AN: Thanks for the reviews, new follows and favourites, also to 'My Death.' :)
Chapter 38: Merry Christmas, War Is On
(Thursday the 24th of December 2009)
It was just past six in the morning. Damon and Finn were sharing a joint and a bottle of expensive whiskey in the kitchen. The house was still quiet. Almost everybody else were asleep in the parlour totally devoid of any Christmas nightmares, whereas Damon had been tossing and turning all night, dreaming about being strangled with red ribbons by a demonic Santa Klaus.
"You know, this is starting to grow on me." Finn blew out a cloud of white smoke, no longer coughing and choking as if it was killing him.
"Good, "Damon poured himself another glass of whiskey. "Because I have a feeling we'll be doing this all day."
Not even the members of the household that were filled with the holiday spirit, were able to agree on exactly how the celebrations should go down. Whether it was a family occasion or an opportunity to drink until you passed either out or on. (Damon was all for the latter). And whether there should be served rice pudding or soulless animal carcasses, as Darwin put it.
Should there be church? Should there be carolling? Should there be bloody sacrifices? Finn's claim that it wouldn't be winter solstice without the ritual slaughter of a pig and then spraying everybody with its blood was quickly voted down. And Stefan and Kol's fight over whether or not the Christmas bath included jumping naked in the forrest lake ended with two broken necks by courtesy of Damon and everybody else rejoiced.
In the evening, Darwin insisted that they all slept on the floor in the parlour, leaving the beds for the dead, who apparently would be hanging around that one night of the year to participate in the celebrations. Only Jenna and Alaric had been allowed to sleep in their own room.
And now Rick came stumbling into the kitchen, rubbing his face irritably.
Damon gave him a nod. "Good morning, Rick. You are up early."
"Well, Jenna is in a mood." He sat down at the table, crossing his arms over his chest.
Damon raised an eyebrow. "Angry and snappy?"
Rick sighed. "No, the other mood."
"Oh." Finn nodded. Then he seemed to realize something and frowned. "And you are saying no why?"
"Because she's pregnant, "Alaric said, as if that was obvious.
Damon threw up his hands in exasperation. "What the Hell is the matter with you?!"
"Hey!" Rick gave him an angry glare. "I don't want to traumatize the kids before they are even born!"
"I doubt they are capable of conscious thought, yet, "Damon remarked drily. "And even if they are, they will understand once they are grown."
"Yes, or they'll be telling it to a psychiatrist, "Alaric mused. "One that I will be paying for, by the way."
"Whatever, "Finn handed him the joint. "Time to wake up the rest."
"It's not even seven yet, "Damon pointed out. "I could do with some more quiet."
But Finn had already made his way into the parlour, yelling at the top of his lungs: "Up and hop, Landlubbers! It's Christmas!"
(Break)
Hanna had no idea how long she had been trapped by the vervain soaked ropes. She didn't even know, if it was day or night. She had her back to a brick wall, the floor was cobblestone and far away she could hear water dripping slowly.
Now and then, Klaus would show up and tighten the ropes. Sometimes, he would mock her, other times he would pat her head and call her 'sweetheart.' But worst of all were the times, when he said absolutely nothing.
She had been fighting it all for days, maybe weeks, but now her power was spent. Her head was hanging as she drifted in and out of conciousness, the dripping of water following her into her bittersweet dreams of freedom. Of old lovers; a human Elijah wrapping an arm around her shoulders and gazing just a little longer into her eyes than what would be considered appropriate. Then her father teaching her how to wield a sword, replaced by a three-year-old Thorstar finally opening his dark eyes after surviving yet another illness. And under it all was that damned dripping sound, a constant reminder that she was only dreaming.
"You do not look good, sweetheart." She wanted to snarl at the sound of his voice, but did not have the energy. A dark shadow entered her sight as he kneeled down in front of her. Something was held up to her lips. "Here. Drink."
The smell of blood was strong, nearly causing her to lose her mind. The thick liquid filled her mouth and she swallowed, feeling a wave of relief sweep over her. She swallowed twice more and then the bottle was removed. She fought against the bonds, desperately trying to free herself.
"Calm down, "he stroked her hair and instantly she cringed. "That's all your getting. Just enough to keep from desiccating, but not enough for you to be able to break the ropes."
She finally had the strength to gasp out: "Screw you, Klaus."
"And merry Christmas to you, too."
Oh, for a second she could feel it! Snow under her feet, the roaring fire, and the smell of fresh bread and roast pork. Dozens of voices talking and laughing, friends and family long gone. And by rights, so should she be.
"Your blood is almost as old as mine. You will make a formidable sacrifice."
"If you think I'm afraid of dying, you can think again, "she spat out. "It puts no burden on my heart. I've been ready to leave this world for a long time."
He leaned in, whispering in her ear: "It is not your heart, I mean to burden, my sweet."
(Break)
A featherlight fog crept over the forrest lake in the middle of the woods like reaching fingers of smoke. Tall trees were surrounded it on all sides, their leafless tops allowing the pale sun to send it's feeble light over the scene playing out beneath.
"Come on, Jeremy!" Darwin submerged for a minute, coming back up shaking waterdroplets out of his short hair.
Jeremy stood in water to his knees dressed in nothing but swimtrunks like the others, his legs blue and shaking. "You are all insane!"
Finn laughed, easily holding a wildly thrashing Kol under water with one hand. "You were the one, who wanted to come along."
Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought you were kidding!"
Finn pulled Kol's head up for a second. "I'm sorry, were you saying something, Kolster?"
Kol coughed up water, sputtering: "Finn, you jackass!"
Finn shrugged, shoving Kol under the water again. "I guess not!"
Darwin jumped up on Finn's back, latching on like a leech, but Finn swung around, sending him flying several yards through the air and landing close enough to Jeremy to shower the boy in ice-cold water.
Jeremy jumped back: "That was not cool, dude!"
"Come on, Jeremy!" Darwin got to his feet. "It's not too bad. Back in Scandinavia when I was human, we had to make a hole through the ice first."
"Hey! I'm the only one feeling cold here, "he got out through his chattering teeth.
Finn send him a brilliant smile. "We've payed our dues to Father winter, Jeremy. Now it's your turn."
"Come on, Shield Youngling, "Darwin coaxed again. "You do want to be a Viking, right?"
"Yes, I do." Jeremy took a deep breath, then waded through the water until it reached halfway up to his chest. He turned around giving Darwin a pleading look. "Is this enough?"
Darwin shook his head: "No, you have to ..."
And then Finn was there, grabbing Jeremy's hair and shoving him under. Jeremy came back up like a spring, gasping for breath.
"And from this day henceforth, let this man be known as Beiner Gautrson, "Finn stated gravely, before making his way out of the water. "... And now some hard liquor."
(Break)
As the evening carried on the Viking traditions seemed to defeat the Christian as everybody ended up in various states of dead drunk. All except Alaric and Jenna; Alaric because he felt someone needed to keep a level head and Jenna of course because of the two new lives growing inside her.
Right before midnight, Jenna joined Alaric in the kitchen, giving him a reassuring smile. "Elena and Jeremy ... Oh, I'm sorry, Elena and Beiner have gone to bed. There are just vampires left now."
"Oh good." Alaric was feeling strangely moody and the techno version of 'Jingle Bells' blasting through the house didn't help. He kept tapping his fingers nervously on the table.
Finally, Jenna grabbed his hand, putting a stop to it. "What is bothering you, Rick?"
He sighed. "I feel like I'm in a vacuum, if that makes any sense. The world moves on around us and here we are; in a place where nothing ever happens."
She squeezed his fingers. "We can all use a break from the real world, Alaric. God knows that this may be our last chance before everything comes crashing down on us."
Alaric pressed her hand against his cheek, closing his eyes. "Then let this moment last forever."
The mood was much less dire in the parlour. Kol, Damon, and Finn were playing a game of Quaters, each hitting the glass every single time. Damon was too drunk even to begin with to realize that the Originals had ganged up on him. The game unraveled as his forehead hit the table and he slipped to the floor, snoring a bit.
Elijah tried to order a pizza for Darwin over his phone, only to realize after several minutes that he was in fact talking to his lawyer. He ended the conversation with an annoyed look on his face. "Considering what I pay him, a pizza is really not much to ask."
"Can I borrow your phone?" Darwin held out his hand. "I want to call my mother and I don't have her number."
"Sure." Elijah handed it over and lay back on the couch.
Darwin had a look of concentration on his face as the phone rang. Then finally there was an answer.
"Yes?" He paused, then looked at his father in alarm. "Niklaus?"
"Give me." Elijah sat up, ripped the phone from his hand and yelled: "You got the wrong number!"
"Keep it down, brother, "Klaus demanded, irritably. "I didn't call him, he called me."
"Oh." Elijah frowned. "No wait, he called Hanna."
"Yes, "he could actually hear that Klaus had his usual smirk on his face. "And she is having one Hell of a Christmas. The keyword of that sentence being 'Hell', by the way."
Elijah's frown deepened as he tried to think, but quickly gave up. "You know what, Niklaus; I am too drunk to deal with this right now. And as I probably won't remember any of it tomorrow, could you call me back and remind me?"
The phone went dead and Elijah shrugged, throwing it aside. "Apparently not."