"Take your time much?"
An impatient female called from behind me, successfully drawing the barista's attention as well as a few other waiting patrons. Some murmured their approval, others averted their gaze in embarrassment, silently agreeing but not willing to voice such out loud.
I turned to look over my shoulder and was met with the sight of a tall, slender redhead whose pretty face was currently creased in irritation. Her arms were folded beneath her voluptuous breasts, squeezing them together to create an impressive cleavage most would have trouble ignoring. I smiled and took a step to the side, gesturing for the redhead to take my place.
"Please, go ahead. You are clearly in a hurry."
I had been foolish enough to allow myself an extra five seconds to place my drink order. Most of the items on the menu were brand new to me. Too many choices. No familiar names. Was it not possible to purchase an ordinary cup of coffee? The redhead eyed me dubiously, doubting my sincerity before finally stepping up to the counter.
"Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino Blended Coffee," she demanded of the barista, snapping her long fingers impatiently and returning to stare at her phone. I wondered what had the girl in such a hurry, was almost tempted to ask. Then again, everyone was in a hurry these days. Patience was a word most seemed unfamiliar with.
"You should not have given her your spot. Not when time is running out for you as well, my beautiful Freya."
Something cold fanned down the back of my neck, sending a ripple of shivers through my entire body. That voice. That all too familiar voice.
"Is it that time of year already?" I turned to meet the dark eyes of an old friend. He who had never abandoned me. Never left my side no matter what. He was just as beautiful as always; clean-shaven handsome features, black tousled hair, a smile to die for. All that had changed about Him through the centuries were His attires. Upon our first meeting, He had been draped in a long velvet cloak. Today, He wore a tailor-fit pinstripe suit, not unlike the ones Elijah normally wore.
"I have been longing for this moment," He admitted, placing a hand at the small of my back and leading me over to a vacant table. "One year is not enough."
I folded my hands in my lap, crossed my legs and smiled without humour.
"You don't have to tell me."
A waitress hurried over and placed two steaming cups of coffee on the table before us. I stared at her in bewilderment. I had not yet ordered. Of course, one look at Him across from me told me He had worked His magic. I should have known.
"You used to be a lot more pleased to see me, Freya," He said, one hand clutching the newly delivered cup as if the heat did not bother Him in the least. "In fact, there was a time when you begged me to come."
I winced noticeably at the memory, preoccupying myself with my coffee, swallowing a large mouthful even if the liquid close to scalded my throat. I could not deny it. There had been several occasions when I had called out His name, pleading with Him to give me what I craved. But now I no longer wanted it.
"Times have changed," I murmured into my cup, gifting Him with a kind smile once I withdrew, "You can't have me. I won't allow it."
He looked sympathetic, grasping my hand across the table and placed a gentle kiss on my knuckles.
"You are right. Times have changed. And for the first time, I /can/ have you." When He released me, He vanished from sight. He was still there, though. I could feel Him. Watching. Waiting. It wouldn't be long.
Trembling, I remained in silence, drinking my coffee and observing the activity in the café. I wondered who among them it would be, who would suddenly lash out like a man possessed.
In the end, it turned out to be none of them.
A sudden pain shot through my abdomen as though someone had just stabbed me with a knife. I lurched forward, pressing my palm to my flat stomach, gasping for air as my lungs filled with blood. Falling to my hands and knees on the floor, I sputtered, mouth wide open as the hand pressed to my abdomen charged with magic, forcing the poison out of me in the form of thick, black tar.
I paid no mind to the shrieks and frightened voices around me, nor the demand that someone needed to call an ambulance. My eyes watered with pain, but I never ceased my work, expelling the poison that had been added to the coffee until I had nothing more to give. Exhausted, blood trickling from my mouth as I collapsed on my side, I set a blank stare upon the ceiling, the panicking patrons and paramedics mere blurs to my eyes as He whispered in my ear.
"Let go, Freya. It's time. You cannot elude me any longer. You cannot escape Death."
"Why isn't she waking?"
"Give her a bloody minute, Nik. She was just poisoned."
"Thought she was supposed to be invulnerable, like our dear aunt Dahlia?"
"Clearly things have changed since Dahlia died."
Niklaus and Rebekah's voices coaxed me from my unconscious state. I woke with a start, inhaling sharply as my eyelids fluttered open. All I could see was a bright light, too bright, so bright it felt as though my eyeballs were melting in their sockets. I groaned and raised a hand to my face in an attempt to shield myself. Around me, there was movement. Someone striding across the room to close the blinds.
"Took you long enough."
I squinted through my fingers to where the voice had originated, my blurred sight landing on Niklaus' face. He was sitting in a chair just beside my bed, his feet propped on my mattress and his arms folded behind his head. Whatever had just happened, he didn't look too concerned.
"Freya." It was Rebekah who spoke this time. She rounded the bed to stand on Niklaus' side, her cool gaze consumed with worry and uncertainty. Her hand found mine and she squeezed it gently. "How do you feel?"
My lips were sore and chapped, and my mouth painfully dry. The act of speaking proved difficult at first.
"Like I've been kicked in the head by a horse," I croaked eventually, my entire body screaming in protest from the effort it took me to do so. Things were unclear. Not just my surroundings, but the memories of how I had gotten here. And why I was laying in bed surrounded by my siblings in the first place. "What happened?"
Rebekah looked, if possible, even more concerned. "You don't remember?"
I searched my mind, so hard it made the pain intensify. Flashes of images came back to me, bits and pieces. The cafe. Coffee. Death. I smiled bitterly, the already broken skin of my lips cracking further as they stretched.
"I was poisoned," I murmured, one hand flying to my throat as if I could still feel the venom burning my oesophagus. "How did you find me?"
Rebekah brushed Niklaus' feet aside and sat down on the mattress where they had just been.
"They called me from the hospital. My number was the one most used in your phone, so they made the connection," she said, her thumb rubbing soothing circles along the back of my hand.
"They said you managed to rid yourself of most of the poison on your own," Niklaus added, a curious look gleaming in his eyes. "And that the cafe looked like a crime scene after you finished." He grinned.
"You were severely dehydrated when you got to the hospital, so they gave you some fluids and ran a few tests. The doctors said it was miraculous, but that you will be fine, in time," Rebekah continued, a small comforting smile spreading on her face. "Who did this to you?"
I considered that question a moment. I didn't know who had added the poison to my coffee, but I knew perfectly well on whose orders they had been acting.
"It does not matter," I murmured, freeing myself from Rebekah's grasp and pushing myself up to sit. "The one who lashed out this time, will not be the same as the next."
At the look of confusion and apprehension on my siblings' faces, I added: "Yes, it will happen again. By different means, I'm sure. It seems I've eluded Death for too long, and he will no longer stand for it."
Rebekah and Niklaus looked at me in astonishment, as though they were questioning my sanity. I could not blame them. Their own encounter with Death had been so long ago, and so brief, they would not remember. To them, Death could not be seen as a person. But I knew, all too well…
From the moment Dahlia had died, Death had circled around me like a hungry crow, waiting to take that which had been denied him for the past thousand years. And now he had gotten a taste, I was certain he would not stop until he had succeeded.
"I think I'm dying," I whispered, revolted with how frightened I sounded.
Rebekah and Niklaus exchanged uncertain looks.
"The doctors said–" Rebekah begun, but I raised a hand to silence her, smiling sadly.
"No human, witch or otherwise, is supposed to live this long. I think this is nature's way of setting things straight."
Niklaus leaned forward in his chair, the look of disinterest he had carried earlier replaced with defiance and fury. He considered me a moment before biting into his wrist, his mouth coming away stained with blood.
"Drink," he commanded, all but thrusting his arm towards me. "It will cure whatever ails you."
I wrinkled my nose and automatically shifted further away from him.
"No offence, little brother, but I'd rather die than risk becoming a vampire. That is not my fate," I said.
For a moment it seemed Niklaus toyed with the idea of forcing me, not used to not getting his way. Then, he withdrew his arm and let the wound close, his eyes still blazing with anger.
"And what of my daughter? What will become of her should you die? You promised you would take care of her."
That I did, I thought, guilt tugging at my heart. Little Hope would never be able to control her powers without my guidance. For now, she would be okay, but when she was older, a teenager…I was certain she would lay entire cities to ruin in fits of anger as I had done so many years ago.
"I want to, Niklaus," I said softly, "More than anything, to be there for my niece, to be with you and Rebekah and Elijah. But I don't know how to cheat death on my own. Unless–"
Niklaus and I stared at one another, our eyes widening in uncanny synchronicity, realization dawning on us both.
"Unless you bind yourself to me," Niklaus said, voicing my thoughts aloud, "As Dahlia meant to. My demise would be the only thing that could kill you. You would never grow old, you would never be sick, you would heal as I do." A dark grin claimed him. "And you would be able to protect and guide my daughter for as long as she needs it."
A spark of excitement flared within me. Bound to Niklaus, I would be able to live for the very first time. My life would not be confined to one single year at a time. I would not have to sleep for centuries to remain young. Bound to my brother, I would never have to be alone again.
–Later, that same evening:–
On the balcony of the Mikaelson residence, a table had been readied for the spell. Under the pale light of the moon, it carried the necessary ingredients. White candles had been placed in every corner and along the edges, an infinity symbol drawn with blessed salt decorated the middle of the surface, and in both of the symbols loops stood two urns. One held Niklaus' blood, the other mine.
Rebekah and Elijah remained inside, keeping a safe distance to their hybrid brother and me while the two of us took our places on the balcony. Still a little shaky, I took Niklaus' hand in my own, squeezing tightly as we stopped before the makeshift altar. I shot a look at him, silently giving him one last chance to back out of our deal should he wish to do so. He gave me a nod, urging me to get started. With a wave of my free hand, I ignited the candles before us, my ancient magic instantly flaring, submerging my focused mind to a kind of trance.
"Medareno sometswar," I heard myself chant in a dark, almost unrecognizable voice. "Medareno sometswar."
The air around us became heavily charged with magical energy. Back inside the house, Rebekah and Elijah appeared to feel it crackle with electricity, and they took another few steps back.
"Medareno sometswar. Medareno sometswar. Medareno sometswar."
The chalices upon the tables were overflowing with blood, the thick crimson fluids spilling over their rims and onto the wooden surface, each stream nearing the other with a slow, but steady pace. The moment they connected, in the centre of the infinity symbol, my voice fell away. Niklaus and I gasped as part of our spirits merged, heads thrown back, eyes closed as the spell took hold, binding brother and sister in eternity.