Setting - The Originals have just called for peace in the Quarter. Kieran is still alive and has summoned his niece home to help Cami, who had just been turned into a vampire. Devina never existed. And Kol has recently come home in hopes of getting to know Hope, whom Hayley has taken to the bayou on a much needed vacation from Klaus.
Chapter 1: Brave
Standing outside the compound, fingers laced into tight fists, balled at her sides to muster courage, Lark held her breath and pressed the doorbell. I can do this, she mentally muttered. If her uncle Kieran had not embellished, her cousin needed her. She had to be brave. Time was precious. There was none to lose.
Hearing the door knob twist, Lark straightened and masked an I am not frightened look.
Elijah opened his front door to find a small-boned woman that looked to be about 18 or 19 years old. He had never seen the dark-hair beauty before, but she obviously knew who he was. Despite the emotionless face she wore, he could hear her heart pounding. THUMP THUMP THUMP - hard against her chest wall. She knew exactly who he was.
"I've come to see Cami," the young woman announced in a low, but firm voice.
Camille had just been turned. She was erratic, impulsive, reckless even, and this was not the time for humans to call on her. In fact, she was staying with them to avoid such situations. None knew her whereabouts other than her uncle. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Elijah inquired, "And you are?"
"Lark. Kieran said I could find her here."
"Do not let her in, Elijah. I do not want to see her."
Lark winced, hearing her cousin's voice from inside. Kieran had not exaggerated. The voice might have belonged to Cami, but she was definitely not her cousin. They had gotten to her. Those evil vampires had indeed planted their venom. Always vampires. Ever since she was a child, the vampires had kept her city in constant terror. It was why her parents had sent her away - away from her family and friends.
Suddenly enraged, her fear forgotten, Lark shoved passed Elijah before he could protest. She found Cami standing in the corner of the room as if she was trying to avoid the light of a window. A man with dark blonde hair and eyes like daggers, who she perceived to be Klaus, the notorious killer, was sitting on the sofa near Cami. As she entered, he stood and glanced to Cami, who had backed further into the wall.
"Cami?" Lark moved slowly so that she could get a better view of her face.
"Do not come near me!" Cami spat, her tone more of a threat than a warning.
Feeling Elijah drawing intimately close behind her, so close that she could smell the scent of what seemed to be Irish Springs, Lark paused, trying to ignore him, and said softly, "You do not mean that, Camille."
"No, Camille would not mean that, but I am no longer Camille," she hissed, stepping into the light. The light flickered against her daylight ring. She had not been hiding from the sun, but from her cousin.
Lark heard another's footsteps and assumed they belonged to Kol as she knew the Original sister had left town. Not daring to peek to see, she slowed her breathing, purposely, hoping to maintain her courage, and focused on Cami, but just being in the room with the infamous Klaus and Kol, the Original brothers, monsters guilty of the most heinous crimes imaginable, sent shivers crawling up her spine.
Now Lark could finally see Cami's face, and it was hard, not gentle, like the cousin she had once played play dolls with. "Cami is still in there." With caution, Lark edged closer. "I can see her in your eyes. She is there."
At that, Cami cast her gaze into the floor, knowing Lark could peer into her soul. It wasn't that she did not want her to see that a part of humanity remained within her new vampire body, it was the darkness that dwelled inside, always clawing in her mind, twisting and mauling, that she sought to shield her cousin's prying eyes.
"Whoever you are, you are upsetting Cami, and it is best that you leave," Klaus announced, casting worried glances in Cami's direction. It didn't take much for new vampires to descend, and if Cami kills her own kin, she'd completely turn it off. And right now, Klaus was doing everything possible to keep her from turning off her emotions.
"I told you who I am and I am not leaving until she talks with me."
"She is my cousin," Cami voiced in low tone.
Klaus smirked at the girl's audacity. Yes, she was definitely related to his fiery Camille.
"Great; who else is coming over uninvited? Your mum, father, great grandparents?" Yes, Kol knew her parents and grandparents were dead. He meant the jab to hurt. He never much cared for Cami, and the sooner she was out of his brother's life, the better. He missed his brazen and, at times, reckless brother. Being tied to Cami had tamed him.
"Bugger off, Kol. Why don't you go someplace where you are wanted? Oh, but there is no such place. This doesn't concern you," Klaus snapped, not in the mood to deal with his impertinence little brother. He had enough to deal with Cami for the time being.
Before Kol could retort, Lark said, "And what I have to say to Cami doesn't concern you, Klaus Mikaelson, or you, Elijah." She turned, finally locking eyes with Elijah, who was still overly close. She'd never use Irish Springs again and not think of vampires. "I would like to speak to my cousin alone." She had mistaken Elijah's stalking-nearness the wrong way. It was meant for her protection.
"Ha!" Kol chuckled, plopping down on the sofa, intent to watch how his brothers would react. First he glanced at Elijah, who moved in between Lark and Klaus, in case Klaus pounced on the reckless blood bag. Figures - Elijah, plagued with gallantry, was quite predictable. Next he looked upon Klaus, and when he made no move, Kol's smile melted. Alas, Klaus was also becoming predictable. The pre-Cami Klaus, being a hybrid and faster than Elijah, would have zipped past Elijah and snapped the reckless imp's neck in half, but not the harnessed, love-sick bloke he had become.
Klaus opened his mouth to retort some nasty comeback, but Cami interrupted. "I know what you want and it is too late."
Drawing to Cami, Lark cooed in the tone that one might use when trying to coax a wild horse into a trap. "It is not too late. I can help you. You know I can."
"But what if you can't? What if?" The very thought of hurting her beloved Lark choked Cami's words. She could not even bear to suggest it. She tried to push past Lark, only for Lark to seized her arm and pull her trembling hand to her heart.
Their gazes locked. Gone was the venom and torment, replaced with love and compassion. This was her Cami; her friend and cousin. The cousin she had played with as a child. The friend who was there for her when her mother died. She was still there. All she had to do was cast out the darkness that was threatening to dissolve her.
"What do you mean you can help her?" Klaus asked, breaking the tender moment.
"I can cast the vampire from her soul."
"Surely you jest," Elijah smirked.
"No, she doesn't. Lark was born with a rare gift. She can cast out demons, but vampirism is another thing."
"You are a mere human, not even a witch has such power," Klaus growled.
Lark turned her attention to the most feared Mikaelson. "I behold no power; I only channel it. The power comes from God."
"God?" Klaus smirked, shaking his head as if Lark was crazy.
"I can do it!"
"No, you cannot and even if you could, I do not want to! This is me now! This is who I have become!" Cami jerked away from her cousin.
"This is not you! This is not who you want to be! Please, give me a chance! Let us just try!"
"I do not want you here! They are my family now. I am one of them. You mean nothing to me! You or Kieran! Forget me! Your cousin is dead! I am dead like my brother."
The memory of her cousin's death still stung. It was another reason she had to save Camille. She had lost too many already. Kieran and Camille was all the family she had left. "You do not mean that! That is the evil inside talking; not Cami! She is still there! She is alive, just being smothered. Trapped! Let me free her!"
When Lark tried to step forward, Elijah captured her arm, halting her as Klaus drew in between Lark and Cami. "Leave!"
"Cami!" Lark called out, her voice soaked in desperation. Every minute that passed, the harder the ritual would become.
Lark's pleas fell on deaf ears. Cami and Klaus vanished from the room, almost as fast as Berry Allen.
"Come on, it is time for you to go. There is nothing you can do for Camille now but let her go." Elijah said, escorting the nearly weeping girl toward the door.
Lark wrenched her arm from his gentlemanly grip. "You never let your family go! I know all about you, Elijah! Do not think for one moment that I love mine any less than you!"
As Lark fled, Kol chuckled. "She has a point…"
Disinclined to debate with his youngest brother, knowing that almost any discussion with Kol most always led to an argument, Elijah headed to the library in search of solitude. He needed to be alone. He was tired of having to babysit Kol and Klaus, and now it seemed Cami had been added to the list.