Klaus paced up and down the front door step, getting more anxious as the deadline drew closer. He wanted to mend the issues he was having with Rosa, but with his temper that was hard to do. And his brother was in the wrong, trying to take her away from him. Rosa was his, she was always going to be, and she needed to accept that. He looked down at his watch. Five minutes and he would be in that backward swamp, dragging her by her hair home. He had enough to deal with right now. Finally the city was his, Marcel bowed to him. Rebekah would have to pay for her betrayal, but that he could deal with later. Now, he wanted to celebrate owning the city with his queen. He heard footsteps in the distance, they really were cutting the deadline close.
"I made your deadline Klaus," hissed Rosa, standing before him.
"I had hoped you would. I would have rather hated to punish my brother again, although it is not like he does not deserve it," replied Klaus, leaning in to kiss Rosa on the cheek, she jolted away from him, back towards Elijah.
"You owe me an apology brother," said Elijah, making sure he kept a step away from Rosa. Too close and his brother was likely to snap his throat.
"Brother, I need you inside now," hissed Klaus. "Rosa, be a dear and stay here why don't you," he said, reaching to hug her, and she shoved him away, sadly unable to move.
"Piss off," she spat back, sitting down on the steps, resigned to her fate. Elijah looked at her briefly, and she nodded to him. Right now Klaus was like a nuclear weapon, waiting to go off. And if either of them prodded him the wrong way, it would end badly for Rosa and even worse for Elijah. With a final glance at Rosa, both the brothers stepped inside, and Rosa quickly turned her vamp hearing up to high.
"Elijah's home," said Rebekah, as high heels clattered across the floor. Something must have happened between them, she sounded a mixture of nervous and angry. "There's only one dagger. Which one of us will you be punishing today?" she asked, and Rosa quickly stood up. What had Rebekah done?
"I contemplated a game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe," replied Klaus. "You betrayed me. My own sister!" he yelled.
"Niklaus, don't you dare!" yelled Elijah, jumping to his sister's defence. Whatever she had done, it was probably justified. Klaus smiled slightly, turning to point the dagger at him.
"Perhaps it should be you, brother!" replied Klaus, the volume of the conversation growing. "Trying to run away with my Rosa, making her mistrust me. If I didn't know any better, I would say you had feelings for her!" he continued, and Rosa froze. If Klaus did realise how Elijah felt, a dagger would be the least of his worries. Klaus would kill him, and find a way to do it.
"This has nothing to do with Rosa, this is to do with you," whispered Elijah.
"It has everything to do with her! She has always been close with you, and since she came here, you have been closer to her than I have. I cannot have you take her from me, she will not be yours!" he yelled, and Rosa heard that hurt once more in his voice. Klaus was normally so distant from his feelings, it was something that drove a wedge between them. All she had ever wanted was for him to be honest with her, and tell her how he truly felt.
"Is that what this is?" whispered Rebekah. "You are once again worried that you will be left behind? Has history taught you nothing? We don't abandon you, Nik, you drive us away," she continued.
"Is that so?" snarled Klaus. "What have I done lately, other than cooperate? I bow down to you, brother, to make up for daggering you. For the greater good of our plan to reclaim our home," he whispered, stepping towards Elijah. "Looked the other way sister, while you repeat the same cycle with Marcel," Klaus added, turning to face his sister. "Falling again for a man you shouldn't be with, while he controls the empire that we built! That he took!" once more he started yelling. "Now I make no excuses for past sins. But in one moment when you two could have chosen to stand by me, to believe in me, to believe my intentions with you, with Rosa were pure, you chose to stand against me, to side with my enemies. I wanted our home back," he said, quieting down once more. "Now I have it. So, I'm going to live there. And the two of you, you can stay here together and rot," spat Klaus, throwing the dagger into Elijah's hands and rushing out towards the porch. Rosa looked at him as he pushed the door open.
"You're coming with me, darling," he snarled moving towards the car and gripping her arm tight, dragging her along.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. You may be able to make me stay anywhere but you sure as hell can't make me come with you," Rosa said, pulling her arm out from his grip fast. Within seconds Klaus had her arms by her side, and had her pinned against the car.
"Rosa, right now you are the only thing on this earth that matters to me. Go ahead, try and fight me on this. But you will lose," he hissed. They turned as Elijah stepped out onto the porch. "As will anyone else who tries to stop you getting in this car," he added, staring directly into Elijah's eyes.
"Fine. But I am not getting in this car for you," whispered Rosa, as Klaus opened the door for her. She turned to face Elijah, struggling not to let her emotions spill onto her face. Rosa could not give Klaus that satisfaction, he could not win. She had hoped the car ride would be silent.
"Come love, no need to be bitter. Celebrate, consider this a fresh start. Our own home, our own life, rulers of the city together!" he exclaimed, a large smile gracing his face.
"You never understood did you. I never wanted a city to rule over, I never wanted a large estate to live on Klaus. All I ever wanted was you. And I wish that was enough for you. But it never will be, and now I'm stuck by the side of a man I used to love, finally having got everything he ever wanted. At the cost of us," she replied, holding back the tears that were creeping to get out. This man could not know of her child, their child. Because he was not a man, he was a monster.
"Why can you not understand, I did all this for us," he whispered, pulling the car over to the side of the road. He leaned across and caressed her cheek. Rosa pulled away. "I am hosting a dinner tonight, and I expect you to be there, beside me, together at last," Klaus added, slowly pulling back from her. When Rosa glanced over at him, she could see how he was struggling to hold his mask up, hold his emotionless state on his face. If only he would stop that. The rest of the ride they let the radio do the talking, both of them silent. Rosa fiddled with her daylight ring, twisting it around her finger.
"I need to get you a new one of those," he muttered, as they pulled back into the busier streets of New Orleans. It was a nice city, now ruined because of Klaus. The last time she had been to the compound, they had fought and she had almost set him on fire. What a great place to be starting over, as Klaus put it.
"Why? This one works fine," she replied, still twisting the ring. Klaus slammed on the breaks.
"That ring was given to you by someone who I refuse to call my brother, who forced you to turn into a vampire, forced you into this life. And that ring symbolises that," he spat, turning to face her.
"You barely talk about it," Rosa whispered. "Neither of us do," she added and the car fell silent once more. Klaus drove once more, neither wanting to remember the past. When they arrived at the compound it was nearing mid-day, most of the vampires would be hidden away in the buildings. It was smart of Marcel to make the daylight rings something that must be earnt. It created a sense of loyalty, and meant they had a reason to stick by him. They drove into the garage, and Klaus rushed to open the door for her. She stepped out, Klaus acting like the gentleman, helping her out of the car.
"Welcome home," said a voice and they both turned to see Marcel standing there. Rosa knew what game Marcel was playing, feigning loyalty. And if she could see through it, then there was no doubt Klaus would as well.
"Marcel, I do not believe I ever formally introduced you. This is my beloved Rosa. Rosa, Marcel," said Klaus, holding out a hand between the two.
"We have met," replied Marcel, grimacing slightly.
"I threatened to kill him and his vampires if he did not help me find you," clarified Rosa, and Klaus laughed.
"And you call me the psychopath," he muttered back.
"So I understand you are hosting dinner tonight?" asked Marcel, looking away from Rosa to Klaus.
"Yes, and now that you mention it, I could do with a hand with something."
The dress had been delivered to her room along with shoes and a box of jewellery. Rosa paced the room, if it was a form fitting dress, then she would show, there was no way she would not. That zipper might just be the end of her. Finally with a deep breath she pulled it down, taking a deep sigh of relief. Inside was a midnight black dress, that flowed down from her neck, fully covering her stomach. In this one instant, Klaus and his jealousy had become the most useful thing in the world. The dress looked beautiful on, and the heels were of a lower height, something else to be grateful for. A black onyx choker and bracelet were in the box, which she put on. Somewhere Klaus must have a vault that he filled with jewellery and dresses. A knock sounded at the door.
"Ma'am, I am here to escort you to dinner," said a voice, and Rosa took a deep breath before opening the door. A vampire stood outside and offered a hand for her to hold on to. She stepped past.
"I may be old but I do not need a walker," she muttered and the vampire could not help but grin. She moved towards the staircase, and as she started to descend the table stood for her. Klaus turned and smiled, and it looked as though he had made it clear. Rosa was his, and she was to be respected as such. He met her at the bottom of the stairs, helping her down the last couple and to her seat.
"Sit," Klaus whispered, pulling out her chair for her. It wasn't an offer, it was a command. Rosa sat down, and Klaus walked to the other end of the table and took his seat. Then and only then, did everyone else at the table sit. Marcel and his friends had clearly been summoned by Klaus, him acting every bit the overlord he now was.
Klaus stood from the table, tapping his glass with his fork. Rosa had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.
"Let us begin with a toast to our shared gift: immortality," started Klaus, and he stared directly at Rosa, who clenched her first tight. "After a thousand years, one might expect life to be less keenly felt, for its beauties and its sorrows do diminish with time. But, as vampires, we feel more deeply than humans could possibly imagine," he continued, gesturing towards the waiters and waitresses on the side of the rooms. They stepped forward, to stand by each person. "Insatiable need, exquisite pain…" he added, as each person moved to slit their wrist with a knife. Rosa held her breath as the woman beside her held her hand over the cup, her blood slowly dropping into it. "Our victories, and our defeats," continued Klaus, as Rosa watched the blood fall. "To my city, my home again. May the blood never cease to flow…." finished Klaus.
"And the party never end!" yelled Marcel, raising his glass and glancing at Diego.
"To New Orleans," toasted Diego, raising his own glass.
"To New Orleans," repeated Klaus, tipping his glass towards Diego.
"New Orleans," said everyone except for Rosa as they drank. The waiters left the courtyard, probably to go get the first course. Rosa sat there, staring at the blood in the glass.
"It is rude not to drink after a toast love," scolded Klaus, looking at her with a cheeky grin on his face. Staring back at him, Rosa reached for the glass, and threw it across the compound. The grin vanished.
The room fell silent.
And suddenly the vampires listened to something odd in the room, a faint noise that was unlike most. It was a heartbeat, too fast to be a human, too slow to be a vampire.
And it was coming from Rosa.
She quickly gripped the knife to her right, needing something to defend herself with.
"What is that?" asked Klaus, falling to silent responses. "What is that!" he screamed. Rosa slowly stood from the table, pushing her chair backwards. She could not run far, Klaus had her confined to this compound, the most she could do was hide.
"That isn't possible," whispered Marcel, standing to be beside Klaus. The other vampires also slowly stood. Klaus started to move towards Rosa, who quickly threw the knife straight at his heart, hitting it with the precise precision that years of training and vampire senses allowed. As he screamed she ran, up the staircase and into a room, barricading the door as best she could. It wasn't going to hold for long. Especially not against a hybrid and his army of vampires.
"Damn," Rosa cursed. He was not meant to find out, he shouldn't have found out. There was no way out from here though. He had her trapped, had her boxed up. Magic could get her out of here, but at what cost?
The door started to shake.
"If I let you in," yelled Rosa through the door, and it stopped shaking. "You need to stay calm," she added, knowing there was no way he would do that.
"How about instead you let me in and I will consider not ripping the heart out of everyone you care about?!" he yelled back, the door once more shaking. With a deep breath, Rosa stepped across and shoved the barricade of a dresser away and ran backwards. Klaus threw the door open, and ran at her, pinning her to the ground, using his body as a cage.
"Get off me," yelled Rosa, trying to shove him back. It didn't work, he was older, and he was stronger. He stood up, picking her up and throwing her against the wall.
"Tell me what I'm hearing is wrong!" yelled Klaus, moving across to her.
"Do you wish for me to lie to you?" Rosa whispered back, and Klaus went silent.
"Who is he? I swear I will," he started.
"Klaus," interjected Rosa, staring at him.
"Now I know you are lying to me," he snarled. "It isn't possible, I mean we are vampires!" he screamed.
"I don't know either!" she screamed back. "But Klaus, I am carrying your child."