Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to Julie Plec and/or CW and Alloy Entertainment.
I sighed as I laid on the new leather sofa in the parlor of my family's newly renovated antique mansion in the French Quarter. I had been patiently waiting for Niklaus and Elijah to make their way to the house. I had arrived only a few days before and prepared it for the family's return. It hadn't taken much. Just the removal of sheets from some furniture while updating other older furniture, getting the air moving in the house, and making sure the estate was stocked with food and blood bags. It was hard to believe that we had fled New Orleans over a century ago. It was a bit of a shock when Nik had called me and told me that he was returning.
"Nik! It's been a while. How's life treating you since you broke the curse?" I answered my ringing phone with my thick British accent.
"My hybrids all managed to break their sire bond so I killed them all, my Petrova doppelganger is no longer human and producing the blood I need to make more hybrids, and Rebekah destroyed what little blood I had stockpiled. Honestly, uncursed life is no different than the cursed life I lived for a thousand years. Never the matter, I actually called you for another reason."
"What do you need?"
"How familiar are you with the current state of supernatural beings in New Orleans?"
"I know that Marcel," I spat his name with distaste, "is currently running things. Somehow he managed to take complete control of the town. I try to pop in at least once a decade to keep an eye on the estate. Why? Are you headed home?"
"I am. I was hoping you would consider joining me."
"What's bringing you back to New Orleans after all this time?"
"I'm taking back the city. Your allegiance and assistance would be greatly appreciated."
"Of course. I'm on my way now."
"There's something else you should know."
I was surprised to say the least that Nik had managed to impregnate a girl. I was not surprised that the girl was nothing more than a one night stand. I had never known him in my entire existence to have anything more serious than that. He and I indulged in some mind-blowing back scratching when we were together, but it was nothing more serious than a release.
I was expecting Nik any moment now. He and Elijah had been staying at a hotel in the French Quarter for the last few days while making arrangements for their return to the city; they had left the preparation of the estate to me. It was mine after all. I had not even had the chance to see them yet. Klaus was too busy infiltrating Marcel's inner circle, the irony of that was not lost on me considering over a hundred years ago their roles were reversed. Elijah was making arrangements to make sure that the pregnant wolf girl, Hayley, was taken care of. He had been trying to find someone trustworthy to relocate to New Orleans to care for Hayley and the baby who would not be devoted to Marcel.
So, here I was in my former home, reminiscing about the glory days when Elijah, Kol, Nik, Rebekah, and I lived and ruled the town. It was relatively quiet in the house except for the few staff I had employed upon my arrival when I heard someone trying to enter the house. I got up slowly and made my way to the main entrance. I opened the large door and just leaned against it.
"A thousand years old and you can't manage to open a simple door?" I smirked at him.
"What's wrong with it?" Nik demanded.
"Do I look like a locksmith? I have someone coming tomorrow to look at it." I reached up and hugged him and then Elijah. "It's been a while. I am so glad to see you again." I closed the door and followed them into the parlor. "So, where is Rebekah?"
"Last I heard she was with the quarterback busboy from Mystic Falls. She hates me at the moment. She'll come around. Just wait until she grows bored of the Donovan boy." Nik walked around to the bar and poured himself a tumbler of whiskey.
"When will Hayley be arriving?" I asked as I sat on the opposite side of the sofa from Elijah.
"She should arrive in the next hour. She needed to get a few things from the apartment she had been renting." Elijah informed me.
"Perfect. That gives the two of you time to tell me everything I've missed since I've seen you last." It had been slightly over a year and a half since I had seen Niklaus last and four years since I had seen Elijah.
Half an hour later, I had learned how Nik unleashed his werewolf side, hunted for the vampire cure, and road tripped with Stefan Salvatore to create more hybrids. Elijah had tried to kill Nik, backfired and ended up with a white oak ash dipped dagger in his chest for several months. Half of the original family was now dead.
"So, you killed Mikael. I'm sorry, I know he was your father; but, yay, no more running. Finn and Kol are both dead and along with them every vampire sired by their bloodline. Esther tried killing all of you, multiple times." I gave a small chuckle. "May I ask? Are you still hunting down Katerina Petrova?" Nik gave me a funny look. "I only ask because as one of the ones who have spent over four hundred years searching for her, I'm about done playing hide and seek. In my opinion, she did you a favor."
"I fail to see that. Explain." Nik leaned up from the chair he was sitting in to put his elbows on his knees and fold his hands under his chin.
"If you had sacrificed her in fourteen ninety two as planned, she would have been dead. You would have had no way to create hybrids then and no one still looking to gain favor with you by turning over a doppelganger."
"She has a point, brother." Elijah agreed with me.
Nik's cell phone rang conveniently allowing him to exit the conversation. Elijah looked over to me. "How do you feel about Niklaus becoming a father?"
"I'm happy for him. I only hope that he comes to realize what a gift this is and to appreciate it." I stood up and made my way over to a window that overlooked some gardens on the property.
"That is not what I meant. I would imagine that this would bring up memories and past heartache for you." He left the sofa and came to stand behind me. "You can speak truthfully with me."
"It was a long time ago, Elijah. No sense worrying about it today." I turned around to walk away, but he was merely inches away from me. I bowed my head so that he would not see the tear starting to form in my left eye.
He placed one finger under my chin and raised it so that our eyes met. With his thumb he wiped the tear away. "You have no need to feel ashamed of the tear or to feel as if you need to hide your true feelings regarding the matter. You had children. Children you did not get to raise."
"What do you want me to say? That I'm jealous that Nik gets this chance to raise a child. That would be petty on my part. Besides, the last thing those children needed was my involvement in their lives as soon as I became a vampire. I would hate myself if I had not been strong enough to resist the blood lust and had drained any one of my children." I sidestepped Elijah and started to make my way out of the parlor and then the house. I stopped as I reached the entry. "I suppose I should thank you, Nik, and Bekah for taking me as far away from there as possible when I turned." With that statement, I continued out the door to find some distraction in the streets of New Orleans.
I had been walking through town for about twenty minutes when I was stopped by a man in his mid-twenties with curly brown hair. "Who are you?" He demanded.
"I'm sorry, you stopped me. I should be asking who you are." I raised one eyebrow waiting to see if he would answer the question.
"Let's see if Marcel shows you any mercy after you speak to him that way. All new vampires to the area are required to check in with Marcel. Those are the rules." I rolled my eyes. Nik had warned me of the 'rules.'
"I'd rather not see Marcel at the moment. I'll tell you what. You move along and I'll pretend as if you haven't wasted two minutes of my life on that riffraff." I went to walk past him when he grabbed my arm and shoved me against the wall of the closest building.
"Marcel deserves respect. Show it or I'll rip your heart out." He threatened me.
"Oh, honey, you could try. I'm assuming Marcel turned you himself." I paused. He didn't say anything. "Marcel is not even strong enough to take me down. I have four hundred years on him. I'll make you a deal. I'll come with you now to see Marcel and get this over with, but if you ever so much as even look at me funny again you will be dead before you blink. Now get your hands off me before I rip them off." I shoved him off of me and gestured for him to lead the way.
He led me to a bar that was abnormally crowded for early morning. Upon entering, I realized that most of the occupants were vampires. The annoying vampire told me to wait for the bar while he let Marcel know that I was waiting to meet him. He wandered off to a corner of the bar where I could see Marcel sitting at a table. I turned so that he wouldn't be able to see my face and recognize me.
"There's a new vampire in town. I just ran into her on the street. She tried refusing to meet with you then threatened to kill me."
"Where is she?" Marcel asked as he stood and started scanning the room.
"She's beside the bar. About five foot seven, dark brown hair, green eyes, very beautiful." He pointed me out to Marcel.
He started to make his way over to me. I reached over and took a shot of Tequila from the man sitting next to me and downed it.
"Hello there. Greg tells me that you resisted coming to meet me. My town, my rules. You don't like it; you can either pay the price or leave."
I set the shot glass down on the bar with a loud clank and turned around. "Is that so?"
He looked taken back for a moment before recovering. "Natalya Mikaelson. It's been a while."
Hopefully, this reads pretty well. Natalya Mikaelson actually started out as a character in another Vampire Diaries story I was writing but I think it will work much better this way. Can't wait to get into other chapters. Next chapter is going to divulge some of Natalya and Marcel's history and part of why she hates him as much as she does. Please review. The more reviews I see, the more likely I am to continue. Otherwise, I assume no one is actually reading it. Will try to have chapter two posted by tomorrow evening if reviews show any interest in continuing.