A/N: Neither Vampire Diaries nor its characters belong to me. I only own my OC, Artemisia.

Chapter 24

Klaus slid the dagger out of Rebekah's heart, and we waited for her to wake up. We went outside the room, as Klaus left a couple of blood bags beside Rebekah. I thought back to our conversation we had had before waking up Rebekah.

Flashback.

I found Klaus sitting at the bar, a glass of what I assumed to be blood in his hand. The bar was empty, so I guessed that Klaus had compelled the rest of the patrons to leave. I walked in slowly and he turned towards the sound of my footsteps. He had a brooding expression on his face, but it lightened slightly when he saw me coming. I slid into the seat beside him and poured myself a glass of blood. I took a sip of it and realized that I had gone way too long without feeding. I grimaced at the feeling in my throat, and could feel my eyes darkening as my vampire visage came forth. I knocked back the glassful and poured another glass.

Klaus gazed at me and murmured, "Gorgeous." I didn't think he meant for me to hear it, given how he had muttered it almost soundlessly.

I dismissed it, thinking that he meant my vampire face, which even I admit looked quite intimidating and stunning. Unlike usual vampires, my eyes glowed violet, rather than turning red, when my fangs came forth.

Having sated my thirst, I took the incentive to address the elephant in the room.

"What are you going to tell Rebekah when you wake her up?" I asked Klaus.

He grimaced at my question, but answered, "I personally don't want to tell her anything. However, I agree that it would make everything easier if I came clean."

I nodded, and said, "It would be for the best if you told your siblings the truth. Yes, even Elijah, and later, Kol and Finn, as well. But it is imperative that you tell Rebekah first."

"She is going to crucify me," Klaus said, wincing.

"Well, I don't blame you for killing Esther, if that helps you feel any better. You can justify it to Rebekah by telling her of the fact that your mother deliberately lessened your strength in order to hide that you were of werewolf descent."

Apparently, Klaus hadn't known that fact, as his face morphed into a surprised and furious one. I spent the rest of the hour explaining to him about his mother's actions.

End of flashback.

Soon enough, we could hear sounds of drinking from the next room, signaling that Rebekah was awake. I smirked, knowing that the chances of her stabbing Klaus were very high. I stood up and saw that Klaus had done the same.

A white blur came out of the room and threw Klaus into the wall. I could see that Klaus had not put up even a token of resistance. Seeing that Rebekah was palming the silver dagger, I chuckled. Rebekah stiffened at that sound. She stabbed Klaus in the chest, and sped towards me. I could see that she was still in a furious state of mind and was immediately alert.

Rebekah grabbed my neck and slammed me into the wall behind me. I saw Klaus starting towards us. However, I had no intention of being rescued, and was incensed that someone had gotten under my defenses so fast. I grabbed her hand and twisted it away from my neck, breaking it in the process. That caught Rebekah off-guard, and gave me enough time to reverse our position. I pinned her shoulders to the wall with my forearm and rested my katana on her neck as a warning. I had beheaded some vampires that very morning, and the blade was stained red.

Rebekah froze, fear seeping into her eyes at being overpowered. Still pinning her to the wall, I warned, "Never do that again, sweetheart. I am a hunter with some very unfortunate reflexes, and I bet your brother won't be pleased with me for accidently hurting you."

She nodded, still speechless. I let her go and sheathed my katana. I turned towards Klaus and saw him looking at me with raised eyebrows, calculation and desire warring in his eyes, with a hint of anger. I then realized that I, a newborn vampire, had overpowered an Original. Oops.

"How did you do that? When did you become so strong?" Klaus demanded.

I took a deep breath and explained, "When I was 'dead', I think that I received a boost in my strength and speed to be on par with an Original, along with keeping my powers. I guess that I can be classified as a hybrid, much like you."

Klaus narrowed his eyes at my explanation and accused me, "You're hiding something."

I nodded and replied, "I am. However, I will not tell you unless Elijah is also present for the explanation."

Klaus made a face at that, but said nothing. I had two reasons for applying that condition. Even though I had known Klaus and had been in his company for the last few months, I still didn't trust him as much I trusted Elijah. I also wanted him to start looking for Elijah using more effort, using his curiosity as a trigger.

I saw Rebekah looking quite confused, and sighed. I told Klaus to explain everything to her, and went to my room to sleep. It had been a long day.

When I heard about Rebekah's reaction to everything Klaus had told her, I thanked Freyja that I had not been present for that. Apparently, Rebekah had made ample use of the vases and tumblers in their suite and had thrown all of them at Klaus' head. There had been lots of shouting and crying, and I had slept through it all. When I emerged from my room the next morning, I was treated to a lot of dirty looks from Klaus. I smiled cheerfully at him and suggested that we needed to go shopping for Rebekah. The female vampire in question, who had been sitting in stony silence, cheered up at that.

I felt that we had started off on the wrong foot, and went towards her. I extended my hand and said, "Hey there. I feel that our introduction was a tad awkward yesterday. My name is Artemisia Gilbert, but you can call me Sia."

Rebekah smirked, and shook my hands, saying, "Nice to meet you, Sia. My name is Rebekah Mikaelson, and I am the younger sister of this bastard."

I smirked back at her and said, "Well, now that the introductions are out of the way, shall we embark on our shopping adventure? You'll find that nowadays, fashion isn't what you were used to in the Roaring Twenties."

She nodded and Klaus groaned. I blew him a kiss and Rebekah and I went out, laughing.

Klaus and I compelled an exclusive clothing store to serve us, and they were doing it with style. We were led into a private dressing room and were served pink champagne. Then Rebekah began to try on clothes.

After three hours and numerous clothing changes, Rebekah had chosen only one outfit. While I loved shopping as much as the next person, I still had my limits. I groaned and got up to help Rebekah. Klaus shot me a grateful look, having been just as frustrated as me. I went and grabbed a black blazer, a red blouse and white jeans, and gave it to Rebekah in the changing room. After a few minutes, she came out and I nodded in approval. The outfit suited her. Then I went to work, bringing her numerous clothes that I felt would suit her personality. We quickly finished her shopping, and then Rebekah pestered me to buy a few things for myself as well. I tried to protest, but then she pointed out that Klaus was paying for everything. That changed my mind pretty quickly, and I set about finding some outfits.

While I was in the changing room, Rebekah handed me a dress and told me, in no uncertain terms, to try it on. I took it reluctantly, as I was not a fan of dresses. I put it on and gazed in the mirror, and had to admit that it looked amazing on me. It was a gold and cream colored, Grecian-inspired floor length dress, with a slit up one leg. I took another look at myself in the mirror, and stepped out of the changing room.

Rebekah gasped and wolf-whistled at me. On the other hand, Klaus became extremely still and gripped his glass of champagne tightly. His pupils dilated and his gaze zeroed in on my neck, which I had left bared by pinning up my hair earlier. I blushed at their reactions, still not used to people looking at me with appreciation for my looks. I quickly went back and changed into my regular clothes, feeling confused at Klaus' reaction.

I came out and we quickly gathered our stuff. Klaus paid for our purchases and we went back to the hotel. We had made the decision to go back to Mystic Falls by the earliest, and so we packed and loaded our luggage into the car Klaus had acquired for us. I got into my beloved Corvette and followed the others out of the parking lot.

Mystic Falls better be prepared.

A/N: Please Review!

Ciao!