Chapter 55
Kol's prediction came true and Esther quickly came after the call, not even taking the time to ask questions. It seemed as if her brain decided to suddenly take a vacation once the word 'pregnancy' fell into her ears. Twenty minutes after the call, the witch found them in the wood at the edge of the town. Nora was leaning her back against the trunk of a tree while Kol was standing beside her, his fingers running softly through her fiery red hair.
"Kol!" Esther said hastily as she made her way to them, her eyes scanning Kol's expression before they landed on Nora and, inevitably, Nora's stomach. Her face shifted slightly as wonder and fear flashed through her gaze. Sucking in a breath, her voice came out as a whisper when she spoke again, "Is it true?"
A bubble of laughter rose in Kol's throat and he covered the smile spreading across his lips with a hand. "You mean, is it true that you are going to be a grandmother?"
Following his words and playing the part of a newly pregnant woman, Nora covered her stomach with one hand and glanced up shyly at him, the expression on her face doing wonders for his poor heart that suddenly missed a beat. Why couldn't they already be on that private island he had yet to buy? Although he couldn't make his wife pregnant, he certainly didn't mind trying.
Nora easily picked up on his mood and gave him a wink. "And you a father, my love." Turning to Esther, she caressed her stomach languidly and smiled softly. "Nature must have felt sorry for us. All these years, we have been trying for a baby, using all kinds of spells. It never worked yet now here you are, wishing to make my husband and his siblings a family again, and we find out that I am pregnant."
Of course, it was impossible for a woman to know she was pregnant after only two days even with modern technology but as a woman from the past, Esther didn't know that. No matter how much Esther acted like a modern woman, there were still some things in her attitude that showed just how old she truly was. The world was different from before and a lot of her knowledge was now obsolete - apart from her magic. Moreover, her children being vampires, Kol seriously doubted his mother had kept up with human advancement in gynecology from the Other Side.
"This…" Esther furrowed her brow and looked away from her daughter-in-law's stomach, her lips forming a thin line. A second later, she seemed to have reached a conclusion and stepped forward, reaching her hand out. Then she stilled and stopped herself, lowering her arm. "How is it possible? Kol is a vampire. He's not supposed to be able to have children," she pondered aloud and Kol could have sworn there was a hint of remorse in her gaze.
It was just a hint though and Nora either didn't notice or didn't care. Most likely the latter. "Ah, but even if Kol is a vampire, I'm not."
"What are you, then?" Esther asked back, her voice laced with curiosity and wariness.
"A Pokemon," Nora responded seriously. "More exactly, a shiny Charizard."
Kol almost face-palmed himself when he heard his wife speaking nonsense in such a righteous voice but somehow managed to stop. Exhaling, he decided to add his own little details to the lie. "It's a rare race. Everyone wants to catch them."
"I… don't think I ever heard of this race," Esther frowned. "Those people must be very well hidden."
"Well, you know, the world is full of wonders," Kol shrugged and chuckled. "Anyway, the last witch we found said our only hope was to bind my brothers and Rebekah to me so that the magic in my blood would increase. Unfortunately, I didn't want my brothers to know about Nora so we never tried…"
As soon as Kol finished speaking, Esther stilled and the wood went quiet. Just like in a horror story, the birds stopped chirping and the wind stopped ruffling the yellowing leaves on the trees surrounding them. Acting like everything was perfectly normal in the world, Nora placed a hand on his arm as if to try to pacify him. "Obviously, he was a fraud. Look, we didn't do anything and I'm pregnant."
A few steps away, Esther had the look of a deer facing the arrow of a hunter and took a step back. Before she could even think of using a spell against them, Kol smirked. In less than a second, he was standing in front of her.
"Sweet nightmares, mother," he chuckled darkly, then landed a blow to her neck, causing the blond woman to crumple to the ground unconscious. He didn't try to catch her and simply nudged her still breathing body with the tip of his foot. "Well, that was easy."
"Did you expect a fight? The whole plan was to catch her unaware," Nora grinned and handed him the shackles that Abbir brought them earlier. She keenly watched as he handcuffed Esther, effectively preventing her from using magic. "That reminds me of when you handcuffed Rebekah with vervains shackles to a pig and told her it was my birthday gift so that she wouldn't kill it."
He snickered at the memory. "More like she didn't dare. Remember, she was trying so hard to please us after not doing anything against Nik when he let me rot in a coffin for ten years."
Nora's smile fell and she lowered her gaze. The tone of her voice turned mournful. "To think that back then we thought that ten years were too long…"
"Hey," Kol said softly, snapping her out of her dark thoughts, "even one minute spent in that coffin is too long. And soon, we won't have to worry about that anymore." He pushed her chin up with a finger and rubbed her cheek with his thumb before leaning in to kiss her. "Come on, our driver is waiting for us."
"Alright," Nora sighed then grabbed one of Esther's ankles, proceeding to drag the unconscious witch back to the car waiting for them out of the wood. The blond hair soon became a mess of leaves, mud, and tangles while Esther's head kept bumping against rocks and branches. Kol was pretty sure Nora was doing it on purpose and couldn't help but chuckle every time a new scratch made its appearance on Esther's face.
He truly hated the woman. No matter how glad he was to have Nora in his life, he would still have preferred to remain human while Nora lived a safe, normal, and sheltered life, far away from the dangers of the supernatural world. Eventually, he was certain their souls would have found each other, be it in another incarnation or in the afterlife. After all, she was his soul and he was hers. Even as a young witch he had been able to bind their souls together, something that should have killed them. Yet it didn't. If that didn't mean Nora and he were soulmates, then he didn't know what that word could possibly mean.
Out of the wood, a luxurious black car was waiting for them along with the driver and Abbir in the front seats. Opening the trunk, Kol carelessly throw Esther in the narrow space and closed it with a thud.
"Do we have a witch in the region?" Nora asked Abbir once they were seated at the back of the car. She was going through the files Sage sent them in a lazy fashion, looking for a witch to unlink Kol and his troublesome siblings.
"Yes, Madam. Marcus Spencer only needs Sir's and the other Mikaelsons' blood to unlink them."
Nora hummed quietly, "That guy's still alive? Damn, that's impressive. I was certain his reckless behavior would have gotten him killed before his twentieth birthday."
"How so?" Kol inquired curiously.
"He tried to invent a spell that would help him fly, then jumped off a five-storied building. He got lucky, I guess, and only fractured his legs and pelvis. He was thirteen at the time and a real crybaby."
"Ah, people and their desire to fly," Kol said in a slightly mocking tone, casting a teasing glance at his wife, "why can't humans understand that their feet belong to the ground? If we were meant to fly then we would have wings."
Nora pinched his side. "That's because you never took a plane."
"And I'm sure you will soon rectify the situation," he said, laughing and messing up her hair.
"You bet I will," she answered proudly, raising her chin and looking at him in a way that strangely reminded him of a peacock showing off its plumage.
Eventually, they stopped talking and Kol leaned his head against the window, watching the scenery blend in a mix of colors. Discarding the presence of an annoying but now harmless witch in the trunk of the car, it was a peaceful drive. Nora's fingers were intertwined with his and his thumb was unconsciously rubbing circles on the back of her hand, a low hum leaving his mouth every now and then. The driver, a bespectacled man in a black suit, politely avoided glancing their way through the rearview mirror and Abbir was all too happy to do the same and give them their privacy.
He almost regretted it when the driver pulled off in front of a small, ordinary house with a white fence around it. Almost, however, because the feeling was quick to disappear when he opened the trunk and met Esther's panicked eyes.
He cracked a smile and asked in a pleasant voice, "How are you feeling, mother? Not good, I hope."
Esther glared at him and started struggling, trying hard to wriggle away from him in spite of the limited space of the trunk and the shackles hindering her movements. "Kol! What do you want to do?!" she hissed angrily.
"Oh, you know, just the usual," he happily answered, grabbing her arm and throwing her out of the car, "just scheming against a member of my family."
She fell heavily to the ground and broke her front teeth. Her eyes were now full of hatred and disgust. "You are nothing but a worthless monster," she snarled at him, blood and saliva running down her chin and making her look like a madwoman. Which she was so…it suited her.
"Must run in the family, then," Kol crouched and patted her cheek, "what with you trying to kill your own children."
"My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago!"
"Wow, we are so alike!" Kol responded cheerfully. "Mine is not having killed you a thousand years ago."
"You are a curse on this Earth," she spat out and Kol nodded obediently.
"Yes, yes, what you say. It's good that you still remember that vampires exist only because of your curse. Mother, even after a thousand years, your memory is still good. I'm so proud of you."
She froze for a beat then craziness clouded her gaze and she started screaming, "I will end you! You hear me?! I will end you all!"
The house was isolated and there were no neighbors to spy on them. Still, all that screaming was quite annoying to hear. Without a doubt feeling the same, Nora pushed Kol away and pressed Esther's face to the ground with her foot, a sneer on her beautiful face. "You were cuter when you were unconscious and locked in the trunk."
Nora grabbed Esther's hand, the latter's shackled body being lifted along with it. "Since you want to scream at my husband, I'll give you a reason to do it." Then a loud crack sounded out and a cry of pain escaped Esther. She curled into a ball once Nora let her go, gasping in pain because of her broken fingers. "See? You can scream all you want now. Hopefully, you will think twice before calling Kol a monster next time."
"I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you," Esther whimpered again and again sounding like a broken record.
"She might not be that impressive once you take away her power, but she sure is noisy," Nora commented dryly.
"She's the same even with her power," Kol grinned and, grabbing Esther's leg, decided to imitate Nora's previous actions and drag his mother into the house. It helped him understand his wife - hearing Esther's head bump in the stairs in front of the door brought him nothing but happiness. Especially when it was accompanied by the woman's helpless cries.
They entered the house and the door closed behind them, creaking.
I had so much fun writing this chapter, guys xD Especially the first part haha