The three Originals left the compound, but they knew that they couldn't leave Rosie there by herself, in case something were to happen. Despite the girl's ability to hold her own, she was still a child; she might also become bored, given the fact that the compound wasn't exactly a place for board games and puzzles.
So, Rosie got to meet the infamous Camille O'Connell.
The blonde woman seemed confused when she arrived, Klaus explaining to her that Rosie was special, but not going into full detail about what she was capable of. Camille yelled at Klaus for not returning her calls when she was worried about him and simply calling her back when he needed her help. Klaus apologized and then asked Camille nicely if she would watch the little girl.
Rosie found the whole conversation rather amusing as she spied on the two from behind a stone pillar.
When Klaus called out for Rosie to meet her babysitter, she came out of hiding, meeting the blonde woman's bright blue eyes. Camille was wearing a pretty white blouse and light washed jeans that complimented her fair skin pleasantly. She also wore beige wedges that both went well with the outfit and made her legs seem much longer than they actually were.
"Hi there," Camille, who by the conversation between her and Klaus seemed to like to be called Cami, spoke softly. Rosie gave her a small polite smile, still wearing the yellow sundress Kol had gotten her as she held Teddy in her right hand.
"Hi," Rosie replied softly, not sure what to think of the woman. Her initial reaction was that the girl seemed very nice, and always tried to be a good person, but as Rosie looked closer, she could tell that Cami had seen a lot, and most of it related to the man that stood next to her.
Klaus clapped his hands loudly, startling the two blondes out of their introduction to look at him. He was smiling widely, his eyebrows raised expectantly as he gestured to the two of them. "Now that you two have met, I'm afraid it's time for us to leave," he said, nodding his head at Rosie, who waved her small hand in goodbye. He smiled, waving as well before turning to Cami. "We'll be back soon."
"Okay but Klau-" she started to say but unfortunately for her, the hybrid had already disappeared, a slight breeze ruffling her blonde curls while she glared at the empty spot.
Rosie giggled at the woman's expression and Camille turned toward her, a smile growing on her face at the little girl. The blonde was told that the girl was special, and she assumed that she was a witch given the fact that Camille couldn't imagine the girl being either a werewolf or a vampire while she wore a yellow sundress. But of course, Camille didn't know the full backstory of Rosie, only that Kol, of all people, had taken the girl in.
"He does that a lot actually," Camille commented, gesturing to the spot that Klaus had just stood in. She made a face, shaking her head. "It's kind of annoying, really."
Rosie laughed, smiling widely. She was beginning to like the woman already.
"So," Camille started, placing her purse on a nearby table as she looked to the little girl, eyebrows raised in question. "What do you wanna do today? We could play a game or watch a few movies?"
Rosie tilted her head in interest on the last word. "Movies?" she asked, and saw surprise flicker over Camille's face at the sound of her British accent. "What kind of movies?"
Camille pursed her lips, thinking to herself as she looked around at the courtyard. "Well, I doubt that there are any movies stashed anywhere in here," she mumbled before a smile crossed her face. "But, we could go to my house and watch a Disney movie?"
Rosie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and Camille's smile fell slightly, her eyes widening. "Don't tell me you've never watched a Disney movie," she said, obvious shock lacing her voice. Rosie slowly shook her head and Camille blinked, shaking her head. "Well then that's what we'll do," she said, grabbing her phone out of her purse to text Klaus that they would go to her apartment.
Rosie watched curiously as Cami let her phone fall back into her purse, holding out a single hand for the little girl to take. The blonde child smiled slightly, taking the woman's hand and listening as she listed off dozens of movie titles that must belong to the Disney franchise. The little girl giggled at the woman's frantic movements and excitement over cartoons; she had no experience with a lot of television except for the few shows she watched at the house in Colorado with Rebekah.
At the thought of Rebekah, Rosie's mood slightly deflated, making Cami give her a concerned look. "What's wrong sweetie?" she asked as they walked through the busy streets, tilting her head. Rosie looked up at her, noticing that the woman looked very familiar to the motherly figure Rosie was missing, and she shook her head.
"Nothing," she said, smiling once again and Cami nodded her head.
"Good," she said, gesturing to the building in front of them as she opened the door. "Because you are about to be blown away by the wonderful world of Disney."
Rosie giggled once more and skipped into the apartment building, waiting for Camille to lead the way. They climbed up the stairs, passing a few floors before the older blonde stopped in front of a door, pulling out a key. She quickly unlocked the door, opening it fully and stepping inside. "Welcome to my humble abode," she joked, and Rosie smiled, going to step in as well.
Suddenly, she stopped, feeling a resistance against the entryway. She tried to enter the apartment again, but once again, she was unable to step even a toe past the invisible barrier. Camille turned to her, confusion on her face. "What's wrong?" she asked and Rosie sighed.
"I can't come in," she said simply, shrugging her shoulders.
"What do you mean?" Cami asked, stepping a little closer.
Rosie gave her a pointed look, swinging Teddy in her arms gently. "You haven't invited me in," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and to her, it was.
Camille stopped in her tracks, her expression falling as her eyes widened. She looked over Rosie's form again, as if trying to find something there, yet she still looked like any ordinary girl, her blonde hair pulled up into two ponytails that were slightly crooked.
"Rosie...are you..." Camille couldn't seem to find the words, and Rosie smiled reassuringly.
"A vampire?" she asked, and Cami nodded. "Yep."
Camille looked disgusted and appalled by her answer, but quickly schooled her features into a tight smile as she gestured to the apartment. "Come on in," she said, and Rosie skipped inside. "I'll go get a movie."
Rosie nodded her head and found herself sitting on the couch, turned toward the TV in the room as Camille returned with a stack of movies, asking for the girl's opinion. Rosie looked through all of them but settled on a movie about a redheaded mermaid; she easily became completely immersed in the movie as Camille stepped away, dialing someone on her phone.
Rosie was watching the movie happily, but that didn't mean that her vampire hearing didn't extend to Camille's phone call when she heard her name in the conversation.
"...that Rosie is a vampire?! How could you do such a thing, Klaus?" she practically screamed into the phone, and Rosie paused, surprised that she didn't hear the conversation earlier by how angry and upset Camille sounded.
"Do you really think I'm that awful?" Klaus replied almost sarcastically from the other end. "I would never hurt a child. Rosie's vampire status was the work of someone else."
Cami paused for only a millisecond. "Kol?" she asked, even more disgusted, but she didn't sound as shocked.
Klaus scoffed on the other end. "Despite what you may think, Kol would never go this far either," he replied. "Look, I will explain everything later, but I'm a tad bit busy at the moment, alright?"
"Fine," Camille bit out. "But you owe me an explanation."
"Of course, love," Klaus replied before hanging up.
Rosie turned around on the couch, seeing the blonde woman return to the room, wearing an almost apologetic look on her face when she caught the child staring at her. She awkwardly stuffed her phone into her pocket, making a face at the little girl. "Did you hear all of that?" she asked shyly.
Rosie smiled slightly, shaking her head as Cami walked around the couch, coming to sit next to the child. "Only the end," she explained simply, and the older woman nodded her head.
"You realize that you being a vampire is kind of...um-"
"Crazy?" Rosie offered, smiling gently at the woman. She had heard all of it before from Rebekah, as well as Kol, on multiple occasions, so she had come to terms with it. Not only was it physically impossible for Rosie to be a vampire, but it was extremely unnerving for others to know about her being a vampire, what with her being a child and all.
Camille laughed nervously, the movie continuing as Rosie turned back to the TV. "Yea..." she trailed off. "Crazy."
Rosie tried not to smirk in amusement.
She could practically feel the woman's nerves, as well as hear her heart racing slightly in her chest. If the little girl had been in this position only a few months earlier, she would've ripped Camille's throat out by now. She was happy that she didn't though. She liked the blonde woman.
The older girl in question lapsed into a comfortable silence as The Little Mermaid entrapped the focus of the blonde child. Despite being focused completely on the movie now, Rosie could still feel Camille's gaze on her face, yet ignored it.
When the villain, Ursula, had taken Ariel's voice, the doorbell rang, and Rosie looked to Camille, seeing her furrow her eyebrows in confusion before standing up. The little girl turned her attention back to the movie quickly, wanting to see what would happen.
As Rosie continued to watch the movie with focused desire, something from the door caught her attention. She heard a scuffling from behind and turned quickly to see that there were two men at the door in front of Camille, and that one of them had her by the throat, squeezing just enough for her to let out an inhuman sound. Rosie's eyes widened almost immediately, seeing her new friend in such a position and about to move into action when the other one spoke up.
The man that wasn't grabbing Camille's throat had dark hair and blue eyes, but was rather short, which took away from his intimidating looks. He glared at Camille, yet pulled this sadistic smile at the same time. "Sorry to intrude, but we need something," he spoke in a deep voice.
The man holding on to Camille released his grip, and Rosie recognized that the mood was completely intended to frighten Camille, not hurt her. They needed something, and she could see that they needed it bad by the way that they stormed into the apartment.
Acting quickly, Rosie muttered an incantation that Uncle Kol had taught her a little while ago, cloaking herself easily from anybody's eyes as the two men starting upturning everything in the apartment. As they got closer to her unknowingly, Rosie caught a strong waft of their scent and scrunched up her nose.
Werewolves.
While she had werewolf abilities, she had become a vampire first, and the other species had often caused annoyances for her, especially when the Lancaster Society often used their venom to basically torture her. Over the years there, Rosie had come to hate werewolves and their stupid venom. No doubt, it had caused her enormous amounts of pain and she was keeping a grudge against it.
Camille rushed into the living room after the two men, her eyes wide, but she stopped short when she didn't see Rosie there. However, the little girl had to give the older blonde some credit when she fixed her expression and glared at the men, who began knocking furniture over everywhere.
"It's not enough I can't go on a walk, you have to do this?" she asked them angrily, gesturing to the huge mess that they were making.
The werewolf with the blue eyes held a lamp, glaring back at her when he spoke. "You know how to stop this," he told her ominously, and then threw the lamp to the ground, everyone watching as it shattered into a million pieces. Camille jumped in surprise as the other werewolf, a man with dark skin and equally dark eyes spoke up.
"Where is the stake?" he asked, his eyes narrowed as he judge her reaction. Camille looked between the two of them, being smart and knowing when she was overpowered. Rosie was happy she did so, knowing that the werewolves probably wouldn't stop until they got what they came there for.
"Fine," she spoke begrudgingly. "Whatever." She leaned over and grabbed a notepad from a table that had not yet been damaged by the two men, picking up the pen next to it and hastily writing something down. "What do I care? This is not even my fight."
She tore the paper off and Rosie watched curiously, tilting her head when she finally realized that Camille's heart wasn't even beating that fast. She knew this was going to happen.
And she was playing along with it all.
Rosie furrowed her eyebrows and watched as the blonde woman handed the sheet of paper to the man with the dark hair. "There," she stated confidently. "That's where you'll find what you want. Now all you need is my Uncle's key."
"And where is that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
Camille said nothing as she moved past the two werewolves and grabbed a very old and vintage looking key, handing it to the man with the blue eyes, who seemed to be the leader of the two. "Hiding in plain sight, genius," she commented, and Rosie smirked, her eyes twinkling. She was liking this girl more and more by the minute. Camille tilted her head at him as she opened her front door, and without another word, the two werewolves left the apartment, Camille shutting and locking the door, even if it was kind of useless.
Rosie allowed the spell to drop, revealing her sitting on the couch with Teddy next to her. Camille immediately breathed a sigh of relief, yet the little girl could see confusion written across Camille's face.
The little girl smiled gently. "It's a long story," she said simply, and Camille shook her head.
"After this, Elijah owes me the story," she said, shaking her head as she ran a hand through her curled hair.
Rosie could see that Camille desperately did not want to talk about what had just happened, so she smiled, patting the seat on the couch next to her. "Come on," she said in her small voice, catching Camille's attention. "Let's watch the rest of the movie to relax us before we have to clean everything up."
It was so very childlike, the way that Rosie acted just then, that Camille couldn't help but nod her head, breathing deeply before joining the girl on the couch, grabbing the remote and turning the TV back on from when Rosie switched it off earlier. The movie started up once again, and Rosie's attention was immersed in the story of the redheaded girl, who had now turned into a human.
Camille looked sideways at the little girl, trying to find any evidence of the supernatural in her appearance, yet found nothing like the first time she saw her. It was nerve racking the way that Rosie was so powerful, yet didn't flaunt it like most of the inhabitants of New Orleans. She only ever used her abilities in a time of need, and Camille found herself respecting that.
Soon enough, the blonde woman relaxed into the couch, the little demon sitting next to her.
•
Rosie skipped back into the compound, smiling widely.
"Uncle Kol!" she screamed in happiness at the sight of the man, who turned toward her with a smile on his face. He and his brothers had a rough day trying to get to Esther, and yet she slipped out of their grasp again, body jumping into a witch that Hayley and Elijah were hoping to get information from. Esther offered Hayley the chance to be human again, or at least an alive werewolf, like Rosie had predicted. Klaus got angry, Elijah was upset but sympathetic, and Kol honestly didn't care too much. Hayley explained that she wouldn't take the option anyway, her lust for revenge overtaking her hope for a somewhat normal life.
"Hello wild one," he greeted, opening his arms widely for her to jump into. She did so while giggling, and he twirled her around happily. Hayley suddenly turned away from the scene, returning to her bedroom upstairs. Elijah and Klaus watched her leave with sad expressions on their face, but changed them to a neutral one when Rosie looked toward them. "How was your day with Camille?"
Before the child could answer, the blonde woman in question stepped forward, shaking her head. "Confusing," she answered, looking over at Elijah and Klaus, both surprisingly looking guilty by not explaining to her the entire story surrounding Rosie. "You owe me a story," she continued, pointing at Elijah as the vampire smirked in amusement.
"Of course," he told her, and she nodded, sighing as she's looked down at Rosie.
"Okay well, I guess I'll see you later Rosie, alright?" she told the little girl, who gave her a wide smile in return.
"Okay," she responded simply, her smile never leaving her face.
Camille met Klaus's gaze quickly though, and the hybrid seemed to understand as he moved forward to follow Camille into another room, leaving the others behind.
"Alright, little one," Kol began, sweeping Rosie off the ground and causing her to giggle at the suddenness of the action. "Time for bed."
She pouted. "Just a little longer?" she asked, but he shook his head, knowing that he needed to be firm on this, at least for tonight as he and his brothers had plans tonight. He didn't want Rosie to be able to hear those plans, especially since he didn't want to make the little girl nervous about anything.
"You were up late last night," he reminded her, and she pouted, but didn't make another argument. Plus, Kol could even see the sleepiness in the girl's eyes, but refrained from pointing it out to her.
He took her upstairs to her temporary room, helping her change into clean pajamas before tucking her into the bed, Teddy by her side as always. She looked up at him with her chocolate brown eyes, catching his attention once he finished getting her ready for bed.
"What?" he asked her, knowing she wanted to say something.
She fiddled with her fingers for a second, mumbling quietly, and Kol smiled slightly. "Now, Rosie," he reprimanded her gently. "Don't tell me that we'll have to start all over with our speaking lessons."
She rolled her eyes as she huffed in frustration, but she answered him anyways. "Do you think that I'll be safe here?" she asked him, and he stopped short, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Why would you think otherwise, sweetheart?" he asked softly, tilting his head.
She shrugged from her spot on the large bed, sighing deeply. "I don't know..." she trailed off before looking up at him. "I feel...uneasy. Like they're right under our noses, waiting."
He knew immediately that she was talking about the Lancaster Society, recognizing the anxiousness in the girl's voice instantly. He sympathized greatly with her in that moment, having almost completely forgotten about the crazy organization with all of the things happeneing with Esther at the moment. But, that didn't mean that he was allowed to forget about the society, especially when it concerned Rosie.
But, he shook his head. "You heard Nik and Elijah," Kol reminded her with a grave expression, being entirely serious for probably the first time in his life. "They won't touch you. We won't let them."
Still, she seemed nervous, and looked up at him innocently, holding out a single pinky toward him. "Promise?" she asked and he smirked.
Hooking his pinky around her finger, he nodded his head. "Promise," he told her, and she seemed to relax immensely after he had done so. She yawned widely and he stood up, bending down once to give her a small kiss on the forehead. "Now get some sleep."
She nodded. "Goodnight, Uncle Kol," she told him, and he turned back to her at the doorway.
He flicked the lights off. "Goodnight Rosie," he responded as a silhouette before closing the door, leaving her in darkness as she slipped into a peaceful sleep.
•
The shadows seemed to move around the compound like water, so fluently, as if born within the darkness that surrounded them and they had learned to embrace it into themselves. They circled the Abattoir in absolute silence, looking into every window that showed light in the streets below, and even some that didn't. They were a unit, completely tight knit and understanding what their mission was, even if it could risk their lives.
Get the little girl.
One of them scaled the building quietly, slipping onto a balcony and looking into the doors that separated the room from the outside world. Through the soft curtains, the man could see a small form sleeping in the bed, golden hair shining in the pale moonlight.
Grabbing onto the walkie-talkie clipped on his belt, the man brought it up to his lips, speaking in a whisper that sounded almost like the passing of wind.
"I think I've found her," he spoke into the machine, and the others down below replied instantly.
"Where?" they asked, but before he could answer with his location, he felt a hand roughly grab onto his neck and immediately fell into the darkness, collapsing onto the ground as another man stood above him.
The man jumped off of the balcony onto the ground, seeing his two brothers taking care of the rest easily. With the last of the group dead, Kol met the eyes of Elijah and Klaus, nodding silently as the little girl slept soundlessly upstairs, without a care in the world.
And that was how it was going to stay.
After all, Kol made a promise.
And he'd be dammed if he broke it.
Alright, here's the next chapter, finally! I understand that it's literally taken months for me to get this chapter out, and I am SO SORRY for it, but I hope this chapter makes up for it. I'm still trying to figure out how Rosie fits into all of the drama in New Orleans so I'm not going to promise that the next chapter will be out quickly, and I'm sorry. If you all have any suggestions or ideas you'd like to see in the story, please feel free to suggest them in the comments. They'd honestly help quite a bit.
Thanks for reading!
