I studied the tall kid in front of me. This wasn't Kol. Not the Kol I had met and Klaus's mansion and yet by the way he smirked at me, I knew it was him. I stood awkwardly between him and Klaus, completely unsure of where this was going. Apparently Kol was going to be helping, but I was more focused on the dozens of creatures pouring into the compound downstairs. There were wolves and vampires; I could smell the wolves and I was focused on limiting my senses how Klaus had taught me.
Another man entered the room, distracting me from watching Klaus make peace with Kol. This man was tall like the others, black with short hair, and well dressed. With a flick of his wrist, the bottle Klaus had given to Kol smashed. I growled defensively, but the man paid me no mind.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
"Finn, please join us," Klaus greeted sarcastically and at the same time subtly pointed out this was the brother Finn he was at odds with. "My, my, you look peaky. Doesn't he look peaky?"
"He does look peaky," Kol agreed.
"Are you feeling alright?" Klaus asked.
I bit my lip to keep from giggling. I had never seen the brothers interact like this before. The casual ease that Kol and Klaus teamed up with and their blasé disregard for Finn, their sarcasm- it was hysterical.
"Don't make me ask again," Finn sneered.
I looked at Klaus, wondering what he wanted from me. He nodded at me so I rushed the man and pinned him against the wall by his neck. He tried to push me away using magic, but my body didn't budge. "That's cute," I smirked and squeezed harder.
"I assume you're referring to our mother," Klaus said. "Fear not. She's tucked away somewhere perfectly safe. You'll never find her. Let him go."
I did as I was told and dropped Finn.
"You think you've won," he said, rubbing his sore neck. "Let's see how long that arrogance lasts, brother." He turned his back on us.
I followed to see where he was going, standing on the balcony while he walked through the creatures in the courtyard. He was speaking, but I had been so focused on tuning out the lower level earlier, I could not easily hear him. I watched as he pressed to of his fingers together and then pressed his hand to the wall as he backed through the entryway. The house shook and I held onto the railing in front of me as though my life depended on it. When the ground once again felt stable I returned to the room with Kol and Klaus.
"Did he really just trap us all in here?" Kol asked.
"He certainly did," Klaus grimaced.
"You should have let me kill him," I said.
Klaus shook his head. "I only wanted you to test your tattoos."
I leapt at him; suddenly entirely consumed with anger. He didn't know that I wasn't going to get hurt.
Klaus effortlessly constrained me, stopping my attack. "Easy now," he breathed as he brushed my bangs back from my face. "I'd avenge you."
"You complete ass!" I growled and pulled away from him.
"So when did you two get together?" Kol asked.
"We're not!" I snarled at him.
Klaus smirked at me and I wanted to tear out his throat. "It's only a matter of time, luv."
I didn't try to attack him, not wanting to antagonize him further. "So what do we do about the barrier?" I changed the subject.
"Do me a favor, Anna, try to put your hand out the window," Klaus said. "I want to know if this affects you."
"Of course it does. He didn't magic us, he magicked the house," I grumbled, but put my hand to the window anyway. As I reached the barrier, my palm started to burn. I yelped at pulled it back.
Klaus ran forward to inspect the damage, but it was already healing. "You're a witch, Kol," Klaus said and realized my hand, satisfied that I was alright. "Fix it."
"And what the bloody hell do you want me to do about it?" Kol sighed.
Klaus turned on him. It was terrifying to see him threaten the brother who he had just been joking with without changing the tone of his voice. "Well considering the crowd, you'll be more motivated to find a solution. After all, I can easily outwait our brother's antics. You, on the other hand, might look appetizing to some of our fellow prisoners.
Kol eyed me warily. "I'm gonna need some help."
Kol left the room to call his help and Klaus spotted Hayley on the balcony so he went to speak with her.
I gulped. I didn't want to accidently kill anyone. I wished that I was still human; this would be so much easier. Not to mention that Klaus was right; it was only a matter of time. I already began to feel sympathetic towards him and even before now, all of our interactions were flirtatious. I felt torn between what I had been taught and practiced my entire life and what I was currently experiencing. I wanted to kill and be powerful. Everything Klaus told me about being a vampire made perfect sense. I wasn't a monster, only higher up on the food chain. But the other half of me didn't want to embrace my new powers. The other part of me felt disgusted with myself for becoming a monster.
The house tensed around me. I stood and ran to the balcony to see what was happening. Klaus was in the courtyard now, among the vampires and wolves. Kol was in the entry way, reciting an incantation with another witch. Kol was jolted back from the barrier. I could tell by his grimace that it hadn't worked.
My stomach sank; I could feel my craving for blood return. My throat was dry and itchy. I moved back into the room to try and compose myself. Klaus appeared in the doorway.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm getting hungry," I admitted.
He smiled gently. "I forgot how often young vampires feed. Come here."
I did as I was told and he met me halfway. He pulled up the sleeve of his cotton tshirt and offered me his wrist. I shook my head. I didn't want to take blood from him.
"You'll need it. We're not getting out of here anytime soon," he said and with his other hand reached out to pull me towards him.
I grabbed his forearm with both my hands, but hesitated before biting. Klaus moved his other hand onto my back and urged me on. I sank my fangs into his wrist and the blood immediately began pouring from him. It tasted better than the animal blood I had been drinking. In fact it was the best thing I had ever tasted. I allowed myself to get lost in the sweetness and the warmth until I heard his voice calling me back. Embarrassed, I dropped his arm and used the back of my hand to wipe the blood off my chin.
"Better?" he asked.
I nodded, not wanting to look him in the eye.
"Anna." He put a finger under my chin, pushing my head up until I looked at him.
Our eyes connected and my words stuck in my throat. Thankfully, though, his seemed to as well. His cell phone rang; shattering the connection. He answered his phone, no longer looking at me, but not releasing me either.
"Elijah," he said. "I trust everything is well."
"Rebekah's gone," I heard the voice clearly through the phone.
"What do you mean she's gone?" Klaus hissed and stormed from the room.
I followed him at what I thought was a safe distance. I spotted Kol on the other side of the hallway who was also eavesdropping, apparently. He put a finger to his lips telling me to stay quiet.
"Stay where you are," Klaus ordered. "I'll handle it."
"Everything alright?" Kol asked.
"It will be," Klaus told him. "Provided you found a solution to this little quandary of ours."
"Well, I might have," Kol said. "I'm not sure you're gonna like it though."
"I'm not sure we have a choice," Klaus pointed out walked past Kol towards me. He put his arm over my shoulders, formally involving me in the conversation. "What is it?"
"There are things that we need from the lycée which means we need it clear of Finn," Kol explained. "There's only one thing that will distract him for long enough."
"What's that?" Klaus asked. I could feel him growing impatient next to me.
"If you tell him where to find our mother."
Klaus huffed. That was not the solution he had been hoping for.
Suddenly I felt as though I were starving. Which I couldn't have been because I had just drank Klaus's blood minutes ago. Still, my throat was dry and with each of Kol's heartbeats, I wanted to tear him apart. With the hunger came weakness and my knees gave out. I clutch Klaus's arm and he held me up. "Niklaus," I said. I felt like crying.
"What's wrong?" he demanded.
"I've never felt hunger like this before. I feel like I'm going to faint." As I spoke the room swam in front of me.
Klaus swept me up. "You just fed. This doesn't make any sense." He ran through the house, carrying me bridal style, and burst into the room with three vampires I hadn't been introduced to. "Why do all the vampires seem to think it's lunchtime?" he asked.
"I don't know," the one with a shaved head answered. He seemed to be suffering the least aside from Klaus so I assumed he was the oldest.
"It's like supersize hungry," said the younger male. "And there's an all you can eat werewolf buffet right through those doors."
Klaus turned to me. "Why is Finn's magic affecting you now?" he asked.
"He must be cursing the house," I whimpered and buried my face in his neck. I wanted him because I needed him and the last thing I ever wanted was to need him.
He sets me down in one of the chairs and orders the oldest to look out for me before leaving the room, holding his phone.
"I'm Marcel," said the one Klaus had spoken to. "That's Josh and Gia," he pointed out the boy and the girl. "I don't think we've met."
"We haven't," I snarled. I hated that phrase. We haven't met so you're not going to offend me, why bother being polite? "I'm Anna."
"You're a young vampire," he commented. "You're affected the worse out of anyone."
I didn't respond. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for Klaus to get back.
He kept talking, though. "How do you know Klaus?"
I wanted to tell him that if I wasn't hungry I'd drive a stake right through his heart. I killed killers. I remained silent though, biting my tongue. I didn't know any of the vampires in the room and wasn't about to try my luck by trusting them. I continued to scowl while Marcel ordered Josh and Gia to look after things in the courtyard. Finally, Klaus returned with Kol.
"Talkative friend you've got here," Marcel commented.
"Yes, she hates vampires," Klaus grinned.
"Well, things are getting testy out there. Come on, we better move this along," Marcel said and dismissed Klaus's comment.
"Vincent's boundary's too strong, but what Davina and I can do is cast a disruption spell. It would temporarily neutralize all magical objects, including the compound itself," Kol said. "If it works then it will give us sixty seconds to escape whilst the boundary is shut down."
"Alright, that sounds good to me," Marcel readily agreed to the plan.
"That's all magical objects," I pointed out. "Our rings won't work. We'll be incinerated."
"Unless you wait until nightfall," Klaus suggested.
"I'm going to kill someone if I have to wait until nightfall," I told him. I barely lasted the first hour.
The vampires considered my point. "So the werewolves leave," Marcel decided.
Kol left to lay the spell with Davina and Marcel joined his vampire ranks. I could tell that he was scheming, but I couldn't help myself from interrupting.
"Niklaus. We need to fix this," I said.
"I know, Anna, you'll be alright," he replied.
"No!" I growled and found the strength to stand. "I can't rely on you all the time. Right now I need you and it's eating away at me. I can't spend eternity relying on someone else! You tell me when to kill. When not to kill. You bring me food and carry me around the house. It's bullshit!"
"Anna, darling, I get that you're upset, but this is just one incident. You've only been here a few days," he tried calming me, but it had no effect.
"Don't patronize me! Whatever this is; it's wrong," I said. This referring to the dynamic of me and him.
He looked at me with what I thought was confusion. "Friends help each other," he said simply.
"That's what we are?" I scoffed. "Friends?"
In less than a second he had closed the space between us and crashed his lips into mine. He wrapped his arms around my waist as he ran his tongue across my bottom lip. I expected him to be coarse and rough, but his lips were soft and even with his tongue between my teeth he was gentle. Startled at myself, I pulled away. I kept my hands on his arms, not wanting him to leave completely when a fight in the courtyard broke out. Someone had gotten cut because I could smell the blood. Instinct took over and I moved to leave the room. As I swerved around Klaus, he held me back.
"Stay here," he whispered in my ear. "Kol's about to do the spell. I'm going to leave with the wolves. But I'll come back to you, I promise. I need you to watch out for Kol. I don't want him dead, not yet, but he needs to pay for betraying Rebekah."
"Got it." I held onto him for a second longer before letting him disappear. When he was out of my sight and cursed and mentally slapped myself. What had just happened? He kissed me and I liked it. Liking it wasn't surprising, but the fact that I wasn't morally opposed to it was. I waited and listened for a cue that it was safe to go outside. Klaus had stopped shouting so I took a peak at the courtyard. Kol was bleeding from his forehead and the vampires were advancing. I ran towards him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him upstairs where I threw him into the room. "You'll be safest in there," I said. "Barricade yourself in."
Kol did as I told him while I sat on the balcony with my back against the door. I sighed. We still had hours until nightfall and even then the barrier might not be broken. Minutes dragged on in painful silence.
"Kol?" I called through the door.
"Yes, little hunter?" he responded.
"Are there any books in there?" I asked.
There was a moment of shuffling around and then a "yes" floated across the doorway.
"Can you read to me?"
Kol chuckled. I could hear him sit down and open the book. Then he began to read.