Chapter 02
“I did not expect you to be here,” the man said as he came closer. “I went to visit the Cullens, but the house is now filled with different people?”
Oh fuck. “They’re not far,” Bella replied hesitantly. “I could call Edward if you want, Laurent?”
“I’m surprised they left you behind. Unprotected. Aren’t you like… a sort of pet?”
“You could say that.”
“Do the Cullens return often?”
“Just because their home is now filled with different people doesn’t mean they’ve gone away, Laurent,” Bella said as she took a few steps back. “I’ll tell them you’ve stopped by, but uh… I probably shouldn’t tell Edward…” speaking his name nearly made her vomit again. “He’s very protective.”
“How far away are they?”
“L-like I said, not far,” she said. “Why are you here?”
Laurent sighed. “I came as a favor to… Victoria.”
Crap. “Victoria?”
Laurent nodded. “She asked me to see if the Cullens were still protecting you. She thinks it’s only fair that she gets to kill Edward’s mate, given as he has killed hers. An eye for an eye.”
The fuck! What do I do now? “E-Edward would know who did it and he’d come after you!” Bella threatened him.
Laurent shook his head. “I don’t think he will… you see, you don’t smell like him. Nor like the boy you’ve been hanging around with. You’re alone. All alone. He left you, didn’t he? You are unprotected and you’re free game. Did he dump you, I wonder? Were you too needy? Too clingy? He didn’t love you as much as you believed, did he?” Laurent sighed then. “Victoria won’t be happy with me killing you, but I can’t help myself.”
Death or having Forks as her prison? Death was better, wasn’t it? “Fine. Kill me. Why would I care?”
“You’re going to make it easy for me?” Laurent was close now, his fingers touching her cheek. “That’s alright. I promise, you won’t feel a thing. It will be quick. Victoria would only make your death last.”
Bella closed her eyes and braced for impact, but she hadn’t expected Laurent’s presence to be taken away from her and when she opened her eyes, he was at the other end of the field and Kol, Rebekah and Myriam were standing in front of her with their backs towards her.
“Draw straws?” Myriam asked. “Oh, wait, we already did! I get to kill him with Rebekah and you can get to explain everything to your new friend, good luck!” she laughed before she and Rebekah ran off, after Laurent, and Bella couldn’t believe the speed they were having.
There were a bunch of big wolves running out of the foliage to follow Myriam and Rebekah and Bella wasn’t even sure what was going on anymore. “What?”
“Oh, great, ponies,” Kol deadpanned before turning around to face Bella. “See, I knew you were in trouble, but Cold One trouble? I had hoped not. Who’s that bloke? Not the ex?”
She stumbled back as she kept her eyes on Kol. “What are you? What’s… No… I don’t even want to know. You should have let him kill me!”
“No. Come on, let me walk you home,” he said as he reached out for her arm but she withdrew her arm. “Bella…”
“Leave me alone!” She quickly grabbed her bag and started to walk off, but Kol was following her. “Leave me alone, don’t make me say it again!”
“Or what, darling?”
She grunted as she grabbed the pepper spray that Charlie had given her out of her bag. “You’ll be sorry!”
He blinked as he kept following her. “I think you may be holding that wrong.”
Bella let out a frustrated cry as she looked at it, discovered Kol was right and turned it around. “Stay away from me, Kol. I’ll only end up getting hurt more. It’s fine if you want to stay in Forks, but you’re staying away from me!”
Kol sighed and nodded. “Very well, but allow me to accompany you home. With that Cold One in the area and all that.”
“You should have let him kill me!” She huffed as she turned around to keep walking, still holding on to the pepper spray. “Then all of my problems would be gone.”
Kol let out a breath and shoved his hands in his pockets to pinch himself whenever he felt the need to make a meal out of Bella. Why had he drawn the shortest straw? Myriam was far more patient than he was! “For you, maybe. But for the rest of Forks? I doubt it. The Volturi will come for your father. Your friends. Perhaps for the entire town.”
She let out a snort. “And what? You and your family will take care of the problem? Is that it?”
“We could.”
“And what’s that going to cost me?” She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around again, holding up her pepper spray. “Another contract? Or maybe you’ll take me as your prisoner? No, thanks. Just leave me alone, I’ve had enough of the supernatural. My problem isn’t yours. Thank you for taking care of Laurent, but you shouldn’t have done that.”
He pinched himself and let out a breath. Patience wasn’t his thing. “No contract, and I’m up for a bit of tying up and such but we’ve just met darling,” Kol smiled at her. “We enjoy taking down sparkly things. We’re good at dealing with trouble. Just let us do what we do best and your worries will be all gone.”
“Again, what will it cost me?”
“Nothing?”
Bella huffed. “Yeah right. I got burned by supernatural beings before, I’m not going to chance it again.”
“I promise you, darling, I’m not going to hurt you. My family won’t hurt you.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“Just hear me out. You’ll be safe around Klaus. He’s a werewolf and your Alice Cullen won’t be able to see you. You can relax and hear us out. We’re not that different, you and I. We have our own fair share of problems and that’s the reason why we’re in Forks for a while.”
“How do you know that name?”
“I’m a vampire. My entire family are vampires. Nik is a hybrid, he’s a vampire and a werewolf. Elijah made it a point to look into the family that lived in that house prior to us and he’s very thorough with his research,” he said gently. “As it turns out, Elijah and Niklaus have encountered the Cullens before, and I knew Alice from the past. I didn’t expect her to become a bunny munching moron, but perhaps all the black magic that she did finally went to her head.”
She was surprised by the amount of information that Kol was giving her without her asking for it. It was as if he wasn’t worried about their secret coming out. “You’re not a vampire.”
“No?”
“You don’t sparkle.”
“We’re a different kind of vampire. We were created by a witch over a thousand years ago. We drink human blood, not animals. We can live off of animals but it’s not… it’s gross and makes us weak. However, our bite doesn’t kill. We don’t have to kill if we don’t want to.”
“You feel human.”
“Because for intents and purposes, we are. We heal, and our blood heals others. During lunch today I put some of my blood in your coffee. How’s your foot?”
“I-it’s fine… I…”
“Good. Just don’t die today or you’ll turn into one of us. Not that I’d mind,” he winked at her. “Let’s get your truck and go to my place. We’ll explain more if you want.”
“But my dad…”
“He’s at the reservation, he’s good, I believe he’s going fishing tomorrow and he’s staying with the Tribal woman he’s been seeing,” he replied. “Come on, our cook is making some great food tonight.”
“You eat regular food?”
“Of course! Why shouldn’t we? Sure, we enjoy our blood, but we sure love good food! We used to throw big balls and gatherings back in the day. The more the merrier.” Kol was glad that the pepper spray had disappeared into her pocket, he wasn’t sure what would have happened if she’d actually used it on him. There was no doubt that he wouldn’t have been able to control himself. “I understand that you’re not big on trust, but we Mikaelsons are big on our word. I give you my word that we will not do anything to hurt you and I’ll take you home after to make sure you’re safe.”
“I’m not sure.”
Kol shrugged. “You’re a dead girl walking anyway, what’s there to lose? From my point of view, you only have things to gain. Like your life. Your freedom.”
Bella let out a breath and threw her hands up in defeat. “Fine.”
“Great, let’s get your truck!”
~o.O.o~
She felt sick to her stomach as they pulled up to the house. While she had already established that the outside looked different, with most of the windows gone, she still felt as if she could throw up.
Kol helped her out of the truck and smiled. “Don’t worry, Myriam did a thorough job remodeling. It’s nice and homey on the inside, just how we like it.”
“Memories.”
“Yes, but this is a new home. I promise. Walls were knocked out, everything got a coat of paint… it looks more like a home than a sterile environment,” he explained. “I promise. While Myriam and Elijah love to have things neat, myself, Rebekah and Klaus don’t mind the mess much,” Kol said as he headed to the door. “Come on, it’s not that scary.”
“I’m going to enter a house where vampires live.”
Kol nodded. “But unlike the Cullens, we don’t have secrets and are upfront. Come, you’ll be fine.”
Bella took a deep breath and followed Kol into the house. The entrance was now an Entrance, there were wood furnishings and it looked very elegant, it was as if she had stepped into a completely new home as Kol had told her. The house warm in temperature too, and she hadn’t expected that.
“See? You’re going to be fine,” he told her as he directed her to the spacious living room. “Look who I brought!”
“Yay!” Myriam cheered as she set Laurent’s head on the mantelpiece. “Great choice.” Bella just blinked at Laurent’s head, causing Myriam to laugh. “I tend to keep some trophies, but if this one’s disturbing, I’ll put him in a box, gift wrap it and send it off to the Volturi.”
“That wouldn’t be the first time she’d sent a Cold One back in pieces,” someone replied as he walked towards Bella with an extended hand. “Klaus Mikaelson. Myriam, Rebekah and Kol told me all about you, Bella, it’s good to see you in person.”
Bella shook his hand and then withdrew it to put them back in her pockets. The living room was spacious but cozy. Again the wooden paneling and wooden floors, the couches looked comfortable and it was an entirely different atmosphere than she was used to experiencing in the house.
“Right, you’ll be fine without me for a few minutes, right?” Kol asked Bella. “I need to quickly do something but I won’t be long, I promise.”
Well fuck. She didn’t trust Kol, but he’d been honest and her lifeline and now he was going to do something? What? Did he have to? “Yeah, sure.”
Myriam took Bella’s hand and pulled her towards the couches. “Sit, relax. You had a nice long walk and some excitement. Do you want a stiff drink?”
“Mrs. Mikaelson I’m 17.”
“And?” Myriam smiled. “And please, Myriam,” she said as she poured some bourbon into a glass and handed it to Bella. “You deserved this one. He could have killed you.”
“And that would have been fine.”
Myriam looked at Klaus who had a worried look on his face, the same look that she was currently sporting as well. “Bella, there is no need for a death wish, it’s going to be alright.”
Klaus sat down opposite of Bella and looked at the girl. Had he seen her before? She was terrified. Bella looked as if she was going to bolt any second. “It’s alright to be afraid, Bella,” he eventually spoke. “When we discovered this house had belonged to a coven of Cold Ones we had hoped that they wouldn’t have done any damage to this quaint little town and yet, here you are. You’re not damaged, no, perhaps not. You’re hurt. You have trust issues. You’re angry.”
“They fucked me over with the stupid contract. There’s no way out.”
“Contract?” Myriam blinked as she sat down next to her. “Do you have it with you?”
Bella nodded. “I petitioned the Volturi to claim Forks to myself, exposed what the Cullens had done and they offered me freedom and money, as long as I wouldn’t tell anyone,” she said as she took the contract out of her bag. “I was worried that they might have tricked me after my day with Kol today so… I reread it again for the millionth time. If I hadn’t actually spilled on it with my water bottle, I wouldn’t have seen the addition,” she said as she handed it to Myriam. “I’m fucked. I’m safe from the Cullens and Volturi in Forks, but Laurent proved that I’m still fair game to others. I can’t go anywhere because it makes this contract void. I wanted to travel the world before starting college, but I can’t go anywhere.”
Myriam quickly thumbed through the contract before handing it to Klaus. “And it’s transferable on your family, your future children.”
“So yeah, stuck. And that’s why I wouldn’t mind Laurent killing me. At least it’d be over.”
“Not for your dad, or your friends. They’d come for them and likely raise hell here in Forks,” Myriam said, echoing Kol’s sentiments from before.
“We’ll worry about the contract later,” Klaus said as he took a sip of his drink. “But if there’s anything we’re good at, is revenge. We know how you’re feeling, Bella, we’ve been through it many times ourselves. We still have trust issues, our anger, but we’re very good at turning that into vengeance.” Yes, he knew this girl, and he and his family needed to tread carefully.
“If you have trust issues, then why allow me into your home?”
“There are numerous reasons, but the main one is that Myriam likes to help people hurt by the supernatural community, people like yourself, a victim of the Cold Ones. Or even humans who have been hurt by our kind, our family, even. And another reason is that we really dislike the Cold Ones.” And another reason was that she needed their help. This girl had no idea what she was capable of.
“I don’t know, I shouldn’t make my problem your problem.”
“Darling, you’re stupidly human,” Kol said as he jumped over the couch and sat down next to her. “What are you going to do about the Cold Ones? Pepper spray them to death? That won’t work, you know. They’d have broken you in half before you could even reach for it.”
“You have a supernatural problem, and we can make it go away,” Myriam smiled at her. “And keep you safe in the process.”
“But why would you want to do that? I’m just food.”
“Oh Bella,” Myriam sighed as she pulled the girl against her into a hug. “Those pesky Cullens have really done a number on you, haven’t they? Don’t worry, we’re going to make them pay.”
“I’m quite sure that Alice is freaking out about now. Or maybe she already freaked out when you started to hang out with the wolves,” Kol grinned.
“Wolves?”
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“I think you should talk to your friend.”
“He won’t talk to me because he told me to start living my own life, so you’d better tell me what you know.”
Klaus sighed as he looked at his brother, whom merely shrugged a shoulder in response. “I’m sure Kol informed you of what I am. Your friends on the reservation are shape shifters. This particular tribe utilizes the shape of the wolf. Others use other animals. I believe the one in Alaska is a bear. Isn’t it, Myriam?” For now, it was important that he acted like he didn’t know her, that he hadn’t encountered her before. If he would give just a tiny hint, things could go terribly wrong. It was a good thing that he was good at pretending.
“Yep, and they only get activated when there’s a surge of vampire activity. Mainly Cold Ones.”
Bella stared at the three vampires with a blank expression. “Well fuck me, I thought it were just campfire stories.” She then realized something. “Those big wolves were from the rez!”
“And it’s quite possible that your friend pushed you away because of it to keep you safe,” Kol said with an empathetic smile on his face. “Shifters have a hard time controlling their anger, they could shift without warning and attack.”
Sam’s wife’s face immediately came to her mind and her own paled. “I see. Still, it would have been nice to be able to make an informed decision about being friends with them. Why does everyone feel the need to keep me safe? Don’t I get to have a say in anything?!”
“Of course. You can tell us how you want us to take your revenge on the Cold Ones,” Klaus replied, an amused smile on his lips. “But frankly, I think that they want to keep you safe because you’re so deliciously human.”
“Or, likely in your friend’s case, he truly cares about you,” Myriam replied. “In the Cullen’s case, it was likely to get you to join them eventually.”
“I wanted to be a vampire,” Bella admitted softly. “Because I’ve always felt different. They made it look so effortless on the surface, but when you look deeper… it doesn’t seem like being a Cold One is a good life.”
“How so?”
“I like warm places. I mean, Forks has grown on me but I prefer the sunshine,” she replied. “And while I love being on my own, I think it’s a very lonely existence. On top of that, while I love to eat meat, I could never hunt an animal for its blood. It’s just…”
“Disgusting,” Klaus muttered.
“Cold Ones can feed on humans, but the problem is that the humans die and that can attract a lot of attention,” Myriam replied. “But in all honesty, it’s pathetic.”
“They are pathetic, all they are is a magical accident who think they are special,” Klaus said bitter before looking at Bella. “You humans have a name for that, don’t you? Snowflake?”
“Seriously?”
“Oh yes, darling, every monster has an origin story, theirs happens to be the result of some ancient witches becoming too greedy,” Kol smiled at her before looking back to see Elijah walk in. “And I think that’s my other brother coming in to tell us that dinner is served. Don’t believe a word he’s saying,” he whispered.
“You brought her here? Honestly, Niklaus—”
“It wasn’t me, Elijah! It was Myriam!”
“And Kol, and Rebekah,” Myriam nodded as she got to her feet and smirked at Elijah. “Which means you’re outnumbered. Again. So be nice to her, or I’ll put you in our box after I castrate you.”
Myriam sat down at the dining table with a set of yard sheers as she glared at Elijah before putting it down right next to her.
“Is Elijah being impossible again?” Rebekah wondered out loud. She had gone for a change of clothes and had sat down next to her older brother. “Don’t mind him, Bella, he’s great with politics and finding places for us to live, but other than that, he’s not really in touch with the world around him.”
“That’s the second time someone told me about Elijah and can I please just find that out for myself?” Bella asked, slightly frustrated.
“I withdraw my initial assumptions,” Elijah said amused. “I like her.”
The food on the table looked incredible. There were mashed potatoes, vegetables, fish and roast chicken and some fancy gravy along with it as well.
“Dig in,” Kol nodded. “While Elijah tells you the story of how the Cold Ones came to be.”
“But I did my research on the Cold Ones,” Bella said. “I even asked Carlisle, and we came up empty, how can you know?”
“We have an extensive library on a lot of things, but this knowledge comes from one of Kol’s old books,” Elijah replied. “There is a now extinct line of witches called the Travelers. They were all about keeping the balance of nature until they were enslaved to help build the pyramids in Egypt. They wanted to become stronger, and faster, so their masters would be happy and they could return to their lives. Or, perhaps, become the new Pharaoh. At the start of the day, they performed a ritual that upset the Deities they prayed to and it got their entire camp killed. But, from the ashes, the laborers rose and their skin was hardened and sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight. And so, by upsetting the balance of nature, the remaining Travelers who had nothing to do with this lost their powers for a while, and the Cold Ones were born.”
“Great! That explains why some of them have gifts.”
“Or how their gifts are being retained, you see, when a witch turns into a vampire, our kind of vampire, they lose all of their magic, because there needs to be a balance. Some Traveler witches, however, are an exception. There’s an offshoot of the Travelers called the Gemini who can have the amazing ability to retain magic but we haven’t heard of a sighting of the Heretics for quite some time now.”
“Heretics?”
“The Gemini look down on any witch of their coven that has to draw strength from others to perform magic; they’re called siphoners,” Kol explained. “They regained their magic upon turning and now they can draw from themselves to perform magic. Nasty buggers.”
“I heard you had a contract? How did that come to be?” Elijah asked as Klaus went back to the living room to fetch it. “As far as we’re aware, they either kill the humans who know about their existence or turn them.”
“That is the law, yes,” Bella replied with a sigh, not wanting to revisit the whole ordeal in particular. “Do we have to do this?” The food wasn’t that appetizing anymore. “I’ve never told anyone because… it’s…”
“I can make an estimated guess,” Myriam smiled at her. “Girl meets boy, then controlling family… discovers he’s a vampire… family starts controlling girl…”
“Boy dumps girl in the woods for her own safety as the family moves away, girl goes through withdrawal symptoms, then gets a phone call from family that boy is in trouble…” Bella added softly. “And I was so stupid enough to head to Italy to ‘save’ him, even though it was one giant ruse to get me back, which I didn’t understand, they left. He dumped me. They all hurt me,” she added bitterly. “And I got only in trouble with the Nomads because of them. They killed James, so Victoria sent Laurent. Now that he’s dead, she’ll likely come for me herself.”
“The issue of the contract can be resolved in many ways,” Elijah said as he read through it. “The simplest solution is to become a supernatural being yourself. I’m sure one of us wouldn’t mind helping you turn.”
“What!” Bella squeaked. “No?! How…. how can you be so careless with the life of humans?”
“You would be a vampire, you’d live longer,” Elijah replied, shrugging. “We don’t offer this to a lot of people, but I suppose you’re a special case.”
“How about no?” Okay, so Elijah was dick-ish.
“Another solution would be to see if you’re supernatural yourself,” Kol saw the death glare that Bella was giving his brother and he was amused. “You see, darling, we can’t compel you. That usually means you’re a witch.”
“Compel?”
“We can usually tell people what to do or to feel by telling them. It’s a great interrogation tool or to stave off boredom, but your mind is closed to it.”
She nearly choked on her food as she put down her fork. “I’m in a room filled with mind-rapers? Like Jasper and Edward?!”
“It’s not like that…”
“Well to me, it sounds that way!” Bella rose to her feet and started to collect her things. “Thank you for offering to help me, but I think I’ll take my chances. This was a bad idea,” she said as she felt her heart beat so fast that she’d think it’d jump out of her chest cavity. “I-I won’t tell anyone about you, I promise, but I can’t do this. Not anymore.”
“Bella, you don’t have to be afraid, please, don’t go,” Rebekah said as she quickly followed her. “I promise, we’re not like them at all.”
“Stay away from me,” Bella said as she ran towards the door and quickly got into her car. As she drove off, she could see Rebekah stand in the door with a sad expression on her face, but Bella needed to get away. The Mikaelsons were just another coven of vampires who liked to play with humans and she’d get even deeper into trouble. She was going to be fine. They just had to stay away from her. She was going to fix this. And if not, well then at least she could die with the knowledge of having tried.
Victoria was still coming for her. The Volturi wanted her to turn or to die.
Easy as that. If she died, they’d leave her dad alone and Victoria would back off too.
Then why was it so hard not to just speed and wrap her truck around a tree?
Because she wasn’t ready.
She parked her truck in the driveway and locked the house in her Charlie’s absence and went to her room. It was time to get ready. Make piles of what to keep and to throw away. Or giveaway. She was stuck. Prisoner. A Dead Girl Walking. Best to get it all over with.
Bella’d been sorting through her stuff for maybe half an hour when she heard someone throwing stones against her window. Confused, she looked out the window and saw Jake standing at the bottom. “What do you want?” Why was he shirtless? It was night time and it was cold, where was his shirt? Coat?
“Can we talk?”
“I’ve already locked the house.”
“Not a problem. Scoot,” he smiled up at her before climbing up the house and climbing through her window. “Tadaa.”
“Do you really like to display your athleticism all the time? Because it does get a bit annoying.”
“How are you doing, Bella?” He asked as he looked around her room. “Redecorating?”
“Something like that,” she said as she sat down on her bed. “What do you want, Jake? You made it perfectly clear that you needed some space and yet, here you are not even a week later.”
He started to walk to her and Bella quickly grabbed a pillow. “Look, I’m sorry,” he said as he got too close for comfort and she pushed him away with her pillow. “I wish I could explain, but I really… really can’t. Have you ever had a secret that you couldn’t tell anyone? One that wasn’t yours to share?”
“Jake, it’s been a long day… I’m really not in the mood for this.”
“Well, that’s what it’s like for me. But worse,” he said as he sat down next to her on the bed. “You have no idea how tight I’m bound.”
Bella sighed as she ran a hand through her hair and leaned into him. “I hate this. I thought we could tell each other everything and here you are, keeping secrets from me. Pushing me away.”
“You know what hurts the most? You already know what I’m keeping from you. Don’t you remember the stories from the campfire?”
She playfully hit him on the head. “So why are you shirtless? Does it make it easier to turn into a pony-sized wolf? Where does your pants go?”
“What?”
“Yeah, I know, Jake. I had to hear it from someone else but you, and that hurt. And who are you to decide whether or not things are safe around you while you go through this? You shouldn’t be alone!”
“I could hurt you.”
“Yeah, and I could hurt myself by just tripping over my feet!” She hit him again with her pillow. “It’s only because you’re stronger than me that you’re doing this, but you pushed me away, Jake, and I’m lost.”
“I feel that way too… I mean, I should have never…”
“Then don’t.” Oh, what was she doing? It wasn’t going to matter anyway. She was going to be dead soon.
He gently took her arm and ran his thumb across the Cold One scar. “Come to the rez after school tomorrow? Spend the weekend?”
She sighed as she covered her scar with her hand. “Yeah, sure.”
“And then tell me the truth about that scar?” He looked at her with a hopeful look on his face. “Because I think you got that scar off of a vampire, didn’t you?”
Bella let out a breath. “It’s in the past, it doesn’t matter anymore. They’re gone.”
Jake was disappointed to hear that. “Okay, so, tomorrow after school, straight to the rez, and don’t invite anyone into your home, especially the new people in town, okay?”
“I wasn’t planning to…” Bella muttered.
“I have to go,” he planted a kiss on her forehead and walked back to the window. “Promise me you’ll come tomorrow.”
Bella nodded before she watched him jump out of her window again. She walked over to it to close it and fell onto her bed. She was so tired. So fucking tired. What harm could one more weekend do? Maybe she’d get hurt by one of the wolves, it’d be easier to die then.
Kol wasn’t in school the next day, and Rebekah and Myriam kept their distance from her as she sat with Jessica and Angela, but Bella wasn’t entirely there. Jessica recognized the signs and tried to get Bella to talk, to open up but Bella couldn’t be bothered.
After school, she headed to the reservation and while Jake wasn’t home yet, she greeted Billy and headed to Jake’s room to lay down on his bed. It was nice and quiet on the rez, Bella liked that. She could be with her own thoughts and switch off. Decompress. She wasn’t even sure if she should be there. Jake was someone she’d known for most of her life and he was a wolf now. One that should have killed Cold Ones and didn’t.
One that killed a Cold One with help from non-Cold One vampires.
She shouldn’t be here. Things could never go back the way they were, she knew too much. She was an idiot human who knew too much about the supernatural community, now at least three factions of them and that was wrong. She was far better off going back home, continue what she was doing and just leave.
Walking out of Jake’s bedroom, she waved Billy goodbye and headed outside, blinking when she saw Paul and Sam trying to take her truck apart without damaging it. “I kinda need that truck, put it back together.”
Paul grinned at her. “Sorry, vampire girl, it’s Jake’s orders.”
“Then give me his bike, I want to go home.”
“Nope.”
“And since when do you listen to Jake anyway?”
“Since he’s our Alpha? It’s his birthright. It just took him a little longer to grow into it,” Sam replied with a shrug. “You’re not going anywhere this weekend, Bella.”
Bella scowled as she got her bag from the bed of her truck and started to walk. She wasn’t even walking for ten minutes when Jake caught up with her. “Hey, what’s up? Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“What? Why?” Jake gently pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her. “You always spend the weekend here.”
“Until last weekend, when you pushed me away. Then yesterday you wanted me to come back? Y-you’re saying that you can’t promise me that I’ll be safe and yet you wanted me to come to keep me safe? What kind of nonsense is that?” she tried to push herself away from him but he had his arms tightly wound around her. “Let me go, Jake.”
“Give me another reason.”
She took a deep breath as she looked up at him. “I’m done. Your world? Is not mine. I have enough trouble with vampires as it is, and I want out.”
“You got yourself into this mess.”
“Yeah, I know, and neither you or the new vampires in town have anything to do with that. Leave me alone, this is my mess.”
“Bella.”
“What!” she pushed against him again. “You want another reason? YOU didn’t tell me yourself what you were. No, you had a vague excuse of being interested in another girl and you said I needed to be on my own as we’d grown to be like Siamese twins!”
“Well, you didn’t tell me everything about the Cullens, either!” Jake said as he let go of her. “You’re telling me to tell you the truth while you never told me about them. About the Cold Ones and what they were doing with you. To you. What they’ve done to you!”
“Because it’s a fucking secret they even exist!”
“So are we!” Jake countered. “But now that you know, that we know, why won’t you come back, huh? It’s a lot easier to be out in the open around you now. Everything’s going to be alright, Bella.”
“No, it’s not,” Bella said sadly as she looked down at her shoes. “I’m not free of the Cold Ones. I won’t ever be free of the Cold Ones. Either I turn, or they kill me. I can’t travel more than 2 hours out of Forks because they’ll get me. There’s a psychotic vampire after me because the Cullens killed her mate after he attacked me. Eye for an eye and all that. The new vampires in town aren’t Cold Ones, they’re different. More human. And guess what? Just my luck that I fell right into their lap, too. I’m a fucking magnet and it needs to end.”
“What you need, is to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get shitfaced,” he put an arm around her and guided her back towards the reservation. “We were going to hang out at Emily’s tonight with the rest of the pack. Just to have some fun, shoot the breeze and forget.”
“I can barely keep it together, Jake. If I get drunk—”
“Then you’ll cry, who cares? Come on, good food and alcohol and semi-adult supervision, but they’re just like us. No more secrets.”
Bella kept quiet for most of the night as she helped herself to the snacks made by Emily and drank all the beer that was being handed to her as they were gathered around the campfire. She suddenly had a blanket wrapped around her and she was leaning into Jake as everyone was having fun. She didn’t care. She was drunk off her ass and loving the buzz.
“So, what are we going to do about the new vampires in town?” Sam asked Jake. “What do we know about them?”
Jake shrugged. “They’ve seem to be assimilating themselves into our community in a much more subtle way than the Cullens ever did. Three of them were at Bella’s school. The same three who we had to fight with for the Cold One that was threatening Bella.”
“How many are there, anyway?”
“I don’t know, Bella?”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve been to the new vampires, haven’t you? How many are there?”
“Uhh…” Bella took a sip of her beer and thought hard. “Five,” she eventually said. “I love what they did to the house, though. It looks a lot more like a home instead of a sterile environment with reminders of their longevity. No freaky graduation caps as an artwork. And they have a cook to make them food.”
“They eat normal food?” Sam blinked. “Are you sure?”
Bella nodded so hard that she felt like she was a bobblehead. “And they can feed on humans without killing them.”
“So they’re not a threat?”
Bella shrugged as she took another sip of her beer. “The teacher is a good one, she really knows what she’s talking about when teaching a class. I think they’re here to get away from the rest of the world for a while. I don’t know.”
“How much of a threat are they?”
“I don’t know, Sam!” Bella shot at him, nearly dropping her bottle of beer. “I think you should be more worried about the Cold Ones. Victoria won’t stop until I’m dead. The Volturi will kill me too, or perhaps turn me if they get their hands on me. The Mikaelsons saved me from Laurent, I think they’re alright unless you piss them off.”
Jake pulled Bella closer to him and kissed the top of her head. “Do you think they’ll be open for a meeting?”
“Likely. But I’m staying out of it,” she said as she took another swig of the beer. “And that’s the last of what I’m going to say, I’ll go back to drinking.”
Bella woke up the following morning with the hangover from hell, but managed to take a shower and get dressed before heading to Emily’s. Emily had a fresh pot of coffee ready and she was cleaning the table from breakfast. “The boys already had their breakfast, they’ll be back in a few hours. Do you want something?”
“I could make it myself, really.”
“Nonsense, you look like a truck has hit you,” Emily chuckled as she poured Bella a coffee and lead her to one of the kitchen chairs. “Sit, wake up, I’ll make you some greasy breakfast.”
“Thanks… how bad did I get yesterday?”
“You don’t remember?”
Bella shook her head as she took a sip of her coffee, regretting instantly that she had shaken her head, the midgets had awoken.
“You passed out, it was adorable.”
It was better than bursting out in tears and getting all emotional. Score. Jake didn’t have to know that she had plans to end it all. “That’s good.”
Emily gently squeezed Bella’s shoulder. “You’re not alone, Bella. I don’t know what happened with Jake for him to come clean with you and invite you over, but it’s a good thing that he did. I like hanging out with you.”
“I like hanging out with you too,” Bella smiled at her.
“You know, you could just move to the rez with your dad, seeing as he’s seeing Sue anyway.”
Bella barked out a laugh. “Nah, I think that’s the worst idea. I love you guys, and I’m sure dad does as well, but I’m going to be leaving Forks after I graduate. Why move? Besides, last week Jake didn’t want me anywhere close, who’s to say that won’t happen again? It’s difficult to give him his space if I’d be here all the time.”
Emily shrugged as she put the plate down in front of Bella. “Fried eggs with bacon and a lot of butter on that bread, eat up. I believe the boys have stuff planned for the rest of the day when they come back.”
“Where are they?”
“To see if you were right and if the Mikaelsons want to have a chat to make sure they behave or face the consequences.”
“Which are?”
“Big puppies chowing down on vampire bones,” Emily winked at her. “I’m sure they’re tastier than Cold Ones.”
“Likely… these vampires bleed real blood, apparently.”
“Really?”
Bella nodded. “I got frustrated the other day and kicked my truck. Broke something in my foot but the doctor couldn’t do anything about it. One of them confessed that he had put some of his blood in my drink when we went to Port Angeles two days ago and he confessed that their blood heals people,” she explained. “It’s freaky, but my foot feels normal again.”
“Wow, that’s new.”
“However, that also came with a warning, if I’d die with his blood in my body I’d come back as one of them.”
“Well, it takes a few days for the blood to pass through your system so you should be fine, but you’re not thinking about doing some crazy and scary stuff to yourself, are you?”
“Of course not,” Bella lied. “I couldn’t leave Charlie by himself.”
“Good,” Emily smiled. “Eat your breakfast, you’re going to need the energy. Hungover or not, those boys will take you out today.”
~o.O.o~
Bella wasn’t sure how she felt after the weekend on the Rez, but she went back to school that Monday. And went back to the Rez on the weekend. She did that for a couple of weeks before setting off to Port Angeles by herself to buy Christmas presents. She knew it was far too early for Christmas presents, they weren’t even in November yet, but she wanted to have them. In time. In case.
Her birthday quietly passed by, as she preferred it to do. Charlie did manage to arrange some fancier food than usual for dinner, but she liked it to be nice and quiet. Jake, once again, gave her something she could hang in her room.
Thanksgiving was spent with Sue and Billy and Jacob at the reservation. Bella and her father stayed the weekend and then went home. The idea of ending it all became less and less, she was having fun again, and usually looked forward to the weekends at the rez with Jake and the rest of the wolves, just hanging out. Even in the cold weather, they always made sure she was warm and toasty.
It was the last Friday before Christmas break and when she walked to her truck, she was stopped by Kol who was carrying a gift bag. “I know, I know, you don’t want anything to do with me or my family and I’ve been keeping my distance, but please, hear me out? Just one minute?”
“I need to get home.”
“One minute, Bella, please.”
She threw her bag into the truck and looked at him. “One minute,” she agreed with a slight nod.
“Alright. So, even though you want us to leave you alone, which we have, we wanted to give you this,” he said as he handed her the gift bag. “Our family loves Christmas and each one of us have put something in there for you. We wanted you to have it because you deserve it. We’re not your enemy, Bella. Nor are we anything like them. I hope that with this little gift, it’ll show you that.”
“Kol… I—”
“Take it, please,” he smiled at her as he put his hands in his pocket. “And have a great Christmas holiday. Rebekah and Elijah are going to France for a couple of days after Christmas and Nik, Myriam and I will be staying here. Myriam spotted something online about deep-frying a turkey so we’re going to attempt that while Elijah’s away. Not as our Christmas dinner, of course, but after. You’re more than welcome to join?”
“Uh, no, thanks,” she said softly with a blush. “I didn’t get you anything. But I will! I’ll get someone to drop it off for you.”
“Oh, no, darling, it’s alright,” he smiled widely as he opened the door to her truck for her.
“Just as a precaution… tell Myriam not to fry the turkey close to the house? It can get a bit… temperamental.”
“We’ll be fine, we’re vampires, we heal even if we burn,” Kol grinned as he helped her inside her truck. “Merry Christmas, Bella, I’ll see you after the holiday.”
She had to admit, as she was carefully driving home through the snow, that the Mikaelsons were doing every attempt on being human. She could even see that with Myriam when she was teaching history. They weren’t perfect, just like humans.
Charlie was still at work so Bella stopped by the supermarket to get everything they needed over the weekend and made sure there was plenty of beer in case Billy would drop by. She then continued home and started on making dinner after turning up the heat.
As their meal was cooking in the oven, a nice big and extra rich lasagna, she decided to look into the gift bag that Kol had given her. All items were individually wrapped by someone with no patience and it was easy to get it unwrapped.
The first present was a gift from Klaus. A drawing of a beautiful swan, surrounded by light in a dark place, but there was also a hint of light after the darkness and she had to admit that it was exactly how she felt. She was currently content in her own bubble with Jake and their friends, but even that couldn’t hold the Cold Ones, the darkness, at bay. But once she’d have defeated them, or when they’d killed her, there would be light.
The second present was from Rebekah, a gorgeous charm bracelet with room for more charms to be added. Bella found the can of pepper spray on the bracelet hilarious.
The third was a gift from Myriam. It was a very old book, and upon closer inspection it was more of a journal from the early days of Klaus’ family as a vampire, memories of when they were still human. The book was ancient and most of the words faded, but it was history. The history of the Mikaelsons. Myriam had even put a note with it that she stole the book from Elijah and that it would be their secret. And also how near the end of the journal her own story was told.
The fourth gift was from Elijah. It was a gift card to use at various retailers online and Bella thought that was practical, and liked the idea for that.
The fifth and final gift was from Kol. It was more of a letter with something attached. Dear Bella, I wasn’t sure what to get you for Christmas other than maybe a satchel of herbal tea – which is quite boring. But then I realized that I could give you one of my favourite Christmas traditions that we do almost every year, even when we still were humans. It’s tradition for us to write down wishes for someone or ourselves on a piece of paper and burn them in a fire. So attached to this you’ll find my wish for this year and a blank piece of paper to write down your own. Burn them for me? Merry Christmas, Kol.”
She looked at the little note that Kol had written his wish on. I wish to be more in control over my emotions so that I could be normal. And since I missed a few wishes, I’m going to be incredibly selfish and wish that Bella and I could be friends without her fearing for what I am.
Bella stared at the note for a while before quickly pushing it into her pocket and everything back in the bag as Charlie came home. The gifts, and Kol’s wish, were just other proof that the Mikaelsons weren’t the Cullens. The gifts were thoughtful and personal. They were closer to being a human than even humans themselves.
Bella handed Charlie his beer and asked him about his day as she continued to make the side salad for the lasagna. “I’m on call on Boxing Day, Bells, but for Christmas I’m all yours.”
“Great, so stupid Christmas movies and a ton of snacks?”
“You bet,” Charlie laughed. “You and me, kiddo. There’s no doubt that next year, you’ll be too busy with college to come and visit your old man, so I’m taking all the time I can get.”
“Aw, you’re getting sappy in your old age, dad.”
“Unless you’ve made plans?”
“No,” she smiled as she finished her side salad and put it down on the table and then retrieved the lasagna. “I think it’s perfect. Just you and me.”
~o.O.o~
Bella felt lucky that her dad was still at home for Boxing Day. Then again, it was Forks. Nothing really happened in Forks. However, during dinner, he got the call. Something was on fire.
“What’s on fire?” Bella asked as she watched her dad grab everything he needed.
“The uh… old Cullen house.”
Bella let out a groan as she got into her boots and pulled on her coat before quickly running upstairs to fetch something. “I’m coming with you.”
“Bells, it’s a fire.”
“Yeah, I know. And I know what caused it too, they tried to deep fry a turkey.”
“Yeah, how do you know?” Charlie laughed.
Bella shrugged. “Two of the kids are at school with me, one of them is a teacher.”
“Oh, so you know the Mikaelsons.”
“Somewhat,” she said as she closed the door behind her and followed her father. “Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of trouble. I know the drill.”
Charlie sighed and nodded. “Get in. If you knew what they were going to do, why didn’t you tell them to do it further away from the house?”
“I did!”
He grunted as he drove the car off the driveway. “Why don’t people listen?”
“They’re likely city folk, dad.”
“Even worse!”
When they arrived at the house, half of the house was engulfed in flames and the firemen just stood there, watching. “Why aren’t you putting it out?” Charlie asked the fire marshall.
“We don’t have enough water and there’s no source of water close by that our lines can reach,” he replied. “Some of my men are bringing out valuables but that’s all we can do.”
Bella looked over to where she heard arguing and headed over.
“Myriam! You don’t understand, Elijah’s going to be mad!” Klaus ranted at his wife, his hand buried in his hair. “And for fuck’s sake, why can’t I just run in and save my paintings myself? We’ll just compel them all to forget! Why did I agree to this?”
“We weren’t going to compel anyone, Nik.”
Klaus let out a growl and pushed his younger brother against the nearest tree. “Don’t even think for a minute that you’re scot-free, Kol. I know that you egged her on to do this. The coffins might be burning right now, but I do have a dagger on me!”
“It wasn’t me, honest!” he defended himself as he pushed his brother off of him. “But go ahead, Nik, blame me for everything. If that makes you feel better!”
“Hey!” Bella called out. “Are you done?” It was cold outside, despite her thick coat and her boots, but then again, the massive fire made the snow melt and warmed her a little. She just had to stay away from the fire so she wouldn’t get burned.
“Not even close!” Klaus blurted as he slammed his brother against the tree again, causing the tree to move on impact.
“Nik, it wasn’t me,” Kol said, honestly.
“Liar! Only you would think of something this… absurd!”
Bella looked at Myriam. “Aren’t you going to say something?”
“Why would I? I like it when my husband is angry,” Myriam replied, her eyes not leaving Klaus’ angry form. “So sexy.”
“Because you know, I was told this was all your idea, Myriam,” Bella replied and jumped back when Myriam stiffened upon realizing that Klaus was coming for her now. “Kol didn’t do anything but go along with your crazy idea. But hey, for what it’s worth, the town will never doubt you’re not human again. Like ever.”
“What are you even doing here, Bella?”
“My dad is the Sheriff. I didn’t want to be alone, so I came along,” she replied as she looked at Klaus. “Are you going to let him go, or what?”
“Bella, don’t provoke him, darling,” Kol warned her. “It’ll only make things worse.”
“Why? He’ll kill me? He can go right ahead,” she shrugged as she pushed her hands into her pockets. “Ever thought of getting your own home, Kol? I wouldn’t want to live with a bully, why should you?”
Myriam realized that Bella wasn’t going to give up. “Bella’s right, it was my idea,” Myriam admitted. “Stop bullying your brother, you can punish me later.” The moment Klaus let go of Kol she was in his arms. “Yes, punish me, please. It’ll be so much fun…” she purred.
“Love, if you want me to punish you, all you need to do is tell me and not set the bloody house on fire!” Klaus growled. “Where are we going to stay now?”
“You are absolutely insane,” Kol said as he lead Bella away from his brother and his wife. “Why did you do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“He could have killed you.”
Bella shrugged. “This wasn’t your idea, so I told him, what’s the problem in that?” She then retrieved Kol’s wish out of her pocket with a smile. “Besides, I wanted you to burn this yourself, you now have a big house that’s on fire.”
He looked at her, looked at the note and back at her. “I told you to burn that for me.”
“Yeah, but Charlie and I don’t do Christmas fires,” she replied with a nod towards the house fire. “You guys apparently do.”
“Funny.”
“I’d like to think so,” Bella replied smugly. “You have to find humor in all scenarios, don’t you?”
Kol took his note from her fingers. “Did you read it?”
“I did,” she said as she took her note out of her pocket. “Want to read mine?”
“Sure,” he smiled at her, happy that she trusted him with that, like he trusted his with her. I wish I could trust everyone around me again without any fear of what might happen. “Oh, darling,” he sighed as he felt his heart break a little. “Give it time, you will.”
“Yeah, I might,” Bella smiled at him. “I’m doing a lot better than I was in September.”
“I’m sorry that I—”
“Not you, completely me. I responded to you like I should have done to the Cullens and that was wrong of me, because you’re not them. I… I should have kept an open mind and not let my fear rule my brain,” she then let out a snort. “I spend my weekends with boys who can lose their temper and hurt me and I trust them not to, if I can do it with them, I should be fine with you.”
“You’re a curious little thing, aren’t you?” Kol smiled at her as he took both of her hands with the notes being held by the two of them.
“Maybe,” she replied, her hands warming up in his and she let out a breath. “I just wish I could go back in time to stop you from doing the turkey frying so close to the house, it’s not fair to lose your house during the holidays.”
“Ah, we’ve been through wo–” he blinked when Bella started to glow slightly. “What’s going on?” Kol could feel magic in the air, almost as if it was electricity and all of a sudden she wasn’t holding his hands anymore. In fact, she was gone. “Nik!”
