Chapter Thirty Two
Since we returned from Mystic Falls after the Salvatore brothers briefly kidnapped me, the weeks had flown by as life continued pretty normally. Well, as normally as it can living in New Orleans whilst trying to sneakily steal the kingdom from the current king; we were really close, but I had a feeling there were going to be further interruptions before the Mikaelson family was once again living in the compound where they belonged; I had a feeling that it was going to happen before Christmas, which was in a week and was why I hadn't put up any decorations yet. Besides that, though, I was otherwise prepared for the holiday; I had secured everyone's presents, though I hadn't mentioned a thing about it because I didn't want anyone to feel as if they were obligated to give me anything.
Hayley had pretty much officially moved in, though Davina had managed to reverse the curse placed on the Crescent Moon pack, they were in the Bayou, laying low so that Marcel and his vampires didn't get word of it; if he found out he's find it suspicious that Davina hadn't told him about anything magical happening in the quarter. The pack seemed to respect Hayley's decision to remain at the plantation with us, whom I was grateful for, as well as Elena; they had gotten pretty close. Though, I had a feeling a certain Mikaelson was certainly the most grateful over her decision; Hayley and Elijah had gotten very close, to the point that they were basically attached at the hip. I could sense how content they both were in their relationship, though the furthest they went in terms of public displays of affection was holding hands, Hayley's head rested on his shoulder, but their obvious adoration for each other couldn't be missed from the gazes they shared. I also knew for a fact that the rest of his siblings were happy to see him in love; Nik had told me that he hadn't seen Elijah this infatuated with anyone since he had been human, and I was glad for him; he deserved to be happy.
We had all been surprised when Finn mentioned that he was meeting a girl in a highway restaurant just outside of New Orleans for a date about a week after we returned from Mystic Falls. Jaws had dropped in complete shock and I had felt everyone's utter disbelief; Finn hadn't mentioned interest in a women in the short time I had known him, but I suppose that was to be expected; he was a quiet, reserved and polite guy. After he had told us his plans he had left without another word, grabbing the keys to one of the black Range Rovers on his way. It had taken a good ten minutes before anyone spoke, Kol being the first, spluttering incoherent sounds of scepticism, the rest of us following suit. We had all anxiously waited for him to return, Nik and I making up an excuse as to why we couldn't go to the party he was throwing at the compound; I hadn't wanted to go anyway, and this was much more fun. We had just finished our fourth game of twister, which was a lot more clumsy after I had suggested adding alcohol; you had to take a shot of Jack Daniels honey whiskey every time you landed on red or yellow. Nik was taking a shot from his disjointed position on the floor below me, before he would have to place his left foot on red when we had all frozen as we heard the front door softly close; we all flashed in that direction in an instant, the game forgotten. He looked a little taken aback by our interest, though he was more shocked at how drunk Elijah had gotten; Elena and Hayley had been the referees this time, Elena spinning and Hayley observing, so Elijah had played and somehow, every turn he had he ended up on yellow or red; I was pretty sure Elena and Hayley had been behind it, wanting to see what he was like drunk. Honestly, it was pretty hilarious; he had taken off his shoes and socks when we began playing, as we all had, but during the game he had lost his suit jacket and tie as well as changing into some grey sweatpants after Kol had complained at how his trousers looked close to ripping when he bent over to put his hands on his instructed colour. I think just the sight of that was shocking enough, but Elijah also had a relaxed, consistent grin on his face as well as slurring his words. Once we managed to stop observing Elijah, we succeeded in getting some details out of Finn; her name was Elizabeth, she was human and according to him she was beautiful, smart and rather amusing. He had been seeing her since, and I sensed that things were starting to get serious; he was currently concerned with telling her that himself and his family were vampires, but I assured him that it would be fine; I had a good feeling about her and I was certain that Finn had just found his forever.
As soon as Bekah had found out about Finn's sudden love life she had started to mope around more and more and I knew that she was upset that she was the only one in the house who hadn't found someone. But honestly, I was pretty sure that her someone was… unavailable at the moment; I had a feeling that her forever was Marcel Gerard, when I'd sensed the attraction and affection that they still both held for one another, as well as Bekah's jealousy whenever she saw him hanging out with Cami. Unfortunately, neither of them were in the position to do anything about their feelings; Marcel was apprehensive of Bekah because he knew that Nik was up to something, though he didn't have any concrete proof yet, and Bekah was wary of Marcel because of their past history as well as the fact that she was worried that returning to him would be seen as an act of betrayal, which in all fairness was a reasonable assumption. After she had been moping for a week, I took her to the side, sending comforting waves towards her as I assured her that she would find her forever, it would just take a little longer. She had brightened up after that, which we were all grateful for; seeing Bekah depressed was like kicking a fairy tale princess when she was down.
Kol and Elena had remained the same, just like Nik and I had. Though a few days after we had returned from Mystic Falls Nik had started looking at me oddly, we'd be laughing and joking one minute, then as his amusement faded away, his expression a mixture of worried and soft. Every time I asked him what was wrong he just answered that it was nothing, no matter how much I insisted that he could tell me. I had assumed that it was because I had been kidnapped a few days prior, but when he refused to tell me what was bothering him, I knew it had to be something else. When it carried on afterwards, becoming more and more frequent the closer we got to Christmas, I started to wonder more and more what it could be. I honestly had no idea, but I had a feeling everyone else knew; every so often I'd catch them looking at me knowingly and right now was one of those moments. Nik and I had just been in the shower, him leaving ten minutes before me because I had to wash my hair. I heard everyone murmuring under their breaths, low enough that I couldn't hear them, even with my supernatural hearing. They all stopped as soon as I entered the room, breaking apart from their huddle over the table in the kitchen; Nik looked nervous while everyone else seemed excited, what the hell was going on?
'Morning, darling,' Kol grinned at me, his smile seeming wider as he had a devilish glint in his eye.
'What's going on?' I asked, my voice uneasy; I realised that their expressions reminded me of when they had surprised me for my birthday, except this time was ten times worse.
'Nothing, love.' Nik assured me, coming to stand behind me, after he'd sent the other people in the room a dark look, he rested his hands on my hips and his head on my shoulder, his thumbs rubbing back and forth comfortingly.
'Yes, nothing darling.' Kol teased.
'Absolutely nothing,' Bekah agreed, mirroring Kol's tone.
'Enough, both of you.' Nik said, his voice stern; I could feel his anger though it wasn't as drastic as it would have been if he weren't holding me.
Amazingly, Kol and Bekah backed off, which I was relieved about; those two were a relentless tag team once they got going. Plus I was starting to get annoyed with the constant teasing; I wanted to know what the hell was going on, they obviously knew, I didn't and it was making me crazy. But I also knew that Nik would only tell me when he was ready; I just had to be patient, as hard as it was not to snap in annoyance.
'So what's the plan today?' Bekah asked from her seat at the dining table; she was halfway though eating a bowl of cereal.
I leaned back into Nik's chest, my head tilting so that my face rested in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent. As easy as it would have been to completely lose track of the conversation, I forced myself to follow it; Hayley, Elena, Kol and Elijah are going to Denver. Elena wanted to see Jeremy before Christmas, and there was no question that Kol was going to go with her. We had explained everything that had happened with the Original family over the months he had been in Denver over numerous phone calls, and despite his initial objection, I could feel that he was starting to come around. Hayley and Elijah were tagging along to get a break from all the New Orleans drama, which they deserved; him and Hayley hadn't had much quality time that didn't get interrupted with a vampire crisis. I had wanted to go to Denver and see my baby brother desperately, but despite him being willing to tolerate Kol and Elijah, he still had trouble with Nik because of the whole sacrificing business, and me and Nik being declared mates was taking him a little longer to process. So to avoid any awkwardness or possible confrontations that may result in ruining the whole Christmas gift exchange, I'd opted to stay in New Orleans, though it killed me; I had already missed two Christmas' with Jeremy, and missing another was going to be difficult. Nik placed a kiss to my hair and pulled me to him a little tighter, sensing my melancholy over the mention of Denver, which helped a little. The conversation thankfully veered onto a different topic as Finn told us he was meeting Elizabeth in the town over, and was planning to spend the weekend with her, seeing as they both wanted to spend actual Christmas with their families, and they weren't at the point to be bringing one another home to meet the folks yet. Bekah, Nik and I were planning on staying in New Orleans; I had a feeling that something was going to go down with Marcel, though I hadn't mentioned that to anyone other than Bekah and Nik because I knew we could handle it and I didn't want to ruin everyone's plans.
'Have a great time all of you,' I said, forcing my tone to sound bright and cheerful despite the fact that I felt anything but; I was going to miss them all.
'We'll be back before you know it, Kimmie,' Elena assured me, seeing right through me, stepping forward for a hug.
'You better be,' I muttered, making Kol chuckle.
'Aww bestie, I think it's adorable that you're going to miss me so much,' Kol teased, but I could feel that he himself was going to miss those who were staying behind.
'You're the one I'm going to miss the least, bestie.' I said, my tone emotionless and my face blank; when his mouth dropped open in shock I couldn't help but drop my mask, a laugh breaking free as I pulled him into a hug, 'I am going to miss you bestie.' I mumbled, only loud enough for him to hear. I saw his soft expression when I pulled away before I moved on to hug Hayley and Elijah together; both of them reciprocated the hug. Once I had hugged Finn, Bekah and Nik said their goodbyes, before they left.
'Well this is bloody depressing,' Bekah muttered, discretely wiping a tear from her cheek.
'It really is,' I agreed, leaning back into Nik's chest, his arms settling around my waist and pulling me tighter; I could feel his displeasure over his family leaving but I also knew that he wouldn't voice it aloud.
'We should get going, love.' Nik murmured, kissing my temple.
'Where?' I asked, frowning in confusion.
'Marcel wanted to meet to talk about the werewolves. I think he's gotten word that the curse has been broken, and if that's the case we're going to need to do something about it.' Nik stated, his hands moving from my waist to rest on my hips.
'It's not that,' I assured him, frowning; I was pretty sure that whatever Marcel had planned was the bad feeling that had been building over the last week, so I told Nik and Bekah that.
'Well with it being the three of us, we should be fine.' Bekah said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than us.
'We're Original's, Bekah. It will be no contest.' Nik assured her, and I nodded in agreement.
Without another word, we all flashed over to the plantation; once we arrived we went straight to the courtyard, knowing that was where Marcel usually met us when he asked us to come over. It was eerily quiet, no Marcel to be found, but I could sense that there were a good few hundred vampires waiting nearby.
'Can you feel that?' I murmured, Nik, Bekah and I had split off into an almost triangle shape as we looked around for any sense of movement.
'Yes, I can.' Nik responded, his voice darkening.
Before another word could be spoken, Marcel jumped down from the balcony that span around the second floor, landing in front of me with a dangerous grin on his face. I stepped back, not liking the malicious look on his face. I felt Nik and Rebekah come to stand either side of me, but that just made his grin grow.
'Well, well, well if it isn't my three favourite Mikaelson's.' He said, his arms outstretched as he laughed manically.
'Well, I for one am flattered,' I muttered, sarcasm my best friend.
'You should be, you're considered as more of a Mikaelson than I ever was,' Marcel said, acid dripping from his tone.
I remained silent, not knowing what to say to that; his words stirred up a form of unease inside me. I was considered a Mikaelson, something that made me feel incredibly grateful and honoured. But I couldn't give Marcel a reason as to why I was considered as a part of the family more than he had ever been, when I didn't know the answer myself. Nik and Bekah each placed a hand on the small of my back, in a comforting and protective gesture.
'What is the meaning of this, Marcel?' Bekah demanded.
'I'm sick of you people walking into my town like you own the place, always getting your way, making your own rules. I've decided I'm going to put you down.' Marcel said, sounding and feeling incredibly confident; I felt Nik and Bekah's amusement grow as my own brows quirked, entertained.
'You think you can put the three of us down singlehandedly?' Nik asked, sounding incredibly arrogant.
'Well your little girlfriend is only a hybrid that's a few months old, so we're more planning on killing her.' He said, a huge grin on his face.
'Well gee, thanks.' I said, crossing my arms over my chest and shaking my head in mock horror.
His grin grew a few millimetres, but otherwise he didn't respond, but his eyes did briefly storm over when Nik growled under his breath, while Bekah stepped forward threateningly at his threat.
'Never have a weakness. You taught me that; so call me surprised when you suddenly announce that you have a hybrid girlfriend that is completely killable.' He said as he started pacing back and forth, as if he were delivering a speech at a stand up night.
Nik and I shared a smirk, which seemed to make Marcel slightly uneasy, though he was doing a good job at hiding it from his expression. The fact that he had revealed that he believed I was a normal hybrid could definitely work in our favour.
'Well she's adorable, can you blame him?' Bekah muttered, throwing her arm around my shoulders and startling a laugh out of me, despite the tense situation.
'Is there a point to this?' Nik asked, avoiding the topic of me being his weakness altogether.
'I've been gathering my resources for months and I finally have enough to take you down. My ex girlfriend and my sire, it's been one hell of a ride, but all good things must come to an-.' Marcel was cut off as I interrupted him, irritated.
'Just get on with it already. Unless your plan is to talk us to death?' I muttered, enticing an amused chuckle from Bekah and Nik while Marcel glared at me, he took a step forward and so did I, coming to a stop a foot from him, undeterred. He reached forward, probably about to rip my heart from my chest, but I caught his wrist easily, using it as leverage to throw him back a few steps, enjoying the shock that lit up his expression. Before anything more could be said a crowd of twenty vampires were suddenly surrounding us, all giving off waves of excitement. I stepped back to Nik and Bekah, all of us pressing our backs against each other's as we turned together, facing the circle head on.
'You think this is enough to put us down?' Nik laughed, sounding moderately relieved, Bekah chuckled as well, but I didn't; I had a feeling he had something more up his sleeve. Sure enough, after he sent Nik a malicious grin he brought both of his index fingers to his mouth and whistled. Another hundred or so vampires entered the compound, some coming in behind the vampires that were already circling us, while some remained on the balcony that circled around the second floor.
'Well that's certainly more impressive, it's still not enough.' Bekah protested, her expression giving the impression that she was amused, but I could feel her anxiety; I took it replacing it with calm. Nik was calm because he sensed I was calm.
'We've got this.' I mumbled, low enough for only them to hear.
Before either of them could respond the first vampire lurched forward, going for me, I tore his heart from his chest with little effort, tossing it onto his dead body on the floor. Obviously, Marcel had instructed them to go for me first, because he believed I was the weakest link; he was in for a shock.
'You know what I love?' I asked, making my voice loud enough for the other vampires to hear, 'that Marcel would lead his men, the people he is supposed to look out for into slaughter.'
'I agree.' Bekah muttered.
'To borrow a trick from an old friend… anyone who picks this coin from the floor pledges their allegiance to me… to us and gets to live.' Nik said, his tone threatening; I heard the coin clatter to the floor and I didn't have to turn around to know that he was smirking.
No one moved, but I wasn't really that surprised; most of those that were here were Marcel's nightwalkers, those who were newly turned and desperate for bloodlust and murder, they weren't going to pass that up; they didn't understand what being up against an Original actually meant. Thierry was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the other handful of Marcel's day walkers; he must have known that before he was going to put us down, a lot of deaths were going to occur, so he was using the lives he deemed as disposable.
'Well it's your funeral,' Nik said after a minute passed and no one even moved an inch.
Before I could even blink, the vampire's moved forward; one of the women directly in front of me flashed forward, grabbing a fist full of my hair and yanking my head back, I stopped myself from crying out, reaching up and snapping the wrist that had hold of me until I heard her bone snap. Once she released me, I turned, ripping her head from her neck and throwing it to one of the other vampires who were heading towards me with enough force to send him propelling to the wooden picture hanging behind him, which conveniently stabbed him straight in the heart. I saw two men coming for me at the same time and I jumped, propelling myself sideways, spinning fast I latched my legs around the neck of one while my hands grabbed the neck of the other, my momentum helping me tear their heads off with minimal effort. I landed on the ground, crouched down, with one hand on the floor as I gathered my balance; I felt my eyes flash amber when I felt someone grab my shoulder and pull me backwards, I hit the concrete wall with a thump but I didn't feel it as I got up, heading for the one behind it, pulling out the heart of a vampire heading for Bekah and snapping the necks of two of the three vampires on Nik on my way. When I reached him, I smiled manically, while he gulped, nervous. I flashed forward, taking his pain away from him as I pulled out his heart, and throwing it in Marcel's direction. Before I could focus on the vampires coming towards me, my head snapped over to Bekah's direction, noting that the five vampires that had a hold on her were making short work of dragging her to the ground, I flashed over immediately, dodging the vampires who tried to attack me on the way, once I reached her I ripped out two of the vampire's hearts immediately, moving on to rip out another two straight after; Bekah took care of the fifth with no trouble, sending me a grateful smile before we both parted as vampires swarmed us both again. A man and a woman approached me, both grinning smugly; the woman had a long chain in her hands that she was spinning in a clockwise direction. I flashed forward, managing to yank out the man's heart before she attacked me with the chain, wrapping one around each of my wrists, she handed one to another vampire who joined her and they both began tugging. I played along, pretending to struggle, and when I felt their smugness grow, I stood easily yanking the chains so that they both crashed into each other, with enough force to make them fall to the floor, loosing their grip on the chains and they fell from my wrists with a clatter. I stepped forward ripping out their hearts and dropping them to their bodies, before my spine straightened as I sensed someone else behind me, they placed a hand roughly on my shoulder and I grabbed it, flipping them over on to their back in front of me, tearing his heart out mid-air. My gaze snapped over to Nik when I heard him growl in anger; he had ten vampires on him that were pulling him to the floor with some chains similar to those that they tried to use on me. I flashed over without another thought, taking out two of the three vampires that were on Bekah on my way, I had to work my way through the crowd that was around him, tearing out hearts and throwing my arm with enough force at necks to knock their heads off. I managed to take out eight of the ten that were on him before I felt something latch into my back; a wooden stake that was dangerously close to my heart, I focused so that I took Nik's pain as well as my own before I moved forward, regardless of the weapon in my back and took care of the last two, yanking the chains away with a flick of my wrist. Nik looked up, his expression one of vengeance; his eyes flashing amber causing mine to respond in kind. He stood up, reaching behind me to pull the stake from my back after I gave him an assuring nod; I flinched from the pain, but was relieved when I felt it heal instantly. I felt Bekah's panic and turned to see that the remaining thirty or so vampires were heading for her, Nik and I shared an enraged look, before we both flashed forward, forcing our way to the middle of the circle, returning to our original position; turning clockwise with our backs pressed together.
'How many vampire's do we have to kill before Marcel calls this blood bath off?' I muttered aloud.
'I don't know, love, but at this rate he's not going to have any men left,' he smirked.
I muttered an agreement before the vampires circling us took a collective step forward. At that point my annoyance got the better of me and without thinking I held my arms in front of me, some of the vampires moved to grab me but stopped short when they started to feel the pain I was sending towards them, I focused so that Nik, Bekah and I were pain free while the shield started to grow from my hands, stopping where the vampires currently attacking us ended. They all fell to their knees as I sent the pain that I had taken from each vampire I had killed towards them, I kept going until I couldn't sense them feeling their pain anymore. When I opened my eyes I gasped, my eyes sheening over; they were all… dead. How was that possible? I hadn't done that since I had turned and when I did it before I had only been able to knock Stefan unconscious, not kill him. Nik placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing me comfortingly, and bringing me back enough that the gold that was erupting from my hands ceased, the shield falling a few moments later.
'Holy-,' Bekah was cut off when we heard Marcel shift behind us, we all turned to face him; he was holding the coin that Nik had tossed to the floor mere moments before.
'There, okay? You win, I pledge my allegiance to you,' Marcel said; I could feel his guilt over sending his men into this as well as his intimidation and wariness over what he had just witnessed.
'Well… well how the tables have turned.' Nik smirked, his hands clasped behind his back; he had blood dripping from his chin so I assumed he had given a vampire or two a toxic werewolf bite.
'Are you kidding? You just sent about two hundred of your men into a fight you knew they'd probably lose while you just sat back and watched. You could have stopped it but you didn't. You can piss off with your allegiance you absolute coward.' I muttered, crossing my arms across my chest, trying to clam myself down; I didn't like killing people, but I wasn't mad because of that; I'd do anything to protect those I cared about. I was mad because this could've all been avoided, these lives could have been saved, but Marcel was the kind of leader who would happily send his people into a fight knowing it would most likely end in certain death.
'What she said,' Bekah said, throwing her arm around my shoulder in comfort, I leaned my head on her shoulder, releasing a deep sigh.
'I couldn't agree more, love. You will leave the quarter, Marcellus and don't come back.' Nik said, his tone dark leaving no room for argument.
'Davina can come and visit you if she wants, but the choice is hers; you can't force her to go with you and we won't force her to stay here.' I assured him, my head still on Bekah's shoulder as I ignored the shock on his face.
Without another word, Marcel left the compound; I could feel his defeat and his melancholy as he made his way to the exit. Once he was gone, Nik's face broke out into a huge grin, pure happiness lighting up his face similar to that of a child's on Christmas morning. We all shared the same look, which I was sure looked completely out of place due to the fact that we were surrounded by about a hundred dead bodies, but we had worked hard for this and we had finally managed it; we had control of the kingdom. Nik somehow picked Bekah and me up at the same time, spinning us around in glee before he placed us back on the ground. He placed a short, but passionate kiss to my lips before he pulled back, resting his forehead against mine.
Long live the Mikaelson's.
There's chapter thirty two! I hope you enjoyed it; let me know what you thought!
A huge thank you to Karakura Lion, svantassele and quortnee87 for choosing to either follow or favourite my story- it means a lot :)
BeccaSco: haha loved this one too! A game of would you rather would be sod and funny. Thank you! And haha, I agree- I'll try and work it into the Christmas chapter :)
XxSunnaxX:…now it seems soo obvious who kidnapped her XD Zero disappointment :) nice that the brothers came back into the picture/ Do you plan for them to come back at some point in the story or is this the 'happy-end' for them? :) As always great job! Thank you, lovely! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I don't plan on bringing the brothers back, but if something happens where I could work them into the story… never say never ;)