Chapter 02
Bella had to admit, the first step she set in “the compound”, she was amazed by the size of it. It looked like an apartment building or a building with a community garden, although the garden was more of a big patio. It was spacious and impressive. There was a set of stairs that lead to the first floor and you could walk around the corridor to get a good view of the patio below..
The room that Klaus had arranged for her was as big as her home in Forks that she shared with Charlie and it was filled with antiques. It was essentially as if she had stepped into a movie, a period drama, it was all so gorgeous and ancient. She was afraid that the bed would collapse if she slept on it, but it didn’t. It was big and sturdy and the mattress was just right. She didn’t have a lot of time to look around from her place on the bed because as soon as her head hit the pillow, she’d been out like a light.
She woke the next morning because someone knocked on the door and she was embarrassed about the fact that she hadn’t even bothered to change into her pyjamas before going to bed. It would be a miracle if she didn’t suffer from the worst bed hair ever and managed to find a hair tie in her pocket on the way to the door.
“Good Morning, dollface,” Kol greeted her with a wide smile on his face while he held up a tray with food. “Slept well? I’ve taken the liberty to get you some breakfast. Fried eggs with bacon, a yummy ham sandwich, some tea, orange juice and best of all… Beignets.”
“A dessert for breakfast?” Bella sleepily smiled. “Thank you. It’s a brilliant way to start the day.” she stepped aside to let him in. “Can you give me a few minutes so I can freshen myself up?”
“Why? You look alright to me.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Bella snorted as she turned around to fetch some things from her bag. “But I’ve slept the best I have in ages in my own clothes and I feel a bit grimy. I won’t be long.” She continued as she walked into the bathroom and didn’t fully close the door. Kol counted the minutes and exactly five minutes after she’d gotten in, she exited the bathroom, looking refreshed in a change of clothes and a big smile on her face.
“That was quick.”
“Was it?” Bella smiled at him and giggled when he pulled out a chair for her to sit on at the table in the room for breakfast.
“I’d have thought you’d take a nice, long and relaxing bath in that gorgeous bathtub in that bathroom. Isn’t that what girls do?” He sat down in a chair next to her and relaxed as he watched her eye the food on the tray. “I’m not going to put stuff on your plate, darling, you’re not a child.”
Bella went for the ham sandwich and took a bite.
“I’m curious,” he eventually said after she had slowly eaten half of her sandwich. “Why didn’t you close and lock the door just now? I’m a complete stranger, I’m a guy, in your room and you just leave the door open. If I didn’t have any honor, I could have done something to you.”
“I pretty much always leave the door open,” Bella said as she carefully placed the sandwich on her plate and took a sip of her orange juice. “I’m sorry if it offended you.”
“It didn’t offend me, love,” Kol smiled at her. “But haven’t you heard of ‘stranger, danger’? You need to rely on yourself to make decisions for yourself. Take advantage of the next few days where you don’t have to listen to the rules they have set for you. Take your life back, even if you decide to go back to them.”
“But I have to go back to him,” Bella said kind of confused. “I have to finish school and then there’s the matter of the Volturi… even if Edward and I no longer— they’d still come because I know of them.”
“You always have a choice,” Kol wanted to point to her half eaten sandwich to prompt her to continue eating, but he figured that the Cullens were in control over her food too and he didn’t want to do the same. She’d get hungry eventually. “Take it from me, life is full of choices with endless outcomes. But for every problem, there is a solution. I can’t begin the many times I’ve been at odds with Nik. Mostly Nik, actually. I’ve made some bad decisions in the past, but I was usually able to fix them.”
She listened to his words and thought about what he had said. If she’d leave the Cullens, they wouldn’t stop following her, trying to get her back or even worse; they’d kill her and she didn’t want to do that to Charlie. She didn’t have a choice. None. “And sometimes it’s best to just let it happen for the safety of others.”
“Then why do you want a break from them, ey? My brother has opened his house to you, he’s ensured your safety because he knows what they’re like.”
“Yeah, you’re right, it was a bad and impulsive decision on my part.”
Kol grabbed her hand when she wanted to get up from her chair and pulled her back in. Maybe it was a little too much to confront her over breakfast about this, but she started it. “Was it? Or is your subconscious trying to tell you something?”
Bella looked at Kol’s hand and then looked at him. “Let me go.”
“No. Not until you answer me.”
“Let me go. Please.” Bella pleaded.
“Make me,” he snapped rather arrogantly.
“No.” She started to jerk her arm trying to get his hand off of hers, but he wasn’t letting go.
“I’m not immortal or anything. Make me.” He tightened the hold he had on her hand. “What are you? Weak? Maybe I should find that marble prince of yours and tell him he needs to marry you soon so he has more reason to bully you around. Although you’re honestly pathetic right now, but that’s how he likes them, isn’t it? Weak and pathetic. Easier to manipulate.”
“Stop,” Bella said with tears in her eyes as she looked at him. “You’re being an ass.”
Kol snorted. “You’re not telling me anything new, love, my siblings tell me that on a daily basis. Since I’m not immortal anymore, Nik can’t even shut me up without killing me.” Not letting go of her hand, he got up from his chair as he turned hers around with his foot and grabbed her other hand, pinning both hands to the chair. “I’m not letting go of you, you’d have to make me.”
He was dangerously close to her now and she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see this. Whatever had gotten into him was scary and he really wasn’t letting go of her no matter how much she struggled. “Please, stop…” she said with a whisper.
“I can see now why Edward wants you so much, you’re nothing but a doormat. You’re nothing without him, aren’t you? You need a man to tell you what to do, don’t you?”
“Stop!” Bella cried out as she felt a force coming from within her, almost as if she released all of her pent up frustration and anxiety and found Kol’s hands away from hers. When she opened her eyes as to take a peek if he was still there, she found him on the other side of the room, grinning like a maniac.
“Ow, that hurt,” he grinned as he got to his feet, brushing off the debris of the dresser she’d seemingly thrown him into. “Remind me not to piss you off for real.”
She just stared at him in shock.
“I didn’t mean it, I promise,” he said as he walked back to her.
“What happened?”
“You magically threw me against the dresser, that’s what happened.”
“I’m so sorry! I— Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t—”
Kol snorted and gently placed his hand on her shoulder before he sat back down next to her. “I’m alright and you don’t have to apologise. It’s my own fault, really. I pushed you.”
“You were mean.”
“Yes, but you’ve learned three lessons now,” he said with a grin on his face before he held out his hand to use his powers to get a beignet.
“How did you do that?” Bella stared at him with big eyes.
“The opposite of what you just did to me. You wanted me away from you so you pushed me away. I want the good tasting beignet, so I have it come to me. But what three lessons have you learned?” He took a bite of the pastry as he looked at her. Maybe seeing him eat would make her think to finish the sandwich she had nibbled on earlier.
She blankly stared at him as she rubbed her hands. She could still feel his hands on hers and it was annoying. Edward or Jasper always put their hands on her to calm her down or make her do things and Kol wasn’t either of them. He was sweet and only trying to prove his point.
“One; you sure have a lot of thinking to do about your future with that beastly marble Ken-doll,” he said slowly. “As I said, every problem has a solution, no matter how bad. Which brings us to two; you’re stronger than you think.” He nodded towards the smashed dresser. “Your magic might not work outside of New Orleans, but I can tell you have a strong will working for ye… and three…”
“You’re an ass?” She quipped, a smile appearing on her face.
“Yes,” he agreed with a playful smile on his face. “But at least I’m honest about it unlike some people. But what I meant is that it’s alright to stand up for yourself and if needed, do bodily harm to protect yourself. Surely, with a copper as a dad he taught you some sweet moves.”
“Of course, but with Ed—”
Kol shushed her. “No excuses, love, he might be stronger than you and harder to hurt, but you have every right to kick his arse if need be. It’s time to look out for number one.” He took another bite off his beignet and was relieved when she once again picked up her sandwich. “So, museum today?”
Bella nodded as she continued to eat. “As many as possible.” She was glad Kol had dropped the subject, she still wasn’t happy what he had done, although she had to admit, unknowingly flinging him across the room had been really cool. She could understand why someone, an outsider, would think the way they did about the whole situation, but it was simply impossible to be completely out of the Cullen’s grasp.
She already feared the worst upon her return. They might do something irreversible to people she loved and there was nothing she could do about it other than to accept it. And that sucked. She could do as Kol said; kick Edward or whomever, but could he promise they wouldn’t retaliate by breaking her neck?
Kol smiled widely. “Well, hurry up then, we have a lot to do in not enough time. First order of business though, is to get you a phone of your own.”
Bella looked at Kol as she finished her sandwich and her glass of orange juice. The main reason why she didn’t want to have her own phone was that she was currently not carrying enough money to buy one. She had been given fifty dollars to spend on her own while in New Orleans and Edward would decide to pay for things she’d otherwise need. “My phone still works, you know.”
“Are you certain?” Kol smiled wickedly. “I had some time to kill when you were in the bathroom.”
“You didn’t!” Bella said panicked. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” She flew off her chair and headed to her backpack to get her phone out and felt the color drain from her face as she tried to switch it on but it didn’t work. “No…” she whispered as she opened it up and a substance that looked like sand fell out of her phone. Upon closer inspection, she noticed it was the battery.
Maybe breaking her battery hadn’t been one of his brightest ideas, although he was certain that it had been for the best. Porcelain could have put stuff on her phone – apps – to track her every move, even if it was turned off and he wanted Bella to be free.
Kol could see how her heart shattered and how close she was to a panic attack and it was his bloody fault. He didn’t know what to say when Bella started to unravel in front of him. She was clutching her phone and rocking herself back and forth. Kol felt no better than Edward right now. Elijah had stressed the importance of leaving her be and not to take things away from her or make her do things against her will because that’s what she usually gets at home and he had crossed a line. Big time.
When his sister Rebekah angrily barged into the room, Kol didn’t know how fast he had to get up and get to the other side of the room, as far away as possible. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would matter that much…”
“That’s it, isn’t it?” the woman bit at him as she sat down next to Bella and calmly took her hands into her own. “You do not think! You might get off easily if the chip in this bloody device still works!” She then looked at Bella, making sure that she was looking at her. “Take a deep breath, it’s going to be alright, little dove. My brother is getting you a replacement phone even if it has to be his own.”
It took a while before she calmed down, there was this unknown woman sitting next to her, holding her hands and nothing else. “I am so sorry,” she whispered before looking around the room. Kol was gone. “I… it’s just…”
“I understand,” the blonde said kindly. “You don’t have to apologize. How about you and Kol forgo on your trip to the museums and how about you and I go do something fun such as doing something ridiculously girly and go to a spa and relax.”
“I can’t… I…”
“Niklaus’ treat. Just to get your mind off of things,” she interrupted her and let go of her hands to caress a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “My name is Rebekah, I’m them lot’s sister and I apologize for Kol’s behaviour.”
Bella slowly nodded as she looked at her. The woman – Rebekah – was absolutely beautiful and reminded her of Rosalie, if only just slightly. She appeared to be a lot kinder, though, which was a startling contrast to what she was familiar with. “But if I don’t have my paper done by the time I leave, I will fail the class.”
“History of New Orleans, yeah?” Rebekah smiled widely. “We’ve got you covered, I promise. Museums are nice and all that and…” From the corner of her eye she noticed the dresser that lay in shambles. It had been one of Elijah’s favourite items back in the day and it was beyond repair. “What happened here?”
“Kol.” Bella replied with a small smile on her lips. “Apparently I am capable of doing magic and pushed him in there.”
“That is – truly splendid,” Rebekah said appreciatively. “Well done, you!”
Bella wasn’t one to do extremely girly things as going to a spa. Even when she was little she simply liked to sit down with a good book and read to relax instead of playing outside with friends from school.
Tripping over her own feet on occasion was also one of the reasons; it wasn’t funny to faceplant into the pavement or a pile of dog poo. It grew old very fast. But she had to admit, Rebekah made whole spa experience fun by telling her stories about days past. If only she had been allowed to write it all down while getting a massage!
They went for ice cream on their way back and Bella could have sworn she saw Emmett and Rosalie standing in the distance, keeping an eye on her, which reminded her of her phone. “Oh shit, the phone!”
“Don’t fret, I’m sure that when we return, Kol will be apologetic up to the point of grovelling and he will attained a new phone for you,” Rebekah said calmly and gently rubbed Bella’s back. “You do know us girls don’t need men to take care of us, right? Nor to tell us what we can’t and can do.”
Bella sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck and looked to the ground as they walked back. “I know. I know all of that. It’s…”
“Complicated?”
Bella nodded.
“Kol mentioned you feel like their prisoner. Why aren’t you trying a prison break?”
“It’s comp—”
“Complicated,” Rebekah said with a nod and sighed. “Do you even still love that Edward guy? I mean, surely you must, if you allow yourself to be treated the way he and his family are treating you.”
Bella sighed again. No matter how she wanted to drop the subject, Rebekah didn’t seem to want anything of it. Maybe it was a good thing to talk about it, it wasn’t as if she could tell someone back home. New Orleans was a long way from Forks and there was a great possibility that her new friends weren’t ever going to visit her or for her to go back to New Orleans. “I’m not a victim,” Bella eventually said, thinking it over. “I know very well that what they’re doing is wrong. Sure, I loved Edward. I mean, he’s handsome, he’s this old soul and his hands… oh god, I couldn’t wait for him to touch me with those hands and fingers,” she smirked at the thought. “He took care of me, I liked that too. I mean, he made sure I didn’t get hit by a car in the school parking lot and he saved me from a group of boys when I was out with my friends… he wasn’t even supposed to be there, but for some reason it felt… safe. It was nice to be taken care of instead of being the one who takes care of everyone.”
“Did you know he was a vampire back then?”
“My friend Jake had some suspicions, especially since his father disliked Edward’s father. Jake’s Quileute and their legends talk about vampires and he told me. I was even asked to sit in around the campfire for ‘story night’ and the legend was being told. At first I thought the whole tribe was insane because vampires… it’s the thing from stories, it couldn’t possibly be real, right?”
Rebekah smiled at that. “Of course not.”
“But stories and legends have to come from somewhere. So I did my research and I figured it out. Edward always tried to deflect me when I brought it up and eventually started to entertain me by asking me about my theories and I told him I thought he was a vampire.”
“I hazard a guess that that was the point where he fully let you into his life?”
Bella nodded. “He even admitted it was hard for him to be around me because my blood smelled too good for him to resist. That I was his singer and that every vampire has one.”
“That’s ridiculous. Blood is blood,” Rebekah huffed. “Whatever they’ve been smoking, I don’t want it.”
“There was a thunderstorm one night and everyone gathered up to go and play baseball out in the rain because it was the only time where they could use their strength and speed to their fullest. Vampire baseball was fun while it lasted, a couple of nomads strolled in and they thought it was amusing how protective the clan was over me, the only human, and wanted me dead.”
“I do have to admit, in the past, the thought of being around humans without them being a source for food, was appalling. Fragile beings. I would have wanted the same, to be honest. I can’t begin to count the times I wanted to sink my teeth into Marcel when he was growing up, simply for him being around us all the time.”
Bella shuddered at the thought.
“Oh, don’t worry love, Niklaus doesn’t want you harmed,” Rebekah reassuringly smiled at her.
“Up until that baseball game, everything had been amazing with Edward and his family, and then things changed. I nearly died because one of the nomads lured me away but Edward yet again saved me while my body was burning with venom.”
“Ew,” the vampire shuddered at that. “That’s right, the Cold Ones are venomous. Oh, the horror. Gross. Why didn’t he just kill you? Surely with so much venom inside of you you’d have turned?”
“He wanted me to lead a full human life and not frozen at 17. I’m actually glad I’m still fully human. Yes, I’m fragile and I am clumsy but to live with him? Forever? No offense to you, Rebekah.”
“None taken, little Dove. There are times where I wonder that myself when dealing with my brothers,” she smiled at her. “But the good far outweighs the bad. I’ve seen things you cannot even begin to imagine.”
“Yeah, but with Edward and his family?” Bella countered. “Things only got worse from there, I was aware about how they were treating me, Edward even dumped me once, wanting me to be safe.”
“He did?”
Bella nodded. “And I was stupid enough to take him back because I was scared shitless that the remaining nomads would hurt my dad or my wolf friends.”
“But you didn’t need to fear them, did you?”
Bella shook her head as she stuffed her hands in her pocket. “If I leave now, chances are they will hurt or kill someone that I love. They may have isolated me from my friends, and somewhat from my father, but it doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t hurt them if I’d do anything. And it’s not as if anything can be done about it. They’re super strong and they can’t be hurt unless you have super strength yourself and are able to rip them apart. And even then you’d have to set them on fire.”
“I can see your predicament,” Rebekah said, surprised by the girl’s fighting spirit. She wasn’t a meek little lamb, not when she wasn’t scared or afraid something bad would happen. Her spirit was definitely broken, sure, but at least she was aware that things weren’t right. “But why does that not make you a victim?”
“Because…” Bella started and then shut up. She didn’t have a choice in the matter, she had to stay or suffer the consequences. She wasn’t a victim because she’d been so stupid to fall in love with Edward. “I’m not. I have to stay, it’s my own fault. And it’s tiny breathers such as these that keep me sane.”
“No, you’re right, you’re not a victim,” Rebekah said with a nod. “The situation you’re in is not your fault, Bella. It’s theirs. They have been trying to groom girls ever since they originated. If anything, you’re a survivor.”
Bella looked up to her as they were rounding the corner onto Bourbon Street. It had felt good to tell Rebekah her story, it felt liberating and she felt a rush of confidence run through her body.“I have to. I don’t have another choice.”
“If you could do anything, you would, wouldn’t you?”
“I would rip them apart, shove their arms in their mouths and their feet up their asses,” Bella said without thinking and then winced before looking around to see if anyone else had heard that. “Oh, that sounded so bad…”
“No, no,” Rebekah laughed. “That was exactly what I wished you’d say because you should never, ever, allow anyone to pull you down like that. You should not suffer any longer. When you get home, you should tell all of this to the Chief of that tribe of wolves and have them take your revenge.”
“I can’t. I don’t want them to get hurt.”
“You said they were wolves, surely they’re strong enough to tear a Cold One apart.”
“And the Cullens are strong enough to hurt them in return. I’m sorry, Rebekah, but I hate it when other people have to fight my battles, especially when they could get hurt.”
“I admire your heart, Bella,” Rebekah said solemnly. “Let’s get inside and see if Kol has indeed acquired you a new phone.”
Kol had indeed bought her a new phone. He boasted that he could have gotten her a new battery but he figured there would be things on her old phone that the Cullens could use to keep track of her and he wanted her to have a clean phone. He’d not only bought her a new phone but also brought her a box of pastries to show her how sorry he was. Kol promised not to do it again, but Bella wasn’t sure if she could take his word for that.
She was sitting in a comfortable chair in the court yard with her notebook to write down from what she could remember from the conversation she had with Rebekah at the spa about the history of New Orleans. At first glance, she was alone, but she knew someone was keeping an eye on her, after so long with the Cullens, she had developed some sixth sense for it. Whomever it was, she wasn’t really bothered by it. She’d do the same thing if she took a stranger into her home.
Bella was just about to take a bite out of her second pastry when her phone rang. Glancing at the number, she immediately picked it up. “Hi Charlie,” she greeted her father with a smile on her face.
“Hiya Bells, how’s it going?”
“New Orleans is fantastic,” she replied enthusiastically. “The whole atmosphere of the city is amazing, you’d love it here.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I like it here. It’s nice and quiet.”
“You’re such an old man,” she grinned.
“You don’t need to remind me of that. How’s the trip going?”
“I’m learning a lot about New Orleans’ history. It’s amazing how much of a history a city has, it’s completely different from Forks.”
“I’ll bet. Just make sure you’re getting home safe, alright?”
“I’m still being minded, Charlie. We’re coming back in a couple of days.”
“Edward here told me you ran away.”
Of course he did. Bella audibly sighed as she rubbed her eyes, spreading icing sugar all over them. She tried to rub it away with her sleeve as well as she could as she thought of an answer. Edward was obviously already in Forks. There’s no way that she could have seen Emmett and Rosalie earlier. “I didn’t. You know the school system, the teacher wants us to learn about the history of New Orleans and she doesn’t even know much herself. She’s a bad guide. I prefer to do things on my own.”
“Just be safe, sweetheart.”
“Don’t worry, if anything happens, you taught me well.”
“Is everything alright between you and Edward? He said you broke his heart yesterday. He couldn’t sleep last night because he was worried about you being alone in a big city.”
Bella tried hard not to let out a huff. Edward was such a drama queen. A manipulative bastard. It didn’t surprise her that he had gone straight to Charlie, he was her achilles heel. “I’ll make it up to him when I get home in a couple of days. I didn’t mean to upset him.”
“Have fun, Bells, I’ll talk to you soon.”
After hanging up on her father, she switched off the phone and continued to write in her notebook, trying to remember what Rebekah had told her, but her mind was flooded with how Edward was going to make her pay for ‘upsetting him’. She was breaking so many rules that it was going to be virtually impossible for her to return and have a life. She was probably going to get stripped off all of the freedom with restrictions he had given her.
She grew frustrated with herself as she knew she had to leave him but couldn’t, out of fear that everyone would get hurt, including herself. Bella felt how an energy built up inside of her and before she was aware of what was happening, the box of pastries flew across the courtyard. “Shit!” she said, partially cursing, partially in shock as she ran towards the mess to clean it up.
“Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to give you a box of pastries right before you’re supposed to have dinner with me and my siblings, love, but to toss them aside like that?”
Bella looked up to Kol from her position on the floor. He had this self-absorbed smirk on his face as he was leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed over his chest. “It was an accident,” she said as she continued to clean up the mess. “I didn’t mean to do this.”
“Ah, but it happened, you should be proud of yourself!”
“So is this going to happen whenever I feel like I want to hit someone?” Bella said as she dusted herself off and got to her feet. She then turned to Kol and crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring him. “Because if that’s the case, I hope your brother has a damn good insurance because I might break more stuff.”
“It’s all about control, which would be impossible for you to learn now seeing as your emotions are all over the place,” he explained. “I mean, we could try, but I can tell you have a lot of anger and frustration stored into your body. We need to get rid of that first.”
“How?”
Kol shrugged. “They’re your emotions, not mine. You have a surplus of them, you need to get rid of some of it.”
“How?”
“Kill someone? I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “Come on, let’s have dinner, you can meet my brother Elijah.”
Bella was amazed by how well she had slept for the second night in a row. Usually she felt extremely uncomfortable when she slept in a strange bed or all alone, but she seemed to be doing quite well. She was in a strange house, filled with strangers – most of them were vampires – but she felt liberated, somehow. It was nice to fall asleep without someone watching her or lay in bed with her and cooling her off which made it impossible for her to fall asleep for a long time.
She closed and locked the bathroom door when she went to clean herself up, even though she was all alone in the room. It felt odd, somewhat claustrophobic, but it felt good. And the bathtub looked amazing as well. Rebekah had told her the day before that there was nothing wrong by taking a long bath and soak, to think about things or just to doze for awhile.
Bella only went back into the room to get her notebook and a pen before going back into the bathroom as the tub filled up. Soon, she spent the next half hour soaking and writing on her paper, finding the experience relaxing. She was all by herself and she had fun without being judged or being told what to do.
When she was all dressed and in the process of cleaning up the bedroom, a polite knock was heard on the door and she half expected the door to open and the person just barging into the room. When it didn’t happen, she walked to the door and opened it, revealing Elijah. She had met him the night before during dinner and he seemed the calmest of the siblings. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you and your siblings pull straws early in the morning to see who’s going to take care of the teenager residing in the guest bedroom and you lost today.”
“Good morning to you too, Miss Swan,” Elijah greeted her with a smile. “I’m glad to see you in such good spirits this morning.”
“Good morning,” she smiled. “And I am, thank you.”
“I was thinking maybe you and I could go for a stroll through New Orleans today. It is far more than the French Quarter.”
“Sounds great,” she grinned appreciatively at him and turned around to get her bag. She nearly tripped over her feet while doing so but was glad she hadn’t fallen over. That would have been embarrassing.
Elijah took her for a tour through the Garden District after hopping onto a street car. She had been there two days previously when they met at the cemetary – something she still thought of as being creepy – and hoped he wouldn’t take her there again.
He told her of how he and his siblings arrived in New Orleans somewhere in the 1700’s out of Europe and basically saw the city turn into what it was right now. They helped build the city and Bella could have sworn she saw some pride on his face, which made her smile. She had already noticed that despite the Mikaelsons seemingly being thrown together with their various personalities and their probably bloody history, that at least they achieved something with their years on the Earth, unlike the Cullens, so a little bit of pride was well deserved.
After lunch, Elijah took her to the public library to dig through old records. He admitted it wasn’t one of his favourite ways to spend the time and he had kept records of his own, but he wasn’t keen to allow anyone to make copies out of it, mostly because it held his personal notes as well.
It could of been awkward to see pictures of him, Klaus and Rebekah in old newspapers as they hadn’t aged one bit but it wasn’t. She was surprised, however, that the family allowed old images as the one she had found to exist. What if someone would find out their secret?
She found one image dating somewhere in 1821 where the three were with what looked like a young Marcel and another person and she was intrigued as the siblings didn’t look all too pleased and the headline of the story was ‘Forty-six people found murdered by escaped negros.’ “What happened here?”
“It… was a nightmare I’d really wish to forget,” Elijah sighed as he looked at the article. “And partially my fault.”
“Howso?”
“Niklaus had saved Marcel from slavery and a life filled with abuse the year before. He seemed to have lost interest in him in 1821 and from then on I took him under my wing, I educated him, I started to teach the boy everything I knew and I didn’t see Niklaus had grown jealous. He undaggered Kol, much against my wishes.” Elijah pointed at the strange man standing next to Klaus. “Our brother Kol is a handful now, but he was even more so when he was a vampire. He was wild and reckless, he could enjoy himself a little too much. He was also the one who could make Niklaus even more volatile than he already could be. The two of them started to paint the town red, quite literally. We are photographed here as we watch how those bodies were carried out of the building and how the families grieved. Rebekah and I thought it would be a lesson for both Niklaus and Kol that this wasn’t a proper way to go about things. In the past, their carelessness had caused us having to move when we’d only just settled in one place.”
“Wait, they killed those people?” Bella had a shocked and surprised tone in her voice, but Elijah wasn’t impressed. Kol and Niklaus had done a lot worse back in the day, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. She knew how vampires worked, didn’t she?
“We’re vampires, dear,” Elijah smiled at her. “We drink blood to live.”
“Yes, but Kol and Klaus murdered all those people?”
“Sadly, yes. Kol recently divulged there were bodies up in the attic as well, the count was more around sixty—” When he saw the incredulous look on her face, he stopped. “A lot has changed over the last few hundred years, Bella. I can’t say that we’re living on the straight and narrow, as we do not. We try to keep a low profile as much as possible, it took Niklaus hundreds of years to finally learn that lesson, and even then, his emotions sometimes get the better of him. But he has myself and Rebekah to keep an eye on him. We’re a family.”
“What about Kol?”
“What about him? He used to be irrational, reckless, careless and too wild to keep around, we had him in his coffin for most of the time and every time we let him out, we realised the mistake we’d made. He’s too much of a child.”
Bella’s jaw fell open. “He’s your brother.”
“Yes, but our hands were full with Niklaus.”
“Wow.” She sounded appalled and shocked at the same time as she closed the books and started to put them on the library cart to bring them back.
“Make no mistake, Miss Swan, we used to be a great part of society and every family has skeletons in their closets. Kol was not one to be reasoned with, no matter how many times we tried to temper him.”
“So you’d just neutralize him for a few years and hoped he learned his lesson?” she huffed as she gathered her things. “It’s rather a convenient thing, isn’t it? Get tired of one sibling and just give them a timeout lasting years.”
“It’s not that simple…”
“Yes, it is,” Bella was furious as she stormed out of the library, followed closely by Elijah. “You were telling me earlier how humans are precious and how you like them and you were saying that family is important. How does not giving your brother the love and attention he needs – craves – fit into that? Yes, Kol might be a bit… unpredictable but…”
“He’s not to be reasoned with. Whereas Niklaus, Rebekah and I value family over everything, Kol sees everything as a game and if he’s on the losing side, he’ll switch sides. He doesn’t take responsibility, he—”
“He is a kid,” Bella breezed as she continued to march back to the Abattoir. “Yes, he’s over a thousand years old but since you had him daggered for the most part, he never grew up. No wonder he has a violent past, he wanted your attention and all you did was dagger him because he was a pain in the ass,” she continued. “It must be agony for you now that he’s human and you can’t dagger him.”
Elijah watched in amusement as she walked the wrong way but didn’t say anything just yet. He appreciated it when a woman spoke her mind like she did. He found it refreshing, especially since she hadn’t been around them for that long. It showed she was more observant than he or his siblings had imagined. He could understand that from a human point of view that she was right, but he and his family hadn’t been human for so long and there was only so much of Kol either of his siblings could take. And she was right, now that he was human, it was harder to quiet him, which was the reason why he didn’t live with them. He or Niklaus could easily lose their temper and accidentally snap his neck out of habit. And despite not really agreeing with Kol from time to time, both Elijah and Niklaus did not want to kill their own brother.
He didn’t say anything for a long time mostly as she was still fuming and trying to calm herself down and he didn’t want to cause her to lose herself in the presence of others. She was an angry young woman and he understood why, but something needed to be done because Claire witches were powerful and to not have said power under control could be disastrous.
“How about we go left on the next street, Miss Swan?” He calmly suggested, which was followed by a huff and her turning left with her firmly stuffing her hands in her pockets.
When they had discussed Bella the previous night, Rebekah had divulged Bella either had to be a good actress or wasn’t a threat to them. She, and Kol, were agreeing with the latter, but both he and Niklaus had been wary, even though it was Niklaus’ doing that the girl was in their lives right now. He had thought it would be fun to antagonize the Cullens by taking their human pet for a couple of days but hadn’t thought of the fact Bella could have been a plant. Clearly, she wasn’t.
“Left again, please,” he prompted her.
Of course, taking Bella in had everything to do with her treatment by the Cold Ones. Elijah sinceriously hoped that in the next few days, the girl would have enough confidence to end things with Edward for once and for all. Maybe, if the girl would show Elijah and his siblings more trust, they could do something more to help her. It was certainly a matter to discuss.
He quickly shot Kol a text message to meet him and Bella halfway. The girl was determined to give him the silent treatment and although it didn’t matter to Elijah, he wanted her to get her mind off of it and Kol was the right person to do so. He had become more agreeable as a person lately and more in touch with the world around him, and the girl seemed to favor him.
When they approached LaFayette Square, Kol was waiting for them with two coffees in his hands, obviously one was for himself, the other for Bella. “Wow, Elijah, what did you do?” Kol scolded his brother as he handed the spare coffee to Bella, who gratefully took it and took a sip of it. “Did you kill a puppy in front of her to show her how masculine you are?” He then looked at Bella. “I’m sorry love, we’ve been trying to teach him that puppies are a no-go area.”
Bella simply stared at Elijah until he walked away. She then turned to Kol and gently touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“For what, darling?” He asked as he put his arm around her and started to walk with her. He had something in mind that would definitely cheer her up. “He should be the one who’s sorry, he’s obviously upset you.”
“I am sorry for the way your siblings have been treating you. It’s not fair.”
Kol’s smile seemed to falter a bit which he tried to hide by taking a sip of his coffee. “You’ve been talking about me, ey?” he joked. “I thought so, my ears were burning!”
Bella shrugged. “Elijah took me to the public library to scour through some old newspapers for my paper and we got talking. I just don’t understand why he was so blasé about how he and Klaus treated you. Immortal or not, it’s just wrong.”
“Glad you’re on my side with that, Love,” he smiled at her. “It feels good to know someone who thinks the same way.”
Bella nodded. “Now, how are we going to fix it?”
Kol started to laugh. “Love, we can’t. Don’t you think I’ve tried? It’s the Holy Trinity and no one else. They’re just stuck with me now because I’m no longer immortal. We can’t change my position in my family or how they treat me, but instead, we can change everything wrong in your life.”
Bella huffed. “I told you, we can’t.”
“And I told you, for every problem there is a solution. Think about that.” He gently squeezed her shoulder. “Enough of the serious stuff. Let’s have some fun.”
“Yeah, alright, I do need to ask you something though,” she stopped walking as she looked at him, hoping he wouldn’t be mad. “I… don’t get mad, okay?”
“I promise, what’s on your mind?”
“Could you please stop calling me love? It’s freaking me out.”
Kol blinked. He had expected something else, but a simple pet name that everyone used was the problem? How? Why? “Why?” he echoed his thoughts.
“Edward calls me that… it’s …” Bella shuddered. “Please, try not to call me that?”
“I’ll try,” he smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. “You should have said something sooner, I would have tried earlier.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t really dare to ask…”
“Oh, but Darling, don’t be afraid to speak your mind. The time where such was frowned upon is long gone!”
“Yeah… but…”
“You’re free as a bird. At least for these couple of days, until you decide what to do. Don’t be afraid of speaking your mind,” he continued. “It’s very sexy when a woman does that.” Kol then winked at her and started to walk into the direction he wanted to take her.
Kol took her to the zoo, and it was actually kind of fun especially since he liked to tease the animals by making rocks float when nobody was looking or have a big cat chase its own tail. If she had to be honest, she’d seen better zoos, ones that had kangaroos for example. Ever since she’d been a child, she loved the kangaroos. And zebras, Kol said it was because she was a girl and girls love horses.
Bella had a great time regardless, if just for the company, talking about absolutely nothing and making fun of the animals. He then took her to a restaurant on St. Peter Street in the Quarter where they had a delicious pizza and ice cream for dessert. Kol insisted on bringing back something called “Frosty Paws”, which was a dessert for dogs but perfectly edible for non-dogs too and he wanted to give it to his brother Klaus, who, upon receiving the gift, was visibly not amused but didn’t lash out since Bella was standing next to Kol. Kol made it worse by barking as he walked away from Klaus and she had to stifle a giggle, simply because it was hilarious and in good spirit.
Bella invited Kol into her room as she spread out all the copies which she had gathered at the public library and continued to make notes in her notebook while laying down on the floor. She was going to have to work it all out when she had access to a computer when she got home.
“Stop it,” she laughed when Kol threw a pillow against her. “I’m working here.”
“And I’m bored.”
“Why is that my problem?”
“You invited me into your room, remember?” Kol pointed out as he laid down next to her, facing the ceiling as he had been observing her from his chair, she was a work of art. “You’re supposed to entertain me.”
She put down her pencil and leaned her head onto her hand as she looked at him. “And how am I supposed to do that?”
“I don’t know. We could play a game?” He smirked at her. “How about two lies and one truth? We have to figure out what’s the lie and what’s the truth.”
“What does the winner get?”
“Eternal glory?”
“Deal. You first.”
Kol sucked in some air as he was thinking. “My siblings think I’m the most amazing brother ever,” he snorted as Bella had a smile on her face. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Europe and I’m not afraid of anything.”
“The second one,” Bella replied with a nod. “That was easy.”
“Your turn, Dollface.”
“I used to own a red pick up truck,” she said after a moment of silence. “I just love wearing skirts and dresses and I’m failing school.”
“Well,” Kol looked her over as he licked his lips. Bella was a regular human being, not too thin and she had a great arse which was accentuated by her jeans. “It’s a shame you love to wear girly clothes because those jeans look stunning on you.”
Bella hit him on the chest.
“Ouch!” he laughed. “No, you used to own a red pick up truck. What happened to it?”
“It wasn’t safe enough, apparently. Some bored vampires smashed it to pieces to demonstrate how unsafe it was. Pissed me off. Pissed Charlie off.”
“I would have broken their fingers just to make sure they’d never do it again,” Kol muttered. “It’s your stuff. They should have left it alone.”
“Says you who destroyed my phone.”
“And I apologized for that and got you a new one,” Kol pointed out. “I’ve learned my lesson. I’m not going to do it again,” he added honestly.
Bella could tell he was being sincere, it was just a feeling she had deep inside. She smiled at him. “I believe you.”
He rolled to his side to get a better look at her and was quiet for a moment. “You know, from the look on my brother’s face this afternoon, I suspect you gave him hell.”
“I did.”
“You should do the same with the Cold Ones,” he started and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to do it alone, you know. Them lot don’t want me around anyway, I could come with ya.”
She knew he was right, she was perfectly fine and able to stand up for herself but didn’t out of fear for the safety of others. “What about my dad? The pack?”
“The way I see it is that that pack of yours are more than capable of taking care of themselves. Didn’t the legend say they were created specifically to deal with the Cold Ones?”
“Yeah, but…”
“You can’t save everyone, Cuddles, sometimes it’s best to think of yourself.” Before Bella could say anything in return he bopped her on the nose. “You’re great, Bella, you’re a positively agreeable young woman and they’re only going to ruin you.”
“But…”
“Nope, don’t want to hear it.” Kol shook his head. “You’re a fiery dragon, it’s time to act like one. Just don’t start breathing real fire and set this house alight because I don’t think Niklaus would be thrilled about it.”
Bella giggled and then nodded. “Alright, I’ll try.”
“There’s no trying love, you either do or you don’t.”
Bella bit her lip as she looked at him and thought for a moment. “Okay Yoda, but only if you’re really coming back with me because if I go back alone I won’t be able to.”
“Or you could just stay here.”
Bella snorted and shook her head. “As much as I’d like to, I’m not leaving Charlie there and I’m still in school. He’s still responsible for me.”
“Seems like you’re more responsible for him.”
“He’s my dad. He doesn’t know how to dad very well but he’s my dad. You’ll like him.”
“Hey now,” Kol playfully grinned. “I didn’t know we were that far in our relationship to meet the parents!”
Bella snorted. “Parent. Charlie. As long as you’re on your best behaviour, he won’t shoot you.”
“There are guns in the house?”
“Yep.”
“Do you truly want me to come home with you, Poppet?” Kol asked her again. He knew he had offered it and she had something along those lines as well, but he wanted to be sure. He didn’t want to give up his life here in New Orleans, even if it was far from being perfect, but a change of scenery and some distance from Niklaus was quite alluring.
Bella blushed. “You said it yourself, you could come with me and…” she stammered. “I wouldn’t mind, I think it would be a great idea.”
“Good,” Kol approved with a smile and a nod. “I’m up for an adventure. First thing in the morning I’m going to enroll into your school.”
She blinked at that. “You’re what?”
“They’re at your school, right? Those Cullens? Oh, hey, we should ask Rebekah to come with. She loves high school and, believe it or not, she’s strong enough to fight those Cullens if need be. I’m not certain how my witchy powers work outside of New Orleans, you see. They might fizzle out like yours will.”
Bella was baffled as she listened to Kol and saw the excitement in his eyes. She sat up at the same time as he did and he was actually constructing a plan which held possibilities. She could finish her school at least because if she didn’t, Charlie would get angry, and then do whatever she wanted, free from the Cullens. It was only a month or so that she had left in school. She just wondered why he’d do something like that for her. Or why Rebekah would, seeing as Bella was just someone random.
She got jostled out of her thoughts when Kol called for Rebekah, who was in the room in an instant. “You don’t have to shout, brother,” she said annoyed.
“I wanted to give you a headache,” Kol smirked as he got to his feet and started to tell her his plan.
Rebekah listened with a smile growing on her face. “Will there be arse kicking?” She asked excitedly when Kol finished talking.
“You don’t get it.”
“Yes, I do, now, will there be arse kicking? Sparkly arses to be exact?”
“Probably. I’m sure at some point in one of them will need reminding of manners.”
“I’m in.” Rebekah grinned. “Oh, this is going to be fun. High school and arse kicking, two of my favourite things.”
