The Originals: The Original Vampire Human Hybrid
Chapter Two: Theory? Or Chance?
"Stupid heart! " I cursed hating that it was so weak, hating that it was failing me, hating that now everyone was going to know.
Klaus rushed in at the sound of Marcel's voice, but he instantly spotted me with one hand on the wall the other on my chest. "Somethings wrong." Marcel said weakly not knowing what was going on either.
Klaus rushed over to me "Nikki..." my name on his lips sounded desperate, its why I didn't want him to know...what if he couldn't accept this? "Its okay..." I breathed out a little less shaky, "its fading now."
"What's fading?" that was my Uncle now appearing beside my father. "The pain." I answered.
"When did that start?" Hayley asked also appearing out of nowhere beside my Uncle.
"There's something I never told you..." I said realizing I was going to have to come clean, at least a little. "Three years ago I lost someone very important to me, I cried so hard that I almost couldn't breath, the pain was too much...the trauma caused a massive heart attack that damaged my heart. Since then I've had three mini heart attacks and my Dr says that my heart is failing...stupid old lady heart." I said to lighten the mood...it didn't work at all.
"Old lady heart?" Marcel asked
I frowned "My inside doesn't look like my outside. My organs are old, really old. Technically my organs are in the same shape that you would find inside an old lady who's at the end of her days."
"So your dying?" Jason said shocked.
"No, there has to be something we can do, blood, vampire blood could heal you." Camille said but I shook my head.
My father understood what I was saying "Vampire blood can heal many things, but it can not stop nature, I could give her every ounce of my blood, it still wouldn't save her life."
"He's right, when someone is dying of natural causes and you try to save them with vampire blood it never works. " My Uncle said.
I was feeling much better now, I straightened up "Please don't worry, I'm feeling much better now, I just over did it a little."
"If a little push like that is overdoing it then you should probably be in bed resting." Marcel said then he looked at Jason, then back at me "Why did you push me anyways? I wasn't gonna hurt him or anything. I just didn't know what was going on."
"I..I don't know, I panicked." I said honestly.
Hayley went over to Jason now "I wanna know what's going on...and I wanna know now." she said
"He didn't know anything about this.." I said in his defense.
"I don't mean the heart problem you didn't tell us about...I mean the looks he's been giving you." She said.
"Looks?" Camille asked
I frowned, apparently I had missed his looks.
Jason always fearless didn't seem to care that a hybrid was giving him a dirty look. "I will tell you nothing without her consent." he said bravely.
Hayley's mouth dropped open and she looked at me "Consent?" she looked back at him "What the hell would you tell me that would require her consent?" she demanded. "I mean what, are you lovers." she said jokingly, like it was the most outrageous thing she could think of. Jason looked away.
Camille's mouth dropped open now "Oh...my God..you can't be serious!"
"Stop it! This was suppose to be a fun night and I will not have it ruined!" I glared at them not realizing that I'd said it in French, I tend to slip into my native tongue when I'm upset.
Hayley looked at me curiously not knowing what I said.
"Shh...alright..alright, We will forget all this for tonight, we will finish the evening and then, in the morning little one we are going to talk and you are going to tell us everything about what's going on with you." He said responding in French as well. It helped to calm me.
"He's right, this doesn't need to be dealt with right now, lets enjoy the evening." Jason said and the others seemed surprised that he spoke those words in French. But I wasn't. That's how we met after all. I tutored him in French for his college class.
"I almost forgot that you speak French." Camille said remembering now apparently.
"Just one more thing I learned from your mother." Jason smirked.
That however was the wrong thing to say, and got my father's attention. "Not many people can speak fluent french." he stated.
Jason back peddled. "Well actually that's how I met Nicole, Cami's mother didn't know much more then I did, she only pretended because she wanted to hang out with me, once I realized that I went looking for another tutor because I still needed to pass French class. My chances were looking grim when I finally met Nikki, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here today." he said.
They probably assumed he meant that metaphorically, but I assure you, he meant it literally. Nice save though, I thought to myself. Who knew Jason was so good at creative thinking.
"I thought you met mom on the rooftop of the college?" Camille stated.
I frowned at him horrified that he would tell her the truth. The truth is, Jason had been about to kill himself when I met him, he thought he was going to lose his scholarship and I didn't know him at all but when I saw him up on that ledge...well I couldn't just do nothing. So I talked him off of it!
"That sounds like an interesting story." I said
Everyone was pretty much in here anyways by now, we were the only ones left at the get together.
"I don't mind hearing it again, if no one else minds." Camille stated.
"It does seem like an interesting tale to be heard. What were you doing on the roof I wonder." My Uncle said
Jason blushed never liking to be put on the spot but he shrugged it off "I was tending the garden." he said glancing at me and I nodded slightly giving him permission to lie to his hearts content about the whole thing. It was clear that he'd told Camille this lie before.
"And then mom came out because she thought it was her turn and that's when she ran into you." she said
Jason paused looking at her for a long moment that seemed to last forever, then he looked at me frowning and shook his head "I...I can't do this. I wish I had never met you. " he said heartbroken.
Before I could ask why he would say that he continued "If it wasn't for me...you wouldn't be dying."
I frowned at him angry "You don't know that! For all we know this might have still happened."
"Yeah, maybe in fifty more years, but because of me its happening now! This is my fault! I never should have let you go through with it, I should have listen to the Dr." Jason said.
Okay, now I was really getting mad and I let my temper get the better of me, for the first time in my life. I went over and slapped him "How can you say that!"
Jason had tears in his eyes now, unable to fight his feelings any longer "Because I can't do it Nikki, I can't live in this world without you."
I stared at him for a moment then hugged him tight, how could I argue with that? Its exactly what I'd said to him to get him off that roof top.
"Your in love with her." Hayley said seeing it now, and so did everyone else. And because one plus one always makes two, it didn't take them long to figure the rest out on their own. No one said it, but everyone knew. And I'm sure some things made a lot more sense now.
Tons of memories came flooding back, starting with meeting Jason and ending with the day I discovered my sons grave. The pain came flooding back too and I felt it, it started in my arm, and traveled to my chest and I knew then, this was it. The pain overwhelmed me and I collapsed in Jason's arms and the world went black.
I woke to the beeping, it was the sound of a heart monitor. I opened my eyes and saw hospital equipment, apparently they stole it. I pulled the wires off of me and pulled out tried to pull out the IV but then Hayley came in and saw what I was doing, she rushed over to stop me.
"Nikki stop, listen to me. Focus on me okay..." she said and I frowned up at her.
"I'm not doing this, I'm not gonna die like this!" I told her.
"Nikki Dr. Cale is here. He came by last night, he'd been trying to get a hold of you and when you didn't answer he came here. He's explaining things to your dad now, he has a theory that when you die, you'll come back in transition because you'll die with vampire blood in your system."
"I know, I knew when he told me that there was vampire blood mixed in with my human blood. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." I said sadly not wanting to tell them of the choice I'd already made about that.
"I'll go tell your dad that your awake." She said.
I waited sitting up in the bed, he wasn't long. He arrived in no time with Dr. Cale. Great.
My father came over and kissed me on the forehead "How are you feeling?"
"Better, but um...I need this out. I gotta go." I said feeling the need to pee. I wanted them to take out the IV.
Dr. Cale came over and removed it saying "Sorry, it was just a precaution, I thought you might get dehydrated. " he said he then watched as the entry wound healed itself.
I got up then and rushed to the bathroom feeling like I might not make it. Thank goodness I did. That would have been embarrassing.
I came back out and went over to the closet. "Nikki, you need to lay back down." Dr. Cale told me.
I ignored that saying "I think I want to go for a walk outside. There's a lovely garden outside."
Dr. Cale sighed but didn't push it, he knew he wouldn't win a battle of wills against me.
"Very well, fresh air might do you some good, but go with someone." Dr. Cale said.
I picked out a pretty All Saints Delfina Dress. When I bought they had gray and ebony. I chose Ebony. It was considered my little black dress. I then looked at them "Well, get out so I can change." I shooed them away with my hamd.
My father smirked and then left, pausing outside and shutting the door once Dr. Cale was out. What? My heart is dying, not my sense of humor!
I put the dress n and smiled, it was girly and youthful, and it fit me perfectly. It was actually a date night dress and something I had bought when I was here last time, well, actually my Aunt Rebekah bought it for me using dad's money. But that's beside the point. I mean if today was my last, or even tomorrow or how ever long I had, I wanted to look great.
I came out and spotted dad "Lovely, though a bit fancy for an ordinary day, lets have breakfast first." he said holding out his hand. I took it and let him lead me to the stairs, then before I knew it he swooped me up in his arms and carried me the rest of the way to the table.
"I can walk you know." I said but wasn't really upset about it.
"I know." He said back, okay then so he just wanted to carry me. That was fine with me.
He set me down by a chair.
Dr. Cale came in then with a blood bag.
That's when I realized they were up to something,
"Don't panic, I had an idea. I want to see what kind of effect drinking human blood would have on you, there's a slight chance that it might help, not much, but it might help a little. Or it might do nothing. I want you to be honest with me about something, as long as you've lived, have you ever even once craved human blood? " Dr Cale asked.
I looked at him frowning, he'd never asked me that before, no one had ever asked me that. I sighed and gave him an honest answer. "Twice."
That answer stunned the Dr, and dad. "When?" Dr. Cale asked curious. Probably wondering how long it had been.
I sat down then "The first time was in 1725, I was fourteen and I had come down stairs and saw the mess of bodies my father had left behind. Some still had drying blood on them and I felt a new kind of hunger, I knew what it was the second I felt it and I fought it like the plague and left the room." I said
"Why did you never tell me this?" My father asked
"I was afraid you would start making me drink human blood." I told him honestly.
"Nikki, its very possible that that was your bodies way of telling you that you needed to start having human blood. Your half vampire, in a way you've deprived your vampire half and so its weaker then your human half, that could be why your organs are now failing you." Dr. Cale told me.
Perhaps he was right. But none of that mattered now. It was too late, and I'd rather die anyway then have drink human blood just to stay alive.
"What about the second time?" Dr. Cale asked and frankly the second one had been my biggest clue of all. I looked away, because even though everyone probably had figured it out, admitted it was something totally different. "In 1993." I said.
"The year you found out you were pregnant?" Dr. Cale asked.
"It was one of the things I craved." I admitted to him.
That stunned him. While he digested that my father was digesting something else "And the massive heart attack you suffered four years ago? " my father asked
"I did a location spell to find Sean, it led me to his grave...I just wasn't prepared for that." I said honestly, my voice breaking. I didn't like to think about Sean.
"No one can ever be ready for the loss of a child, now is not the time to relive old pain." Dr. Cale told me and then placed a blood bag in front of me.
"Try to drink some of that please, then I will take another look at you and you will be more then welcome to take a walk after that." Dr. Cale told me.
I sighed "Can I have bacon and eggs too?" I asked
"Of course, I was about to do just that." My father said then went over to the stove in the kitchen and started the bacon and eggs. I wasn't about to touch the blood, at least not til afterwords, I didn't want it to ruin the taste of the bacon and eggs.
Hayley came down then and I wasn't sure where Jason was but he was probably having a talk with Camille, or visiting Sean's grave. I tried not to think about any of that. My biggest secret, my only secret, was out. I didn't count myself though because my name wasn't my secret, it was my father's secret. My father had kept me a secret for a long time, but it became pretty clear that he was over that after Hope was born. He didn't want to hide me from the world anymore.
"Are you staying for breakfast Travis?" I asked my Dr. He smirked but shook his head "No, but I will wait til you drink some of that before I go, I'll have to take a sample of your blood later and check on you." he added
Dad came out then with a plate setting it in front of me and then sat by my side to watch. I smirked, he used to do that when I was younger, I once asked him why he did it, he simply said he liked to watch me enjoy my meals.
While I ate my father explained to Hayley that the Dr wanted me to try drinking human blood to see if it had any effect on me, My Uncle was coming down and heard as well.
"That's an interesting theory, how ever did you come up with that?" My Uncle asked the Dr.
"I have a friend, like me he has a client that isn't all human, there's someone else like Nikki, a male, but he drinks human blood almost as much as he eats human food. I always wondered why Nikki never drank human blood, then I thought it might be because she never let herself have any, and I realized if anything it might help." Travis explained.
"There's someone else like Nikki?" Hayley asked surprised. I'd been surprised to at first.
"Yes, only..." Travis paused.
"Only what?" Hayley asked
"Nicole is the original vampire human hybrid, she was born first, he was born almost a century later." Travis said.
"Fascinating." My Uncle said looking at me. "Another Original to add to our family."
I blushed saying "Gee, and here I thought I'd already been added to the family." I said grinning like mad. Then I grabbed my bacon with my fingers.
I looked up then because I smelled him. Camille was with him. "Sorry to interrupt, I want to talk to my mother." Cami said looking at me.
"Camille, it can wait. She's eating." Jason said stating the obvious.
Cami looked at my plate then glared "Are you guys nuts? Do you know how unhealthy bacon is? Your just gonna kill her faster, feeding her stuff like that!"
"Oh come one, don't take my bacon, that's just mean." I pouted, not that anyone was taking my bacon but I think I made my point.
"We have a new theory that might help." Dr. Cale said "Speaking of which, you should try to drink some now." he said to me noticing that I was now done with my food.
Cami sat down willing to wait, Jason stood like a guard near her. I looked with disgust at the bag of blood. But a theory is a theory, so I picked it up.
"Wait, Blood is your big theory?" Cami said sounding sympathetic.
I removed the small cap and brought it closer, a lot like a child about to take nasty medicine, then I quickly took two sips and made a face setting it back down.
"Yuck!" I whined unable to help myself.
"More please, that wasn't very much." Dr. Cale said and I frowned at him.
My father touched my hand and I looked at him and too late I realized what he meant to do "Drink half the bag." he ordered, compelling me. I blinked after that and picked up the bag again.
"Klaus, that's cheating." Cami said frowning at him.
"In order to see if it will work she should drink at least half the bag." Klaus reasoned.
I took several more sips from the bag making faces the whole time and whining because it was unfair and I didn't want to do this!
Once I had drank half the bag the compulsion wore off and I threw it at him. "That was unfair and dirty!" I told him standing up "Jason would you walk with me please?" I asked
"Sure, but Cami wanted word with you." Jason said
I looked at her "Right, well?" I asked not unkindly.
"It was Sean wasn't it? His death, that's what caused your heart attack." Cami said
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and nodded slowly "I guess my old heart couldn't take it. " I told her.
"I'm sorry, that must have been really hard for you. There was a time when I thought I would never get over his death, I remember how much it hurt when I found out he was dead. And then when I got here I found out it was so much more complicated then that. " Cami said "Why did you never tell me who you were?"
I scoffed "Would you have believed me? "
"Probably not." She said after thinking about it.
"Was there anything else?" I asked because it seemed like there was more on her mind. Hayley had gone to the kitchen to make a bottle for Hope, and Dr. Cale had left already but I knew he'd be back to check on me later. My father and my Uncle decided to stick around. My Uncle took a seat deciding to listen along with my father while we talked.
"Yeah...why did you leave us?" Cami asked
"Camille..." Jason scowled unhappily.
I sat back down at that. Looking down at the table I was filled with guilt "People were starting to notice." I said then looked back up at her.
"Notice what?" Cami asked
"That my college girlfriend wasn't aging." Jason supplied.
Tears filled my eyes "I just wanted you to have a normal life, and the only way to do that was to leave, if I had stayed, we would have had to keep moving around every couple years, that's not the kind of life I wanted for you and your brother. I wanted you both to be happy. In the end, I guess it was all for nothing, your a vampire, and your brother is dead..." I sniffed then because my nose was runny due to me fighting back tears.
"I'm going for a walk now." I said getting up again walking out, not waiting for Jason.
It was my father that stopped me, and I could see that he was hurting for me "Nikki listen to me, I may not know how it feels to lose a child, but I know what I felt when I realized that I might lose you soon. And having to watch you die? I can't imagine a worse fate for myself. I don't think I could survive losing you." My father said and that's exactly how I felt when I found Sean's grave, I felt like I would never survive it...the only difference there, is that I didn't raise him. I loved my kids and it hurt when I knew Sean was dead, but it wasn't the same, it would be ten times worse for my father, because my father was completely attached to me. He watched me grow up, loved and protected me with a fierceness that I had always hated, had been there for nearly every big moment of my life. And now, he would be there for my death.
"Travis says there's a chance I might come back, in transition." I said.
"He also said there's a chance you won't. The vampire blood inside you is polluted with human blood. It may not be enough to bring you back. Which is why I hope he's right, perhaps feeding you human blood will make it stronger, strong enough to save you." he said
I knew exactly where this was going, I hugged him then "I want you to promise me something, in case things don't turn out the way we hope."
"Anything." he said
"Don't let Jason kill himself. " I said
My father smiled a little "There was no garden on the roof top, was there?" he asked
I smiled back "Oh there was...but that's not exactly where I met him."
"You talked him out of jumping, didn't you. No wonder he fell for you, you'll have to tell me the real story when you return from your walk." he said letting go and headed back to the dinning room.
I made my way upstairs and spotted my Aunt Freya in the storage room where they kept their stash of random stuff.
Aunt Freya was looking at a book, the book that I needed. "What are you doing?" I asked frowning at her.
"Me? I was just looking at this spell book, its genius." She said holding it up briefly to show me. But I already knew what it was.
"That was my mothers!" I said upset, I went over and took it from her. Its not that I didn't want to share but I had plans and I didn't want her to get in the way, I couldn't wait for her to get done, she could look at it another time. I needed it now.
"I...I'm sorry, I didn't know. I don't know anything about your mother, but if that is hers, then she was a brilliant witch, its all in French. I wasn't all that good at speaking French, I was going to use magic to translate it to English." my Aunt said.
"Later, for now though I'd like to look at it, its in her hand writing." I said calming down now, I didn't like to think about my mother, all I really knew about her was that something had happened, something so awful that my father wouldn't even talk about her.
"Alright, I'll come back later and look at it." She touched my hair and smiled weakly. "Again, I'm sorry, I should have asked first."
I hugged her "Its okay, its not your fault, I'm sorry I overreacted, its just...no one ever really touches this." I said honestly.
She smiled again and then left the room.
I took a deep breath and headed down the stairs and out the door. The others would think I was taking my walk now...and in a way I was. I was taking my walk...all the way to my sons grave.
TBC...