Here is chapter ten.

Enjoy.

''Talking''

'Thinking'

Flashback, Memory, Dream

Chapter 10

Stole The Show

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Where The Girl Was Taken

"Love is the absence of judgment."
― Dalai Lama XIV

Present Time

He came back for her. By that time the Salvatores and their little gang had long since abandoned the quarry, leaving her alone in the woods.

Arianna knew that she should have gone with them. That it was too dangerous for her to be alone in those woods. A werewolf, no, a hybrid, was having the time of his life probably only a few miles away from her.

If the beast managed to scent her, it would most likely come back and rip her into minuscule pieces. For a moment a morbid thought crossed the young girl's mind.

Would her own almost brother-in-law eat her? Leave nothing but bones behind?

How curious. She never thought that she would die like that of all things. Being sucked dry had been way higher on the list.

She had been pondering about her impending death when Elijah Mikaelson arrived. He was paler than usual and his eyes had a frantic quality to them. They traveled across her form and once they found her unharmed his rigid body relaxed.

The Original did not say a thing as he picked her up from her kneeling position on the forest ground and proceeded to carefully walk to his car. She was tucked inside the machine and swiftly driven into town.

He did not say a word.

Unexpectedly, Elijah did not take her home. He drove her to Alaric's apartment and deposited her in the small flat.

It all seemed like a blur to the young blonde. Hearing the truth from Niklaus' lips. Watching the two brothers escape. Spending what felt like an eternity on that cold forest ground and being finally rescued by a man she new a part of her would always hate.

The way to their destination was no better. All the buildings and people they passed mixed into a mirage of countless colors that left her more confused than anything else.

Luckily, she did manage to notice how the Mikaelson compelled whom she first thought to be a very much alive Elena Gilbert. That is till Arianna realized she had seen the girl's corpse not even three hours ago and that it was impossible for her to be back so quickly.

Her next realization was that the woman standing before her was no one other than Katarina Petrova.

The woman actually belonged to the few people Arianna Forbes grudgingly admired. Not that anyone would ever find out about this.

''What have you done to warrant your presence in this cursed apartment, little Forbes?'' The female vampire asked a few minutes after Elijah had left them. Her voice had a lilting quality to it and Arianna could see the morbid curiosity shining in her dark orbs.

Turning her head slightly, the young girl positioned herself comfortably on the only couch in Alaric's apartment. ''Nothing that concerns you, Katarina.''

The use of her real name visibly startled the only living doppelganger. She narrowed her eyes and asked harshly, ''How do you know my real name?''

''It doesn't matter how I came to know your name.'' The youngest Forbes begun. ''What matters is the nice bottle in your hand. I don't suppose you would like to share some of that bourbon with? After tonight I really need it.''

She never received an answer. But that was alright, it was probably for the best. At least, that's what she thought as felt sleep's clutches tighten around her and the light before her eyes slowly faded.

Katarina Petrova watched the young girl fall asleep, a calculating expression adorning her face.

France, 1611

Ives Beaumont was a curious young boy. After settling in his new life with Kol and developing a slight trust for the creature he was taught to hate, the young boy turned out to be a rather unusual child.

Like all witches and warlocks he had a tight connection with nature. His just seemed to go deeper than normally.

It was astounding to see how in the middle of winter a field full of snow started to bloom. The boy's mere presence caused such a reaction. Kol could only imagine what the young warlock would be able to do while at the peak of his power.

That is, if he finally managed to persuade him to learn something.

Till now Ives Beaumont did not even try gathering knowledge about anything that had to do with magic. He seemed to dislike his powers and blamed them for loosing his family. Their heritage caused the witch hunts, after all.

Kol was more than frustrated at the slow progress. He loved teaching witches about the arts he could no longer practice himself and would have given anything to have at least half the power Ives had.

The boy, on the other hand, would have gladly lived on without ever using his powers again. That was an impossible thing because Ives Beaumont could not even control the powers he had. People would not let him live his life in peace as long as he continued to control the growth of each plant he neared as well as accidentally making the humans that bothered him too much ill.

Personally, Kol thought that the headaches were a little over the top.

''You do know that you could find a lot more information on herbs inside a grimoir. The humans do not know much about them. Especially when it comes to their use.'' The Original muttered after sitting down on a chair across from the young boy. ''There are some in your chambers. Perhaps you could finally read them.''

Grey orbs blinked twice and looked upon him in surprise. The child had not even noticed his arrival. ''There is plenty of information in this book, Lord Kol.''

He almost rolled his eyes in exasperation. Almost. ''You know what I am talking about, child. You have been testing my patience for the last two years now.''

Slowly, the young warlock put down the book on his lap. A hand passed through his ginger hair and his gray eyes closed tightly. He looked nervous and a little irritated.

''You should consider yourself fortunate for still having your magic, Ives Beaumont. Not all are that lucky.'' Kol's words passed over the boy. He received no reaction.

For two years now he had been trying to get the boy interested in anything that had remotely to do with magic. It turned out that herbs were the right place to begin at. Unfortunately, the boy was only interested in what humans had to say about the different plants. Nothing magical had caught his interest.

Knowing better than to stay in the boy's company while irritated, Kol stood up from his seat and gazed at his unwilling apprentice. Ives heart was beating calmly as he continued to ignore him.

The Original started to leave the room before he could do something he would come to regret later. He always did hate it when people denied him what he wanted.

It was not the first and certainly would not be the last time they would have this conversation. Kol could only hope that the young warlock would come to his senses before he himself snapped.

The hallway was empty as he walked to his newest lodging's entrance. Rarely did the servants dare to walk through the hallways, if they did not have any errands to fulfill. They had all heard the rumors about the monster that lived inside their home and Kol did nothing to dissuade them.

Staying in France for that long had not been among his plans anyway. The vampire's next destination was Bulgaria and he planned to leave as soon as Ives was ready.

If that time did not arrive in a few days, Kol would force the boy to leave his home country. The Mikaelson's actions had been too brusque―wether it be his meddling during the witch hunts or the countless corpses he left in his wake―and had certainly attracted unwanted attention.

Kol did not want to meet any of his siblings, his father even less than them, thus he would have to leave France before any of them could arrive.

His impending departure made the servant's knowledge insignificant.

Reaching the door, the youngest Mikaelson brother managed to hear the first question Ives ever asked him. It was a question he despised and would not deign to answer.

The soft whisper, childlike in its curiosity, hurt him more than the cursed daggers Nik loved to shove inside his heart.

''You were once a warlock as well, weren't you?''

She awoke to the sight of Elijah's desiccated body, an ornate silver dagger stuck deeply in his chest. Having blinked once to make sure that she wasn't seeing some kind of illusion, Arianna used both of her hands to prop herself up from the couch.

''Well, well, well. It seems as if the final member of our merry group has finally woken up.'' The familiar voice from her nightmares exclaimed from somewhere behind her.

Arianna's head whipped to the side, making it possible for her to catch a sight of the Original Hybrid out of the corner of her right eye. He was sitting at a table at the other side of the room, drinking what looked to be blood out of a glass.

The surprising thing was the companion at his side.

Stefan Salvatore

Now, what was that menace doing there with one of their only mutual enemies?

''You're alive?'' Arianna almost slapped herself. Well, he was standing right before her so of course he was alive. Besides she had seen how Elijah saved him from the Bennett witch.

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, Niklaus only laughed. ''You did not think that a group of children would actually manage to win a fight against me, did you?''

It was a rhetorical question, they both knew the answer to it. No, Arianna knew from the beginning on that Niklaus Mikaelson would win. She had long since acknowledge with a bitter feeling in her heart that the man before her always won and would always win.

It was a bitter truth she learned from watching all those centuries of his family's life.

Instead of pondering any longer on things she couldn't change, the blonde turned her gaze to the other occupant of the room. Stafan Salvatore looked rather disheveled. His eyes darker than she had seen them ever before and if her guess was right than there was a smudge of blood on his left cheek.

Ah, Niklaus had probably forced him to drink human blood.

While Arianna did not know all that much about Stefan, she still knew enough to guess the proper conclusion.

Stefan the saint wasn't needed here, no, what Klaus wanted was the Ripper.

How curious.

For a moment his dark eyes settled on her throat and Arianna had no doubts about what was going through his head. Quite literarily, Stefan Salvatore wanted to suck her dry.

And the Forbes thought he might have actually done just that, if Niklaus had not interfered. A hand landed on the vampires shoulder, while another one forced him to look into the Originals eyes. ''No. We can't have that. You, Stefan, will no matter what never harm this lovely lady here. You will not even think about hurting her. And you know what, if anything should happen, you are to protect her with your life.''

Now, that did manage to surprise the girl. Her eyes opening wide and looking at the Original with something akin to suspicion.

What did he want from her?

''Don't look so surprised, love.'' He was regarding her now, eyes blue and familiar seemingly looking straight at her soul. ''You may think I'm a monster, but even a monster knows how to love. And I do love my family. Kol is my younger brother, I wont let anything happen to you. Besides, I'm not stupid enough to actually risk his wrath if anything should happen to you on my watch.''

He shouldn't have said anything. Stefan had probably been suspicious since the moment he saw her sleeping on that couch, now he certainly knew that there was something wrong with her. Sadly, he wasn't afraid to ask exactly what that was. ''What does your brother have to do with anything?''

Before she could even think of an answer, Klaus had already turned a stern gaze on the young vampire. ''I think you're forgetting your current position. You aren't here to ask questions, Stefan, and while I might be lenient, it doesn't mean that I wont punish you, if you cross a certain line.''

That silenced the young looking boy.

''Now that we have taken care of this small problem, I believe it is time for us to start moving.'' Slowly, a smirk appeared on Klaus' lips. ''There are werewolves to find.''

What did all that have anything to do with her? Among all the living species, Arianna hated werewolves the most and did not actually enjoy the idea of meeting an unknown number of them. ''Why are you including me into this ragtag group of yours? I have no interest in helping you accomplish whatever it is you have set your mind on.''

The smirk never left the Original Hybrid's face. ''The answer is a quite easy one, sweetheart. With all that has been going on in Mystic Falls, it's too dangerous for you to stay here. That is my reason for taking you with me. And as for your reason for going with me without any resistance; You have never been in such a close proximity to your goal before, I don't think you want the distance between you to grow farther again.''

Her reaction was a simple one. Arianna stood from the couch and moved towards the door. Reaching the entrance to the apartment, the blonde girl turned around and gave the hybrid a a bright fake smile. ''Lead the way.''