Saturday June 22nd 1680
Light. That's the first thing I notice as I slowly open my eyes, the bright, almost luminescent light shines in through a window, even when it's covered by a thin sheet of fabric it still shines brighter than any light I have laid my eyes upon.
Slowly I sit up, trying to take in my surroundings, as well as trying to remember what happened. The room is almost empty, yet it somehow looks full of life, like it's been lived in for centuries. I'm sat on the cool, soft bed, a large, wooden chest of drawers to my left, the light streaming in through the open window on the right.
Then my newly tuned eyes find a mirror, gold round the edges, with a patterned engraving covering the frame. Carefully spinning around on the bed I swing my legs over the side, my feet hitting the cold floor almost instantly. As I make my way over to the mirror the gentle breeze from outside swirls around my being, the coolness of which I find relieving, it's something I remember, for now, the cool air on an unusually hot summers day was something I looked forward to, it gave me the chance to feel free, but free from what?
I near the mirror and dare myself to look into it, not at the spirals that take up almost all of the golden, beautiful casing, but the reflective glass that fills the frame. That's when I notice her, the girl looking back at me; her long, blonde hair cascading down her back in soft, gentle curls, her bright blue eyes the colour of any ocean known to man-kind, her skin soft, with a pure white look to it, almost as if she had no blood left within her, almost.
After a couple of minutes of studying this woman it sinks in, not just the fact that this lady is me, but everything; the bar, Lexi, my family, my supposed future husband, my dream to travel the world, but most importantly Klaus Mikaelson, the vampire-werewolf hybrid that turned me into this amazing monster that I have become.
"I see you're awake my queen, I brought you a little gift, need you to stay strong so you can rule alongside me now, don't we?" a soft, British voice states, pulling me out of my thoughts, yet I can't bring myself to turn and look at him, I can't bring myself to see what little gift I need to stay strong, I can't bring myself to face the truth. Klaus must sense my hesitation as he goes to continue "ahh, coming to terms with it are we? It's ok, I'm here for you and never going any…"
That's when the rage takes over, every emotion I have ever had seems to intensify. I spin, looking into his, still, magnificent blue eyes and scream "NO! You turned me into some kind of monster, a beast that has to come out at night and stalk the human race in order to survive. I didn't ask for this, for any of this. I was meant to live my life, marry my parent's favourite guy, start a family, stay at home, cook, clean, be the usual stay-at-home mother that I've had to grow up to believe is the normal thing. But then you come along, with your handsome looks, and your mesmerising blue eyes, and your cute accent, and your unique personality, and you change me, in more than one way. If you think for a second that I'm going to do what you say, you have another thing coming".
But, he just looks at me; a small smile stains his face. He drops the girl in his hands and stalks toward me as she stumbles onto the floor. When he gets about half way he brings his hands up to his chest and starts clapping, the smile on his face growing in size with each passing second. "This. Aurora, this is why I chose you, you're different from every other person in that town, different from everyone that I have ever met, and I'll have you know that I'm over 600 years old, so I've met a lot of people. You're amazing, you are meant to have a much greater life, one that you deserve, not the average 1600's one that is far beneath someone of your courage and beauty. I simply helped to give you that push that we both know you needed to get out of that small, helpless town. Now, please Aurora, drink that useless girl dry and come and be my eternal queen".
I look over at the girl curled up on the wooden floor, her body shivering as she gets ready to die at the hands of the changed. My eyes shift to Klaus'. "What if I can't do it? What if I don't want to be the monster that you have made me become? What happens then?"
"Well dear, you die, it's as simple as that" He walks closer to me, placing his hands on my shoulders, giving me the intense look that we shared back in the bar once before, "it's either you or her, I'm sure we both want the same one to survive. Now, please, she has nothing to live for anymore, she offered herself, didn't you sweetheart?"
My eyes return to her, as she lifts her head up and nods, tears streaming down her face; "yes, I did, t…take me, please".
"See, she doesn't care, now go" he whispers in my ear.
After one last glance I head over to her, hating the fact that it's either this, killing an innocent victim in order to survive, or to die myself. She stands up, still shaking, the tears continuously running fresh down her face. "I'm so, so sorry" I say before my new fangs make their first appearance and I sink them down into her neck. The blood sticky and warm yet intoxicating and addictive, I try to will myself to stop, to leave her still alive and pray that, either, me or Klaus can take away her memory of this, to leave her with her whole life ahead of her. But the liquid is too smooth and amazing, it leaves me wanting more. And before I know it she's gone, her squirming stops and she's being pulled away from me. As she's lifted up I notice a single tear roll down her pale, lifeless cheek, the last tear that she will ever cry, and it was because of me. In a flash both the girl and Klaus are gone, leaving me alone with the guilt and self-hatred that soon surrounds me. How could I have conducted such an in-humane act? Why didn't I stop? Why didn't I let her live?
Suddenly an arm makes its way around me, pulling me up from where I must have sunken to the floor in my self-loathing. "See, not so difficult my love, was it? Come on, I have a lot to show you in such little time".
We start walking out, my whole body shaking yet feeling so alive, guilt still eating away at me, only becoming worse when I look back at the blood-stained floor where I first attacked someone, someone who hadn't done anything wrong.
I have always prided myself on not being weak, I've never broken down in tears in front of anybody, even my closest friends and family, not once have I been so upset that I have been left tear-stricken and sob-ridden, until today. Insignificant tears fill my eyes, and start making their way down my face. I try my hardest to stay silent, but as soon as I think back to the little girl who I just brutally killed, for no reason other than to be the one to stay alive, or at least as alive as a vampire can be, I collapse, landing on the solid, gravel floor. My crying becoming louder by the second, and it's not long until Klaus turns back around to see me weak and sobbing on my knees nearly a metre away from him. "Aurora?" he heads back over to me, kneeling down by my side "what's wrong?" he asks, even if we both know he can answer that question for me.
"I…I just killed someone" I choke out, droplets now streaming down my cold face.
"But you had to, if not you would have died, and I know I wouldn't be able to cope with you dead. Listen" he starts, sitting down now, bringing me into his warm embrace "you are the first person who didn't run from me, the first person to stay by my side even when you knew what I was, even my family don't do that. There's something different about you love, and I intend to find out just what it is, but whatever it may be, it's special, and I know we have a connection in one way or another".
I look up at him, tears still brimming my eyes, but at least my face is free of them. "Really?"
"Of course".
We both stand up, me with a little help from him, "I didn't know that".
"You didn't know that you're special? Course you are".
"No, I mean about your family, I'm sorry to hear that".
"How could you know? I haven't told you, or anyone else for that matter. It's just something I choose not to tell people" he states, his humanity showing for the first time since I've met him.
"Well, Mr Mikaelson, I would be privileged to hear your family stories" I respond, trying to believe that this humanity would be on full display at all times, the humanity that just picked me up when nobody in my past life would have been able to.
"Come on then" the dazzling smile returning to his face once more, "let's head off to England".
His smile seems contagious as one finds its way onto my face "England?" He nods, grabbing my hand and heading off down the path. "Hold on, I just need to grab a few things from my home".
"What? What do you need? You have everything you need right here".
"I know, I just…I need my notebook, if I'm going on this incredible journey with you I need to write about it, maybe I can publish it like I've always dreamed off".
"I'll get you a new one, leave the past behind Aurora".
"I'm going to get it whether you like it or not Klaus, it's my notebook, I've had it since I was little and it's staying with me" I state, irritation taking over "I won't be five minutes, you can stay here if you really wish, and I won't get caught, if that's what you're concerned about. I think I've learnt to sneak in and out of that house over my years".
I head off, running straight to the house, it looks empty, and alone, all the way out into the woods, right at the bottom of the cracked, concrete street, much like it did when I left it just yesterday. No one's home, my father would be at work, trying his hardest to get that promotion he always goes on about, and my mother would be at the market, getting all the ingredients in to make us a family dinner tonight…to make them a family dinner tonight.
Grabbing onto the handle I push the squeaky, wooden door open and head into the heated house, swiftly walking over to the table and picking up my worn-in notebook. A smile makes its way onto my face as I flick through the book, the yellowing pages flipping over at my touch. Neat, italic writing scribbles its way across the first few sheets, not nearly filling up the empty, old book. I turn to go but am stopped by the same metallic smell that filled my nostrils only a few minutes earlier. "But no one's meant to be home?" I absently question, not expecting a reply. Using my new found sense I go in search of the person, most likely my mother, who's obviously injured themselves enough to draw blood, sweet, addictive, warm blood. My fangs appear once more, ready to attack the innocent, but they soon retract when I see, both, my mother and father bleeding, lying lifeless on the floor.
Running up to them tears fill my stinging eyes for the second time today, "mother, father…please, please don't be gone, don't be dead". Hoping and praying I place a hand on my father's beard-covered cheek, however it's not enough to take away the painfully cold feeling that is left on my hand once it finds its place. "No" I move onto my mother, believing that there could be life in her still, only to be welcomed with the same temperature as my father. "No, no, no, no, no!" I scream, throat sore from all the sobs that have left me. "I can't lose you both, this isn't fair, I didn't ask for any of this! Please" I choke out, unable to fully believe what I've just discovered.
"You don't have to worry about them anymore" the familiar voice is back. Tears stream down my face as I kiss them both goodbye, and head out of the room, just wanting to get away from the dark, horrible scene. "They won't find out that you've gone now, and they won't track you down and make you live a life you don't want".
"You. You did this, didn't you?" I question, just wanting the truth.
"Maybe I did, but it's just so we can be together, I don't want my queen being taken from me, I'm enough for you, they wouldn't have understood, now there's no need to worry about that".
Rage soon replaces the sadness, taking over every inch of my body. "Enough for me! You're enough for me? No, not anymore Klaus. I never asked to be a vampire, I never asked to be taken away from my home, from my family, from my life! Yes I hated it, I hated being forced into a life I didn't want but that's exactly what you are doing. I saw the humanity in you earlier, but this, this in-humane act, murdering my only family, even if I wasn't going to see them anymore anyway, is enough to make me question staying with you. Don't you see, this isn't what I want. What I want is to travel, to see the world, and not have a care about anything else, but all you want for me is to live by your side for eternity. You turned me into a blood-sucking beast, a creature of the night that haunt the scary stories parents tell their children, a monster so brutal they turn on their own and feast upon the innocent. My parents had nothing to do with it but you took their lives anyway, just so I would stay with you?! That's sick, Klaus, that's really sick. You want an ally, a friend, someone to stay by your side, well if this is how you treat all your friends then I'm not surprised you're alone".
Gripping my notebook tighter I push past him, slamming the door and heading off down the ever-so-familiar road for the last time, only to be stopped by the voice calling out "but I turned you so you'd stay with me, so you'd be my eternal queen!"
Still facing ahead I shout back "maybe you picked the wrong woman".