Warning for this book. It's Rated M for 18 and up only due to content such as language and sexual descriptions and situations and violence.
Also, I don't own anything from the Vampire Diaries Universe or where I got inspired from True Blood for my original characters.
Alla Berger as Rose Willow (20 years old)
Chapter 2: Finding Friends
I was sitting in my room next to Hayley's, on my giant bed. It's been three weeks since Elijah abandoned Hayley and I with no word on where he went or why. I keep feeling a pain in my chest since that day he left, making me wonder if Klaus is telling the truth. But I'm unsure of why he would lie to us about Elijah. I just have this ache and been feeling depressed since then. Barely leaving my room except for the necessities. Or food. Hayley has kept me company but still. It's like a piece of me is missing. Plus, I'm still getting used to the supernatural world and what not.
I pause as I hear the door open, knowing that everyone was already home. I get off the bed and grab a broom near my door. I look over to see Hayley, wielding a fire iron, and we nod at each other before heading towards the stairs. My eyebrows furrow upon seeing a blonde woman come in. "Who the hell are you?"
"Oh, you two must be the maids. My bags are in the car – get them, will you?" She says and Hayley smiles wryly, putting down the iron poker as I set aside the broom.
"Hello. Not the maids." Hayley says, shaking her head at the blond.
"Right. You're that werewolf girl my brother, Klaus, knocked up. Or one of you are," She says and looks at me with confusion in her eyes before looking at her again. "It's Hayley, isn't it?" She looks to the said pregnant werewolf. "Who are you then?" She points at me and I shrug my shoulders.
"I'm Rose," I say and she nods her head at me.
"You have your brother's manners," Hayley says, making the original look over at the wolf.
"And his temper, too, so watch it. Where's Elijah?" She asks and Hayley scuffs at the name, causing Rebekah to furrow her eyebrows.
"Beats me. He's long gone," Hayley answers and I feel that sharp jab in my chest again, making me clench over my heart with my fist.
"What do you mean, "long gone"?"
Hayley, looking annoyed says, "Well, one minute he was here making epic promises about protecting us in this predicament that a bottle of scotch and some bad decisions got me into – he was all poetic about how we're family – and then Klaus told me he bailed. Guess that's what we get for trusting a vampire."
Rebekah shakes her head and goes to walk around us as she says, "Elijah is not just any vampire, and he doesn't break promises. Which means Niklaus has done something dastardly and Klaus-like." Then, she opens a door as Hayley and I follow her and she starts shouting. "Klaus! Get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!"
Klaus opens a pair of doors and enters the room, making me cross my arms over my chest to hide my discomfort/pain. "Enough with all the shouting." He glances at Hayley for a moment before waving a hand at his sister. "Little sister, I should have known. I assume the six dead vampires were your doing?"
"They were very rude. Trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way to the Quarter. So sorry, were they friends of yours? Oh, that's right, you don't have any friends," Rebekah says, making me chuckle as I start to walk away and go upstairs. "Where are you going?" Rebekah asks and I sigh as I turn around.
"To go lie down and rest my head," I reply, walking away and ignoring the looks I was getting as I shut the door behind me. Great. We have another vampire in the house. Vampires, werewolves and hybrids, oh my. And one human in the mix, just... fantastic. I sigh as I shut the door in my bedroom and jump on my bed, my back hitting it as I twist around. I shut my eyes briefly, trying to find some comfort in the darkness before I fall asleep.
Finally, when I woke up it wasn't to the birds chirping or slamming from the hybrid downstairs at another thing Hayley did to annoy him. It was from my phone going off. My eyebrows furrow before I pick up my phone and see it's my dad, which means my parents are calling me again to come back home. To come back home and be a good little Christian girl and try to pick a husband for me. I huff as I decide the best thing to do and the normal thing to do, is answer my phone. I sigh as I answer, putting the phone to my ear and running a hand through my hair. "Hello?" I answer.
"Rosie, hey dearie," My mother says, usually when she wants something from me.
"Hey, Rose, how are you?" Dad said, making me grimace.
"Hey, guys. Um, I'm doing okay, just waking up," I answered, hoping that will leave it at that.
"Well... That's good that you're having fun, sweetie," Mom says. I roll my eyes as it's only ten o'clock now and I find it stupid that she thinks that's my idea of fun. Or maybe she's not even listening to me. I know it's unfair to want to be away from them, electronically too. But my whole life has been planned out for me. I've always had a strict life and my parents only cared when it benefited them. I couldn't wear dresses or other clothes that would compliment me or make me feel like myself. And when I hit eighteen... It was even more worse. Trying to find proper suitors for me to marry and have children with. As long as they were rich though. I finally had enough a year later and decided to move around a bit til I landed in New Orleans.
"Okay?" I replied back after a bit.
"When are you coming back?" Mom asks and I grind my teeth together, not answering. "We just found the perfect man for you. His name is Jonathan and he's a surgeon. He likes books and animals. And he wants-"
"I'm not coming back, mom," I said, interrupting her and not wanting to hear how great this match would be.
"You're truly selfish, Rose," Dad says and I roll my eyes, knowing what's about to happen. So I hang up my phone and turn it off, not wanting to hear from them for awhile.
I really don't want to deal with this day any longer than needed to be.
Hayley ended up convincing me to go with her to the French Quarter, despite Klaus' orders and after the phone call with my parents I really needed a change of scenery. So here I am, walking up to a stop with Hayley right when the shopkeeper appears to be leaving. "Hey, hey!" Hayley says and the woman shakes her head.
"We're closed, sorry," The shopkeeper says.
"I just need one teeny, tiny little herb. Please?" She says, making me wonder why this was so important in the first place.
The woman sighs and asks, "Which herb?"
Hayley looks over at me before sighing and saying, "Crushed aconite flower."
The woman's eyes go wide for a moment as she says, "Wolfsbane? That's a poison. You're gonna kill a wolf?"
Hayley looks down at my small bump and says, "Just a little one." It clicks in my head what she was doing. A miscarriage. I mean, why else would she poison herself? I felt conflicted for a moment as the woman goes back in the shop. I understood why she wanted to kill the baby, but I don't know if she was sure or not. But I'm not her so I figured it wasn't in my position except to support her for this.
After a few seconds the woman comes back, holding a phial in her hand. "Cut it with jimson weed. A few drops in some hot tea – that should do it." Hayley nods and goes to hand the lady some money, but she refuses, pushing the money away. "It's an ugly town for wolves. You're doing the right thing." Hayley and I look at each other before deciding to walk away from her.
After a few minutes of walking, Hayley finally says, "I know it's horrible, but-"
"It's your body," I say, interrupting her as we walk. "I just hope you don't live to regret anything," I say, looking over at her to see her sigh.
"I hope so too," She says and we walk in silence for a little longer before I decide to try to cheer her up once I see an ice cream shop nearby. I smile, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the ice cream shop.
"Let's go freeze our brains!" I say, making her laugh as we walk in the shop.
It's nighttime now as we sit on a bench, her dripping the poison into a cup of some tea. I watch her as she does and keep silent, squeezing her hand as she holds my hand. She pauses for a moment and says, mainly to herself, "Come on, Hayley. One upset stomach and all this stupid drama is ancient history." She lifts the cup toward her face, closes her eyes, then opens them and lowers the cup again without drinking it. I smile at her decision, knowing this was a hard choice for her. She sighs, then we hear a branch snap nearby. We stand up, looking around, then I turn to find a vampire right in front of me. "Looks like we have dessert, tonight," He replies before two more vampires show up.
His veins are out as I freeze as one of them looks at Hayley and says, "Dumb move, coming into the Quarter. You're coming with me, wolf."
Hayley growls as she says, "I have had it up to here with vampires telling me what to do." Then, she throws the cup's contents into his face, and he roars in pain. She spins around, only to be faced with the other two vampires. Suddenly Rebekah shows up, snaps the neck of one vampire and rips the heart out of the back of the other.
We freeze, watching Rebekah hold a heart in her hand and she says, "Now, that is no way to treat a pregnant lady. I do hate bad manners." She throws the heart on the ground. Hayley and I gapes at her, still in shock.
We're finally back home as Klaus throws a body onto a small pile in the front courtyard while he berates us for bad behavior. Man, I feel like a child again as I hug myself and watch him throw another dead body into the pile. "This is why I told you never to leave the house. Werewolves are banned in the Quarter. I had a plan, and your little nighttime stroll put it all in peril! Leave him!" He shouts, as Rebekah was walking towards a guy that was thrown in the pile, but he was groaning. She stops at his demand though. "You've done enough, don't you think? Leaving a trail of bodies like a road map to my door?"
Rebekah snaps back, "If I hadn't overheard this lot bragging about werewolf heads, everyone here would be screwed. And don't give me that crap about having a plan. You've had all the time in the world to execute a plan, and no one's seen you do a damn thing! Elijah made a deal to protect your child, so that it could save you from your selfish, rotten self. But you obviously don't give a damn about the child or Elijah, because what have you done to honor it?"
Klaus growls and replies back, "I have done everything. Let me spell it out for you, shall I? From the day I arrived, Marcel hasn't trusted me. From Day One, he's had his vampires ingest toxic vervain which, as you know, little sister, protects them from my mind control. I needed a spy, someone on the inside with me who Marcel would never suspect. So, I created a Day Zero and got there first. Marcel had just lost six vampires, thanks to your little murder spree, and he needed new recruits. So, I made the new one mine, before he'd had even a drop of vervain." Then, he goes and grabs the very much alive vampire from the pile.
"And this one – I'm gonna drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah, so that he can explain to Marcel why he lost three more vampires tonight," Klaus continues, walking pas us as he drags the vampire into the house; making us three follow him inside. He drops the vampire and turns around to face us as he says, "Does anyone have any more questions? No? Good, because I have a question. Rose, Hayley, what were you two doing in the bloody French Quarter in the first place?" We both keep silent making him more pissed and yell at us, "Answer me!"
Rebekah steps forward and says, "Leave them be."
Hayley ignores me as I go to stop her from stepping toward him and she says, "You wanna know what I was doing? I was buying poison, so I could put your little baby out of its misery." In an instant, Klaus runs at her with vampire speed and pins her to the door by the neck. She gasps for air as I let out a scream before running at him as Rebekah stands beside him calling his name to stop. He doesn't listen as I try grabbing his arm that's choking her to let go, but he shoves me to the wall behind him and I cry out in pain. Rebekah runs at Klaus with vampire speed, pushes him off of Hayley and grabs him by the shoulders. Hayley coughs and splutters, massaging her throat before walking towards me in worry.
"Keep your hands off her! She is pregnant, for God's sake! All of this bluster about not wanting the child, and then the second she tells you she's ready to get rid of it? It's okay to care. It's okay to want something. That's all Elijah was trying to do, all he's ever wanted for you. All we've ever wanted," Rebekah explains, making Klaus stagger as he has calmed down but reeling from being confronted with his feelings, sits down on the stairs. Rebekah sits beside him.
"I gave Elijah to Marcel," Klaus says, making me furrow my eyebrows as I thought he had left.
"What?"
"Marcel was nervous. It's bad enough one Original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so... I gave him a peace offering," He replies and I look over at Hayley, who was glaring at Klaus.
"You bartered our brother?"
Klaus nods and says, "I have a plan. Gain Marcel's trust, dismantle his empire, honor Elijah's wish that that baby be born. I am executing that plan the only way I know how. If you don't like it, there's the door. See if I care." He rises and leaves the room. Rebekah leans back, her work probably cut out for her.