Part 10

My time of dying

2 months earlier

Kol crossed his arms while looking at the girl walking away; clearly she was in a hurry. He certainly hadn't expected her to come here, he was pleasantly surprised. This would make his next move much easier. He frowned when he suddenly heard clapping.

"Very nice, brother," Rebekah's amused voice said from behind his back. "I especially enjoyed the part where you made her fall off ladder and played the hero, nice move."

Kol rolled his eyes before turning to face his sister.

"Bekah. Haven't anyone taught you that spying is naughty?"

Rebekah smiled.

"Haven't anyone taught you that stealing is naughty?" she replied. "That was Elijah's girl, wasn't it?"

Kol shrugged.

"Finders keepers."

Rebekah's eyebrows furrowed.

"Really, Kol? Are you honestly trying to seduce your brother's girl? That's low, even for you."

"Relax, sister," Kol huffed. "She's not Elijah's girl."

"Really?" Rebekah snorted. "Nik thinks that she is."

"Well, Nik is wrong, believe me."

Rebekah pondered his words for a short moment before replying.

"Who has Elijah been sneaking around with then?"

"Who knows," Kol huffed and waved his hand. "Or cares."

"Come on, aren't you at least a little curious? This is Elijah we are talking about."

"Yes and he's probably courting some chaste rich girl who allows him to hold her hand, if he's very lucky. I have better things to do than speculate Elijah's boring love life."

Rebekah grinned.

"Like courting your little apple girl?"

Kol gave his sister a charming smile.

"A gentleman never kiss and tell."

"Oh please," Rebekah huffed. "I heard your cute little conversation; we both know you have nothing to tell."

"Yet," Kol added. "Soon I will."

Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"You're hopeless, Kol, always playing your little games."

"What's the point of eternal life if you don't enjoy it?" Kol replied. "As fun as this whole family charade is, I need some real entertainment. After all, I did spend almost a century in a coffin."

"You're not the only one," Rebekah muttered.

Kol smiled.

"Yes, your little romance with Nik's precious protégé. Speaking of which…" Kol paused and looked around before leaning towards his sister. "I would advice you to be more careful, it would be a shame if Nik would hear what the two of you are doing behind his back. Again."

Rebekah's expression tensed.

"I don't know what you are talking about…"

"Relax," Kol hummed and placed his palm on Rebekah's shoulder. "Your secret is safe with me, sister. I'll watch your back and in return I ask you to watch mine."

"Meaning what?" Rebekah asked suspiciously.

Kol smiled.

"Meaning that you and I should stick together, we have been a good team before."

"If you say so," Rebekah huffed.

"Oh come on, don't be like that. I'm not asking much, only some tiny favor for every now and then. Surely you can do that for your big brother."

Rebekah crossed her arms.

"And what if I decline? Are you going to tattle?"

Kol grinned.

"I'm not, but I happen to know that one of the servants saw you and… your friend together. Perhaps you would like to know which servant?"

Rebekah glared at him before she finally sighed.

"Fine. I assume that you have some specific favor in mind?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I know you have certain…contacts in the French Quarter, what I want you to do is find out everything you can about Rosalie Aberdeen and especially about her aunt."

I was exhausted when I finally got home; I had walked around the whole day, delivering medicines and lotions. My stomach was growling, hopefully the dinner was ready. Elsa had promised to make her famous stew. I couldn't wait to sit down and lift my feet up… I stopped when I saw something in front of the door, a basket covered with a cloth. Why had Elsa left this here? I was just about to pick it up when I noticed a piece of paper.

"Someone who has such a warm heart deserves more than one."

What… I picked the basket up and lifted the cloth. Apples. For a moment I couldn't do anything except stare at the basket and the note.

"Rosa?" Elsa called out from inside. "Is that you?"

Quickly I hid the note in my pocket before the door opened.

"Hi," I managed to say.

Of course the first thing Elsa noticed was the basket.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Oh… Just some apples," I replied as casually as I could. "Mrs. Donnelly gave these to me."

Elsa didn't seem to even suspect that I was lying to her; she had never had to worry about that before. The thought made me feel guilty, but I was too much of a coward to tell her the truth, she would be furious if she would know who these apples were really from. Why had he sent me these? And most importantly, how had he known where I lived?

"Well, that was very kind of her," Elsa said smiling. "It seems that we'll have some dessert. Come in, the dinner is ready."

"Rosa?" Elsa said, her eyes were filling with tears. "Rosa?"

She blinked her eyes and gave Elsa a weak smile.

"It's alright, Elsa. I-I'm not afraid."

Father Kane was standing next to the bed; he had just given Rosa The Last Rites; Penance, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction and the Apostolic Blessing.

"Nor you should be, child," he said gently. "The Lord will welcome you home and you will be reunited with all your loved ones."

Elsa couldn't handle this, she was sobbing hopelessly.

"No…No, my little Rosa…"

"Please don't cry, Elsa," she muttered weakly. "I… I need to know that you will be alright."

Elsa was trying her hardest to pull herself together, but this was too much. For the last 10 years this girl had been her daughter and she truly loved her as much as any mother loved her child. No mother should have to see her child like this. Somehow she managed to force a smile on her face; she needed to do this for Rosa.

"I'll be fine, sweetheart, I promise."

Rosa smiled and reached for Elsa's hand.

"I love you. No one could have ever hoped for a better mother."

Elsa felt like her heart would have been torn out, but she kept the smile on her face.

"I love you too, Rosa, more than anything. I couldn't be more proud of you."

Rosa was breathing heavily; she had to struggle before she managed to speak.

"If… If you see papa, could you tell him that I love him? And…Uncle Stefan."

"Yes, of course I'll tell him."

"Thank you." Rosa paused and gathered some strength before continuing. "And… Please, don't be angry at me, but… Could you also tell Mr. Mikaelson that I love him?"

Elsa froze, that bastard…

"Yes," Elsa forced herself to say. "I'll tell him."

Rosa smiled, her breathing was slowing down. She blinked her eyes few times before closing them.

"No, no, Rosa! Rosa, open your eyes, sweetheart, open your eyes! Stay with me!"

Elsa grabbed her shoulders and started to shake her.

"Rosa, please!"

"Elsa," Father Kane said gently.

"No!"

She didn't even feel Father Kane's hand on her shoulder; she needed to wake Rosa up.

"Rosa! Wake up!"

"Elsa, stop," Father Kane said more firmly and pulled her away from the bed.

"No! Let me go, let me go, I need to…"

She couldn't finish her sentence, her whole body started to shake violently. Father Kane turned her around and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's alright, Elsa. She's in the better place now; no one can hurt her anymore."

Tears were coursing down Elsa's cheeks, her pain was unbearable.

"I failed her," she muttered. "I should have…"

"No," Father Kane interrupted her firmly. "You protected her from a demon; you gave her a peaceful death. Now that demon can never touch her again."