Ok so I know that this chapter has taken a while but I can't help it. Here goes….
Chapter 13….
Mikaelson Manor…. NOLA 1745
"Ashton, there you are! It seems as if you just up and disappear nowadays." Rebekah called to the young servant as she gracefully descended the stairs from her bedroom. "Miss Rebekah, my apologies, my work keeps me so busy." The boy spoke as he ran to meet the madam of the house. "Yes, I heard my brother had entrusted you to find a teacher for the children, any luck so far?" Rebekah asked. "I have been hunting for the past week, but I think I finally found a suitable match for the position, she should be here tomorrow for an interview." Ashton responded. "Wonderful, I hope she is willing to handle energetic kids!" Rebekah added as she and the servant boy chuckled and parted ways. The Mikaelson sister made her way to the dining room where she found her brothers and the children seated and tucking into their breakfast. "Good morning all." She greeted and took her seat. Josie quickly served her breakfast. "Elijah, I heard the children's teacher will be tomorrow to be interviewed." "Yes, she is quite qualified according to Ashton's report." Elijah spoke. "Children, are you excited to meet your new tutor tomorrow?" Rebekah asked, and all four children nodded with huge grins on their faces. Klaus stood up and called out to his brother. "Come Elijah, we have much work pending, a certain clan from New York wants to engage in business with us." "Is that so…, well we will have to attend to this matter immediately." Elijah answered as he rose from his seat and followed his brother into their joint office.
Rebekah conversed with the children until breakfast was over and the children left to play on their own and Rebekah retreated to her room. Once she was alone she closed her door and flopped down on her bed. She let out a heavy sigh, and tears began to prick her eyes. Although she had her brothers and she got to travel to some of the most beautiful places in the world, Rebekah Mikaelson was still very lonely. Her tears flowed freely now, what kind of life was it, running around all the time, never staying in one place and always being uprooted. Whomever she befriended along the way she would either never see again or they would be scared off by her brothers. Being a vampire didn't help her situation either. Her brothers were always busy and she was always left alone. Rebekah buried her face into her pillow and sobbed heavily until she heard a soft knock on her door. She quickly dried her eyes and checked herself in the mirror before opening the door to sparkling green eyes and a handsome smile.
"Hello Miss Rebekah!" a cheery Stefan greeted. "Hello Stefan…" Rebekah replied rather bluntly, though it didn't seem to affect the little boy. "What do you want Stefan?" Rebekah asked. "Well…the girls are playing on their own and they wouldn't let me join in. I'm always left out…" Stefan replied sadly and Rebekah immediately felt for the boy. She knew exactly what it was like not being included. "Say Stefan, since your sisters and Bonnie don't want to include you in their game, how about we play our own game?" Stefan nodded frantically at the offer and Rebekah took his hand and led him downstairs into the parlour.
Rebekah looked through the cabinet until she found what she was looking for, all while a curious Stefan was watching her from his seat. She finally pulled out a finely polished chess set and set it down on the little table. The four-year old's curiosity gripped him and he lowered himself onto the carpet in front of the table. Stefan sat in awe as Rebekah set up the game they would be playing. "This game is called Chess." Rebekah explained. "There are black and white pieces. Remember Stefan, white always moves first." Rebekah explained all the necessary rules and movement patterns of each piece and finally Stefan was ready for his first practice game. Rebekah was amazed at the boy's early skill. Her brother was right when he said Stefan was a fast learner. The two were thoroughly enjoying their game in the parlour.
Meanwhile in the garden…
"This game is boring." Caroline huffed. "Is there anything else we can play?" "I cannot think of anything at this moment Care." Katherine replied as all three girls lay on the grass of the garden, staring up at the dull clouds, the skies were so overcast they couldn't even see the sun. "I'm thinking we shouldn't have chased Stefan away, now we have nothing to play." Bonnie said with a chuckle and the sisters laughed at her remark. "What do you think Mr Klaus and Mr Elijah are doing?" Katherine asked. "Probably still working, they're always working." Bonnie huffed. "Uh…. Guys…. what do you think is behind that door, you know that one we aren't supposed to go near?" Caroline asked. Katherine shrugged her shoulders, "I haven't the slightest idea." "All I know is that room belongs to Mr Klaus and Gramps said I shouldn't even think of trying to open that door." Bonnie said in a voice that mimicked her grandmother's. "And, I once heard Josie tell Levern that sometimes Mr Klaus goes into that room at night and doesn't come out until the early hours of the morning…". "Wow, the Mikaelsons are weird." Katherine added. "Bonnie! It's time for your lesson!" The girls heard Nana scream from the front porch. "Coming Gramps!" Bonnie shouted back and rose from her place on the lawn. "You two should also come inside, it looks like it's gonna rain." The sisters followed Bonnie inside the mansion and had to leave Bonnie to engage in her special lesson. The sister always wondered why Bonnie had these "special lessons" but Bonnie said that she was just learning about her family history and special family recipes from her Gramps.
Katherine was bored now. She had stumbled across her younger brother and Miss Rebekah playing some long and boring board game, moving the pieces to and fro. She sat in her bedroom, staring at the storm clouds as they rolled in before hearing a sweet sound coming from down the hall. The sound was absolutely enchanting and Katherine got up from the chair she occupied to find the source of this sound. Her search led her outside a dark wood door, without thinking Katherine pushed open the heavy door, only to find Elijah seated at grand piano. The brunette was stunned when she came face to face with the eldest original sibling. It was then that Katherine noticed her surroundings seemed familiar, she was in Elijah's bedroom!
"Uh…Mr Elijah, I did not intend on being so rude and not knocking, I apologise." "That's is quite alright dear, do you need something?" "No…not at all…I just wanted to know where the music was coming from…" Katherine stuttered, the little girl realised she couldn't look Elijah in the eye. Elijah chuckled and addressed her. "Did the sound bother you love?" "NO!... I really liked it…that's why I was searching for where it was?" "Well…" Elijah said as he turned to face the girl, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped in front of his face resting on his lip. "That sound was coming from this." He pointed to the piano. "I was playing this piano you see." "Wow, you play very nicely Mr Elijah." Katherine said with a smile. Elijah smiled back. "Thank you love, would you like to hear more?" Elijah offered and Katherine replied. "Yes please, I would love that."
Elijah pulled out a chair and seated Katherine next to him while he played. The girl couldn't concentrate on the piano or the music at that moment she could only stare at Elijah, she had always thought he was good looking, but now being this close to him and getting a better look at his features Katherine felt her heart pound in her chest. He was so handsome, she couldn't understand why she felt like this but she did.
She almost didn't notice when Elijah finally spoke to her. "What do you think?" Katherine had to snap out of her trance and reply. "It was beautiful. Where did you learn to play?" "I had several teachers over the years." Elijah smiled. "Like who?" Katherine asked. "One of my teachers was Peire Vidal, then there was Sordello, but one of my most talented teachers was a man named Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, whom I had met in Italy a long time ago. Katherine, why don't I show you how to play a simple piece on the piano?" "I would love that." Katherine replied with a smile and soon enough Katherine was learning the art of music. Elijah and his student passed a good few hours in practice and Elijah was thoroughly enjoying himself, being able to introduce a child to music was reward all its own. Katherine was a talented player Elijah could tell that she would make a fine pianist one day. As for now, she was busy learning the keys and was doing a fine job at it.
As night fell the children were ushered to bed after dinner. "Come children, you all have a big day tomorrow. Your teacher will be here and you will be able to meet her." Josie said as she ran the bath water to get all the children bathed and ready for bed. "I wonder what she will be like?" Caroline spoke from the corner of the tub. "What do you think she'll be like Steffy?" Caroline asked her twin who was at the middle of the tub, head resting against the edge, eyes closed. "Stef, Stefan…?" Katherine shook her sleepy brother, who just groaned in response. "He must be tired." Bonnie said with a yawn, sinking further into the warm water. "Come children, you must be in bed early." Josie said as dried and dressed each child in their bed clothes and tucked them in.
Bonnie, Stefan and Katherine had fallen asleep quickly, each of them exhausted from their lessons, but for the lively Caroline sleep was illusive. Caroline lay in the huge four poster bed, next to her snoring twin and stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours. She tried to get to sleep, tossing and turning eventually being scolded by Bonnie for moving around so much. The tiny blonde finally gave up and wiggled out of the covers and down the to the foot of the bed. Once out she opened the bedroom door and started down the hall, it was dark and very late and Caroline began to grow afraid. There were strange sounds coming from outside and Caroline ran when a sound scared her. She ran down the stairs to the first floor and stopped when she reached the forbidden door. Once again, she was drawn to this door with the wolf. Her curiosity got the best of her and she stood on her tippy toes and reached for the handle. Caroline did not expect the door to open, she stood unsure of whether to go in, but eventually she crossed the threshold. She couldn't believe what she was seeing in this mysterious room. Paintings…paintings everywhere…on the walls, on the floor, on the tables and some on stands. A faint light was coming from the corner of the room and Caroline approached it slowly. As she got closer she finally saw the light was coming from a candle stand and someone was behind the huge easel the candle stand had been placed next to.
Caroline drew closer and closer in an attempt to see who was behind the easel. She finally got close enough and peaked around the stand to find Klaus sitting in high chair, smiling back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Mr Klaus! It's you." "Yes, it's me…what are you doing her Caroline?" Klaus asked. The girl grew scared she knew she wasn't supposed to be here. After all this was the forbidden room, the one she wasn't even supposed to tell anyone about. "I couldn't sleep…so I was walking around…and I heard a scary noise so I ran here."
Klaus couldn't help but smile at the girl. She had so much of life, a stark comparison to himself. Klaus picked Caroline up and seated her on his lap. "Mr Klaus, what are doing here? Do you paint in here?" Caroline asked as she stared at the blank canvas ahead. "Yes love, this room is my art studio. I do all kinds of paintings in here." "What are you painting now Mr Klaus?" "Well, honestly love I am lost for ideas, it seems I have painter's block." Caroline chuckled at this, "Why don't you try painting something you like?" "Something I like…hmmmm…that sounds like a good suggestion." Klaus agreed with the girl. "What do you like Mr Klaus?" "I enjoy painting, poetry, horse riding…" "Horse riding! You can ride a horse?" Caroline was amazed by Klaus' revelation. "Yes love, I learned to ride when I was your age." "I got it Mr Klaus! Why don't you paint a horsey?" Caroline suggested. "I have painted horses before love, too many in fact…" Klaus said as he pointed to the wall that was covered in paintings of horses.
Caroline looked at Klaus and they both broke out into laughter. "Well, what can I paint now?" Klaus asked in between laughs. "Why don't you paint a wolfy?" Klaus was surprised by this, why would this innocent child ask him to paint such a ruthless animal. An animal that a can kill without provocation…and he would know…he had hated his werewolf side. It was the reason his father hated him and treated him so cruelly. Klaus learned to love his werewolf side because of the immense power and advantage it gave him. With it he was the world's first and only hybrid. "Why a wolf love? Wolves are dangerous creatures, they are very scary." Caroline just shook her head at this. "No, they aren't, they're very friendly and so cuddly." Caroline chuckled. "How do you know they are so friendly?" Klaus asked jokingly. "Because the one I met was friendly." "You met a wolf?" Klaus asked utter stunned. "Uh ah, when we used to live in the forest, one day I was very hungry and we had nothing to eat. I was sitting by the river when a wolfy came. He gave me some apples. He even let me hug him." Caroline said with a huge grin. "He was very big and fluffy." Klaus couldn't believe what the child was saying to him. "How…how big was this wolf Caroline?" "This big." Caroline showed the measurement with her hands. "And this long…from there to there."
One thing was for sure Klaus knew that wasn't any ordinary wolf Caroline had met. Only werewolves grew to be that big. Maybe the child was exaggerating but Klaus couldn't help thinking it might have been a possibility. "Are you going to paint a wolfy Mr Klaus?" Carline asked, pulling Klaus from his thoughts. "Is that what you want?" Caroline nodded. "You can paint the wolfy on the door…or you can paint this one." Caroline said softly, then she pulled out a wolf pendant from her nightdress pocket. "My pendant!" Klaus thought. "Caroline where did you get this?" "I found it in the ocean, when the ship broke and we landed in the water." Caroline replied with a yawn. "This is the pendant I lost, when the ship "broke" …" "Really, is it yours Mr Klaus?" Klaus nodded slowly. Caroline took Klaus' hand and turned it palm side up placing the pendant into his hand. "There Mr Klaus, you can have it back." Caroline smiled and the let out a long yawn, she climbed further unto Klaus' lap and curled up, placing her head on his chest. "I like your necklace Mr Klausy, it very pretty." Klaus was utterly entranced by this little girl, she really was something else. Klaus watched as Caroline fell asleep, and he picked up his paintbrush. He knew exactly what to paint now.
Finally had time to get a chapter in, so sorry for the long wait, college has been giving me tons of work and exams are approaching as well… (screams in frustration) I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and another one will follow. Any questions or comments follow me on Instagram delena_revengero. Peace and love…xoxo…Delena Revengero.