Chapter Nine

Numb

Molly had fallen asleep at her kitchen table again, her cheek pressed against the page of her Grimoire. She had spent most of the hours since Anya ran away with Connor trying to track her niece. Once she found Anya, she could lock her up until Connor finally died. Then she would be safe, like she promised Laura she would be.

But Anya was proving hard to track down. Who knew the number of precautions the two had taken, so that no one could find them. Laura had taught her children extremely well, and it was starting to become a pain in Molly's ass.

The obnoxious ring of Molly's phone broke her out of her thoughts. With a sigh, she answered it, expecting it to be the cousins she had enlisted to find Anya and Connor.

"Yeah?"

"Molly."

Her blue eyes widened in shock. She hadn't heard that voice in ages, it felt like. "Anya." She let out a sigh of relief. At least she was still alive. "Oh, honey, you don't know how glad-"

"Don't get your hopes up," Anya said darkly. "I didn't call to turn myself in. I called for answers."

Molly frowned. "Answers? For what?"

"About the death of my dad."

She stiffened. Was it possible Anya knew the truth? No, it couldn't be. "He died of a heart attack, Anya. You know that," she said, praying that her voice didn't give anything away.

"He was healthy as a horse, Molly," Anya said, sounding desperate for the truth. "He only ate things that came out of the ground and he exercised every day. Try a different lie."

"Heart problems ran on his side of the family," Molly said. "Now I'm not sure why you're asking, but your dad died of a heart attack. It's very tragic, but-"

"My mom killed him, didn't she?"

Molly exhaled loudly. "Now, why would you think that, Anya?" she asked, knowing that her voice went up an octave. "Your parents were madly in love with each other. Laura would never hurt your father. She'd never try to lose him-"

"Stop lying, Molly!" Anya snapped. "I'm so sick of the lies! For once, just tell me the truth."

Molly paused. She closed her eyes at let out a sigh. She heard Anya let out an impatient breath, and then she spoke again, if anything to keep her niece from hanging up. "There was no other option, Anya," she said in a low voice.

"Tell me what happened, Molly," she demanded.

"You already know, don't you?" Molly accused. "Connor told you."

"I thought he might be lying," Anya admitted.

"He wasn't." Molly sighed again. "Laura killed your father."

Anya went silent for a long time, so long Molly feared she hung up. But she spoke again. "Because he was a vampire?"

"Yes," she said. "Your mom- she couldn't have her husband be a monster. Not with two young children to raise and the entire family breathing down her neck about it. So she did what she had to do."

"Did he kill anybody?" Anya asked, almost hopefully, wanting to know anything that might justify her mother's actions.

"No," Molly admitted. "Not yet. But all vampires murder, Anya. They kill innocent humans in cold blood. He wasn't going to be an exception-"

"She killed my dad," Anya said slowly. "Because she was ashamed her husband was a vampire."

"No, Anya," Molly said quickly. "She killed him because-"

"The Lewis' act like they're so high and mighty," Anya said, her voice cold and hard. "Like they're better than everyone else, especially vampires. But, you know what, Molly? They're worse."

Then the line went dead, and Molly stared at her kitchen table with her jaw dropped slightly.

Getting Anya back just became an even harder task than before.

~LIP~

Anya had driven to a neighboring town forty five minutes away and used a payphone at a gas station with a sleazy old man who worked at the checkout and kept leering at her, all to learn from Molly what she already knew.

The Lewis' hated vampires so much, they'd kill one of their own.

It was five in the afternoon by the time she drove back to Mystic Falls. Anya felt hollow, still a little shocked by everything she had learned that day. She felt as if she was just going through the motions, not really feeling anything. She felt numb.

Her father had been a vampire. A vampire. That was why Connor became so obsessed with them. He wanted that connection with their dad. He wanted to be one too. Anya had left the house before he could tell her the exact details, but she imagined he must've tracked down the vampire that turned their father.

And that same vampire probably turned Connor.

Before Anya realized what she was doing, she was pulling Connor's truck into the parking lot of the Mystic Grill.

She needed a drink. She needed multiple drinks. She needed this numbness to go away. It was the same numbness that had been in her chest since she performed the spell on her blood. It had been slowly getting worse, and the news about her father didn't help at all.

Anya took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer, ignoring the look she got from the bartender. Still, he didn't card her and served her the beer.

She took a deep breath. She knew that Connor was expecting her home at any moment, and probably wanted a glass of her blood. But the thought of going home was very unappetizing to her. She didn't feel like being near any Lewis at that moment.

Who would kill their husband, the love of their life? All because they hated vampires? Who would kill their child? Who would kill their mother? Who would kill family?

Was it a Lewis thing? Or a witch thing in general? Was she doomed to commit acts of parricide like the rest of her family? She didn't want to kill anyone. Anya wasn't a killer.

"Anya, right?"

She looked up to see a familiar person. It was Bonnie, the witch she had met the first day she was in Mystic Falls. She nodded slowly.

"Bonnie," she said.

The witch nodded and sat down next to her. Anya took a sip of her beer and her nose wrinkled at the taste- she thought beer tasted disgusting. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" Anya said, turning back to Bonnie.

Bonnie frowned but nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"If a family member or somebody close to you was a vampire," she said slowly. "Would you kill them?"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow as her frown deepened. "My mother is a vampire," she told Anya without looking at her. "And so is one of my best friends. And I would never kill them."

Anya closed her eyes. Maybe it was just a Lewis thing. Maybe her family did hate vampires enough to kill the ones that were related to them. Maybe it was a curse.

"Why'd you ask?" Bonnie said, causing Anya to look at her again.

"No reason," Anya muttered.

Bonnie raised both of her eyebrows, clearly knowing that Anya was lying. She didn't say anything about it, though. "I was thinking, Anya," she said. "I don't really know any other witches, besides some in my family. Do you want to hang out sometime? So we could talk about…" she trailed off awkwardly.

"Being witches?" Anya half smiled. "Yeah, that'd be fun. I'd like that."

"Bonnie!" a blonde girl around their age appeared then, causing Bonnie's attention to go to her. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, Caroline," Bonnie said, standing up. "I'm right behind you."

Caroline looked at Anya oddly before leaving. Bonnie smiled at her, before slowly following her friend. "I'll see you around, Anya."

"Yeah. Bye, Bonnie," she said, finishing her beer.

Anya felt buzzed, and she welcomed the feeling. It replaced the numbness for a short while. She sat at the bar for ten more minutes, not wanting to go home. She liked being alone at that moment. She wanted no other company except herself.

It didn't last long.

"And why do you seem so familiar?"

Anya looked up, her heart stopping when she saw Rebekah sitting down next to her. Anya wasn't prepared to encounter an original vampire. She was glad it wasn't Kol, though.

"I just have one of those faces," she muttered, going to leave, but Rebekah grabbed her arm in a painfully tight grip.

"Not so fast," she said, smirking slightly. Then her eyes widened when she figured it out. "Oh, I know. You're my brother's new source of entertainment. The one he refuses to tell me why he finds so much amusement in."

Anya exhaled, feeling Rebekah's nails dig into her skin. She wanted to go home now, mostly because home was safer than being in the company of an original.

"Would you tell me why?" Rebekah asked pleasantly, though there was an edge in her voice.

"I wouldn't know," she muttered. "But if you could get Kol to leave me alone, that'd be great."

Rebekah scoffed. "Please, the only one who controls what Kol does is Kol," she said a bit haughtily. Then the blonde looked down to the charm bracelet on Anya's wrist. She frowned the same way Kol did when he realized just what Anya was.

Rebekah let go of Anya as she studied the charm with the Lewis family sigil on it. "Now I know why he's messing with you," Rebekah declared, an amused look on her face. "You're a witch."

Anya shifted. "Took you long enough," she mumbled, causing Rebekah to narrow her eyes.

"A Lewis witch, no less," the original vampire continued. "Oh, Kol had so much fun with your ancestors. My entire family did, really."

She looked up, startled. "What?"

Rebekah smiled cryptically and stood up. "See you later, Anya," she purred, smirking, before leaving Anya to decode her message.

There was definitely history between the Lewis' and the Mikaelsons.

~LIP~

The one thing Kol hated about Mystic Falls was that there was nothing to do. He was bored, all the time. And eventually bugging his siblings lost his interest. He wished he knew where the Little Witch was. Maybe he could seduce her. It would be a challenge, definitely, and challenges were always amusing.

Just then Rebekah walked into the living room, causing Kol to smirk as his little sister paused in front of him. "I met the girl you've been harassing," she told him bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Anya?"

Kol smirked. He had refused to tell Rebekah about Anya, just to drive her crazy. Rebekah hated not knowing things. "Yes," he said. "Isn't she just delicious?"

"A Lewis witch, Kol? Really?"

He frowned at Rebekah. She just had to ruin his fun. "Is there a problem with my taste in women, Rebekah?"

"No problem," she replied. "I just think you're becoming addicted to Lewis Witches, is all."

"It's not fault," Kol said, sitting up. "Lewis witches are just so… stubborn. It's so entertaining, trying to crack them."

"Even so," Rebekah said. "This one is different from your last one. What was her name? Margaret?"

He smirked at the mention of Margaret. She had been so fun. "Isn't she?" he said.

"She's hiding something," Rebekah told him brashly.

"I know," he replied easily. "But, unlike you, Bekah, I like a good mystery. Mysteries prove to be so fun to solve."

With one last smirk at Rebekah, Kol left the room. As soon as he did, he lost his smirk. Anya was keeping something hidden, he knew. He just didn't want Rebekah to know how much it bothered him.

~LIP~

A/N: Kat Khaos, Anon, purpleXorchid, NIGHTANGEL21, Lovely Rain Dancer, SkullKey4758, and mindyrainbowpants for reviewing!

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~Abby :)