Chapter 1:
Beacon Hills, California
Clutching the sink in the bathroom, Kaja raised her head to look into the mirror, having wiped away all the left-over blood on her hands and using the time to collect herself, knowing that in a matter of an hour she might just lose everything she had built for herself in Beacon Hills. She had changed out of the unflattering jeans, plaid and sneakers instead putting on a pair of black skinny jeans, dark navy-blue beaded waterfall tank top, 6-inch black ankle boots and a black cropped leather jacket on top. She paired a few bracelets and pendant necklaces, as well as her ever present daylight ring.
Going down the spiral stairs, Kaja saw the blood had been cleaned up everyone had changed into sweats and t-shirts that they all kept at the loft in case they had to sleep over for any reason. Seeing that the adults, the Sherriff, Chris and Melissa had joined them she simply nodded to them and took up a seat on the lone recliner in front of the TV, facing the couches, she waited for Derek to step out of the kitchen and in his own seat before starting, or at least trying to start before catching sight of Lydia's stunned and demanding look.
"I will not get caught dead in plaid. Unfortunately, being on the run means sacrifices and compromises. Instead of changing my hair or eye color, I chose to change my dressing." Watching the wide variety of looks on everyone's faces, Chris being especially wary, she continued with the story. It was clear they had been brought up to speed by the others.
"Before I start that long and frankly traumatizing story," she turned to Derek especially, "Talia knew. When I first got to Beacon Hills, I was on the run, in hiding, I needed to keep a low profile and towns like this are perfect for that, small enough to be looked over on the map but just big enough to get lost in the crowd. I didn't actually know there was an established pack or any pack here until I had already gotten here. I presented myself to your mother and told her, asked for asylum and permission to stay in her territory. After hearing me out and extracting several promises from me, she agreed to let me stay."
"What promises?" Peter questioned, "and why was the rest of the pack never told?"
"If there was ever a need and she asked for my help, then I would step forward and help out. If there was any supernatural problem as a direct result of me or after me, then I would deal with it myself with if possible zero casualties. Also, that I would never hurt anyone here in Beacon Hills unless they were an active threat to someone else, within reason, and if I hurt anyone innocent then I would leave her territory and never return. As for why the rest of the pack was never told, that was a request of mine. I was in hiding, I didn't want anyone to know where I was, the less people who knew the better."
"You keep saying in hiding, but from what?" Malia asked.
"A vampire hunter that I got on the bad side of, who now wants to kill me." A stunned silence fell over the loft at that.
"Why would he want to kill you?" Scott voiced everyone's thoughts, as they all looked at Kaja.
"Let's just say, we had a difference in opinion." Kaja smiled tightly, not really wanting to talk about Mikael right now.
"Your an Original, I thought you couldn't be killed." Peter questioned
"Everything can and will die one day, even an Original. Nothing in this entire world can live for a true eternity. Killing them, or me, may be improbable but not impossible." Kaja looked them all in the eye, one by one.
"He actually has a way to kill you, doesn't he?" Chris interjected
"The only reason you would run and go into hiding was if he could actually kill you." Peter continued, a dawning realization spread across the room at his words.
"Correct." Kaja reluctantly confirmed. "It was for that reason I came to Beacon Hills."
"Came to Beacon Hills, but I thought you were born here?" Scott asked, confused.
"I wasn't. I simply met John and Claudia here 16 years ago and we came to an agreement, I would pose as their daughter for the rest of the town and in return they would keep my secret."
"I'm not Stiles' real father." Speaking up for the first time, John replied.
"Are you British?" Everyone blinked in surprise at the unexpected question that came from Malia.
"No, I've just spent a lot of time in Britain and the accent stuck with me." Kaja replied, amused.
"What's an Original?" Cora inquired "Uncle Peter called you that."
"Chris, Peter, would either of you care to take this question?" Kaja smiled mischievously.
"An Original is the one of the first Vampires in creation. They are the oldest, strongest and most dangerous vampires to exist. Six in total: Klaus, Elijah, Finn and then the twins, Kol and Kaja and then Rebekah." Chris had tensed at being put under the spotlight, but gave a condensed explanation aiming it mainly at his daughter.
"Klaus is the oldest, most dangerous; Elijah is the noble one; Finn is the most private one, there's not a lot that's known about him. Kol and Kaja are the most unpredictable and sadistic ones, often described as chaos incarnate. Rebekah is the youngest, the one most in touch with her humanity. They were turned by the Original Witch, though no one knows who that is." Peter continued, not taking his eyes off of the original in front of him.
"So, you're Rebekah?" Allison asked hesitantly and a little hopefully.
"You changed your first name as well as your last name?" Lydia raised an eyebrow.
"No, I'm not and yes I did." Kaja grinned at the confused faces in front of her, but paid them no mind, instead turning to Chris and Peter.
"Very well done, you two" Kaja smirked at the elder hunter and wolf, "but, you're only half right."
"Half right how?" Peter interjected, returning her smirk.
"You were right about what is Original is and how many there are but you got some of the other things wrong. Klaus is not the eldest original, actually oldest to youngest it would go: Finn, Elijah, Klaus, Kol, Kaja then Rebekah. As for the rest, well Klaus is dangerous but most dangerous, is simply a matter of opinion. Rebekah does fall in love a lot but again, it depends on your definition of humanity. The rest of it was correct, if a little understated."
"You said you're not Rebekah, so who are you?" Melissa asked. "And why change your last name?"
"Kaja; I'm Kaja Mikaelson. A pleasure, I'm sure." Kaja smiled at the look of fear that passed over Chris's face, the others looking more hesitant, while John was unfazed, already knowing this. Derek was the real mystery, not showing anything on his face since this entire thing had started. "As for changing my last name, circumstances led to me taking John and Claudia's last name to hide better. The Mikaelson name is quite infamous in many circles; Stilinski, not as much."
"Mikaelson name? So, they're all...?" Boyd trailed off
"My siblings, yes, all five of them."
"So, there's a whole family of Originals, and what circum-" Jackson started only to interrupted by his girlfriend.
"Can we have that 'long and frankly traumatizing story' now, together instead of bits and pieces." Lydia quoted, the rest of the pack looking expectedly at the mole dotted vampire in front of them.
"My father was a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe, and a Viking. Our mother bore seven children." Kaja started only to get interrupted again.
"So your parents were human?" Erica interjected
"Our whole family was; our origins as vampires is a very long story but we are the oldest vampires in the world. We are the Original Family and from as all, vampires were created."
"Right, but they're all your siblings?" Scott asked
"You really are stuck on that aren't you?" Peter teased.
"If your father was a land owner in Europe, how did you end up here?" Allison questioned.
"My parents had just started a family when the plague struck their homeland, they lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate." Kaja explained.
"The plague? How old are you really?" Isaac questioned incredulously.
"Haven't you ever heard it's rude to ask a lady her age?" Kaja smirked, amused when the curly haired teen stuttered out an apology.
"But America wasn't discovered until 1492." Allison interrupted.
"Not by anyone your history books, but the land was occupied long before Columbus stumbled onto it. He's lucky I didn't help him discover the bottom of the ocean first, or the stomach of a shark." Kaja snarked.
"You knew Columbus!?" Lydia exclaimed.
"My family and I were on the ship when he 'discovered' America. Like I said, he's lucky I didn't kill him before he could 'discover' anything. Columbus needed to learn to keep his hands to himself."
"Why would you kill him?" Scott yelped as Lydia jammed her elbow into his side.
"He tried to put his drunken hands all over me and then my sister. If I hadn't killed him then one of my brothers would have. They all happen to very protective of us."
"I thought Columbus died because he was sick." Malia asked, just having had a fresh recap of history for school last night.
"So did Columbus," Kaja smirked darkly "but to be fair, I did make it look like an illness."
"Right, so ignoring, for now because we will be coming back to it, the fact that you killed an important historical figure and covered it up and got away with it. Can we get back to the story?" Lydia impatiently demanded.
"My mother knew a witch, Ayanna who consulted the spirits for advice. They told her of a mystical land where the people were everyone had good health and prosperity, blessed with the gifts of speed and strength. So, my parents and several others including Ayanna packed and moved. They ended up in a small village, in a place that is now known as Mystic Falls, Virginia, where we lived amongst those people."
"Where they...?" Erica trailed of, not really sure what she was asking herself.
"Vampires? No, they were werewolves actually, but different to you."
"Different how?" Peter's eyes gleamed at the chance to learn more, also managing to distract the others from their thoughts.
"These wolves are not bitten, they are only born, it's a gene that's passed down through bloodlines, lying dormant until activated. To activate the gene, a person has to kill, whether it's on purpose or even just an accident that led to someone's death, it doesn't matter. Once the gene is triggered, from the next full moon onwards, the werewolf will break every bone in their body one by one until they painfully shift into their wolf form. There is no beta shift, flashing eyes, fangs and sideburns. Every other day and night of the month, they are fully human. They are stronger and a little bit faster than regular humans but nothing compared to you guys. Also, their senses as just slightly above a human and they don't have healing powers. On the night of the full moon, once their shift is complete, they're little more than wild animals, utterly feral, only capable of differentiating between pack and nothing else. Such a thing as anchors don't exist for them, they lose sight of humanity until dawn when they once again start to shift back into human, also agonizingly painful."
Slowly throughout the explanation, all faces paled until by the end of it, many had turned green. Erica and Isaac had to make a break to the bathroom, dry heaving sounds filling the loft. Scott sat still, shocked at how bad it really could have been for him, Allison own face paled at the thought as she comforted her boyfriend. Derek's eyes were flashing red as Cora gripped his hand tight, she and the rest of the pack seeking comfort from their Alpha. The adults also similarly horrified.
"So, you lived with werewolves?" Asked Melissa.
"To us they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over twenty years during which time, my parents had more children, including me. My eldest brother Finn, then Elijah, then Niklaus, then Kol and myself, then my little and only sister Rebekah and finally my younger brother Henrik."
"You make it sound so normal." came Allison's voice.
"It was." She replied, voice full of nostalgia as she remembered the good times her family had. Running through the forest, tackling Finn down in a pile of bodies, watching Nik and Elijah fight each other with swords in a mock duel in the village square.
"Once a month, from sun down to sun up, our family retreated to the caves beneath our village, they were protected by magic to not let the wolves through. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we would return home, continue on with our day and chores. Other than that one night a month, our lives were relatively normal if a little difficult, although that was purely because of our parents. Father was a Viking, he valued physical strength and fighting prowess most of all and our mother was too soft spoken when it came to protecting us from his temper."
"He… did he ever?" Isaac spoke up hesitantly.
"Yes" Kaja sighed. "Mostly, he stuck to using Nik as his punching bag but I wasn't far behind. We would take the blame for the others. Spare them the pain on the rare occasion we had to. Finn was generally safe from Father's temper since he was our mothers favorite, always clutching at her skirts. Elijah was a gentleman, loyal and just with a sense of right and wrong that is just down right annoying at times. He's the diplomatic one but still a capable hunter and fighter so Father generally left him alone too. Kol is vindictive and mischievous, always pulling pranks but a good fighter and utterly ruthless to those who hurt people he cared about, I am much the same. Rebekah was the youngest girl of the family, one who generally acted like it instead of, well me. Father generally left her alone and under the tutelage and discipline of our mother. Henrik was the baby of the family, the most coddled and still a child, he was able to get away with a lot of things that the rest of just weren't. Mostly it was Niklaus and myself that were in Father's crosshairs all the time. He hated Nik most of all, but me he hated for always taking Nik's side instead of his, and for not acting like a woman should. Unlike the rest of our siblings and Mother, I actively intervened no matter how much Nik or the others always tried to stop me. Father hated me for that."
"That how you knew. How to help." Isaac stated.
"Yes. One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother Henrik sunk away from the rest of us to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden and Henrik payed the price. Klaus broke through the tree line screaming for our mother as he carried Henrik home, they were both covered in blood. He begged Mother to heal him, but Henrik had already died. Our parents were devastated at losing another child. The whole reason they moved to the New World was to protect their future family from a premature death. Father blamed Nik for Henrik's death and if Elijah and I hadn't intervened then Nik would have most certainly been dead. That was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors; and one of the last moments my family had together as humans."
Kaja took a deep shuddering breath at the mental images invoked by the story, it been a long time since they had ever talked about this; usually they never brought it up to anyone beyond the fact that their younger brother died. The only ones they had told was at the very start, Nik had mentioned Henrik's death in passing to Lucien but none of them ever went into detail of how nor spoke of it to anyone else ever again, not even between themselves. She could clearly remember the blood dripping from Nik and Henrik's bodies as he desperately tried to help their mother heal their baby brother. Kol and she had joined in, being the more magically versed of the siblings. She ignored the tears in their eyes and the 'I'm sorry' from Melissa, followed by the others and simply continued, thankful that the three Hales at least knew better.
"Mother and Father went to Ayanna to beg her help in making sure nothing like happened to another one of their children but Ayanna refused and warned Mother that she was going down a dark path where there would be consequences for the type of magic she was trying to use."
"So vampirism was a form of protection?" Isaac inquired tentatively.
"What else would it be?" Kaja questioned.
"A curse?" Scott spoke up.
"My parents only saw it as a way to keep their children alive." Kaja replied
"But if they were so afraid of the werewolves, then why not just leave instead of… doing that?" Jackson raised the question, eyes flashing a supernatural blue.
"Pride. My father already ran from the plague, he didn't want to run from the wolves as well, he wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they had speed, we had to be faster, where they were strong, we had to be stronger, where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Agility, senses, everything had to heightened. When Ayanna refused, Father told Mother that it was in her hands alone, to protect their family."
"In your mother's hands, how could she do anything?" Cora raised an eyebrow.
"Because my mother was also a witch." Kaja dropped the bomb, watching them all try to process the information, hell even Derek looked a bit startled, probably the first reaction he had since she started explaining.
"What!?" Several voices rang out around the loft.
"The witch of the Original Family, the Original Witch." her voice conveyed just how stupid she found it, having to elaborate on that but the others could see a spark of mirth in her eyes.
"But if your mother was a witch, then-" Boyd started
"Am I?" Kaja interrupted, "No." She replied to the unspoken question, a shadow of something that pack didn't recognize passing through her eyes. Or at least, some of the pack didn't recognize it, the three Hales saw it pass through their own eyes regularly at the thought of their family. They knew she was not telling the full truth but didn't say anything. "A witch is nature's servant. A vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us, she did not turn."
"How did you turn?" Lydia asked the question on all their minds, nearly regretting it when she was a hint of hurt and betrayal in Stiles' eyes before it was gone as quick as it came.
"She called upon the sun for life and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects for immortality. That night my father offered each of us a glass of wine, in honor of Henrik, laced with blood. We finished it all, not knowing that our parents had spiked the wine; as soon as we were done, Father drove his sword through our hearts."
"He killed you!?" several voices cried out, growls and snarls accompanying them.
"One by one, and he wasn't delicate about it either." Kaja bitterly rubbed at her chest, remembering the pain of the sword, the confusion and betrayal and her mother not even shedding a tear, simply watching. The hurt and betrayal seemed to make more sense to the others now, but they still didn't know what to say; their friend, fellow pack member's own father had killed her.
"We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual. It was euphoric, the feeling of power was indescribable; everything was heightened, all of our senses and emotions, even our personality traits, every little thing was stronger and more. But the witch Ayanna was right about the consequences, to bring something to life like that, to make it immortal is against nature. Everything is meant to die at some point. The spirits turned on us and nature fought back."
"For every strength, there would be a weakness; the sun became our enemy, it kept us indoor for weeks and though my mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbors who had once freely opened their homes to us could now keep us out, flowers at the base of the white oak burned and prevented compulsion. And as the spell decreed, the tree that gave us life could also take it away; so we burned it to the ground. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated, the hunger. Blood had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else; we could not control it. And with that the predatory species was born."
Mystic Falls, Virginia
The sound of a ring tone interrupted the quiet peace in the living from of the Mikaelson Mansion. Nik put his sketchbook and pencil down as he pulled out his phone, hearing the vampires voice on the other end who had given him the information about his sister.
"I have news about an Original." the voice on the other end said, and they all froze. The only originals that were not currently in the house were their father and Mischief and he would kill for news on either.
"And that would be?" Klaus demanded, and the voice seemed nervous. They cleared their throat before responding.
"There are rumors about one in Beacon Hills, California. There is a vampire there who's said to be strong enough to take on a pack of alphas." If it was a single vampire, chances were that it was his younger sister.
"Is that all?" he asked, and the vampire on the other end gave the affirmative but didn't hang up. "Is there something you wish for?" Klaus asked sarcastically, irritation bleeding through, and the voice on the other hand confirmed this.
"The information came from an Alpha who says that the territory the vampire protects should, by law, be given to the Alpha Pack. The pack the vampire is rumored to protect, the Hales, do not follow the code and so should be dispatched of, according to him." the voice said, and Nik and Elijah shared a look, finding it very easy then to discern just who this anonymous tip came from; one of said Alpha Pack.
"I see. Perhaps then they'd like to arrange a meeting. If they can prove that this rumored vampire is indeed an Original, my family will do something about the problem." The hybrid hung up, looking at siblings with excitement and nerves. After 94 years they may have finally found her.