A.N. - The end is neigh! I'm trying to end this at an even 40 chapters, but we'll have to see. I'm sorry for not updating last week :/ at least this is up now. Please read, review and enjoy 乀(ˉεˉ乀) - cute, right?
Song: Les Friction - Who Will Save You Now
"Good," the taunting word played in her head on an endless loop as she climbed the stairs to the roof. It was her place of safety, her place of solace. She scaled the rusty metal ladder and stepped out onto the rooftop, a cold breeze hitting her straight in the face, blowing her hair, cardigan and the hem of her dress behind her.
She felt like, for a moment, she could fly. Even if she could, she wouldn't. She had lost the ironic shackles of the nomadic lifestyle long ago. New Orleans was her home - her true home. It was where she would raise her son, and perhaps where she would marry man of her dreams. The mere thought of marriage had once made her both gag and sneer. After being left nearly a thousand years ago by a man who claimed to love her and promised to make her his wife, marriage hadn't seemed like a really sound thing. And it's not like her parents were a good example of a successful marriage - they hated each other.
It wasn't until Klaus admittedly became hers, and she his, that she started reconsidering the idea, toying with it in her head like a cat would a toy mouse, tossing it back and forth, examining every aspect of it.
When she was a girl all she wanted was to become a wife, and a mother. Well, that was after Sabrina was born; before that she wanted to chop off all her hair and become a viking warrior, like her idolized father, thought it was unheard of for a woman. The first time she held her youngest sister in her arms was a truly epic moment. Though she was only eight years old, as she looked into Sabrina's wide brown eyes, holding her tiny dimpled hand, she knew that she'd spend the rest of her life seeking that same feeling. Being responsible for someone else, being truly selfless, was the most noble thing she could imagine - even more noble than being a warrior. She put away the sword her father had given her, without her mother's knowledge of course, and focused on her young siblings.
Now they were grown, and soon she'd be blessed with another child of her own. And Sabrina was no longer an innocent newborn with wide eyes and no teeth; she was a young woman with hate and her eyes, wanting to sink her razor-sharp teeth into the sister who had somehow wronged her. Belle wished more than anything that she could find out what it was.
Dinner began as the sun started setting.
Fourteen chairs set around a long mahogany table, Klaus at one head and Elijah at the other. It was their unnecessarily large table that came in handy every now and again. To Klaus' right was Belle. Colton, Marcel, Rebekah and Hayley finished off the row. Directly to Klaus' left was, surprisingly enough, Ansel, and Max, Cal, Audrey and Claudia. Hope was upstairs, asleep. Thankfully everyone in the room had uncanny supernatural hearing in case she woke up and started crying.
Belle sat hunched over slightly, one elbow on the table, toying with a fork in her other hand. Her eyes scanned over the faces across the table before settling on Max's. "Hey, where's Josh?" she asked nonchalantly. "I thought he'd be here."
Max's eyes wandered to his empty wine glass. He picked it up lightly by the stem, twirling it aimlessly between his thumb and index finger. He sighed heavily, put down the glass and grabbed a bottle of red wine from the tray of one of the servers walking behind him. "Don't know," he muttered as he poured the wine into the glass, watching the stream of burgundy liquid like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
Audrey turned her head, raising an eyebrow. "Really? You don't know?" She scoffed. "I heard you two on the phone earlier."
Belle smirked maliciously. "Oh really? Do tell." By this point everyone at the table was either blatantly listening or pretending not to eavesdrop.
He anxiously shifted in his chair like he wanted to get up and sprint out of the room, but settled for taking a generous drink of his wine. "You don't wanna know."
"You cheated on him, didn't you?" Rebekah blurted from the other end of the table. Everyone's eyes moved to face her, mostly amused, some just bored. She shot everyone a defensive expression, clutching her wine glass. "What? It's obvious, isn't it?"
Max slammed his fist down on the table with enough force the shake the entire thing - thankfully not enough to break it. "It's nobody's God damned business, okay?" He pressed his shaking hands together and took a deep breath. "Can we just drop it?" His eyes filled with desperation. There was something else behind them - sadness? Loneliness? Belle couldn't tell.
She exhaled deeply, taking a sip of her water; she wished it was wine. Her eyes wandered aimlessly before settling on Hayley and Elijah at the other end of the table. She leaned forward slightly, trying not to make it obvious that she was watching them. Were they holding hands? She was pretty sure they were. Looking away, she smiled a little - good for them.
She felt Klaus' eyes on her, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of returning his gaze. His borderline psychotic mood swings were giving her whiplash - ignoring her one minute, then practically getting down on one knee with a ring in his hand the next.
Unfortunately her game of playing hard to get ended as quickly as it had started once Klaus picked up his fork and tapped his wine glass repeatedly, drawing everyone's attention to him. Smirking, he put down the fork and raised his glass a little higher - fingers lightly on the stem, thumb on the bowl. "As I'm sure you all know, we are here today to give thanks-"
"And we all know you're an ungrateful brute, brother," a voice called from the shadows - a man's voice. Belle didn't recognize it, but he had a thick English accent.
Everyone's heads jerked in his direction, eyes narrowed. Klaus put down the glass and turned slowly to face the man as though he was expecting him. "I was wondering when you'd crawl back from your grave, Kol." His jaw was clenched tightly, his eyes shooting daggers at him that were sharper than the ones with which he had put Kol down with countless times over the centuries.
The man didn't look like Kol - he had brown curly hair, blue-gray eyes, a softer jawline, and was a bit taller. No, it wasn't Kol, but he was definitely inside the man's body. The way he walked, how he carried himself, his arrogance, it was all Kol.
Before anyone else moved a single muscle, Elijah had him pinned against the wall by his throat - it was unusually violent of him. Klaus was right behind him, as was Rebekah. Everyone else stayed seated, watching with great interest - Ansel especially. His eyes were locked on Klaus protectively.
"Would you mind giving us a reason as to why you're here?" Elijah demanded, tightening his grip. Belle noticed Hayley keeping a very close eye on Elijah - as if poor human Kol could do anything to Original Elijah.
Kol made a choking sound as he struggled to respond, pushing on Elijah's arm to no avail. "Can't a man visit his family on a holiday without being attacked?" Kol's eyes darted to each of his siblings' faces, possibly desperately. "What, do you think our mother sent me here? She's been here under your roof for bloody months. I came here because I wanted to."
Rebekah scoffed. "Please, Kol. Do you honestly expect us to believe that?"
Klaus shifted anxiously, clearly wanting to take control of the situation. "I know just what we'll do with you." A smirk came across his face; he looked quite adorable in Belle's eyes with his dimples, but the glint of mischief in his eyes could only mean one thing: torture. "Put him in the other room, Elijah. Rebekah, help me find some chains and sharp objects." The lilt in his voice made him sound like a child preparing to play a game, and no one played the game of torturous interrogation quite like Klaus did.
"Now?" Belle groaned, locking eyes with Klaus with an expression of utter annoyance.
"Yes, now." He rolled his eyes. "Or would you prefer for me to find another chair and seat him at the table?"
She waved her hand dismissively in his direction, turning away. "Fine, do whatever."
Elijah proceeded to drag Kol, literally, through the double doors while Klaus and Rebekah went to retrieve God knows what. Klaus had a brilliant mind that was designed for torture - Belle was sure he had a few tricks up his sleeve, tricks she too was handy with.
As for the rest of them, well, they sat in an eerie silence that was disturbed only by the sound of forks on plates, glasses clinking against the table, and the occasionally agonizing scream from a few rooms over.
At last, Cal broke the silence. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I can safely say that this is by far the strangest Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had."
Everyone gave him an irritated glare, Claudia's was particularly ticked off.
Rebekah's heels clicked against the wooden floor as she reentered the room, wiping fresh blood off on a towel which she set aside before sitting down beside Marcel once again. She opened her mouth to speak, but Audrey interrupted her.
"Why didn't you ever call me back?" Her eyes narrowed at Marcel, who blatantly avoided her eyes. Apparently he found the scraps of food that remained on his plate much more interesting.
"Excuse me?" Rebekah snapped, mouth slightly gaping.
"What?" Belle nearly spit up the water she was drinking, coughing loudly once she swallowed it. She thought it was just some little crush Audrey had, not that they may have actually known each other. Apparently that was not the case. Intrigued, she watched the exchange that unfolded before her - dinner and a show.
"You said you'd call me, but you never did. That was twelve years ago, twelve fucking years!" Audrey's voice rose about half an octave with each word. Her eyes burned with the fury of a heart-broken woman, something Belle knew far too much about. Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned.
"I'm sorry, okay? I know I shouldn't have done that, but we were never gonna work out anyway."
Audrey's jaw practically hit the floor. "Excuse me? What makes you say that, because I don't look like bitchy little Original Barbie over there? Is that it? Do you have a blonde fetish or something?" Audrey's voice was laced with sarcasm. She huffed and took a sip of her wine, eyes locked on Marcel.
He rolled his eyes. "No, that's not it."
"Oh really, then please explain."
Belle had lost interest by this point, her attention wandering over to Cal and Ansel who were talking quietly, paying little to no attention to the argument going on. They had gotten pretty close over the past few months, "long-lost" fathers bonding over their shared pasts. Claudia sat like a toddler in time out, staring blankly at the wall, arms crossed and pouting. As for Colton, he was working on his fifth glass on wine and occasionally attempting to look down Rebekah or Hayley's tops. Belle rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her lifelong partner in crime - Max.
He seemed upset, maybe about what had happened earlier, about her gaining up on him and Josh. Without a word, he pushed back his chair and stormed out of the room. Belle frowned and quickly followed after him. "Max," she called, but he didn't slow down. No one seemed to notice their leaving, too wrapped up in their individual conversations, each person trying to talk over the other.
Max headed for the stairs, but she caught up to him just before he reached them.
"Hey, what the hell? Where are you going?"
He turned to face her with tears in his eyes. "Have you ever taken a look at our family, Belle? I mean really taken a look at just how fucked up and complicated we are?" His voice was raspy and quiet, his cerulean blue eyes full of confliction.
Her brows knit together as she tried to get the answer she sought, hoping to find them in his eyes or in his tears. "What are you talking about, Max?"
"We are the seven deadly sins, personified in the form of a family that's broken beyond repair. Audrey with her envy. Colton with his gluttony. Our mother with her sloth. Our father with his pride. Sabrina with her greed. You with your wrath. Me with my lust." Silent tears slipped down his cheeks, clinging to his chin and bottom eyelashes. He couldn't even look her in the eye, not wanting her sympathy. "We're all broken, and we can never be fixed. We'll never be whole - not together, not alone."
She reached out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he backed away. "Max," she said, begging him to listen. "We can-"
"Why are you trying so hard to make us a family again? This dinner, with them? It's bullshit. You've always loved the Mikaelsons, admit it. You're one of them." Much like she, Max tended to channel his sadness into rage, and this time was no exception.
It was her turn to cry. "Max, you know that's not true. I'm, I'm a Campbell. I'm not a Mikaelson. I swear. Please, just," her voice broke as she spoke, trying desperately to express the thoughts that flooded her head.
But Max wouldn't hear it. "No," his voice rose. "You're not. It's that simple. The sooner you realize it, the better off you and your Mikaelson baby will be." His jaw tightened he was trying not to scream. "I heard you and Klaus earlier."
"Max," she pleaded, "Max that was nothing, really. I'm not leaving you, I swear."
He scoffed loudly, tossing his head back melodramatically. "Right. You're not leaving me, Josh isn't leaving me. No one is leaving anyone because the world is made of hopes and dreams and rainbows and everyone loves everyone unconditionally and no one lies and cheats and breaks anyone else's heart." Despite the smile that stretched across his face, Max was crying hysterically, uncontrollably at that point. "He found someone else to make him happy, and so did you. And you deserve to be happy, right? So go. Be happy." Wiping the tears from his cheeks, his face fell. He turned and started to walk away toward the front door, but Belle caught him by the elbow.
"Max, no. Don't leave. We can, we can talk through this. I'm not going to leave you, and you aren't going to leave me, okay?" She held onto him with desperation, like her life depended on it, like she was drowning in her tears and he was her lifeboat. She wouldn't let him leave, she couldn't. They had been through everything together over the past nine hundred years. She needed him by her side.
A cry rang out from upstairs - Hope.
Max narrowed his eyes. "You gonna get that?"
Belle's eyes darted repeatedly from his eyes to the stairs. No one else was coming to check on Hope and her maternal instincts were taking over. She wanted to wait, but Max's patience was gone. She reluctantly turned back to him. "Just wait here for a second, please?" She turned and ran upstairs as fast as she could, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she entered baby Hope's room.
Hope rolled around on her back in her crib, screaming at the top of her little lungs, her face red and wet with tears. A woman stood over her - Ester. She must have broken out of her cell in the basement. She looked down upon the wailing infant with a smile on her face, reaching out a hand to stroke Hope's cheek.
Belle clenched her jaw and moved toward Ester, but someone caught her by the back of her arm roughly, pulling her back and spinning her around. She was met with milk-chocolate brown eyes. "Sabrina," she choked out, barely above a whisper.
She tried to scream, tried to get away, but Sabrina held a knife to her stomach, so close that Belle could feel the blade's coolness through the thin fabric of her dress. "Make one move and you're little bastard won't live to take his first breath." She clamped her hand over Belle's mouth as Ester turned to face them. Belle jerked her head in Ester's direction as she unleashed a powerful wave of magic onto her, sending a shock of pain that radiated throughout her head. Belle screamed against Sabrina's palm, but it was almost inaudible.
The pain moved like wildfire through her body in a matter of seconds, coursing through every vein and artery and nerve and fiber of her being. A warm sensation snaked down her legs to her shoes. She looked down and screamed even louder against Sabrina's hold - blood. Bright crimson blood dripped down her legs, staining her dark blue dress in its path. It dripped onto the floor, pooling around her feet. Something was wrong; something was wrong with him.
Sabrina grinned wickedly; it was the kind of grin that only came across the faces of the most sadistic people. And it was that grin that made Belle realize who her sister truly was. "It's time," Sabrina whispered, her eyes locked on Belle's stomach where her unborn son lay in distress.
Max was right - Sabrina was Greed. And Belle knew exactly what it was that she so desperately wanted.