A/N- Yes, it's been a while but since I last updated I've found myself moving across the world, starting a MA and- in less hectic news- taking part in National Novel Writing Month rewriting Alpha Female. However, I'm hoping to have my current stories on finished by the end of 2015 so I can get started on the new ones.
The supernatural society of New Orleans was reeling from last night's shocking news.
Friends, acquaintances and even enemies were ringing each other up or knocking on each other's doors to spread the tale.
Elijah Mikaelson had beaten Katherine Pierce and thrown her out onto the street in nothing but the clothes she was wearing.
And according to an eyewitness, those clothes hadn't been all that much to begin with.
So they were gossiping, some taking delight in the famous seductress' downfall, others looking on with consternation, wondering if they were going to see a return to the old days when the Original family was at war with one another and those caught in the crossfire- whether innocent or no- were almost guaranteed a painful death.
However, for the rest of the world, it was a regular day.
The weak, winter sun was shining, humans were going about their daily business and to many, Raina just looked like a normal babysitter, taking little Erik for a walk in the park.
And she would just happen to strike up a conversation with the three people standing up ahead, each clutching coffees like their lives depended on it.
Probably having all woken up early and not planning on sleeping until they knew the story in its entirety.
Well…as much as they could make sense of anyway.
Beside her, Erik babbled in excitement and ran over to the Caucasian Sheppard puppy that was sitting dutifully at Cary's feet. As a rule, dogs hated werewolves, but this puppy had been bred by a pack mate and had been trained for months now to accept the little boy.
Raina allows herself a small smile at Erik's happiness before turning to the adults.
Cary, Annabelle and Scarlet.
One of these people she trusted, the other two…well, desperate times.
"I don't know what happened," Raina says by way of greeting, "No-one does, we all knew that they were having trouble but we thought it was regular cold-shoulder, changing relationship status on Facebook to complicated trouble, not throw-her-out-into-the-street-practically-naked trouble."
"What the hell is wrong with him?" Annabelle asked, "He's supposed to be the chivalrous Original, not an asshole."
"The chivalrous Original is still an Original," Scarlet glowers, "All monsters under very thin facades."
Annabelle looks to Raina, "Do you know where Petrova is?"
She shrugs, "If I had to guess? A thousand miles away from here and not slowing down any."
Scarlet grimaces as she sips her coffee, "That will turn the power structure of New Orleans on its head. Without the Princess, the King and Prince will be exposed to the shadows."
The three of them looked at her for an instant before moving on. They had grown accustomed to her casually spoken prophecies, which could range from slightly unintelligible to vaguely terrifying. She could tell when they didn't comprehend her and send them a translation via text later, when the image cleared enough in her head to be written down.
Cary crouched down as Erik tugged on his pants and held his arms out for the pack heir,
"Hey buddy." He murmured, running a hand through his hair,
"What about you? How's Uncle Elijah treating you?"
Raina freezes for a second before forcing herself to appear relaxed. She hadn't told Cary about Elijah slapping Erik, so far it had been a one-off incident and if she did tell him, he'd want to take Erik away to safety or reveal himself to Klaus.
And right now, Klaus would probably respond to surprises with decapitation.
"Woof-woof." Erik chortled, bumping Cary on the nose.
"That's me." Cary manages a smile and gives him a quick hug.
"What about Caroline Forbes?" he asked, looking up,
"She packed a bag this morning and moved back to her dorm to focus on her schoolwork," Raina reported dutifully,
"She and Klaus don't seem to be breaking up."
"What should we do?" she asks, turning to Annabelle and Scarlet.
"Because I don't think this is just a blip in the peace but the beginning of a long period of trouble."
Annabelle glanced down, looking somewhat guilty, "I can continue monitoring the situation, keep an eye on Caroline and maybe intercede if she's in any danger, but otherwise…"
"Petrova's about to be falling down the hill and landing where she first began." Scarlet intoned, her eyes going dark as she once again prophesised,
"She will turn to the one who left her unwillingly and walk across the water."
Raina rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned to Cary to see if he understood any better than she did.
He shrugged, "Maybe she's staying in the city after all?"
"She is not staying in this city!"
Giacomo started at the volume of that declaration and glanced quickly over his shoulder, reaching behind him to close the door to his bedroom where Katerina Petrova had finally succumbed to her exhaustion. He'd roused her from the couch shortly before dawn, entreating her to bathe and rest in his bed. She was curled up now under his cotton duvet, her hair splayed across the pillow, her body curled in on itself protectively and the duvet pulled up to her chin. With all her make-up, jewels and couture clothes removed, she looked as young and as innocent as her nineteen human years could render her.
Except of course, for the violently vibrant bruise that painted her face and made Giacomo feel physically ill every time he looked at it and considered the situation under which that injudicious blow had been dealt.
Even though he knew that it would mean his death, he wanted to call out Elijah Mikaelson to a duel, to publicly shame him for his actions and for the wrongs he had committed. Yet he knew that if he were to do so that it would condemn Katerina forever as a harlot in the eyes of New Orleans supernatural society and perhaps even their world at large, people would believe the rumours of her infidelity and no action on her part would disprove their self-righteous judgement.
The only thing he can do for her now was protect her and her daughter,
"Keep your voice down, signorina," he entreats Nadia in a whisper, "We don't wish to wake her yet."
Nadia only snaps her fingers at his words, "We should have left hours ago!" she hisses,
"The sooner we leave the safer we'll be."
Nadia had been pacing restlessly since the moment Giacomo had taken Katerina to his bathroom to wash and then tucked her into bed, frequently glaring at her phone and the rising sun. And Giacomo cannot help but notice that Nadia's movements, her posture and her speech had all altered slightly, become more enticing and yet regal at the same time. He suspects that this moment of trouble has recalled the woman Nadia was during her human years.
"I understand your desire to leave town," he assures her,
"But I have been thinking, if Katerina leaves now, she will never be able to return and perhaps…perhaps last night was an anomaly and even as we speak, Elijah is feeling remorse and seeking her out."
He knows that won't have any calming effect on Katerina's daughter, the thought of Elijah seeking out her mother turns her face to stone and fills her with rage; he knows this and, in the darkest part of himself, he feels a thrill of satisfaction that if Nadia had to choose between the Original vampire and himself in regards to her mother's hand, he- Giacomo- would be the victor.
For once.
"I don't care if he's wandering the streets rending his clothes in grief and flagellating," she snaps,
"He and his entire family of freaks is a threat to my mother and we need to run."
"Did you ever run when you were alive?" he challenges, "No matter how much danger you were in, did you ever try to flee?"
She scowls and is about to respond when Giacomo hears a change in Katerina's breathing patterns, the sound of the bedclothes rustling and her small exhale as she propped herself up on an elbow,
"I can't run." she murmurs groggily, her voice low but both vampires hearing her and Nadia pushes past him to sweep into the bedroom,
"We have to run," she argues, "If we stay…"
"Dŭshterya*," Katerina interrupts gently, "I'm not saying that I don't want to run, every instinct in my body is telling me to get the hell out of town, but what I'm saying is that I can't run. When I first came to New Orleans, Elijah…compelled me,"
Her eyes drop to the duvet in her shame and Giacomo's hand grips the doorknob in mingled horror and outrage,
"Do you remember exactly what he ordered of you?" he asks in a strangled voice and her eyes flicker up to him, her chocolate brown orbs entrapping him,
"Word for word," she sighs, "He said 'You will stay here in New Orleans with me Katerina…you shall serve Klaus and I loyally…you will not leave this city without my spoken permission…you will never run away from me ever again.' Not much room for manoeuvring there." She finishes, shifting to sit up and looking to Nadia apologetically,
"I'm sorry I never told you," she murmurs, "But…I hoped that it wouldn't be an issue."
Nadia huffs and crosses her arms, "Well it is, New Orleans isn't big enough to keep you hidden from an Original, how exactly do you plan to keep out of sight?"
"Easy," Katerina kicked back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed, "I'm not going to."
Giacomo frowned as he watched her tentatively place both feet on the ground, trying to stand before sitting back down hurriedly with a wince,
"Firstly, I'm going to need a nurse to stitch up this wound," she announces, "And then, I'm going to call my favourite beauticians and have them make a house call," she gestures to her face with a rueful grin, "I'm guessing this is going to require a lot of gold and pearl facials to make me presentable and then, I am going out for lunch."
He opens his mouth to argue, or perhaps gently suggests that she perhaps consider the ramifications of her plans but there's a challenging, predatory gleam in her eye and a smirk on her face that has him realise that he is finally meeting Katherine Pierce,
"Elijah is only the latest in a long line of people that have tried to break me and failed," she shrugs her delicate shoulders,
"And now?...I'm going to show New Orleans what happens if you bet against me."
"She's probably already fled the city like a cowardly whore," Rebekah trilled in triumph as she lay sprawled in Ollie's bed, her naked body stretched atop the sheets as he fondled her tenderly,
"Finally, my brother is free from that tramp."
Ollie hums and pinches her nipple, causing her to purr in delight, "How about you?" he asks, as he turns her towards him,
"When will you be free?"
She frowns with a little smirk, "What do you mean? I'm free."
He snorts and quirks an eyebrow, "Free from your brothers? Free to be happy and choose who you wanna date?" he lifts a hand and gestures around him,
"You have to sneak out here just to be with me without harassment or Klaus threatening to tear out my liver."
They were in Ollie's trailer in the Bayou, with the sunlight filtering through the brown curtains, casting a yellow light on their surroundings, on the plastic bench tops and the white door that led to the tiny bathroom with the shower that seemed to double as an oubliette.
"Well you could always move into the city," she argues and he claps a hand on her thigh,
"I already did, after the first time you bumped your knee against the wall," he reveals, "I got a room in a house."
Rebekah sits up in confusion, "Then why the bloody hell are we here and not there?"
"Because the house belongs to Francesca Guerrera," he explains, "She offered me a great deal and I couldn't let it pass by but I was worried that she was using me to get to you or something so I decided to keep bringing you here but…and this is just from an outsider perspective but you don't seem happy living with your brothers."
Out of habit, Rebekah opens her mouth to argue with him when the energy to do so suddenly disappears, leaving in its place, bone deep exhaustion.
Was Rebekah happy living with her brothers?
They had two main houses that they lived in, in New Orleans. The Bourbon St manor and the mansion in the Garden District, the idea being that they would have plenty of room for the three of them plus Caroline and Katherine. Yet, all it seemed like to her was that she would turn up at one property just in time to see the other four had left or found them in the middle of something they hadn't even bothered inviting her to.
And even when she had been involved, she'd found herself being overlooked, even worse, with all the recent drama, Elijah had been cold and distant and Nik had only ever spoken to her about Katherine bloody Pierce or to accuse her of conspiring against them.
Rebekah had lived with her brother long enough to know that suspicion led to a silver dagger.
So no. She wasn't happy, she was far from happy living with her brothers.
She trusted that with Katherine Pierce out of the picture Elijah would soon be his old self again, the big brother, the caring man whose main concern was the welfare of his family and who would keep Nik in place as much as possible.
Still, until that time, it would be nice to be able to play house with her boyfriend, in someplace other than a trailer in the middle of a swamp.
"Now is our chance! We have to drive her out of the city!"
Francesca barely tried to resist the urge to scream as Celeste swept around her office like an energetic buzzard, bouncing off the walls and consistently nattering away when all the woman wanted was an hour or two of peace.
Not that she would be getting it any time soon.
Even with one foot in the human, regular world, Francesca's day had been as chaotic with people wanting to know about the young woman who had been thrown naked onto Bourbon St last night, and the rumours had been growing wilder by the minute.
As it was, the police had come around asking if it was true if a seventeen-year-old girl had been gangbanged in the middle of the busiest street in the city and then murdered and dumped in a gutter.
Idiots.
It was almost embarrassing how easily she was able to fool them, to fool them all.
But it'd be even easier if Celeste stopped acting like an idiot.
"We don't need to drive Katherine from the city," Francesca argued as she decoded an email from one of her suppliers,
"Elijah will probably do that on his own, or if she's smart she'll run to save her life, there's nothing I need you to do at the moment." she glances up quickly to meet Celeste's penetrating gaze and wonders if there's a slight hint of madness in there as well?
"You can go." Francesca prompts when Celeste doesn't move but the witch stomps up to the desk and slams both hands down,
"Never forget Correa, you and I are equals in this venture, we're going to destroy the Original family but only if we're working together!"
Francesca snarls, "I'm aware of that, but do you perhaps need reminding? You're close to overplaying your hand with Elijah and if you move in on him too quickly, people are going to realise that something is wrong with him. You don't recover from the loss of a five hundred year love overnight."
With a growl of frustration, Celeste pushes away before spinning back to her, her hair flying but before she can issue an ultimatum or a threat, they hear the sound of the front door opening and boots coming down the wooden hallway.
The witch only just has time to throw herself into the chair before the desk and pick up Francesca's glass of scotch before Rebekah Mikaelson swans in.
"Hello," she announces cheerily, "So sorry to barge in but we need to have a little chitchat."
It must truly be a gift to be able to sound so airy and dangerous at the same time.
Francesca grins, "Of course, but only if you plan to gossip right after."
Rebekah smirks, "Very well then, let's get to it shall we? Why exactly did you rent a room to my boyfriend?"
Francesca's hairs had been standing on end and her spine had been almost painful with the electricity running from her neck down to her toes, she'd been forced to lock her feet in place lest her knees shake and give her away.
Now she smiles and forces herself to walk casually to her wet bar, pouring Rebekah and herself a drink,
"I did it for you," she lies smoothly, "And for me as well."
She walks across the room and hands the vampiress the glass, "Alliances are everything in this town, anyone who tries standing alone ends up dead on their knees, you and I have got along well so far, so I didn't see why we couldn't work together for our mutual benefit."
Rebekah raises an eyebrow skeptically but takes the drink, "What do you have in mind?"
The complete destruction of your family.
Francesca shrugs, "Honestly? Nothing much for the moment, except a heads up for if…or when the situation in the supernatural world starts going nuclear. My enterprise is less than legal and while that's usually a human concern, violence in your world tends to spill over into mine and disrupt business."
The Original sister sips at her bourbon, "I can do that…anything in particular you wish to know now?"
Francesca tilts her head and feigns naivety for a moment, not realising how out of place the attempted innocence looked in her powersuit,
"I heard Caroline Forbes moved out of Bourbon St last night," she says after a few seconds, deliberately not focusing on the biggest news of the day, "But I assume she and your brother are still madly in love?"
Rebekah snorted, "You think Caroline Forbes loves my brother? She's a social climber, he's as high as she can get."
"Poor Klaus," Celeste intones sympathetically and Francesca glares at her in annoyance, having forgot her presence entirely but thankfully, Rebekah doesn't seem to mind,
"My brothers have never been smart when it comes to love," she sighs before looking around,
"Ollie will be moving in later today and I expect that I'm going to be spending a lot of time here, at least until he and I have something more permanent."
Francesca hadn't been aware that Rebekah Mikaelson's boyfriends had any permanent state beyond death by Klaus Mikaelson's hands but she wisely stays silent until the Original vampire is off her property.
"You're going to have to be more careful about coming around now," she warns Celeste,
"But, if you need something to do, locate Miss Bennett, convince her to contact Caroline Forbes and reveal her pregnancy, lure the blonde out of our town and away from Klaus Mikaelson."
Celeste looks confused, "I thought we were going to use her against Klaus?"
Francesca nods, "Oh we are, but first we're going to break his heart."
*Bulgarian transliteration for Daughter