CHAPTER SIX
their first kiss.
New Orleans, 1864.
ㅡBELLA WAS MORE THAN AWARE OF how naive, irrational, and crazy she was right now.
Her brother killed their own father and turned into vampire, she was more than willing to forget about it and acted like he was still the same person he always be.
Her new friend turned out to be vampire and killed a few people right in front of her eyes, she tried to act like nothing wrong had happened.
How damaged she had to be right now to ignore such a tragedy?
In the blink of eyes, Kol flashed himself in front of Bella. The dark eyes, the black veins around his eyes and the fangs were already gone. But not with the blood all over his jaw. "What are you doing here?" he asked dryly.
Bella gulped and slowly took off her jacket. She tried hard not to tremble as she handed it over to him. "You forgot this."
Kol just took a glance at the jacket, then decided to ignore it. His eyes glued to her face as he questioned, "Why haven't you run?"
"What's the point? You will catch me anyway." Bella didn't know where she got the courage to say that since deep inside she was incredibly terrified by the situation she just got herself into.
He suddenly grabbed her chin and forced her to look straight into his eyes. And when his pupil started to dilate, she knew right away what he was going to do.
"Please don't," she quickly begged, looking pleadingly at him. Her father once told her that vampires were able to control someone's mind through eye contact. If her guess was right, Kol was about to use that ability to make her forget about this. But she didn't want to forget, no matter how scary this was.
Kol frowned and let go of her chin as he realized something. "This isn't your first encounter with vampire, is it?"
Bella looked down and shook her head. "No," she answered in whisper.
He tilted his head to the side, studying her. His smirk suddenly grew when he was pretending to consider. "What am I supposed to do with you now?"
"You can let me go," she suggested and ventured to look at him. Swallowing hard, she realized how naive she sounded when she added, "Friends don't hurt each other."
"You still want to be my friend?" He squinted at her, looking very skeptical.
She shrugged and forced a faint smile. "Why not?"
For a moment, Kol just stared at her. His brown eyes looked straight into her hazel eyes, trying to figure out whether she was telling the truth or not.
Although he realized that she wasn't completely honest, he still decided to let her go. In fact, he even walked her back to make sure she got home safely. There was just something about her... something that made him feel like he would regret it if he killed her right away.
Bella might not completely honest back then but she still kept her words. She didn't tried to avoid Kol or started looking at him like he was a monster, instead she treated him the same way she would treat a friend. And to be honest, it wasn't very easy to do since every time she closed her eyes the memory of how Kol killed those drunken men kept coming back to her. No matter how bad those people were, they still didn't deserve to die like that. But there was nothing she could do to change their fate.
She didn't understand how Kol could easily back to his old self after that, as if he didn't feel guilty at all. Was that a vampires thing to have no remorse at all? If that was the case, did that mean Stefan didn't feel guilty at all after killing their father?
Call her naive or anything, but Bella refused to believe that. And that was why she remained friends with Kol.
She wanted to understand more about them, about vampires. She wanted to be able not be scared around them. She wanted to learn to accept them for who they were so that one day she could do the same to her brothers. If that made her the most naive person ever, she was more than okay with that. Because family meant everything to her.
Lucky for her, Kol was very open about his true kind. He told her many things about vampire including the fact that he and his family were the oldest vampire in the world as people used to refer to them as The Originals. That explained why he often spoke as if he was much older than her. He might look like an 18 year-old, but he actually almost 900 year-old. Bella wouldn't lie, that number kinda freaked her out at first. But she tried hard not to think about it.
"Bella, sweetie, it is so lovely I want to cry," her aunt gasped when she entered her room.
Bella just let out a small chuckle and looked at herself in the front-length mirror. Right now, she was getting ready for the ball at Mikaelson Mansion. Kol asked her to be his date to the ball a few days ago. And even though she already tried to refuse, that guy still insisted for her to come. He even sent a maid (along with a couple set of ball attire) to her house to help her to get ready. It was obvious he was trying to make sure she had no reason not to come.
The Emile Pinget dress she was wearing was indeed breathtaking. The color matched her eyes perfectly. The neckline was so wide that it was nearly an off-the shoulder dress. Though the black lace trimming at the hem of the skirt was simple, the intricacies of the gown laid elsewhere, such as on the bodice and on the ornamentation of the skirt that also includes fringe. Though the volume of skirts was most definitely retained, it was more so in the back than evenly distributed all over, making it so that the front was a bit more flat.
Since her hair had been styled since an hour ago, the only things left were shoes. And just as she found the most suitable shoe, the carriage arrived.
Before leaving, Bella decided to take another look at her reflection in the mirror. Never once in her life had she felt this pretty. And it kinda made her wonder, how would Kol react when he saw her?
"Oh, sweetie, you're so breathtaking. You are definitely will be the belle of the ball. I am sure Mr. Mikaelson has never seen anyone more beautiful. You must remember everything so you can tell me afterward," her aunt ordered as she walked her to the carriage. Her uncle was busy in the restaurant at the time, so it was just her.
She nodded and smiled widely. "Don't worry, Auntie, I will." And as the carriage started to drive away, she waved her goodbye.
On the ride to Mikaelson Mansion, Bella tried to remember all the ball etiquette she had been taught. This might not be her first time attending a ball, but this was certainly the first time she attended a ball where she didn't know anyone except her escort. She wanted to at least make sure she wouldn't embarrass herself.
As they started to enter the yard of the Mikaelson Mansion, Bella began to take a few deep breaths in order to keep herself from getting nervous. And to her luck, she immediately found Kol waiting for her in the entrance. To say the guy was looking good would be an understatement. She literally couldn't think of another guy's name who was more handsome than him. The black and white tux he was wearing fitted him perfectly. Not to mention the haircut.
When she finally got off the carriage, Kol's eyes immediately glued at her. Very slowly, his eyes went up and down along her body with a spark. Bitting her lips, Bella could feel the heat rush to her cheeks as they slowly turned red.
"Hello there," he greeted her. The corner of his mouth curled into a barely noticeable smile.
This was the first time she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. So instead of looking at his face, she just stared at his shoes. But at least she managed to reply, "Hi."
If this was another time, he would definitely tease her for the way she acted. But since she was only there because of him, and she looked like she already nervous enough, he chose to gave her a calming smile instead. Offering his arm to her, he asked, "Ready, beauty?"
Bella looked up to Kol's arm, then to his face. She took a deep breath and smiled back at him. Linking their arms, she nodded and answered, "Ready."
And together, they started walking inside.
ㅡ
NEVER ONCE DID BELLA THINK she would enjoy herself in a room full of strangers. All the worries she felt before went away somewhere. The only thing left was her confident.
After the first dance, Kol introduced her to his brothers. The oldest one, Elijah, asked her to dance just in time when the third dance started. It would be impolite to refuse, so of course she agreed. Soon, they began to engage in a conversation about Shakespeare as they danced together (Kol was the one who told her about what his brothers into).
At the fourth dance, it was the other brother, Niklaus, turned to ask her. Unlike Elijah, Niklaus tried to talk about Kol. At first, he told her about his impression of her, that he thought she was a beautiful, innocent, lovely young lady. And it made him wonder what would make a girl like her want to befriend his little brother, in which she answered by saying that she didn't think Kol was that bad. Her answer somehow made him laugh, and then he replied that she just hasn't met his wild side yet. They were interupted by another guy and Niklaus introduced him as his protégé Marcel Gerard.
Like the Mikaelson boys, Marcel asked her to dance. She was about to refuse since she wanted to check on Kol first, but the guy was no where to be found. She ended up agreeing to the dance, and they started talking about the city as they danced together.
Bella had a strong feeling that just like the Mikaelson, Marcel was also a vampire. And if her guess was right, it meant she'd danced with a vampire four times in a row. And surprisingly, she didn't feel like she'd been dancing with some deadly and dangerous creatures. Instead she felt like she'd been dancing with some good and respectable men.
"Marcel, there you are!" A gorgeous blonde girl suddenly approached them and interrupted. "I've been looking for you everywhere."
"Rebekah!" Marcel's eyes lit with spark when he looked at the girl. "Forgive me, I haven't had time to approach you yet." He slid his hands behind the girl's waist as he turned back at Bella. "Miss Salvatore, let me introduce you to Miss Rebekah Mikaelson."
She had been wondering when she would meet the youngest Mikaelson since she had met the others. But she didn't expect her to be so stunning. In fact, she didn't expect all of them to be this stunning. Was it a vampires thing or just the Mikaelsons? She started running out of guesses.
Bella smiled broadly and extended a hand to shake. "Bella Salvatore. I am very pleased to finally meet you, Miss Mikaelson. I have heard a lot of great things about you."
"The pleasure's all mine," Rebekah responded, taking her hand and shaking it. She then tilted her head to the side, studying her. "Forgive me if I'm wrong... but you're here as my brother's date, right?"
"Um, right." Bella swallowed hard as she began to feel bad about forgetting Kol for a second. "And speaking of, do you have any idea where he is?" she asked them. "I haven't seen him since the first dance."
"Why don't you check the room over there?" Rebekah pointed at one of the doors in the second floor. "I saw him walking there like a few minutes ago."
She stared at the door Rebekah was pointing at and for a moment tried to consider whether or not she should follow Kol there. What if he didn't want to be distrubed right now? But then again, he was the one who forced her to come. There was no way she would let him bail on her.
It would be impolite to just leave, so Bella quickly turned back at Rebekah and Marcel. She smiled sincerely at them as she closed the conversation, "It was lovely meeting both of you, Mr. Gerard and Miss Mikaelson. But I'm afraid I have to excuse myself."
There weren't many people on the second floor because the main event was being held in the entrance hall on the first floor. She didn't know why she had a bad feeling when she got to the front of the room Rebekah was pointing at. She had no idea what the kind of the room was and what Kol was doing inside, but what was the worst that could happen?
As she entered the room, she knew right away that it was a study room. But she didn't expect to find a lot of bodies lying around the room, all pale and unconscious. And they were all female guests.
"Oh, it's you," Kol, who was standing in the middle of the room, dropped the body he was holding when he noticed her presence. His face, along with his shirt and tux were all cover in blood. "I'm sorry, love, I got a little busy here," he straightened his tux while giving her an innocent smile. "But we can go back to the party now."
But Bella just stood in her place, eyes wide and mouth open. She was too shocked by what she had just saw. She wasn't even over the drunken men incident, and now this?
Her consciousness suddenly returned when Kol tried to pull her back to the party. "No, we can't!" she yelled and quickly blocked his way to the door. "Not with you looking like this."
The corner of his mouth curled into a lopsided smile when he teased, "You mean extremely dashing?"
"I mean extremely murderous!" Bella fumed. Kol fell silent as he watched her take a deep breath a second later.
She tried hard not to panic, but every time she accidentally glanced at the scattered bodies, the urge to puke kept coming. She wanted nothing but to run away from that place, but she couldn't just leave and let Kol walk around looking like that. "Where is your room?" she asked in a calmer voice.
The Mikaelson boy couldn't help but grin at the question. "I have to admit, I don't expect that question to come out from you."
"Kol, I'm being serious!" she yelled at him again, not finding the situation amusing at all. "You said it yourself that your brother would dagger you back if you done something that could expose who you really are."
He rolled his eyes at the mention of his brother. "And why do you care?"
"Because you're my friend, Kol!" she exclaimed as if it was the obvious. "And I really don't want you to spend another century in a coffin, so could you please show me your room?"
For a second, Kol just stared at her. His brown eyes tried to search for any sign of lie in her eyes, but couldn't find one.
They finally crept into his room, trying hard not to be seen by anyone. His room itself was down the hall at the right side.
After closing the door behind her, Bella quickly helped Kol clean the blood on his face. She then walked towards his closet to find him another ball attire to change. "Forgive me for being presumptuous," she muttered under her breath before starting to rummage through his stuff.
Kol decided to sit back and relax on the couch in his room while watching Bella who was busy finding him a change of clothes. This was the first time someone had bothered to help him cover up his own mess. Needless to say, he quite enjoyed it.
"Here." She finally walked back to him with a tailed jacket, white shirt and white bow tie in her hand. "This will do," she assured as she handed him all the items.
Without saying a word, Kol took all of it and placed it in the couch. Standing up, he took off his tux and tie, then started unbuttoning his shirt.
Panicking, Bella hurriedly turned her back to him. "What are you doing?!"
"Changing," he responded casually.
Never once in her life had Bella watched a man changing right in front of her eyes. "Can't you do it in the bathroom?" she suggested.
He scoffed as he finished buttoning the new shirt. Walking towards the full-length mirror to put on the bow tie, he finally retorted, "Look at you, bossing me around as if you forgot how easy it was for me to snap that pretty little neck of yours."
Bella frowned at the sudden threat. It wasn't the first time Kol had threatened to harm her after she found out who he actually was. Her naive side thought that he wasn't serious about it, that he was just saying that to be annoying as usual. But even so, she wouldn't let him keep doing that to her. Not if he still wanted to be her friend.
She immediately turned back at him when she realized he had finished changing and already sat back on the couch. "If you keep threating me like that, I think I'm going to take that as your way to say you don't want to be my friend anymore," she said sternly, hands folded across her chest.
Kol just looked away without saying anything. Even though they had only known each other for a month and a half, Bella knew better than to expect an apologize from him. The fact that he didn't challenge back her words was enough for her to know that he didn't want to lose their friendship.
"Why are you acting like this?" she questioned, confusion all over her face. She understood that he needed blood in order to survive. But except for the night he killed the drunken men, he had proven he was capable to be in a crowd without killing them. So why couldn't he now? What went wrong with this night?
"Like what?" he questioned back and gave her a defiant look. His devilish smirk grew as he started to brag, "I was just being myself; the psychotic maniac and the worst of the worst."
Bella really wanted to believe that there was more to Kol than just a monster. That he was just broken, lost, and lonely and needed someone to always be there for him. But he didn't make it easy at all for her to believe that. He kept giving her a reason to doubt.
"What? Your little naivety couldn't take it?" he taunted her upon not giving any reply.
She just shook her head in disbelief. Deciding it will be wise to leave than having another argument, she turned around and started walking towards the door. But before she managed to reach the doorknob, Kol appeared in front of her and blocked her way.
Bella sighed, then looked up to give him a pleading look. "I really can't deal with you right now."
"Oh, you can't deal with me?" He scoffed, his eyes gleamed with anger and his jaw tightened. "But you have no trouble dealing with my brothers... or that muppet Marcel?"
She blinked at him, trying to digest what he meant. "So you don't like me talking to them?" That was the only conclusion she could draw from the way he spoke. But that just didn't make sense. "If you don't want me to talk to them, why invite me here?"
"I invited you here to be my date," he blustered. "Mine, not them."
His answer made even less sense to her. "And you wanted me to just ignore them when they talk to me?" she asked again in disbelief.
"Yes!" he snarled. "I expected nothing less from you since you're my little human."
She couldn't help but feel hurt by the way he talked about her. "Is that how you see me? As your little human pet?" she questioned, looking more disappointed than ever.
"Yes," he answered without thinking. But when he noticed the hurt look on her face, he quickly corrected, "No."
She quickly looked away, refusing to look at him anymore. "Please step aside from the door," she pleaded, voice cracking.
His anger vanished when he realized what he had just done. He swallowed hard as he called, "Bella..."
"What?" She looked up and gave him a defiant look.
And instead of giving an answer, Kol grabbed her chin in his hand and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her until she could barely breathe.
...