A.N.- Please review and enjoy :)
Belle had shoved Samuel into the trunk of her car and went out to an abandoned building just outside the city limits. She had him tied up to a metal chair and injected him with enough vervain to keep him from attempting to break away.
For over an hour she tourtured him, burning him with vervain, slicing into his skin with knives over and over again before he could heal. She pulled out several tricks from her hat of torturing expertise that she learned over the years, mostly from Klaus, and yet he said nothing.
She took the knife in her hand and dug it into his side, twisting it as he screamed out in agony. "You ready to talk yet? Where is she?" She pulled out the knife and grabbed his hair, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Where is Charlotte?" There was a fire burning in the back of her eyes: determination.
He opened his mouth, his bloodied lips trembling. "Go to hell," he whispered.
She backed off, smirking. "You know, you're as stubborn as I am. I admire that, I really do." She walked over to a silver tray that was filled with various weapons and picked up a vile of vervain oil and an eye dropper. She stuck the tube into the bottle and filled it, careful not to get any on her skin.
Her boots clunked against the concrete floor, echoing throughout the space as she approached her victim once again. She titled his head back and emptied the dropper into one of his eyes. He screamed as it burned him. "Stop it, please!"
"I'll stop when you tell me where she is."
He hung his head before whispering. "I've said it once and I'll say it again. I don't know. I haven't had any direct contact with Charlotte in years." His sweaty hair hung down over his eyes and he looked up at her.
She stared back at him with cold eyes. "And why would that be?" She knelt down in front of him on one knee so she could look him in the eyes.
"She's been laying low for a while, probably trying to stay away from psychos like you." He glared into Belle's icy blue eyes.
She grinned at him, chuckling emotionless under her breath. Her expression hardened after a few seconds. "If she's trying to 'lay low' then why was I told that she was here in New Orleans, huh? Maybe another one of her little pawns blabbed. Or, on the other hand, maybe they were lying. Is she here, or isn't she?" Her voice was low and sinister, intimidating.
He saw the threat in her eyes, what she was willing to do. "Kill me. She'll do it anyways if I tell you, so go ahead and get it over with."
She saw the undeniable look of fear and defeat in his eyes, and she pitied him. She let out a sigh and stood up straight. "I'm not going to kill you, I'll leave that to her." She took a few steps back, pacing back a forth, debating what to do next. After a few seconds she flashed back in front of him. "Now answer the damn question. Where is she?"
He flinched, caught off guard, and averted his eyes. "She's here." It was almost impossible to hear. His lips barely moved to form the words that would surely nail the lid on his coffin.
"Good. That wasn't too hard, was it." She went behind the chair and untied the ropes that were soaked in vervain, they burned her fingers as she did so. "I'm guessing that you won't tell me anything else, so I think we're done here. And I'm sure you won't tell anyone about this little incident since you'll no doubt be dead by tomorrow." She flinched as she finished undoing the final knot, and the rope fell to the floor. She undid the ropes that were binding his feet next.
"Thanks for the concern," he mumbled, rubbing his raw, burnt wrists.
"Don't mention it." After quickly gathering her supplies into a black duffel bag, she turned back to Samuel who was still slumped over in the chair, too weak to stand. "Well, this is where I leave you." She smiled. It was the kind of smile that seemed to say, "If I see you again, I'll rip your fucking heart out." And with that, she flashed out to her car, thew the bag in the trunk and drove away.
As she drove back into the city, her phone rang from her bag. She reached over and grabbed it from the passenger's seat and checked who was calling, it was Klaus. She let out a groan before answering it. "Hey Nik."
"I was just wondering if you were planning on coming by the compound. You did say you'd stop by earlier, didn't you?" he asked.
She mentally kicked herself. "Uh, yeah. I'll be over shortly. I'm glad you reminded me, I forgot. God, I hope I'm not turning into ditsy little Rebekah." She decided to play off her tardiness as just being forgetful instead of admitting that she had been preoccupied. No doubt Klaus would be unhappy with her torturing the innocent vampires of his city.
She told herself that she wasn't technically lying go him, she just wasn't sharing the whole truth. That wasn't as bad, right? Her gut told her that it was, but she ignored it. She still felt guilty.
He chuckled on the other line. "Don't worry, I'll tell you if you start acting like Rebekah. Do you want me to let her know what you said?"
"Oh, please do. I love it when she gets mad. It just gives me a reason to kick her ass." She laughed forcibly, distracting herself from the guilt.
"Sure, sure. I'll see you soon." He hung up up abruptly.
Belle let out a long sigh. "Niklaus, your manners are, as always, without equal." She chuckled, remembering all the times she heard Elijah say those same words to Klaus.
One of the many things she had always loved about the Mikaelsons was how they almost constantly bickered. It reminded her of how she and Max acted, only their bickering had never led to one of them being daggered and stuffed in a coffin for years.
As she drove toward the compound, she cranked up the radio so loud she was sure the people walking by could hear it. It was a way for her to block out her thoughts when they got too loud, and right now they were definitely screaming.
She pulled up to her old home; it hadn't changed a bit. The compound had been her only longterm home since she had been human. Living with the Mikaelsons had always meant having to move around when Mikael caught up with them. She was thankful they wouldn't have that problem anymore now that he was gone.
Belle had only lived on her own a handful of times. She just didn't like being alone, one of the things she and Klaus shared.
Before she got out of the car, Belle checked herself in the rearview mirror. Torture typically did a number on her. Thankfully, the only thing out of sorts was a spot of blood that had spattered on her forehead. So, she licked her thumb and wiped it away. She then snatched her phone from her purse and headed inside.
Just as she entered the front door, she was greeted by an all too familiar face. "Elijah," she said, a small grin on her lips. "How nice to see you." She took a few steps closer to him, now just a few yards away. They hadn't seen one another for decades.
Elijah was leaning against a wall, arms crossed over his chest. "Belinda, it's a pleasure to see you again." His expression was virtually blank. They had never exactly been close, probably because she loved to push his buttons and he quickly grew tired of it.
She looked him over from head to toe. "I should've guessed you'd be one of those suit-wearing monkeys. You've always been pretty white bread."
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I don't suppose you stopped by to mock me, now did you." He glanced over his shoulder for a moment. A women's voice rang from the other room, one that Belle didn't recognize.
She smirked, curious. "Of course not." Her eyes shifted to the place from which the voice came.
She briskly crossed the floor past Elijah, purposely bumping into him as she started into the room. It was the compound's living room, again just the same as she remembered, aside from a few new items of furniture.
Lying on the couch on her side, legs hanging over the edge a little, was a woman not much older than twenty with chocolate brown hair and matching eyes. Belle noticed that she had a small baby bump as well.
She smirked, not trying to be rude. It was more of an involuntary response. "So, you must be Klaus's werewolf baby momma." Belle said, a hint of zeal ringing in her voice.
The woman's eyebrows furrowed in both annoyance and confusion. "Hayley," she corrected in a stern tone. "Who the hell are you?"
Belle chuckled, shaking her head. Hayley certainly had spunk, which Belle liked. It reminded her of herself. "Belle. I'm an old family friend." She stepped farther into the room, Elijah right on her heels.
She noticed the dark haired boy from the docks, Josh, sitting on a couch on the other side of the room with a young girl, no doubt still a teenager. She too had dark hair and blue eyes.
"And you are?" Belle asked the girl.
"Davina," she replied, a little uncomfortably. Belle had a tendency to come on too strong.
Klaus' voice boomed from the hallway. "I assume you're through terrorizing everyone." He walked into the room and tossed Belle a partly annoyed, partly amused look.
She sarcastically stuck out her bottom lip. "I'm not terrorizing anyone. I'm being absolutely peachy." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well then, make yourself at home. I believe Elijah and I have things to do." Klaus turned to Elijah.
She raised an eyebrow. "More things about the dead guy at the docks?"
He nodded. Without another word, he turned around and headed back toward the front door, gesturing for Elijah to follow "Try to behave yourself," he called, his voice echoing from the other room.
Belle rolled her eyes. "Dick." She tried to hide a smile. He had always been a flirt, something that she both loved and loathed equally.
Ignoring everyone's amused looks, she proceeded to make awkward small talk with three strangers, which was mostly just her telling them embarrassing stories or laughing at her own jokes. She wasn't exactly a people person, which explained why most people considered her to be a social pariah and why her only friend was one of the most feared and hated supernatural beings on the planet.
Surprisingly, she and Hayley got along quite nicely and had a lot of things in common. It had been a while since Belle had met someone who was a little more like her. Josh and Davina chimed in every once and a while, but for the most part they had their own conversations.
The sun was setting when Max arrived, walking abruptly into the room. "Come on Belle, we still have a lot of shit to unpack at home."
Belle groaned into the drink in her hand as she took a sip of it. "Fine." She set her drink on the coffee table and sat up straight. "Since when do you call the shots?" She stood up and stretching slightly.
Max's eyes wandered away from his older sister to the other side of the room where they met with Josh's. His face blushed bright red and he averted his eyes, turning away and running a hand over his face.
Belle noticed the exchange and grinned widely. "Oh my god, is that," she started, looking from one boy to the other, one hand over her gaping mouth. "Max, is this the cute guy you saw?"
Max continued to avoid her eyes.
Josh spoke up. "I'm sorry, umm, are you talking about me?" His cheeks turned bright crimson.
Belle nodded. "Aww, that's adorable. My baby brother has,"
"Come on, let's go!" Max kept his eyes locked on the floor.
She laughed at his embarrassment. "Fine. Let's go, lover boy." She grinned at him. She put on a straight face and crossed the room, turning at the entryway to say goodbye. "See you guys later."
They waved halfheartedly. "Bye."
She and Max turned around and walked out. At the front door, they met Klaus and Elijah. While Elijah went past them, Klaus lingered by the door.
"Go on Max, I'll be there in a little bit." She motioned for him to go ahead.
He hesitated, but nodded anyway and walked outside to his car, pushing carefully past Klaus. They had never really gotten on well.
"So, how's your evening been?" She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
Klaus shrugged. "Nothing too interesting, I can assure you. How was yours?
She shrugged, mimicking him. "It was okay. Hayley's a doll." She forced a small smile.
Klaus snorted. "Sure."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm gonna go. Goodnight, Nik." She looked away and walked past him.
He grabbed her by the arm as she walked by. "Belle,"
Her heart skipped a beat and she bit her bottom lip, wondering what he wanted.
She turned around to face him, clearing her throat. "Yes?"
He held her gaze for a few seconds before finally speaking. "There's blood on your shirt." His voice was low, tantalizing even. His fingers grazed the hem of her top, sending a shiver up her spine.
She hesitated for a second, trying to play it off with a clever and convincing explanation. "Whoops, I had a bite earlier. Guess I got a little messy." She shook her head and scoffed at herself. She never broke away from his gaze, trying to be convincing. "Don't worry, it was a tourist, not a local. I know the rules."
Klaus raised an eyebrow at her, seeming to wait for her to falter, but she didn't. He exhaled and nodded, believing her fib to be true. He trusted her. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow, then." He released her from his grasp and she walked off to her car.
She mentally kicked herself for the second time that day. How could she be so careless? She should've checked her clothes for blood before had she come.
She was thankful he believed her. Belle hated keeping this from Klaus, but she knew that if he did know, he would stop her. Not just because it was in his city, but because he looked out for her. But, she could take care of herself. It was her problem, not his. She only hoped that he wouldn't catch onto her trail. Klaus hated being lied to, everyone knew that.
She knew that she had to be more careful in the future. Things couldn't get screwed up, not now. She was so close to finally getting one of the few things she had wanted for the past nine hundred years, revenge.