Like Fire
by AlexisKeller
Chapter 09
It was when we were in the midst of scanning the bar from where we sat—Kol told me to look for a short haired blonde in her early thirties with a fondness for the color black—that suddenly he was pushing his drink back and sliding off his barstool.
I looked to him with a questioning glance, following his line of sight to a couple of girls who stood near the wall. Neither of them fit the description he'd given me, so confused but alert, I turned back to him for some sort of explanation.
He looked to me only to say, "Stay here. I'll be back in a short moment."
I was hardly going to stay here if he was going after the witch. "What's happening?"
He watched me carefully, as if debating whether to say it or not before finally going ahead. "I'm taking a little food break."
Oh.
Oh.
There was no witch. He'd just been eyeing someone to feed from.
Huh.
On the list of things I could have expected right then, that one really wasn't it.
I must have made a face because then he raised his eyebrows at me. "What? Is that so repulsive? Or did you forget that I'm a vampire, my darling?"
"I never said anything," I shook my head as I turned away and back to my remaining coke.
"Please don't try to fool me, Evie. It's always pointless."
"Look, I get it," I said, turning back to him. "You're a vampire. You need blood to survive. I have vampire friends too, you know. Not all of them stick to blood bags." Well, mostly Damon.
Caroline and Stefan were good with blood bags.
Though I'd heard from Stefan that Damon had recently been trying out blood bags.
"Yes." He knew that wasn't all so went on to ask, "And?"
And?
Well, if he was asking, shouldn't I say what I was thinking?
I almost dreaded it, because saying it was the tough part. Because as much as I wanted to ask it, I was still somewhat hesitant to ask it of him.
"Will... you wouldn't hurt anyone here, would you?"
A beat.
He said nothing for a moment, only to scoff, before disappearing from sight.
Of course. Why would he listen?
I shuddered at the enforced thought that this wasn't Stefan or Damon with me here. This was not a friend.
I was field-tripping it with an Original vampire that, in his words, had killed people for looking at him wrong, sometimes even less.
Shuddering, I turned off that thought as I took a sip of my coke. I just needed to get this done and leave.
And something told me tonight was going to be another dead end.
"Wow, honey," I heard from my side. "Aren't you just the prettiest girl in this entire place."
I turned to see a guy leaning on the bar with his elbows as he stood to my side, where Kol had been seated, staring at me not very subtly. He looked to be maybe in his late twenties, wearing a distressed leather jacket that he had pushed up to show off the expensive looking watch on his wrist.
I turned away, thinking this wasn't even worth an eye roll.
I also felt somewhat mentally exhausted and wanted to curl up back in my bed.
This was the second trip that turned out to be pointless. Bonnie was pushing this only because she was worried and with her dream, she might have good reason to be. We had virtually no defense against Esther should we need it.
Curling in bed wouldn't do it. I also needed a couple of Snickers bars, a good book in my hands and endless time.
Well, tough luck for me, I guess.
I looked to the other side, catching sight of Kol leaning against the far wall where both the girls he'd been eyeing earlier had been, eyes on me. Was he done already?
The fact that I couldn't spot either of them anywhere put a knot in my throat but I still hoped to God they were okay. He couldn't have hurt them, right? Not here and now?
Do you think he cares about something like that? I asked myself, already having an idea of what the answer might be. Yeah, I needed to get back home and be done with these road trips.
But right then, right at that moment, there was something in his expression that reminded me of the time he had asked me for the piece of paper in the lounge of the Salvatore boarding house. Something in his face spelled out a dare.
My deduction was confirmed when his eyebrows raised in a silent challenge.
I almost snorted. What was that about? Was that a so what in reference to the girls being gone?
It didn't seem like it.
His eyes trailed to my side and then I thought I got it.
Really? This guy here next to me?
Oh, of course. Of course Kol Mikaelson wasn't the gentleman who'd swoop in and ask Mr. Expensive Watch to stop bothering someone who clearly didn't want company.
Not that I particularly wanted that. In fact, I'd dealt with brushing off at least dozen of his kind and Mr. Expensive Watch wasn't anything different.
Yet, it was that dare in his eyes, coupled with an innocently condescending echo of is everything okay in his expression.
Right.
"You here alone? A girl like you shouldn't be here alone," he murmured, getting a bit closer and I leaned farther away.
"Nope," I answered firmly. "I'm here with someone. Now please leave me alone."
The straightforward refusal clearly put a damper on his mood as I'd expected, and he frowned at me.
"Whatever," he grumbled, apparently not liking the blow to his ego. Which, usually, in cases of guys like this was enough.
Case in point: disgruntled, he walked off.
Taking that moment to pull out my phone, I thought to text Bonnie, finding a text from her waiting there already.
No one else had any luck. Tell me you found something.
Hating that I was about to crush her hope, I tried to give as hopeful a response as I could. Nothing yet, but I'll keep you posted.
"Touching in with the Scooby Gang, are you?"
Kol was back at his previous seat now. His eyes on me again, this time with no trace of whatever he'd been thinking back when he was leaning against that wall, and I found I was all too willing to move on rather than address it at that moment anyway.
"For being a thousand years old, you're sure up to date on your pop culture references." I muttered and that led to him giving me a full blown smile that had me pausing for a minute.
Of course, my mind blanked as it had begun to whenever he grinned flat out like that.
"I try."
My eyes drifted back to the text I'd just sent, I wondered if there was any need for us to be here anymore. "Do we have any hope to find Beatrice Miller here?"
"I had higher hopes here than the last place, but not anymore. There's no chance she's here."
The defeated feeling wasn't new as we walked out of the bar. Even debating beforehand if this trip would be the same as the first one didn't make the entire thing any less despairing, I thought to myself.
"Well, that wasn't helpful at all," Kol remarked cheerfully.
"Don't sound so beat up about it." I mumbled as I made my way to the car.
"Wow, you're moody, aren't you?" He grinned and I gave him a dirty look. "Relax, my darling. We'll get her. Both witches. The Original witch and her lackey."
"Don't you…" The question faded on my lips as I shook my head and thought better of it.
"What?"
I turned to look at him, slightly jarred by the way he was looking at me. Genuinely curious, like he actually couldn't wait to hear what I had to say.
"Don't you feel conflicted at all? I mean, she is your mother."
His eyebrows eased in understanding and he didn't make me wait long for an answer. "That's why the betrayal is heavier than most. Not to mention that none of us are very forgiving on betrayal."
He glanced over his shoulder back at the bar for a moment, going on, "I'd say it's been a long time coming. I think most of the others still held out hope, though it escapes me why they would. At least her latest stunt at the ball helped us finally decide."
I could tell there was more there that he wasn't talking about, but I only nodded in thought. "I... I guess I understand that? I mean, I probably wouldn't like my mom the same way if she tried to kill me."
He response consisted of looking down towards his shows and suppressing his smile like I had said something funny. I just watched on, completely and absolutely enthralled with how he looked right then.
How could he be this beautiful and this dangerous?
The two girls hadn't come back the entire time we were inside, I realized. The thought made me withdraw, even backing an inch away subtly as I did.
I wanted to go home now more than ever, but there was still something I didn't know.
"I was meaning to ask you: how'd you even get Esther to declare a truce?"
"The piece of paper was enough. I simply asked her what that was about and she practically scrambled to cover it up. She said she'd lay off as long as we did too. No doubt she didn't want us to find out she's working with a damned Miller witch. She said she wouldn't attack as long as we didn't, hence the temporary truce."
"How did you know she would have something to do with the names?"
"I didn't," he grinned. "It was a stab in the dark and looks like it wasn't wrong."
Wow.
"You said temporary truce," I went on, remembering Bonnie's worry. "You don't think it'll last?"
He didn't look sick of my questions at all, which was good. However, his next answer definitely adjusted the perspective. "My darling, it's not meant to last. As soon as we can get a few things in order, me and my siblings will be putting a swift end to her."
...right.
Sensing that was clearly where my questions ended, he gave me a parting smile.
I nodded in goodbye and started to walk towards where my car was parked.
"They're fine." I heard called out behind me.
What?
I turned back to look at him, only to see him still standing there in front of the bar as he repeated, "Both those girls inside. They're fine."
A weight I didn't know was on my shoulders suddenly felt a little bit lighter.
"I'll be seeing you back in town, Evie," he said, before tipping his head slightly in farewell before making his way across the street.
NOTE1: I'd say things have been pretty calm up till here, but it's not going to last for long!
NOTE2: Most of the chapters have been scenes or snippets, but as the story progresses lot of different character-relationships will be explored soon.
ALSO, I very much appreciate everyone for reading and reviewing the story! Thank you :)