Chapter 07
Bella wished that they’d get it over and done with during the entire graduation ceremony. It was long, boring and embarrassing as she tripped on her way over the stage to fetch her diploma. Awkward photos were being taken with Charlie insisting on taking some to send to her mother because he was so proud of her.
There were still a few hours to kill until the party – where Bella didn’t want to go to but she did it anyway – and when they got home she went back to bed. It was weird to think that she was going to leave her father on his own soon, but then again, he had survived just fine before she arrived, and he had Sue. And Billy and the entire pack had his back even though he didn’t know just what they truly were.
She was ready for a new adventure and the rest of her life. She had meant it when she told Jake that she was tired of living a lie and that there were eyes on her all the time. Sure, she wasn’t going to have it easy in New Orleans either, she was going to be without her parents for the first time in her life but they would only be a phone call away. She could shape her life the way she wanted to and explore this completely new side of herself.
Jake could wait for her as long as he wanted but even if things went wrong between her and Kol, she wouldn’t return to Forks on a permanent basis. To visit Charlie, yes, but not living there anymore. The world was big and right there for her to explore.
She was ready.
As she stared at the ceiling, she realized that she was truly ready for it all and laughed. She didn’t even have to fake the feeling of finally shedding everything. But first, she had to suffer through the graduation party, and she was not ready for that. At all.
Rebekah woke her up from her nap by dumping a bucket of water over her, soaking the bed as she did. “Hey!” Bella whined as she jumped out of bed and looked at her. “Why did you do that?”
“Good, you’re awake and partially wet. Get yourself in the bathroom and take a shower. It’s time to prepare ourselves for the party.” She replied with a big smile on her face. “Don’t worry about the bed, it will dry.”
Bella huffed and rubbed her eyes. “I’m going to need coffee first,” she replied as she tucked wet strands of hair behind her ears.
Rebekah started to push Bella towards the exit of the bedroom. “I’ll make you a cup while you’re taking that shower. Since you’re going to wear that dress, please don’t forget to shave.”
Bella grumbled as she walked towards the bathroom. “I thought I left the getting pushed around bit behind with Alice…”
“I’m just very excited; that’s all.”
“Uh huh. I swear, if you’re going to take an hour to help me with my hair, I will kill you.” Bella closed the door with a sigh.
“I can’t be killed, darling,” Rebekah smiled widely. “But not to worry, I’ll only need fifteen minutes.”
~~
“I can’t believe that Charlie had tears in his eyes, I didn’t see anything,” Bella noted as they walked up the path towards the party.
“Trust me, darling, they were there,” Kol snorted. Ever since he saw her for the first time in a dress at her home he had this big, goofy smile plastered on his face. “While you and Rebekah got ready he told me that he thought you were allergic to dresses.”
“It’s just a dress…” Bella replied. Well, it wasn’t. She had to admit that she looked different. Cute, even. The champagne colored dress with the black lace top looked perfect on her, she had thought it would look good on her, but not like this. The little bit of tulle wasn’t annoying either. While Rebekah was wearing high heels, Bella was satisfied with her ballerinas with a small heel. If she could avoid falling over then yes, please!
“If that’s just a dress, I can only imagine what it would look like if you’d step into the fancy stuff,” Kol had deliberately not said too much about Bella wearing the dress. He knew she found it hard to get compliments for some stupid reason, but he had said just enough to make her cheeks turn this wonderful shade of pink. But she looked hot. Tremendously so and he had to reign himself in, establish some control over himself because this was different. It was almost as if Rebekah had chosen the dress just to mess with him.
“Hey, Bella!” Angela greeted her with a big smile on her face. She and her boyfriend Ben Cheney wore matching outfits, and Kol thought that was a little bit tacky. “Hi Kaleb! I’m surprised you managed to get Bella out here tonight,” she smiled widely.
“What? And miss out on all the fun?” He returned the smile and pulled Bella a little closer to him upon noticing that Angela’s boyfriend was looking Bella over as if she was something to be devoured. Bella was something to be devoured but only by him.
“Wow, Bella, you clean up nicely!” Ben said appreciatively before getting smacked in the chest by Angela. “Uh, Ange is taking pictures for the last school newspaper that we’ll be sending everyone as a memento of this evening.”
“Yeah, and I’ll be emailing everyone with their pictures so they can print it out and do whatever with it,” Angela confirmed and pointed to the blue sheet that was hanging between two trees. “You two fancy having your picture taken?”
“Absolutely. Maybe you can take one of me and Bella and then us two with my sister?”
“Where is she, anyway?” Angela said as she ushered them towards the sheet. “Usually you three are joined at the hip.”
“She’s wooing Eric, or at least making a poor attempt, so I see,” Kol snickered as he saw his sister – without Eric – walk towards them. It looked as if there were thunderclouds over Rebekah’s head and that was amusing. “Ah, getting turned down, again, sister?”
Bella punched Kol in the arm. “Be nice.”
“Or what?”
“Or…” Bella thought for a moment. “I’ll be Rebekah’s date and you can go solo.” She didn’t want to get her picture taken but did it, for Kol. She knew she would regret it later anyway. Maybe her mother and Charlie would love to have a copy of it as well.
Everytime Kol wanted to drag Bella onto the dance floor – something he knew she didn’t like doing because she was clumsy, one of their male classmates would come over to flirt with Bella. After a while, Kol had enough. Bella was somewhat oblivious to the flirting, yet she was questioning why she wasn’t invisible anymore. When Mike Newton – damn Mike Newton – approached them, Kol pulled Bella out of the chair she had been comfortably sitting on and pulled her onto the dancefloor when a slow song was playing.
He pulled her close to him and slowly started to move. “I’m glad I’m your date,” he said softly in her ear. “I don’t have to compete with anyone for your attention, although it’s fun to see them trying and fail.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “I suppose I’m sort of used to it, being the new girl for a while, and they thinking I’m interesting.”
“Oh, but you are,” he brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “You’re extraordinary and you’re the hottest bird at this party. I’m so lucky.”
“Stop,” she giggled and put her forehead against his chest to hide her beet red face.
He lifted her chin to make her look at him and he could feel his insides melt, she looked like such an innocent, but she wasn’t. He was certain there was a lion buried underneath all that innocence and lamb-like behavior, and he couldn’t wait to explore that with her. Forks was her prison; it was time for a prison break. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me, Isabella Swan?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she said softly as she put her arms around him. “Every time you touch me it’s almost as if there’s a lightning bolt shooting through my body… a good, pleasant one and I get scared…”
“Why?”
“For a very stupid reason.”
“Nothing is stupid, Cuddles. Talking about how you feel isn’t stupid either.”
She sighed as she kept looking at him. It was hard to look at him, not because Kol was ugly or anything, it was completely the opposite. She had been feeling like this for a while now, and she usually tried to ignore her feelings because they were too much, weren’t they? When he walked off the other day to relieve himself, she knew what was going on but she forced her head to play dumb. Because if at least one of them were in control over their feelings, things would be alright.
She was more than willing to release her rage, but this was best kept in control. Because there was always a possibility that she’d get hurt, despite Kol not have given her a reason to think that he’d hurt her. “I get scared because if I’d even think of acting upon it… I mean… I don’t want to…” she took a deep breath and bit her lip. Was she going to say it? Yes. He’d want her to. “Do something stupid and end up pushing you away.”
Smiling, he softly brushed her lips with his own. “Go on, do something stupid, I dare you,” he said as he looked into her beautiful brown eyes. “Unleash that inner crazy person you’ve been holding back and I will show you that I’m not going anywhere.” Kol had seen glimpses of that Care-free girl inside of Bella, more of it in New Orleans but in Forks too, when she was sure nobody was watching. He loved it. He knew for a fact that she was going to do well in New Orleans, thrive, even, and he was scared that she might leave him in search for better. Then again, he didn’t know anyone who was better than him.
“I can’t,” she bit her lip again and Kol let out an almost quiet groan. She had to stop doing that; it was too much of a turn on.
“Then I will,” he shrugged and started to kiss her. Innocently at first, but once she relaxed into it, he made the kiss grow and kept kissing her until a chaperone tapped the both of them on the shoulder, ruining the moment. The man kindly suggested that he and Bella left the floor and took some time to cool off.
The man was going to pay for the interruption. “Watch this,” Kol whispered to Bella and flicked his hand. Nothing seemed to be happening at first, but when Kol made a fist, the man was in a state of panic as he sloppily grabbed his tie and tried to get it off while gasping for air.
Bella had to admit, it was slightly entertaining. However, she didn’t want the teacher actually to die so after counting to thirty and noticing that Kol hadn’t let him go; she punched him in the arm again. “Let him go,” she laughed. “Explain to me how you do that.”
“Do what, Cuddles?” He asked as he let the teacher go and put his arm around her as they continued to walk off the dance floor. He then pointed at Jessica and gestured with his hand, almost simply flicking his wrist, causing Jessica to nearly have a Marilyn Monroe moment with her dress. “Same as you’d use a digital camera these days. You’d simply point and click. Or in this case, think of what you want to do and simply use your hand as an exit point for the magic inside of you.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“Oh, but it is. You’ll see when we get to New Orleans…” he then looked at her. “You are still coming, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” she smiled at him. “Of course I am.”
“And not just because you want to take your revenge?”
She stopped walking and caressed his face for a moment before pulling him down towards her and kissed him. “Because of you. The revenge is a bonus,” she replied with a smile. “One problem though…”
Kol sighed as he knew the answer. “You haven’t told Charlie yet.”
“I haven’t told Charlie yet,” she echoed. “I was planning to, but I don’t know how. He’d like seeing me going to college in Seattle or whatever, not move halfway across the country.”
“You’re old enough to do whatever you wish to do. I think he’d be proud of you to undertake such an adventure all by yourself.”
“Maybe,” she said with a shrug. “I just don’t want to leave him, you know…”
“All children must leave the nest at some point, Isabella,” Elijah’s voice sounded from behind them. “It’s part of growing up.”
“Where did you come from?” Kol whined. It was bad enough that his sister was around somewhere, but to have to deal with Elijah at the party too? Wasn’t he a little bit too old?
“I thought that seeing as I’m here now anyway; we’d discuss the plan to see if anything needs changing,” Elijah said as he lead the two away from the crowd of people. “I’m sure that Rebekah will follow us soon,” he continued in a polite manner. “As for your father, I believe I have taken care of that.” When Bella opened her mouth to say something, he spoke again. “I used my words, Isabella, do not worry.”
“What did you tell him?” Kol asked, not surprised that his brother seemed to have thought of everything and even managed to work Charlie into the equation.
“I merely said that Isabella is a smart young woman who, during her time with our family in New Orleans, had shown an interest in visiting the city again due to its rich history and amazing atmosphere. That, if she’d want, she’d be more than welcome to stay with us for as long as she wanted to figure out what she was going to do next in her life.”
Bella had to admit, she was impressed. “What did he say?”
“Surprisingly, something about your mother having roots in New Orleans.”
“What?” she said surprised.
Elijah nodded as they stopped walking now that they were far enough from the party to be worried about eavesdroppers. “Your mother once hired someone to trace her family line, simply because she was curious after a story her paternal grandfather had told her – that she was the first Higginbotham female born in a very long time.”
That sounded like such a Renée thing to do, finding out her genealogy like that before moving on to the next hobby. Bella wouldn’t be surprised if she’d unearthed more information than just names. “I should talk to her about that,” she said with a snicker.
“I am sorry that you and I haven’t had the chance to talk that much over the last two days, Isabella. While I’m glad that you’re alright and that you’ve managed to sleep off the effects of whatever they had given you, I wanted you to know that Niklaus and I have been talking about your plan of revenge that you initially set up in New Orleans before coming here,” he said as he looked at her. “In all fairness, despite my brother not knowing you that well, he has made it clear that he wants to help you to get your revenge by any means necessary. He’s a master strategist and he has some ideas that could help you.”
“What? Nik the advisor?” Kol scoffed as he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around Bella’s shoulders. Now that they were away from the crowd, the temperature had dropped somewhat, and he didn’t want her to catch a cold.
“I made it clear to him that it’s going to be Isabella’s crusade, not his. We all love a good revenge, but she deserves this one. I understand that the Cullen’s numbers have already dwindled?”
“There’s four of them left now,” Bella softly replied and hugged the jacket close, she loved how it smelled like Kol. “I doubt, however, that it’ll stay that way. They have a lot of allies that I merely got a glimpse of, once, some with their own unique abilities. They might gather some of them to join them in their crusade to get me.”
“Are you certain they will follow you to New Orleans?”
“I am,” Rebekah’s voice sounded as she finally joined them. “You should have seen the looks on their faces when it came to Bella, it’s insane. It’s pure obsession and the hunger for more power. It’s as if they’re a pack of dogs and Bella is the bone they will not let go of under any circumstance.”
Elijah seemed to think for a moment and then slightly shrugged. “In any case, the word got out that there’s a new Claire witch coming and the witches can’t wait to help and teach her everything they know,” he smiled at Bella. “According to Davina, they’re also quite scared seeing as they have no idea how powerful you are or can become. But if you really want to go through with the plan, you will have to work hard on mastering your craft to fight this battle.”
“Don’t worry, Elijah,” Rebekah said, there was a hint of boredom in her voice. “I’m certain that Kol will make it fun for her.”
“The question that remains is,” Elijah said as he looked at the human girl. “When do you wish to leave?”
“I vote for tomorrow,” Rebekah said quickly.
“No way,” Bella snorted. “I have to pack.”
“We can buy you new things in New Orleans. Please,” she almost begged. “I’m missing the sun, the warmth and most of all, the excitement that comes with the city.”
“I’d probably need a few new clothes seeing as I don’t own shorts but my clothes are coming with me. I don’t have the money to buy new clothes. Speaking of which, I’m going to find a job there.”
The three Mikaelsons looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces before one of them composed himself and kissed the top of her head. “If you want to, you should,” Kol replied. “But if you need anything, we’re more than willing to—”
“That’s it,” Bella pointed out. “I want to be able to buy myself things if I need them or a gift to someone or whatever. With my own money.”
“And what did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know,” Bella said with a shrug. “Maybe work in Cami’s bar.”
“I do not wish to belittle you or your decision to look for a job as I have heard you value your independence now that you have it back, but I think that your main focus should be getting your magic under control first. No other… distractions.” Elijah said carefully. “Give yourself some time to get used to a new situation.”
“What my brother is trying to say is that you will not lose your independence if you give yourself some time to relax, learn and get used to a new situation. You can do whatever you want.” Rebekah tried to translate her brother’s words.
“And I want a job.”
“Ugh, humans,” Rebekah rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, little sister, you will change your mind sooner or later when you’ll be having too much fun to be responsible. I’m going back to the party.”
Elijah sighed as his sister walked off. “Isabella, I urge you to talk to your father about your plans and then start to pack.”
Bella didn’t know what it was, but Elijah liked to talk with his hands, almost as if he used them to make certain words sound more important, trying to exert authority of some sort. “I will,” she simply said and took Kol’s hand. “But not before Kol and I had another dance.”
They didn’t stay for much longer at the party because Bella did want to get out of Forks as soon as possible, and she had a lot to do in not much time. Charlie was waiting for them when they came back to the house, and Bella unceremoniously plopped herself down next to him on the couch. “So…”
“You want to go to New Orleans?”
Bella looked at him and nodded. “I wouldn’t have gone if I thought you were going to be alone again.”
“Sweetheart,” he smiled at her. “If you want to go, go. It’s your life, your future, and you should do what you feel is best for you. It’s not as if you’re moving to the other end of the world.”
“Are you sure? I mean… I don’t want to—”
“Bella, this is a great opportunity for you. Elijah told me that you’ll be taken care of just as we’ve taken care of his siblings,” he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll come visit you. You can come visit me. But you’ve graduated now, you’re a young woman who’s ready to take on the world, and I know that Forks isn’t the world.”
“Am I being too much like mom?”
“No, Bells,” he kissed the top of her head again and let go of her. “You should pack what you want to bring with you and if you need anything else I can send it to you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Isabella Marie Swan, stop thinking of your old man and do what you want. Just for once. Just do it.”
—
She woke up early the next day to quietly sort through her clothes and made neat piles of what she wanted to bring with, automatically discarding every piece of clothing she had received from the Cullens. Maybe it could be donated, but she’d rather burn them all. She tried not to wake Kol with her movement through her room, but he was probably awake anyway, keeping an eye on her.
To be honest, now that the plans for her moving to New Orleans were finally happening, she felt a little bit overwhelmed? Scared? Happy? Relieved? Worried? She wasn’t quite sure, maybe all of the above. But, on the other hand, it felt good. New start. No prying eyes. Not having to behave because she’s the daughter of the police chief or not having to be the mother to her own mother.
Bella sighed as she got to her feet and went downstairs to the kitchen to grab a bin liner to throw in her old clothes and found Rebekah in the kitchen, drinking from her blood bag. “Are we going tomorrow? This was my last one, you see.”
“I think so, yeah,” Bella smiled at her as she grabbed what she needed.
“I don’t know if you had any plans of going to the reservation today to say your goodbyes to Jacob…”
“Yes, I am, why?”
“Because last night, when we were talking to Elijah, some of the wolves were there. It’s quite possible that they won’t allow you onto the reservation.”
Bella thought for a moment and nodded. “Thanks, I’ll ask Jake to meet me at the treaty line.”
Rebekah then pointed at the bin liner. “What are you going to do with that?”
“I’m going to put the clothes Alice got me in the trash, where they belong,” Bella said determined and went back upstairs where she found Kol rummaging through her clothes and messing up her neat piles. “Kol!”
“What?” He cheekily smiled at her. “It was all too neat, I couldn’t resist…”
Bella scowled as she pushed him away from her clothes and sat down on the floor again to rearrange it all. “I swear if there’s stuff missing…”
Kol shrugged as he sat down on the other side of the pile of clothes and grinned. “I might have made a few items disappear, I might not have…”
“Rebekah wants to leave tomorrow, if you’re going to make a habit of sabotaging my efforts to pack my bag, you’ll have to deal with her because then we won’t be leaving tomorrow,” she picked up one of her checkered shirts, rolled it up and threw it in his face.
“Do you want to leave tomorrow, Cuddles?”
“The sooner, the better, to be honest,” she said with a nod before she started folding everything into neat stacks again. “I was planning on asking Jake to meet me at the treaty line today to say goodbye to him.”
“Alright, I’m going to get dressed, and then you can tell me what to do,” he got back to his feet and went to his bag. “But I probably should start with packing my own bag.”
“Yep,” she snorted.
Bella wasn’t surprised that Jake was waiting for them at the treaty line that afternoon. He always waited for her, and that was a problem. Even his whole speech the other day was a problem. He wasn’t going to like it that she was going to New Orleans, and she suspected that he once again, would say that he’d be waiting for her in Forks if things wouldn’t work out.
Kol held her back for a moment after they got out of the car. “What if he loses control?”
“He won’t,” Bella assured him. “No matter his issues, he’s in control over himself. Besides, I’ve got you to stop him from attacking me, don’t I?”
He huffed in return and decided to sit down on the hood of the car as Bella walked towards her friend.
“Heya Bells, what’s up?” He greeted her with his usual goofy smile and opened his arms as to invite her in for a hug.
She hugged him and smiled at him. “The sky, obviously.”
“What’s so important that you couldn’t say over the phone?” He then jerked his head towards Kol. “Did he knock you up?”
“Jake!” She said with a whine and hit him on the arm. “No, and whether or not we have done it, is none of your business.”
“Seeing as you’re still referring to it as it, I doubt you’ve done it,” he said teasingly.
“And just so you know, your father is okay with me and Kol… Kaleb. He sort of gave his blessing during the barbecue,” she said smugly, which resulted in a whine coming from Jacob.
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “He told me. He also told me to let you go, but I can’t, Bella. I have never been able to.”
“You’re going to have to. I’m going to New Orleans.”
“Yeah, I know,” he sighed again. “Paul, Sam and I were at the party last night; we overheard your plans. Paul and Sam are satisfied to see that you’ve truly separated yourself from the Cullens and that you’re not being coerced by the new people in your life either. I feared for your life when you dared to stand up against the male Original vampire though.”
“Oh, you have no idea. Yesterday was mild. I blew up at him when we were still in New Orleans for… bullying his brother in the past,” she said with a snort. “But Jake, just because I’m moving away, doesn’t mean you and I can’t talk to each other anymore. There’s this thing called the internet, and I’m sure you’ll love New Orleans if you come and visit.”
“Unlike you, I have no desire to leave my friends and family behind, even if it’s for only a couple of days,” he said grumpily and looked at the ground.
“Yeah, and unlike you, I’ve never liked this place to begin with, remember? I was much happier in warmer climates,” she made him look at her. “If I stay, I won’t be happy. Do you want me to be unhappy?”
“No… but what if they turn out the same as them?”
“Jake…”
“No, I’m serious, Bella. There was nothing wrong in the beginning when you started to hang out with Edward. The only problem was that he’s a vampire. Look where it got you, huh? At least you know I’ll never change.”
Bella sighed, trying not to get angry with Jacob, but she couldn’t help herself. He didn’t want to be happy for her; he didn’t want her to leave – despite everything that he had learned in the last few weeks. “And that’s your problem, Jacob,” she shot at him, already feeling guilty about having to leave him like this but she didn’t see any other option. “You don’t change. You need to grow up because newsflash, you can’t always get what you want. I’m not saying things are going to be easy for me, but it’ll be fine. I’m not staying because you want me to. Goodbye, Jake,” she said before turning around and walking towards Kol. “Let’s go.”
“You sure, Cuddles?”
“I’m done with him,” she said bitterly and got into the car. “I don’t wish him any harm, but he’s being an asshole, and I’m done with playing nice.”
Kol laughed as he started the car, amused by seeing Bella like this, a little bundle of rage and impatience, more than willing to leave Forks behind and everyone in it but her father. She was ready for her freedom and he couldn’t wait to find out what else she had in store for him once she had gotten used to the life in New Orleans. He could tell that she had certain expectations – seriously, why would she want to get a job? And Kol couldn’t wait to show her that life’s supposed to be all about fun and games and no cares in the world.
While they were flying out to New Orleans the following day, Bella couldn’t believe that she was doing it. But it felt good and from this point on, she decided, she would not look back. She had two suitcases in the hold of the plane, and she had stuffed some things into Kol’s suitcase as well. There was no way she was going to leave without Bobby the Bear, even if her father would send her her remaining things when she’d ask him to.
There was this slightly tingling sensation in her extremities that only grew as they got closer to New Orleans, almost as if something was waiting to erupt from her body. Sure, she was nervous, but this feeling was something completely different. She had felt it before, right before she magically threw Kol into a dresser. She smiled to herself. That seemed to be so long ago but in fact it hadn’t been more than two months ago.
After the plane landed and taxied to the gate, Kol held out his hand to help her to her feet, and the both of them were surprised when they got shocked. It wasn’t like static electricity because that felt different, this was a jolt of energy that originated in their hands and running up their arms. “Well,” Kol said with a grin on his face as he shook his arm to get rid of the numb feeling and helped her up, blocking the magic now that he knew what to expect. “Someone has opened up.”
Bella blushed. “Was that?”
“Oh yes, it was, Cuddles,” he reached into the overhead compartment to get their backpacks. “You’ve opened yourself up to the possibilities, to the potential and it’s clearly showing.”
“It’s also potentially dangerous,” Elijah spoke, he and Rebekah had been sitting in front of them on the plane. “You mustn’t lose control over your emotions until you’ve balanced out.”
“He’s such a stick in the mud,” Kol grinned as he nodded towards his brother. “Remember you asking me how I did stuff?” When Bella nodded, Kol flicked his hand as he winked at her.
“Kol!” Rebekah hissed. “Do not pull my hair!”
“I didn’t!” Kol said innocently.
“We’re disembarking a full plane, please do try to behave yourself,” Elijah scolded his brother.
Go on, try it, Kol mouthed to Bella and Bella repeated the movement that Kol did and visualised tugging on Rebekah’s hair, curious if it would work. She was a little bit apprehensive because of the two vampires and because she wasn’t quite sure how not having practise at all would not result in her accidentally blowing everyone away.
“Kol!”
“It wasn’t me! Honest! I swear!” Kol laughed as they got off the plane. “It was Bella. Just… don’t make her upset or anything,” he said with a shrug. “Since we’re in the airport.”
“Oh, now he’s sensible,” Rebekah said with a sigh.
“I’m sorry,” Bella apologized as she looped her arm through Kol’s and shoved the other one in her pocket. “I should have known better.” There were a lot of people around, she should have thought before she listened to Kol, but it had been fun to try; it didn’t require much effort or concentration. She could imagine though that Rebekah was annoyed about it. Or Elijah, for that matter.
“Yes, yes you should have,” Rebekah said annoyed as she started to make her way through the mass of people towards the luggage belt.
“Don’t worry, Cuddles,” Kol said softly and kissed the top of her head. “Rebekah is glad she is home, don’t take it personal, she always gets a little bit grouchy.”
Bella huffed. “No more babysitting us, you mean?”
“Well, you, and yes,” he pointed out. “Tell me, you must feel at least a little bit excited to be diving head on into a new adventure.”
“Of course I am,” Bella said as she fell into Kol after a businessman pushed past her in a hurry, knocking his carry on against her legs. If it hadn’t been for her already holding on to him, she would have fallen flat on her face.
“Oi,” Kol growled before using his magic to have the man’s bag spill open all over the walkway, resulting in him cursing and ranting while he started to pick his stuff back up. “Serves him right, the wanker,” he muttered under his breath. “Although, I don’t mind you falling into me every once in a while,” he said with a lopsided grin on his face as he looked at her. “I’m your hero, after all.”
“I’m not going to live that down, am I?”
“Nope,” he grinned and then let out a happy sigh. “So glad to be back here. The moment we got even close to New Orleans I could feel this burst of magic going through me and it’s exhilarating.”
“That tingly feeling?”
“You felt it too? Did you feel it on your first trip here?”
Bella shook her head. “But I think I felt it now is because I am open to the possibility. I mean, I didn’t even know there was such as thing as magic before.”
“Oh yes, the possibilities are endless, you’re going to have so much fun with it, I promise!”
“Yes, but not in the airport,” Elijah said as he turned to his brother. “Both of you.”
Kol scoffed as he looked at his brother. “It were tiny spells, brother. No harm done.”
Klaus was waiting for his siblings when they got to the compound. He stood on the balcony overlooking the entrance with his arms crossed over each other and then jerked his head for his siblings to come upstairs. Elijah told Bella to go to the room she had when she was in New Orleans before, and she wanted to protest. Mainly because she didn’t like secrets. Kol, of course, saw how Bella’s demeanor changed, gently took her arm and pulled her closer to him. “Don’t worry,” he whispered, brushing his lips against her ear. “I’ll tell you everything once we’re done. Go unpack. I might have arranged a present for you.” he then kissed her and followed his siblings up the stairs.
Sighing, Bella made her way to her room with her bags and snorted when she saw a couple of books on the bed. Latin for Dummies, French for Dummies and New Orleans for Dummies. There was also a bag with fencing gear, she recognized it as fencing gear because she had seen Carlisle and Edward use it – they explained that although they didn’t need it, it wasn’t the same experience. The clothes were in the right size too. Bella assumed now that they were away from prying eyes that Rebekah or Kol could teach her things Charlie would get a heart attack from. She had to admit, the sessions of stick fighting they had in the last few weeks had been fun and worked to let off some steam.
She didn’t feel the need to unpack just yet; she had no idea how long she was going to stay at the compound and if Kol wasn’t staying, she didn’t want to stay either. She took her phone and decided to call Charlie to inform him that she had arrived in one piece.
She didn’t know for how long she and Charlie were on the phone while she flipped through one of the books. When she saw a shadow appear at the door, she hung up and looked up. “Done?” She smiled widely at Kol, who was leaning against the door, and he didn’t look happy at all. “What?” She got off the bed and walked up to him, seeing that he wasn’t unhappy but worried. “What’s going on?” She took his arm and pulled him inside the room and looked up to him. “Can’t you stay here?”
“It’s not that, Cuddles,” he muttered as he pulled her close and breathed in her scent. Even after having sat on a plane she still smelled bright as rain. “I can stay here, I made that very clear to my brother. He may think I’m a nuisance, but so is he. I don’t trust him with you.”
Bella nodded slowly. “I would have gone with you if you weren’t allowed to stay.”
Letting out a snort, he kissed the top of her head. “I need to tell you something and you have to promise not to freak out.”
Blinking, she looked up at him, fearing the worst. “It can’t be Charlie, I just spoke to him on the phone. Who died?”
“No one,” he replied. “But Niklaus… well, I knew he had some questionable friends, met most of them, but he kept this one from us. Rebekah isn’t happy about it either, and it seems that Elijah knew about this too. But, I suppose, if you’re as paranoid as my brother, you like to keep friends who are on the opposing side to keep an eye out.”
“Makes sense,” Bella said slowly as her mind worked in overdrive. “You’re saying he has a cold one in his pocket?”
“I wouldn’t say that, exactly, but this one’s loyal to Niklaus after he ran into him in the 1800’s. My brother gave him and his mate the means to hide from whatever they had been running from,” Kol explained as he caressed a strand of Bella’s hair out of her face. “As it turns out, this one used to be best friends with someone we’re both familiar with.”
She realized that he was taking things slow on purpose so she wouldn’t accidentally do something stupid with her magic and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. “Just tell me.”
“His name is Peter Whitlock.”
“What? Why? Why is he here?”
“You know him?” Kol asked surprised.
“No, I know of him. He and his mate were spared by Jasper in the wars. Why is he here?” She had to be honest, the thought of Peter being here scared her. Peter was an ally of the Cullens, or at least of Jasper and Alice and that couldn’t be good news. She also knew that he didn’t follow the same ‘diet’ as the Cullens did. This made him unpredictable at best, hell, even Edward thought he was a danger to Bella seeing as his self-control was something he had to work on and made sure they stayed clear of Bella when they visited.
“You should talk to him.”
“Me?” Bella snorted. “No, absolutely not. I know enough to stay well clear of him.”
“Nik promised you’ll be safe. I’ll be there too. I know that we just got back here and that talking with him is not a priority, but you have to talk to him. He’s not as bad as you may think.” When she didn’t answer, he sighed. “Look, he is hiding something. Nik said Peter demanded only to speak to you. I don’t know why, Nik doesn’t know why, but since he’s a cold one, it must have to do something with your cause.”
Bella huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked up to Kol. “Fine.” She reluctantly followed him upstairs. What if Peter was worse than Jasper had been with controlling himself around humans? She could very well be endangering Kol now.
“Hello, little Swan, nice to see you again,” Klaus greeted her politely as he stood before closed doors. “My apologies for having you have to deal with this, but Peter insisted.”
She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. “I sort of suspected you having dealt with the cold ones before, the way you talked about them and how you handled Edward and his siblings before, but this?”
“Don’t worry, love,” Klaus apologized and saw Bella wince at the word. “He’s not here to hurt you. Not all cold ones are bad, and he is aware of your situation.”
Bella slowly nodded and relaxed her arms before taking Kol’s hand and stepped into the room. It was another living room type of room; there were couches, and there was a coffee table and some art on the walls. Peter was sitting comfortably on one of the couches, his arm casually draped over the back of the couch and one of his legs was swung over the other. He got up the moment Bella entered the room, and she was taken aback by how red his eyes were. At least he wasn’t hungry.
“Good to finally meet you, Bella,” Peter drawled as he extended his hand to her. Texan. Of course, he was a damn Texan, just like Jasper had been. He had this ruggedness about him that made her think of him like a cowboy and no doubt that he’d have no trouble attracting women for himself. When Bella didn’t shake his hand, he nodded. “I can understand your apprehension,” he continued, a smile on his face. “I am a friend.” He then looked at Kol and nodded at him. “I know how much you care about her, I am here with the best intentions.”
“Ah, for a moment there, I thought you had lost your ability to do your thing,” Klaus spoke as he closed the doors. “Let’s sit, shall we?”
“Wait, what?” Bella said confused as she looked between Klaus and Peter. “What?”
Peter smiled knowingly. “Allow me to tell my story, Bella,” he said as he gestured to the couch and watched how she pulled her boyfriend with her before he sat down himself on the other one. “No doubt you have heard about me. Knowing Edward, he probably described me as some monster, but that was what Jasper and I wanted everyone to believe. You see, he saved my life a few times, Jasper, and he became my best friend. You could even say we’re brothers, that’s how deep our connection goes. He allowed me to take his name when I forgot my own. He had a feeling that something was off when he was being courted by Alice and her family and wanted me to be his backup plan in case things would go awry.”
Bella swallowed hard. If getting killed by a pack of angry wolves meant that things went awry for Jasper, then he should use more powerful words, like… shitstorm.
“Like Jasper, Alice and Edward, I have a gift of some sorts. I know things. I don’t know how, but I just know. It’s quite possible that someone in my family was a psychic or a witch,” he then smirked. “Edward and Alice must have been so frustrated with you.”
Bella slowly nodded. “I uh… Because of me… he uh…” she sighed, having trouble to find the words. Still. She felt so guilty about Jasper’s death and here was his friend talking about him as if he was still alive. “I’m sorry, he died.”
“I know,” Peter said slowly. “And it wasn’t because of you, nor did the wolves retaliate for Seth’s death. It had been Jasper’s choice and somehow had managed to persuade the wolves to take him apart.”
“What?” Bella stammered. “Why would he do that?”
Peter then smirked as he leaned back on the couch; his arm slung back over the back of the couch. “Because he was like you and by seeing how you fought against his gift and the drugging that the Cullens did, he got the strength to do the same. Leave,” he then shrugged. “Albeit in a slightly bloody way.”
She swallowed hard as she squeezed Kol’s hand. It made sense why the wolves got the jump on him; it was because he allowed them to. Life with the Cullens had been hard on him, and he decided to step out. Permanently.
“I know what the Cullens did to you, Jasper has told me all about it, and I am so sorry,” he said as he looked at her. “Klaus told me that you wanted your revenge on them, will you allow the Major and I to join you?”
“Sure,” Bella said with a nod. “Who’s the Major?”
Peter just smirked as he jerked his head to the door. Even Klaus had a self-absorbed smirk on his face. Bella looked at the door as it opened, and it revealed Jasper, wearing a big smirk on his face. “Major Jasper Whitlock, ma’am, at your service,” he said as he saluted and then opened his arms as Bella got up and ran to him. “Hiya, Bells,” he sighed happily as she hugged him.
When she let go of him, she smacked him in the chest. “I saw you die! Why didn’t you tell me!”
“I wanted to tell you,” he replied with a grin on his face. “I wanted to tell you everything, and how sorry I am for having manipulated you, but Jacob said that—”
“Jacob?!” Bella’s eyes grew wide in shock. “Jacob knew?”
Jasper shrugged. “He’s the most sensible of the wolves; I approached him first before meeting up with Paul and Sam, but Bells, you had to see me die. I didn’t want you to, but you needed that extra push to sever your emotions and feelings completely from Edward and the rest of the family. I needed to be sure you would go through with this because they’re a bunch of assholes.”
“I can’t believe this,” she said as she moved away from Jasper and started to pace around the room. “I must be still dreaming or drugged because this isn’t happening.”
“Cuddles, calm down,” Kol said as he took a step towards Bella but when she looked at him, he decided to stay put. If looks could kill… “You’re not drugged.”
“Ha!” Bella snorted as she kept pacing, warily eyeing everyone else in the room. “That’s exactly what a hallucination would say.” She then pointed at Jasper. “How did you survive the wolves’ mauling?”
“I wasn’t burned,” Jasper said with a shrug. Normally, he would have reached out to her and calmed her down, but he had promised himself not to do that anymore. It had been bad enough that he had done it in the last few years and felt guilty about it. “The wolves took my bits and pieces to a safe place away from the reservation and away from Carlisle and stayed with me until I was whole again… well, apart from the two thumbs that Rebekah took from me…”
“I can give you one back, mate,” Klaus spoke up with a grin. “I was sent one. Rebekah knows how much I love little souvenirs.”
“That is… slightly disturbing but much appreciated, thanks,” Jasper said as he looked at Klaus for a moment before looking back over to Bella. She seemed to be in her ‘outer monologue’ stage right now, trying to piece everything back together. Things like these usually lead her to have a panic attack, maybe he should—
“No, don’t even think about it,” Peter scolded Jasper. “Let it happen. You’ve done it much too often now; you need to stop.”
“In any case,” Klaus said as he looked at the two cold ones. “You’re both more than willing to stay and help Bella with her plans. However, might I suggest you stay out of the sun and only explore New Orleans by night, with one of my nightwalkers until we’ve found a solution for your little sparkly problem?”
“You’re such a party pooper, Niklaus,” Kol said, not keeping his eyes off of Bella. “This is New Orleans, two enormous disco balls walking down the street won’t make anyone suspicious at all.”
“Kol! Be nice!” Bella scolded him as she stopped pacing and looked at Jasper. “You’re really here?”
“I am,” he said with a snort, feeling how her state of mind shifted back to a normal one. “And I am sorry for what Esme has done to you.”
“Not your fault,” Bella muttered as she walked over to Kol and put her arms around him. She still didn’t like it that Jasper didn’t tell her about his plans and that he showed up here, in New Orleans, of all places. She was even more surprised that Klaus had let him in. Hell, she wasn’t even sure if they should trust Peter and Jasper. Like Peter, Jasper’s eyes were bright red and with Jasper eating humans, it meant trouble.
“Oh,” Peter said as he said with a nod. “She doesn’t trust us, Major.”
“I don’t blame her,” Jasper said as he sat down on the couch. “She needs time; that’s all.”
Glad that both men understood her, she let go of Kol and walked out the door, back to her room. She needed to process this. What did it mean? Jasper could have done all this just to screw with her mind, to talk her out of getting her revenge on Edward and maybe even kill her. Or worse, kill Kol so she would go back to Edward.
Sure, the answer could be plain and simple. That everything they had said was the truth, and that they were here to help her but she had been too trusting in the past and Jasper had manipulated her feelings so she would comply. What if, though. What if they were speaking the truth?
She was glad she hadn’t unpacked; it would make it a lot easier for her to put some distance between her and the two Cold Ones.
“Oh no,” Kol said as he walked into the room. He had followed her downstairs and saw her eye her bags. “You’re not leaving.”
“They’re here,” she pointed out.
“They can leave. You’re staying, Cuddles,” he said as he pulled her into his arms and softly kissed the top of her head. “They can stay at Elijah’s or even Marcel’s and they will be monitored. I’m sure that when you tell Nik that their presence here makes you uncomfortable, he’ll tell them to leave and arrange for them to stay elsewhere.”
“But…”
“You’re more important to Nik, trust me. You have more to offer than two cold ones with gifts; he’d want you on his good side.”
“So he’ll only like me for what I can do in a couple of weeks?”
Kol snorted. “Darling, he’ll want you on his good side because he’ll fear you once you learn how to control your powers.”
It was Bella’s turn to snort. “Imagine that, little old me being something to be afraid of.”
“Oh and you will love it,” he smiled widely at her before softly kissing her. “Let me talk to Nik, okay? I’ll be back in a bit. Get some rest or whatever. And unpack some stuff, make this room more like you and less like you’re living at your grandmother’s.”
“Thanks.”
Even though Kol stayed in her room with her that night, she wasn’t able to sleep. Klaus had tasked Elijah with babysitting Jasper and Peter and moved them as soon as night had fallen, but she still didn’t feel at ease. Kol was out like a light, and she decided to go for a little stroll through the compound. She got into a pair of jeans – there was no way she was going to walk around in her pyjama shorts – and quietly left the room.
She took a deep breath to breathe in the New Orleans air. While it had been quite warm when they arrived, it had now cooled off to a more bearable temperature, and it was more comfortable to move around in. She had to get used to the heat if she wanted to survive longer than a week in the city; she had grown too accustomed to the gloomy weather in Washington.
The tiles of the compound felt cool to her bare feet; she loved it because while she was used to sleeping with her socks on, it was definitely not needed here. She nearly got crushed by a vampire being flung from the balcony above her. She yelped in surprise and managed to jump to the side, only to land flat on her ass because she tripped over something on the floor.
She watched the vampire run off and then looked up to the balcony, seeing Klaus standing there, looking at her. “Shame,” he stated with some boredom in his voice. “And here I thought you were a witch.”
“Oh, sure,” she shot back at him as she got to her feet and rubbed her ass. “I’ve also had so much practise over in Forks,” she continued furiously. “I mean, I could do magic and shit while the only thing I could do here was blow stuff away and once, tug on Rebekah’s hair. I’m the baddest badass witch you know, and I still don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it!”
“Well, you could have started with that bloody vampire,” Klaus snarled. “If you’d blown him up, that would have been fun!”
“How? Do you know how this works?”
“Not a clue,” he said with a shrug. “Start with focussing on what you want to do and I don’t know, use a hand gesture?”
Bella realized he was intentionally playing dumb and only to provoke her into using her magic while she didn’t have any control over it. She started to climb the stairs, imagining the balustrade Klaus was leaning on was crumbling away and flicked her hand towards it as she felt an energy surge through her body. The floor he stood on simply fell away and Klaus with it. “Do you think I liked it being unable to practise magic in Forks?” She said frustrated as she looked down at a surprised looking Klaus. “That your siblings had to step in whenever one of them was doing something unagreeable? Do you think I liked it being helpless? Where’s the independence when you still have to rely on people stronger than you to fight your battle?” She balled her fists in her pockets and took a step back in shock when the top of the fountain blew up. “Do you think I like being out of control like this?”
“Calm down, little Swan,” Klaus said calmly as he brushed the debris off of him and started to walk towards the stairs. “There’s no need to demolish my home. I only wanted to make sure my siblings told me the truth about your magic to see what needs to be done to get it under control and get you ready to get your revenge.”
“Yeah well, you should trust them more,” Bella muttered as she shoved her hands in her pockets and nodded to the mess. “Sorry about the mess.”
“Not to worry about that,” he said with a smirk as he approached her. “My sister told me you three have been fighting with sticks, how did that work out for you?”
“It gave me something to put my anger into, for sure,” she said as she looked at her feet. “I think this all happened because you sprang Jasper and Peter on me today. Amongst other things.”
Klaus nodded as he lead her into his study, careful to avoid the hole in the walkway. “I’d like to know if you’re certain you want to go through with this. Your magic. Your revenge. You dating my brother. It won’t be easy, and I am willing to give you all the help you need with the first two but when it comes to my brother, you’re on your own. All I ask is for you not to screw him over.”
Bella sighed and counted to ten before replying. “Yes, I am certain. And as I told Rebekah, what’s between me and Kol should be just that. I understand that you perceive him as a fragile human witch right now, and you want him to have a good, human life. But that won’t happen if you try to control everything in his life.”
“He’s my brother, you can’t tell me what I can’t and can do. I know how stupid humans can be.”
She snorted as she looked around his study; it was cosy, and there was an easel near the window with a painting on it. “I’m going to repeat the words I’ve said to Rebekah on this subject. You do not have to worry about Kol; I have no intention of hurting him. In any case, I’m worried he might end up hurting me.”
“Very well,” Klaus said as he gestured to the couch for her to sit on. “Then starting tomorrow, the kid gloves are off. You’re expected to work hard without any complaint as we will help you to get everything under control. You will be pushed to your limits, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Forks Isabella Swan is gone. It’s time to become the person that’s bubbling underneath your skin and live to your full potential. I’m not even going to ask you if you’re ready for that.”
“But I am.”
“Good,” he poured them a glass of wine and handed it to her. “Drink up, it’ll help you sleep later.”
She took a sip of her wine and looked at Klaus. His attitude was refreshing, although she was pretty sure that both Kol and Rebekah could be the same way. She had seen glimpses of that over the last few weeks. She was pretty sure now the both of them were back in familiar water without having to take other people into account, that she was going to see a whole new side of them.
“Your case is a tough one,” Klaus continued and started to pace around the room. “I find myself torn between berating you for talking to me as you did earlier and congratulating you with feeling confident enough in talking to me as you did,” he looked at her with a smile on his face. “Then, of course, we have the complication that you and my brother seem to be affectionate towards each other. I also have to take in account that you finally have the freedom to speak your mind to anyone and that makes it even harder for me to make up my mind.”
“I am sorry. But you started it, with your snarling.”
“I am well aware of that, little Swan, but there aren’t a lot of people I allow to speak to me like that. I am not certain you have earned the right to do so just yet,” she opened her mouth to say something but he continued. “I am also aware of the fact that you are a very angry young woman and that I should give you at least some time to learn how to control your emotions and your powers.”
Bella scoffed. “You make it sound as if I am to blame for what happened earlier.”
“But you are.”
“You provoked me.”
“You could have chosen to ignore me, and you didn’t and it backfired, creating a hole in the walkway, and you ruined my fountain. Granted, it is better for all of us if your penchant for destruction stays within the confines of these walls, and that is why I am letting it go, this time.”
Bella downed her glass of wine and got to her feet. “How about we both take the blame?”
“Not a chance,” Klaus huffed with a playful smile on his face. “This is your fault. Go to bed, little swan, before you destroy more of my things.”
