It was November 23rd. The day also known as Thalia Gilbert/Black's birthday. Mine, to be exact. The day that I was awaiting to come for a long time now. I was turning 18, which also meant that I was officially going to inherit my family's business, which was why I had to leave my family and head to Atlanta right after a quick celebration. I had an appointment the next morning with my family's lawyer, so I had no other choice.
Anyways, it couldn't prevent me from having a nice little party with my family and friends. Since it was my birthday and I was freed from cooking, Aunt Jenna ordered a takeout, lots of it actually, but I still had to bake a birthday cake.
It was a tradition, my mom would bake my special birthday cake for me every year and the very thought that from now on I would have to do it myself was depressing. Now, you are probably curious, what is so special about the cake? Well let me tell you something. I'm not really a dessert person, so my mom was really anxious about figuring out what cake she should bake for me to actually like it, she never really considered the thought that we could've skipped that part of a birthday ritual as she wanted me to have a 100% normal childhood. It wasn't until she stumbled upon this really ridiculous recipe and I actually ended up liking it. It was ridiculous because it usually would've been the least obvious option for someone that don't really like sweets. The cake's proportions were like this: 50% of chocolate, 30% of crushed nuts and 20% of chocolate biscuit. I swear to God, it was so good that I almost ended up eating the half of it in one go when I tried it for the first time. So it became my birthday cake since then.
It was really sad baking it. Doing it all alone. I've never really done it before to be honest, because mom always said that one should never be baking their own birthday cake. But I just missed her so much and felt somehow connected to her during the process. I usually would just sit and watch her move around the kitchen, waiting for an opportunity to lick the remaining chocolate from a spatula, and now I took her place in baking, while Jeremy took mine in the chocolate licking duty. I wasn't the only one who loved it. I'm telling you the cake was a legend.
There weren't too many guests invited, I never really liked the crowds. Only Caroline, Aunt Liz and Bonnie. To be fair I invited Stefan and Damon as well, but neither of them showed up. Stefan was distancing himself from Elena, until he figured out his brother's evil plan. He was still pissed at him for wanting to kill Lexi. He approached me at the school though, wished me a happy birthday and presented me with the Harry Potter books, some of the first editions signed by J.K. Rowling herself. I had no idea where he got those, I didn't even care, so I just gave him a warm hug.
Damon sent me a present too actually, a bottle of a really good bourbon. It didn't beat Stefan's present, but I was happy anyway.
Another person that didn't show up, was Emily. To be honest, I never thought that she would be a jealous type, I mean she was always so quiet and sweet, but they were on and off with Jeremy ever since the Halloween. She didn't trust him and that hurt my brother deeply. A trust is a very important milestone in a relationship. I was feeling sorry for encouraging Jeremy to ask her out. Even Seers can make mistakes sometimes. Well, at least he forgot about Vicki. No matter what he said, she was still his first. Those kinds of things are not easy to forget.
After spending an amazing day with my family, Aunt Jenna drove me to the airport, where I got on a plane to Atlanta. I felt strange returning to the place where I spent all my summer breaks since I was 10.
My grandma's house greeted me with a rush of memories. I felt all kinds of emotions returning here, nostalgia from the times when I used to indulge every spell like a dying of thirst wanderer would indulge water, sadness from the awkward conversations about my grandad and the woman that gave birth to me (I couldn't make myself call her mother, which used to upset grandma immensely), anger and betrayal from what grandma did to me after her death...
But luckily happy ones won. The old house always associated with magic for me. Every room, every book, and every candle. All of it reminded me of happy times.
But sadly it was empty for months, so instead of taking a trip down memory lane I had no other choice than to start cleaning. It took me a while, but I knew that I would be too busy to deal with it later. I went through every room getting rid of the dust and almost every object that I touched stirred a small memory in the back of my mind.
I was tidying up the living room, when I noticed something on the carpet. I grabbed a candle that for some reason was lying on the floor and was about to put it back on a shelf where a small collection of candles was stationed, when I was hit with a mixture of a memory and a vision.
"You need to concentrate Thalia," I shivered hearing my grandma's voice, but couldn't make myself look at her. I saw my younger self sitting on the floor with a candle right in front of her. I remembered that day, I was 10 and it was one of my first attempts to perform magic. Younger me looked cute with slightly chubby cheeks and two tiny braids, but serious at the same time, trying really hard to concentrate on a wick of a candle, which put a smile on my face. "Concentrate on a wick and imagine it lighting up. Go ahead, child, you can do it."
Little me pursed her lips, which made her cheeks look even chubbier, then a little spark appeared, then another one and a few more sparks later the candle was lit.
"Excellent, child. You did a great job," grandma said proudly, then with a flick of her fingers summoned a dozen more candles. "Now, to the next task. Light these all at once."
I snapped out of it and finally put the candle where it belonged, feeling a bittersweet taste in my mouth. I took a few strands of my hair, that was up in a ponytail and brought them to my face. My hair always have been one of the few things that I was most proud of. I remember when I first met baby Elena and was mesmerized by her tiny little pigtails. I remember wanting them badly too, but my head was bold for as long as I'd known myself. They used to shave us all, because it was easier that way.
I sighed and went to clean the last room for today. It was my grandma's study. I walked around the room, dusting the bookshelves, shelves with artifacts, her working table and every other horizontal surface. It was strange to be in here without her, this was her favorite place in the whole house and most of our lessons (the less messy and dangerous ones of course) took place in here.
I finished with her table and gave it a final look. A bunch of small objects and books were scattered on it, but one particular thing drew my attention. I looked at my grandma's journal lying on the table hesitatingly. I was having an internal battle. I checked it before for any clues as to why she put restrains on my magical core, but couldn't help but wonder if I missed something. I gave up on trying to get rid of the restrains a long time ago, but hope raised its ugly head once again. I tried to tell myself that it would be just a waste of time, but ended up going through it again anyway.
I fell asleep in my old room, with my grandma's journal in one hand and my cell phone in the other. The hope that he would call me fading away along with my consciousness.
The next day I woke up really tired. I should've never started reading the journal after such a long and tiring day, especially knowing that I needed to wake up early the next day. What made my mood even worse was the lack of calls or messages from Nik. Of course I didn't expect him to know about my birthday, but he could've just called to ask how I was doing, it would've been more than enough.
I sighed sadly and started getting ready for a meeting with the family lawyer. I decided to dress more formally for today's appointments, thus I ended up picking a beige blouse with full long sleeves, classical high-waisted black trousers, black stilettos and a suit jacket. I styled my hair up in a fashionable ponytail, applied light makeup, took my grandma's car and drove to the center of the city. There wasn't much to do honestly, just to sign a few papers, but I wanted to check up on a few properties that belonged to my family.
For the mundane world my family owned a few art and antiquity shops, every item there precious and pricey. We also owned a Voodoo shop with souvenirs, decorative stuff and the other fake witch mojo things like some herbs, tarot cards, crystal balls and other knickknacks mostly meant for tourists, but it was all just a front for a real witch's business. And it was quite popular among the supernatural community. We sold some real herbs and potions, lapis lazuli rings and a lot more, but most importantly we provided the witch's services but it was an exclusive thing not everyone could afford. Usually my grandma would do the most rare and complicate work, but we stopped providing those services after her death, I wasn't ready neither mentally nor legally to take her place, but now I knew that I had no other choice. Luckily it was a rare thing, mostly because of the price even though we never accepted questionable requests like performing dark rituals or sacrifices and such.
For a more easier job, like running the shop itself and enchanting simple magical items we had Dora. Dorothea Anderson was my grandma's apprentice, if such a term could be used in this situation, after all, Black witches' magic was a little different. But back in the days, my grandma found Dora, who was shunned and bullied in her old coven and decided to help her to break a link connecting her to her ancestors and teach her to use natural energy. Since then Dora became a part of the family.
After finishing with the paperwork, I went to check upon our antiquity shops. All of them were located in prestigious parts of the city and had an impeccable reputation. It wasn't really necessary to visit all of them, a long list of my ancestors made sure that our presence wasn't needed for everything to work like clockwork. But I still had to show up there just so everyone knew how their new boss looked like. Actually, twenty or so years ago my grandparents opened another shop but in New York, it was the one which Mr. Cooper was officially running. It was easier this way to find magical or cursed objects and confiscate or resell them after stripping them from dangerous magic.
I met with my representatives in each affiliated branch, where they showed me how everything was running, introduced me to the workers and even gave me little tours on the property. I watched their reaction when they learned that I was only 18, to see if I would find anyone with bad intentions or thoughts, even used a few spells that made the target speak the truth, and was satisfied to find that all the workers were pretty much decent people. As expected, my grandma did a great job.
I sighed tiredly, leaving the building of the last branch and getting in my car. It was hard and tiring to hold a formal demeanor during almost all day. It was 5 in the evening and I had the last place to check, but at least it would be more a pleasant one. I felt my stomach grumbling and realized that I hadn't eaten all day and was pretty much starving, so I decided to make a pit stop and buy some food for myself and my old friend.
I entered a small ancient looking shop and felt the protective magic washing over my body. The runic arrays here were almost identical to the ones that I used to protect my house back in Mystic Falls and my grandma's house, aside from a few additions that I created myself.
"Aunty Ta-Ta!" I heard a childish voice exclaim before a tiny little human made a bold attempt to hug me to death.
"Hey little fella," I laughed softly, picking the kid up. "Are you alone here? Where's your mother?"
It was Max, Dora's son and he was in love with me. No, really, he even made me promise to wait until he grows up, so he could marry me. And maybe I'll even say yes, if Nik continues ignoring me, I thought, annoyed.
"Maximillian! How many times do I have to tell you to stop jumping on her like that! You're heavy for God's sake!" I raised my head and saw Dora giving her son an annoyed look, before turning to me. "Thalia! You made it!" She gave me a warm smile and hugged as soon as Maxie was put on the ground.
"Hey. How are you? And what's my future husband doing here? Isn't he supposed to be in a daycare?" I winked at the kid, ignoring her laughter.
"It's Sunday. Ben was supposed to stay with him but he's on a business trip in Florida, so..." I was making faces at Max, when I detected a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Hey, is everything okay? Between you and Ben?"
Ben was an untriggered werewolf and a part of my grandpa's pack. Dora met him through my grandma who stayed in contact with her husband's pack even after his death, and they instantly fell in love.
"Yeah, everything's fine." Her voice didn't sound convincing, so I gave her my "spit it out!" look, and she sighed gesturing me to follow her to a small room at the back of the shop. "I don't know, I just... I think he's cheating on me. He's having too many business trips lately. I'm worried."
I rolled my eyes, amused, following her with food in my hands and Maxie on a tow. She and Ben, were soulmates. Literally. They loved each other so much, and it was beautiful, but sometimes Dora had these little jealousy fits. They always ended up with a night full of passion, which added some spice to their relationship. And now she was obviously having one of them.
"Come on, Dora. Ben knows that you will fry his lying ass, if he cheats on you."
"Thalia! Language!" She scolded me, pointing with her eyes at her son.
"Oops! Sorry," I giggled, ruffling Maxie's hair.
I put the bag full of Chinese food on a little table and started unpacking it while Dora filled a kettle with water and put it on a little stove in the corner. I was about to say something, when I felt an intense look on my face and noticed Maxie standing beside me and giving me a puppy dog eyes.
"Okay, okay," I said rolling my eyes playfully. "I didn't forget about you. Your mom said that you were behaving like a good boy, so you definitely deserve a prize."
Under his awestruck gaze I slid my hand into my bag and took out a robot toy in a shining new package. The little dude was obsessed with robots and thanks to me had a bunch of those already, but to his endless joy, every time I visited I bought him a new one. What? I was his favorite auntie/godmother, it was my sacred job to spoil him rotten.
"Oh, no! Not another one," Dora whined, looking as her son started running laps around the room from excitement. "He has millions of them at home, and guess who has to pick them all up after he finishes playing with them? Me!"
"Oh come on! I don't visit that often, let me enjoy spoiling my favorite godson," I laughed, taking a bite of my Kung Pao chicken.
"He's your only godson," she rolled her eyes mockingly then looked at her son. "Aren't you forgetting something, young man?"
"Thank you, Auntie Thalia." He looked so shy and adorable, that I couldn't help myself and leaned forward pointing at my cheek with my finger. He smooched me on the cheek and flushed furiously, before running to his own little table in a corner of the room, with a bunch of different toys scattered all over it.
We ate and talked (gossiped) discussing our mutual acquaintances and everything that I missed while I was away. My eyes were wandering around the room when I noticed a box with different kinds of jewelry, which were meant to be enchanted for different purposes and I remembered something.
"Hey, do you have any spare lapis lazuli jewelry? I'll enchant it myself, I just ran out of my stash." She nodded cleaning the table and went to put away leftovers, and I thought about the last lapis lazuli ring that I gave away.
The very next morning after I saved Lexi, I visited her at the Boarding House and made it just in time, catching her before she left. I will never forget her face when I presented her the daylight ring. The pour girl kept thanking me, not able to hold back the tears and I received another confirmation that I did a good thing. Stefan and Damon were lucky to receive their rings even before they were turned, so they had no idea how much it meant to be able to walk in the sun after centuries of hiding in the dark. Witches don't usually like creating those rings for vampires, even for money, the hatred was too strong. I gave Lexi my number along with the number and the address of my shop here in Atlanta, when she mentioned about her boyfriend and a few other friends that would've given everything for a daylight ring. I warned her though that I wasn't going to hand those over for free or if I didn't like the person. Some vampires were too dangerous to have that advantage.
I returned to here and now, when Dora put a cup of tea in front of me. I thanked her and took a sip, smiling sadly at the taste.
"Grandma's special, huh?"
"I'm sorry," she looked at me apologetically, "I forgot. I can make something else." She took a teapot hurriedly and was about to go to the sink when I stopped her.
"Hey, it's okay. I can't hate the tea because I'm upset with her, that's petty."
"Any luck with breaking the seal?" she asked carefully, returning to her spot and taking a sip of her tea.
"No, it reached its limit and I don't think I will be able to change that any time soon. I'm stuck," I sighed and took another sip, ignoring her pity peek. "I'm fine though, it doesn't bother me in every day life, I only feel pain when I use some really powerful spells, so it's okay. I'm used to it."
"I still can't believe that she did that. She must've had a serious reason," she murmured.
"Yeah, I'm tired of thinking about this whole situation, to be honest."
She nodded quickly and the room went quiet again, except for noises that Max was making while playing with his new toy. I watched him lovingly for a while, wishing to be like him, carefree and absolutely happy with the simplest thing like a favorite toy.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you to see if Ben was honest with me," she said with serious expression and took something from a shelf behind her back, ignoring my amused snort. She put the thing on the table in front of me and I instantly stopped smiling.
"You are kidding right?" I gave her unimpressed look, then returned my gaze to the tarot deck. My grandma's tarot deck.
"Oh pretty please," she gave me puppy dog eyes, the same eyes her son gave me half an hour ago asking for a present, making me smile internally at the resemblance. Pour Ben, he has to deal with these two all the time.
"I can read your tea leaves," I tried to change her mind.
"That will show my future, not his. And you know that it will not necessarily be what I want to know, it could be just anything cause you can't pick what to see. Also it's nothing compared to what tarot cards can do."
"Those belonged to her," I shook my head, not wanting to touch the deck.
"They didn't belong only to her. A lot of seers in your family used them. They are your legacy." Something in her voice made me look at her suspiciously.
"You made this whole drama with Ben up, didn't you? Just to make me use them."
"No, it is just a coincidence," she denied. "I'm really worried about Ben, and I'm worried equally about you, because you are denying your legacy. These belonged to every Seer in your family since Artemis herself."
"If I use them even once it'll bind them to me. I'm sorry, but I can't. They will always remind me of her." She opened her mouth to say something else, but then closed it with a sigh.
"Fine. Then here, take my cup. At least tell me if I'll catch him cheating or not."
I didn't stay for long and quickly retired after doing my best to convince Dora that her husband was just about to get promoted instead of being unfaithful. I was honestly pretty lucky to see what I was looking for anyway. She was right when she said that divination through tea leaves was chaotic. You never knew what you were about to see.
On my way back I made a stop at a grocery store. There was nothing to eat at home as the house was empty for months so I decided to buy some needed ingredients and cook myself a dinner.
After putting groceries on the kitchen counter, I went straight to my room, picked a fresh pair of underwear, some comfy pair of leggings and a hoodie, set it all on my bed and climbed into the shower, sighing with pleasure as the water cascaded over my body. It was almost winter and it was quite cold outside, so I took my time melting under hot water.
After long relaxing shower I went straight to the kitchen, turned on some music and started cooking. I decided to make some lasagna and caesar salad. I was moving around the kitchen, dancing and humming to the songs, it was a habit that I developed a long time ago. I pretty much did all the job around the house with some music on (mostly when I was alone of course).
I put lasagna into the oven and started making the caesar sauce when the song changed and Lana Del Rey's angelic voice filled the kitchen.
"He used to call me DN," I hummed along. "That stood for deadly nightshade. 'Cause I was filled with poison. But blessed with beauty and rage..."
I mixed all the ingredients and seasoned my salad all the while doing my best to pour my heart out in Lana's sensual lyrics, then put it in the fridge to cool it down while lasagna was taking its time in the oven. I was about to set the table when I realized that something was missing and thought about my grandma's collection of fine wines in the cellar.
I just returned from the cellar with a bottle of Pinot Grigio when I heard the doorbell ringing. I frowned, not expecting anyone, quickly put the bottle on the counter and went to answer the door.
I opened the door and froze in place, feeling the mixture of shock and happiness building in my chest.
"Hello, love." He was standing there with his hands behind his back and a gentle smile on his face, breathtakingly handsome. The very voice that I loved and missed so much made my heart skip a beat and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.
I wanted to say something, but the lump in my throat got in the way, preventing words from coming out, so instead of that I just took a few quick steps forward and hugged him tightly, hiding my face on his chest.
Strong hands hugged me back instantly, squeezing me even further into his chest and I felt him snuggling in my hair, peppering it with kisses here and there. We were lost to the outside world, forgetting about the neighbors and people passing by, it all didn't matter.
I took a deep breath, my head spinning from his delicious scent, and finally broke the hug, giving him the last squeeze.
"What... what are you doing here?" I whispered, still having problems with my voice. "Don't get me wrong, I'm so so happy that you are here, but... how?"
"I knew that you weren't at home, so I made Maddox do a locating spell. I couldn't make it in time and missed your birthday. I'm sorry." He gently caressed my cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His touch sent tingles through my skin making me close my eyes for a split second to enjoy the sensation.
"This is the best birthday gift ever," I whispered opening my eyes again and instantly falling into his gaze. Second later his lips found mine in oh so gentle kiss, melting my heart into an amorphous mass. He took a fistful of my hair, holding me in place and deepened the kiss, making me let out a small whimper from a sheer power of his hold.
It was the sound of someone whistling that forced us to break apart, but it took us some time to calm down. He pressed his forehead against mine and we stood like this for a few seconds with our eyes closed, savoring each other's presence.
"What are you doing to me, woman," his whisper was almost inaudible, his raspy voice weakening my knees. I instantly felt turned on and at the same time relieved that I wasn't the only one feeling that way.
"Come on," I finally said, gesturing with my head at the open door and pulled him inside leading the way.
"Uhm, you should be more specific than that, sweetheart," he chuckled, drawing my attention.
I turned around and saw him standing at the threshold, not able to cross it. He was obviously waiting for an invitation, so I decided to tease him a little bit, for ignoring me for two days.
"Oh my God, Nik," I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand. "I haven't signed the papers yet, the house doesn't belong to me. I'm so sorry." He tensed, gobsmacked expression on his face, and I had to try really hard not to laugh. He looked so funny.
"Bloody hell," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and I lost it.
My quiet giggles drew his attention. The realization became apparent on his face when he saw me making fun of him and my giggles turned into a full blown laughter.
"I am so sorry. I couldn't help myself. You should've seen your face." He tried to look annoyed but I could see his lips twitching as he suppressed the smile. "Would you like to come in, Mr. Mikaelson?" I officially invited him in, giving him the most innocent smile that I could manage.
He slowly crossed the threshold and closed the door behind himself, all the while not breaking an eye contact with me. I noticed a dangerous glint in his eyes but it was too late. The next thing I knew he was pressing me into a nearby wall, his strong hands picking me up by my hips, while I took a hold of his shoulders, instinctively wrapping my legs around his waist. He sensually nuzzled my neck, taking in my scent and sending shivers down my body.
"Careful, love. You should know better than to tease a predator." His voice became lower, filled with lust and hunger. He bit my neck playfully, knowing full well what it did to me and I couldn't help but take a shuddering breath. He knew all my sweet spots and was using that knowledge against me, but two could play that game.
I buried my fingers in his soft hair, scratching the skin of his head with my nails and bit my lip when he let out a hungry growl.
"Or what? Are you going to eat me Mr. Hybrid?" I whispered and watched triumphantly as dark veins started to appear under his eyes from lust. His gaze lowered to my lips and I couldn't help but lick them, which was all it took for him to throw control out of the window and devour my lips hungrily.
There was nothing gentle about the kiss this time, both of us trying desperately to ease our hunger for each other and all too soon I found myself moaning into the kiss, my need for him growing by each second.
His hands lingered up my hips and cupped my behind, giving it a strong squeeze and I could feel all the rational thoughts leaving my head. Only God knows how it would've ended if we weren't startled by a high pitched sound.
"Oh my God," I managed to breathe out after breaking the kiss. "I totally forgot about lasagna. Thank God I set up the timer."
I tried to jump off of him, but he pushed me further into the wall, burying his face in the crook of my neck and taking deep breaths to calm himself down. I felt my heart squeezing with love to the man and had to try really hard not to say the words out loud, so instead I just hugged him with one hand and started gently stroking his hair with other.
"Come, love. You must be hungry," I nudged him gently. He let out one final sigh, and let me slide down his body.
I took his hand and guided him into the kitchen, then gestured him to the chair and started setting up the table. All the while I was moving around the kitchen I felt his burning gaze lingering up and down my body, not just sexually but as if he was memorizing my features once again after being apart for so long and I loved it.
The dinner went in pleasant silence, interrupted with only few words here and there, mostly him complimenting my food, making me blush as always. Soon we finished with food and were having a pleasant conversation while sipping the wine that I cooled down with a simple spell.
"It looks like your townsfolk is obsessed with parties," he mused, when I finished telling him about the founder's ball.
"Oh, you have no idea. Founder's Balls, Historical Fairs, Masquerade Balls, Miss Mystic Falls pageants, decade dances and so on and so forth."
"I take it, most of the time such events require a date?" I immediately understood what he was trying to fish out, and giggled internally while trying my best to keep a poker face.
"Yeah, for me, with me technically being a founding family member, attending those events is a must, but I never really bothered with a date. Usually I would just go with my sister or one of my best friends. Most of the times it's Bonnie, as it's a rare thing for Caroline and Elena to be left without a date. I'm known to be a lone wolf." I smiled remembering my mom's attempts to set me up with finest sons of founding community.
"And why is that, if I may ask? I won't ever believe that no one asked you out."
"Well, I was told that guys were intimidated by my personality," I laughed. "But the real reason is, I was never really interested in stuff like that. Going on dates, concerning myself with finding one for a party. I never really cared."
"Why the past tense?" he asked, his eyes full of anticipation. I couldn't help but chuckle at his boyish behavior.
"Because, not so long ago I suddenly realized that it would have been nice to attend one of those events with you." He gave a pleased smile and I rolled my eyes at him playfully. "Even though I took ballroom dancing classes in the past, I only ever danced with my dad, uncle and brother. But I would've loved to dance with you. And another reason being shutting up all those bitches who made fun of me for being alone all those years, of course."
"Of course," he laughed and I had a feeling that I had this really dumb look on my face, the same look that I always had when I saw him laugh or smile. I loved his smile, because I knew that I was one of the very few people that he showed this soft side of him to.
I must have zoned out, dreaming of his smile, cause I had to blink a few times when he suddenly stood up and went to my phone that was lying on a kitchen counter, providing us with slow music from my playlist throughout the dinner.
"What are you doing?" I asked curiously, when he started what looked like scrolling through my playlist. He just smiled at me and returned to what he was doing, so I had to be patient and wait.
He must've finally found what he was looking for, as I saw him freeze for a second with a strange emotion flickering in his eyes, before he turned up the volume and pressed play.
My heart skipped a beat when I recognized the song. It was "I don't wanna miss a thing" by Aerosmith.
"May I have this dance, Ms. Gilbert?" he asked, offering me his hand and suddenly I felt my vision flicker a little bit and saw him in old-fashioned clothes with long hair, bowing down in front of me. I blinked and the vision was gone, so I just smiled shyly and took his hand. He pulled me closer, still holding my hand and put the other one on the small of my back.
"It would've been better if I was dressed more..." I looked down, feeling extremely shy all of a sudden, trying to come up with a suitable word, when he slid his finger under my chin and made me look him in the eyes.
"You are breathtakingly beautiful, love." His eyes were so warm and sincere and it felt like he was staring right into my soul.
I always felt uncomfortable when someone complimented me, so I tried to change the subject.
"You are a good dancer, but again I assume it's a given considering the centuries of experience," I mumbled quietly, but by the look on his face I wasn't quite able to distract him.
His hand on my waist tightened, pushing our bodies together, his other hand still strong on my chin preventing me from looking away.
"Stop it. For someone who knows exactly when they're being lied to, you still quite stubbornly keep changing the subject whenever I compliment you, as if you don't want to believe me at all," he huffed, his hand on my chin moving to cup my face, his thumb gently caressing my lips. "You are a beautiful young woman, Thalia Gilbert, and I'm not just talking about your appearance. Your green eyes are breathtakingly gorgeous, but what make them exceptionally perfect are the emotions that fill them whenever you look at me. Do you even realize that no one ever looked at me the way you do in all my hundreds of years?" I didn't even realize that I was holding my breath when I heard the raw honesty in his voice, but he continued not giving me a chance to interrupt him, not that I would've been physically able to do that anyway. "There's so much tenderness, care, even fascination as if I'm the most important thing in your life, and it's even more essential for me because deep down I know that I don't deserve it in the slightest, yet I'm not gonna question it. I may be a monster, but I'm not a fool." He took a deep breath as if preparing himself for something and went on before I was able to smack him for calling himself a monster. "I love everything about you Ms. Gilbert, your beautiful laugh that brightens my day, your gentle hands that always give me comfort, even that little mole right under your left ear that I love to kiss. And your lips... your sweet, beautiful lips that pronounce my name, the name of the most famous and feared predator in the world, with so much tenderness, desire... and love. Love that I don't deserve. You did the impossible thing, the thing that my brother was trying to achieve for centuries now... you changed me. I would've never thought that I'll ever be saying these words to anyone, but it feels to be the rightest thing to do at this very moment... I am in love with you, Thalia..."
At that point I was not even trying to hold back my tears anymore. My chest felt so tight from the mixture of emotions that I felt at that moment and I had a hard time breathing but I didn't care. As soon as he said those long desired three words I didn't waste a second and kissed him, cupping his face with my hands, tears uncontrollably pouring down my face, but neither of us cared, lost in a moment.
It felt like it was the sweetest kiss we've ever shared so far. Maybe it was the moment that made it special, I wasn't sure, nor did I care. I wanted to let this precious man know that I felt the same, that he was indeed one of the most important people in my life. I wanted to make him believe that every emotion that I felt for him, all that love, care and appreciation were well deserved. And I was going to do just that.
"I just wanna stay with you in this moment forever..." the song went on, it's words resonating with my soul, melody sending vibrations through my bones.
I broke the kiss and breathed in shakily, as we stood there for a few moments, eyes closed and foreheads touching, until I found my voice again.
"I love you too, Niklaus Mikaelson. I've been waiting to say those words for a while now, too afraid to confess. You know, I never believed that you could feel this way about someone who wasn't a part of your family. Because of that I always thought that there was something wrong with me, that I was missing something that was pretty obvious to everyone else. I couldn't even imagine letting someone, a stranger, in... I guess I was just waiting for the right person." At this point he interrupted me, planting another breathtaking kiss on my lips, while wiping away my tears. I spoke again the second we broke the kiss. "I don't want to hear you saying that you don't deserve to be loved ever again, you hear me? Everyone deserves to love and to be loved. Even such broken souls as you and me. I love your smile and your laugh because I know that I'm one of the very few people that are honored to receive them. I love the sound of your voice, that can light up my mood even if I'm having the shittiest day ever. I love that you were so honest with me... and also I love the way that you make me feel. Cherished. Loved. Safe. And you have no idea how much the last one means to me. For almost all of my life I felt that I could rely only on myself, even though I had a loving family, it wasn't the same. This fear that followed me ever since I ran away from that place, the sense of danger, it all goes away when I'm with you. And that, along with knowing that you love me are the most precious things to me. Ever."
The look in his eyes will always be engraved in my mind, it felt like we were both staring into each other's souls, seeing our true selves and completely accepting them. That moment was broken by me, as I smashed my lips against his, not patient enough to wait any longer. He grabbed a fistful of my hair which was now freely falling down my back from all the movements we made, and tugged on it making me tilt my head and deepening the kiss, his tongue seeking entrance and tangling with mine. A low, desperate sound in my throat was my only response, as I suddenly found myself almost helpless in his hands, so I didn't put up any resistance when he pushed me back until my back touched the table. Without breaking the kiss, he leaned behind me and cleared some space on the table, the sound of dangerously clinking cutlery indicated that he was as impatient and hungry as me, and lifted me up only to sit me down on the cleared spot and position himself between my spread legs.
I finally found some strength and grabbed onto his jacket only to take it off him a second later, longing to touch his skin. I felt his lips twitching in a smirk, amused by my lack of patience, but immediately after found myself only in my sports bra, my hoody being ripped off of me and thrown in an unknown direction.
I started sucking on his tongue, when his hands descended on my curves, caressing over my breasts, my ribs and stomach, leaving a burning sensation behind, until I felt his palms gripping my thighs, which he used to pull me even closer, pressing himself intimately against my most sensitive spot. He let out a low growl when I rubbed my pelvis against the impressive bulge in his pants and a warm shudder passed through me at the contact.
I tugged impatiently at the hem of his t-shirt, doing my best to take it off but failing miserably as my hands wouldn't stop shaking. Thank Mother Nature, he came to my rescue and a second later my hands were roaming down his bare chest while I was sending silent gratitude to the heavens above for his vampire speed.
With some part of my mind that wasn't fogged with lust I realized that grandma's old table was constantly shaking from our movements, along with everything that was still on it, creating an unpleasant sound that was starting to get on my nerves. It turned out that I wasn't the only one who was getting annoyed by it, as a few seconds later, Nik suddenly lifted me up, urging me to wrap my legs around his torso and whisked me away.
I was too engrossed in leaving instantly healing hickeys on his neck to notice that we came to an abrupt halt at the top of the stairs. My hands didn't stop roaming his body even for a second and when he tugged on my hair tilting my head back and reclaimed my mouth once again, I finally grew impatient and moved my hands down his abdomen. Gently caressing his happy trial I followed it down until my hands reached the place where it disappeared under his pants. With shaking fingers I attacked his belt, trying desperately to unfasten it, but his demanding mouth on mine and his strong hands on my agonizing body made everything hundred times harder, so after a few more futile attempts I gave up and instead moved down further and squeezed his bulge right through his pants.
His reaction was instantaneous. One second he's frozen after my long hard squeeze, the other I found myself pressed into a nearby wall with both my hands pressed into it right above my head by one of his. He bit onto my lower lip, his breathing shallow and his crotch tightly pressed against my stomach. His fangs slightly scratched my lip drawing a few drops of blood, which he didn't wait to suck on, sending me to heavens.
"There's a lamp right above your head," he whispered harshly, pulling my hands up the wall until they touched the said lamp. "I need you to wrap your naughty little fingers around it and keep your hands in that exact position until I say that you can let go. Do you understand, princess?" His words entered my lust imbued mind, his demanding tone making me shudder with an overwhelming need to submit. And here I thought that he couldn't get any hotter. "Do. You. Understand?"
He thrust his hips with every word, sending electric impulses right through my groin and my thighs suddenly went liquid.
My breath got caught in my throat so my silent "yes" came out as a choked whisper.
"Good girl," he whispered right into my parted lips and let go of my hands, caressing my arms as he moved his hands down to my shoulders, neck, agonizingly slow down to my stomach avoiding my breasts and ignoring the desperate sounds I was making, until he reached my thighs and spread my legs that were still wrapped around his waist, indicating me to stand on my own.
He placed an open mouthed kiss right in the corner of my lips, one of his hands moving right up to caress the nape of my neck, then another one down my jawline and my neck where he made a short pause to suck hard on my tender flesh.
"Fuck..." I breathed out, my fingers turning white from the force I put in my grip on the stupid lamp that was poking out of the wall. He knew damn well that I loved it when he bit my neck, leaving purple marks on my pale skin.
He didn't stop there for too long though, his sinful hands finally reached my breasts, then he slowly pulled my bra down instead of taking it off completely and it looked like my breasts were served on a dish just for him to devour, which by the hungry look on his face was his general purpose. He just stood there for a few seconds, his eyes so heated, his burning gaze lingering on my naked skin, making me let out small whimpers. Oh so slowly his hot mouth descended on my breasts, pressing hot, feverish kisses along the skin of my chest until he found one nipple and took it between his teeth biting down gently. I cried out at the sensation that sent electric impulses right to my core, squirming against the wall while he practically feasted on my breasts, leaving biting kisses in his wake. Hanging onto the lamp for dear life it was all I could do to stay upright, letting him run his mouth over my skin and my nipples.
He finally looked up again and his sky blue eyes were dark from the raw lust. Slowly he dropped down to his knees without breaking an eye contact with me and I could only helplessly stare back completely hypnotized, my body humming with anticipation of what he was about to do. His hands on my waist leisurely moved down my body until they reached my leggings, then he hooked his fingers in them and dragged them down, tossing them off to the side somewhere. My panties went next, but he didn't even try to take them off, just ripping them off my body with a smallest flick of his fingers. He dragged his hands up my now bare thighs then took one leg and lifted it on his shoulder opening me completely and there was nothing I could hide from him in that position. Not like I wanted to. I was already wet from his hands on me, his mouth on me and I knew he could see it clearly. I was already quivering so the first touch of his tongue was like electricity shooting through me hot and fast, but what made that moment almost unbearable was his blue eyes that never left my face, following my every reaction, every whimper and moan.
His sinful mouth felt just as good on me as it felt on my lips and I arched toward him, moaning his name. He growled and the sound reverberated through me, making it all feel even better. I inhaled sharply when I felt the sharpness of his fangs on my tender flesh and instead of feeling scared or vulnerable, to my surprise, ribbons of raw desire shot through me.
"I want to touch you," I moaned, my fingers painfully spasming around the lamp.
He gave my thighs a firm squeeze without breaking a contact with his mouth.
"Later." His English accent became thicker indicating me that he was enjoying it as much as I was. If not more.
His movements became more frantic, his lips, tongue, fingers and even teeth drawing me closer and closer to my undoing. I felt my eyes roll back realizing faintly that I was hanging right on the edge, when his lips suddenly deserted me, but before I could master any sort of protest he sucked strongly on my inner thigh for just a bare moment before piercing my soft skin with his fangs and that was it. A cry wrenched from me, but not of pain. I was gasping and screaming and I think I was even speaking, but I couldn't make out the words, the world around me drowning in endless pleasure.
I don't remember how we ended up in my room, or how he even knew which one was mine, cause I can't for the life of me recall giving him that piece of information.
The first thing I noticed was the fact that I was sitting on his lap with my legs wrapped around his waist, him being completely naked under me.
"Bite me, my love. Drink me as I drink you." His words got to me through the blissful fog around my mind. He urgently guided my head to his bleeding neck and didn't waste any time sinking his fangs into mine, entering me with one strong move at the same time. I almost came again with his first thrust accompanied by the feeling of his fangs piercing my skin, but somehow found it in myself to do what he asked from me. By the time my slow, bliss induced mind finally decided to follow his order, the wound on his neck was already closed, but I was too far gone from his ruthless thrusts to make my mouth form anything aside from moans and whimpers and to ask him to open that wound for me again, so in the heat of the moment, I just leaned forward and buried my teeth into his neck with far more roughness than he'd shown. His strong body shuddered under me, from pain or pleasure, or both, he pressed my head closer burying his own teeth deeper and then his blood filled my mouth. We drank from each other, me more deeply, and nothing seemed to separate us anymore. His body was my body, his blood my blood, our blood, and it flowed back and forth between us with every swallow. With a small part of my mind I realized that I finally understood what was so special about blood sharing, that was my last rational thought before the pleasure I've never experienced before consumed me completely.
There weren't any words exchanged after that, only looks and... emotions I think, because at some point we noticed that we almost could feel each other on such a level that words weren't needed anymore. After we both quenched our thirst for each other, we realized that there was a possibility that we forgot some things about each other's bodies after all that time apart (which was ridiculous, but we both weren't thinking straight at that moment) and started slowly getting acquainted with each other again. Every little piece of skin, every mole and freckle was showered with kisses. The concentration of longing, lust and love in the air almost made me cry a few times, but Nik, as if sensing my condition, kept distracting me again and again, for which I was grateful because I've already cried enough in front of him to last a lifetime.
I was drowning over and over again in his strong arms, losing myself with every touch of his lips. My fingers got tangled in his hair while our kisses were becoming more deeper and hungrier. I remember that my body was on fire, how it longed for his touch, remember thinking that something was wrong because instead of feeling satisfied we were getting more and more hungrier with each release. Something told me that I would never be able to forget that night.
I don't remember when we fell asleep, too exhausted and filled to the brim with the magic of that night. And one would've thought that after being filled with so many positive emotions I would've slept like a lamb, not having a slightest worry in the world, but that wasn't meant to be as because of some twisted quirk of fate, as soon as my exhausted mind drifted away I found myself in one of my most hated nightmares.
I could feel bright light slipping through the thin skin of my eyelids and tried to lift my hand to cover my eyes, but suddenly realized that I couldn't move. Panic surged through my tiny body when I realized that I was tied to a very familiar cold surface of the operating table. I suppressed the irrational desire to break free or start calling for help, because I knew full well that that would do nothing to get me out of that horrible situation.
Then the next second the room was filled with voices, as if someone suddenly burst a bubble.
"...subject "2.23" is ready for the next set of experiments..."
"It's pointless, subject "2.23" is a failure. I think we should concentrate on a more promising subject "2.50" instead..."
"...Adara was one of us, but she was unstable, I think we should stop wasting our time on her worthless spawn..."
"Adara was a genius, a true definition of a mad scientist and if she said that "2.23" is special then I definitely believe her..."
"There's nothing special about "2.23", she hasn't showed any signs of being what Adara claimed her to be so far..."
"It doesn't matter, now it's not the time for this discussion, we have work to do. Let's start with trying to trigger the healing factor today..."
"Maybe we should try some more severe injuries this time, don't you think? Maybe it will finally be enough this time..."
The last words, spoken in an emotionless almost robotic voice, made me freeze in horror. My eyes opened on their own as if not seeing what they were about to do to me was even more terrifying than the process itself. The next thing I knew was the excruciating pain piercing through my belly...
I woke up with a jolt. My panicked mind trying to analyze my surroundings searching for any danger, only to relax when I remembered when and where I was. The relief was almost painful, as it felt like all my bones turned into jelly when the adrenaline washed away.
I took a deep calming breath and glanced to the side only to see my peacefully sleeping boyfriend, which made me relax even more as I realized that he hadn't become a witness to one of my ugliest nightmares. If he saw me having a nightmare he could've tried to get inside my dream as all vampires could do. That was the last thing that I wanted.
I completely relaxed and snuggled into my lover's chest to try and catch last hours of the night, feeling truly exhausted, but as soon as I closed my eyes I heard a strange noise coming from somewhere downstairs. I went completely still, going even as far as to holding my breath, trying to understand whether I really heard something or if it was just my imagination. A few seconds passed in complete silence and when I finally convinced myself that I was just hearing things, I heard it again. The noise. As if something fell on the floor.
I let loose of my magic, letting it wander around the house to see if I could feel any living presence, but felt nothing. There were only two of us in the house. Then I heard it again and sighed in annoyance, before slowly untangling my man's limbs and standing up. I saw a dark spot on the floor and after looking closely I realized that those were our clothes, Nik must've woken up at one point during the night and collected them from around the house. I picked one item of clothes up, only to realize that it was Nik's shirt and happily put it on.
I quietly left the room and went downstairs, trying to listen if I would hear the noise again so I could pinpoint its source. It turned out to be pointless as I checked out the entire first floor but found nothing. Annoyed, I went into the kitchen and sighed seeing the mess that we left after behind, before starting to clean. I put away the leftovers and gathered all the dirty dishes before putting them into the dishwasher.
I noticed my phone on the kitchen counter and tried to turn it on to check the time only to find out that it was dead. Apparently, we forgot to stop the music too engrossed into each other when leaving the kitchen, so it was no surprise that the battery died.
I chuckled and decided to have a glass of water before heading back to bed to join my man. I was putting the glass away when I felt two hands on my waist that almost made me jump out of my skin in fear.
"Did I scare you, love?" Nik chuckled right into my ear, making me let out a sigh of relief and turn around.
"You almost killed me actually," I said in mock annoyance, slapping him on his bare chest. "I heard some strange noises and went down here to check, only to relax when I found nothing and then you came out of nowhere and scared me out of my mind."
"I'm sorry ma'am. What can I do to make up for it?" he asked teasingly right into my lips making me sneak my hands around his neck on instinct.
"Oh I don't know, sir," I decided to play along and tilted my head as if in deep thoughts. "Maybe a kiss can cure my wounded soul."
He chuckled and suddenly lifted me up making me hug his waste with my legs for support. He then took a few steps and set me down on a kitchen counter.
"A kiss you say?" he whispered in my ear, making me shudder. "That won't be a problem. Only... where?"
I put my finger on my chin to show him that I was trying to think of an answer to his question then said, "I don't know. Maybe here...?" I asked pointing to my left cheek which he immediately kissed, "... or maybe here...?" I continued, pointing to my right one which too received a kiss not a second later. "Or..."
I never finished my sentence as I was startled by the very same noise that made me come downstairs in the first place... only it came from right behind my back. We both froze in place, our little game completely forgotten, before slowly turning to look at the source of the noise. As I was still hugging Nik with all my limbs like a baby koala, it took him no time to lift me up again and take a step back.
As soon as my eyes lay on the source of the noise, my body went completely still. I could feel the confusion coming from Nik but couldn't acknowledge it, as I felt the dread filling my body, seeing my grandma's tarot deck lying there innocently, even though I remembered full well leaving it in the witch shop.
"Where did this come from? I'm pretty sure it wasn't there a minute ago," Nik asked, confused, while putting me down on the floor. I kept silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and rubbing my eyes tiredly.
"You are right, it wasn't there a minute ago," I sighed and he raised his eyebrow at me questioningly. "I'm 100% sure I left it somewhere else today."
"Are you saying that it teleported here?" he asked jokingly but I didn't return his smile. "Come on love, its just a tarot deck."
"It's not just any tarot deck. It belonged to every seer in my family and was meant to be passed down to me, but..." I paused for a second and he took my hand in his as if sensing my unease and gave it a reassuring squeeze, encouraging me to continue. "It last belonged to my grandma even though she wasn't that powerful of a seer, she used it from time to time to... enhance herself. But for some time it also belonged to my... biological mother, before she ran away. Grandma told me that after she disappeared, she'd found this same deck on her bedside table one morning."
"So, you are implying that it has some kind of... consciousness?" he asked hesitantly. I rubbed my face once again, to try and shake away sleepiness so I could make slightly more sense.
"Every powerful enough magical item with time can acquire some kind of... awareness, I guess. This deck was created by one of the most powerful witches and seers of my bloodline. She poured a lot of her own magic into it and used it for almost all of her life till her dying breath. She bequeathed it to a next seer who shared her blood so it was passed down to her daughter, who, even though wasn't quite as powerful as her mother, was powerful enough in her own right. Then so on and so forth, until one day it was lost, no one's quite sure where it'd disappeared to, but one of my ancestors had a theory that it didn't like its current owner, for some reason, and refused to aid her. It then magically reappeared after that a few generations later." I paused taking a calming breath, then continued. "The moment it appeared on my grandma's table she... knew that for some reason this deck abandoned her daughter, because she was 100% sure that she took it with her when she ran away. And quite frankly I'm not surprised that it did what it did, because my... mother wasn't... she wasn't a good person and I'm not surprised that the artifact as powerful as this one was able to sense it."
"So that's why you don't want to use it? Because it belonged to your biological mother?" he asked cautiously as if trying not to upset me but I just nodded absently, not taking my gaze away from the deck.
"The fact that it belonged to her, even for a little while, makes my skin crawl. I don't want to have anything to do with her. I refused to take it when I saw it in my friend's possession today, though now I'm kind of curious why she even had it in the first place. Because I can clearly remember now leaving it in this very house after my grandma's funeral."
"Well, it looks like it wants you to have it, love. Will it leave you alone if you refuse?"
"I don't think so, no," I sighed, accepting my defeat. "I'm pretty sure it will follow me around until I surrender."
I took a tentative step forward and hesitantly touched the deck with just the tips of my fingers as if afraid that it would bite me, but nothing happened, so I slowly picked it up.
"That's it? No sparks or flashing lights or wind that comes out of nowhere?" he asked teasingly, breaking me from a somber mood and making me giggle, which by the satisfied look on his face was his intention in a first place.
"You've been watching far too many movies lately," I said rolling my eyes at him fondly.
"Shouldn't you perform some kind of a ritual to bind it to yourself or something of sort?" he continued, genuinely curious, actually making me think before dismissing his question right away.
"Well it already chose me so I don't think that there will be a need for a binding ritual, unless..."
I paused when I felt like I was hit with some strange sense of deja vu. It felt like some certain knowledge appeared in my mind out of nowhere and at the same time like it was always there but I forgot about it until this moment. I turned to Niklaus, who was watching me with a raised eyebrow, put the deck back on the counter and slowly brought my wrist to his mouth.
"I need you to bite me."
"Not that I don't want to, love, but why all of a sudden?" he asked, confused by my behavior and I had to try hard to suppress a giggle.
"I need a few drops of my blood to bind it to me," I nodded at the deck and the realization flickered in his eyes before he nodded and took my wrist gently but firmly and bit into it without taking his eyes off my face.
I then held my bleeding wrist right above the deck letting a few drops fall on it, before taking it away. We both watched with fascination as my blood melted into the surface of the deck as if it was never there, making the deck itself glow a little bit before going back to normal.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," Nik snorted, then suddenly picked me up and sat me down on the counter once again. "Now, when that little puzzle is solved, I need to take care of something else." I looked at him curiously and as if answering my unasked question, he took my still bleeding wrist and attempted to lick away the blood. "We can't let it go to waste now, can we?"
"You know you can do more than just to lick away the remains right?" I asked and instantly turned red. "Actually, for some weird reason I quite enjoy it when you drink from me." His eyes flashed, his whole demeanor changing to a more sensual one, like someone pulled a switch.
"Oh, I'm quite aware of that, my love, if your moans every time when I bite you are any indicator," he murmured licking on my bleeding wrist and making me shudder from the sensation of his warm tongue on my skin, the hoarseness in his voice and his burning gaze. "I've never told you this before, but your blood tastes divine and only the centuries of experience prevent me from tasting you every time."
"It's funny, cause I fucking love how your blood tastes too," I whispered slightly out of breath.
"All you have to do is ask, my love," he said and suddenly bit his own wrist and put it right against my lips.
"I remember you saying that blood sharing was very intimate for vampires," I managed to say, taking a hold on his offered wrist, gently caressing his smooth skin with my thumb. "But I'm not a vampire."
"Why should we care? We can do whatever we want."
And with that he bared his fangs and bit down on my wrist for the second time in last five minutes, making me let out a small whimper. My clouded mind tried to find any reasons to object, reminding me about the dreaded tarot deck still lying right next me, but found none. I couldn't make myself care about the mystery of the deck anymore, I realized that I had some more exiting things to do.
So I did exactly what I wanted, I took his offered wrist and took a first gulp, rolling my eyes from the pleasure. He is right, was my last clear thought before I succumbed to the pleasure, we can do whatever the fuck we want.
Hi everyone! Sorry for making you wait for so long, it wasn't my intention, but I guess I shouldn't have read several different tvd fanfics, watched different reactions to the show on YouTube and tried to write this story at the same time. All different storylines mixed in my head and I suddenly realized that I started to forget some interesting ideas that I had regarding this very story, so I had to take a short break, just to clear my mind and tried my best to avoid everything that was connected to tvd. And it helped actually. Half of this chapter was actually written almost three months ago, but I got stuck and couldn't make myself continue until now.
I got so many ideas regarding this story, but most of them happen later in the story and I can't just jump forward to the interesting parts, I need to make the story flow more or less smoothly and that's actually such a pain in the ass)).
So, I wanted to apologize for making you wait for so long, and thank you guys for all the reviews, they actually mean a lot.
I added some minor changes to the story after I finished rereading it, so feel free to check them out if you want.
I hope you enjoy this story. Laters!