Adrienne's POV Ch. 21:
When I walked away from the compound my situation became more complicated. No one knew what occurred at the party except for the originals and I. The girls were angry with me, they couldn't understand why this was happening. Why I would put myself in this situation. That night they brought me home. Lucy's mother was gone.
"Of all the incredibly stupid things to do. Have you not heard the stories Kol has told us about his brother?" Linny yelled at me.
"I am far from stupid Linny, calm yourself. I am alive, the dangerous vampire did not kill me." I told her.
"But he could have so easily. If Kol had not been there-" I stopped her by raising my hand.
"If Kol could not be there, then I would have protected myself." I told her.
"Why did he attack you?" Linny asked, less concerned and more worried.
"We need allies. If we are to break away from the old traditions we need friends in high places. The originals seem like a good place to start. I thought I was strong enough to make him see what we can offer." I said to them.
"We know that you are strong Adrienne, but we worry. When a vampire as old and dangerous as Klaus attacks you, we have a right to worry. You should stay with the coven until we hear from Kol." Annette said. I rolled my eyes. I felt my emotions getting the better of me and I tried to call myself.
"No, the last thing I want is the elders protection. What is it they wanted from you Linny?" I asked. I was curious.
"They are worried about this new darkness. The coven is not as strong as it used to be and they want to do a harvest to appease the ancestors. We have been chosen." She said.
"I'm sorry, did you just say we?" I asked her. She nodded. Of course they wanted me to be a harvest girl, it would give the ancestors full reign on me.
"They believe that we are the strongest of the new generation of witches because of our ties to one another." Annette said.
"I will not be a harvest girl!" I told them all. Damn the ancestors and their never ending plan to keep me bound to them.
"Nothing is happening now. It's been talked about, but the elders are seeing how this plays out first." Linny said.
"Then we focus on one thing at a time. Besides my mother has been with them, they are getting closer to whatever this darkness is. Once we know what it is, we can destroy it and there will be no need for the harvest." Lucy said and I took a deep breathe. I needed to find a way to reach Klaus and hurry this along. With so many witches looking for me it would be hard to keep my secret before I had enough power to end this. I knew I was cloaked but I worried. When Linny and Annette left to go home, Lucy went to bed and I packed the things I needed and left. The church where I'd killed the man was abandoned. I took refuge in the attack and spelled it from magic, hopefully long enough to reach Kol. I called out to him for days with no answer until finally he arrived.
"I didn't think my call would reach you." I told him hugging him tightly.
"Would you like to explain what the he'll that was?" I stepped back. "My brother is an evil bastard, who now wants you dead and me daggered." I frowned. I didn't want Kol to be implicated because of me.
"I didn't think he'd react that way, but when I had the vision, I knew I had finally collected enough power." I explained, but I had confused him.
"Collected?" He asked and took a step back. "You're the darkness?" He asked me.
"I thought you realized that once you saw me take your brother." I told him.
"Adrienne what have you done?" I decided to tell him my truth and hope that he believed in me.
"I can't belong to this coven Kol. Witches aren't meant to be anchored to one place by forces in the afterlife. Especially not by one so full of lies and deceit." I said the rush of emotion hitting me.
"I don't understand." He said.
"I have been collecting life forces for a year. It keeps me strong. If I can collect just a little while longer than I can rid myself of my ties to New Orleans and finally leave." I said.
"You're literally draining the life out of people?" A new wave of anger showed through.
"Don't judge me. I've seen you kill countless people without any remorse." I said.
"I am a vampire." He said. "What vision did you see of my brother?" I came closer to him.
"I saw me breaking his curse without the doppelganger and then I saw him change me and I found a way to keep my magic." I paused. "Don't you see Kol? If I have the power to help your brother and remain with magic after death, I can give you what you always wanted. Your powers back." I said to him. I knew what he wanted.
"Why bother with my brother?" He asked.
"I need all the Mikaelsons. I need protection from the witches. They are close to figuring it out. If they do they will kill me. If they do the Harvest they will gain the power to kill us all." I warned. "I need you to convince your brother to trust me. If you do everything will come true." I groveled.
"You wounded his pride. It's not that easy."
"Try Kol. Tell him what I'm offering." I said.
"And you'd just turn your back on the spirits?"
"After what they've done? They turned their backs on me first." I confessed. Lol left and I waited. It took me a while to have hope that it would work but when he returned I knew it couldn't be that easy. As we walked towards his home I wore a long dark hood and walked quickly. I almost panicked when I saw Annette. They would never understand. Kol guided me to the door and I waited for him to enter. He got rid of her and together we spoke to Klaus. I had to demonstrate my magic which was easier now that I had access to so much power. Only after I showed Klaus my vision did he accept me into his home and I grew hopeful that I would be able to pull this off. Until Kol walked me to my new room. I stared out the window and there in the street were Lucy, Annette and Linnette all looking up at me. They did not know that I had betrayed them yet, but when they saw me there and anger radiated from Linny that I'd never seen before. I knew that it would not take the witches long to regroup and being separated from my friends created a lack of information that I did not like. I decided to get on Klaus' good side by helping him get what he wanted. I created a boundary spell for the wolves. The first full moon they were tied to the farthest place in the bayou. When I felt the Elders begin to get desperate Kol and I created a dark object tied to my blood. On a silent night I entered their sacred place, the cemetery and Klaus and his family and other vampires helped to coral them. I had used protection spells, so that their magic would not hurt them. I used the object but not before getting something from them. The others were restrained but I made it to the eldest woman and took her hand.
"Why do you betray us child?" she asked me. "We are your family." I bent down to her ear to whisper.
"You stole me from my family and lied to me my entire life. I hope this causes you the pain that I feel." I took her hands and again allowed my instincts to take over. I searched through what she tried to hide and got a glimpse of the hurtful truth. The reason behind my kidnapping, they were afraid of my magic. They were afraid of my lineage and when the lines crossed together and created me, I was supposed to be a danger to everyone. I smiled as I let her go.
"It was necessary." she told me. I threw down the dark object and stepped back and away from the mausoleum. I watched as they fell into an eternal slumber. They were not dead for that would only help create new elders, but they were not able to use their powers either. When I walked out Klaus was closest to the structure and I wondered if he heard any of it. Lucy ran to me. She appeared out of no where and was highly upset.
"What have you done?" she asked me.
"What we always wanted. I started a new order separated from the ancestors."
"Where is my mother?" she cried.
"Calm yourself she is not an elder and has nothing to fear from me, yet." I told her. I was trying to push her away. I couldn't be weak on the verge of getting everything I wanted. I loved Lucy she was thing to family I had, but I wasn't planning on hurting her.
"Adrienne, why?" she continued to cry.
"They ruined me. They made it so I couldn't access my magic without them. They took me from my real parents to use me. They didn't count on me finding out and now I require justice." I told her. She looked at me sadder than I have ever seen her. She took a step towards me, but Klaus appeared.
"Are you ready?" Klaus asked me. I nodded and took his hand. We left and it was never the same again. In a short time things changed. The girls and I were fighting on different sides. I helped create a new power and it was invigorating. I gained more power by the day and Niklaus gained more followers. The stronger we became the more he wanted me around. I started to realize that I craved his company almost as much as I did the power. He introduces me to Marcellus and the young boy made me feel whole. I tried to teach him as I had been taught and showed him about magic, that he was not capable of doing. He was my light. I would let the darkness take over in front of everyone, but not this little warrior. He was special. Kol grew more distant from me as I grew closer to Niklaus. We had become friends over night. I found that he understood me where others could not. I enjoyed his darkness as he did mine. He made me smile in a world where most things would not. I knew something had changed even though I denied it to Kol and myself I began to have feelings for him. I made sure my spells were stronger than the others to protect him. In times where I thought he could never feel for me the way I began to feel for him, he proved me wrong. Niklaus and I spent most nights talking and one night it changed. We were in the library speaking about travel when he turned to me and spoke his mind.
"I have been around for many years, and I can honestly say I've never met someone quite like you." He told me smiling. It was contagious and I smiled back.
"And what am I like?" I asked him. Curious to know how he felt about me.
"Amazing." He said. Our bodies we inclined towards each other and his voice became a soft velvet whisper. "Utterly beautiful and I feel selfish for wanting what I do. I think you were meant for me." He said. I felt the heat radiate from him and I leaned in closer.
"Meant for what?" I asked him, suddenly very aware of him. I stared into his eyes.
"Meant to love." And then he kissed me and my heart sped up. Every fiber in my tied to him. I felt what he wanted to do before he did it. He was right this was meant to be. No two people could be more perfectly matched if they tried. The darkness in me that most people feared, he appreciated and I did the same with his. I could be myself, without fear of judgement. I thought about how I got here. If I had not been kidnapped and brought here would I have known him? If I had not found out about my lineage would I be here betraying my people? I wanted to believe that this was the reason those things were meant to happen. It was the greatest kiss in existence. When he pulled away I looked deep into his eyes and felt something click. I knew this had been long building and my mind and heart fought, but my heart won. I'm only human. We kept our relationship a secret for a few months. No one knew except for us and Marcellus, who was ecstatic with our union, but nothing could be kept a secret forever. Eventually Kol found out, in an awkward and horrible way and he did not approve. Surprisingly though Nik decided to tell his other family a few days later. Elijah and Rebekah reacted as expected.
"How long has this been happening?" Rebekah asked.
"A few months." Nik replied.
"Congratulations." Elijah said, "How about a toast to the happy couple?" he asked and Nik walked with him to open a bottle of champagne. Rebekah walked over to me and smiled nicely.
"That's wonderful Adrienne." She said, but it didn't sound wonderful.
"I want you to know how much I care for him Rebekah. We didn't plan this, but I think it's worked out." I told her.
"Of course. How wonderful that you have found each other in the midst of all the caos." she said smiling. "Excuse me." she told me getting up and following the boys towards the bar.
"It's more than just a practicality love." Nik told me later that night. "I am immortal and you are human. I want you forever." He said as he offered me his blood. "It would give me peace of mind if ever something were to catch us off guard." He said.
"But if I am a vampire I will lose my magic." I explained to him. "I don't know what I would become. I don't know if I could protect this family." I said in reality I was afraid to lose more than my power. I loved him so absolutely but my mind still worried if in changing he would see me the same.
"Do you doubt our love?" he said reading me as clearly as ever. "I have never loved anything in the way that I love you. If I could choose between you and breaking this foul curse, my choice is clear. It will always be you." He confessed.
"I love you." I told him. "I'll do it for you, but it's a precaution for now. When we break your curse I will be like you and keep my magic. Together we will create a new world order." I told him. He smiled. With his mother's grimoire we spelled his blood, infusing magic with the blood of the hybrid. I drank from him everyday for months in the same way and found that it was as addicting as my magic ciphering. My powers grew and they became tied to my emotions. I would conjure storms in a fit of anger and drop the temperature in the dead of summer. One night as I was putting Marcellus to sleep Kol waited for me.
"Rather impatient tonight aren't you?" I said. "What is it?" I asked me. He led the way outside and I followed. I looked at Victor and spoke slowly. "Mind Marcellus, if anything happens to him I will hold you responsible." He nodded. As we walked people veered in different directions avoiding me. I smiled.
"Do you like what you do to people?" He asked me.
"Don't you?" I responded. "Of course you do. Fear is stronger than almost any emotion."
"Don't you believe you have enough power to break away from the ancestors? I thought you did this to be able to leave this place." He told me accusingly.
"That was the start and I do have more than enough power to break away, but I'm not leaving just yet. I have not finished what I started." I said.
"And what is that?" He asked me.
"That's for me to worry about Kol. Enjoy the freedom; your time will come soon." I told him continuing my walk. He walked away from me and I walked along the path and around the alley. Suddenly a drunk man stumbled into me and before I could push him off I felt a stab of pain pierce my side. Everything went dark and I started to see flashes of light fill the sky. The wind picked up as something carried me. I couldn't find my voice and I had been weakened. I sank into nothing. I felt nothing, when I awoke I was in my bed looking around confused I felt weak and most of all angry that my guard had been down for someone to make their move. Nik sat at my side his emotions clear.
"Nik." I whispered. The relief on his face was apparent. "What's happened?" I asked him.
"Someone found you bleeding in the street." He said to me. "Thank God you're awake, I was beginning to lose my mind." When I tried to sit up, I felt a sharp pain at my side. I lifted the cover and saw a deep gash. "Here love." He told me handing me a vile of his spelled blood. I drank it and added a spell of my own to help heal faster. Marcellus entered the room holding books and ran to me when he saw me awake. I pulled him into my side and held him there.
"It's alright little warrior. I'm alright." I told him. "How's Kol?" I asked him.
"He's sleeping it off but he should be awake by now. I'm going to ask him some questions you stay put." He told me and I nodded.
"I'll protect her." Marcellus answered and I smiled at him.
"Of course you will." I told him and Klaus kissed both the top of our heads and left the room. "What shall we read today?" I sorted through the books he held.
"What about your poems?" He asked and I nodded. I had gotten through four easy poems when Klaus returned. He didn't look hopeful. He sat at the foot of the bed and listened as I spoke. An hour past and we had read my entire book. Marcellus hugged me, but it caused a sharp pain. I gripped at my side and Nik appeared. I lifted my hand and saw that my wound had not healed at all. It goes further.
"It has not healed yet." I said but it came out in a whisper.
"Why?" He asked me concerned.
"It's not over." I realized. This wound was not meant to kill me, but I continued to weaken.
"Are you dying?" Marcellus cried. I pulled him to me and looked at Nik.
"Of course not. She will be fine, as long as we can find who did this." He said to us unconvinced. "I will keep you safe. I will keep both of you safe, I promise." He told us smiling. I looked at him worried. When we let our emotions get the better of us it ended badly. "It's alright love, rest, Kol will find them." He said. He kissed the top of both of our heads again. I started to close my eyes, and Marcellus remained unmoving . I didn't know when Niklaus left the room, but I sent out a burst of energy when I saw he was gone to protect him from what was coming.