Chapter 19


Kol had heard them long before they reached him, and he had truly wondered whether he should laugh or feeling sorry for himself. On the one hand, he was once more alone. On the other hand, he was rather lucky. Blood was, after all, the best remedy to forget the gaping hole that kept threatening to swallow him. Especially when the blood was flowing all around him like water.

Just when his sanity was on the brink of being completely gone, a group of thieves had tried to strip him of his valuables. And who was he to refuse them? How could he not welcome them with open arms? He most definitely wasn't someone who would refuse so many throats, especially when they were just under his nose, with veins pulsing with warm blood, begging for his bite. And oh begging they were…

The soon-to-be corpse in his hands became weaker, the greasy-haired man having already lost his will to fight. Kol's eyes were closed, all his senses focused on the liquid running down his throat and electrifying every inch of his body. Oh blood… Oh sweet, delicious blood…

After a while, the blood stopped coming and he let the body fall to the ground. What a pity, only seventeen people. All dead now, their limbs twisted in odd angles and their throats ripped apart. Some still had their eyes wide open, although all they could now do was to decay quietly.

Kol's gaze fell on the body lying at his feet. Crouching, he jabbed the cold bluish skin with his finger, then opened one of its eyelids. In front of the lifeless eyes, Kol tilted his head and sighed, "People, these days. Why couldn't you be just a little bit more clever? Choosing your victims wisely is one thing, but the number of people in your group is also very important, you know. Only seventeen, really… Why not thirty? The more, the merrier! I hope that in your next life, you'll be less stupid and take more friends with you before crossing my path."

He stood up and wiped off the blood from his lips with his thumb.

"Still need more efforts to eat properly," he noted before licking his finger. He turned and left. There was nothing here but food for the vultures.

He walked slowly, with only the moon as his witness. He had very little with him, only a bundle on his shoulder containing his meager possessions and the little things Nora had held dear. The castle with his bitter memories was already far behind him and the little thieves buffet had helped him to relax. The sky was almost completely clear and the few clouds couldn't hide the bright light of the moon and the stars. It… almost felt good, to be there, under an open sky.

The more he walked, the more the scenery changed. Trees became a rarity. Soon, the salty smell of the sea reached his nostrils and he couldn't help wrinkling his nose. He had chosen a random direction, and now he faced a dark sea, with blocks of ice floating. So much for a sunny place. At least it was new, for he definitely had never been there before.

He made to turn back when the most particular feeling hit him hard. One moment, he felt empty. The next, life was filling his dead body. He could feel Nora breathing, even though she was far away from him. He could hear her heart beating in her chest at the same pace as his. He could almost smell her, feel the bright fire hiding under her skin.

It was the first time he felt the complete bond since he had become a creature of the night, and he could only stand still for several minutes. No doubt with the most stupid expression plastered all over his face.

So, Kamil and Nora had been right. Two Nora couldn't be in the same place. One had to leave.

He inhaled deeply and his face split into a wide smile, his heart bursting with happiness. In the split second that followed, he was gone, leaving behind him only echoes of his laugh.

He didn't stop even for a second. Nora was walking towards him too, but there was still too much distance between them. On the fourth day, as the sun was high and blinding, he stopped abruptly before a town. Like the cold sea, he found himself in a place he had never been. The people here were different, their skin darker and the shape of their eyes slightly slanted. Some women, lavishly dressed, were wearing heavy head-ornaments. As for the men he guessed were part of the nobility, their hair was tied up with an odd jewel. They were wearing long tunic, all of them with a belt adorned with either a fine piece of jade or a small silk pouch.

Surprised and wary stares followed him as he entered the town without hesitation and his head held high. The poorest moved away. The women lowered their heads and the men stepped in front of them, some with one hand of a sword. As if it would help them against him, should they decided to attack him.

Quickly, there was no one in the middle of the street and a heavy silence hung in the air. He stopped, standing there like a statue with his stare on the end of the street. Seeing this, the people hesitated. Gradually, they resumed their activities, casting him worried glances from time to time.

He didn't move. He could feel Nora getting closer.

When she finally appeared before him, she was wearing an old poor dress. If it wasn't for the color of her hair and the features of her face, she could have posed as one of the servants of this place.

Sharp breathes were shaking her body and her face was as red as her hair, a clear sign that she had been running. Her hair was in disarray, with plenty of strands flowing freely around her, some even stuck to her forehead and temples.

She was beautiful. And became even more when her whole face lit up once her eyes fell on him, happiness pouring out of her in waves. She broke into a wide open smile before she cupped her hands in front of her mouth and yelled his name, "KOL!"

With that said, she run towards him. He caught her halfway and she launched herself into his arms, her own arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist. Her dress rose up, showing the thin pants under the cloth.

It was rather difficult to surprise a vampire, but this was Nora. The impossible had never meant much to her. As his hands went to catch her thighs, she crashed her lips against his. He smiled against her mouth as she thrust her hands into his hair, her fingers gripping it tightly.

She pulled on the dark lock to tilt his head back and bit his lips. As he gasped, her sweet tongue plunged deep into his mouth, swallowing his breath and exploring every inch of the cavity.

Closing his eyes, allowing her to do as she pleased, he was quickly getting intoxicated with her taste. He squeezed his hands before bringing them to her bottom, wanting nothing more than getting her closer.

But it wasn't close enough. The desire to lose himself into her became stronger.

A moan escaped her when she felt the proof of his desire and she released his mouth, panting. At the sound, he used his supernatural speed to bring her out of the town. There, he pushed her against a tree and kissed her, all the while grinding against her core.

His lips left hers, only to skim down her cheek to her neck. He nibbled on her skin carefully.

"Ah… Kol, more please," she moaned as one of his hand ripped her dress apart and grabbed her right breast, cupping and squeezing the hot flesh beneath his palm.

His thumb stroked her nipple and her breath hitched, the hand on his hair drawing him closer. She pushed her pelvis against him and it was his turn to moan. Damn, he loved that woman so much.

It wasn't how he had imagined their first time, but the temptation was simply too strong.

Her nails sank into his back as his hands explored her with a barely contained ardor. Delicious sighs and cries left her mouth, each sound intensifying his desire. He tasted her skin, licked the sweat between her breasts. He knelt down before her like a pious man before his god and buried his face between her thighs. She prayed and begged him, making him wonder which of them was the deity.

The tree cracked and he laid her down on his coat, his lips never leaving her. He lost himself into her flesh and swallowed her cries of pleasure. More. Faster. Harder. The fire deliciously consumed him.

Later, after catching their breaths, she rolled on her side and gazed at him with adoration. She curled a lock of dark hair around her finger to return it behind his ear, lingering on his skin as she did so, skimming his face softly.

"I am home, honey," she said sweetly.

"That you are Nora," he whispered and kissed her forehead. "Do you always greet me in such a way?"

"Well, I try to," she replied mischievously. "It's a good way, isn't it?"

He laughed before replying breathlessly, "A very good way. I would have just loved for my first time with you to happen in a bed. Then I could have treated you like the goddess you are."

"First time?!" she squeaked. "What year is it then?!"

"According to the Christian calendar? End of 1033."

"Hmmm… Kievan Rus? You are awfully young then." She rolled on his chest and placed her hands on the ground, on each side of his head. Her long hair fell on his face, tickling him. "Should I make you call me Big sister?"

He lifted his head to bite the tip of her nose before rolling them until she was under him.

"Do you call me Daddy in the future?"

"No," she laughed, "no daddy kink for us."

He pouted, "What a pity, it looks like you need to be taught a lesson." With that said, he spanked her nude thigh. How odd how such an action can feel so natural with the right person.

A squeal escaped her and she wrapped her legs around him to draw him closer. She seemed to search his gaze for something before she brought her lips to him.

"You must have questions for me, don't you?" she then asked softly.

"Indeed." Many, in fact. He had dreamed of their reunion a hundred times. Hell, even a thousand times. Yet, getting those answers had never been the most important thing. Nora was.

"Well then, ask me. I'll try to answer as best as I can."

There was trust inside her eyes. Trust and love. His questions could wait. What he wanted to tell her couldn't.

He breathed in, taking into their mixed scents, and caressed down the bridge of her nose to her bruised lips.

"I love you, Nora Caldwell." She had probably already heard those words from him a hundred times, yet the smile she sent him was genuine, full of joy and tenderness "I already loved you when I was human, and my feelings for you have never weakened. You, darling, have carved your name on my heart. Whether it is the man or the monster, both loves you than life itself."

He sat up, holding her close to him on his lap, her legs on both sides of him. After that, he grabbed his tunic to cover her and used a piece of cloth to clean her inner thighs.

"I loved the human you," she suddenly said. "But long before that, I had already fallen in love with the vampire."

He said nothing for a while, focusing instead on cleaning her. Once it was done, he cast the fabric aside and looked at her, his fingers drawing circles on her legs.

"It sounds a bit contradictory darling. The witch… the vampire… Aren't they simply too different?" he asked her, though he didn't let her any time to answer. "I know what I am Nora, and I know what I was. As a human, although I was slightly arrogant, I wasn't cruel. Quite the contrary, I hated my father for his cruelty and I despised my mother for seeing Mikael as a good man. Today, if I were to stand before my human self, he would be ashamed and disgusted."

As he spoke, Kol felt a slight pang of hurt but somehow, he managed to keep smiling softly. It wasn't the same for Nora, and her face slipped from the expression of fondness to one of melancholy.

"Don't think you are the only one with blood on your hands honey. When faced with immortality and an endless amount of time, it is rather hard to remain innocent. As a ignorant human, it is easy to be all judgy and holier-than-thou. Don't judge yourself by yesterday standards, it is completely and utterly useless. I've always known who you were to become. I told you, I loved you as a human. I truly did. But I chose you, all gory and guts, long before. I love you, Kol Mikaelson."

"And how long have you been alive?" he asked curiously, leaving the obvious 'by my side' unsaid.

"Honestly, it is rather complicated to keep track of the time, what with all the time-traveling thing. I guess a hundred years, give or take."

"And how long had it been when you met my human self."

Immediately, her face changed and she tried to look everywhere but at him. He grabbed her chin and guided her head up to his eyes, an odd feeling curling deep inside his stomach as he did so.

"The same," she ended up mumbling, "roughly a hundred years."

"What?" he blurted, unsure of what she meant.

She squirmed on his lap and said, panicked, "I promise I'm not interested in children! Only in you! Fuck, it definitely doesn't sound right. I mean-"

"Nora," he cut her off, not interested by her moral dilemma, "what do you mean by a hundred years? How long had it been for you since you last saw me as a human?"

"A little more than a week?"

He tensed, his body high on alert. He had needed four days to find her here.

"What happened?" he asked, frowning and his voice serious.

"I… kind of died. Nothing to worry. I can just now say that my throat knows Elijah's teeth. And that Niklaus is a fucking asshole. But I already knew that, even though it was the first actual time that I had the displeasure to speak with him. How the three of you are related is beyond me. Are you sure you are not adopted?"

In an instant, they were both on their feet, with him looking at her from all angles. Of course, there was nothing to see, only the marks he had left himself. But still, had he not been a vampire, he would have been paler than a ghost.

"Explain," he ordered her.

"You do know it won't happen before several centuries? And it will happen, no matter what we do so…"

"Nora," he said sternly, not even able to enjoy the meek look on her face.

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't really know," she admitted. "We met like we always do and Elijah and Niklaus suddenly appeared, totally cockblocking us. They were really angry at you, saying that you once again killed too many people and you needed to be stop."

She hesitated for a bit but he pressed her, already disliking her words and aware that it wouldn't get any better. He tried to calm himself to no avail, each breath filling him with a deep anger.

"I was there…"

He dug his finger into the soft flesh of her arm, though not without being careful. "Obviously."

"And you told me to hide."

"Which you didn't do, I guess?" he asked, one brow elegantly raised.

"I did!" she exclaimed, slightly put-out. "At least until they caught you. They were going to kill you, I couldn't do nothing. Yet, before I could do anything, they had already staked you. Before I knew it, Elijah had grabbed me. You were dying so… a bit useless at the time hon. Niklaus thought I was a whore and told Elijah to kill me. Which he did. With his teeth in my throat. To think that sick bastard is always acting like he's so much better than you."

Yes, it was really Elijah, no doubt on that. Caring for his family, as long as it meant Nik and Bekah.

"Should we organize a meeting, so they know who you are and don't hurt you?" he suggested.

The words had barely left his mouth that he regretted them and Nora's reply only echoed his fears.

"No way," she flatly refused. "It's better for you if they kill me thinking I was a whore than if they kill me knowing who I am…"

"The love of my life?" he said, drawing her to him. "The woman I adore and want to spend my undead life with?"

"Yeah, that. I was going with your lover, but love of your life sounds rather good too. Better, actually."

"That it does," he agreed with a weak smile before kissing the top of her head. Thinking about what the future held and the events of the last days of his human life, he continued, "Nora, don't ever put your life in danger for me again. Especially for me."

The look she sent him almost bore a hole in his head. "That, I can't promise you."

Seeing her like that, he didn't try to change her mind, knowing it was already a lost battle. For now.

They made their way to an inn and, once they got a small room - with walls as thin as paper - he left to find them clothes. Walking around dressed as some servant was absolutely out of the question.

The barrier language did challenge him though, as he couldn't simply force the people to give him what he wanted. Still, he wasn't one to refuse a challenge. Looking around, he saw a fat man leaving what seemed to be a brothel. The smells of rouge, powder and sex stuck to him. Lavishly dressed, the belt he wore only made his fat more prominent. Two whores waved as he stepped on a servant's back to step inside his carriage.

By the time the two women lowered their arms and turned back into the building, Kol was already in one of the rooms. The three young half-naked girls - for they couldn't be called women - were bound with a gag in their mouths, and the man they had been serving was shaking in fear.

Kol gagged him too before trying to use compulsion on him. Words and eye contacts alone didn't work, as the man simply couldn't understand him. After a few tries and the man almost passing out, Kol managed to push his orders in the forms of mental images. Admittedly, it was a bit tiring. Yet, it was worth the effort as he came back to the inn his arms full of luxurious clothes and jewels.

Lying on the odd thin mattress on the floor, only dressed with his tunic, Nora opened one eye when the floor cracked under his step. As he entered her sight, she rolled over on her stomach, legs up in the air.

He showed her a dress, "What do you think of this?"

The fabric was pale blue with pink embroidered butterflies. Added to this was pale pink separated sleeves and a long turquoise silky belt.

"That I have no idea how to wear it. And that people in Ancient China must take hours to get dressed."

"Well, I will help you with the dress if you help me with my clothes," he said, pointed the male clothing he had found.

"Deal honey," she grinned. "Now, what do you want to do next?"

That…was actually a rather good question. He rarely visited his siblings - and they rarely visited him. Barely once or twice a year, three if he was lucky. Most of his time was spent with witches. The last few months with Nora was the longest time he had ever spent in one place. Without doing anything in particular, that is.

At the end, he replied peacefully, "Play house with you for a decade or two."

Without getting up, she reached for him. He left the beautiful clothes on the floor and joined her in bed, loving the way she clung to his body, her breath tickling him.

"Let's have a cat then. And live somewhere sunny."

"Sure," he said, then added, "can you do that?"

"Playing house? Of course," she grinned before biting playfully into his shoulder. "You can act all pretty and learn your witchy stuff while I bring home money, food and blood."

He moved over her, using one hand to grip her wrists tightly over her head. Her back deliciously arched, pushing her even closer to him. He kissed her jaw, slid up her ear, then licked the top of the latter, drawing a giggle from Nora.

The dryness in his throat had nothing to do with blood. In front of Nora, so obvious with her feeling for him, he felt like a starving man.

"No," he said, his voice coming out in a croak, "staying with me a decade or two."

"You say this as if I didn't want to," she groaned when he took her ear lobe between his lips.

"That doesn't answer my question."

With that said, he kissed the way down to her neck while his free hand explored her body.

"Yes…" she moaned.

"Yes, what?" he smirked against her pulse.

"I…" her breath hitched. "I… can stay…As long as there isn't another me popping in."

"Good. It's all I ask."


And...that's it for this time period. Next chapter, we will be in 1114.

Would you be interested in reading oneshots (including crossovers) where Kol time-travelled (and cross dimensions for the crossover part) with Nora? I've had that idea for a while now, of Nora and Kol meeting the original Kol/Klaus/etc.