I consider myself the luckiest author on this site. (And I don't really want to know who is statistically the luckiest.)
Fact of the matter? - I have a few readers and they are the better half of most of the fanfiction reviewers! Really, you guys leave me such amazing reviews and they are only multiplying in number. It is a dream for any author.
I loved how very perceptive and imaginative each of your reviews are! Not only do they delight me, but most of you guys guess so much and even if I've not written of it in my following chapters, I go back to those chapters, incorporate and rewrite the chapter! Such lovely ideas. I think at some point I'll probably have to delegate the IP to everyone! Haha!
Okay now onto shoutouts -
TinyDancer563 - Rebekah is awesomely bitchy, ain't she? You're going to get a lot more of her in this Chapter! I can't wait to hear from you.
bettingonalice01 - Thanks for the review. I hope you enjoy the next one.
Snowberryxoxo - Rebekah does make it challenging, doesn't she? I love her the second best after Kol of course. And their interaction? Even if it was a little, I fell in love with them and I picture my brother and I :P
LucyRider17 - Oh yes he is. He is such a demented thing. He might as well stake his claim on her. But No! Adamant little thing. Lets see what he does!
LysaLoo62 - Thanks for the review. I hope you enjoy the next one.
WhatsGoingOn - Kol kidnapping her? I'll think of that soon. Thank you for the idea! Thanks for the review. I hope you enjoy the next one.
ConsistentlyRandom21 - Thank you so much for your review. Honestly, I'm so glad you liked the way the chapter played out. I was kind of a bit nervous of how everyone would perceive the introduction of Damon and the challenge between Kol and Rebekah. Thank you for encouraging me! I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapter! Please do leave a review.
Meisryee - Thank you so so very much for being kind and reviewing each and every chapter. It makes me very happy to hear that we share a liking for the same characters and also that I can write to your liking. It makes me very happy when my readers appreciate and share their views with me. Please keep doing so and trust me I'll try to be as generous as I can and reward you with awesome chapters! I hope to hear from you again!
Ceilja - You know I never really didn't think of Arianna knowing what was in her father's journals. But now that you've mentioned, I'm going to add onto that and try to put that into some chapter. It was a pretty awesome idea. Thank you so much! As for Eleanor - honestly, after the latest episode, I"m beginning to worry for her if she is similar to Carol Lockwood. And true about Damon - don't think he sticks too long apart from being fixated to Elena. But oh well!
DreamsForTheDead - I love your reviews man. And you already know that. Your guessing made me rethink and kind of rewrite the next chapter you know. I haven't even got it done yet. So much for trying to write over the weekend. Guess what - I wrote nothing. And you know what - I'm going to write you a PM very soon because if I write more here - I'm probably going to have to skip this chapter.
CritiqueOfReason - I literally cracked up at "creepy kid"! Uh-oh after you've mentioned that I've literally made Arianna the bait, I'm beginning to get scared for her. I hope she doesn't hate me. Honestly, with the way its going - I won't quite blame her if she hated me. And I'm going to leave you to read the next chapter and wait patiently for the review.
appreciation - You know, your reviews are awesome. They give me so much of perspective. Don't kill me for what I do to Rebekah (temporarily). She'll be around a LOT more trust me. So no love lost there. As for Damon and Kol - there will be a fight, oh yes. Boys will always be boys. Lets see who comes out on top though. That'll be something! Damon and Aria - Oh yes, they will be... well, not friends per se - but I'd like to say Bonnie and Damon like save most of the hate. Anyway - I'll patiently wait for your review for this one and see what you make of everything.
Now everyone,
Happy Reading!
Chapter 7
The December air was rather frosty. The sun had faded into oblivion much sooner than it normally would have, probably nearing the solstice. Arianna scrunched her face. She walked out the doors of the Mystic Falls Hospital, fidgeting with the buttons of her pea-coat.
The parking lot was deserted save a few cars, perpetually fog-laden. She still felt a bit uneasy, had never gotten accustomed to the quiet of a small town. No, she was still very much a city girl. She narrowed her eyes, deciding if it was best to make a run for her vehicle or if it posed her a threat of slipping on the moist ground. She decided against running.
Rebekah watched the brunette from afar, as she swiftly made her way to her car. She couldn't help but scoff at her mismatched attire. She could have educated the girl with some dressing sense. Only, she wasn't going to keep her alive for too long. Rebekah revved her engine and followed her, being as inconspicuous as she could. The memories from the morning were still fresh in her mind. Rebekah hadn't forgotten the accusatory look in her eyes and she wasn't one who appreciated it, no matter who it might have come from. Her orderly blonde hair flew across her face as the cold wind caressed her skin. She however, felt no change in the temperature. She was cold, just as the wind that billowed outside.
Rebekah's inconspicuous act, however, had not missed the eyes of the man who had just left the hospital a little after having to put up with a tirade by Dr. Meredith Fell.
After spending the majority of her day in the hospital, Arianna was in dire need of a distraction. She found herself standing before the Mystic Falls Public Library. Books had always been her oldest and fondest companions.
She searched for a genre that would interest her while browsing through several classics. She had read most of them time and time again, never quite tiring of them. Arianna was an avid reader. After huffing and puffing and going through a number of books, she finally came across one that she was willing to re-read. She tried to pry it out of the ill-stacked lot, careful not to drop another in the process.
However, she was unsuccessful. A black leather bound book fell with a thud to the ground. She turned to pick it up and restack it but was momentarily fascinated with the dilapidated covering though it still managed to look rather grand. She turned it around to see what it was.
'Mystic Falls – Know your city… and its folklore', it read, the words embossed in golden print. Arianna put down the other book she had picked up. She flipped open the tattered book, its pages were stained. It looked a good many years old.
"Can I help you?" a masculine voice shook her out of her reverie. She looked at the man who was looking down at her, a bright attractive smile covering his face. He was tall, he certainly had a good physique, twinkling greenish eyes and he wore his dark-brown hair a bit curly. The slight stubble on his face seemed rather appealing on his angular face.
When Arianna didn't reply and continued staring at him, he arched his eyebrow. She quickly looked away. Staring was rude, and she was taught better, no matter how often her nerve co-ordination might have failed her.
"I'm good." She replied reciprocating his smile and hurriedly got to her feet, forgetting about the books she had left on the floor.
He eyed her a bit charily at first, the smile never leaving his face once. "Let me get that for you." He retrieved the book she had left discarded on the floor.
"Mystic Falls – Know you city and… its folklore." He read the title and looked at her quizzically, always smiling.
"I like knowing the history." She replied nonchalantly.
"Fair enough, to each his own." The man was charming. She was beginning to wonder what had happened to the uninteresting town she had known – a town full of people she would have hardly ever noticed and vice-versa, a town she was confident that had not a single person who could in the slightest come across as attractive or mildly tolerable to her. The men, in particular, of Mystic Falls had definitely had a charmingly witty makeover.
Seeing that Arianna had not replied, he realized she wasn't ready to make conversation. He pushed no further. He handed her the book and giving her one last smile left. Relieved upon his departure, she quickly found herself a cozy well-lit corner to enhance her knowledge on the folklore of Mystic Falls.
Rebekah despised being made to wait, especially when it came to matters of appetite. Being raised in the company of manipulative siblings and even more manipulative parents, coupled with the thousand years she had walked on the planet, she had come to learn that patience was a virtue, well rewarded more often than not.
It was with Kol afterall that she had first learnt to hunt and he had been a good teacher. Niklaus' company might have caused a slight variation, but she remembered Kol's teachings. She watched with the eyes of the trained predator she was, as her prey walked out of the Public Library. She promptly made her way to conceal her presence. She wanted to take her by surprise. It had rather been entertaining to watch poor Elena Gilbert's reaction not many nights ago.
Elijah had been there to protect her though and sour Rebekah's to be fun-filled night. This one however, who would be her protector? She did seem a rather reclusive being.
"Hello love." Seeing the little brunette yelp in surprise, a look of fear in her eyes was already proving to be worth the wait. She could only have imagined how much her brother would love tormenting this one.
Alas! He wasn't to be found in the vicinity.
"Rebekah-"
"Don't." Rebekah cut her off. She felt humiliated knowing the very fact that the mortal before her, who she considered beneath her, just looking at the hideous attire she had draped herself in, had even the audacity to take her name.
Arianna looked at the blonde quizzically. "What are you doing here?" her tenor was dry, irritated even. The book she had chanced upon had left her even more confused than her mother's story before. She had thought of it as nothing, but a myth. It couldn't possibly be. None of those theories had been supported with scientific evidence. What had troubled her was the fact that her mother, being a knowledgeable woman had been one to believe folklore – a myth.
"You really are a curious thing aren't you?" The blonde circled around Arianna. Rebekah inhaled the scent of her; it was exotic, rustic, not the usual blend that could be found in Mystic Falls. "And you know what they say about curiosity?" she continued her little show of dramatics before standing before the brunette, meeting her eye. She was momentarily taken aback by the look of disdain in her eyes. This girl seemed a bit dim-witted to Rebekah. She had no sense of self preservation for here she stood adamantly rooted to the ground glaring at a thousand year old original. One with a combustible temperament no less!
"No?" Rebekah laughed a bit sarcastically at the brunette. "Well, I don't mind educating you – curiosity killed the cat." Arianna was in the least bit interested in the theatrics that were being put up before her. She just wanted to go home.
"Look, just… stop wasting my time and get out of the way." She muttered dryly at Rebekah. When she saw the blonde glare at her, she added to her request, "please."
When Rebekah didn't move, she decided to meander over to her vehicle. Before unlocking the doors however, she did turn over and decide on correcting the egoistical blonde. "Oh Rebekah?" she enjoyed her full attention.
"You never completed that one." Arianna smiled at her sarcastically. "Curiosity killed the cat… but, satisfaction brought it back." Rebekah was fuming.
"How dare you." Her eyes turned into pools of black, black veins resurfaced on her once pale skin and she hurried towards the insolent human. She lurched for her jugular but before she could, a piece of wood was being stuck into her flesh. Her body was stunned by the excruciating pain she experienced in the moment. Her eyes fell on Damon Salvatore.
"Sorry Bex, you can't kill her." He smirked at her before snapping her neck and tossing her limp body on the ground.
Arianna stood absolutely shaken, resolute like a sculpture, unable to process that which had just coursed before her.
"This is the part where you proclaim me your hero." Damon muttered dryly, thoroughly disappointed by the reaction on Arianna's face.
Abruptly, she burst out into a fit of laughter. He couldn't understand the complexity that was her mind. Most of them screamed, some were mute but no one had laughed after witnessing the staking of a vampire and the simultaneous snapping of their neck. He just looked at her thoroughly bewildered.
Arianna fell to the ground, supporting her back against the door of her car, laughing at the absurdity of what had just occurred before her. She had only read about supernaturalism in fiction novels which had left her unimpressed on most occasions. She had believed her mother's tales to be nothing but folklore. The book she had chanced upon, she had condoned it as falsehood. But how was she to justify what she had just seen?
She laughed harder; her eyes were beginning to water. Not more than a few minutes ago she had put her life in danger. Again. And she had witnessed the staking of a vampire. To add a cherry on the cake, she had also only discovered that the demon that existed in her dream, the demon that was Kol, indeed did exist in reality. Her laughter slowly morphed into uncontrolled helpless sobs. Her body had a history of being poorly receptive to shock inducing circumstances.
Damon knew this reaction only too well. He could piece together that Arianna was hysterical. He had never been one who could handle emotions well however. No, that was Stefan's area of expertise, but what was he to do when a young woman was in hysterics sitting before a 'dead' original who would be extremely murderous and thirsty for her blood once she regained conscious.
He did the only thing his ego would have allowed him. Damon gently pulled Arianna onto her feet, "Let's get you home." He soothed her, holding her close to him and maneuvered her over to the passenger side. Arianna clung to him, unsure of her surroundings, unaware of her actions. She was silent, her eyes however were blank. She was shaking, her temperature, cold and skin, pale.
"Do something for me, will you?" he extracted her from him, bending to match her eye level. Her eyes were still fixed on the ground below her. "Arianna…" he cupped her face in his big hands. She felt too tiny and insignificant. "Where are your keys?" he spoke cautiously, hoping she would respond. It took her a moment to process what she was being asked for. She knew nothing about this man save that he meant something to Melanie and that he had just given her a second chance at life.
Her unsteady fingers retrieved the keys to her car from her pockets and she dropped it in his hands. A silent prayer crossed her mind before she stumbled into her car.
'Please let me reach home safe.'
Kol was enraged. After carrying the barely conscious form of his baby sister into the manor, he was enraged beyond words. Even if he might have stayed missing in action only to defy his sister, he hadn't been able to prevent himself from watching his sister. He was adamant. Even in his playfulness, he knew what he wanted, what was his.
He had been a mute spectator to Rebekah's little theatrics, waiting for her to pounce on her prey. It was his master plan however, to ruin her most opportune moment though. The barely conscious body of the blond quarter back was at arms distance from where he watched. He would have made a perfect bait. Only, it had been Damon Salvatore who had replaced him for the part.
He had watched from afar, the manner in which Rebekah's body had fallen to the ground, the elder Salvatore's single handed gallantry, and the hysterics of Arianna Griffiths. He had also watched the way he had held her, the way she clung to him, their intimacy. It only infuriated him further – the sight of another man laying his hands on her. The intimacy they had appeared to share in those minute moments kept replaying in his head, only fueling his madness.
He paced through the silent dark woods; the cold breeze that swept through his hair, on his face was a welcome distraction. Kol had always loved running through these woods. It was liberating. In them, he could be the monster he chose to be without the slightest thought, in them he could reveal his true animalistic self without calculated deception, they were his cob-webs, it was his maze and he, the only mastermind.
His feet suddenly came to an absolute standstill. In the distance he could hear the crackling of woods, smell the scent of burnt logs but there was more. There were humans, there was food. There – was his distraction, just the one that would satiate him.
He walked closer to the source of illumination. He could hear giggling and loud laughter. By the sound of it, the merry party was definitely underage. Kol's smirk grew wider, the inanity of petty mortals never ceased to amuse him. Had they never been read bedtime stories of 'boogeyman'? He chuckled darkly to himself.
Too bad they hadn't. A little forewarning was always been better. He concealed himself behind the bark of the wide fir tree. He closed his eyes and relished in the light breeze that billowed around him. The winds held in them the aroma of the moist earth, the cracking woods, alcohol and blood and something uniquely familiar. His eyes snapped open abruptly. It wasn't the same, he could tell, but similar.
He walked closer, trying to recognize the source. The scent only grew more potent. It wasn't the same; no, but it was very similar with marked differences. It lacked the spice; it lacked the natural scent he knew could only have belonged to one. One and no other.
"Dude, your sisters gonna be so pissed when she finds out man." The lanky blond boy directed the statement at the shady teenager who was sitting in a corner, resting against the bark of a tree.
"Whatever man, not like I fuckin' care." His tone was dry, frustrated.
"Prove it then." A feminine voice this time.
Nate looked at Lynette with questioning eyes. "What?"
"Prove it that you don't give a shit about what your sister says." She eyed him challenging.
"What do you want me to do?" The young teenager shrugged, not really in the mood for picking up a scrap and certainly not with the girl he secretly craved.
She eyed the white piece of jewellery that was barely visible from under the cuffs of his sweatshirt. "She gave that you, didn't she?"
Nate looked at her skeptically. "So?"
"If you really don't care," she began cautiously, knowing she was walking on thin ice, "throw it away." Nate looked at Lynette incredulously. She seemed to be decisive about her demands. He then turned his eyes to Gary. "Dude, seriously?"
"You heard her man." He chuckled, taking a smoke off his bud. "Gotta prove it that big sister had no hold on you."
Nate eyed the bracelet one last time before unbuckling it. It had been a gift to him from Arianna on his fourteenth birthday before she had decided to divorce him from her life and leave him to fend for himself. "Fuck you Arianna…" he muttered agitated, before throwing it in the air.
Lynette rushed to catch it, giggling in excitement. It was something she had had her eyes on for a very long time.
A sinister smirk covered Kol's face. Not only had he chanced upon his dinner, but also his favorite dish, which happened to be best served when cold – revenge.
And then, it hit him all rapidly. Henrick too had the same shade of brown hair. Henrick too was lanky in stature. Henrick too had eyes that expressed more than words. But Henrick had been taken. He could never see Henrick again. The familiar feeling of hedonism seemed to have found its way into his mind. He felt as if he was an appalling elder brother. He hadn't protected Henrick, and now – his little sister. He had failed again. Why was she to be blessed with a sibling she could take less care of than he had of Henrick?
He growled angrily, bringing about him, utter silence. Clearly, the merry party had felt his presence. He enjoyed this power over the mortals.
'Sibling for sibling'. Kol thought to himself in sinful amusement.
Arianna had only just gotten settled, steadily recovering from her tirade when she was met with an ear curling shriek from the backyard. She eyed her mother suspiciously as Eleanor put her medical journal down.
The shrieking didn't stop however.
Panicked, they hurried to inspect the site and the cause of such alarm.
Eleanor gasped in horror at the sight of her son. "Nathaniel." She placed his head in her lap, hoping desperately for her son to awaken, but there was no sign of conscious. Tears pooled in her eyes. Arianna stood horrified at the sight.
"Sterilize my equipment, I'm going to stitch him up." She yelled at one of the caretakers. She checked his pulse, "come on baby, you can't give up on me like that." She muttered it like a constant prayer until she found a waning slow steady beat.
"Help me get him upstairs." The other caretaker assisted Eleanor as they carried the wounded boy into the house.
Arianna noticed a small parchment of paper that fell off Nate's pocket. Too stunned to be of any help, she picked it up. It was damp with moisture, stained with blood but the script was the identical skilful Edwardian script she had seen before.
'Sibling for sibling.' It read.
Need I say how much I'm dying to hear from all of you?
Please leave a review! :)
Also - Do you think this is the end of Kol's revenge?
And where would you like this story to lead?
Perception perceptions!
