Chapter 9:Last month before the transformation
Ever since he became a shape-shifter, Niklaus started his day with a big run all around the village to make sure there were no intruders around. His super good hearing was useful when he hunted or spotted people that weren't supposed to be there but it also made him hear things he would have rather not heard ever… Like his best friend and almost sister Bella and his favourite brother making love, or Sage and Finn making love…
However it was useful when Tatia planned to try and poison Bella.
Indeed, Niklaus had been running around town and in the woods, looking for a special plant his mother needed and that was pretty rare when he spotted Tatia and Ayana bending over a bed of flowers. From the smell of it, those flowers weren't good ones.
"Are you sure they will kill her?" Tatia asked Ayana.
"Yes, just make a cake out of it and bring it to her, saying it's a peace maker. Cooking it will make the poisonning slower and even though it'll be less painful, she won't know she's been poisonned unti it's too late to save her. She'll eat it and be dead but the time the sun rises the next day." Ayana replied before she added "My daughter will wake from her nap soon, I have to go.".
When the witch left, Niklaus raged when he saw that Tatia took a few of the flowers. Picking one with his teeth after she left, he rushed home to warn his mother. He knew Bella was spending the morning with Esther and would warn them both at the same time.
When he arrived, he quickly dressed in the pants he kept in a special hiding spot and ran home.
"Mother, quickly please, what is this!" He asked, booming into the house and bringing everyone's stare to him.
"Niklaus please calm down! You're late for lunch!" She exclailed, not understanding his sudden busrt.
Looking around her realised everyone was here for the family lunch they had planned. He had completely forgotten about it.
"It doesn't matter now, look! I was in the woods, looking for this plant you were talking about last night when I heard Ayana and Tatia talking. Tatia asked Ayana if this flower was the right one and Ayana told her it was and to put it in the peace making cake she was going to bring to Bella this afternoon. She said if Bella ate it she would be dead by morning!" Niklaus almost yelled.
The silence in the house was deafening.
"She wants to kill me?" Bella asked, shocked as she went to sit down on Elijah's lap.
"She's a very proud girl. She probably wants revenge for the humiliation Bella brought to her by confronting her publicly." Sage concluded.
Esther took the flower in her hands and examined it closely.
"Yes… This is a very slow yet powerful poison…" Esther started after examining the flower for a few seconds.
"From what it looked like, Ayana already told Tatia how to prepare it…" Niklaus replied.
"If she told her to put it in a cake, then she probably did. In a simple tea, the poison isn't as powerful but would have been more painful. But if prepared correctly, the cake would hide its flavour and we wouldn't know Bella had been poisonned until she was minutes from death..." Esther explained.
"How is it called Mother?" Rebekah asked.
"The name is very hard to pronounce for it is very old, from a language long forgotten by those who don't speak to the ancestors and hard to pronounce nowadays, but you could translate it to 'the poison of the 67thgirl with tentacles'" Esther explained (AN this was, when I first wrote it, a little wink to my sister's pseudonym).
"The 67th girl with tentacles? What kind of name is that?" Kol asked with an amused chuckle.
"It's a rough translation…" Esther shook her head.
"There were girls with tentacles back then?" Henrik asked.
"No sweetheart… It's just a name. Probably named after the first girl who used it or who was poisoned. It's possible her name simple meant girl with tentacles, 67th was probably the number she had in her family, like the 67th girl after the matriarch or something like that…" Esther explained, sharing people's amusement.
"Or maybe it's 67 tentacles and the tentacles are really jewellery or something…" Rebekah suggested.
"What do we do then?" Bella asked before adding "I don't particularly fancy being poisoned…" She added as Elijah tightened his arms around her waist.
"First of all, I will get an anti-poison ready. Then I will prepare right away a potion to kill the flowers. Niklaus, you will go and spread it right away. We will wait until Bella eats the cake and then Bella, as soon as Tatia leaves, you come to me, you won't feel sick right away but you will act very sick, Elijah, you will carry her and make a spectacle out of it so the whole town see it. I will then heal Bella and tell everyone that she had been poisoned. Bella, you will say the only thing you ate since we saw you was Tatia's cake." Esther decided.
"You want to accuse her publicly?" Mickeal asked, surprised.
His wife had awlays been a peacemaker, for her to want to accuse the girl publicly, she had to be very angry.
"Yes, I do! It's time this rude girl learned some manners. We will demand that she is put in jail for at least a month, this way we'll know were she is at all times and what she's doing." Esther replied.
"You have a jail?" Bella asked, surprised.
"We don't need to use it much… It's just a very small house that's locked from the outside and surrounded by protective magic. It doesn't have any windows either and it's easy to watch for it's at the center of the town." Mickeal explained.
"Who would guard it?" Bella asked.
"Bella's right, Tatia has slept with half the men in town, we can't risk one of them freeing her because he likes her and she managed to convince him she loved him or something of the sort." Sage nodded.
"Then we'll just have to do it ourselves. As the offended family it's our right to do so!" Esther replied.
When this was decided, they ate lunch and went on with their day. Elijah and Bella went back to their house to do some work while Esther got the two potions ready. As soon as the potion to destroy to flowers was done, she gave it to her wolf son who ran to the place were he saw them and he quickly destroyed them. He kept some of the potion and looked around, smelling for other flowers that shared this smell. When he didn't find any, he poured the rest over the already destroyed flowers and went home to see that his mother and Rebekah were done with the anti-poison.
Elijah was helping Bella in the garden when Tatia arrived, carrying a basket.
"Here we go…" He whispered to his wife.
"Isabella… I was wondering if we could talk. I would like to apologize…" Tatia declared shyly, looking truly sorry.
She was a good actress, if she hadn't been warned before, Bella would have fallen for it.
"Sure, why don't you come on inside? I'll make us some tea." Bella answered with a soft smile.
"I'll go finish up in the barn..." Elijah inforled his wife before he kissed Bella on the lips, preparing himself to leave them alone.
The only thought keeping him from killing Tatia on the spot was that his mother had a curse prepared and that they needed her, otherwise… Just the thought that he could possibly lose his sweet Bella made his head spin.
"Why don't you take a seat, I'll go and warm the water for the tea." Bella suggested befpre the Petrova girl sat at the table with a nod and got her cake out.
"I made some cake." Tatia said, showing the still warm food to Bella.
"Great!" Bella replied.
"I'm really sorry you know, I don't know what came over me…" Tatia added hypocritically.
"Don't worry… It's okay, I understand that we aren't always in control of our feelings…" Bella replied sweetly, surprised that she was just as good of an actress as Tatia was.
Tatia stayed over an hour, making small talk with Bella and making sure the girl ate the cake. It was a small one and after Tatia pretended to eat her slice and put it back in the basket, she made Bella eat two big ones and soon, there was nothing left. Bella watched as Tatia left and as soon as she was out of sight, Elijah ran to his wife.
"How are you doing? Did you eat any? Do you feel something?" He asked her.
"I had to eat some… I feel a bit tired but nothing more. Your mother said that I wouldn't feel much of a change until later." She replied.
"Let's keep go and follow my mother's plan." Elijah decided.
He cut his hand a little so Bella could smell his blood and feel bad. They put some water on her face and Bella truly looked sick.
Elijah took her in his arms and went on to run to town. When he arrived, he made a beeline for his mother's magic-hut, making sure to run through a good part of the town before he did and everyone gathered, worried and curious.
"Mother! Mother please help! Mother fast, come here!" Elijah yelled.
He was pretty good at pretending, but he truly was worried for Bella, so the pretending was only little.
"What is it Elijah? Bella! What's going on?" Esther exclaimed as she rushed to them, Rebekah hot on her tail.
Soon, Bella was laid on the ground in front of Esther's hut and the entire Mickealson family was gathered close to Elijah, supporting him while the whole town watched.
"She had been poisoned!" Esther concluded dramatically before she ordered Rebekah to get some vials inside.
"It's a very strong poison… She'll be dead soon if we don't act fast!" She added as Rebekah was back with a bunch of vials.
"How can it be, we didn't eat anything since we left you place after lunch!" Elijah exclaimed.
"Didn't anything else happen after that?" Mickeal asked, playing his part too in this little scene they had prepared but never rehearsed.
"Well, Tatia came over and brought cake to make peace with Bella, but nothing else." Elijah announced, looking up with tears in his eyes at the woman who had poisoned his wife. Everyone was now looking at the girl who stood frozen on her spot.
"What did you do?" Niklaus yelled at Tatia as the town's people started to yell at her from all sides. Bella was really loved.
"Here, she should feel better soon with this…" Esther said suddenly, bringing silence back to the town.
Bella make a big show of waking up, asking what was going on and pretending she was just starting to remember it.
"Tatia insisted I have more cake, I didn't want to hurt her feelings when she came to apologize, I already felt bad for her having to recognize that she had acted the wrong way, I wanted to help her so I took more. I don't remember her eating her slice though, it was just gone all of the sudden…" Bella explained weakly, knowing everyone would hear her through this big silence.
The best part was that Ayana couldn't intervene and say the poison wasn't suppose to act like this because she would only be admitting she helped in the poisoning and be condemning herself.
The town was quick to grab Tatia and accuse her of the poisoning. That's when the Petrova girl lost it in front of her family and village:
"Yes, I did it! Why wouldn't I have? She ruined everything! I was supposed to have both Elijah and Niklaus and now I have absolutly no one! She ruined everything and everyone love her! How is that possible? It's not fair, it wasn't supposed to be like that! And my parents were always telling me I should be more like her! That's not fair!" Tatia screamed, looking delirious.
"I demand that this girl, who has tried to kill my daughter in law and a very important member of my family, be thrown in jail right away! I will not have her wandering the streets, she's too dangerous!" Mickeal ordered, as his place of head of the family gave him right to do.
Everyone agreed and soon Mickeal was dragging a delirious Tatia to the dark and cold jail house. Everyone made sure Bella was fine before they dispersed and went back to their previous activities. Ayana was glaring at Esther from her spot. Esther ignored her and they all walked to the house to celebrate their small victory.
With a little over 3 weeks left for sure with his wife, Elijah spent as much time possible with her. However, Bella had an idea to help him and went to talk with Rebekah and Esther about it.
"I would like this picture of me to resist time… Also I was wondering if you could enchant some clothes to keep my scent over the years so Elijah could always have me with him in some way…" she told them.
"It's so romantic!" Rebekah exclaimed as Esther nodded her head, saying she could do it.
"We will do it, it won't be a problem." Esther agreed.
"What kind of cloth do you wish to bewitch?" Rebekah asked.
"Well, I'm not sure, at first I thought about a dress of mine but then I figured maybe a simple tissue, along with a blanket I just finished… This way he'll always have my scent around him when he falls asleep…" Bella suggested, showing that she was open for suggestions.
"That's a great idea! I'll get on it right away!" Esther nodded before she added: "Bring it over as soon as you can and I'll work on the preservation spell!"
"I think I will keep them around me a few more days so the scent can be stronger." Bella decided, happy that they agreed to help her in trying to make Elijah's next millenia a little easier.
"Good idea…" Esther nodded.
"I… I added some of my hair when I was sewing the materials, I figured my scent would be much stronger this way…" Bella admitted with a small blush.
"That's a very good idea!" Rebekah exclaimed before she added "you could add a letter too, something he could read during his lonely nights so he doesn't feel too lonely…"
"Good idea! I will start on then right away…" Bella nodded before she excused herself and went back home, half running, eager to start.
Over the next few days, Bella worked on her letters to Elijah. She wrote about different things like history, books she liked, historical moments she wished she could have witnessed. She wrote about them, how much she loved him and that she wished she could spend all those years in his arms instead of leaving him alone for over a thousand years. She sorted the letters by years (decades or centuries). Knowing him and how much he loved giving her gifts, she wrote her favourites authors and books. She also wrote what she knew of Katherine, the Salvatore and everyone else. She wrote him that Stefan was the ripper of Monterrey and would fall for Rebekah in the 20's. She asked him to make sure his sister was at Gloria's bar often during that time. Then she also included the Cullen's history, asking him to help Carlisle as much as he could, to do his best so that Rosalie could have a human life, to save Emmett from the bear so that he didn't die.
Writing those letters was hard and often Bella found herself crying on the paper. At the end of the month, she had over 10 scrolls of parchment full to give Esther to protect. Every time she sat down to write, she had the blanket around her and she knew, when she gave it to Esther to bewitch, it had her strong smell well in it and would comfort Elijah during the long lonely night to come.
There was only one week left before the next full moon when Bella brought everything to Esther. She watched as her mother in law enchanted everything and as a protective invisible shield was placed on each item. When it was done, Bella placed everything in the chest they gave to her when she first arrived.
"What are you doing love?" Elijah asked her as she closed the chest and pushed it in the corner of the room.
"It's just a little something for you. Promise me that once I'm gone you will open this chest, I've placed several things for you inside. Things that could help you go through time without me…" she told him, tears in her eyes.
He rushed to take her in his arms, he, too, was crying and very sad about the thought of losing her, even for a limited time.
"I will my love… I will think of you everyday and I'll work hard so you can come back to a man you'll be proud to call your husband." He promised her.
"I already am!" she assured him before she kissed him and pressed herself to him, silently telling him she wanted to make love.
Elijah didn't need to be told, or showed, twice and in no time, they were both naked and making love on top of the chest Bella had just closed.
The next day, Bella realised that she wasn't the only one who realized how little time she had left in this time period. Every member of her new family wanted to spend time with her. She took a walk with Henrik, talked about future fashion with Rebekah and Sage, went horse riding with Niklaus, went to the market with Esther, skinned a bear with Mickeal, talked history with Finn and explained some ball games to Kol. Of course, she spent a lot of her time with Elijah too. They shopped together, worked in the garden or the barn together… They spent very few moments separated and most of them were because she was with the rest of the family.
"What's wrong Nik?" she asked her friend when she spotted him with a sad look on his face.
"I was just wondering if I'll meet the right girl some day…" He confessed.
He had visited a lot of villages around and none had his imprint living in it.
"Trust me, you will, I'm sure of it… You just need to give time to time! You have forever to find her, give it time, be a little patient." she told him softly.
"I'll miss you Bella, I really will…" He replied.
She had had so many teary moments with everyone lately that she wasn't surprised to see him cry.
"Don't worry, I'll be there, I'll come back…" She assured him as she gave him a hug.
Esther had everything ready for the transformation and she even managed to make sure Ayana wouldn't come and screw things up by slipping sleeping potions into her food that night. She had Tatia's blood and some other ingredients that she laced with the vine they would all drink that night. After chanting the words the spirits had dictated to her, Esther took the potion and split it in two. Rebekah was by her side and watched the entire scene. Even if Esther made sure to save half of the potion in a time protected bottle for Bella, it could get stolen or lost, so she needed her daughter to be able to do it on her own.
That night, their last one as humans, they all ate together at Esther and Mickeal's house. The special vine was given to Elijah, Rebekah, Sage, Kol and Finn. Mickeal who was supposed to drink it at first changed his mind a while ago and decided to stay human with his wife and youngest son. Rebekah's vine was slightly different so she could keep her witch powers and everyone was nervous.
After dinner, it was time to kill them and instead of running his sword through them like he thought he would do, Bella managed to convince him that snapping their necks would be a much softer death.
It was very painful for Bella to see them all die one by one in front of her but she knew they would come back soon. Mickeal left the room after snapping the last neck with Niklaus' help and they both went to get Tatia so they could all complete the transition with her blood.
When she entered the room, the Petrova girl looked terrified of what was coming but kept silent. She knew it would be best not to make them madder at her.
The wait was excruciating to Bella and she didn't leave her husband's side. He had been the first one to die and was the first one to wake upa while later.
"Eli! How are you feeling?" Bella asked him as soon as his eyes found hers.
"I feel perfectly fine Love… But you smell much better now… Maybe I should feed before you hug me some more!" he confessed with a chuckle.
"You're right, come this way, Tatia is waiting to feed you." She told him as she led him to the other side of the room.
Mickeal had taken a knife and sliced open her wrist. Elijah jumped on it and drank a few mouthfuls before he pulled back. He had grown fangs and Bella immediately thought he looked really hot. Smelling her arousal, Elijah turned her way and ran in full vampire speed to her, took her in his arms and kissed her hard.
"Hum… Elijah, maybe you could wait until the two of you get home and are alone…" Esther suggested, clearing her throat as Elijah pulled back.
"Right… sorry, I forgot where we were for a moment…" He appologized with a blush as Finn and Sage were now drinking from Tatia and Kol and Rebekah were waking up.
"You smell awful brother!" Kol told Niklaus.
"Yeah, you've got that wet dog smell, I guess it's going to take some getting used to…" Elijah agreed.
When they had all drank, Kol gave some of his blood to Tatia so she could heal and they all tested compulsion on her before they made her forget everything and Niklaus walked her back to the jail. Esther then made sure they all had a spelled ring and Rebekah tried her magic to check if she still had it. She did and it made her happy.
"Well, I think ee're going to retire for the night… We don't know how long Bella will be here for now so… We want to make the most of it." Elijah told everyone as he directed Bella to the door.
"I do!" Rebekah exclaimed before he left, making everyone turn her way.
"What?" Elijah asked her.
"While I was… dead, or in transition… The spirits talked to me and explained that they would give you one week with Bella so she could help you learn control… after that, in exactly one week, the portal will appear, wherever she is, and sand her back to her time… They told me everyone will be sent a message to assemble before hand and will be warned about what went on. On her side, Bella will get a summary of what happened in this new past of hers and will be brought up to date with everything major that could help her understand what happened." Rebekah explained.
Elijah and Bella nodded before they went home. Elijah took Bella in his arms and ran her to their home. He had to stop in front of the door, incapable of walking in without being invited first.
"Please, Elijah, come on in." Bella nodded with a smile before he could mention anything.
The need in her voice and the arousal he could smell explained everything. Chuckling, he came in the house and carried her in the bedroom.
"I don't want to hurt you…" He hesitated.
"You won't… You love me… It's natural to be together… Being together will give you control!" She assured him as he smiled.
He used his new speed and strengths to rip their clothes off and pressed her against the wall in one movement before he entered her. Soon she was begging him to move faster and harder and he was making love to her at vampire speed. Her moan obviously meant she was enjoying it very much.
When she came for the third time that night, they had finally made it to the bed and they snuggled up on it.
"This was… amazing…" She whispered.
"Yes it was…" He agreed as he moved on top of her and changed his face, letting his fangs out.
Bella blushed when she noticed he did it to turn her on.
"So I was right…You are turned on by this…" He smiled as he looked her in the eyes.
She hadn't drunk vervain but she knew she didn't need it, she was immune to compulsion.
"Well, what can I say… You're very good looking…" She replied, letting her hand wonder on his back softly.
When she said that, he entered her again and before they came, she turned her head to the side, giving him access to her throat and her blood.
"Are you sure?" he asked her.
"Yes, I want you to have my blood while I'm still here." She told him.
He used a nail to open his own throat and motioned for her to drink from him while he would drink from her. He was still moving in her and even if that moment was short, he knew he would remember it forever. When they both had their orgasm, he took her in his arms, like he usually did and let her snuggle up to him.
The next morning, they took their time getting ready and went to town to see how everything went for the rest of the family. They soon found out that Sage and Finn were fine with their control as long as they were together. Rebekah was fine too because the spirits were helping her with her control. Kol had gone hunting in the woods with Niklaus early in the morning and when he came back, he was fine. He had decided animal blood would be good enough for him, afraid he wouldn't be able to keep control if he drank human blood. Elijah decided he would drink from Bella as long as she was here, then he would drink for either criminals or animals. Sage and Finn decided that, like Elijah, they would drink from criminals or animals, depending on what was closer.
The rest of the town was aware that Esther had done something to her children so they could defend them from the wolves but didn't know what exactly. However, when they saw that their behaviour hadn't changed, they didn't change theirs. Ayana had tried to bring them on her side and to see the Mickealson's as a bad family but the fact they didn't have to be afraid of the wolves anymore convinced them that Esther and Mickeal's family could be trusted.
Tatia was still in jail. The council had met and decided she would stay there for 3 years. She would kill herself before the first year was over.
Bella's last week went by too fast for everyone's taste and before she knew it she was having her last dinner in the past at her house. She had cooked it, along with several of Elijah's favorite pies so he had something she cooked to eat for the next few days. Everyone was quiet the whole time and when dinner was over, they talked about a lot of different things. She tried to spend more time with Henrik, Esther and Mickeal who would be long dead when she came back to the future. She knew that she wouldn't be seeing the three of them again and it made her sad.
Suddenly, in the middle of the main room where everyone was talking, a portal opened. Bella stood up and turned to her family, she was in tears and so were they.
"I'll see you soon… Please be careful… Take care of each others…" She pleaded with them as the energy of the portal sucked her in.
Elijah managed to hold her a while and kissed her with all he had.
"I'll be faithful to you my Love, I won't forget you, I will always love you. I'll wait for you." He reminded her tearfully as she disappeared from the house and from this time period.
Everyone was silent…
Bella was gone and they wouldn't see her again for over a thousand years. Elijah quietly excused himself and walked to his bedroom, letting his family show themselves out. Everyone understood he needed some time to himself and they gave it to him, though his siblings promised themselves that if he hadn't showed himself in three days, they'd come and see him, force him to have some company.
Elijah walked to the chest Bella had asked him to open after her departure and took the scrolls out. He spent the whole night reading them over and over again with the blanket wrapped around him.
The next millennium was going to be a very long one, a very lonely one, but he knew that it would be worth it to see her smile at him once she came back.
Rewritten May 2020
Lorelei Candice Black