As soon as the head of her victim had rolled off of his shoulders, Annabelle couldn't help but sigh to herself, while droplets of the young man's blood fell from the corners of her mouth and onto the new outfit that she was given by Klaus.
After spending almost three-hundred years of her life not killing anyone, it was a great relief to Annabelle that the mere sight of a victim's head rolling off of their shoulders was still as pleasurable to her now as it was in 1718.
As a matter of fact, it was so pleasurable to her that she was about to find herself another victim to try and satiate her constant hunger for human blood, only to stop when she heard a voice say from behind her, "I should've known that you'd be behind the piles of headless bodies that have been found throughout the town square."
Annabelle smiled as she turned around and looked up at her twin brother before she said, "Kol."
Kol also smiled before he sped towards her and quickly wrapped his arms around Annabelle.
Annabelle laughed as she wrapped her own arms around him before she said to him, "You have no idea how good it is that I can actually see you again, undaggered. It's been far too long since the both of us have actually been undaggered and could actually talk to each other."
As he pulled away from her, Kol replied, "It really has." After eyeing the pile of headless bodies that lied behind her, he said to her, "Well, Mother surely isn't going to be happy about what you're doing."
With a scoff, she replied, "She has hardly ever been happy about what I've done since we were children. Why should anything change now?"
Kol raised his eyebrows before he said to her, "That's fair enough, I suppose. Now, come on. I've found another group of people that you could kill."
She clasped her hands together as a bloodthirsty grin started to make its way onto her face before she said to him, "Lead the way then, brother."
Kol nodded his head before he sped away from the side street with Annabelle close behind him.
* * *
After managing to find a way to clean the blood off of her and getting herself dressed into some new clothes, Annabelle was downstairs and sitting beside Rebekah as she eyed the compelled woman that was putting nail polish on her fingernails.
While Rebekah repeatedly reassured Annabelle that the woman was only painting her nails and doing nothing more, Finn was being fitted for his shoes and Elijah had his hand shoved into his own shoe.
Kol, on the other hand, was standing in front of a mirror, while a man fixed the back of his suit.
After watching Annabelle scrunch her nose as she slowly leaned away from the woman that was trying to paint her fingernails through the mirror that he was staring into, Kol said, "Rebekah, tell me how handsome I am."
Rebekah replied, "Ah, Kol, you know I can't be compelled."
Finn only eyed his younger siblings with a smirk on his face, just as Klaus quickly entered the room with a door slamming against a wall before he asked Rebekah, "You went after Elena? What is wrong with you?"
While Annabelle looked away from the woman that was painting her nails and looked between Klaus and Rebekah, Rebekah smiled to herself as she said, "Here we go."
Klaus asked Rebekah, "Do you want another dagger in your heart?"
Then Kol asked Klaus, "Again with the dagger threats? Don't you have any other tricks?"
Klaus turned to Kol and said after he eyed him, "Oh, go back to staring at yourself."
After Klaus turned his back on Kol, Kol replied, "And who are you, my father?"
Klaus turned to look back at Kol as he said, "No, Kol, but you're in my house."
Kol stood up and started to walk towards Klaus as he said, "Then perhaps we should go outside."
Annabelle slowly tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as she stared at Klaus and waited to see what would happen, only to quickly look away from Klaus when their mother entered the room and yelled, "Enough! Niklaus, come."
While Klaus walked after their mother, Annabelle only chuckled to herself and Kol slowly turned around and smirked after their brother.
Rebekah, Elijah and Finn only shared a glance, but didn't bother to say anything about the matter.
* * *
While Annabelle walked with Rebekah towards the Mystic Grill, she couldn't help but eye the people that they walked past and openly stare at their necks in the process.
While ignoring Rebekah's constant reminders of their mother not wanting any of them to harm the locals, Annabelle said to her, "Remind me again why you wanted me to join you? I don't really see the point in me coming along with you, if it means that I can't tear into anyone's throat."
Rebekah replied, "Because, Annabelle, I need to find myself a date to the ball and you need to find one for yourself as well."
With a scoff, Annabelle said, "A date that I can't even kill by the end of the night." When Rebekah only sighed in response to Annabelle's words, Annabelle asked her, "What's the point in me even getting myself a date to this ball? We all know what I'm like when it comes to humans. I always end up ripping out their throats, even when I don't mean to. So what makes you think that someone's throat won't end up being ripped out by the end of the night?"
Rebekah replied, "Because Mother doesn't want you to. She wants us to be at peace with the locals here."
With a scoff, Annabelle asked her, "And why should I give a damn about what she wants? There have been many things in my life that I have wanted but I never got, so why should I give her what she wants? Why shouldn't I just spite her for the sake of her failure as a mother?"
Rebekah said to her, "Her failure as a mother? She was a mother to all of us. How could she have even been a failure to any of us?"
Annabelle replied, "You forget, Rebekah. While she was a mother to the rest of you, she never was one to me. As far as I'm concerned, the bloody bitch could be killed again and I'd be fine with it. After all, we've spent over a thousand years without her. I don't see the point in her returning to us now after all this time."
Rebekah opened her mouth to respond, only to stop when she heard a voice say from inside of the Mystic Grill, "Elena, when you and Matt kissed for the first time freshman year, you called me the second it happened. And I don't hear about this until now? And from somebody else?"
While they entered the Mystic Grill, another voice was heard saying, "I'm sorry. It's just I-I don't even know how I feel about it yet. All I do know is that... just used to be so much easier."
It was then that Rebekah said as she and Annabelle walked closer to the table, "Careful, Caroline. It's all well and good till she stabs you in the back."
The brunette turned to Rebekah and asked her, "What are you doing here? I know your mom's rules. No murdering the locals."
Annabelle only tilted her head as she narrowed her eyes at the brunette, which made Caroline eye her, while Rebekah replied, "Get over yourself, Elena. It's not all about you."
Annabelle chuckled to herself and went to follow Rebekah, only to stop when Caroline asked her, "And who the hell are you?"
Annabelle sighed before she turned to look at Caroline as she replied, "Well, I don't see how that's any of your concern."
Caroline retorted, "Well, it's my concern when you're hanging around Rebekah. For all I know, you're just someone she compelled into being her friend."
Annabelle chuckled to herself as she said, "You know, she did mention that you could be a bit of a bitch, depending on the situation, of course. You seem to have no fear about what would happen if you angered any of us."
Caroline's eyebrows furrowed as she eyed Annabelle before she looked over at Elena, who said, "Oh, my God. You're Rebekah's sister, aren't you?"
Annabelle sighed as she turned to look at Elena before she said, "Oh, well, would you look at that? The walking blood bag actually got something right. I have to say, I'm impressed. Not many people have guessed correctly about me."
Caroline opened her mouth to respond, only to stop when she looked past Annabelle and saw Rebekah handing an invitation over to Matt Donovan before she said to herself, "Oh, my God. She's inviting him to the ball."
Annabelle slowly turned her head to see what Rebekah was doing before she chuckled to herself and walked away from their table, while Caroline asked Elena, "Why is she inviting him?"
Elena replied, "Probably to get this reaction from us."
Caroline scoffed as she looked over at them before she looked back at Elena and asked her, "What time is this stupid dance?"
Annabelle chuckled to herself as she shook her head before she said, "Good job, little sister. You managed to get them all worked up."
Rebekah only glanced over at Annabelle, who raised a glass of scotch towards Rebekah with a smirk on her face.
* * *
After greeting a couple of people and walking around to see who else they could greet, Kol asked Annabelle, "So where's your date?"
With a scoff, Annabelle replied, "How the bloody hell should I know? I haven't seen him once since this lot arrived. For all I know, he was probably one of the humans that I killed before I came back here." When Kol raised an eyebrow at her, she said to him, "It's not like it matters, anyway. He would've been dead by night's end, anyways."
Kol chuckled to himself before he said to her, "You're not wrong. Between you and the rest of our siblings, you are the one that has the least amount of control over your bloodlust."
She replied, "And for good reason."
He sighed before he said to her, "Annabelle, please don't let her get to you now. Not after all the things that you've done ever since we were turned."
Annabelle only turned her head away from him, which made Kol sigh to himself.
He was about to say something more to her, only to stop when he heard a voice ask, "Hanging out with your new besties?"
It was then that another voice was heard saying, "I'm the Mayor, Damon. When the oldest, deadliest family of vampires moves into your town, you welcome them with a smile."
Kol glanced over at Annabelle and saw that her eyes were narrowed as she stared at Damon with her head tilted to the side.
He only looked away from her when he heard Damon reply, "Well, at least you know who you're borrowing that cup of sugar from."
The mayor told him, "I'm trying to protect this town. They've assured me they want peace, and I've assured them that I'd enforce it."
It was then that Damon and the mayor turned their heads when they heard Kol say, "Mayor Lockwood."
As soon as they stopped in front of the eldest Salvatore brother and the mayor, Kol grabbed her hand and said before he kissed the back of it, "We haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson." Then he gestured towards Annabelle and said, "And this is my sister Annabelle."
Annabelle only nodded her head at Mayor Lockwood with a smile plastered on her face, while Kol said, "I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it."
Annabelle and Kol only looked away from Mayor Lockwood when Damon said as he held a hand out to Kol, "Damon Salvatore. Have we met?"
Kol looked back at Mayor Lockwood and told her before he looked over at Damon, "I've met a lot of people, and you don't particularly stand out."
Annabelle only chuckled to herself as she followed Kol, but not before she smirked at Damon, while she walked past him.
* * *
Annabelle was in the middle of talking to Kol about her belief of the amount of people that she could kill before their mother noticed, only to stop when she saw a vaguely familiar face walking towards her.
She tilted her head and eyed the young man that was walking towards her before she said to Kol, "Turns out I was wrong, after all. He's still alive. That's unfortunate."
Kol slowly turned his head and looked over at the man that was walking towards Annabelle as he wrung his hands together before Kol said to her, "Knowing you, it won't be long till his headless body is found somewhere."
She chuckled as she said to him, "I can't wait."
Kol turned to look back at Annabelle as he said to her, "You know how Mother would feel about it. She wouldn't approve."
She replied, "It wouldn't be the first time that she hasn't approved of what I've done. What's one more chance of disappointing her going to do?"
Kol also chuckled before he nodded his head and said to her, "Very well. Do what you wish, sister. I won't stop you."
She smiled as she looked back at Kol and said to him, "I know you won't. That's one of the many reasons of why you're my favorite out of all our siblings."
Kol only smirked to himself in response.
She was about to say something more to him, only to stop when her date for the ball had stopped in front of her.
She turned to look at her date and said to him, "And here I thought that you weren't going to make it."
Her date opened his mouth to reply to her comment.
However, the only thing that she could hear from him was the sound of his heartbeat as it increased with each word that left his mouth.
She wasn't even aware that her gaze slowly went towards his neck until Kol discreetly shoved his elbow into her side.
She blinked and then saw just how wide her date's eyes were and the way that his face started to redden as he started to wring his hands together once more before she said to him, "My apologies. What were you saying?"
His eyes became even wider before he replied, "O-Oh, nothing, I guess. S-Sorry for wasting your time."
She only slightly raised her head at him and watched as he quickly turned his back on her and walked off.
Once he was gone, she turned to look at Kol as she sighed to herself before she said to him, "This is why I don't have someone as my date unless they're someone that I've picked myself."
Kol simply chuckled to himself before he opened his mouth to respond, only to stop when he heard Elijah say from the staircase, "Uh, if everyone could gather, please."
Annabelle and Kol shared a glance before Kol gestured his hand forward and Annabelle started to walk towards the staircase with Kol close behind her.
It was only when they'd gotten onto the staircase and stared down at those that gathered that Elijah said to those that were attending the ball, "Welcome. Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance."
Annabelle could only force herself not to clench her hands into fists or slightly move further away from Esther, while Elijah said, "Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."
As soon as Elijah went back down the stairs with his other siblings to follow, Annabelle quickly grabbed Kol by his arm and sighed before she said to him, "I don't think that the others have any idea of just how much I'd like to rip out her throat every time she so much as either looks at me or comes anywhere near me."
Kol sighed.
As soon as they had gotten to the bottom of the stairs, he said to her, "Annabelle, you need to calm down. She did all of that when we were human. If she has watched us all ever since her death like she says, then she'll see what harm she's done to you. She won't risk harming you some more."
She also sighed.
Just as she was about to respond, her date came up to her and offered her his arm.
Annabelle only raised an eyebrow at him before she looked over at Kol, who nodded his head at her.
Rather begrudgingly, she accepted his arm and let him lead her towards the ballroom with Kol coming along not even a minute later with his own dance partner.
While waiting for all of the others to enter the ballroom, Annabelle's date asked her, "C-Can I ask you a question?"
Without even looking at him, she replied, "I don't know, are you going to be tripping over your words the whole night?"
His eyes widened before he said to her, "N-No." When she turned to look up at him with a raised eyebrow, he said to her, "I mean, no. Of course not."
When she only sighed in response to his words, he asked her, "Can you blame me, though? You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. How could I not be nervous around you?"
Annabelle practically perked up before she turned to look at him with a smile on her face and said to him, "I am, aren't I?" When he only nodded his head, she looked him over before she said to him, "Perhaps you won't be such bad company tonight, after all."
His eyes widened as he stared at her and saw how she smiled at him.
He was just about to respond, only to stop when he looked around and saw that the other dance partners were getting into place before he looked over at her and saw that she already had her hands held out towards him.
Without trying to make a complete fool of himself, he quickly grabbed her hands and moved in the same beat as the others, which left him completely unaware to the fact that she was listening to his rapid heartbeat, while they stood in line behind her twin brother, Kol.
After taking a couple of more steps forward on beat with everyone else, they all turned to their right and slightly bowed their heads before they stepped forward in the same beat and stood in place with their backs facing the places that they once stood.
After taking another step forward, Annabelle's date spun her around and had her facing him with one hand still clasped into his own and a hand on his left shoulder as they each slightly spun around, while they danced.
While they danced around the room, Annabelle looked around the room and eyed those that danced with her siblings.
The only people that she could recognize were Matt Donovan and Caroline Forbes, who were two people that she met earlier that day when she and Rebekah had gone to the Mystic Grill.
Just as she started to wonder why Klaus and Rebekah were dancing with two of Elena's friends, she suddenly stopped when she felt her date readjust his grip on her hand.
She forced herself not to sigh as she turned to look up at him and unsurprisingly found him staring at her before she asked him, "Are you going to stare at me the whole time or actually say something?"
He blinked before he forced himself to look elsewhere and said to her, "Oh, I'm sorry. I won't do that again."
She chuckled before she said to him, "Will you calm down? I'm just messing around with you."
He quickly looked back at her as he asked her, "Oh, you are?"
When she only nodded her head, he muttered an 'oh' under his breath.
It was then that they all stopped dancing and extended their arms before Annabelle was swung towards another person.
Despite just how much she wished it was one of her siblings, it wasn't.
It was another young man that was openly staring at her chest.
It was because of this that she harshly pushed the heel of her shoe onto his own shoe, which made him groan to himself.
When he quickly looked up at her face with narrowed eyes, she narrowed her own eyes at him as she said to him, "Look down there one more time, and I'll make sure that the next time that the heel of my shoe is pushed against a part of you, it will hurt far more than that."
He scoffed before he said to her, "You wouldn't."
As she tightened her grip on his shoulder, she replied, "Would you like to make a bet on that? Because believe me when I say that you won't win in the end."
As a way to make her point come across even more, she tightened her grip on his shoulder even more, which made him groan to himself when a crack was heard.
Annabelle only smiled to herself, while the man started to swear under his breath.
* * *
While Annabelle walked around the inside of their home as she searched for the man that she had to threaten earlier, Kol asked Rebekah, "Where's your date?"
Rebekah told him, "Flirting with his ex."
As he stared down at his glass, Kol replied, "You've changed, Bekah. You know, settling for mortals is the first sign of weakness."
Rebekah told him, "I'm not settling. I brought him here to kill him."
Kol glanced up from his glass when he heard Annabelle's voice and saw her leading one of the men that she danced with earlier out of the mansion.
He only raised an eyebrow at Annabelle, who simply smirked at him after she looked over at them.
Kol only chuckled to himself before he looked over at Rebekah, who said to him, "He's Elena's friend. If he dies, she suffers. But I've already been scolded once, so I was hoping you'd help your baby sister out."
Kol raised his eyebrows as he asked her, "And spit right in the face of Mother's rules?" Then he slowly turned his head away as a smirk made its way onto his face before he told her, "I'm in."
* * *
After leading Rebekah towards a staircase and moving to stand in front of her, Kol told her, "I'm itching to kill something. What are we waiting for?"
Rebekah replied, "The Mayor cornered me. Give me fifteen minutes to lure Matt outside."
Kol asked her, "Outside? What's wrong with right here on the stairs? Make a spectacle of it."
Rebekah said to him, "You sound like an idiot, Kol. Mother would kill you if you ruined her party. See you outside."
Kol didn't even blink when he heard Annabelle say from behind him, "Well, you sure do sound impatient."
He scoffed before he said to her, "Like you have room to talk. Wasn't it you that would practically beg our siblings to let you do as you wished and go kill whoever you wanted?"
She only scoffed in response.
Kol looked over at her and after he eyed her, he said to her, "You have some blood on your face."
Without even waiting for her to respond, he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off of her face.
As soon as the blood was all gone, she asked him, "What would I do without you?"
He replied, "There's no reason to think of it. You have no reason to worry about that. I'll be here for you, just as I always have been there throughout our lives."
She smiled up at him before she said to him, "And I thank you for that. Now, go, before you lose your chance of killing Matt."
He nodded his head before he walked off and left her to stand by herself in the stairwell.
* * *
Annabelle was standing in place and staring at the necks of those that either walked by or stood near her, only to stop when she glanced to her right and saw that Kol was standing beside her.
It was only then that she asked him, "How was killing Matt? Did you enjoy yourself?"
Kol told her, "It didn't happen. Rebekah brought him back inside at the last minute."
She raised her eyebrows before she said to him, "Well, that's unfortunate, but not unexpected. I mean, after all, with Rebekah's track record for those young men that she wanted to kill in the past but ended up sparing, it comes to no surprise that she chose to spare Matt as well." When he didn't respond, she turned to look at him and said to him, "If it'll make you feel any better, after the ball is over, I'm planning on heading out and finding some more people to kill. You could join me, if you want."
Kol turned to look over at Annabelle and was about to respond, only to stop when he heard the clinking of glass.
Kol and Annabelle both looked away from each other and up towards the staircase where Esther stood before Esther said to them all, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming round with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass." While Annabelle and Kol had each grabbed a glass, Esther said, "It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers."
All but Elena and Elijah raised their glasses and said, "Cheers."
As soon as Annabelle lowered her glass, she looked up to see that Esther was staring right at her.
Annabelle slowly tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as her veins came onto display.
Esther's eyes had widened for a fraction of a second before she smiled down at Annabelle, who only scowled up at her.
Annabelle only looked away from Esther when Kol said her name and brought her over to a secluded place in the room for them to talk.
* * *
Matt was walking around the upstairs and looking around at the architecture inside the house, only to stop when he heard a voice say in a loud whisper, "Matt."
Matt stopped walking and looked out towards the balcony before he slowly walked towards it.
When he looked around and didn't see anyone, he turned around and started to walk back inside, only to stop when Kol said from behind him, "Good evening." After Matt turned around and looked at him, Kol said to him, "You're Rebekah's friend. We haven't met."
Matt eyed Kol's extended hand for a couple of seconds before he walked towards him and held out his own hand as he said, "Matt Donovan."
Kol replied, "Kol Mikaelson."
Then he started to tighten his grip on Matt's hand, which made cracking start to be heard, while Matt fell onto his knees and let out a yell.
Kol only looked away from him when he heard Damon say, "Hey, hey, hey, hey. Easy on the hand. Guy's a quarterback."
When Kol only flared his nose in response, Damon flared his own before he sped towards Kol and threw him off of the balcony.
Not long after that, Damon threw himself over the balcony and landed on Kol before he backhanded him across the face.
As soon as Kol had looked back at him, Damon grabbed the right side of his face and after much struggling, he managed to snap Kol's neck.
It was then that Stefan quickly threw open the front door and left the mansion as he said, "Damon." As soon as Damon stood up and turned to face him, Stefan asked him, "What, are you crazy?"
Then the Mikaelson siblings and Elena also walked out of the front door and saw Kol lying behind Damon.
While Annabelle's three brothers and her sister had remained calm, Annabelle couldn't help but start to shake and tightly clench her hands into fists as she stared down at Kol.
Elena only glanced at Annabelle and slowly stepped away from the shaking Original, while Damon said as he stared right at Elena, "Maybe a little. Far be it from me to cause a problem."
As soon as Damon had turned his back on them and started to walk away, Annabelle let out a yell and sped towards him before she threw him aside and into a nearby tree.
While Elena gasped and Stefan simply stood there and watched them, Annabelle quickly pinned Damon against the tree and was about to shove her hand into his chest, only to stop when her own neck was snapped and she fell onto the ground.
After rubbing his neck and the back of his head, Damon looked up to see that Elijah was standing right in front of him.
Without even saying a word to him, Elijah picked up Annabelle and entered the mansion with her, while Klaus carried Kol inside.
Elena and Stefan looked back at Damon, only to find that he was gone.
Then they looked back in the direction where Annabelle's brothers had gone.
Elena couldn't help but stare at where Damon was nearly killed as she audibly gulped.
Despite not having many interactions with Annabelle since she first saw the Original in the Mystic Grill earlier that day, it was quite clear that Annabelle didn't have the same level of patience that her siblings did.
That alone was enough reason for her to be incredibly wary of the unstable Original.