The next weeks passed quickly and in chaos. Rebekah awoke but was still exhausted by the spell. She and Marcel spent much of their time in their new quarters. Marcel was fascinated by her rotating shoe closet and played with it when he thought no one was looking. He made sure that he hair brush was kept in the door as his mind kept flashing back to when Klaus caught him coming out of the shower. He wondered if Rebekah knew she was in for it soon, she was a Mikaelson, so he supposed she did.
Freya avoided Ester and Finn in favor of starting to train Delphine. She made her a tea that blocked some of her volatile powers, like the fire starting and moving objects with her mind. Freya realized that the girl knew little of basic magic and that she had her hands full. At times, she worried she was becoming Dahlia as she repeated some familiar phrases that her aunt said to her. She even had Delphine start a little herb garden where Nicole had once had a flower bed. Freya found a place in town to buy her herbs and Bonnie helped her procure the rare ones she needed to make the blocking tea for Delphine. Klaus showed her another floor of the "basement" area. It looked like a lab, but it was fire proof and she could practice magic more safety here. She wondered what other secrets Klaus had.
The new tutor, Mr. Renhauer, that Elijah engaged had found that Matthew was rather behind academically. His work schedule and lack of parental assistance had caused him to copy most of his school work from friends. Tyler was very bright in maths and sciences, whereas Jeremy showed promise in the humanities. From reviewing their school performance, all three had done poorly the previous year with all the drama in Mystic Falls. Elijah aimed to change that. Alas, university time was around the corner. The tutor suggested that Delphine get a separate tutor as she had tore up the assessment multiple times. He had also suggested a psychologist for troubled youths. Elijah and Klaus discussed it and Klaus reminded Elijah that if she revealed too much or hurt the doctor, it would probably create more issues. Klaus encouraged him to follow his gut, as he had always done before. Elijah sat in on many of the magic lessons when he had time. It also gave him a chance to get to know Freya below. Klaus seemed to accept her more, but was not 100% convinced she was their long, lost sister.
Klaus was spending more time talking to Finn down below. Elijah wasn't sure what was happening there. Ester was out of it and Klaus moved her to a padded cell where she couldn't hurt herself. He was tempted to let Delphine try her powers of incineration on his Mother, but thought about how Marcel thought he was a danger to the doppelgänger, Elena. The old Klaus may have killed her, but he would not longer kill innocents. This girl was now family. Even turning her to save her life seemed monstrous.
On a dreary Friday, Klaus came up from sitting with Finn and thought to check on the boys. He could tell Elijah was getting a tad frustrated with their sloth and general laziness. It had been raining and they had been penned up the last few days. The tutor set them an hour of two of lessons they were to complete before doing anything else in the morning. Since they all had different work, Matt couldn't copy off of anyone. However, that didn't mean he didn't try to get them to "help" him a little.
"Jer, if you do this algebra, I'll do your dishes tonight, man. I mean, if I do go into law enforcement, why do I need math?" Matt whined throwing his pencil on the desk.
"Dude, I can help you, but I'm not doing all of it. Renhauer said if he caught up again he was talking to Uncle Elijah or Dad. What are you stuck on?" Jeremy said exasperated.
Tyler smirked as he stood behind Matt and grabbed his notebook.
"It looks like he is stuck on number 1! Man, what have you been doing over here? We've been working for 45 minutes," Tyler probed.
"Fuck off, man. I was...Are you two assholes going to help me or not?" Matt really didn't have an answer.
"Matthew, I sincerely hope you don't speak like that every time I am not around!" Klaus said popping in through the open door.
"Shit. I mean, sorry, Dad. I'm just frustrated," Matt admitted, not even caring if he got into trouble.
"What's going on?" Klaus asked.
"I just don't see the point of doing this. It's like useless. Why do I need algebra? Plus, I'm too dumb. I'm just too fucking dumb," Matt yelled knocking his textbook to the floor.
"Boys, can I talk to your brother alone please? You can go work in the game room," Klaus asked looking at Tyler and Jeremy who were already gathering up their stuff. They had put some desks in the game room and a table for the tutoring sessions. Elijah thought they should take out the ping pong table and the arcade machines, but Klaus said to leave them in until they had another place for them.
"Matt, you still want to be a police officer, correct?" Klaus asked, knowing the answer.
"Of course, I want to help people," Matt said automatically.
"That is a noble aspiration. But in order to get there, you need to graduate high school and complete a few years at community college. You will also have to pass some tests that have mathematics on them. Also, you may need to know things that you hadn't anticipated. Learning something is never lost. I want you to apply yourself a little more. If not, I'm going to apply my hand to your behind every time you slack," Klaus smiled, not really joking.
"Dad, that's not funny, but I get it. I guess I'm just being lazy. It was easier to pick up another shift at the Grill then stay home alone while my mom was out boozing. I never really got into the habit of homework. I just don't want to do it," Matt admitted.
"Son, there are many things in life you have to do even when you don't feel like it, even for 1000 year old vampires. It's not too late for you to learn that, but I don't want to hear you abusing Tyler and Jeremy because this comes easier to them. You are going to stay home this afternoon and work on this with Mr. Renhauer," Klaus said calmly.
"No, we're meeting the girls at the Grill to hang out. That's bullshit," Matt yelled, surprising Klaus with an attitude, he didn't usually see in Matt.
Klaus vamped over and stood Matt up and bent him over slightly after turning him to the side. Keeping him in place with his left arm.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Klaus swatted the center of each cheek and gave him the hardest whack in the center. Matt danced and tried to cover his smarting rump with his hand.
"Dad, no! Please!" Matt begged.
"Let's try this again. You will stay home this afternoon and complete your schoolwork. What say you?" Klaus repeated calmly.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
Matt stomped his feet to try to contain the blaze.
"Okay, fine. It's stupid but I'll do it," Matt promised in a high voice.
Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap! Whap!
Matt hopped and tried to straighten up as he got five more hard spanks this time on his sit spots.
"I was going to send you to the corner but I think sitting on your sore behind will remind you whom you are speaking with. I'm going to be back up to check on you. Now back to work," Klaus said, smacking him twice across both checks as Matt jumped up covering his rear.
Matt had unshed tears in both eyes, but wasn't crying. His jeans had provided some protection, but he still couldn't help but clutch his bottom in fear that he would get a few more smacks.
"Pick up your materials, Matthew. Now sit!" Klaus indicated the hard wooden chair in front of the desk.
"I think I'd rather standing in the-" Matt started but launching into the chair when Klaus went to spank him again.
"Owww. It..s-sorry," Matt said again trying to rub his sore behind.
"Matthew, book open and pencil moving or next time I'm getting the wooden paddle," Klaus warned sternly.
Matt trembled as it has been a while since any of them even got threatened with a spanking. It seemed like Elijah especially had been giving them extra chores instead of swats, and he even took Tyler's phone away when he caught him on it at night for a day. Jeremy got sent to bed early a few times for smarting off. They started to think that spankings were a thing of the past. Wrong again.
"Yes, sir," Matt said shifting a little to try to alleviate the ache.
"Good. I love you, Son. You're going to get through this and I'll help you even if it takes more than a tutor and a few whacks on the seat of your pants to accomplish it," Klaus promised, walking out leaving the door open.
Klaus stopped into the game room and saw Tyler and Jeremy working studiously. They must have overheard the impromptu smacking.
"Matthew will not be going to the Grill with you. Make sure all of your chores are done before you go, okay?" Klaus said looking over their shoulders to check their work.
"I'm going to my mom's office to have lunch with her, if that's okay," Tyler proposed.
"That's lovely. Why don't you cut some flowers from the garden that Nicole planted on the side? She would love that. Jeremy, are you seeing your sister and Bonnie?" Klaus inquired, thinking about doppelgängers and the danger Elena was in.
"Yes, I think her boyfriend is coming too, maybe my Aunt Jenna," Jeremy said chewing on his pen.
"Don't chew on that, you could choke. You could take them flowers, too. Here's some cash. Don't spend it all at once," Klaus said giving them both a wad of hundreds.
"Dad, this is too much," Jeremy said feeling guilty.
"Son, I just want to make sure you are all taken care of. Have fun. And bring umbrellas!" Klaus cautioned.
Jeremy and Tyler looked at each other and laughed. Umbrellas? Really?
Elijah and Freya stared at the little girl hard.
"Try again, Delphine," Freya said.
"This shield spell could save your life, dear. Say another witch tried to come at you with fire or electricity, you could make a shield for yourself," Elijah coaxed gently.
"Fine, I'll try the incantation. Scutum!" Delphine said raising her hands.
"Elijah, can you try to breach it?" Freya asked.
Elijah tried and could not get through the circle for a second until Delphine's concentration fled.
"It worked!" Delphine laughed and clapped with delight. Her lovely red curls flew up and down.
"Excellent," Freya said. "That's a start. Now let's try it with you holding it for a little longer."
"No, I'm done! I want to go outside," Delphine said baring her teeth and crossing her arms.
"Delphine, you've been working on this for but five minutes. Plus, it's raining. Come now, one more time," Elijah said.
"I said 'NO!'"Delphine said physically pushing Elijah and going to shove Freya. For a split second, she gripped Freya's arm hard enough to bruise it. Elijah vamped over and caught her easily. Freya looked a little frazzled as she had never had dealings with many people, especially a person as hostile as Delphine. Maybe Dahlia wasn't so bad after all, she mused.
"Are you ready to calm down?" Elijah said leaning down to her eye level. A vampire could not compel a witch, but he found that talking to Delphine in a calm, even voice worked. Something in doing magic seemed to trigger her.
"NO!" Delphine screamed as she spit in his face and tried to stomp on his feet. He quickly whipped out his handkerchief and wiped the spittle of his face. She then ran over to the table and started throwing books and papers. Elijah caught her before she threw a glass vial. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Elijah asked Freya ignoring the girl pounding his back and kicking him.
"I'm fine. Elijah, you've tried to be few patient with her and all that, and I know your parenting book doesn't address it, but maybe it's time for..." Freya started.
"Oh, it's well past time for her first spanking. I think that they left out the chapter dealing with naughty witches. Did you dose her enough?" Elijah inquired wanting to make sure that Delphine couldn't start a fire or injure anyone including herself during her time over his knee.
"Spank me and I'll see you both flogged bloody. You devils should be burned in eternal flames. Mark my words!" Elijah thought he heard Delphine curse in French.
"She should be good until tomorrow. Klaus had asked me to cook up some salves to hasten healing and to slow it down for vampires. I think I'm going to get to work on that. Delphine, please try to settle down and act like a big girl," Freya said to the girl, who snarled and tried to bite her.
"On that note," Elijah said vamping her up to her bedroom.
Marcel was looking through the paperwork that Delphine brought with her. They had yet to get her a new identity as she hadn't been able to leave the compound yet.
"Find anything yet, Love?" Rebekah said coming behind Marcel and kissing his neck. He was using her make-up table as a desk. They had planned to turn the sitting room into his office.
"Maybe. The mystery is who is Delphine's mother? Who is her father? There is no record of Josephine La Rue ever having a child. Her mother hexed her hands when she ran off to marry a jazz player. I thought maybe she got pregnant with his child. He was Black. Does Delphine look mixed to you? I don't know, Bex. Something doesn't add up. It's almost like this kid appeared out of nowhere," Marcel admitted.
"Knock, knock," Freya smiled.
"Hey Sis, come in, Marcel is trying to solve the ongoing Delphine mystery" Rebekah said as Freya walked in the open door.
"That's what I'm here about," Freya said unconsciously rubbing her arm.
"Oh god, what's the bloody hell happened?" Rebekah said vamping over and carefully looking at the handprint mark that seemed burned into her skin.
"Delphine attacked Elijah and me as I was teaching her her first spell. She grabbed onto me and-" Freya began.
"Wait! She attacked you? Please tell me that Elijah isn't just going to march her little butt in the corner for another five minute 'time out'?" Marcel interrupted.
"No, he took her up to her room to give her a spanking. Long overdue in my opinion, she actually spit in his face!" Freya admitted.
"What?" Marcel and Rebekah yelled together in shock.
"Did ya all forget to invite me to the family pow wow. Hello, love," Kol said kissing Freya on the cheek. They filled him in up to that point.
"I'll admit I tried to help with her training, but I wasn't sure I could keep myself from killing that little whelp. She could use more than just a few whacks on that naughty botty of hers, pretty though she is," Kol quipped.
"What's Elijah going to do, take a cane to her? She is a child after all?" Rebekah argued.
"That's the thing I'm trying to say! When she grabbed my arm, I saw that she's not just a child. I think she is the reincarnation of Madame Delphine LaLaurie. She wasn't a witch, but a horrific slave owner who terrorized and murdered her slaves to stay young and beautiful. She was said to be cursed by the voodoo queen Marie Laveau to live forever to pay for her horrible crimes. How she got in that child I don't know, but she is more dangerous than we thought. An evil human like that in a witch body of that power. No wonder they wanted free of her," Freya said pacing.
Marcel spat, "I should have guessed the Regent was hiding something. Is that girl even her grand daughter or just a kid she took in because she was too dangerous for anyone else to take? Does Marie or whoever the hell she is, know who she is?"
Freya shook her blonde hair, "I don't think so. Reincarnation usually wipes the memory, but body jumped souls know exactly who they are. If her real identity comes back to her, who knows what she will do."
Rebekah had helped Delphine decorate her room as she liked when she had awoken. It wasn't your typical kid's room, but much more formal. The color scheme was burgundy and cream. As most of the Mikaelsons, Delphine seemed to appreciate the finer things. The rule was if she broke something, it would not be replaced. Only one lamp had been smashed in a rage. Elijah had put Delphine in a time out and gave her a stern talking-to. It had seemed like good parenting at the time, he had ignored her praying for his death in the corner. But, he would not allow her to start attacking his sister.
Elijah set Delphine down on the bed still kicking violently. He was hoping she would wear herself out. Elijah locked the door and then went to wash his face and hands. He was more than horrified about the spitting. Washing did help him calm down, he could not deny that he was feeling angry and his hand was itching to teach her a strong lesson. When he came back from the attached bathroom, Delphine was sitting on the bed with her arms crossed.
"No one is allowed to hit me!" she fumed. For a second, he wondered what would have happened if anyone would have said that to their father, Mikael. Mikael probably would have literally killed them in rage. Elijah was glad that things were no longer like that, but he had to take a stand with this girl.
"Delphine, I'm not going to hit you. I am going to put you across my lap and smack your behind a few times. Your behavior is out of control," Elijah said firmly.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill all of you," Delphine screamed. Elijah was grateful that Klaus had soundproofed the rooms, but he wondered if anyone could still hear this pint sized terror bellowing.
"Dear, I know your grandmother's hands were hexed and she was older, but did anyone else help take care of you?" Elijah wondered. He had asked this things before but got little responses.
"Just my nannies. And they listened to what I told them or else," Delphine boasted, bouncing up and down on the bed joyfully.
"Stop, please. Well, if you keep behaving how you are, you are going to hurt someone here. If it wasn't for Freya, you might have already killed someone. Then, you try to attack her for helping you. That in itself is deserving of a sound paddling," Elijah intoned.
"A paddling? You're going to use a paddle?" Delphine asked cringing. For the first time she seemed concerned about getting a spanking.
"Not for your first spanking. But we have several and all of the boys have gotten a licking with it and believe me, you will be minding your manners much better after that," Elijah promised.
"Just try it on me, you ass. You're all going to damn die!" Delphine shouted raising her arm to blast him with magic stunted by Freya's tea.
"That language is going to get your mouth washed out with soap in addition to the spanking you already have coming. Plus, I cannot die, whether I wanted to or not. Enough stalling. It's time," Elijah said reaching for her as she scuttled back on her soon to be sore rump.
Although Jeremy forgot and let for the Grill already, Tyler did go out to cut his mom a bouquet. They had been talking on the phone and both seemed happy with the way things were going. His mom was really pleased to hear that he had a weight lifting trainer and a tutor. Tyler didn't know much about flowers so he just cut some of everything. He was drawn to two clusters of purple flowers. Didn't girls like purple a lot?
"Owww," he said when a pretty purple bell- shaped cluster of flowers burned his skin.
"What the hell?" he said tossing it aside. He clipped the rest of the purple flowers until he had a huge bunch of vervain to give his mom.