then rip her head off. Like a little boy with his toy truck being smashed under his father's car. That was how I felt, devastation didn't begin to cover it.
"The girl I was studying to kill," I poured a half glass of brandy; since the girls weren't with me and I was stressed, I drank what I poured and then looked at the bottle, remembering what my ex-mother-in-law had done to me. After that, I pushed the glass away. It didn't even matter that she wasn't there to do the same to Vera's drinks. "She and whoever she had with her totaled it with both Elijah and me still inside."
"I would have killed her too," Vera shrugged, she understood because my SUV was nice. She knew that. "So what do you want to do?"
"What can I do? I have no idea where she is, or what her next move is. She was supposed to die when I had the chance. And Elijah ruined it." I pouted as I brought my hand up and rested my chin on it. Alaric made sure someone cleaned it up before anyone could notice, and for that, I was lucky to know him.
"I have ways," She wiggled her eyebrows, and it intrigued my interest. "Go upstairs and get changed. I have a plan."
"All black?" I asked as I playfully rolled my eyes.
"Is there a better color?" She winked and went to pick up the glass I refused to touch. It wasn't going to matter whether or not my lips touched the glass, I was her sister, and she wasn't going to let great brandy go to waste.
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The two of us stepped out of the house wearing nearly the same damn thing, sunglasses included. We turned our heads slowly to look at each other, which didn't last long because we started laughing.
Vera's plan was simple. Make me available for Gia to try and attack me, there was no doubt already that she followed Elijah and me to New Orleans, so all we had to do was find her. Wasn't at all impossible for us, we were lycanthropes. And besides, Vera had people to look into whatever she wanted so she was sure to have some information on Gia in the next hour or so. So we walked, and we smiled at one another, joking as we made our way to Rousseau's, the same bar I gave to Vera, it seemed she didn't do much with it on the outside, but once we were inside, the decor was completely different, and I loved everything about it.
We went straight to the bar and grabbed our glasses, and the two men who worked behind the bar, more or less setting it up because it was a little past noon, had looked at us only because they didn't know Vera had a twin sister. None of the people who worked at Rousseau's were any of the people I hired. So while we sisters, sat across from one another, I was laughing at the idea of Vera being the only female surrounded by nothing but men.
"What're they, all alpha males?" I asked as I brought my shot glass to my lips.
"Mmm," She closed her eyes and winced at how strong the bourbon was, when she brought the glass down she licked her top lip and shook her head lightly. "Not at all, they're loyal and they would do anything to protect me. They do that while I protect them."
"Sounds to me like you've got your very own pack." I shrugged my shoulder and took another sip. It was nice that she adjusted to her new life, she seemed comfortable where she was and I was happy for her, but I couldn't help but think about my own life. She was happy, so why wasn't I?
I didn't know, I was living lavishly, I was making dresses, the only thing I wanted to do, really. And then Elijah woke up and I started to fall apart. I couldn't get the man out of my system but it wasn't like I wanted to. It was like I liked getting hurt by him and that was toxic of me, I shouldn't have been thinking that way. I knew I didn't like it because I didn't like crying, and obviously, I was conflicted by my feelings so I decided I didn't want to feel anything for Elijah, that was why I numbed myself with the bourbon in my glass. When it was gone, I looked at the man behind the bar and pointed lazily at my glass, I wanted a refill. Clearly, we were supposed to be doing something else, but drinking was fine with me too.
... Elijah stood in the middle of the loft that he remembered training Gia in, staring at a window as she found her way down the stairs. When Elijah turned his head, his smile was sweet, it was just enough to have Gia believe he was really happy to see her. He brought his head down and continued to smile as she drew near.
"I didn't think you wanted to see me," she looked around, thinking I was going to pop up around the corner. When she finally realized they were alone she relaxed a little bit. Stupid girl.
"That's preposterous, there is simply nothing more I would rather do than to see you." His smile was authentic but how he was feeling inside was sinister.
"Is that why you stopped her, in the forest back in Mystic Falls? For me?"
"You learned of my intentions quickly." He smiled, looked at her lips, and then focused on her eyes again. It was a great thing I wasn't there to witness it but it worked both ways because Elijah needed to do what he was about to do himself.
"Well, I for one, am loving that you came to your senses." She wrapped her arms around his neck and bit her bottom lip lightly.
"Oh?"
"Oh yeah," She scrunched her eyebrows as she smirked before she inched her face closer to his, she was completely and utterly delusional. "I always knew you two were not good for each other. Others have said it too."
Elijah licked his lips. "What would you suppose we do? Run away to somewhere sunny?"
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Gia shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly. She looked like she was on cloud nine, and Elijah was about ready to wake her up. She released her hold and backed away slowly, looking around as she remembered what it was like to train with him, with his closeness. "First I have to tie up some loose ends here, then we could be on our way."
"And what would those loose ends be?" He blinked slowly and stuck his hands in his pockets, relaxing well enough that Gia wouldn't suspect anything. He wanted her to believe that he had any feelings for her, he was just waiting for the right moment to strike. "I'm sure they wouldn't need to be taken care of right this second."
"Oh, but she does." She walked up to Elijah and kissed his lips softly, almost to see if he would react wrongly to her touching him. Nothing was going to steer him off course for the main reason why he was in that loft alone with her. He was going to do whatever he needed to prove to me that he was on my side. And honestly, that would be enough to get him back on the right track. So Gia pulled back and looked at his lips before having her smile reach her eyes. She interlocked their hands together and pulled him into her, trying to make it comfortable for the both of them. Elijah pulled his face back so that he could look at her, whatever he felt for her years ago, the feeling was gone. "I don't want your ex-wife getting in between what we have."
"Is there anything you would like for me to do?"
"Erm, I think I have it pretty much handled." Her eyes squinted. Making the whole situation a joke, like she was actually able to take me down, the only reason why she was still alive was because Elijah had gotten in my way. Gia wanted to take the initiative in winning Elijah back, and she thought she had succeeded without a second thought.
"That's a relief," He sighed with another smile. "Now there's only one thing left to do."
"Oh, yeah? What is that?" She bit her lip, though it didn't last long because Elijah shoved his hand into her chest and watched as the smile disappeared off her face. He was calm in the midst of it all, watching as she weakened while his hand gripped her heart tightly.
"I honestly thought you were smarter than this," He looked frustrated, mostly by trying to get the feeling of her kissing his lips out of his system, he knew he let it happen just so he could get to where he was, but he knew that I wouldn't like it if he told me. And I wouldn't. Elijah didn't want to fight though like he knew that I would have wanted to, so he strategized and managed to get a hold of her easily. "What made you think, honestly, that I was going to choose you over the woman I love, my wife, the mother of my children?"
Gia was focusing on trying to live, trying to breathe so she wasn't trying to look at Elijah because she was clearly embarrassed for falling into his trap. She should have known better, and she didn't. That was her fault for loving someone like Elijah Mikaelson. When she heard the last part of his sentence, she turned her head slowly because she didn't know Elijah had children with me, thought that would explain why I was always coming from the Boarding School, but like everyone else, everyone assumed I was getting help from witches, using them as a project of some sort. Gia had no idea.
"That's right because you didn't think." He ripped his hand from her chest and brought her heart with it. He dropped her body as she fell freely to the floor, and he thought to drop her heart along with it, but he had a better idea. He pulled his handkerchief out with his clean hand and wrapped the heart inside of it, he didn't bother with cleaning his hand, he could do that later, he had to look for me and so he went on his way to do so.
When Elijah found me, I was behind the bar, insanely buzzed, singing awfully to songs that I didn't know the lyrics to. I was having a moment, and I didn't want it ruined by Elijah walking up behind me.
The only people in the bar at the time were the werewolf bartenders who kept a wary eye on Elijah, but also minded their own business, Vera who was in the back office on the phone, letting me do whatever I wanted, then Elijah. It was around two or three, which was incredibly early for the bar to even be open but that's what happened when I was the previous owner and the current owner was my older sister.
I turned on the bar stool as my eyes landed on Elijah, the happy feeling I was experiencing went away as soon as our eyes met. I swayed while looking down at his hands, the white cloth that had his initials embroidered on the end in one corner was bloody, and something dead was inside of it, and obviously, I didn't know what it was. Or I did, I was just too loopy to figure it out.
He unwrapped his handkerchief and didn't say anything, when I saw that it was a heart, I was happy because I was hungry for ripping a vampire's heart out, but that didn't mean that I was so easily going to forgive him. I wasn't that foolish.
"What am I looking at Elijah?" I swayed a little bit. I turned to grab my glass and of course, there was nothing in it, so I nodded my head to the bartender and raised the glass, and all he brought me was a glass of ice water, which was probably for the best. It wasn't like I was going out once night fell. Vera orchestrated that, she wanted me to get my mind off of Elijah and he was standing in front of me, so I assumed there went one of our plans going right down the gutter.
"Gia's heart." He didn't move his eyes away from me, he didn't smile, he didn't shift on his feet. He was looking me square in my eyes, and he waited for me to take it from him. "I wanted to prove to you that I am serious about us, so I killed her."
"You killed her?" My eyes glassed over, it wasn't sad to hear, I wasn't angry, it was just hard to believe. My eyes narrowed as I took the heart from his hand and brought it to eye level. I didn't hesitate to bite into it either, it was still hot. He just ripped it out. I couldn't help but look at him again just as my eyes started to glow and just as my canines came down. He didn't flinch, but he was turned on. I brought the heart to my lips and bit into it again, the blood slowly rolled down my chin, and I nodded to how sweet it tasted. Elijah couldn't contain himself, because he stepped forward and wrapped his hands in my hair, and pulled me in to kiss him. He didn't care about the blood that also touched his chin. He kissed me with so much passion that he was actually getting worked up, the black veins under his eyes were slowly appearing as he wanted me hungrily, but something felt off. Something wasn't right with the way he was kissing me. So I stopped, and I didn't care if I was turned on and ready to mount him to a freaking wall. Either way, it didn't feel right, so I stopped and took a step back. "Thanks, but it doesn't mean I forgive you for stopping me."
"I understand," He nodded, clearly disappointed. But out of every person I knew, he would always be the most understanding. He knew it was going to take a while but at least he was on the right path. He knew what he had to do next, and the way he went about it meant that he had to leave that very second so he could do what he needed to do. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have something to take care of."
"Okay," I inhaled, trying to get my head to stop spinning, he caught me off guard when he planted one last kiss on my lips before turning around and leaving, which left my heart fluttering up into my throat.
"What was that about?" Vera watched Elijah leave and shot her eyebrow up at me.
"He brought me Gia's heart." I looked at her for a second then took another bite out of it. It was a nice gesture, but I really wanted to rip it out myself.
" How romantic." She didn't mean that. "So you forgive him?"
"Yes, and no." I pursed my lips, and I shrugged my left shoulder. "Are we still on for tonight?"
"Of course, Rebekah and Freya said they'll meet us at the house."
"Perfect." My eyes flashed a bright red as a sly smirk arose on my lips. Like Elijah, I had some things to take care of also, and that required seeing my brothers. So I sat down my glass of water and I touched my sister's forearm before I left out of the bar. I swayed a little bit, and it would only last for a little while longer when I would be back to normal and sober, being drunk no longer lasted long for me, and sometimes that was good, other times it was bad. By the time I went to the place Kol told me to meet him at, I was somewhat sober. Where he told me to meet him made a lump form in my throat because the one thing that popped into my head was marriage, and even that didn't seem to last in the twenty-first century. Or this family.
So when I saw him waiting for me, ten minutes later, he looked happy to see me and I looked like he was clearly making a huge mistake. I gave him a tight smile and pulled him into a hug. I loved my brother, but his love for Davina was completely delusional, and as much as I wanted to be happy for him, I wished he would have chosen someone who wasn't a backstabber and tried to kill everyone in his family at some point. He probably didn't see anything wrong with it because, at some point in time, his brother continuously shoved daggers into him, he was locked in boxes for hundreds of years at a time, and no one came to his rescue when the opportunity was in hand. So I get why he felt the need to want to be with someone like Davina, for once, besides me, she was the only one who wanted to do everything to protect him.
"I hope you've been well." I pulled away and waited for him to wrap his arm around my shoulders, and once he did, we walked into the building together.
"I'm just happy you agreed to do this with me." The store felt familiar to me even if I never stepped foot inside it before. I looked to my left as soon as the door closed behind me, then smiled up at Kol when he held my hand to calm my mind. The simple idea of Kol wanting to marry the girl made me sad because I wanted that to be me, not precisely to Kol but in the general sense. I wanted a healthy marriage, I wanted happiness, I wanted to be with the love of my life, and at the end of the day, I was still alone. I wanted the most for Kol, I knew that he would be able to find love one day because he deserved it, even with his past. I wanted him to have a chance, just like the rest of us. So I didn't make anything about me, I was just there for support, whatever he wanted to do.
"Hello, what can I do for you love birds?" The man behind the glass counter looked like he could be the owner, and by the sound of his accent, he definitely had been born and raised in New Orleans.
"Love birds, we are not. But once upon a century, I imagined it a time or two." Kol joked and winked at me, at the same time I nudged him with my elbow and looked at the owner as I rolled my eyes.
"I'm his sister-in-law, and this brother of mine wants to find a beautiful stone for his girlfriend." As much as I didn't want to call Davina that, she was in fact the love of his life and I wasn't going to make him feel bad for loving her. I wasn't the woman to do that to one of the most precious people in my life, if he wanted me by his side then that was what I was going to do.
"Well, I can certainly help you with that. Is there something you had in mind?" The old man leaned on the glass and looked up and down at the various choices.
"Some-." Kol wanted to start to explain what he was looking for, but I wouldn't let him.
"We want t a big stone. Charge it to Arabella Mikaelson." I pulled the small wallet I had in my back pocket and handed him my platinum card.
"Like the designer? Okay. Follow me this way." He shrugged his shoulder and went off to the section where more expensive rings rested.
"I thought you said you didn't like Davina?" Kol lowered his eyebrows and only moved his eyes to look at me, to make it seem like he wasn't at all worried about what I was doing.
"I despise the girl, but she makes you happy. So I can suck it up." I rolled my eyes again and looked forward, I didn't want Kol worrying about things he didn't need to worry about. "For a century or two."
"But you don't have to pay for it, I could've just compelled the old man." He started walking, and before he could go down to the counter, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. The way I looked at him, I knew he wasn't a stupid man, so I didn't know why that just came out of his mouth.
"Davina would not have liked you to compel a man for a diamond, think smart, not hard." I reminded him and then pushed him forward a little bit before meeting with the man again. We looked down at all of the choices there were available for us. I looked at some really pretty ones, and like the one that I had in my jewelry box back in Beacon Hills, it resembled a lot I was seeing inside the glass cases. But it didn't matter because we weren't shopping for me, we were shopping for Davina so that was why my eyes scanned across the diamonds slowly. Davina probably wouldn't have wanted something flashy, but Kol would beg to differ, he wanted to show her how much he loved her, and he was going to pick out the most perfect one just for her.
Kol was asking questions, and I was still looking, and for a minute I wasn't having luck with looking for a specific stone until I came across one that I knew even Davina would like. My index finger tapped on the glass to grab the man's attention. When he looked at me, he smiled and opened up the glass case. He pulled the ring out and sat it down between Kol and I. Kol looked at me, and I smiled because I knew that he would like it.
"What do you think?" I bit my lower lip. He was turning the ring over in his fingers, and then he handed it back to me to see what I really thought about it.
"Try it on, I have to see how it looks on you."
"Absolutely not Kol Mikaelson!" I exclaimed happily. But when he didn't let up, I gave in and took the ring slowly. I placed the ring on my finger and raised it, examined it, and then looked at my brother. "Okay, this ring is perfect."
"How long have you been married?" The man asked me happily.
"I'm not married anymore, I've been divorced from his brother for about seven years now." I seemed too happy when I said it, but as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I regretted it.
"You're not planning on giving him another chance, are you?"
"We'll take it, with your prettiest box." I nodded my head, trying to ignore Kol's question. I didn't want to answer it, I didn't even want to think about it, and I didn't care if that viewed me as being stubborn but I deserved to have a moment to think about exactly what I wanted. Too many times had I been lenient to Elijah's wants and needs, and for once I was happy that we weren't together. I knew that he was trying his damnedest to have me back in his life, but how long would it have been again before he started putting others before me, going behind my back, then deciding he didn't want me anymore? It was a game I no longer wanted to be a part of, I was just keeping my mind open to what I wanted, and I didn't care who I had to hurt in the process.
The old man nodded his head and went to look for what I asked. I didn't say anything for a minute, and for the most part, Kol didn't say anything either, he just looked at me like it was something that would kill me in the long run because he knew how much I loved his brother, and I would die loving him. But I refused to live out the remainder of my life rolling over for Elijah and just accepting that he would never change his life for me the same way I had for him, that could never be negotiated.
"Fine. I will not pry, but at least answer me this." He took all the time he had before the old man came back. He turned his body toward me and placed his hands on both of my shoulders.
"What is it, Kol?" I sighed and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I waited expectedly so that he could tell me what was on his mind.
"Are you in love with Elijah?"
"I am, I am also tired of being dragged through the dirt." I shrugged my way out of his grip and attempted to clear my head. I thought I wouldn't have to have a conversation about Elijah when I was with Kol, guess I was wrong. Though Kol was just trying to catch up. "Listen, it was love at first sight when I met Elijah. Every time I see him, I have the same feeling over and over again. My feelings have never changed but now it's my turn to figure out whether or not I want to be with a man who thinks he can flip his feelings switch every time he feels like it."
"I get it. And I understand. I just want you to know the two of you will always find a way to work this out." He placed a hand on my shoulder, and I felt comforted even when I didn't want to be.
"Right," I smiled just as the old man started to make his way up to the counter again with receipts, my card, a bag with cleaning equipment, and the ring inside. He handed the bag to Kol, and the card with receipts to me.
"Are you sure you want to pay the entire amount in full?" The old man looked at the receipt, he knew the price of his jewelry but it was rare when a woman paid for it in full.
"Of course I do, it's not every day my younger brother decides to propose to a girl." I lit up and signed the receipt and handed the written copy right back to him.
"Well then I wish you the very best young man," He turned and looked at Kol, who just smirked at the thought of being called young. Then the old man looked at me again. "And I hope you find what you're looking for."
"I appreciate it." I nodded my head as a sense of goodbye and then I turned around and walked out the door. Once we were outside I smiled and gave Kol another hug, not wanting to talk about anything else.
"You don't want to go see Bekah? I know she's been dying to see you." Kol tried to persuade me to go with him, but I still didn't want to see Hayley. In due time I would face her again when I wasn't so angry. For now, I wished to remain in a good mood.
"We already talked about it, we're having a girl's night tonight so I'm going to see her anyway." I returned my card to my small wallet and replaced it in my pocket.
"Alright, well thank you for everything." Kol wasn't sure how he would be able to repay me, I could see it written all over his face, but he didn't have to. I loved him, and his happiness was important to me. That was something that couldn't be repaid.
"You don't have to thank me for anything, all I know is that she is going to love it." My smile was light, and as much as I was happy for Kol, I was saddened by the thought that that could never be me again. Elijah proposed to me twice, the first time it was arranged because it was a thousand years ago and my father was probably compelled at the time or he truly believed I was Vera at some point. The second time he did it on his own accord and still managed to destroy me. Alaric proposed to me in Cannes, in the one place that haunted me, and he did everything in his power to show me that even though I had been through many trials and tribulations within those castle walls, a warrior came from it. A beautiful, strong-willed woman, and resilient rose from among the ashes. And even when we didn't work out he never failed to let me forget it.
So maybe marriage was something different back then but one thing I did know for sure, it might not have been meant for me. After all, the universe was trying to make sure love didn't happen for me.
"But you know I love you, right?" He made me snap out of my inner thoughts. I smiled to make sure he thought I was paying attention.
"Always and forever," I answered. It worked for everything, just not for Elijah and I.
"Always and forever." He kissed my forehead and left to go and make plans somewhere. It was sweet to see him so in love, now if only Niklaus could do the same for Vera then my day would have been slightly better. Freya wasn't really seeing anyone and Rebekah thought none of us knew she was sneaking off to see Marcel, but whatever made her happy was okay with me. It should have been okay with all of us.
I took another deep breath in and decided to go to one more place else before going back to Vera's to get ready. I didn't ask Elijah the details of killing his past lover, but I did have an idea of where he could have killed her, and it would be the very place he went to get to know her. So my body led me to the loft.
Once inside the building, Josh and Marcel looked at me walking down the stairs, and the person I saw lying lifeless on the floor in between them was Gia, I knew Marcel was going to blame me first. But he was also going to ask what I was doing in the city because he didn't even know I was there for the last several hours.
"I really wished I had the pleasure of tearing her throat out. I was looking forward to it." I looked down, and then up, clearly not taking her death seriously. My smirk proved that. At least I didn't mess up my outfit, it would have been a shame to waste it on her.
"Do you know who did this?" Marcel asked, he already had thoughts, thoughts that it was still me who had done it, but he could already tell that it wasn't as I raised my right eyebrow.
"Not a clue, but I can't say she didn't have it coming to her. She did attack me back in Mystic Falls when I dropped the girls back off at school." I shrugged my shoulder while walking around her corpse.
"Do you think it was Elijah?" Marcel narrowed his eyes while Josh minded his own business because he knew very well Elijah was in the Quarter and the fact that Marcel didn't know, made him careless, maybe because he thought his threat held true to the Mikaelson family but it didn't. It honestly didn't.
"Doubt it, I heard he was in France." I shrugged my shoulder like I didn't give a damn what he was doing. My lying had gotten so bad, everyone started to believe every word I said. Marcel knew Elijah wouldn't be able to resist the place he loved so much, so he decided to believe me, but only because he was my friend. If he found out I was lying then he wouldn't trust me anymore, so all I had to do was make sure that Marcel never found out.
"I knew she had enemies," Josh lied, not looking at me so that Marcel wouldn't think anything of it either. "Someone was going to come after her eventually."
"I suppose you're right. Right now we have to get rid of her body. Josh, you can help me." Marcel adjusted his jeans before he bent down and prepared to pick her up, completely ignoring the fact that her heart was missing. Plenty of people started using that technique long after we were all gone, so there was no telling who could have done it.
"Always." Josh perked up even when he didn't want to help. He didn't want anything to do with disposing of dead vampires because it always reminded him that he could always be next and he wasn't ready to die permanently.
"You came to see me?" Marcel continued to talk to me, and for a second I forgot that I only came to the loft so that could see if she was actually here, and since she was, I had to come up with another reason why I was there. So I convinced myself I would come and speak with him.
"I was told you wanted to see me?" I looked confused, trying to play it off. He stopped and looked up from moving Gia, he stood straight before rubbing his hands on his pants. He squinted as he thought about what he could have wanted to see her about, and then it dawned on him.
"I did want to talk to you about who helped Niklaus escape, but I doubt you had something to do with that either." He stopped and looked to see how I would react.
"And you would be right. I wasn't even in town when that happened." I kept my eye contact with him, if I looked him in the eyes he automatically assumed I was telling the truth.
"So you and two powerful young witches, were not in the Quarter, at all?" He was allowing me to come clean and I took the opportunity to not tell the truth.
"Wouldn't lie to you, Marcellus." I lied perfectly as I turned to the body and smirked at it again. I was excited that Elijah had killed her, sure I wanted to do it myself, but this was better. "Now is there something else you need from me? The girls and I are going out tonight and I need to get ready."
"Girls? As in who? You know there are people here who don't like you." He wasn't joking and I was aware of the people who hated me with a burning passion. I would never validate their feelings.
"Ha, you're hilarious. I'm talking about Vera, Freya, and Rebekah." I started walking, mainly to get out of his way as he went back to getting Gia off the floor.
"Well have a good time, god knows you need the break." Marcel dropped the idea that I was behind Gia's death, or behind freeing Niklaus when I was supposed to, he definitely didn't believe Elijah wasn't in the Quarter, and if he wanted to look for himself, that was up to him. But I wasn't going to bother with it because it wasn't my business. I did need the break, and I wanted to have a good time, so I only tried to remain in a good mood until then.
"I'm glad you see it that way." I rolled my eyes playfully and walked with them, I still wasn't going to help him though, she was trash to me, and I didn't touch such things.
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I was ready to go. Technically I was the last one to be ready but I was still ready. Rebekah was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs and laced her arm around mine as we walked to the door.
"You want to tell me what happened with Marcel today?" She asked and all I did was smirk. I knew she would find out quickly, but I was still impressed.
"Elijah killed Gia and left her in Marcel's old loft. I went to the loft, like an idiot to see if he actually did." I laughed.
"You didn't believe him?" He lowered her eyebrows. Even to her, that didn't sound like something I would do.
"Nope, I don't trust him either." I was honest, and Rebekah wasn't surprised. Elijah had messed up more times than he would care to admit to, it was nice to see him work to get it all back.
"You think you're being a little harsh on my brother?"
"Your brother is the reason I can't move on and love anyone else. So, I love you but no. I don't think I'm being harsh at all."
"I see why you need the night out." Vera walked behind us and laughed at me. She could already tell that I was annoyed. I did need to get out, but wondering if it was going to help was beyond me.
"Can we go, I need something strong to drink, just to get over today." I laughed and opened the front door to see Niklaus, Elijah, and Kol looking at the rest of us. Instantly my face fell, and Niklaus was the first brother to say something about it.
"And where- prey-tell- do you lot think you're going?"
"Out," Freya popped her up, she was ready to have at least one night of fun and she wasn't going to let her younger brothers ruin it for her. "And none of you are ruining it. Now shoo."
"I don't think so." Niklaus had his hands behind his back when he took the small step to get into the house. I rolled my eyes and stepped aside. I thought we were at least going to get the opportunity to at least get to the party without them showing up to put a damper on our moods like big brothers, sisters, and lovers do.
Elijah noticed what I had done when he stepped into the house as well. He didn't look at anyone else as he had his eyes locked on me even if I didn't want to meet his contact. He was great at reading me and I hated that, I didn't want to be read like some book, I wanted to have a night out where he wasn't hovering over me like a child. "You look stunning."
"Thanks." It came out slow and my eyes looked up at him even slower. We were watching each other, and it didn't end until my sister stepped in between us and walked me through the door.
"We would love to stay and chat, but it is girls' night so we must be going. Help yourselves to the food and booze and we will see you all later." We all made it out of the house and Vera closed the door behind her. She looked satisfied with how she handled herself. She could have easily faltered and decided not to go out, or hang out with Niklaus again. She had to be strong too, she had to realize that if Niklaus wanted to be with her then he would have already said something. He didn't say a word.
We all walked down to the end of the driveway, the same time a black SUV pulled up. Instantly I knew it was Vera's guys because of the way they rolled the window down and nodded their heads at her. She returned their nod with one of her own, Rebekah threw one door open and we all piled in together, then we were all on our way, far away so that none of the Mikaelson men could find us.
We laughed and joked about the night we were going to have but all I wanted to do was drink and dance with my sisters. I wanted to listen to good music and not turn my head over my shoulder every five seconds and find Elijah there.
Once inside the club, I looked around and saw so many people either dancing or drinking or even talking to others. And all I wanted to do was the first two. So first thing was first, I needed a drink before I started dancing, that was how I was starting my night out. It wasn't long before Bex and Freya made a beeline behind me.
The bartender wasn't bad-looking, the guys that sat at one end of the bar weren't so bad either. But my mission wasn't to leave with someone, it was to just have a night to myself and to have fun with my sisters. I was a mom first before I was a designer and lately, that was all I had become, so now the girls were back in school and since I was already finished with my current client's dress, I didn't really have much to worry about.
After about twenty minutes of drinking and talking about my daily life after the girls were back in school, after explaining who I was creating my next few dresses for, music started playing that would make me want to get up and start dancing, I definitely had enough shots in my system to make me want to.
It didn't even matter the song, it was just something I heard and wanted to jump around to. As soon as the drinks started to kick in though, the world around me started to slow. It felt good for a minute, and for another second I thought I was drugged again but I was sure that wasn't the case. I did, however, start getting into the music a little too much because once I turned while jumping with Vera, I felt like someone was watching me so I turned and watched as Niklaus, Elijah, and Kol were staring at us having a good time.
Elijah had a devilish smirk on his face when Vera showed up next to me. Not as drunk as I was but close enough to be starstruck by Niklaus as they both approached us slowly. Kol went off to get him a drink because it was clear that Davina wasn't welcome on our night out. Eventually, I would talk with the girl to smooth things over for the sake of my brother and best friend. But I had other things in mind. Like why I was so intrigued with how Elijah was coming toward me.
Elijah rested his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me closer so that he could kiss me. I smiled but only because it made me feel giddy. His lips felt amazing on mine and the second I brought my arms up to touch him, I was coming down from what felt like a high as his smooth hand went directly into my chest causing me to freeze. The feeling was familiar and this time I felt warm instead of cold.
I snapped out of whatever dream state I was in and watched as the man I thought was Elijah turned into someone completely foreign. The man holding me was someone I had never seen before. I looked around the room and it was no longer a club, there were no longer people there, and my sisters were nowhere in sight. Why Vera wasn't with me and why I was singled out, I would never know, but I felt like I couldn't breathe. And this time it was different. Tristan ripped out my heart and that was the end of it, the stranger holding my heart now wanted to take his time and I could tell that he wouldn't end my life knowing that I would just come back and try to kill him myself. He was going to let me know just who he was. And take his time doing it.
"Do you not know who I am?" He asked as a maniacal laugh escaped his throat. Nothing was coming to mind for me. I searched his face as I awaited a temporary death because even if I didn't know him, he knew me and it royally pissed him off if he was so successful in getting me alone, having me believe that I was going out with my sisters, which also meant that he had greater knowledge of who I was and what it meant to get my barriers down with magic. He knew something I didn't and as much as I was going to get my hands around his throat when I came back to life, I wanted to know what his plans were, all villains like me always spoke their plans of domination out loud. "That's not a way to say hello to your uncle."
My eyes flashed quickly but it didn't really help because the man behind me snapped my neck like a pixie stick, which made my head fall limp. The man claiming to be my uncle dropped me like I was nothing, and I probably was to him, I didn't know who he was, and if I had to guess he was just like Vera and I. He had to be, the second before my neck was snapped, his eyes changed the same time mine did, and then blackness surrounded me.\
Little did I know, the man who snapped my neck shared the same face as the man who claimed to be my uncle. They looked at one another before they smirked down at me. They walked away and waited to see if someone was going to come for me. It wouldn't be for a while and the only thing I wanted to know when I woke up, was how they managed to separate me from everyone else so effortlessly. I wanted to know whose magic was strong enough to form things inside my head when the very Esther Mikaelson couldn't do it.
There were so many things I wanted to know, and I wasn't going to get any answers. I had to wake up first. That was the first step to really knowing why someone who would have been considered family, would want to attack me when it was clear for so long that it was only Vera and I. What wasn't I understanding?
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Word Count: 8,678