Chapter 07
2010
After the Founder’s Day event – which was highly enlightening as John Gilbert addressed the entire council while Myriam was present about the ongoing vampire problem, she headed home and relaxed in her room before her demon attached to Stefan alerted her that Damon had left Stefan alone with a glass of human blood and that he was about to drink it.
She made her way downstairs and pulled the glass out of his hands. “Don’t you even think about it!” She growled as she threw it in the fireplace. “You need to tell your brother the truth about your little problem here, Stef.”
“Why did you do that!”
“I’m trying to help you!”
“Then let me drink that blood! I have it under control!”
“No, you obviously don’t,” she said calmly. “And I know you don’t like this side of you either. Let me help you, Stefan. Please. I want Mystic Falls to remain intact, and I don’t want you to tear everyone to shreds.”
“I have it under control, Myriam.”
“Yep, and I’m the Queen of Italy. Oh wait…” she thought for a moment. “Look, Damon isn’t buying your crap either, and I know about the recent blood bank thefts. You’ve been going through blood like you’re drinking water. That ends now.”
“Nope, can’t,” he said as he shook his head. “I’m Elena’s date to the Founder’s Court tomorrow.”
“Damon can do it. Or Matt. Or anyone else, but not you,” she said as she snapped his neck and dragged him off to the basement. “Damon! Stefan’s calling in sick for the rest of the week! Time for some vampire detox before he does something stupid!”
“What!” Damon came back downstairs and saw Myriam dragging his brother down the stairs. “What are you doing?”
“He’s still drinking human blood, Damon. There’s a fridge filled with blood bags in the basement that he’s been hiding from you. I’m doing what you should have been doing,” she told him sternly. “I’m going to bleed him out, and I need you to find me some animal blood… Might take a while before he’s really clean and all. I might as well desiccate him to make sure.”
“But why?”
She sighed as she dropped Stefan to the floor. “You’ve seen him change ever since Elena fed him her blood, haven’t you? He’s unhinged. He doesn’t have the control you have, and that’s not because he’s been on animal blood for so long. Stefan’s a Ripper. You must have heard of Rippers, haven’t you? No? Well, let me tell you that I’ve seen a few in my life. Rippers enjoy to abuse, manipulate and to mutilate their victims. Once they have a taste of human blood, they can’t stop drinking. You can stop. You know the limits of a human body but Stefan will keep going because all he hears is his victim’s heart and he keeps on going until that stops beating,” she explained to him. “They’re not to be reasoned with, they’re closer to being a predator than we regular vampires are. Rippers blackout and just… let loose. All sense of morality out of the window.”
“Well I don’t have a sense of morality,” Damon huffed.
“You pretend not to have a sense of morality, but even you care about people, and you know when you’re taking things too far. If we allow Stefan to be consumed by his bloodlust, we’ll have a harder time of bringing him back, and we might have to kill him. Do you want that?”
“Well…”
“He’s your fucking brother, of course not!” She angrily shot at him. “I know you two don’t often see eye to eye, but he’s your brother, and when you live as long as we’ve been living, of course, you hate each other for the most part, but he’s still family and family is important. We’re not going to kill him. Not when this is easily fixed.”
“Fine,” Damon sighed. “I’ll call the school and tell him he has the flu or something.”
Myriam took extreme pleasure in bleeding Stefan out and pumping him full of vervain. Hearing his cries of agony turn into moans over the days, sounded like music to her ears. He refused to drink animal blood or anything else, so she decided to torture him instead – all the while telling Damon and reassuring Elena, that this was the only way to cure him.
“Come on, Stefan,” Myriam sighed as she kneeled down in front of him. “You barely have anything left in your system and believe me, desiccation is a bitch. You won’t survive.”
“I don’t want to survive.”
“What?”
“And you need to stop Elena from visiting me. No more. After all that I’ve done, it has to end. I just want it over.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” she huffed as she pulled a large bore syringe out of her pocket filled with animal blood and injected him with it, causing the weakened Stefan to cry out in pain. “I’ll force feed you instead. You can thank me later.”
Stefan let out a whine. “You don’t understand. Whenever I’m like this… I lose control. I actually want to kill people just for sports, and I enjoy it. And that’s wrong. I don’t deserve to live. Lexi brought me back a few times but… I keep falling off the wagon!”
Myriam ruffled his hair as she got to her feet. “And yet, you keep on doing your best. Fighting our bloodlust is a constant struggle every single day, Stefan. I know someone who has difficulties controlling himself, but he just about manages… if his brother doesn’t get in his way, but he manages, and he’s a bigger monster than you are. I know that your bloodlust is different. You can’t actually help yourself, so snacking on animals instead is admirable. More vampires like you should do that to keep the world a safer place. And yeah, you’re not my favourite person in the world, and perhaps you do need to die, but I’d rather see you alive and struggle with your demons than to give you an easy way out.” She then walked towards the door. “I’ll be back in a few hours with a bottle of blood. If you’re not drinking on your own by then, I will continue to inject it, and the syringes will become bigger and blunter. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, get over it.”
Stefan was back to his usual self before Founder’s Day, and Myriam moved out of the boarding school into her old, now remodelled and renovated home. While she had proven to Liz Forbes that she was, in fact, human, she checked in on Myriam anyway.
“What a lovely home you have here, quite an upgrade from your rental home, isn’t it?” She said as she stood on the stoop and looked up. “You know, this house was built by—”
“My ancestor, Myriam Hawthorne,” Myriam replied kindly and invited the sheriff in when she saw the dumbfounded look on her face. “Forgive me for my deception, sheriff. When you come from money and want to live a normal life for once, you’d like to keep a low profile.”
“So you are related?”
Myriam nodded. “I was named after her, of course. Her maiden name was Jenkins, she’s like my great great great aunt?” She said a bit confused, blinking for emphasis as she lead the sheriff into the study. “Our family always had money, like… an excessive amount of it and I wanted to get away from it for a bit, renovating this home gave me the perfect excuse to rent.” She sighed then. “I’m not directly related to her, so I’m not a part of the founding family, or at least her. She’s like royalty. She was an amazing woman, and I’ve known for a very long time that we look alike, so it’s a bit…”
“Awkward?”
“Yeah,” Myriam smiled at her. “And strange. I’m nothing like her, but if you wish for me to donate to the town then—”
“Oh, no, don’t you worry about that!” Liz laughed, waving away the idea. “I was just curious, that’s all, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“You’re more than welcome to, but I do hope you understand why I deceived you when it came to my ancestor. Once someone learns you have money…”
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” the sheriff nodded. “For all everyone else knows is that someone won the lottery and bought you a proper house in our lovely little town. Speaking of our little town, what are you doing for Founder’s Day? There’s a parade and everything!”
“Oh, yeah,” Myriam smiled. “I heard about that!”
“Are you coming?”
“Nah, I still have a lot to do inside the house, and I think I’m going to set up a herb garden in the backyard. Grow you some more vervain, grow some aconite and other good stuff,” Myriam shrugged. “Make the most from my day off from the Grill.” In fact, Myriam had an excellent reason to stay away from the town’s centre for Founder’s Day. Some of the tomb vampires were planning on something, and the council had plans now that they had yet another Gilbert device in their hands. Maybe she should warn Stefan and Damon… Nah. What mattered was that Elena was safe.
Besides, one of her demons that she had attached to a certain someone had returned to Mystic Falls. It was best if Myriam stayed out of sight to have an element of surprise.
“I thought you didn’t believe in vampires?”
“I don’t, but you do,” Myriam smiled at her. “And if you, and the council, feel safe with a boatload of vervain, I’ll happily supply you guys with it. But, just out of curiosity… Since you believe in vampires and all… what would you do if your own daughter turned out to be one?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Caroline isn’t a vampire.”
She wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “Come on, believe for a second that I believe in vampires and that they’re real. What if Caroline is a vampire? What would you do?”
“She’s my daughter.”
“Of course, but you and the council are hell bent on killing vampires, so…”
“She’s my daughter. Should, or if, she’s a vampire then I’ll make sure she won’t be able to harm anyone,” Liz replied, slightly agitated. “What kind of a question was that anyway?”
Myriam shrugged. “I tend the bar at the Grill, I like playing these kinds of games sometimes. And to me, your answer showed that you need to work on your standards, your own morality. Like… you would arrest anyone if they’d shoplift, but your daughter? Nah. You’ll just tell her to bring the items back and ground her for the rest of her life.”
“Ah, just you wait until you have children of your own.”
“Ha! Never!”
~o.O.o~
Mason Lockwood had returned to Mystic Falls, and he was a werewolf. Plain and simple. Myriam could sense it, smell it even, kinda like wet dog, especially after he had gone for a run early in the morning. Maybe it was a good thing Mason was in Mystic Falls, his cousin Tyler had been spiralling out of control and causing many accidents. Now that his father was dead, thanks to the Gilbert device, he’d need someone to tell him about his heritage.
It was no secret to Myriam that the Lockwoods were werewolves, and she knew that Damon and Stefan didn’t even know about the existence of werewolves. She wasn’t going to enlighten them, either. It was something they’d had to discover for themselves.
Anna and the tomb vampires were dead. Yay Mystic Falls Council! Good job! Damon nearly died in the process. And Myriam had spotted Katerina a few times, pretending to be Elena or spying on the rest of the village. So far, she managed to stay out of her way, observing the bitch in return.
Myriam had finally found a use for Caroline. Under the threat of ‘I killed you before, and I won’t hesitate to do that again’ Caroline was now Myriam’s spy amongst Damon, Stefan, and Elena. And Bonnie. Caroline definitely had to keep an eye on the Bennett witch, but also keep Elena safe. With Katerina in town, Elena’s safety was up in the air – even though Elena was likely not Katerina’s reason to be in town.
No, Myriam figured it would be because she wanted Stefan and Damon back. Stefan more than Damon. And, likely the moonstone that Myriam had been after but had managed to snag it from the Lockwood vault during the last Founders party. Klaus was happy, relieved that Myriam had procured that exact stone and trusted her to keep it safe.
Should Katerina find out that Myriam was in town and in possession of the moonstone – the Lockwood family heirloom, then Myriam was going to make sure the bitch wouldn’t get it. She wanted to save Katerina alive and well for her husband to torture, but Myriam was sure that he would love her head on a spike as a gift when keeping her alive wasn’t possible. Because Myriam could be tempted.
But, for now, she was too busy with the Salvatore brothers to care about anything but them and Elena. Which was good, it meant that Myriam still had some freedom left before she could start making Katerina’s life a living hell again.
Myriam needed to keep Mason Lockwood alive, too. Klaus needed a werewolf for his ritual and— It suddenly dawned on her that this was the actual reason why Katerina was in town. She wanted the moonstone and a werewolf to appease Klaus and have him stop hunting her down, wasn’t it?
Well, that wasn’t going to happen.
Katerina was a toy, not someone who was allowed to be free from the wrath of Klaus Mikaelson.
“Hi Mason,” Myriam smiled sweetly at him as she looped her arm through his. “How’s your day going?”
“Just fine, Myriam, what can I do for you?”
She turned him around to start walking towards her home. Her demons had told her that the Scoobies were going to try to hurt him – or worse – and she wasn’t going to let that happen. Despite Bonnie’s mother having taken care of Mikael in the 1990’s, Myriam couldn’t allow the Bennett witch to mess up her plans. And so, Mason had to be taken out of the equation. “I have an issue at my home that I could use your help with if you don’t mind?”
“Of course not, always happy to help, but I’m busy with—”
“I know, the ball’s preparations. I’m sure they can miss you for a bit,” she pleasantly smiled at him. “I really need to get this heavy thing lifted and you…” she sighed happily as she put her hand on his biceps and squeezed it a little. “You sure look like you are the right person to help me out.”
Mason barked out a laugh. “Sure thing, Myriam.”
She lead him back to her house, which was just outside of town and headed straight into their basement. Like their home in New Orleans, Myriam had made sure that they had a sturdy, soundproof, basement in case they’d have guests to entertain. Her demons would do the rest. She had made sure that she had a few strong ones to subdue the werewolf and her dark objects would make sure he couldn’t leave either.
Klaus was going to kill her if he’d turn and bit her.
She watched as the demons pushed Mason against the wall and she started to search his body for his phone and other things. “So, here’s the thing,” she said as she fumbled with Mason’s phone. “I know what you are and I know that you and Katherine are an item.”
“How!”
“I have my sources,” she knowingly smiled as she looked at him. “In any case, your relationship with Katherine is false. You may love her, but she only wants to use you. To gift you to someone so he can break his curse. I don’t want that to happen, so I’m keeping you safe here.”
“They’ll go looking for me.”
“They can try, but trust me, I don’t want you to be found, so even if they’d search this basement, they wouldn’t be able to see you or hear you,” Myriam said as she closed the cell he was in. “Bonnie, Damon, and Stefan want to kill you because they believe you’re a threat. And you are. To them.”
“How?”
“Again, I have my sources,” she knowingly smiled as she typed away furiously on Mason’s phone. “Right now I’m sending an email to your sister-in-law and your nephew. You’re leaving town, heading back to California.”
“Tyler.”
“Yeah, once he kills someone, I’ll have my ways of telling him your family’s history and lineage. Don’t worry, he’s a good boy. I’ve been keeping an eye on him for a while now.” Once she had finished sending the email, she turned off the GPS and crushed it with her bare hands. “You’re Katherine’s toy. That makes you my toy. So, what do you want to have for dinner?”
“You’ll pay for this.”
“Nah. Be a good boy and I’ll keep you safe,” Myriam smiled at him before leaving him in the company of her demons and her toys. Oh, she was definitely going to have some fun with sharp objects on the wolf later.
“Hey!” Mason called out, causing Myriam to turn around and look at him. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I’m willing to help you, but that doesn’t mean I have to like you. You’re not here because I want to be friends with you, but because of what you are.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that the only concern right now for you is that your girlfriend and her exes want you dead, both for different reasons. I kind of like throwing wrenches into your girlfriend’s plans. Keeping you alive will upset her, and my partner and I love it when she’s upset. You’re safe here. I’ll feed you, I’ll give you water, but that’s as far as things go.”
Myriam then went upstairs, closing the big door separating the basement from the house and drowned out Mason’s cries before pouring herself a stiff drink. She was curious what Katerina was going to do next now that Myriam had taken away one of her toys.
She opened her laptop and browsed through the emails she’d received from Isabella, her friend in New Orleans who was still running Myriam’s club for her. Isabella had kept her up to speed on everything over the years. Either by post nor now, by email. They were still going strong, and Myriam gave the go-ahead to expand the building as much as the city would allow them to.
If they wouldn’t allow them to, then Myriam had to go and look for different options. Perhaps finally branching out to the other coast so that they could help more people.
Isabella also kept Myriam apprised of the comings and goings of Marcel Gerard. After the Mikaelsons had fled New Orleans because of Mikael and believed Marcel to be dead, Marcel miraculously survived and had started to take up the mantle of ‘King of New Orleans.’ Was Myriam informing her husband about this? No. Because their priority was to break his curse and then maybe New Orleans.
But Myriam wasn’t quite liking hearing about Marcel treating the witches poorly and all the whispers about a new powerful Claire witch having been born a few years after the doppelganger was born unnerved her. Claire witches needed to be protected and to be raised properly, and she just knew that eventually, Marcel would get his dirty hands on her. Myriam wasn’t a fan of New Orleans witches, especially Claire witches, because they were power hungry and backstabbing bitches.
She had hooked up Klaus with a witch from a lesser-known New Orleans witch family to help with the plans they had for his safety. Maddox was a male witch who was observant and strong, powerful. Isabella had hired him several times to check the wardings and spells on Débauche, and she trusted him. Klaus himself had found a witch to help him, but according to Isabella, Greta Martin had a crush on him, and she didn’t like that. At all. So Maddox was there to keep an eye on Greta as well.
With having taken Mason, Myriam now had to keep an eye on Tyler Lockwood, because there was no doubt that Katerina would want another werewolf and would do anything to have Tyler trigger his curse. Ugh. What a mess. Maybe she should kill Mayor Lockwood’s wife and kidnap Tyler just in case. But that would raise far too many red flags in Mystic Falls.
The good thing was, nobody knew that she was in possession of the Moonstone already. And everyone believed that everyone else had it. It was possible that this situation could escalate, but at least it were vampires that were involved, and Elena being the only human. But knowing Katerina, she might actually attack Elena’s family to get the Moonstone back. Which was fine. The less family Elena had left, the easier it would be to have her offer herself to the sacrifice willingly.
The good thing was that Katerina was now kept safely in the tomb underneath the church, courtesy of Damon and Bonnie. Katerina was out of harm’s way, lonely, and would painfully desiccate. Myriam knew exactly where she was, and that felt great.
She was woken up by the demon she had put with Elena, to keep an eye on the doppelganger to make sure she was being kept safe by the Salvatores. And apparently, they hadn’t made sure of her safety. Elena had been taken, and she was currently in transit towards the south. Groaning, Myriam instructed the demon to relay what was being said and keep her apprised of the location before she got into her car and drove off.
Myriam wasn’t far behind. After about an hour drive on high speed, Elena was handed over to a vampire, likely one without a daylight ring due to the tinted windows of the car, and Myriam was close. She had just missed it. She spotted the fresh dead body on the ground and kept driving.
Elena was taken to an abandoned house by the vampire, and Elena finally came to, which made it easier for Myriam’s demon to communicate with her. She told him to press Elena to ask questions. Who are they? What do they want? Did they know she wasn’t Katherine? And, of course, the English lady vampire knocked Elena out for not remaining quiet.
Were this Rose and Trevor? Myriam couldn’t believe that they were still alive! While Myriam had never met them in person, Klaus had told her about their involvement in Katerina’s betrayal. She had her demon follow the two vampires through the house as she continued to drive and didn’t like hearing Rose and Trevor mention Elijah.
Fucking Elijah.
There was no doubt that Elijah wanted Elena for himself and to kill Klaus because of the little white lie that Klaus had told him back in Germany. Myriam hadn’t been there, but Klaus had written to her with the story. The story was that Elijah lied to Klaus about things. Klaus had pretended that Rebekah was still out and about with someone by writing Elijah letters in her name and handwriting, then Elijah lied again. Something about Nazi werewolves, from what Myriam could remember and then Klaus telling Elijah he dropped all of their siblings in seas all over the world in their cosy little coffins.
It was a lie, of course. Kol, Rebekah, and Finn were all safe and sound. They always had been. But there was no doubt that Elijah wanted to kill Klaus, and the only way for Elijah was to do that was to allow Klaus to break the curse and then kill him during the initial transition where he’d be at his weakest.
If Myriam could, she would kill Elijah instead. But, for now, sabotaging his plans would have to do. He had to back off and stay away.
Myriam pushed her demon to wake Elena and to force her to her feet. To continue to ask questions, but Myriam didn’t like the answers that she heard. Rose and Trevor were going to hand Elena over to Elijah. There was no way in hell that she’d allow that to happen.
She parked the car next to the blacked out van and gently knocked on the door.
“That can’t be Elijah already, can it?” Trevor wondered as he walked to the door and opened it, revealing Myriam. “I’m sorry, love, but—”
“I’m here for the girl,” Myriam said as she pushed past Trevor. “Elijah’s delayed.”
“But you’re human!”
“Am I?” Myriam continued to walk inside the house. “Hey, Elena.”
“Myriam?”
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now. Damon and Stefan are on their way as well, they’re about two hours behind me,” she said as she moved between Rose and Elena. “Did you really think Elijah wouldn’t have known about Elena already? I’ve been in Mystic Falls for years, making sure the Doppelganger was safe, and you made me go all the way out here to come and pick her up again. Are you two completely off your rocker?”
“Can you grant us the same forgiveness as Elijah can?”
“Forgiveness for your hand in Katerina’s betrayal?” Myriam huffed. “Why would I do that? So you could have a cushy life and not have to look over your shoulders anymore? Please. If it hadn’t been for you two, the curse would have been broken already, and the world would have been a lot safer.”
“W-wait,” Elena stammered as she looked at Myriam. “You’re a vampire?”
“Of course I am, Elena.”
“But why didn’t Stefan and Damon tell me? Or Bonnie?”
“Bonnie is an idiot who can’t see a cheap spell from miles away, and Stefan and Damon know to keep my secret because I’ll kill them before they spill the beans on me anyway,” Myriam explained. “I’m older than Stefan and Damon, but I have a particular fondness for their family. It’s a long and boring story.”
“And how do you know about the Originals?”
“Who doesn’t?” Myriam shrugged.
“Stefan and Damon?”
“I didn’t say they were smart or the seekers of more knowledge. Their sire didn’t teach them right, and I had to leave town before I could educate them properly.”
“Their sire? But that’s Katherine!”
“Hooray! You’re definitely the sharpest tool in the toolbox!” Myriam had made herself comfortable on the sofa and pat on the seat next to her for Elena to sit down. “Hey, look, nobody can know that I’m a vampire, you know that, right? You can’t even tell Stefan and Damon that you know. I’m here to help you. To keep you safe.”
Elena sat down next to Myriam with a nod. “But what about them?” she asked in a hushed voice as she jerked her head in the direction of Rose and Trevor.
“Oh, right,” Myriam nodded as she got to her feet. “You want the target off of your backs!”
“Can you grant us that?” Rose asked hopefully. “Like Elijah?”
“I’m not sure if you should trust Elijah, to be honest. He may come across as all honourable and all, but he’s the worst of the worst. There’s always something else at play with him.”
“But you’re working for him?”
“No, I said I was here for the girl, and I am,” she smiled. “And Elijah is delayed. You made out of it that I’m with him. And trust me, darling, I’d rather be dead than to be with him.”
“I can’t give you the girl!” Rose said panicked. “We’ll never be free otherwise!”
“You won’t ever be free because I believe that it’s Niklaus you’re truly afraid of, because he put the target on your back. The last thing I heard was that Elijah and Niklaus weren’t on speaking terms anymore,” Myriam shrugged as she ruffled Trevor’s hair before pulling out a stake and pushed it through his back, straight into his heart. “I believe it was his transgressions that marked you?”
“No! Trevor!” Rose sobbed as she fell to her knees when Trevor’s body dropped to the ground. Myriam quietly sat down next to Elena with a big smile on her face.
“So, what did Rose tell you about the curse?” she asked lightly.
“That my blood breaks the curse?” Elena replied, nervous as she inched herself away from Myriam.
She tsked her, clicking her tongue. “Don’t be like that, I’m not going to hurt you,” Myriam sighed. “Look, Elijah will tell you that he wants to keep you safe from the big bad Klaus. Everyone’s afraid of Klaus, even Elijah. With good reason, really, because Klaus can be very dangerous when angered. He has a brilliant strategic mind that will always put him a few steps ahead of you, but truthfully? It’s Elijah you need to be worried about.”
“How so?”
“Because with Elijah… and in a sense with Klaus, you really have to listen to his words. What is he telling you? I know of one instance where one promised someone to be safe, gave them their word, while the other killed that someone anyway. It wasn’t his word, but the other’s.”
“That’s just fucked up.”
“Is it? I think it’s brilliant because that’s how they have survived for so long. Wordplay. Manipulation. Telling the truth but leaving things out intentionally. Now, again, Elijah will likely tell you that he’s here to protect you from Klaus. He will also guarantee your family’s safety. All he wants is your cooperation. It’s also likely that he will come to Mystic Falls now because he will know of your existence.” Myriam said as slowly as possible so she could make things very clear for Elena. “Now, what he won’t tell you is that he wants to hand you over to Klaus anyway so that Klaus can break his curse. You see, what people don’t know about the Sun and Moon Curse is that’s fake. Elijah and Klaus made it all up because they’ve been looking to break this curse ever since it was put onto Klaus after he was first turned.”
“What?”
“Klaus’ mother had a fling with a werewolf. They only found out when they turned and Klaus killed for the first time,” Myriam shrugged. “The curse was placed on Klaus to make him a vampire only. Klaus always wanted to be stronger, more powerful, and as a vampire-werewolf, he’ll be unstoppable. Anyway, when Klaus breaks the curse, he’ll transition, and he’ll be at his weakest. That’s when Elijah will kill Klaus.”
“But that’s good, right?”
“Elena, you will die. Elijah will not flinch and will sacrifice you to make sure that Klaus breaks the curse, and he will leave that out. If he does tell you this information, he’ll also tell you that he has some sort of potion that can bring you back to life. This is a lie, the potion doesn’t do anything. Why do you think Katarina ran?”
“I don’t want to die.”
“I will not allow Elijah to sacrifice you, you have my word. Elijah will not do that. I’m here to protect you from him, and I will do that for as long as needed, as I’ve done so for the last few years.”
“Are you sure?”
“Babe, with the shitstorm coming you can need all the help you can get. I’m older than Stefan and Damon, and that makes me stronger than them. I know things about the Originals that Rose even doesn’t know,” she then let out a long sigh. “Rose, sweetheart, stop crying over your dead boyfriend, it’s very unbecoming and you’re starting to get on my nerves.”
“We’ve been together for over half a century! And you killed him!”
“Ah, but if I hadn’t done it, Elijah would have,” Myriam shrugged. “Speaking of which, you have a visitor. Don’t tell him that I’m here. He won’t be able to see me, but I’m here to protect Elena, got it? If you are going to tell him, I will know, and I will kill you myself.”
“Why won’t he be able to see you?” Elena wondered.
“I have my secrets,” Myriam smiled. “Don’t worry, whatever happens, Elijah’s going down.” She then giggled and clapped her hands. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun!”
It didn’t take long for Rose to come back with Elijah, who was shocked to see a human Doppelganger standing in front of him. The smelling of Elena was really creepy though. Just as expected, he didn’t pick up on Myriam, which made her thank the demon that was doing this for her. “Alright, come with me,” Elijah said as he grabbed Elena’s arm. “You’re free, Rose,” he said as he stepped over Trevor and then paused to look at the body. “Who else is here?”
“No one,” Rose said quickly. “Elena surprised Trevor with the stake, he hadn’t properly searched her for any kind of weaponry when he brought her in.”
Elijah narrowed his eyes on Rose. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not. I swear, I’m not.”
Myriam grinned when she put a demon on Elijah, causing him to shiver ever so slightly. There was no way that she’d have him disappear without a trace again. Klaus would love to have his brother back if only to hurt him himself or to make nice. Whatever he was in the mood for that day.
“Are you sure?” Elijah asked playfully before the cavalry arrived and he couldn’t think about what was going on right now. After some fun play with Damon and Stefan, Elena and Rose disappeared out of sight. “Excuse me,” Elijah called out as he walked to the coat rack. “To whom it may concern, you’re making a great mistake by thinking you can beat me.”
Myriam was surprised by how playful Elijah sounded. Had he adapted this to cover up the fact that he was a maniac?
“You can’t,” Elijah said as he motioned with his hands and a big smile on his face. He then turned to the coat rack and started to strip it of its additional parts. “You hear that? I repeat you cannot beat me. So I want the girl, on the count of three or heads will roll,” he said as he stood on the stairs. “Do we understand each other?”
Myriam sighed as she pulled the coat rack out of his hands by surprise, appearing before him. “You are such a megalomaniac,” she said as she turned him around, shoved the coat rack into him and pushed him up against the wall and he desiccated on impact. Was she going to tell them that he couldn’t be killed like this? Nah. “Oh, that felt good!” she said all giddily. “Come on kids, let’s go home!”
Of course, when they got back to Mystic Falls Myriam had to come to the boarding house to explain herself, but she didn’t. She told Stefan to bring Elena home and give it a rest. Now that Elijah was close, she needed to go back home and put up some more security features and call her husband.
“Hi honey,” Myriam grinned as she sat down on her sofa with a good glass of wine in her hand and propped her feet onto the table.
“What are you up to, love?”
“Me? Nothing! I’ve secured a werewolf, I have the moonstone, and the Doppelganger trusts me to keep her safe from Elijah.”
“Elijah?!”
“Yep,” Myriam said as she popped her p. “Rose and Trevor, remember them? You must as you’ve told me about them a while ago.”
“Of course, they betrayed me!”
“Well, Trevor’s dead now. Rose and Trevor wanted to hand the Doppelganger over to Elijah. He’s planning to kill you.”
“Of course he is. He’s mad at me for telling him that our siblings are at the bottom of the ocean! But he started it!”
“I know, Mon LouLou,” she smiled. “I know, and I’m doing the best that I can to make sure you can break the curse.”
“Good. I’ll have Isobel send over a dagger and some ash through John Gilbert. Put Elijah down if you have to, love. I still have a coffin with his name on it.”
“Aw, but I want to play!”
“Not while we’re this close.”
Myriam sighed. “I think it’s best if John gives it to Damon or something. Elijah will see me coming with it from miles away.”
“Your demons can protect you from the effects of using the dagger. Your little pet would not be so fortunate.”
“So?”
“I’d rather have you do it, love. Who knows what Elijah’s up to?”
“Well, he managed to get Daddy Martin and his son Luka on his side,” Myriam shrugged as she studied her nails. “They’ve arrived in town a couple hours ago. No doubt Elijah will follow shortly.”
“No doubt Elijah told him that he can help them get their Greta back. When will he learn that a lot of the time my allies come to me out with genuine reasons and that I’m not actually forcing them?”
Myriam shrugged. “I really don’t wish to hear about Greta, Klaus.”
“Why, are you jealous?” he laughed.
“Do I have a reason to be?”
“No. Never. You know that I’m faithful to you, and only you. Trust that I will arrive in Mystic Falls shortly. Maddox and Greta are dotting their I’s and crossing their t’s to make sure I’ll be safe.”
“Again!”
“Patience, sweetheart,” Klaus said teasingly. “Keep an eye on Elijah for me. You have no idea how much I’ve been anticipating the breaking of the curse. We can’t allow things to go wrong now.”
“Now I’m hurt,” Myriam scowled. “What have I been doing for the last few decades, huh? Am I just one of your minions to you?”
“You are my wife, and trust me, once this is all over, you will not have to leave my side ever again.”
She scoffed. “It’s been too long, I feel like I’m stuck.”
“You were just here a couple of weeks ago!”
“I’m bored playing the barmaid and having to play mommy to these idiots! You’d think that all vampires would have heard stories about The Originals but nooo, of course not. Not Damon and Stefan Salvatore!”
“Well, Stefan is compelled to forget, you know that.”
“Ugh!”
“Buy yourself something pretty and feel better.”
“Fuck you.”
“Gladly!”
“And if that witch lays one finger on you, I will rip her face off her head. You may need to find another for the ritual. I will know if she does,” she growled before hanging up on him.
A couple of days passed while Myriam worked her shifts at the Grill. They had been downsizing a little because the bar was trying to stay afloat, but Myriam needed the distraction. And she needed stay visible, a member of the community. Hide in plain sight. These days, most of the scoobies stayed at the Boarding House or at Elena’s place, but never at the grill.
Alaric and Damon, and later Stefan, met up with a werewolf called Jules a few times something about Tyler and them being a werewolf and they threatened the wolf on a full moon. Stupid. But, the werewolf took care of Rose, so Myriam was happy. Elijah took care of the wolves because he had given his word that none of Elena’s friends were to be harmed, and Jules left, with Tyler. It was a good thing, Tyler needed someone to take care of him, teach him the ways, although Myriam still wanted to kill him. And Jules. And Mason in the cellar.
Whoops. Myriam had forgotten entirely about Mason and brought her guest some food from the grill and some bottles of water. “I never said I was a good host,” she muttered before leaving him again.
She was excited when she received a text message from Klaus to meet him at Alaric’s place and hurried to find her husband there. But instead, she found a Katerina stabbing herself in the leg with a pocket knife and Maddox leaning against the kitchen counter watching Katerina. “Where is he?!” She demanded.
“Oh, of course,” Katerina whined as she stabbed herself again. “I should have known you were working for Klaus. You’re a grade A bitch.”
Myriam slapped Katerina and turned back to Maddox. “Where is he, Maddox?”
“He’ll be back in a bit, he wanted to check up on his Doppelganger. He’s at school. Relax.”
“Relax?!”
“Myriam, he’ll be back.”
“Oh, sure, but what I wouldn’t give to see him as a history teacher. No doubt everything becomes the same in his mind, history, and he won’t even remember when the first Moon Landing was. Or Watergate,” she snickered as she headed to the cabinet and got herself something to drink. “Hell, he barely remembers our anniversaries.”
“That’s typical of men,” Maddox shrugged.
“Don’t even start,” she snarled before walking over to Katerina. “How’s the stabbing going?” Myriam asked as she stabbed Katerina’s open wound with her finger.
“I don’t know who’s worse, you or me,” Katherine whined.
“What do you mean, sugar?” Myriam cocked her head and kept poking her.
“Well, I was simply toying with Damon and Stefan but you… Are you actually crazy enough to fool around with the Originals? Kol first, was it? Now Klaus?” Katherine let out another grunt when she stabbed herself again, unable to stop as Klaus had compelled her.
Myriam smirked as she poured a bit of alcohol in Katherine’s open wound, causing the vampire to cry out in pain. “Ow, did that hurt? Poor little baby,” she cooed.
“Bitch!”
She smiled as she took a step back. “You did the same with Elijah and Klaus in attempt to gain their sympathies before you learned of what they wanted you for. You played Elijah before going after Klaus because he presented the higher status in society in London. I may not have been there, but I know the stories, Katerina. Do not take me for a fool,” she scolded her. “And for your information, Kol and I never had a relationship. We’re friends. Klaus is my one and only.”
“Oh, and that sounded music to my ears,” Alaric’s voice sounded as the door opened. Myriam couldn’t contain herself but to fling herself around her husband, despite him being in Alaric’s body. “Hello love.”
“This doesn’t count as cheating, right? You’re you, just in a different body. I can kiss you?”
“Of course you can,” he smiled at her as he kissed her, hard. “You look well, my love.”
“Can’t say the same about you… Alaric, really?”
“It’s only temporary, not to worry.”
“It’d better be. While I’m fine with kissing you like this, I want more, and I’m not willing to do that with you looking like this,” she pointed at him. “Besides, I kinda like Alaric. He has a good head on his shoulders.”
“He’s a vampire hunter.”
“True, but one that can be reasoned with. He’s best buds with Damon Salvatore.”
“Wait, didn’t Damon kill Alaric’s wife, Isobel? Turned her into one of us?”
“Yep, and guess what? Katerina sent Isobel to Damon to begin with.”
“Are they stupid?”
Myriam nodded. “When aren’t they? Besides, they’ve been useful in keeping the girl occupied and relatively out of trouble. Last I checked, they actually have your brother daggered and in holding for us. So, yes, stupid yet useful.”
“He needs to remain daggered. I want him to join the rest of our family.”
“Unfortunately, the Doppelganger shares some traits with her ancestors,” Myriam sighed as she pulled Klaus to the couch and snuggled up against him while Katherine kept stabbing herself. Myriam wasn’t entirely comfortable with Klaus in this body, nor had she been when he had been others, but at this moment it was a necessity. It gave Klaus the opportunity to scope out the town and the players without showing his true face. “Elena seems to like double crossing people. She’s actually willing to sacrifice herself if that means saving her family. I won’t be surprised if she’d undagger Elijah and pump him for more information about the Curse.”
“I thought you bonded with her?”
“Oh please, she won’t even let me inside the boarding house since it’s registered to her name for safety. She knows I won’t allow Elijah to sacrifice her, but still. She’s a crafty little bitch and, as we speak, the Bennett witch is getting stronger, she’s going to harness the power of the 100 dead Salem Witches that were burned at the same spot your mother turned you.”
“You said you had everything under control!”
“I do! I have a werewolf in my basement for you to convert to your hybrid. I don’t want you to sacrifice him because he’s an excellent specimen and I’m pretty sure you’ll like him. I have a vampire, who’s my little spy despite Katerina thinking otherwise, and I have the moonstone,” Myriam looked up at him. “It’s your brother who throws wrenches into the plan but with him still daggered, when the next full moon comes, the Doppelganger will sacrifice herself willingly. All we need to take care of is Damon and Stefan.”
“Well, it’s a good thing that I’m going to pay a visit to Aunt Jenna tomorrow, would you like to join me, darling?”
She raised a brow, fighting back a grin. “You planning on ruining a doppelganger’s day?”
“Of course. And tell her all about vampires,” Klaus smiled. “But for now, I’m quite happy with you in my arms. Tonight I’m going to attend the Decade dance at the school as ‘chaperone.’ See what the Bennett witch is made out of.”
Myriam looked over to Maddox. “You’ll protect him with a spell, right? If not, I’ll have my own ways.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Myriam, of course, I will protect your husband.”
“Husband?” Katherine spluttered.
Sighing, Myriam got to her feet and snapped Katherine’s neck. “I’m sorry, Klaus, I know you’d love to play with her, as do I, but she’s getting on my nerves.”
“Well, I was going to ask her all that she knew about the players, but I suppose I’ll have to ask you now.”
“I’ve told you enough, you’ll be fine,” she said as she nestled herself against him again. “You know, I could take you to our home…”
“When I’m back in my own body, love, then I’d love to see what you’ve made of the place. I haven’t been back to Mystic Falls since we all left a thousand years ago. It’s lovely to see what they’ve done with the place.”
Myriam hummed as she reached for the bottle of bourbon and took a swig before handing it to Klaus. “Here’s to no longer having to pretend to be a good person.”
“Sweetheart, you always were a good person to the family and me. It never mattered what anyone else thought and that’s what you should take stock in,” Klaus toasted as he took his glass.
“Oh I don’t care what they all think, but after so long having to pretend to be someone I’m not… It’s a relief that I no longer have to do that,” she smiled at him. “I can’t wait for Damon to find out that I’m with you. He’ll lose his tits.”
He appeared thoughtful. “Then perhaps I should hint to him about our relationship tonight and see how he reacts. Or perhaps, imply that I may come after you after the dance simply just because I know that he is friendly with you.”
“You’re already going to reveal yourself tonight?”
“Of course, knowing that Elijah is close and may be undaggered by our whimsical doppelganger, we need to move things along. After all, it’ll be full moon soon,” he kissed the top of her head. “Will you stay here to keep Katerina company while I’m away?”
She shook her head. “No thanks. I’ll check up on the werewolf in my dungeon, he’s due for another feeding. I mean, I neglected him for a few days, and he was starving so…” she shrugged. “But you can pick me up when you’re done? We’ll have a stroll through the town together.”
“I now see why you were so against Marcellus when I took him in,” Klaus barked out a laugh. “You’d be a horrible mother.”
“Hey, in this case, it’s a soundproof dungeon. I don’t hear him, and I forget he’s even there!”
~o.O.o~
“Hi, Jenna!” Myriam smiled brightly at her as she shoved a pecan pie into her hands that she had picked up from the bakery. “Alaric thought it’d be nice to invite me over for dinner as well, no idea why, but he’d better cook up a decent meal!”
“Myriam?” Jenna blinked confused before looking at Alaric. “What?”
“I have some things to say to you today while we’re having dinner, I thought it’d be nice if you had a familiar face around,” Klaus said as he kissed the top of Jenna’s head and followed Myriam into the kitchen with the bag of groceries he was carrying.
“Uh, sure, but Myriam and I aren’t exactly friends? Only when she’s pouring me a drink at the Grill.”
“Yes! That’s why I’m here!” Myriam nodded as she lifted a few bottles of alcohol out of the bag. “You need your favorite drink while he shares what he needs to share with you!”
“Alaric, are you breaking up with me for Damon’s bartender only because I’m angry with you for keeping things from me?” Jenna asked as she put her hands on her side.
“Oh please,” Myriam huffed. “I’ve been happily married for a very long time.”
“And yet, you’re not wearing your ring,” Alaric pointed out. “I told you to wear it.”
Myriam thought for a moment. “Maybe once you’re yourself again. Not like this.” She poured Jenna a drink and handed it to her. “Sit, relax, and let Alaric do all the cooking while he talks.”
When the doorbell rang, Myriam got to her feet and opened the door. “Stefan! Hi!”
“Uh… what are you doing here?” Stefan blinked as he saw Myriam and walked inside the house. “Are you protecting Jenna?”
“Yeah… I’m protecting Jenna and Alaric, after all, Klaus is in town, isn’t he? I promised Elena that I’d—”
“Wait, Alaric’s here?”
Myriam nodded with a smile and led him into the kitchen. “Look who decided to join us!”
“Oh, hi, Stefan, how’s it going?” Alaric smiled at him. “How’s Elena?”
“Uh, I wouldn’t know, she and her new friend needed some personal time,” he said confused but sat down next to Jenna to protect her. “What are you doing, Ric?”
“Oh, you know, I find chopping so calming. The feel of the blade in my hand, maybe,” Alaric said as he chopped the carrots.
“I’m still waiting for someone to tell me what the fuck is going on!” Jenna demanded. “You’re all acting strange!”
“Well, would you like to tell her, Stefan? Or shall I?”
“Tell me what?” Jenna blinked.
Myriam slid around the counter and put an arm around Jenna. “Do you believe in vampires, Jenna?”
“Myriam!” Stefan had a hint of panic in his voice. “What are you doing?!”
“Oh, apparently Stefan does,” Alaric laughed. “But believe it or not, they do have a place in our history. And as a history teacher, I find them fascinating.”
Jenna shook her head. “Why are we even talking about this?”
Alaric laughed. “Well, you’ve been angry with me for keeping secrets, and this is one of my secrets. I’m obsessed with vampires. There. I said it.”
“You’re joking, please tell me you’re joking,” Jenna sighed exasperatedly. “Really? Vampires?”
Alaric walked over to the stove to stir in some pots. “I’m not joking, Jenna. How about you, Stefan? Are you a fan of vampires?”
“In literature,” Stefan replied. “Bram Stoker. It’s dense, but I appreciate it.”
Alaric hummed in appreciation as he turned around again. “Hmm. Did you know that vampires are the oldest creatures of the night? Except for werewolves, of course.”
Jenna got to her feet and started to walk away from the counter. “Werewolves. Werewolves. Now I know you’re joking.”
“You know, I’ve read that there’s an Aztec curse on both species that keeps werewolves slaves to the Moon and vampires bound by the Sun. Isn’t that right, Stefan? You know, they say these creatures would do anything to have this curse broken and that they wouldn’t care who they had to kill to do it.”
“Oh, don’t look so shocked, Jenna,” Myriam smiled at her. “I mean, it’s the same in the animal kingdom, isn’t it? You’ve got the lions and the lambs. Same deal when it comes to vampires and humans.”
“Are you quoting Twilight?” Jenna spluttered. “Seriously?”
Myriam scratched her head in confusion. “What’s Twilight?”
“Oh, it’s a book, love, and a movie?” Alaric smiled and watched as Myriam turned around with a raised eyebrow. “Whaaat? You told me! Don’t play dumb now!”
“It’s a part of my cover, dammit!”
“Wait…” Stefan said as he looked at Myriam. “You know Klaus?”
“Didn’t Elena tell you? I know all the Originals, and it was so much fun seeing you run around in circles all this time!”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Why didn’t Elena say anything to you? She knew the entire time that I know Elijah and Klaus. Besides, you never came to me for help, so I didn’t offer it to you,” Myriam shrugged. “Must be that duplicity that those damn doppelgangers are so famous for.”
“Get out,” Jenna said sternly. “Get the hell out of my house!”
“Oh, it doesn’t work that way, sugar,” Myriam purred as she pulled Jenna back into the kitchen and made her sit down. “You invited us in, and we have no inclination to leave just yet…”
“What do you want from me!” Jenna demanded.
“We merely want you to know the truth about what your niece has gotten you involved in. And Alaric too, I suppose,” Myriam shrugged. “I mean, vampire hunter? Hello?”
“Myriam, don’t,” Stefan begged her. “Elena wouldn’t want this.”
“She’s a child, Stefan. Besides, Jenna would be a lot safer if she knew what the hell was going on in her niece’s life, wouldn’t you agree? You can leave if you want to, we don’t need you for this.”
