Chapter 01
New Orleans, 1781
General O’Reilly’s arrival a few years ago had been the best that had ever happened, according to Mr. Jenkins. He brought back crime, invested a lot of money into New Orleans and changed the shape of everything. Of course, he was only taking advantage of what the Mikaelson family had been doing, but they didn’t seem to particularly care.
Myriam knew the truth. She may not have been a scholar, and she may have been the daughter of an unwed prostitute and raised by an old farmer, but she often saw what other people didn’t. She had often seen them talk to each other in a tongue that she didn’t understand, but it was beautiful. It was soft and well spoken. Much like the French language, but more interesting.
As a child, she had often stalked them, mostly the beautiful blonde Rebekah, as she went out to order new dresses. If only Myriam were able to buy one of those beautiful dresses, then everything would be alright – of course, a child’s fantasy is the most precious thing in existence, but now, she knew better.
Myriam was too old to find a husband – not for a lack of trying, but who wanted a poor farmer’s girl with a questionable history? She was too old to bear children of her own and life had made her bitter. When her mother passed when she was only ten years of age, Myriam ended up living at Farmer Jenkin’s farm, and she never left.
She couldn’t leave.
Because if she left, Mr. Jenkins would certainly find her and kill her. He had been a widower when he took in Myriam. No children of his own. His wife had been killed by one of the French rebels as she went into town to buy cloth to make clothes. Not only had she been killed, but she had been raped and robbed.
Mr. Jenkins had never really gotten over that.
Almost every day, he wanted Myriam to do his bidding. Worship him as he should be, because he saved her from a life on the streets. Instead, she slept in a cold barn and was only allowed in the house to take some food. Whenever she saw a way out, Mr. Jenkins was there to stop her.
He was an old man now, and she wasn’t getting any younger either. Most women her age would have an army of children now, a caring husband. A decent life. Not like she was having. She wasn’t even sure if she was still alive if she had to be completely honest.
Then the big storm hit in 1780. It was somewhere in August, and it came unexpectedly. She managed to seek refuge in the basement, but the entire farm and crops were destroyed. When she finally dared to leave her hiding place a couple of days later, she found Mr. Jenkins’ body in the duck pond.
While she now had lost everything, she felt relieved. She could do whatever she wanted, but what was that? She was a woman in her thirties!
Much to her surprise, she had found someone a few months later. A real gentleman and he spoke French! She could understand him and he began to teach her the other languages spoken in New Orleans. And at first, it was nice. He was kind and provided for her, but when he had an accident, things changed. He became abusive. Hit her like Mr. Jenkins had done. Took her against her will, as Mr. Jenkins had done.
She found herself trapped once again.
Until that day. That one, glorious day that started so horrible but ended so much better.
Jacques had taken her into town and while he was filling himself up with alcohol, as was the norm since the accident, she was allowed to buy herself something pretty. However, when she returned with her new shoes, he got mad with her. How dare she spend his money on new shoes while her old shoes were perfectly fine?
He started to publicly abuse her, something he usually did behind closed doors. Called her names. Began to tear her clothes. Right in front of everyone to see. During their fight, somehow he smashed his bottle and stabbed her with it before running off.
As she lay dying, one of the Mikaelsons whom she knew was called Klaus, lifted her up and told her that everything was going to be alright. She wasn’t quite sure what had happened after he had lifted her, but the next thing she knew was waking up in a very expensive looking hotel room. Klaus was sitting in a chair across the room, watching her as she came to her senses.
It was then that he told her that she never had to worry anymore. That he would take care of her, but that soon enough, she’d be able to take care of herself. She was strong now. Immortal. She was going to be his secret – which she was fine with.
The moment Klaus set her free after teaching her what he knew, she sought out Jacques and killed him out of revenge while Klaus proudly watched on.
~o.O.o~
New Orleans, 2013
She passed one of the members of the A-squad with a client on her way down to Myriam’s office. Aria, the oldest member of the squad, seemed to be good at everything. Aria’s expertise lay with private dance sessions on the first floor. Oh, Bella didn’t judge with how many the woman slept with, hell, Bella enjoyed it as well, but she and Aria didn’t really get along. The dancer seemed to have this air about that Bella wasn’t able to shake but since Myriam trusted Aria and Bella trusted Myriam… there wasn’t a lot that she could do about it.
Once on ground level, Bella walked through the lounge and peeked into the hallway before stepping out and immediately turned right to get through the thick security door with her own passcode. She was still surprised that Myriam had given her her own code, but the woman had been serious about training her and educating her. Bella had been with Myriam for about two years now.
She had spent five years on the run from the Cullens and the Volturi before hearing of Myriam’s place in New Orleans. It truly was a safe place; whoever was inside the building couldn’t be detected by any magic or gift, and she hadn’t felt this safe, this free, for a very long time. The best thing of all; Myriam allowed her to do whatever she wanted. If she wanted to work, she would work. If she didn’t, she didn’t. Maybe it was because Bella didn’t desire to get paid and all her earned money, whether it being tips or something else, would go straight into the establishment.
Or maybe, it was the fact that her boss’ friend with benefit had taken a liking to Bella as a friend and yet another friend with benefit. They were currently sharing the same man. Sort of. Bella got paid to do it, and Myriam did not. A wide grin appeared on her face as she pushed through the doors. It had been a while since she’d seen him. Maybe, one of these days, he’d come by again.
Yes, despite her still being on the run, she was having fun. She was safe, and as long as she didn’t have to think or talk about Cold Ones, she was fine.
She walked passed the security office to her boss’ office and knocked on the door before entering. “Evening, Myriam,” Bella greeted her as she stood in the doorway. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes!” Myriam turned around with a broad smile on her face. While Myriam was an ancient vampire – well, she was older than the Cullens, which made her old to Bella, she was still kind underneath that hard and tough exterior she liked people to see her with. “We have a VIP guest coming in, in about…” she looked at the clock. “Oh, fifteen minutes. He booked Grace, but as you know…”
“She’s sick,” Bella said with a slow nod. Grace was one of the employees who went home after work. “And let me guess, when you called him, he wanted something only I can provide.”
“Well, not necessarily,” she replied. “But you’ll like him. He usually doesn’t want any intercourse; he only wants some company.”
Bella let out a grunt. She hated those type of men. “What else?”
Myriam pulled a book out of one of her drawers and handed it to Bella. “The last time he was here, Grace read chapter six when his time ran out. It’s usually an hour and a half, two at most.”
“Shoot me now,” she groaned and ran a hand through her unruly hair. “I wanted to dye my hair again.”
“Well, that’s just gonna have to wait,” Myriam said with a grin. “VIP room two is open for you and I’ve left you an outfit you have to wear for him.” Before Bella could speak up again, she continued. “He pays well. He’s a sweet man and I’ll owe you one if you could do this.”
Bella raised an eyebrow. “Just who is this man, exactly?”
“If you’re lucky, he’ll introduce himself. Now, go upstairs and prepare yourself. Time’s of the essence.”
With a sigh, Bella tucked the book under her arm and left the office. Fifteen minutes to prepare? This was nuts. She needed at least an hour. She hadn’t taken a proper shower in a couple of days because she hadn’t felt like doing anything. It was the seasonal change that dampened her spirits, and maybe the absence of the man she shared with Myriam.
She called it sharing because he had eyes for only her and Myriam. Which was a strange conundrum, being in a building with so many attractive women, more beautiful than Bella. And the worst of it all was that she didn’t even mind. She had seen him as a client at first and then something else blossomed from that, a friendship. A kinship.
Bella didn’t even dare to start claiming him as hers because it wasn’t her place and she didn’t think she was ever going to be someone’s girlfriend ever again. No, Fuckward cured her of that. But it didn’t take away the fact that she did miss him.
When Myriam told her stories she heard on the street about the happenings in the Supernatural community; such as the Mikaelsons getting into some trouble with the witches and their own family, she couldn’t help but wonder if he had been caught up with it and how he was feeling, how he was doing. If he was alright.
And that was dangerous. She had started to care far too much about him but really couldn’t help herself.
Lost in thought, she bumped into another A-Squatter on the stairs, this time it was Alina and her solid abs. Alina was beautiful, and Bella wondered what she was up to, but when she saw the other girls come downstairs, apart from Aria, she knew that the girls were going to have some fun and tease the men in the strip club, maybe angling for a private dance.
Bella liked that. Sure, she moved awkwardly – she honestly had gotten better over the years, but dancing was not her thing – but men found it endearing for some reason. She didn’t seem like a ‘seasoned professional’, and when she discovered she could exploit that for the sake of the club, she did. Plus, it gave her a tremendous ego boost. Because dammit, she was sexy despite looking like a boy sometimes.
Clothes helped. Make-up helped. She had beautiful hair she liked to dye in the weirdest colors. Pretending to be someone she was not, or at least not partially, was a fun game. She liked to have fun. Maybe this client Myriam had asked her to see was going to be the catalyst to get out of her funk.
She rushed into the VIP room and skidded to a halt when she saw the outfit she was supposed to wear. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed it and headed for the ensuite bathroom to clean herself up. Fifteen minutes – fourteen now – wasn’t enough to do everything, but she was going to have to try.
She turned on the shower and stripped out of her clothes before ducking into one of the cupboards to get a razor and some shaving cream, and since Myriam said there wasn’t going to be any intercourse, she was going to stick to her legs and armpits. She quickly shaved, discarded the utensils in the small waste bucket and hopped underneath the water for a quick rinse.
Nearly falling over as she turned, she grabbed the bottle of shampoo and washed her hair. Normally she’d take her time and let the conditioner soothe her hair for a good five to ten minutes, but now she didn’t have the time. A little soft would have to do. Besides, with the outfit, maybe it was better to have her hair pinned up anyway.
She washed her body and rinsed herself off before getting out and started to dry herself while reaching for a packed toothbrush. Ripping the package open with her teeth, she smacked her elbow against the wall and cursed out loud. It wasn’t good for her to do things rushed, yet Myriam asked her for a rush job. Bella wasn’t happy. And her elbow freaking hurt, too.
Was Myriam fed up with her and wanted Bella to off herself or something? She was lucky she didn’t cut herself with the razor blade; not only did it hurt like a motherfucker, but with a handful of vampires working in the building, it wasn’t a good idea either. Was it April fools? No, it wasn’t. April had already gone.
She dried her hair thoroughly and decided to quickly blast it with a hairdryer when she was in her outfit. While it was alright to have damp hair to a certain degree – as it showed the client that his girl had showered and was clean – Bella’s hair had the tendency to stay dripping wet for a good hour or two despite doing her best to get it as dry as possible.
With only a minute or two to spare, she cleaned up the bathroom for her client’s use and managed not to break her neck over her own feet as she rushed to the door, waiting for the gentle knock so she could open it. From her position at the door, she glanced around the room to make sure she hadn’t disturbed anything with her bumping around and let out a deep breath. She had managed to get ready in fifteen minutes and nobody died. Good job.
When the knock came – five minutes later than it was supposed to come, Bella opened the door with a big smile and stared into the face of Luke Harris. She knew it was Luke Harris because his face was all over in the gossip magazines as his songs were instant hits. And he was gorgeous. Even more breathtaking than all the pictures she’d seen of him. “Hi,” she greeted him and took a step aside to let him in. “My name is Bella, and I’ll be entertaining you tonight.”
“Where’s Grace?” Harris muttered as he got in and waited for Bella to close the door. When she did, he turned around. “I was supposed to meet Grace tonight. It’s our night.”
His eyes looked a little bit freaky. His pupils were slightly dilated, but he seemed tired, and his breath didn’t smell like alcohol. “Didn’t Myriam tell you? Grace is sick.”
“Oh, yeah…” he tiredly rubbed his eyes before reaching into his pocket to hand Bella an envelope. “It’s all there. I’ll wash up.”
Bella watched as he slinked off to the bathroom, his feet dragging over the floor. There was no way that he’d have the energy to have sex, and it made sense that Grace had been reading to him. She checked the money inside the envelope before putting it away in a safe place and made herself comfortable on the bed with the book.
If she had to be honest, this onesie she was wearing, made sense. Of course, it did. As ridiculous as she felt in it, it made sense.
She was going to read a few chapters of War and Peace to rockstar extraordinaire Luke Harris. Could life be any weirder? Of course, she wasn’t new to having famous people or influential people as a client, but they were usually reserved for the regular girls as Bella lived on a day to day basis. And she wouldn’t show her excitement, she was a professional after all, but this was awesome.
It was a good twenty minutes before he finally emerged from the bathroom, naked. From her spot on the bed, she could observe him just perfectly; his unruly hair had become even more so, which was a hilarious sight. The tattoos on his chest were kinda beautiful, just like the one he had on the inside of his upper leg. His arms were massive. His six pack was there and his cock…
Definitely erect.
Hadn’t Myriam said that there was probably not going to be any intercourse? Not that Bella would object but — No, something was off. He nearly leaped on the bed from his position near the bathroom and pinned her to the bed in one fluid movement; it was then that she saw the crazed look in his eyes. Eyes wide, pupils dilated and something was terribly wrong.
While the entire club, the bar, and the brothel were entirely drug-free, it didn’t stop people from taking drugs before they’d enter. And since Luke was a VIP, he was a regular. Regulars knew the rules. He’d probably taken them only seconds before coming in view of the club and of course, it would take some time to start working. It hadn’t been detectable, and now Bella was fucked.
“Hey,” she smiled at him, not showing her fear. She didn’t have to alert anyone just yet. Yes, he had taken drugs, but not all drugs were bad. “Are you alright?” she ran a hand through his hair as she kept her eyes on him, observing his face, his eyes.
“You’re not Grace.”
“No,” she smiled kindly at him. “But if you’d just tell me what you always do with her, we can do it too.”
“Fuck that,” Luke growled as he put his hands around Bella’s neck. “I want Grace,” he demanded as he started to squeeze her, shaking her around. “You’re going to give me Grace!”
Gasping for air, Bella tried to kick him off of her. It was a good thing for the girls that they had a mind reader on staff so that they could call out to them as all the rooms were soundproofed for privacy. But of course, Bella was cursed with a shield thing that prevented mind readers from getting inside her head. As she couldn’t use her voice, she had to try it. Appalachia! Appalachia!
She tried hitting him, but it only made him squeeze harder. Kicking him didn’t work, he had positioned himself so that she couldn’t move her legs. With Luke being on drugs, it was even harder to fight him. She tried looking around and managed to grab the thick book she was supposed to be reading to him and hit him over the head with it, repeatedly, until he let go of her.
As she ran towards the door, she took a few breaths of air, only to have it immediately knocked out of her again as Luke had grabbed her legs and she fell face down on the floor. This time, however, she was able to kick him in the head, and she could have sworn she heard something snap and hoped it was his nose, not his neck.
Adrenaline pumping, Bella got to her feet and opened the door. “Appalachia!” Her voice sounded a little raw, but the second she spoke the word, security came running in and made sure that the naked Rockstar couldn’t do any more harm.
Even Myriam was there, mainly to calm Bella down as she had collapsed in her arms, but Bella was angry with her. Pushing Myriam away from her, she stomped towards the stairs to go a level higher and headed straight for her apartment.
No, this ‘favor’, didn’t do her depression any good.
She slammed the door shut and let herself fall to the floor as she tried to collect herself, get her breathing back in order and to let it go before she’d tell her side of things to security and Myriam to see what would happen next, but for now, she was glad that she was alone.
While the immediate threat to his daughter had been taken care of, Klaus was resting on his laurels. Well, not really. He was taking care of Hope. Elijah was angry with him – for good reason. Oh, Klaus knew that he had hurt his brother in the worst way possible by killing his lover and allowing Haley’s pack to be cursed yet again. His brother felt betrayed. Did Klaus feel guilty? Hardly. He did what was necessary for his family, for his daughter.
In time, Elijah would come around. He’d see reason.
Freya was a breath of fresh air. She only knew of Klaus’ secret because she had followed him when she first came back into their lives. There and then, she cast a few new spells for extra protection, for which he’d been grateful. If he had to be honest, it was time he’d go back to Myriam and see how she and her girls were doing.
But he had Hope now. She was the center of his life, and she was the best thing ever. He was completely in love with his little girl; nothing else mattered.
He had never expected Myriam to call; she was a strong and resourceful woman and didn’t need his help. Nor was she one for making social calls, so he was immediately intrigued. “Myriam, how wonderful of you to call!”
Klaus was amused when he heard her huff on the other end of the line. “I get it you have your own crap to deal with, but you need to get your ass over here right now.”
He tsked. “A little demanding, are we?” He watched as Hope rolled over and snatched her teddy bear from the edge of the blanket. “You can’t expect me to drop everything for a quick shag; that wasn’t our arrangement.”
“It’s Bella.”
He immediately sat up from his relaxed position. “What happened?” Klaus demanded as he didn’t stop looking at Hope.
“She hasn’t been feeling well lately, and she just had a client who assaulted her.”
Klaus let out a growl, causing Hope to look up to see what her father was up to. “I’ll be right over.” He disconnected the call and called for his brother.
“What is it, Niklaus?” Elijah sounded pleasant enough, but there was a sharp edge to his voice as was the norm these days.
“I need you to watch Hope for a while,” he said as he grabbed his coat.
“Why?”
Klaus merely eyed his brother.
“Very well. Whatever you’re going to do without being able to take your daughter with you, have fun.”
Klaus could hear the disdain drip off his brother’s voice and chose to ignore it. He quickly made his way over to Débauche, using his vampire speed to blur through the streets and around tourists. Whoever hurt her was going to pay. Granted, this wasn’t the first time she, or someone else, got hurt. But for Myriam to call him, things were more dire than usual.
Last year, Bella had gone through depression as well, she had a tendency to do that, and it wasn’t even related to her past for the most part. Normally, either himself or Myriam would simply compel someone when that happened, tucking the reasons away in the depths of their own minds, but Bella was special. She couldn’t be compelled, and no one was able to read her mind.
He darted up the fire escape at the back of the building and let himself in on the third floor. The door was securely locked with a code pad, and he had access to it. He went downstairs first, to talk to Myriam and assess the situation. He didn’t have to look far, she was in the security office with someone who looked like he’d been hit a couple of times, but he was quiet. Myriam probably compelled him.
“Is this the bastard?” Klaus said as he stepped into the room, furious.
“Don’t kill him,” Myriam said kindly and stopped Klaus from entering further. “He’s a famous singer.”
“I don’t care.”
“He’s also under the influence, but we have this under control. His bruises are Bella’s doing,” Myriam looked up to him and made him look at her before slapping him in the face. “And you’re an asshole. You actually couldn’t find the time to pay us a visit sooner?” She slapped him again. “Fucker.”
Klaus scowled. “I was busy, and you’re doing fine on your own. You’re well protected.” She slapped him again and pulled her arm back for another, but he caught her arm before she could hit him. “It’s complicated.”
“Bull,” she said furiously before sighing. “She’s in her apartment.”
He let go of her arm and looked at the asshole in the chair. “Make him pay.”
“Klaus, I have my way dealing with people like him, don’t worry, he’ll give us some free publicity,” she smirked as she pushed him towards the door. “When you have time after Bella, see me.”
He made his way back upstairs and gently knocked on the door. “Bella, love?” he asked gently, he could hear her sob on the other side of the door.
“Go away. You can’t stay away for a while and then swoop in to be a hero!”
Klaus sighed, his fist resting against her door. “Let me in so that I can explain. I will tell you why I have been kept away, but I doubt very much that you will believe my story. I – I just could not have stayed away when Myriam called to tell me you were in trouble,” he pleaded, his voice soft. “Are you hurt?”
“Like I said, no need for you to swoop in and play hero!”
“I’ve seen the guy,” Klaus said almost proudly. “You certainly don’t need me to be your hero with you being one yourself!”
“Exactly. Now leave.”
“I can’t do that, love,” Klaus realized that she wasn’t going to open the door for him, and he wasn’t going to force the door open. He sat down against the door and sighed. “Are you hurt?”
Bella kept quiet. Of course, she was hurt, what kind of nonsense question was that? She wanted to open the door, hug him tightly and allow him to tell her that everything was going to be alright, but she didn’t want him to see her like this. She was a complete mess right now and no, this was not going to happen.
It had been two months, two whole months, since he last visited. It was with his sister Freya, as she caught him sneaking off. His appearances had been scarce even before that, but two whole months?
“The events that happened in the last two months are too many to be the truth, but they are,” Klaus spoke, not missing a beat. He spoke quiet enough for just Bella to hear and not that his story carried down the hall. “I already told you about the miraculous return of my siblings and my parents, didn’t I? Well, things have come to a messy conclusion. I want to tell you all about it if you’d just let me in.”
“No.”
“Bella…”
“No.”
“I could break down the door.”
“You won’t.”
She was right about that. Had it been anyone else, he would have bust through that door as if it was a piece of cardboard, but with Bella… he was gentle. Maybe a little too soft, but she was here for a reason. “Very well, I shall stay here as long as needed.”
~o.O.o~
He had just put Hope to bed when Freya bounced inside, knocking something over in the process and waking the baby again. “Freya…” Elijah sighed as he returned his attention back to the baby.
“Where’s Klaus?”
“Good to see you, Elijah, how have you been?” He said mockingly, almost with a sneer. He had a severe dislike for his brother after what he had done, and Elijah found it comfortable to wallow around in that for a while. In the past, he had easily forgiven his brother for his transgressions, but his latest actions had been unforgivable. “Sorry for waking the baby, Elijah, I shall not do that again.”
Freya huffed. “Well, you’re chipper. Who took away your toys, Elijah?”
“I would have imagined that Niklaus’ unexplained absences ceased to be after getting what he wanted, but I’ve been mistaken,” he muttered, pushing the pacifier back into Hope’s mouth. “At least the trips where he couldn’t bring a child along to.”
“Even mommies deserve a break,” she sat down on the table and looked at her brother. “Surely you must understand that.”
“He acted as if time was of the essence!” Elijah cried out, causing Hope to spit out her pacifier again and started to cry. Frustrated, he picked her up out of her crib and soothed her. “I know that our lives rarely have any moment of serenity, but there was no reason for him to take off as he did.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Of course I am certain, I know my brother. If there is something wrong that could impact all of our lives, he’d either run straight towards it or take a few steps back to quietly observe,” he spat. “No, something else is going on, and I hate it.”
“Why?”
Elijah let out a breath. He often forgot that Freya wasn’t Rebekah and that she had missed a lot of important details of their lives. “I know my brother better than anyone else. We don’t always get along, but I know him. He’s irresponsible. A child! Whenever he gets a crazy thought in his head, he runs with it! Like—”
“Like how he was critical in defeating Dahlia by creating so much destruction,” Freya finished the sentence. “I know.”
“He calls it collateral damage. He’s… Would you allow a car mechanic to perform an open heart surgery?”
“Oh come on, Elijah, he’s not that bad.”
“Niklaus only cares for himself. He considers himself to be at the top of the food chain, and we’re here to take care of him, to make sure that he doesn’t get moody and does stupid things.”
Freya let out a sigh before hopping off the table and started to collect Hope’s things. “You’re wrong.”
“It is admirable that you wish to see the good in people, I can understand that you want to see the good in your family, but Niklaus…”
“Is a good man and I am going to prove it to you.”
“How?”
“First things first, you’re going to call Camille and ask her to look after Hope for a couple of hours,” Freya said as she cleaned things up. “Either here or at her place, your choice.”
“Forgive me, but why?”
“I’m going to show you a side of Klaus we don’t get to see all too often,” Freya murmured as Hope had calmed down in Elijah’s arms. “I only know about this because I followed him before, as I’ve followed you around before I made myself known to you.”
He blinked at her, confused, before calling Camille and entertaining his sister. What could go wrong?
After Camille had arrived, Elijah followed Freya through the streets of New Orleans. His curiosity grew as she took them to the far edge of the Quarter. He’d been on this street quite a few times, even used one of the bars as a meeting place, a neutral ground, for discussing some politics and he was surprised that they were heading to Débauche. “If Niklaus is drinking his sorrows away, don’t bother.”
Freya stopped and looked at him. “Do you trust me?”
“No.”
“Well fine, but you’re going to have to trust me on this, and you have to keep quiet. If you’re not keeping quiet, I will use a silencing spell on you, got it?” She shot at him, causing Elijah to look at her in surprise. “I’m going to cast an invisibility spell on the both of us because I want you to see, and not to be seen. God forbid, Klaus will kill us both on the spot if he sees us.”
“If we’re going inside, I know what’s there.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do.”
“It’s a bar. And there’s a strip club attached to it. No doubt there’s a brothel upstairs, the ladies keeping my brother’s sexual appetite under control.”
Freya’s eyebrow rose, a smile pulling at her lips. “Perhaps. But just wait until you see and decide for yourself. It may not be all as it seems,” she answered as her eyes glanced up to the third floor.
He sighed and nodded. “Very well, we’ve come this far.”
“Being quiet is of the essence,” Freya repeated. “Especially your thoughts. You have to calm your thoughts. It’s possible for you to do so, yes? That nobody can hear your thoughts?”
“Of course.”
“Good,” she took his hand and muttered a spell before she started to walk towards the club, not letting go of him. They walked through the door and narrowly avoided bumping into guests that were leaving. Freya smiled at Elijah as she kept pulling him towards the end of the hallway and waited for a closed door.
When a man exited, she went inside. Elijah had no choice than to follow. They entered into a lounge, with a hostess, before silently climbing the stairs to the next floor, where, just as he expected, was a brothel. He suspected it was a brothel, seeing as a half naked girl was walking towards another area and returned with a pitcher filled with ice before disappearing into one of the rooms again.
Elijah was surprised by the silence that was on the level. Granted, these days brothels did a lot to battle the noise, but this was taking it one step further. Freya pulled him through another set of opening doors and climbed another set of stairs. When they arrived at the top floor, she pulled him across the space where Elijah could already hear his brother quietly talk. Rounding a corner, he was surprised to see his brother sit against a door, staring into nothingness as he spoke.
“Only because you’re insisting on doing it this way,” Klaus sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “I promise you, it will sound ridiculous, but that’s what is expected of me, especially by Elijah. He finds me monstrous and dramatic. Overly impulsive. But while he was crafting his own plan to defeat my aunt, I knew that there was only one possible way to do it, and I went behind his back. Unfortunately, my plan involved causing enough doubt and mayhem to be believable, and I killed my brother’s lover. At the same time, I compelled my lieutenant not to let my sister leave his sight as she was in a different body, but I did that so Rebekah would return to us as an Original. I pretended to kill our dearest friend… I made a right mess,” he then let out a snort. “You should have seen me; it was glorious.”
It was quiet for a while before a voice sounded from the other side of the door. “Somehow I doubt that.”
“Well, Elijah now hates me.”
“When doesn’t he hate you? You always take his love interests away from him.”
“I do not!” Klaus objected.
“That Katherine person. The way you told the story made me think that your brother truly loved her, and you wanted to use her to lift your curse.”
Elijah was surprised that whoever this girl was, that she knew their story.
“It was his own fault. He falls for the wrong women.”
“What about Hayley?”
“Hayley would have only toyed with Elijah, broken his heart. It was best that I did it for him instead. He hates being angry at women, but he does a good job of being cross with me.”
“Celeste?”
Elijah swallowed at that. While Klaus didn’t have a first hand in Celeste’s death, it was his fault that Elijah had lost her.
“Accidental. How was I supposed to know that she was gathering with her witches? All I did was spread a rumor that the witches were responsible for the dead bodies we’ve left scattered around. That’s it.”
A sigh could be heard from the other side of the door. In all honesty, even Elijah was surprised to hear his brother talk so candidly about his life with a stranger. Not even Camille had been able to reach his brother like this girl, this woman, seemingly did. “Okay, so what happened after defeating your aunt and cursing the mother of your child into being a wolf?”
“Rebekah left, with both her bodies, presumably in search for a way to bring back our fallen brother, make good on her promise. Elijah stuck around, but only because he felt an obligation towards Hayley and Hope. Freya… she’s proven to be a fresh breath of air. It’s nice to have a sibling who doesn’t judge.”
“And you’ve spent the last two months with Hope?”
“Of course.”
“And nothing else? Nobody else?”
Klaus smiled at that. “Why would I want to do that when I can go and see you?” He shifted when he heard some movement behind the door and watched the door open. He got to his feet and looked at the woman. She had tearstained eyes, bruising around her neck and she was wearing a torn onesie.
“I don’t want you to see me like this, Klaus,” she whispered, her eyes downcast. “This is not the person you like.”
“But I do,” he said tenderly as he pushed back her hair and observed the bruising. “My pocket sized warrior princess,” he smiled proudly at her before kissing the top of her head. “Allow me to give you some of my blood, love,” he said as he slowly walked inside the room. “There is no reason for you to physically ache.”
Elijah blinked when the door closed and looked at Freya, who had a soft look on her face.
“Come,” Klaus’ voice sounded. “I’ll even draw you a bath.”
“I told you I don’t need you to be the hero.”
“But I’m not. I’m merely someone who helps you to take care of yourself. You’re the hero. I already told you that. I think that even Rebekah would be impressed by the bruising you left on that tosser’s face.”
Elijah didn’t want to go, but Freya tugged him along to the fire escape exit. It was surreal to hear his brother talk the way he was doing to that woman. Of course, he was gentle with Hope, but he had so many questions in his mind that it was spinning.
When they were a safe distance away from the club, Freya decloaked them, and she started to walk back to the compound. “Débauche is the hottest thing in town, so I’ve heard. It’s run by an amazing woman, who decided to set up a women’s shelter right on top of it. And not just an ordinary shelter at that. That woman Klaus talked to? She has some supernatural issues and is living there.”
“But how?”
“Surely you notice a pattern with your brother,” she said with a chuckle. “Whenever someone gets treated wrongly, he jumps in to save them.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Oh no? What about Marcel?” Freya countered. “On top of that, like yourself, Klaus always treats women with respect, mostly. Until, of course, they prove that they’re complete idiots. The manager of that bar? She was also saved by Klaus.”
“For how long has this been going on?”
“I don’t know; I didn’t ask. A very long time, I think. Klaus has everything under control in there. The best security there is, modern and magical, considering it is such a huge building and the type of abusers the women seek shelter from.”
Elijah was quiet as he tried to process this new information.
“You’ve got some answers. Do with this information as you see fit, but please, Elijah, don’t take this away from Klaus too. He’s good at this kind of stuff, and it’s nice to see him do something like this. To try to make something right by using his resources and his own experiences.”
“I would never—”
“You probably don’t mean to, but you have. Just like Klaus has done to you. You two don’t notice it, but you like to scupper each other’s plans and lives as if it’s nothing,” Freya countered as she looked at her brother. “Stop ruining each other’s lives. Your animosity will be your undoing one day.”
