~One month later~
May 11th, 1821
It is early morning. Prudence sits alone on a small hill further away from the Mikaelson house as she watches the sun rise in the sky. In a moment she is cast in crimson and bathed in a rosy glow. She slowly moves her fingers through the air that grows brighter with each passing moment until it becomes a new bold day.
Feeling the cool breeze etch her skin, she slowly lifts up her right hand and peaks through her fingers at the sky. The sun rose like a flower opening, gifting its petals unto the world. Amid the dancing raindrops from the night before was the blush of scarlet, the warmth of tangerine. Gazing toward the illuminated clouds, still beneath the ethereal flow, she felt at home in a way she never had before.
That feeling had filled her with a bewilderment she couldn't fathom for the past month. After she had helped the Mikaelsons do the spell, shocking herself with what she saw and heard in the process, she had remained in their home ever since then. She didn't have the urge to leave like she did when she first got there and they never brought up the fact about her leaving, almost like they didn't want her to. Its as if she fit right in with them with each passing day, but she knew that someday she had to leave. She couldn't remain with these people forever, especially due to the fact that she hadn't told them about her immortality and would shy away from the topic to do with her family each time they brought it up.
After being on her own for a very long year, wandering from town to town tirelessly, she never thought she would feel at home again with the most dangerous creatures to ever exist. Even knowing about all the evil they had done for the past eight centuries, she couldn't believe that she would come to feel safe with them, especially when she so clearly feared them the first night they met. The thought of that frightened her, in a way they still frightened her a little, but after spending a month with them, she knew deep down that they would never hurt her.
A short while later, she felt a familiar presence from behind and turns around to see Klaus slowly walking up to her. He slowly sits down on the grass beside her and the two watch the sunrise together in silence.
Moments later, Prudence slowly turns her head to the side to look up at him. To say that she isn't still scared of Klaus Mikaelson would be an understatement, because she very much still is, more than the others. He made her nervous and anxious just by being near her, but at the same time she couldn't help but not notice their growing bond. She isn't sure if its just her imagination, but each time they spoke, each time he helped her grow stronger and be more confident with her magic, and each time they were alone, he didn't feel like the blood killing monster she had known to fear all her life. There is a soft and tender side to him that she would've never imagined, and at very rare times he almost seemed human.
Of course she hadn't told him what she had saw and heard while doing the spell or the fact that she knew Mikael is their father, but she had many questions of her own, like why they were hiding from him and why he desperately needed the assistance of her aunt Beatrice to find them.
"I know you've probably seen a lot of sunrise" Prudence spoke up, sitting closely together, as she pushes her head back to look up at the sky.
"Oh I have, but do you want to know the one I remember the most?" he says, glancing down at her.
Prudence turns her head back to him and slowly nods, edging for him to go on.
"It was the morning after my siblings and I became vampires. I remember I sat up on a hill just like this and watched the sunrise and I could feel everything at once. I felt whole and empty at the same time" he explains briefly as a gush of wind quickly blew in their direction.
Prudence watches him with a deep gaze as he looks ahead and she could tell that he is thinking back to that particular moment. Of course that was eight centuries ago, a seemingly long long time, but to him it probably felt like yesterday. If anyone had told her that she would be sat watching the sunrise with Klaus Mikaelson one day she would've looked at them crazy. She wonders if he would still act this way towards her once she finally tells him everything about herself.
Minutes later, she trails her eyes down to a dead orchid flower on the ground. She glances back at Klaus, before going to cup her hands around the orchid with her eyes shut as Klaus watches on. A smile starts to slowly form on his face as he watches her bring the orchid back to life.
"You're getting better. Soon enough you will become the strongest living witch and all will fear you" he mutters, as she sits up to look at him.
"But... I don't wanna be feared" Prudence replies briefly.
"With power comes fear, love" he whispers, gazing deeply into her eyes for a brief moment, before going to get up from the ground. Once he is up on his feet, he then extends his out for Prudence to grab onto. She stares up at him for a few seconds, before slowly lifting her hand up to place in his and with that he pulls her up with him. "And you Prudence, have enough power to make people fear you for all eternity" he drifts off.
Her heart skips a beat as she hears the word 'eternity' leave his lips. He didn't know about her fatal curse yet, but sometimes she felt as if he did, especially whenever he looked into her eyes. She found out earlier on that he was good at figuring her out, and she wouldn't be surprised if he had already figured out about her immortality, but maybe that is just in her imagination. After all there's no way he could come to the conclusion of that as there's never been a thing as an immortal witch till her.
"I'm not as strong as you think I am, Klaus... I just got lucky once" the young witch breathes out, slowly loosening her hand from his.
"And yet you continue to doubt yourself" he sighs, placing his hand on her shoulder, before turning around to walk away.
Prudence presses her lips tightly as a thought crosses her mind. At first she was just going to let it slide, but she quickly works up the courage to say what she needed to say in-case she never got to again.
"Is that the reason why you wanted me to stay?" she questions anxiously in a shaky breath as Klaus stops dead in his tracks and slowly turns back around to face her. "Is that why you wanted me to stay?... because I brought you to your knees once and you think I could do the same to anyone who gets in your own way?... are you just planning to have me around like your personal magical negro whenever it benefits you?" she asks, before swallowing a hard lump in her throat, not believing she had gathered the courage to ask that.
Klaus furrows his brows and quickly opens his mouth to speak, but stops midway. For a brief moment it felt as if he wanted to say something to prove her wrong, but as she watches his face turn stone cold, she knew that isn't what she is getting.
"If you want to leave that badly then go ahead, I'm not stopping you and I could care less" he says in a harsh tone, before turning back around to walk away, leaving her with a morose and dejected feeling.
Prudence stares wide-eyed, the wind blowing in her direction as she watches him walk away from her, before hanging her head low. Over the past month she had come to know that Klaus is a person that needed people to fear him the most before anything. He never allowed himself too be vulnerable for too long in-case someone was to use it against him, and that's what drove his paranoia all the way up. Its what made the moments between them like the one they shared not too long ago while watching the sunrise together so rare, because although he allowed himself to be soft and tender with her at times, it wasn't for long, almost like he was frightened of getting too close to her as he knew she already had a power over him.
After breathing out a long deep sigh, she lifts her head up moments later and opens her eyes to see Elijah making his way over to her and she didn't take long to realize that he had probably overheard her conversation with Klaus.
"You heard that?" Prudence asks timidly, as he stops and tilts his head, urging for her to walk back with him.
"Niklaus is a very complicated person, he always has been, but one thing about him is that he truly loves the people close to him even though he might never show it" Elijah states as the two slowly walk side by side.
Prudence pushes her head back to look up at him. Over the past month, she's noticed the personal relationships between the siblings, but more importantly between Klaus and Elijah. Despite their turbulent brotherhood, Elijah was always quick to apologize for Klaus' actions even if he didn't agree with them. He played his role of a big brother too often that at times Prudence could tell that it annoyed Klaus, but she could also tell that he loved and cared for him nonetheless. There was still a lot of things that she still didn't understand about this family, and a lot of things that she was learning about them with each passing day, but it was also vice versa as they still didn't know that much about her.
"If that's true then why did he put a dagger in your other brother Finn and left him in a coffin for centuries?" Prudence asks, thinking back to what Rebekah and Kol had told her about their first brother.
"Well, our brother Finn is a very dis pleasant person to be around, and besides Niklaus has done the same to each of us at one point" Elijah mutters.
"And you still love him... as a brother?" Prudence scrunches up her face slightly, feeling her confusion grow.
Elijah stops walking and lowers his head to look at her for a brief while not saying anything. "I know what you are thinking" he speaks up as Prudence feels her heart start to beat. "Niklaus would never harm you, believe it or not he feels a sense of responsibility towards you. He wanted you to stay because he felt that you had nowhere to go, and we're all happy to have you here, especially Niklaus".
Once the two carried on walking to head back to the mansion, Prudence couldn't help but replay Elijah's words in her head. At that moment she wanted to tell him about what she had found out about Mikael and her aunt Beatrice, but that would also mean telling him about her life beforehand, and she isn't sure if she is ready to do that just yet.
A short while later, they arrived back at the house to see Rebekah and Kol sat in the huge parlor.
Rebekah quickly looks up, flashing a warm smile over at Prudence and she couldn't help but smile back. Even though Prudence had a growing bond with Klaus, Rebekah is the one she's also felt the most closest to this past month. She learnt that she was only two years younger than her at the age of 17 when her and her siblings became vampires, but Prudence felt like the younger one compared to her. It is probably due to the fact that Rebekah had lived for centuries, but at times she seemed like a normal teenage girl, which at the end of the day she was.
"There you are, Prudence, I was looking for you earlier" the blonde vampire spoke up, placing her glass tea cup on the stool beside her.
"And so was I" Kol stood up, going to stand behind her and place his hands on her shoulders firmly.
"Oh leave her alone, Kol, and stop trying to use her for her magic" Rebekah scoffs, getting up to make her way over to them.
"Rebekah is right little brother. You know Niklaus wouldn't be pleased to hear that you are using Prudence for your own gain" Elijah spoke, locking eye-contact with Prudence, almost to calm her doubt after overhearing her conversation with Klaus earlier, and for some strange reason, it made her feel almost at ease. "And where is Niklaus anyway?" he asks.
"He stormed off into the library furious as he always is, but that's not the point Elijah" Kol groans, with his grip tightening on Prudence's shoulders. "I am simply helping her improve on her magic. Out of all of us I'm the only one who has the most knowledge about being a witch remember... so what do you say, Prudence?" he questions.
Prudence slowly turns around to face him. She opens her mouth to speak up, but quickly stops as she immediately felt a chilling familiar presence around leaving her puzzled. She furrows her eyebrows and looks around while breathing quietly. She couldn't explain it, but the presence stabbed her through the heart like a dagger. It felt dark and unwanted and it grew more and more with each passing second, leaving her almost breathless.
"Prudence... are you alright?" Rebekah questions worriedly, snapping her back to reality.
"Uhm... uhm yeah, I just have to use the bathroom" she replies and before any of them could say anything, she quickly turns around to hurry out the parlor and up the flight of stairs.
Once she reaches the long hallway, she slowly takes a deep breath, feeling a heavy feeling rise up in her chest. Her throat constricts as a feeling of panic rose like bile in her body, shaking up her core. After a little while, she works up the courage to slowly lift her feet and walk over to her room at the end of the hall while she sucked in a rapid shaky breath. Each step she took felt like she is walking an air and each breath felt like it is her last. Her vision begins to cloud with darkness around her and the atmosphere felt deserted. She knew this feeling, after all she had felt it before, but never imagined she would feel it again, at least for a while.
As she arrives at her room, she takes a deep breath, before she lifts her hand to grip onto the door knob and slowly push it open. Stepping inside, she is met with her aunt Beatrice, who stood near the window awaiting her. With shaky hands she slowly closes the door shut from behind her, and then turns back around to face her.
"Aunt Beatrice... what are you doing here?" she asks in a firm tone, but it almost felt like a whisper.
Beatrice slowly makes her way over to her, with her footsteps on the wooden floor leaving a sharp pain of dread in her heart. She stops a little further from her before speaking up. "Its good to know that you can still feel me around" she smirks. "And what an unexpected surprise to find you here at the home of the Mikaelsons. Your mother despised these creatures, these beats, all the teachings she taught you about how all vampires are bad clearly didn't mean anything to you. I'm disappointed in you and you mother would be-"
"You don't get to talk to me like that, not after what you did to me, and you leave my mother out of this" Prudence panted heavily, cutting her off her sentence. "You're a hypocrite aunt Beatrice, after all I saw and heard you with-"
"With Mikael Mikaelson, I know" Beatrice chuckles, finishing off her sentence for her. "I have to say, I was very surprised when I found out you were the one who blocked my spell and for this long too. But make no mistake, Prudence, you have no power over me, you will always be the weakest in the coven and your magic will never be as good as the others no matter how hard you try, and it will never compare to your mother's".
Prudence stood silently, hunched over while listening to her aunt's hurtful and harsh words that felt as if she had just been stabbed straight in the heart with no remorse. A tightening of her throat and a short intake of breath forecast the explosion of emotion which to date, she had managed to keep buried deep inside. The vision she has, begins to swirm in-front of her as tears wells up from deep inside, but despite that she refuses to cry right then. She refuses to give her aunt the satisfaction, so instead she quickly sucks in her tears and clenches her fist to hold herself together, even though all she felt like doing is breaking down.
"Is... Is that why you cursed and banished me, because I'm weaker than the others and you wanted to punish me?" Prudence questions trying to hide her shaky breath as she steps closer to her.
"I cursed and banished you because you put the entire coven in danger with your recklessness and-"
"Stop lying to me!" Prudence snaps raising her voice at her, finally haven had enough. "You've always disliked me even when my mother was alive. You were always embarassed me and didn't think I deserved to be a Bennett witch because I've never been as powerful and mighty as you or our ancestors. You don't think I heard all the conversations you had with my mother about how I didn't belong? but she disagreed with you each time, she believed in me. So that's why you cursed me with immortality, to punish me for everything".
"If you're going to ask for a spell to reverse the curse you should know that an immortality spell on a witch is ancient and it doesn't come with one. Three centuries ago one of our ancestors was cursed with the same fate as you for her reckless actions. Elizabeth is her name and she was your age when she was punished too. She is just like you, both weak and both brought nothing to the Bennett bloodline but destruction and embarrassment" Beatrice states.
Prudence eyes begins to slowly widened in shock not believing that there is another immortal witch like her out there somewhere in the world and more importantly from her family. She knew she had to find her, wherever she is, but she also knew that it wouldn't be easy.
"You know Prudence I never disliked you as you may think" Beatrice spoke back up, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I gave you the chance to be better, I gave you the chance to take your magic seriously and do all you could to learn and grow like my daughters, your cousins, but you did the opposite and your mother babied you throughout. I loved my sister but she failed to raise you the right way".
Hearing her mention her mother again had instantly set Prudence off into a blind rage. Without thinking, she went to charge at her, but before she could take a step, Beatrice quickly held up her hand stopping her with her magic and making sure she isn't able to move.
"There's that recklessness I was talking about" Beatrice sighs as Prudence tries to desperately force her hand up to free herself from Beatrice's magic. "There's one more thing you should know... Mikael Mikaelson is on his way here. You didn't think I was going to keep his children's whereabouts from him did you?" she slowly tilts her head to the side as Prudence's eyes widened in panic, all while still trying to lift her hand up.
Minutes later, Prudence hears someone barge through the door.
"Prudence, look about earlier-"
Her heart quickly skips a beat as she hears Klaus' voice and she dreads the expression on his face as she isn't able to turn around to face him.
"Klaus" Prudence calls his name desperately, almost as if she is pleading for him to help her.
As Klaus steps into the room, his expression slowly drops as he spots an unfamiliar woman holding Prudence still with her magic. "I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but unless you want your heart ripped out of your chest at any second I suggest you unhand her, witch" he aggressively threatened as a dangerous scowl clouds his face. Not long later, Elijah, Rebekah and Kol hurries into the room to see what all the commotion is about, standing in shock at the scene in-front of them.
"Oh you truly are your father's son, Klaus" Beatrice utters.
She turns to shift her gaze back at Prudence, and noticing that she is almost close to freeing herself from her magic, she quickly tilts her wrist to the side snapping her neck and leaving her to land hard on the wooden floor.
"NO!" Klaus yells in horror at what had just happened. With blind rage, he uses his vamp speed to charge over at Beatrice, but before he could get to her, she quickly disappears from the bedroom.
With shock from what they had just witnessed, Elijah, Rebekah and Kol quickly rush over to Prudence. Rebekah pulls her into her lap as her breathing increased by the second. "She's dead" the blonde vampire announced in a distressed tone, with tears forming in her eyes. She looks up at Elijah and Kol who held a dejected look on their faces, before trailing her eyes over to Klaus who stood frozen to the ground, filled with anger, shock and a mix of many other emotions.
The four of them sit in silence for several minutes, not daring to say anything as the tension and emotion in the room is at an all time high. After what seemed like forever, their thoughts were interrupted by a quiet gasp and with shocked gazes, they rapidly shifted their heads to look down at Prudence to see her slowly lifting her head from Rebekah's lap. The young witch held onto her neck, groaning quietly to herself, before she turns to look at each of them to see them with wide-eyes gazing at her as if she were a ghost. Feeling afraid and terrified, she then turns to look at Klaus and with the expression on his face she knew that she could no longer shy away from her secret, she had no choice but to tell them everything.
A/N: Hey for those who are reading and enjoying these chapters I just want to know what you think about the story so far? please leave a review, I'd really appreciate it :)