A.N - This story finally reached 100 followers! (101 to be exact) Thank you guys so much; it means a lot. Please keep it up and review :)

A meeting was called at St. Anne's church that morning. Despite being an "exclusively human" group, vampires - usually Klaus, Elijah or Marcel - attended every meeting, sometimes without an invitation. This however wasn't one of those times. Apparently there were three new missing persons cases in the past two weeks, so of course the humans immediately pointed their accusing fingers at the vampires.

Klaus and Belle rode in the Range Rover to the meeting, a comfortable silence between them. She was too busy with her thoughts. At last, they arrived and went inside. A few others were still coming in by the time they sat down in one of the pews.

Father Kieran approached the podium once everyone was seated. Belle scoffed at the irony of a priest associating with "demons". He cleared his throat quietly. "I'm sure you all have heard about the recent disappearances."

"And, as expected, you don't hesitate to implicate the vampires." Klaus interjected. He wasn't exactly known for his patience or for holding his tongue.

Kieran sighed. "We're just trying to weed out all possibilities," he said.

"I believe I can help you with that," a woman's voice declared. Belle's blood ran cold as she turned around so quickly she nearly gave herself whiplash. There Claudia stood, taking off her dark sunglasses as her eyes made contact with Belle's. Their eyes stayed locked as she spoke to the room. "My younger son can be quite temperamental. Sometimes he just gets carried away." Venom dripped from her final words. Belle knew they were aimed at her.

"Who are you?" A nameless human demanded.

Belle stood, arms crossed. "Shouldn't you get out of here before you burst into flames?" Her lips were pressed in a firm line, no doubt everyone in a ten foot radius could feel the anger and revulsion radiating from her.

Klaus let out a long, irritated sigh.

"Wait, are you saying that your son killed those people?" Kieran asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Are people in this town completely brainless? Yes, that's what I'm saying."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Belle resisted the urge to yell, not that it would matter. They were already causing a scene.

Klaus stood up from his seat. "Alright ladies, let's take this outside." He grabbed Belle by the arm and pulled her away. Claudia followed suit. "I'll be back shortly."

"Damn vampires," someone mumbled.

Belle glared at Klaus, struggling under his iron grasp. "Let go of me, asshole." He released her once they were outside before he went to stand several yards away, observing them with perfect concentration. She hoped he was plotting her mother's murder.

Claudia shook her head disdainfully. "What that really necessary?" Her eyes darted around like she was searching for someone.

"Is your involvement in my life really necessary? That's a more atp and important question, don't you think?" She shot back.

"Of course it is. You're my child."

"Oh, so now you decide to start acting like a mother. Congratulations! Let's throw you a god damned party."

The start of their heated feud was interrupted by a middle-aged man wearing a leather jacket that was too tight. His graying hair hung down in his face, nearly hiding his eyes. Belle didn't recognize him. He walked up to Claudia with a pair of car keys dangling from his fingers. "Hey babe, I know you're in the middle of something, but I'm going to the bar down the street. Here are the keys so you can drive home." She noticed a daylight ring on his thumb. Great.

"I just threw up in my mouth a little." Belle gagged and scrunched her nose. "Who the fuck are you?" She glared at the wannabe-punk-but-too-old-to-pull-it-off man that was involved with her mother, probably in ways that would haunt her dreams.

"Marcus," he said, nodding in her direction.

Claudia glared at her in derision. "Where are your manners?"

She raised an eyebrow "How long have you been a vampire, Marcus?"

"Uh, about fifty years or so." He shifted uneasily under her piercing gaze.

Belle lips curled into a wicked smirk. "I'm guessing he's the reason you killed my father." She gave them both a look that could only be described as pure hatred. "After all, he died about fifty years ago and was torn apart by werewolves from what I hear." Her eyes were locked on Claudia's, waiting for them to show any kind of emotion.

"That proves nothing." She crossed her arms, not giving anything away. The only quality of her mother's Belle had ever envied was her ability to tell a good lie.

Her eyes narrowed. "Werewolves are very hard to come by, so my best guess is that you did the exact thing Charlotte tried to do to me."

"And what would that be?"

"You threw him to the wolves, literally."

Claudia's mouth hung open for a moment in fake shock. "How dare you! I loved your father. His death was a tragic accident." Belle knew Claudia was resisting her natural instinct to slap her.

She scoffed. "I'm sure."

The tension between them was so thick it could be cut with a spoon. "Goodbye, Belinda. Do stop by some time if you have anymore accusations to spit in my face." She flashed a fake smile before walking away, snatching the keys from her boyfriend's hand. Marcus practically ran in the opposite direction.

Klaus pushed past her without saying a word. "Where are you going?" she called. He didn't answer as he ascended the stairs back into the church. She frowned. "Great. Now everyone's mad at me." She shoved her hands into her pockets and started walking toward the compound.

On her way, she walked by a bar and a lightbulb lit up in her head. She walked inside and smiled at the sight of Marcus sitting on a bar stool drinking a beer next to the other day drinkers and bar flies. She approached him from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.

Her turned around. "What are you doing here? Go home little girl." She rolled her eyes. It took 18 ounces of liquid courage to make him a man, apparently.

"Don't act like your my father." She spit in his face before pulling him to his feet. She pinned his arms behind his back and dragged him out the back door. Thankfully, everyone was either too drunk or distracted to notice.

He stuggled in her hold as she led him "What are you doing you crazy little -" She snapped his neck before he could finish his vulgar comment. She grinned diabolically as he fell to the floor. Boy, did she have plans for him. It's a shame he would live long enough to see them unfold.

After a quick trip to the hardware store, she was finished. She took a few steps back to admire her work, the way Klaus did when he finished a painting. Klaus would be proud of her if he saw what she had done. Marcus was strung up in one of the apple trees in the Campbell's front yard, bloody and with a stake through his heart. There was a note pinned to his shirt that read: "You broke my father's heart, so I broke his." She wiped the blood on her hands on her pants and walked away, grinning at the thought of Claudia discovering her handy work upon her arrival home.

The day was still young when she got back to the compound. Klaus sat in the courtyard with a look of utter rage and disappointment. "What have you been up to?" he snapped.

"Hello to you too." She rolled her eyes. He gave her a don't-make-me-repeat-myself look, so she fessed up. "I made the first move."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Against my mo- against Claudia. I killed her ragamuffin boyfriend and strung him up in her front yard." She paused, watching his reaction. "She wasn't going to make a move, so I figured I would."

"You're trying to provoke her," he said. She thought for a second he was angry, but then his lips formed the divilish smirk she loved and she knew he was proud. "I suppose we're now going to war. Excellent."