Chapter Twenty Six

'I've never flown anywhere before.' I admitted as Nik pulled me towards the private jet waiting for us on the tarmac.

'You'll be fine, love. Once we're in the air you won't be able to tell that we're flying.' Klaus assured me, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the side of my hand comfortingly.

'Promise?' I asked, trying to quell the nerves in my stomach.

I gasped when he suddenly pulled us to a stop, yanking me so that my body aligned with his as he rested his forehead against mine, 'I promise, love,' he murmured, placing a soft, comforting kiss to my lips.

'Come on you two, keep moving,' Bekah shouted gesturing for us to walk forward.

'I'm moving, I'm moving,' I muttered, dragging Nik with me.

We all got seated onto the plane, me on Nik's lap, which I was sure, wasn't technically allowed but neither of us cared. I was nervous and Nik's presence calmed me a lot more if he was touching me and if I was surrounded my his scent. I had woken up this morning for everyone to mention the idea of moving to New Orleans. Honestly, I hadn't been surprised; I figured that once any and all threats had been illuminated they would want to get as far away from Mystic Falls as possible, mainly to avoid the Salvatore brothers trying to find another way to kill them all. I swear they needed to get a hobby. I hadn't put up any disagreement to packing up and going to New Orleans; I could tell how much the Original family loved the city and honestly I've never really been anywhere and with Jeremy and Jenna still happy in Denver there wasn't anything keeping us in Mystic Falls. Once I'd agreed Elena and I went back to the house and packed whatever we might need before we went back to the Mikaelson mansion to already find the cars being loaded; they didn't waste any time that was for sure.

'How long until we get there?' Elena asked from the seat across from Nik and me; she was also on Kol's lap.

'Just under four hours. Much quicker to fly than drive.' Elijah answered, not looking up from the book he had bought with him. It was it was a hardback brown book; but there was no title or anything on the front to indicate what kind of book it actually was.

'I would have preferred to drive,' I commented, fighting the urge to nuzzle into Nik's neck; if I did that then I'd fall asleep and miss the plan of action. The main reason the Original family wanted to go back to New Orleans was because they had heard a rumour that someone they thought was dead was in fact running the city: Marcel Gerard. He had spent a few centuries with the family until Mikael had found them and ran them out of New Orleans, but not before burning Marcel to death, or so they had thought.

'You complain over a car journey that is more than two hours, love,' Nik chuckled as he placed a kiss to my hair.

'That's because you kept forgetting to feed me.' I muttered, narrowing my eyes in mock annoyance.

'I don't know how he did that; you're lethal when you're hungry,' Elena said, shuddering in mock fear, making me roll my eyes at her antics.

'Well not lethal enough apparently.' I said, my voice sarcastic.

Nik, Kol and Elena laughed while I just groaned in annoyance, 'you're all so mean to me,' I murmured, dramatically throwing my arm over my eyes when they all continued to snicker.

'Do you think it's true?' Bekah asked from the left of us; she was sat on the sofa that was placed along the opposite side of the plane, she sounded sad and I sent a comforting wave to her in reflex.

'I don't know.' Nik answered her; his voice had a sad edge to it, though it wasn't as strong as Bekah's and I wondered if that had something to do with the fact that he was holding me.

'What if it is?' I asked, looking to Elijah, Nik, Bekah and Kol, 'what are we going to do if it's the same Marcel Gerard you guys remember?'

'We're going to take our city back.' Nik said, his voice firm, 'if Marcel is alive then he has had almost a century to find us.'

'In all fairness, Nik, that works both ways,' I muttered, noting the anger in his eyes when he met my gaze, 'I'm just saying I'm betting your lack of trying to find him is going to be his defence as well.'

'I don't care. That was our city, we built it from the ground and I will take it back,' Nik said, his voice was firm and the anger was evident in his tone, yet I could feel the betrayal and how much the city meant to him; Elijah had told me a little bit about it earlier. New Orleans was the first place in nine hundred years where the Original family, except for Finn, were able to feel some semblance of home; Mikael didn't find them for a long time and they started to grow fond of the beautiful city that they built. So that was why I wasn't going to fight Nik or anyone on this; New Orleans was the first place they called home and they deserved to have that back, though I had a feeling Marcel wasn't going to be generous and just step down from the throne.

'We will take it back.' I corrected him, caressing the side of his face and running my thumb back and forth comfortingly. He closed his eyes for a moment, discretely leaning into my touch. When he opened his eyes again the anger was gone, replaced with complete calm; I could feel how grateful he was that I was taking his side on this, and he placed a kiss to my forehead in silent thanks.

'What are you going to tell him about Kim? If he's known your family for so long he's going to know that you don't have anyone else and he'll want to know how Kim has the power of an Original,' Elena said, her eyes concerned as she looked over to me.

'That is a good question,' I said pointing to Elena in acknowledgement of her inquiry.

'I've been wondering about that myself. I think it would be to our advantage to keep her other powers a secret for now, as well as the fact that she is Niklaus' mate; we don't want that being used against either of you.' Finn said, his fingers entwining in front of his face.

'Okay but how do we explain the Original power she has as well as the werewolf power? She won't be able to hide that.' Bekah commented.

'I actually have an idea for that,' Elijah said, closing his book after he folds the page, placing it gently on his lap.

'Do tell,' I murmur, one of my hands absentmindedly playing with Nik's curls as I turned to Elijah waiting for his answer, 'why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like it?'

Elijah smirked, 'because you have very good instincts.'

'Wonderful.' I muttered, resting my head on Nik's shoulder; he placed a kiss to my temple, calming my nerves.

'How about we say you two are twins?' Elijah said, looking to us to gauge our reaction.

Nik and I share a horrified look while everyone, except for Elijah, bursts out laughing.

'Twins?' I repeat, hoping I had heard him wrong.

'Yes, it isn't that far a leap; your hair colour is similar as are your eyes; that would explain the werewolf jean you both possess as well as the fact that you have the power of an Original.' Elijah said after everyone had quietened down.

'I don't like it,' Nik muttered but I noticed the lack of conviction in his tone and the others did too.

'Neither do I,' I said, nodding to sound more threatening.

'Well if you have any other ideas, be my guest,' Elijah said, gesturing for us to talk while his eyes twinkled with amusement.

Nik and I shared a look as we communicated through our thoughts.

Tell me you have a genius plan, Nik. My eyes were pleading.

I wish I did, love, believe me. If we're pretending to be family then it means… His eyes hardened as his thought trailed off.

That we're going to have to keep our hands to ourselves in public. I felt my own eyes harden in realisation before I continued; we're going to have to do this aren't we?

I'm afraid so, love. He rested his forehead against mine as we both sighed in defeat simultaneously.

'Fine.' I muttered, before I placed a soft kiss to Nik's jaw and turned to face everyone else, 'what's the rest of the story?'

'Mikael had a witch put you into a deep sleep and cloaked your location. He detested the both of you because you were both children derived from an affair and to punish you and Niklaus he kept you apart. The cloak was broken when Mikael died and we found you, for the past few weeks we have been helping you adjust to the twenty first century.' Elijah said, his voice so calm and matter of fact I almost believed him myself.

'Who's older?' I asked.

'Niklaus by a few minutes, we don't know the time for certain as it wasn't very well measured a thousand years ago.' Elijah answered without hesitation.

'Why did my werewolf gene get activated when Nik was the only one to do the ritual?' I inquired.

'Your twin bond ensures that you share the same blood, therefore when Niklaus broke the curse it ensured that the curse broke for you as well.' Elijah responded, without reluctance, making me think he had already thought about these questions himself.

'Okay. I don't have anymore questions.' I said, resting my head in the crook of Nik's neck, inhaling.

'Good, it's settled then,' Elijah said before he continued, seeming to remember something else, 'keep your marks covered, we don't know his extent of knowledge; he could recognise them for what they are.'

Klaus and I both frowned at this; I didn't like the idea of keeping my mark covered, it felt wrong, the whole point of a mark is to make sure others know that you are taken, claimed by another. Covering it seemed to imply that we weren't and I didn't like it; and the reluctance I felt coming from Klaus made me believe he felt the same way, though we both knew that it was necessary so we didn't put up too much of a fight.

'It's going to be interesting to see how long you two can keep your hands off each other,' Kol chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender when Nik and I turned to glare at him, both of our eyes flashing amber.

The rest of the flight passed pretty quickly, for me at least; I ended up falling asleep on Nik's lap for the remaining two hours after we had the details confirmed. When we landed a car met us on the runway to take us to the house we would be living in for the time being; it was huge, the house and the land that surrounded it. Nik mentioned that it was the plantation where they had first met Marcel; Nik had saved him from a man who used him as a slave and beat him for sport. According to Elijah, Nik saving Marcel had been an act of kindness he hadn't seen Nik exhibit in centuries and it had given him hope that his humanity still resided inside him; Nik had taken him in and raised him as if he was his own son. When he told me this I noticed that Nik's betrayal towards Marcel seemed to grow and flourish; that was why he was so determined to get his kingdom back because he felt as if his own son had deceived him for the throne.

Once Nik had compelled a few workmen to unload our luggage, we all decided to go and meet the infamous Marcellus. Personally, I was nervous; I even had to speak in a British accent, something that made me feel like a fraud, but I was assured that it sounded genuine. I blamed my obsession with Sherlock Holmes; I knew every line to every episode and I often said the lines with the actors, accent and all. I linked my arm through Nik's as we walked down the bustling streets of the city, so far I loved what I saw; the city seemed to be alight with life and energy. I had never seen anything like it before; it was incredible.

You like it here, love? Nik asked.

I do, it's beautiful, I answered honestly, grinning brightly at him, and he smiled back.

I had a feeling you would. Nik smiled, his eyes soft as he regarded me.

I went to kiss his jaw but I was kept in place by a hand on my shoulder, I looked over and saw that the hand belonged to Elijah. Nik growled under his breath in warning but Elijah ignored him as he gave me a look and I sighed, remembering that any touching that surpassed familial was off limits in public. I nodded to show my understanding before I turned back to Nik.

I'm gonna have to keep my distance from you while we're in public, Nik, or I'll slip up, I know I will.

Alright love. Nik answered, I could feel and see his reluctance as I unlinked my arm from his, squeezing his hand once to amplify the comfort I was sending towards him before I walked over to Bekah and linked my arm through hers, biting back a sigh as the pull in my heart made itself known, urging me to go back to him. I knew he was feeling the same way and that made me worse.

'Cheer up, sis.' Bekah said, her voice cheerful as she patted my hand.

I smiled genuinely when I sensed how honestly happy she was; her and the rest of the Original family seemed to brighten up when we returned here; even Finn who wasn't actually alive at the time and Nik, though his happiness was slightly hindered as we separated from each other. This had been a home for them once and I could feel their hope that it could be like that once again. I kissed Bekah on the cheek as we continued walking down the street; I moved to zip up my jacket, feeling a little cold. I asked about that; apparently the werewolf side of me assured that I still felt temperature and craved heat whilst ensuring that I still had a detectable heartbeat. My jacket wasn't very thick; I was wearing black high waisted skinny jeans, a pink lacy crop top, my black leather jacket and black ankle boots. My hair, as always, was down, my lose dark blonde curls falling down my back and around my shoulders. Bekah had tried to convince me to wear make up but I refused, not seeing the point of enduring the torture just to go into the city and confront Marcel, though I did allow her to use make up to cover up the mark in the crook of my neck. Nik and Elijah walked in front, leading the way, while Bekah and I walked behind them, Kol and Elena behind us and Finn at the very back. We came to a stop outside of a bar called Rousseau's for a moment before Nik walked forward and opened the door, entering the establishment without further hesitation.

'How do you know he's here?' Kol asked as him, Nik, Elijah and Bekah all scanned the bar for who they were looking for.

'I got word from a group of vampires I heard talking on the way into the city,' Nik answered, his tone impatient.

'Well, while you lot look for him, I'm going to get a drink,' I said, being sure to use my British accent as I took Finn and Elena by the hand and dragged them with me; it was only fair seeing as we had no idea what Marcel even looked like. I took one of the empty stools and took my jacket off, hanging it off the back of my chair. I held up my hand for the barman and was surprised when he stepped in front of me immediately.

'What can I get for you, sweetie?' He asked, his voice overly sweet as he smiled at me in a way that reminded me of a shark, I hid my discomfort as I answered him.

'I'll take three whiskey's please.' I replied.

'Coming right up, on the house,' he winked at me before he turned around to fill the glasses. I looked over to Finn and Elena who were sat on stools to my left giving them a baffled look; Elena was trying her best to hold in her laughter while Finn looked absolutely livid. I placed my hand on his arm, amplifying the comfort I was sending to him as I gave him a reassuring squeeze before I pulled away; we shared a soft smile before the barman placing the drinks in front of me broke it.

'There you go, honey.' He winked again as he leaned against the bar in front of me, showing no signs of moving.

'Go away,' I compelled; he was freaking me out and I just wanted him to leave me alone before either Finn or I killed him; Elena was more amused than anything else.

'We should toast,' Elena suggested as she picked up her glass.

'To finding a home in New Orleans,' I said, lifting my glass, they both clinked theirs against mine as they repeated my words. Elena and Finn merely sipped their drink but I drank mine in one go, leaning over the bar to steal an open bottle of whiskey after I made sure that the barman was occupied with another customer.

'You're not as innocent as you look are you?' A male voice asked from behind me and I turned to see an African-American man standing behind me, his brown eyes glistening with amusement as he grinned at me.

'Innocent is not something I would never claim to be,' I answered before I turned around, filling up my glass and ignoring whoever it was, hoping he would go away.

'Hmm… my kind of girl,' he countered as he slipped into the empty stool to my right.

'I'm not interested in being anyone's girl, thank you very much,' I said, not even bothering to look in his direction as I slammed back my drink and refilled the glass again.

'And you can handle your whiskey, impressive,' I could feel his determination as well as his attraction to me which made me shudder inwardly.

'Obviously, I'm not making myself clear,' I said, downing my drink and slamming the empty glass to the bar as I turned to the man sitting beside me, 'I'm not interested, the quicker you register that in your thick skull the less pain you will have to endure.'

'Fiery little thing, aren't you?' He grinned, not threatened in the slightest.

I felt a sickly, deadly smile take over my face, which he obviously didn't recognize as a threat as he moved to put his hand on my arm. I looked down at it and sighed, shaking my head as if I was disappointed, 'well, you can't say I didn't warn you.'

In a flash I had his arm twisted at an awkward angle as I held it behind his back and pinned him to the bar; I could feel his pain but he was determined to keep it from registering on his face.

'You're stronger than you look.' He commented.

'You know, I get that a lot,' I muttered as I twisted his arm tighter, 'apparently that means that I cannot enjoy a nice drink with my family without being hit on by men who cannot take no for an answer.'

'Alright, calm down.' He said, holding his other arm up in a defensive gesture, but I was pretty sure he was calling off the other men who had gathered around poised to attack.

'Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't kill you right now.' I said, twisting his arm even more, managing to draw out a cry of pain from in between his lips.

'Because-' he went to answer with what I was sure was a smart-ass comment but before he could finish, Nik cut him off.

'Come on, sister. I leave you alone for five minutes and you're already threatening death,' Nik smirked, amusement glittering in his eyes though I could feel his anger and I wondered how much of the encounter he had witnessed, 'though as it goes, you've actually found the man we're looking for.'

'This is Marcel?' I asked, disbelief in my tone as I looked over to the man again, refusing to loosen my grip on him, he looked confused as to who I was but I saw the recognition on his face as he heard Nik's voice. With a sigh I pulled him back from the bar and pushed him away from me, 'well if you could keep your friend on a tighter leash that would be wonderful,' I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest as I met Marcel's death glare with one of my own.

'It's good to see you, Marcellus.' Klaus said, a fake smile on his face that would have fooled me if I couldn't feel the anger that was bubbling within him. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, Bekah and Elijah flanking him either side while Kol stood next to Elena's chair.

'If I'd known you were coming to town…' Marcel's voice trailed off as he eyed up the Original siblings that he recognized, before his eyes flickered between me, Finn and Elena as if he was trying to work out who we were, 'I would have thrown you a damn parade!' He laughed, clapping Klaus on the back.

I snorted at his blatant lie but otherwise remained silent as I leaned back, resting my elbows on the bar and crossing my ankles. I could feel Elena's nerves and I sent a comforting wave towards her, but I didn't look in her direction not wanting to divert Marcel's attention to her.

'Well I already know most of your family,' Marcel started, nodding to Elijah, Bekah and Kol in greeting, his eyes flickering over to the tree of us at the bar again before he looked back to Nik, 'but who are your other companions?'

Nik didn't say anything for a long moment as he smirked at Marcel, I could feel the tension crackling in the air and it was making me nervous as to what was going to happen.

'We like to remain nameless, it's part of our charm,' I said, breaking the tension as I forced my voice to be bright, 'more mysterious that way.'

Marcel, Nik and Kol laughed, while Elijah and Finn's lips merely twitched in amusement, while both Elena and Bekah were too on edge to react.

'This is Elena, Kol's girl,' Nik said, finally getting to the introductions as he nodded in Elena's direction, she offered up a wave but otherwise didn't react.

'Never thought I'd see the day when the deadliest of the Mikaelson's settled down,' Marcel chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief before he continued, 'good for you man, she seems lovely.'

I could feel Kol's anger and I sent a comforting wave to him immediately, not waning his anger to reach dangerous levels in that moment, his eyes flickered to mine as he gave me a grateful look, before his expression became blank as he regarded Marcel.

'This is my oldest brother, Finn.' Nik continued, snapping Marcel and Kol out of their stare down as he nodded to Finn who was sat next to me.

'I've heard a lot about you, man. Nice to finally meet you,' Marcel said, returning Finn's nod before his eyes flickered over to me, waiting for an introduction; I could feel his impatience and I didn't like it.

'This is my twin sister, Kimberly.' Nik finished, not bothering to gesture to me as Marcel was already looking in my direction. I could feel Nik's uneasiness at the way Marcel was staring at me and I sent him a reassuring wave in instinct.

'I would say nice to meet you but you've already ruined your hopes of making a good first impression,' I said bluntly, smiling dangerously.

Marcel laughed, not threatened in the slightest, which annoyed me more; if he wasn't careful my anger was going to reach a point that I do something I just might regret.

'Twin sister? How did I never hear about her?' Marcel asked, his tone was casual but I could feel his interest as well as him desire to know the truth.

'Never you mind,' I said, sitting in my stool and resting my head on Bekah's shoulder as she came to stand beside where I was sitting.

'Now, sister, be nice,' Nik fake scolded as he smirked at me, his amusement only growing when I narrowed my eyes at him, 'forgive her, she gets her temper from our father.'

'How would we know that?' I snorted, raising my eyebrow in question.

'Good point,' he laughed, before he continued, 'I meant the man who raised us and hunted us for centuries.'

'Thank you for the clarification,' I mock saluted him before I reached for the open bottle of whiskey behind me as I took a long drink.

'Anyway, mine and my sister's story is a long one reserved for another day.' Klaus finished, his tone final, clearly unwilling to divulge anything to him today.

'Awe but I was looking forward to story time,' Bekah piped up, the shoulder I was leaning in jolting slightly as she moved to cross her arms.

'Me too,' Kol said, smirking at Nik.

'Me three,' Elena added with a laugh, holding out her glass in my direction for a refill, I poured the whiskey into her glass before I took another gulp from the bottle.

'Right then,' Nik said, sounding annoyed which made me laugh a little, he heard me and his eyes met mine, amusement glittering in them for a moment before his mask was in place once again. Klaus explained our entire history; well the fake history that Elijah had come up with and Marcel listened, completely enraptured and fascinated by they whole tale. I could tell that he believed what Nik was saying; I assumed that his meeting with Mikael assured him that he was capable of doing something like putting his daughter in a slumber to punish the son he considered an abomination. Honestly from what I knew of Mikael, it wouldn't surprise me either.

'So she's been in a slumber for almost a thousand years?' Marcel asked, shocked.

'My dear father placed me in a slumber after the ritual that our mother performed to suppress the werewolf gene that we both triggered at the same time.' I informed him, placing the bottle of whiskey on the bar.

'When Niklaus killed him the cloaking spell that was over her lifted and we were able to locate her,' Elijah finished.

'All very complicated,' Nik said sarcastically.

'Here, here,' Elena said, taking the bottle I had placed on the bar and drinking from it.

'I think you should slow down, darling,' Kol said, placing an arm around her waist as he chuckled.

'Why?' Elena slurred, her expression one of confusion.

'Because you're pissed, Lena,' I said shaking my head and reaching over Finn to take the bottle from her.

'I am not!' she disagreed, trying and failing to keep the bottle in her hand. She nearly fell off the stool in her effort to get it back and Kol tightened his grip on her waist to keep her in place. I shared a look with Kol and he nodded at me, helping Elena down from the stool gently, supporting her weight as she heavily leaned on him.

'I'm gonna get her out of here,' Kol said, not waiting for an answer as he led Elena out of the bar.

'Anyway, what brings you back here after all these years?' Marcel asked as he led us over to a booth that was big enough to seat all of us. I ended up in between Elijah and Nik with Marcel sitting on his own across from us.

'We were all deciding where we should relocate to next after we woke our long lost sister,' Nik answered, placing his arm across my shoulders and leaving it to rest there, placing his other over Bekah's shoulders who was sat on the other side of him to avoid suspicion, 'and we all remembered how good New Orleans was to us all those years ago before we were forced to flee. Thought we might come back, make ourselves a permanent home here.'

'Something tells me we aren't going to me welcomed with open arms,' I muttered dryly as I felt Marcel's displeasure over the news.

'I hope you're wrong about that, sister.' Elijah said beside me, his tone calm but the underlying threat was evident.

'I'd be happy to welcome you into my town, so long as you follow the rules, what is mine is yours, of course.' Marcel grinned, gesturing for a round of drinks for us all.

Nik and I smirked and shared a look as we both noted his emphasis on the fact that New Orleans was considered as his town. Our smirks only grew when his eyes flickered in between us both with an uneasy smile on his face; he was wary of me because he didn't know what I was like, though the fact that he believed I was Nik's twin probably wasn't giving him much hope that I wouldn't have the same temper. I kept my smirk in place as Nik and I had a silent conversation.

What do you think, love?

I think we should play by his rules. For now at least; I think there's something we're missing.

Alright. He nods his head ever so slightly, before we both turn back to Marcel in unison; I send a wave of reassurance to the rest of the Mikaelson's to silently tell them our approach.

'What are the rules, just out of curiosity?' Elijah asked, picking an invisible piece of lint off his trouser leg.

'No feeding off or killing the locals; no werewolves,' Nik and I share an amused glance at that one and he notices, 'aside from you two and no magic. The blood never stops flowing and the party never ends.'

'So unless you're a vampire or a tourist in this town you're fucked?' I asked, not liking the way that he had banned the wolves and the witches; it made sense in a way I supposed, a werewolf bite was toxic to a vampire and witches could easily kill a vampire but then again that worked both ways. Werewolves were really only a threat on a full moon, aside from me and Nik, and witches didn't get involved in vampire business unless they had to; cutting them off from using their magic was just going to make them even more pissed and vengeful for when they got their powers back, which they would.

'Basically,' Marcel grinned in a way that made me want to punch him in the face, I felt my hand form a fist on my lap and Nik discretely rubbed his thumb back and forth over the back of my shoulder to calm me down when he sensed my anger.

'Actually I have to run, I have some business with a particular witch who disobeyed my rules.' Marcel said as one of the men who had rushed to his aid earlier gestured to him.

'Would you mind if I accompanied you? I'm rather curious to see how you run this town first hand.' Nik said with a smirk.

'Me too,' I agreed; I had a feeling that the witch wasn't going to meet the best fate and I wanted to be able to take her pain if possible.

'Of course.' Marcel grinned, though his reluctance was cascading off him in waves.

Bekah, Finn and Elijah came along as well; we trailed behind Marcel as he led the way. He walked with determination and obvious arrogance; it was clear that his status over the city was what gave him his confidence; all of the vampires he passed nodded to him in respect and some cowered in fear. I had my arm linked through Nik's while Bekah had hers linked through one of Finn's and one of Elijah's. We reached the end of a street that was over run with vampires; they were everywhere and they were all hungry for blood; I could feel their eagerness over the fact that they were about to watch a witch be punished for using her magic. Marcel walked through the crowd and they parted for him without question, allowing us to walk through as well, before it closed behind us. I subconsciously stood closer to Nik; I didn't like the blood thirst I was feeling from every person I walked past. Marcel came to a stop and Nik moved us so to his right while Bekah, Finn and Elijah moved to his left so we could all see what was happening. No more than ten feet in front of us there was a woman being held on her knees with chains, two vampires standing behind her to ensure she stayed in place. I could feel her fear, but I also noticed with slight shock that she had made peace with the fact that she was probably going to die, as if it was meant to happen. I took her fear and replaced it with calm in instinct and when I did I noticed her confusion and her eyes immediately flickered to me, and I felt her recognition as if she knew who I was, but I had never met this woman before in my life.

'Kimberly Mikaelson,' She whispered, too low for any human to hear but of course there weren't any humans around in that moment, I felt everyone's confusion as well as my own as I frowned.

'Do I know you?' I asked, breaking the deadening silence as everyone stared at me.

'No, ma'am you do not, but I know of you; the magical community has been buzzing with the news of the long lost Original sister.' She smiled, and it was a kind smile; when I focused on her I could feel that she was genuinely happy that I was here.

'What the bloody hell for?' Bekah asked, pulling the attention away from me.

'Because-,' She started to answer but Marcel cut her off, clearly unhappy with the fact that he was losing control of the situation.

'Anyway, let's move this along, shall we?' Marcel shouted, holding his fist in the air, and the other vampires returned the gesture as they cheered, he walked up to the witch, a malicious grin on his face, 'let's give it up for Jane Ann! Come on, Jane Ann!' He shouted to the crowd and they cheered and whistled back.

'You have been accused of the practice of witch craft beyond the bounds of the rules set forth and enforced by me,' he started, his cruel grin never wavering, 'how do you plead?'

'I didn't do anything,' Jane Ann answered, but I could tell she was lying, and apparently, Marcel could as well.

'Oh, that's a lie I know it, you know it and you hate that I know it,' he smiled and he turned to look at the crowd for a moment before he turned back to Jane Ann a smug grin on his face, 'it drives you witches crazy that I'm aware of your every move. You can't do magic in this town without getting caught so, why don't we just cut to the chase, huh?' He said, his hands picking a few loose leaves still attached to the branch I hadn't realized he had been holding until that moment, 'you tell me what magic you're brewing, tell me, I'll grant you leniency. I am after all, a merciful man,' he grinned, stepping closer to her as he did; I could feel her fear grow and I took it without hesitation.

I could feel her gratitude before she looked Marcel straight in the eye and answered him, her tone unwavering, 'rot in hell, monster.'

I could feel Marcel's anger at her answer and I knew that she was going to die within the next few minutes, he was silent for a long moment before he looked to her, 'I'll tell you what. I'll give you one more chance…' he trailed off as he turned around, but I knew he was lying, which was confirmed as he turned around and swung the branch with enough force to slit her throat, 'or not.'

She gasped, her hands going to her throat as she tried to breathe to no avail, I took her pain and her discomfort, replacing it with calm; I could see the peace in her eyes before she fell onto her back, dead. The vampires cheered like they were at a concert demanding an encore from their favorite band, and it made me sick; I could feel the Original's discomfort over Marcel's little show as well, though they were all hiding it from their expressions, just like I was. The vampires all wondered off in groups after the show was over, leaving Marcel to walk over to us, still chuckling from what he had just done.

'Well that was quite the show,' I commented.

'Why thank you.' He laughed, rubbing his hands together as if he was itching to do it all over again.

'It wasn't a compliment,' Nik said, his brow quirking to show his amusement towards me before his expression became concrete as he looked over to Marcel, 'what was that?'

'That was me enforcing my rules; mercy is for the weak, remember? You taught me that,' Marcel said, clapping his shoulder onto Klaus' back with a smile on his face, 'I have to go and talk to my day walkers, make sure there aren't any other issues that need to be dealt with, then I'm all yours.'

We waited until he was gone from earshot before we all turned to each other.

'How the hell did she know who Kim was?' Bekah asked, astonished.

'I would like to know an answer to that myself.' I said, clutching Nik's arm a little tighter as my nerves increased.

'Well we can't exactly find out now she's dead can we?' Nik said, discretely rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb in a comforting gesture, soothing me slightly.

'Perhaps she has family we can locate?' Finn offered.

'Good idea, Finn! Give me a second,' I said squeezing Nik's arm once before I walked over to one of the vampires that had been crowded around during the debacle a few minutes ago and tapped him on the shoulder; he was an African- American man with an afro and wearing a black leather jacket.

'Hello, beautiful what can I do for you?' He asked, crossing his arms over his chest with a huge grin on his face.

'That witch that was just slaughtered, did she have any other witches in her family?' I asked, trying to hide my distaste over the attraction I could feel he had for me.

'What would a pretty thing like you, want with a witch?' He asked, smirking.

'Never you mind. Do you know or not?' I said, my anger and frustration growing.

'Why should I tell you?' His flirty demeanor suddenly dropped and I had to bite back my sigh of relief.

'Because I asked nicely, and with the mood I'm in I'm only going to do that once.' I felt my eyes flash amber in warning and thankfully he answered me fairly quickly once he realized whom I was and I had the ability to kill him with a single bite.

'Apparently she has a sister that works in the kitchen at Rousseau's,' I said brightly as I walked back over to them pausing when I noticed their collective amusement, 'what?'

Nik went to answer but he was cut off when my phone started ringing, I answered it without looking at the caller I.D.

'Hello?'

'Darling, could you be a dear and gather the others and meet me and Elena at the cemetery? There's a witch here that is claiming to know something about you but she won't fess up until we're all together.' Kol said, sounding annoyed.

'This witch's name doesn't happen to be Sophie does it? I asked, already knowing the answer.

'Ah, so you've heard of her? Fantastic.' Kol muttered, his voice sarcastic.

'We're on our way, Kol.' I hung up the phone and seeing as they heard every word of the conversation Nik, Elijah and me made our way to the cemetery while Bekah and Finn remained to make sure none of Marcel's minions followed us. It didn't take us too long to get to the cemetery; Nik and myself followed Elijah with our vampire speed, but when we actually got there we couldn't step in.

'What is the meaning of this?' Nik demanded.

'This is sacred ground, you have to be invited in,' a young brunette woman standing just behind the gates informed us.

'Right, well, be a dear and invite us in,' Nik said with a smirk which I mirrored as I pointed to him and muttered, 'what he said.'

'Normally I wouldn't dream of inviting any vampires onto our sacred ground-' She started but I cut her off.

'Well I'm not exactly a vampire, so don't worry about it,' I winked to her, sarcasm my best friend; Nik chuckled before he agreed with me, 'she has a point, sweetheart. Last time I checked I was still half werewolf.'

'Kimberly, Niklaus, please.' Elijah said with a frustrated sigh.

'Sorry, you were saying?' I asked, gesturing for her to continue.

'But I'm desperate, so come on in.' She stepped back to allow us to walk over the threshold, we did and she walked off straight away, Nik and I shared a raised eyebrow look before we trailed after her. She walked into a crypt that was glowing with candlelight, as soon as we walked in I noticed that Elena and Kol were there, looking pissed.

'So… they're here, you can spill the beans now, darling.' Kol muttered, his hand tightening around Elena's waist in a protective gesture.

'You've only been here a few hours and I'm sure that you've heard about the way that Marcel is running this city.' She started, walking towards the back of the crypt to pick up a knife, 'my sister gave her life to complete a spell and to confirm whether you had been introduced to your mate.' Sophie stated, gesturing in between Klaus and me.

'Why?' I asked bluntly.

'Because your unity is something that has been talked about among the witching community for hundreds of years. We knew that you would find your mate, and when Jane Ann completed the spell to confirm it we knew you would come here, to the place you considered home all those years ago.' She stated, her tone very matter of fact but I could feel her desperation; she was counting on her plan working so that her sisters death won't have been for nothing, 'with all of you here Marcel won't stand a chance against you.'

'What has that got to do with you?' Nik asked as he stepped forward, his hands clasped behind his back and a dangerous smirk on his face, 'we can take over this city and we will but why do I have the feeling that you have something up your sleeve?'

'Because you're not stupid. I have linked my life to your brother's girlfriend, to your mate's sister, so if you don't help me remove Marcel from the throne by following my rules, I will make sure that she dies with me.' Sophie said, crossing her arms over her chest in a clear act of defiance.

'And say we don't believe you...' Kol states, but I could already tell that she was being deadly serious.

Sophie held up the knife she had picked up before allowing it to glisten in the candlelight, 'I had a feeling you would say that.' She muttered before she dragged the blade along her left palm, opening the skin on her hand as well as the skin on Elena's.

'Are you forgetting she's a vampire? There are plenty of ways we could kill you that wouldn't kill her.' Nik said, sounding annoyed that she had the audacity to blackmail him.

'Jane Ann giving her life made it so that despite her being a vampire, if I die, no matter how then she dies with me.' Sophie said and I felt my heart drop when I realized she was telling the truth.

'Brilliant!' I muttered, agitated and moderately defeated; I didn't want my sister to be in harms way like this, but realistically if she was going to link herself to anyone it would have had to be her, the rest of us were truly immortal.

Nik placed his arm around my waist, pulling me to his side as his thumb moved back and forth across my hipbone comfortingly; I wrapped my arm around his waist and melted against him, relaxing immediately.

'So, what is this master plan of yours?' Kol asked, also annoyed, though I noted that Elena's touch was helping keep his temper in check.

And so we all stood, listening to Sophie's plan to destroy Marcel; I could tell that there was something that she was hiding, something she wanted from Marcel and that was why she refused Nik's suggestion of just killing him on the spot. Because of that, I knew I wouldn't fully trust her, but I would adhere to the plan, not just to save Elena, though that was the majority of the reason, but because I hated the way Marcel was running the city; forcing people to be what they weren't, not letting witches use their magic and not letting werewolves into the quarter. They deserved to be what they were and not brushed to the side just because the vampires were threatened by them. We would take this kingdom back and we would build it stronger than what it was before, with all species living in harmony.

And that's chapter twenty six! I'm sorry if you thought this was a little rambly but this chapter is in place to lay the foundation for the rest of the season, so I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Let me know what you think! :)

A huge thank you to Naixira-chan, IRunWithWolves18, Imagineer1392 and srodonnell for choosing to either follow or favorite my story- it means a lot :)

BeccaSco: Adorable! Loved it. Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)

XxSunnaxX: Finally! Love it! Kol got a happy ending (right now) with Elena, can't wait to see more of them :) Klaus/Kim Fan XD Curious as to how you're gonna write New Orleans, without Hope' thinking face' And is Hayley gonna come into it too? Elijah/Hayley? Thank you! I'm happy you're enjoying it! And for now, I've decided not to make Kim pregnant but we'll see if that changes because I like the whole story line with Dalia and the idea of being able to introduce Freya. As for Hayley… we'll see ;)