"Who prepared this dinner tonight?" I blushed as the pristine words echoed in the hall.
"Master Niklaus, Lady Viktoriya prepared dinner. She ordered the kitchen to allow her to," one of the servants responded and my blush went brighter. In truth, I had been terrified that my cooking abilities had perished as it had been years since I had done so.
"Why so shy, darling?" another of the accented brothers asked, nudging me gently.
"I- I, um, I wanted to do something nice," I said, glancing up at the three brothers and sister, "You all took me in. You kept me around, even after my sister betrayed you. I wanted to thank you."
"It is nothing, elskan," my blush intensified as the man spoke, "We are very happy to have you around."
"It is not nothing, Elijah. I have grown to care for you and your brothers. I have grown to care for Rebekah as well, albeit in a different sense. That is a love I have not felt for any besides Katerina and Veronika. You are my sister, Rebekah," I smiled, glancing up at the only girl, whose cheeks were now pinkened, "I owe you four my life. Most certainly."
"You owe us nothing," Elijah dismissed, smiling gently.
"But I feel like I do," I insisted, "I shall be eternally grateful. Thank you."
"Thank you, Tori. I consider you family as well," Rebekah smiled, "Brothers?"
"For once, I agree with my darling sister," the Original Psychopath consented, slight sarcasm marring his words, "Dinner is amazing, and your words are inspiring. Thank you." I flashed him a small smile when I detected the genuine tone of his last statements.
"I think I speak for both Niklaus and I when I say we are touched at your words, beloved," Elijah smiled as Niklaus gave a short nod of his head.
"Thank you, boys," I smiled, "And Rebekah."
"Just forget Rebekah!" the youngest brother thrilled, laughing, causing the blonde female to throw her knife at him with a pouty glare. I pouted when the knife wedged itself into the wall, hilt deep as it passed through one of Niklaus' many paintings.
"I liked that painting," I complained, only to be ignored by the blonde female.
"I will paint a new one, love," Niklaus promised, smiling earnestly, "One even better. I got a few new paints that I think would work much better."
"Hush, Kol," she muttered petulantly, "Nobody asked you."
"I would like that," I smiled, tucking a stray hair behind my ear.
"Lord Elijah?" a servant boy spoke from the edge of the dining room and both Niklaus and Elijah stood, chairs scraping against the stone floor, "There is a group of men outside. They said they were invited."
"By whom?" Elijah frowned, "Did you invite someone, Kol? Or you, Tori?"
Kol shook his head, a playful, if bloodthirsty, pout on his lips, "If I had, you would know. It would be a blood bath, brother."
"Be quiet, Kol," Niklaus snapped, rolling his eyes in irritation at his brother.
"You have to admit," I cut it, "Kol has a point. Any guest of his would cause drama and end up being killed. Either by you or him." As I spoke, Kol had stood, causing me to wince slightly at the loud screech.
"Fair enough," Niklaus sighed, and the three brothers left the room, leaving Rebakah and I to glance at each other in worry.
"What are they doing?" Rebekah asked, hearing a scream outside.
"I have not the faintest," I frowned and motioned for her to stand as I did, "Let us go see." My eyes widened when I saw two of the brothers locked in a fight with the third was crumpled on the ground with a chunk of wood sticking out of his back.
"Kol," I whimpered, drawing the attention of a couple of the attackers. Four of them rushed at Rebekah and I, and we backed away, eyes focused on the thick chunks of wood in their grasp.
"Rebekah! Tori!" Elijah yelled, ripping a heart out of one of the attackers, "Get out of here! Run!" I shot Rebekah a glance before tearing off the head of an attacker and shooting off towards the forest with Rebekah next to me. I knew she could go faster as the blonde was older than me by five hundred years but she did not want me to be caught.
"Go, Rebekah!" I cried, pushing her arm, "I will meet you at the docs! Just go!" The blonde shot me a look before her body blurred and I was left alone. The woods surrounding the castle the brothers and Rebekah owned was vast and you could easily get lost as there was no established path. The path was dark and sunlight very rarely reached the ground- even during the day. Of course, it was dark out, the boys having returned late after a meeting with a Lord from Liverpool.
"Well, my master was right about one thing," a man smirked, landing in front of me and I came to a stop, staring at the man in surprise, "Yeah, we are not all younger than you. Some of us are from the time of the Originals."
"Me? I am only two hundred years old," he smirked, stalking towards me with a dark glint in his eyes, "But you knew that. After all, we were hopelessly in love." A deep burning anger flickered alite inside me at his words, the way he described our former so-called romance.
"We were never in love. You spread lies to the townsfolk," I snapped, "You compelled me!"
"Well you did turn to three Originals, makes me wonder if I left a mark. Staying with vampires. Quite the choice, my love. My master would disagree but I do not agree with everything he says," the man laughed, waving a dismissive hand, "Quite the broody one he is. Hates his existence but does not want to die. I say, just leave his children and drive a stake through his own heart but he disagrees. Is that not right?"
"Quite so, James," came from behind me and I whirled around to see cold blue eyes, "Hello, sweetheart."
I gulped, taking a step back as fear enveloped me as I breathed one word.
"Mikael."
