Chapter 03
He hadn’t been aware of the feelings he still had for Myriam until she opened the door of her little cabin in the woods. She looked absolutely beautiful and in good health, well fed. But she didn’t even look at him, even when he was standing right in front of her. “Undo the compulsion now,” he growled at his brother, at the same time Myriam punched Elijah in the face before she gracefully turned to Bella, who had taken a few steps back and was nearly hiding behind Kol.
“You never know what I found,” Myriam smiled at the girl as she squatted down as not to be as imposing on her with her height. “I found your records from the time you spent with us at the Sanatorium! Isn’t that great?”
“I don’t know?” Bella said carefully, taking another step back, but relaxing just a little bit.
“And guess what? In this modern time you would never even have been admitted! I can fix you, young lady, and I will help you just so after that oaf frees me from what he’s done to me,” she said as she pointed at Elijah before getting back to her feet and turning to him. “Well? I can help her, but only if you remove the compulsion you put on me, otherwise it’s a no-go.”
“I’m surprised you still live here,” Elijah remarked casually. “I’d have thought you would have moved to Baton Rouge or something.”
“New Orleans is my city,” Myriam said as she jabbed her index finger against his chest. “And you took her away from me, now, undo it,” she said as she removed her bracelet – likely filled with vervain – and dropped it to the ground. “And I swear, if you two mess with me again, I will find a way to kill all of you. Surely there must be a white oak tree around somewhere!”
Klaus smirked as he looked at his brother. “She hasn’t changed a bit.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Elijah let out a breath before he looked Myriam in the eye. “Your access to New Orleans has no longer a restriction. You’re free to go wherever you wish.”
“I’m going dancing!” Myriam grinned as she snapped Elijah’s neck and kicked him so hard that he was flying through the Bayou. “Fucker!” She called after him, before turning back to Bella, who had now turned into a small bundle of nerves. “So, you,” Myriam said as she pushed Kol to the side and started to circle Bella, sniffing her, taking in her scent as if she was a prey. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you, Elijah had it coming.”
“You’d better not hurt her,” Kol warned her as he kept his eyes on Myriam.
Myriam glared at him to shut him up before she focused on Bella again. “So, what I said… allow me to explain myself. You are completely normal, Bella, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You may have some difficulties with certain circumstances, or situations, but that’s nothing what a bit of patience and avoidance can’t fix. Socially you don’t have a filter, which is alright too, a lot of people these days are too careful and miscommunication happens because of it. No, you are refreshing and exactly what Kol needs.”
“Leave me out of this,” Kol scowled. “We came to you for help.”
“And I’m helping,” Myriam countered as she kept circling Bella. “So, you’re probably already tired from your day, and of course the last few days. You need rest and ugh, a shower. Food. Good food, and you’ll start to feel better. Always take a nap when you feel like it, you’re immortal now. You can do whatever the fuck you want. Now, I know you’re a little depressed, you feel lost and you don’t know what to do with yourself, because you only came back to save Kol and you’re still here. Again, you can do whatever the fuck you want, don’t let anybody stop you and I’m pretty sure the Mikaelsons are more than willing to help you financially with that. If not, I’ll continue to be a thorn in their side until they will. You have PTSD, but guess what? So have they. Granted, they decided to be unhealthy with it, but you have a better head on your shoulders, you could find yourself a therapist if you need it, but you don’t, really. Time is a scary thing, and no doubt even I’m going to have to get used to New Orleans again, although I’ve been living for the last 100 years. It’s scary, but you can do it. Start small, continue to do that until you feel comfortable and then expand. The Mikaelsons aren’t bad people. Not all the time. Elijah is really bad though, I wouldn’t trust him. The most of them are incredibly misunderstood and they all like to fight each other.”
“She can’t stay with me, or them,” Kol said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s why I came to you with Davina.”
“Oh, Davina,” Myriam sighed dramatically. “That manipulative, conniving little bitch. See, I thought you lot were selfish, but she’s the worst. And you fell for her because she gave you what you wanted. Love and attention. She’s a powerful witch, so she can protect you from your brothers but deep down, she’s a bratty little teenager with way too much lipgloss. She fucking broke Klaus’ link to his sired vampires. To me. And didn’t even warn me about it, knowing full well that I’m linked to him and it fucking hurt. And he’s not even here to see me, so I guess that’s my answer to the question if he still interested in me or not.”
“Uh, but uh…” Kol pointed next to him. “He’s right—”
“Shut up, I’m talking!” Myriam growled at him. “Davina likes to use people for her own benefit, and then lies about it for doing so. Such as that runt Hayley, who she had kill almost an entire coven. Davina brought back Mikael as an attack dog against the Mikaelsons. She keeps poking the proverbial bear and the only reason why she hasn’t been killed yet is because of Marcel and now yourself, Kol. She condemns other people while she has done worse in the past few years. Enough is enough. Do you honestly believe that she’ll continue to love you, Kol? You’re no longer a human, you’re your vampire self and oh god, too violent because you know you’re worse than your brothers, well, not worse than Elijah. He’s the worst. But you’re honest and you don’t manipulate. You make no excuses for your behaviour. You like to play with your food and get messy. How long until she’s going to resent you? It was her idea to bring Bella to me, wasn’t it? You see, I may not have been able to get into New Orleans, but I do know everything that’s going on. I have my spies.”
“You know nothing about me and Davina! And it wasn’t about her, it’s about Bella. Help her.”
“I did. And now I’m going to party! Visit my old haunts. Find a cure of my bestie Rebekah so we can paint the town red.”
“I never knew she was friends with our sister,” Klaus muttered before angrily stomping off in the general direction of where Myriam had kicked his brother. She was still compelled, it was as if he wasn’t even there and he just knew Elijah was responsible for this.
“I think I missed something,” Bella said to Kol.
“Don’t worry darling, I think we’re both missing something here,” he gently squeezed her shoulder before looking at Myriam again. “So, you’re just going to leave Bella here, all by herself?”
Myriam laughed. “Oh, she could stay here, all by herself, with the werewolves and the bugs and the spiders… but how will she get food? Now, my idea was to burn the place down, but if you want to leave her here, that’s fine too, just not alone. But to be fair, you’re better off in the city.”
“I can’t take care of her! I’m the least capable person to do so, besides, with everything going on with the Prophecy and all that, I can’t keep her safe. I can’t be in two places at once!”
“Ah, but weren’t you and Bella like best buds way back when? I mean, you ate your way through the Sanatorium for her, didn’t you? You got me into this mess I’m in because of her. You’re more than capable of taking care of her, Kol Mikaelson, stop putting yourself down,” she then paused for a moment before a wicked grin appeared on her face. “You can help me by killing Marcel. He’s an asshole. If it weren’t for him, New Orleans would be safer, and Davina wouldn’t have been here to fuck things up. Oh, I could kill her too! You’d be free of her.”
“You will not kill Davina, she’s mine. I love her.”
“Oh honey, that’s not love, that’s called getting regular pussy. She only resurrected you because she believed you’d come back as a witch, not as a vampire. Sorry to burst your bubble, but she will start to resent you and your wicked ways,” Myriam pointed out. “Besides, doesn’t Davina look a lot like Bella?” She winked before speeding off into the general direction of New Orleans, cackling and cheering as she went.
Bella wasn’t sure what to make of everything that she had heard, but quietly took the bag from the floor and headed inside the cabin. It smelled like roses, and herbs, potions. Blood. Her records were on the table, Myriam had truly read them.
“What are you doing?” Kol went after Bella after shaking his head a few times to ignore most of what the crazy vampire had said. If anything, the urge to return to New Orleans, to Davina, was stronger now, because the vampire had openly threatened his girlfriend.
Bella shrugged. “I can’t come with you, you said that. I don’t want you to spend money on me, so… Myriam offered this place, I suppose I can manage here.”
“No chance,” Kol said as he took her bag and grabbed her hand. “You’re not staying here by yourself where you can be easily targeted by werewolves or the Ancestors. We’ll figure something out.”
Bella pulled her hand back. “Stop,” she said as she tugged on her bag. “Enough, Kol. You’ve done your best, it didn’t work out, now it’s my turn, okay? Leave me here.”
“No!”
“Yes,” Bella said gently as she tugged on her bag again. “It’ll be alright. I still have my magic, I can protect myself against a bunch of werewolves. And if not, I can’t die, remember? Let me try this on my own, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll seek you out for help and you can try again.”
“Bella…”
“Go to Davina, she’s your heart. You love her. Spend time with her, you’ve earned it. I need to be alone. I’m tired.”
“Don’t do this.”
“Why not? I’m out of everyone’s way here. Just as you wanted.”
“It’s not what I want, at all, but—”
“It’s okay,” she bravely smiled at him, finally taking her bag and dropped it to the ground. She gently caressed his cheek and nodded towards the door. “Go.” Kol had other priorities. Bella didn’t even want herself to be a priority of his, she was low on the totem pole. She might even quietly leave New Orleans to make things easier on him. She nudged him slightly with her magic. A cabin in the woods was perfect for her, nice and quiet, just the animals around her and no pollution or loud noises or people. She was certain she was going to like it. Eventually.
He wasn’t sure why he had just left her in the woods, all by herself with no one to take care of her, but he had. And he had a great time with Davina, whilst also dedicating time to protect his family when needed. It was fun to kill old enemies of his brother. It was also quite entertaining to have Nik force Elijah to find Myriam and undo the last bit of the compulsion. He had figured it out, in Myriam’s compelled mind, Klaus wasn’t around. She had been forbidden to seek him out as well, and once Myriam was back in her right mind, she and Nik were at it like bunnies. All the time. Most of the time. They both smelled like sex and baby vomit. Hayley was less than amused, but Nik had proven to be able to remain the doting father that he was.
When Lucien killed Cami, Klaus was beside himself, but Myriam was with him to dull the pain. But they were all now dead set on killing Lucien for once and for all, even Davina was on a warpath. Cami had been her friend, even after Cami turning. But they didn’t even have time to properly deal with Lucien before the next thing happened, something that made it abundantly clear that the Ancestors wanted Lucien to take out every Original, like an attack dog. It was Van, the new Regent, the son of the woman Davina had Hayley kill.
Kol hadn’t been around to protect Davina as he was so busy coming up with a solution to Lucien with Freya, but the aftermath made it all too clear that it had been Van and the witches who killed his Davina. She’d been tortured, her dead body had several scorch marks all over, and she had been flung across the church several times. Van even didn’t bother hiding himself once Kol arrived to the scene and even tried to attack him – unable to control his rage, Kol ended Van and everyone else who entered that church. Witch or human, it didn’t matter to him.
Myriam had been gloating the entire time, watching Kol eat through everyone up until the point where he lost control and not even Klaus and Elijah could talk him out of his frenzy. He didn’t allow anyone near Davina’s body, and brought her upstairs to her loft. She just laid there, not moving, dead, decomposing, and Kol wasn’t moving either, he was willing her back to life, even though that was impossible.
Myriam had picked up Bella from the cabin. She had raged against Kol after he informed Myriam that Bella had told him to leave her alone. In her eyes, Bella had pushed Kol away because she was unsure about how to deal with her own feelings, and she knew that Kol didn’t want to be with her, that she was unwanted and an inconvenience. Bella had barely changed over the few weeks that she’d been there. There was no doubt in Myriam’s mind that she’d been sitting around all day and just looking out of the window. While the view was mesmerizing, Myriam could never sit like that day in and day out. Boring.
“Davina died a few days ago,” Myriam explained as they sat in the open air donkey carriage back to the city. She had heard about Bella’s problems with the car, and decided a more fun, but slow, approach to have Bella move around in the city. Bella sure seemed to appreciate the gesture of the compelled driver. “It was brutal and she was killed by a handful of her own. Kol killed them all. Now, I’m glad that she’s dead, yet I’m sad because I didn’t get to take a bite out of her.”
“Why are you taking me back?”
“Because that maniac needs you right now to make him see reason and I think you’re also the key in breaking the spell that that bitch had cast over him.”
“Spell?”
“Oh yeah,” Myriam smiled widely. “One so crafty that even her death can’t break it! I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that Kol loved Davina. That he believed that she was everything to him, I mean, he’s over a thousand years old and he falls for someone like her? Seriously? You’d think that he’d have a better taste than someone as tacky as her, despite his chaotic nature.”
“I wouldn’t know, from what I’ve read and what I’ve seen is that love is unpredictable, you never know when it comes on your path or what it feels like. Perhaps his love for Davina was intense, but vampires do feel more intensely, don’t they?”
“But Kol wasn’t a vampire when he fell for her.”
Bella shrugged. “Kaleb came across as a virgin to me, perhaps his body liked what he saw.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But thanks to my extensive knowledge of herbs and potions, I’ve managed to identify the spell he was under, or that he was under a spell in the first place. It could also be the entire reason why he’s responding so violently to her death, not even Klaus was this destructive when Camille died.”
“Oh no,” Bella said shocked. “Cami died?” She never had the pleasure to meet the woman in real life, but she’d often watched her study, visited her in Rousseau’s, when she was still an Ancestor. She liked Cami and from what she was told by Kol, everyone liked her. “Poor Klaus!”
“Yeah… he smashed everything in sight, but the wake was a party, just as Cami had wanted. I believe Klaus is alright with it now, although it did fuel his anger towards Lucien.”
“He’s still not dead?”
“Nope,” Myriam sighed as she grabbed something from the picnic basket and handed the sandwich to Bella to eat. “In any case, Davina might have tied the spell to you, thinking that nobody would be clever enough to figure it out. If you don’t break the spell, Kol might be miserable for the rest of his life and won’t be able to put Davina to rest.”
“But he should,” Bella said after giving it some thought. “I think I once saw a witch work on something that could destroy the Ancestors, the only thing needed was a spirit on the other side and someone living to bring it to them. I can’t remember who, but I do know she was a Tremé witch.”
“Are you sure?”
“I think so,” Bella replied as she took a bite out of her sandwich, letting out a small moan because it tasted so good. “Davina’s dead now, it’s likely that the Ancestors will shred her soul into pieces and connect it to things or people that she held near and dear, so that her soul would be separate forever. The Ancestors are in control over Lucien, or something like that, aren’t they? They want him to kill the Mikaelsons so that the witches can be back in control in the city.”
“You’re more observant than I gave you credit for, Bella,” Myriam said impressed. “And we happen to know a Tremé witch, I think he’ll be more than willing to help us destroy the Ancestors, too. But one step at a time. Kol needs to snap out of this. He hasn’t allowed anyone to come near for days. It’s just him and rotting Davina.”
“But what makes you think that I can get close to him? Or that I’m the key to lifting the spell?”
“Just a hunch,” Myriam winked. “Trust me.”
“How can I trust you when you broke your word on helping me?”
“What!” Myriam said shocked. “I helped! You didn’t need my help! I told you that! I helped you with the advice I gave you and Kol, but the both of you wouldn’t listen.”
Bella looked at her hands who were still holding most of the delicious sandwich. “I was intruding because of the mistake I made with the spells. It was only right that he wanted me away from him, he’d done it before, at least this time I had a little bit of influence over it, and I’m glad he didn’t compel another man to take care of me, I’ve learned my lesson with that.”
Myriam grabbed Bella’s sandwich and threw it out of the cart. “You idiotic little thing,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “I understand that emotions and feelings are difficult for you to comprehend, but that boy ate through half the Sanatorium to get you out of there. Not even Klaus would do that for someone he immensely liked, loved, or whatever.” She was quiet then and shrugged. “On second thought, he might have. We haven’t really been in a situation like that yet. And hopefully it’ll never happen. Elijah had compelled me, and Klaus thought I had fucked off or that I had died in the fire his father had set to the theatre but I wasn’t even there. Point is, that boy likes you. A lot. To the point of doing horrible things to make sure you are safe. Because he was right back then, you didn’t belong at the Sanatorium and it was good of him to get you out… although he could just have compelled the nursing staff. But he didn’t. He snacked on them. And found you the man you wanted – the man society pressured you to have. And he made a mistake with that. Kol Mikaelson doesn’t feel guilt that easily, but believe me, he still feels guilty about that.”
“If you look at it that way…”
“And then there’s you. If Kol had merely been a friend, you wouldn’t have gone through all the effort of resurrection and becoming the potion to cure him from the hold the Ancestors had on him. You didn’t have to do that after he put you with Edward.”
“No, but he helped me after I had a mental break after killing Edward… was only fair I helped him now.”
“And he needs your help now, and you’re still willing to help him.”
“Because he wanted to help me to get better by bringing me to you.”
“I should so get you drunk so you can get in touch with your feelings,” Myriam sighed as she handed Bella another sandwich. “Eat up. We’ll be with Kol shortly.”
Bella nearly regurgitated her sandwich as she reached the loft where Davina and Kol where. The stench of decaying flesh hurting her nostrils. She quietly moved into the room and opened the window, before she moved to sit with Kol, not saying a word. She couldn’t, at this point. She wasn’t sure how Kol managed to sit here for days with Davina rotting away.
They sat there for a few hours before Bella had gotten used to the smell somewhat and reached for Kol’s arm, to gently rub it to get his attention. “Hey,” she said softly.
Kol let out a deep breath and looked at her, his vampire face bleeding out. “Go away, Bella.”
“When’s the last time you had something to eat?” she asked as she continued to rub his arm. “You look a little bit grey around the edges.”
“Let me dessicate, it’s better than to be without Davina,” he murmured, not looking away from Bella. Warm Bella. Good smelling Bella, fresh like the forest, and her blood smelling so sweet, something he could definitely use right now. But no, it’d be too painful for him, and yet, he couldn’t understand why. He’d been trying to understand it for the last couple of days because he remembered that at some point he referred to Davina as a convenient fuck – inside his head, of course – and that didn’t explain why he was feeling what he was feeling now. As if it was the end of the world.
“But if you dessicate, what will become of me? You’d practically be dead, right?” Bella wondered out loud. “Would that mean I get to die too?”
He hadn’t thought of it that way. Desiccation was out of the question then. Bella deserved a good life, even if that meant he had to live in pain for the rest of his immortal life. “I suppose you’re right,” he said softly, planting a kiss on Bella’s forehead. “But I thought you didn’t mind dying again. You were so adamant before.”
“Because it’s unnatural, it’s not right… but I’m no longer natural, am I? I’m like you, supernatural, and I do want to study and become someone you can be proud of.”
“So no to dying?”
“No to dying,” she nodded as she caressed his cheek. “I heard you went to town on the witches who killed Davina, how did they taste?”
“Bitter,” he scowled. “Didn’t feed much.”
She scooted closer to him and smiled. “How do I smell? Good?”
“Sweet… but Bella… I can’t—”
“Yes you can. And once you’re feeling better, you’re going to ask your sister to consecrate Davina on the cemetery.”
“But the Ancestors, they will—”
“I know,” she said soothingly. “But I think that Myriam and I have a plan for that. Davina will remain whole and she will help us with the Ancestors and weakening Lucien so that your brother can kill him.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that,” Bella nodded as she offered her wrist to him. “Take as much as you need, even if it’s everything.”
He listened for her heartbeat, it was slow and steady. She wasn’t afraid of him, not at all. She was fearless and didn’t fear him. That’s likely why she smelled so sweet and enticing. “Are you sure?”
“Bite me,” she nearly pushed her wrist into his mouth. This whole time his vampire face had been out, and he likely hadn’t noticed. She knew she had to do this. For him. She was going to stick around for as long as he needed her company as he worked through his grief. Quiet and observing. Keeping an eye on him. That was her purpose now. To look after him. She’d get better in time, but he needed to be better first.
He bit down on her wrist and nearly inhaled her blood. She tasted so sweet, so good, so arousing. It was like a fog lifted from his mind and it was then when he started to smell the decaying body in the room, realizing it was Davina and not feeling much towards her. Davina was gone, she had been killed and he felt free. And he was drinking Bella’s blood again. His saviour a couple of weeks ago and now she was saving him from himself. But she tasted so good, he needed more.
Kol pulled Bella into his lap as he released her wrist and bit down on her neck, holding her close to him as he drank deep, keeping an ear out for her heartbeat, that it wouldn’t become too slow so she had to recover for a long time, but slow enough. Her little moans weren’t helping him keeping control over himself. She was crazy. His type of crazy. His. Period.
He stopped feeding when she fell into him, her head on his shoulder, her heartbeat just on the verge of stopping. He fed her a little of his blood to heal her and carried her out of the room, leaving the stench of death behind them. Kol was greeted by a grinning Myriam at the end of the hall. “Whatever you did….”
“I gave her a nice tasty sandwich with hopefully an antidote to whatever Davina did to you, basically she was once again a cure,” she smirked. “You’re welcome.”
“Now what?”
Myriam shrugged. “Like you said, consecrate Davina, have the Ancestors shred her soul and in the meantime we’re going to talk to Vincent.”
“Vincent?” Kol knew that he wanted to hurt the Ancestors, but why were they going to talk to him?
“Bella told me that she once observed a Tremé witch making plans to destroy the Ancestors, but she couldn’t tell me who. Maybe Vincent knows.”
“Oh boy,” Kol let out a breath as the barely conscious Bella was still in his arms. “Alright, I suppose I could take her to the compound…”
“The guest room is already ready for her,” Myriam smiled as she danced behind Kol as he descended the stairs with a little bundle in his arms. “Love. So beautiful.”
“It’s not love, Myriam,” Kol growled. “This was entrapment and you used her to snap me out of Davina’s hold. That’s not nice.”
“Oh shut up and be glad that it’s over.”
It was strange to wake up to traffic noises around the house and people talking. On top of that, she was in a really comfortable bed and didn’t want to get up to see where she was, because she knew. She knew she was at the Mikaelson family home in the middle of the Quarter and it was likely that Kol had taken her there to recover. “Kol,” she said as she sat up, remembering her new purpose now.
“I’m here,” Kol said as he crawled onto the bed, his weight making her rise up a little as she was sitting. He just hated the fact that she was still wearing Davina’s old clothes. He should have ripped it off of her or asked Myriam to do it. “See? Still here, pink and warm and making sure you’re alright. How about some tea?”
“But— Davina, she—”
“Darling, she had me under a spell, an obsession spell. I had realized before that she and I were nothing but casual fucks, especially after I returned and not the way she had wanted. She preferred Kaleb.”
“She didn’t even give you a chance.”
“I’d like to think that she had wavering morals,” he said with a slight chuckle as he helped her to sit up straight in bed and handed her a cup of tea. “What she did was definitely not a nice thing to do, especially after all she and I went through.”
“You’re not sad?”
“A little, yes, but in the end, she had to resort to a spell to keep me with her, and that’s trust that I misplaced. I’ll do everything that I can to help her with the Ancestors, we’re really close to getting that weapon you spoke of to Myriam. As it happens, it was Vincent’s wife who was working on it.”
“Wait, how long have I been out for?” She nearly sloshed the tea all over herself but managed not to spill anything.
“A couple of days,” he smiled at her. “I didn’t have the heart to wake you, you needed your rest.”
“Oh… okay… that makes sense… so… what’s the plan?”
“Well, the Ancestors have a funny sense of humor and one of Davina’s soul fragments is attached to me, I have to go over there to make Davina whole again with two others and the object,” he said carefully as he watched her take a sip of her tea. “It will be quite dangerous, I just wanted you to know that.”
“Do you want me to be with you?”
“Nah, darling, it’s safer for you if you stay here, since we’re meddling with the Ancestors and all. Myriam is staying with you. Hayley will be with Hope. I believe Myriam has plans for you, but she wouldn’t let me in on the secret.”
Bella took another sip of her tea. “Do you want me to go back to the cabin?”
“Do you want to?”
She shook her head. “I need to look after you, to make sure you’re alright. You did love Davina at some point, the grief will hit you and when it does…”
“I already killed most of the 9th Ward Coven after they killed her, I’m sure I’ll be fine,” he kissed the top of her head. “But I don’t mind if you stuck around a little here. You’re safe here, and Nik isn’t that bad. Neither is Myriam. And when Freya’s not too busy, she might want to teach you a few new spells or something.”
“What changed your mind?”
“You breaking the hold Davina had over me, suddenly a lot of things became clear to me,” he sighed deeply. “Can you please forgive me for wanting you out of my way and away from my family? I never ever wanted to do that to you again and I did it anyway. I’m a horrible person.”
“You’re not a horrible person and of course I forgive you,” she smiled at him. “I wanted to be out of your way too, remember? I’m only intruding.”
“Never think that again,” he said, a hint of anger around the edges. “You’re not intruding, ever, you understand? You’re the most unintrusive person I’ve ever met, so don’t ever think that again.”
“Aren’t I a burden to you then?”
“No, and I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”
“You didn’t,” Bella took a sip of her tea. “I feel like I am because I’m unprepared for this, I feel like a child who’s learning to walk again and that’s a horrible feeling.”
“It’s fairly easy, really. Just ignore all the new things and start with the similarities. Work your way up from there,” he said as he handed her an old flip phone. “This is a phone. You can open it to call people. Hold number one long enough and it’ll automatically dial my number if you need me and I’m away. Number two is Myriam and well, because Nik insisted, his number is under three.”
“But usually things can wait until you get back?”
“Not in this modern age, people want to know where you are at all times and be reachable at all times, too,” he smiled before he produced a wallet that was covered with unicorns. He took her mug of tea and set it aside before opening it for her, revealing her ID. “Your name is still Bella Swan, but Elijah has managed to give you an entire new identity so that you can show authorities questioning your identity that you are a real person. Because of this ID, we were able to open a bank account in your name,” he said pointing at the other card. “No doubt Myriam will explain to you how it works. Barely anyone walks around with paper money these days. Now, there is money in your account, and you can do with it as you please. Such as buying books to help you study. Or to buy yourself new clothes, I’ve decided not to go back to the cabin to get Davina’s old clothes for you.”
“But—”
“No buts. Treat Myriam on an ice cream when she takes you out, she’ll love that,” he smiled at her. “Have fun with it, please. For all I care you use what you need and never touch that card again. I just want you to have fun and not to worry that you’re wasting money, okay?”
“You’re being very strange right now, Kol,” she said as she eyed him curiously.
“This is me, helping you. Setting you up and make sure that you’re a part of our society,” he insisted, pushing a strand of her brown hair behind her ear before getting a tiny handbag off the floor. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I got something simple but safe and easy to carry. It’s for your phone and purse.”
“You didn’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I did and you need to allow me to take care of you. You can help me to get better, and I will help you,” he sighed as he shifted a little on the bed. “It’s difficult for me to admit, but I’ve always felt at peace with you. My mind stops racing and everything is clear. You don’t judge. You’re different than everyone else and I like that, very much so.”
“You’re being very very strange, Kol.”
“It’s called kindness, Bella,” he smirked. “You haven’t been shown that a lot while you’re being kind to everyone you meet, so get used to it.” He reached for her tea and handed it back to her. “Now, stay in bed for as long as you want, the bathroom is to the side and the bath is glorious. With any luck, I’ll be back home in the morning.”
“Wait, what? You’re going to destroy the Ancestors today?”
“Hopefully,” Kol smiled at her. “I want you to be here when I get back, okay? No more running. This is your home now unless you think you want to be somewhere else.”
“Be careful, don’t let Davina manipulate you again.”
“She’s a ghost, what can she do to me?”
“You’ll be a ghost when you go and visit her,” she pointed out, taking another sip of her tea. “So you need to be careful and not to allow her to draw you back. So be strong.”
“Don’t worry, darling, I’ll make it back safely.”
