A.N. - We're so close to 100 favs and 100 reviews! Let's make it happen people :)
I'm still in the process of planning my Klaroline story, in case anyone was curious. The title will be "A Thing Of The Past". PM me if you're curious about what I'm planning, or tweet me if you follow me on twitter (HaylijahIsLife).
Review and enjoy!
A collection of tools lay on the floor of Klaus's study in a circle, with Belle at their center. She had a small crowbar in her hands at the moment, trying to pry open the small box she had found in Claudia's old room.
She'd already tired everything she could think of: picking the lock with a hair pin, pulling the lock off with pliers, breaking the box with a hammer, and about twenty other things. She was seriously starting to consider using a blowtorch, but decided that possibly burning down the house was too big of a risk.
"Come on, you bastard! Open!"
She tried to wedge the edge of the crowbar between the top of the box and the rest, but it wouldn't budge. No doubt the box was protected by some spell, making it the cockroach of boxes. Indestructible.
Her hands were red and sore since she had been at it for well over an hour.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Belle turned to the door, meeting Colton's amused eyes. "Building a rocket. What the hell does it look like?" She rolled her eyes and went back to her futile attempts to master the art of opening magically protected boxes. "The damned thing is protected by a spell. It won't open and it won't break."
She exhaled in frustration and chucked the useless tool across the room, sending it clattering the floor, roughly 10 feet away. She really hated not having her full vampire abilities. It was a bigger pain than the box.
Colton's eyebrows knit together. "If it's a witchy thing, why don't you just have a witch help you? There's one that lives here, right?"
"Thank you Captain Obvious." She rolled her eyes. "For your information, I've already tried that. Davina couldn't even make a dent, not that this is even in the running for a priority of hers since, you know, she is trying to figure out what the hell's going on with me right now."
She stood up and packed away the tools into a box, leaving the box on Klaus's desk.
"Speaking of, how are you?" Colton stepped farther into the room, putting his hands on the back of a cushioned chair as he watched his elder sister with uncharacteristic caution as though she were a toddler playing on a playground for the first time and he was the parent.
She glanced back at him as she locked the tool box. "With the whole pregnancy thing? I'm fine. Well, better than fine." She paused, turning to face him. "I'm..." She struggled to find the right words since it seemed that none could even begin to encapsulate the feeling the bubbled within her. She could barely contain it as she put her hands on the front of the desk, leaning back and smiling like an idiot at nothing in particular.
"Fanfuckingtastic?" Colton suggested, laughing.
"Exactly, I guess." She laughed too, sharing a moment with her youngest brother. It was nice, normal even. Well, as normal as their family got.
It was about 3:00 in the afternoon when Audrey approached the living room with trepidation, a note in her right hand. She grasped it carefully between her thumb and index finger, seeming unsure about what to do with it.
Elijah raised an eyebrow, looking up from the book he was reading. "What is that?" He stood as he spoke, walking over to her warily.
Belle opened her eyes and propped herself up by her elbows. She was trying, a failing, to take a nap on the couch.
Carefully, Audrey handed the note to Elijah. "It's addressed to all of us - the Mikaelsons and Campbells. Doesn't say who it's from though."
Belle frowned. "What does it say, Elijah?"
A small crowd consisting of Audrey, Belle, Rebekah and Max formed around Elijah, awaiting his response.
"It says, 'Dinner. Your home. 8p.m.' "
"Dinner? Who the bloody hell sent that?" Rebekah snatched the note from Elijah's grasp examined it for herself.
"Who sends a note and doesn't sign it?" Max asked, standing behind Rebekah.
"Stalkers," Audrey muttered.
Belle backed away from the small crowd. "Where did you find this?"
She pointed toward the courtyard. "Out there on a table. There was a shit-ton of food on the table too.
Belle led the way, walking as quickly as her stout legs would allow. Sure enough, there was a rectangular table that could seat at least six around it that was covered with an assortment of edible goods.
Max eyed it curiously, taking a bread roll when he thought no one was looking and stuffing it in his mouth.
Klaus descended the stairs from the left, eyeing the scene with suspicion. "What's all this?" His voice was firm and sharp.
"It would appear we've been invited to host and unknown guest for dinner this evening." Elijah passed the note to Klaus, who eyed it thoroughly.
"And who, pray tell, left all this?" He tossed the paper onto the table dismissively, though Belle could see the gears working in his mind behind his eyes. He was developing a plan.
A bird chirped from overhead before it landed on the table, perched on a perfectly cooked ham.
"Is that a starling?" Rebekah's brows knit together as she reached for the bird, who flew away to perch on the rafters above them.
Their eyes stayed locked on the small feathered creature, who was singing without care over their heads.
Klaus and Elijah exchanged a look. "You don't suppose," Elijah began.
"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Klaus cut in.
Belle groaned. "We're not mind readers, guys. What's happening?"
Klaus's eyes met hers. For a moment she could've sworn she saw a glint of fear in them. If there was any, it was quickly smothered by the fury that ignited in his blue eyes. "Ester."
The house was being set up for what appeared to be a pretentious, lavished dinner, but from the look in everyone's eyes - namely Klaus' - it was like they were preparing for battle. Their dresses and suits were armor. Their silverware were weapons. Belle was definitely muling over the idea of throwing an especially sharp knife right at Claudia's head. Her lessened senses hadn't dulled her accuracy; it was forever ingrained into her, like knowing how to breathe. She didn't have to think about it.
A series of gruesome, diabolical schemes went through her head as she turned a letter opener over in her hand absentmindedly, thinking about all the creative ways she could make that woman suffer with just that one object.
She scoffed under her breath, realizing how much she sounded like Klaus. Not that that was a bad thing.
Her train of thought halted when Klaus came up from behind her. She'd been ready for at least half an hour and had been waiting for him to finish up. He was devastatingly handsome in his black suit with a white button-up shirt under the jacket and tie that had hundreds of small diamond shapes woven into the fabric, each tiny shape a different shade of either blue or gray. It reminded her of the ocean on a cloudy day.
She smirked. "Is the white shirt really a good choice? The blood will stand out far more."
"I assume that's why you're wearing black?" He smirked back, his dimples starting to show.
She loved his dimples. They made him look so innocent under his rugged exterior.
"Yeah. And I'm gearing up for two funerals. I'm thinking of having them on the beach, so everyone can enjoy themselves and we can send their burning corpses into the gulf." She laughed.
Klaus raised his eyebrows. "Viking funeral? Traditional and simple."
"Seriously though, what do you have planned? What if Claudia doesn't come with Ester? Or what if neither of them is even involved? We can't be certain."
He sighed and put his hands in his pockets, leaning back against the bed, looking so casual and cool like he usually did. Family strife was something he was all too familiar with.
"We've got it handled. Your mother will be a fairly easy target up against three Originals, not to mention if your siblings help," he said.
She rose an eyebrow skeptically at him. "And yours?"
His jaw clenched, but loosened when he spoke. "We'll figure out what to do with her."
Belle tried not to roll her eyes, keeping them locked on his. "You're kidding."
His expression hardened.
"You're not just going to 'figure out what to do'. Please tell me there's a plan, Klaus."
"It's a bit difficult to plan an attack when just a few hours ago we had no idea she was even alive. We don't know what her intentions are, nor do we know what weapons she has in her arsenal. If you haven't noticed, you're rather fragile at the moment. We can't just go taking risks on whims, Belinda," he snapped.
She balled her hands into fists and clenched her jaw just as tightly at the sound of the name her mother had given her. She took a deep breath, pretending to be calmer than she actually was. "Fine, Niklaus," she snap at him like it was poison. "We'll just wait. Let's get this over with." She stomped out of the room, her heels clicking against the wood below her feet, avoiding his eyes.
According to the clock in the dining room it was 8:00 p.m. on the dot.
Everyone started seating themselves around the table. Klaus sat at the head of the table, Belle to his left, Elijah to his right. Rebekah, Max and Audrey sat next to Elijah while Colton and Sabrina sat next to Belle, leaving a chair by Sabrina and the other chair at the opposite head open for their two "guests", although being a guest implies that someone was actually invited and didn't just invite themself.
Compelled servers put out the china and silverware at each place mat along with a glass of wine at each seat, except for Belle and Sabrina, who had wine glasses filled with sparkling water - Sabrina didn't drink. Belle figured it had something to do with their mothers' old habit of hitting the bottle too hard, but she didn't want to ask.
The stale, anxious silence was broken by the sound of shoes crossing the floor, coming from outside the dining room. They were light, almost like a child's. There was a visible shift in the mood of the room; everyone tensed up, preparing themselves for what was about to walk through the doorway. Klaus sat up taller, putting on an intimidating gaze and stern expression. Seconds later, a figure emerged from the shadows into the room. A girl, no older than sixteen or seventeen with short dark hair and eyes that looked black in the dim lighting. Belle recognized her as the girl from the cemetery: Cassie. Her lips curled into a smile, though her eyes were shooting daggers into everyone who looked into them.
"Hello, my children." She looked straight at Klaus, Rebekah and Elijah. "How I've missed you." Her smile widened, now showing her teeth along with two dimples at the corners of her lips.
The way she carried herself, the confident - almost motherly - look in her eyes as she watched the three Originals carefully, made it completely obvious, despite the doubtful look on Klaus' face. This was her - Ester Mikaelson.
Klaus narrowed his eyes, wary before letting the word slip past his lips, which were set in a firm line, "Mother?"
A wide smile remained fixed on her face as her eyes locked with his. "My son."