Chapter 05
Chef had brought her some food, but Bella hadn’t been hungry. She had had three whole pancakes that day and they had been delicious but the more she thought about that morning, the more truth she saw in it. She was a Cold One, and Cold Ones didn’t need human food, they couldn’t eat it. She shouldn’t eat so much.
The food was still resting on her table, though, as a reminder.
It was quiet in the building. Freya was out, Kol was out, Klaus was out with Bella’s sister and Elijah was reading. Bella enjoyed the silence very much as she was sitting underneath the table with her legs crossed. It was welcomed, after everything that had happened that day. It was getting late in the day, the sounds outside were changing from passing cars to more people on foot, laughing, thinking loudly, but that was alright, Bella didn’t have to listen. Her bubble was nice.
Until the point where her door flew open and slammed shut again. She shifted so she was sitting on her knees and peeked out from underneath the table. Kol would knock before he’d enter. So would Freya. “Fucker, fuck!” It was Myriam. Bella’s sister. What was she doing in her confinement? Bella couldn’t get a read on her, but she could tell that she was slightly drunk on blood. “What a fucking asshole! Taking me out to see the city? How nice of him! Exploring the city was wonderful, saw many beautiful and old things and I heard many stories. Then he took me to an all you can eat buffet!” Myriam barked out a laugh. “Jesus fuck, there were so many of them that I thoroughly enjoyed myself while we fed. And then it dawned on me… you know, the fucker says ‘love’ a lot. A LOT. Oh, and ‘sweetheart’, jeez, that’s fucking annoying! He held the doors open for me. Made sure everything was to my liking. Fucker! See, that’s why I hated him calling Dad, because Dad would make a joke that I’m fucking cheap and it would get ideas in someone’s fucking head! Just because I fucking killed my fuckbuddy doesn’t mean I’m free and open for anyone else! Jesus fuck!” She stopped pacing then, the smell of cold human food entering her nostrils and spotting the plate. “And I didn’t give up my humanity for you so you can skip your dinner. Sit down and fucking eat your food!” She pulled Bella from underneath the table and set her down on a chair before taking a seat in front of her, where Kol usually sat. “I’m here for you, Bella, I’m not here to get fucked with by traditionals, you got that? No messing with my mind or no nudge in the right direction because I swear, I will kill you.”
Bella did as she was told and started to eat the food, she wasn’t sure what Myriam had been going on about, other than it sounded like Klaus was being kind to her. “It’s called kindness, ma’am,” she softly said as she continued to eat. “This family is very kind, except for when there’s anger and rage involved.”
“No, Bella, Klaus was trying to get into my pants.”
“I doubt it’d fit, ma’am,” Bella replied as she kept her eyes on her plate and continued to eat.
Myriam didn’t know whether to laugh or dismiss it. Because it did sound funny and it was the truth, Klaus Mikaelson would never fit into her pants, but Bella was so innocent. “You have no idea what I was ranting about, do you?”
“You didn’t like Klaus’ kindness, ma’am,” Bella said, half shrugging. “It is something to get used to, but give it a few days and you will appreciate it that these vampires like kindness above else. They don’t believe in punishments or water and oats, and they don’t do experiments. They do magic and Freya made it look so pretty. And these vampires’ touch is warm, not cold. They’re soft, like I am!”
Myriam sighed as she leaned on the table and rested her head in her hand. “You’ve been here a while… have you been inside their heads? Do you trust them? What do you think of them?”
“When Edward abandoned me, Klaus took me with him, ma’am. I was sure I was going to get punished or killed, and I welcomed it. I felt as if nothing mattered anymore, because they had finally found a way to get me away from everyone. To be safe, and not to have someone as defective as me. I don’t like Klaus much, he has a lot of fear and rage inside of him. Kol found me in the dungeons while Klaus was away, and Kol started to show me kindness. And I tried so hard to refuse. I believed that Edward was going to come for me and take me back home. It was only because Kol forced me to feel something, to make me hurt twenty people in the street, that I know that I have been wrong in rejecting kindness. That they are trying to make me adjust to their version of living, likely in the hopes that I can serve them as I tried serving the Cullens. Like the children we had at home, we showed them a better way of life and made them stronger.”
Myriam sighed then. “For you, this is a better way of life. Yes, you were raised as a Cold One, but not entirely because you’re still human. You have needs that the Cullens couldn’t give you and birthgiver and sperm donor only used you for appearances sake. You don’t have to be quiet. You don’t have to serve. I can see that now. You’re free. Like I am.”
“No ma’am,” Bella shook her head. “I might hurt more people. I’m a monster, I’m a bad girl. You’re the good girl. You’re strong, and you’re fast, and you’ve made a good impression on Klaus. You kill bad Cold Ones. I only hurt good people or people who don’t deserve it. And I’m aware that I’m different.”
“It’s good to be different, if we were all the same, life would be so incredibly boring,” Myriam shrugged. “And to be fair, your innocence is so adorable. You’re not a bad girl, Bella. You’re a good girl who’s had bad things happen to her. You’re a good girl, wrongly instructed by bad people. The Mikaelsons are trying to teach you their way of life because this is exactly how life should be lived. With kindness. With good food. The first 18 years of my life had been fantastic, Peter and Charlotte couldn’t cook for shit, but they employed a cook so that I had my normal, human food. I spend my days out in the sun on the farm. Riding horses or training to become stronger and faster. Because Peter and Charlotte told me about the bad Cold Ones when I was old enough to hear where I came from. And ever since then, there’s this fire inside of me that just needs to kill bad Cold Ones, you know. I won’t rest until they’re all dead,” she smiled then. “And maybe, one day, you’ll feel strong and confident enough to come and help me.”
“But killing is bad.”
“Killing bad Cold Ones isn’t bad. It’s good,” Myriam pointed out. “It makes the world a little safer for humans to live in. On top of that, I don’t feed off of good humans, either. I feed on the bad humans, because they deserve it.”
Bella had finished her plate and carefully put it aside. “What’s a sperm donor, ma’am?”
~o.O.o~
Bella hadn’t slept because she didn’t need sleep. Like her sister because Cold Ones didn’t sleep. Kol hadn’t come home, and Bella was a little bit worried, but she knew that he could take care of himself. He had told her that quite often. Instead, Bella listened to Myriam as she spoke about how and where she grew up, describing a lot of things in detail so that Bella knew that things were, or at least understand. Bella was good at listening, and she believed that Myriam simply wanted to talk to someone.
When it was morning, and the staff of the Mikaelsons started to prepare for breakfast, Bella couldn’t believe it had only been a day since she met Myriam. Myriam was an open book, there was no need to go into her mind to understand her, because she spoke openly and used the word ‘fuck’ a lot. Bella had the feeling that she knew Myriam quite well already – granted, there were things that Bella didn’t understand but simply let Myriam talk. And talk. It was what Myriam needed.
Bella wasn’t sure how to feel about having a sister. In her experience, families were bad, like the Cullens. But the Mikaelsons were a family and despite all of their anger issues, they were together and they were kind. It was confusing and Bella didn’t know how to be a sister. What if she’d be bad at it?
“So, tell me about Kol,” Myriam smiled at her. “He’s been looking after you, hasn’t he? Been teaching you things?”
Bella nodded. “And Freya and her doctor Keelin are figuring out how I’m built and what’s in my bloodstream. They have to determine if they need to get it out or if it can stay.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“Birth giver’s herbs, I guess ma’am. All the syringes with things in them to make me better. Freya said that she wouldn’t be surprised if Doctor Carlisle rewired me on the inside, in my chest, but Keelin took pictures of me, you know those where you can see on the inside? And she said I was complete. I still had everything, although I don’t know what could be missing.”
Myriam sucked in a breath. “Well, sometimes Cold Ones who are in the business of ‘helping’ special children, like to remove a kidney to sell it for money. Or half a lung. Or you know, get the part out where you can grow a baby.”
“I don’t want to be a birth giver!”
She laughed then. “No, you don’t have to be one. You can become a mom if you want to. But you’ll never have to worry about becoming a birth giver. That might have eventually happened if you weren’t caught by Klaus’ daughter Hope. But you know what? That’s a talk we can have some other time. What else did Kol do for you?”
“He showed me that warm water is nice, ma’am. That it’s much better to be underneath the shower or in the bath than being hosed down. And that I had to use a towel. Oh, and the toilet, but luckily I knew how it worked having been on one a few times. And that human food is indeed better than water and oats. And most of all, he taught me that it’s good to talk about what you feel and that crying could feel good. He thinks that because of my instructions of not being allowed to feel anything that I’m getting those explosions in my head that hurt people.”
“And, is that working?”
“My head still feels light, ma’am. Usually by now it starts to feel a bit heavy. And then heavier, and heavier…”
“And then it takes just the right push for you to explode.” The whole ‘ma’am’ thing was annoying Myriam immensely. She was Myriam, for fuck’s sake. Her sister. She was not a ma’am. “Well, guess what?”
“What, ma’am?”
“According to Jasper, and to my parents, I can block mental abilities. Like… Jasper’s manipulation of feelings. Or compulsion by traditional vampires… or… Edward’s mind reading. Haven’t you noticed? You can’t get into my mind? That’s because I’m keeping you out. You can push people away with your shield, or protect them, right? Well, I just have to stand in front of whatever is happening and it goes away. Hurts no one.” She saw a big smile appear on Bella’s face, a smile of relief. “I haven’t tested it yet with your meltdown, though, so you’d better keep on the good work so I won’t have to.”
“You can really do that, ma’am? You can make sure that I’m safe to be around? For everyone?” Bella sounded like an excited child, her voice filled with hope and anticipation.
“Theoretically I should. Yes.”
“Did you tell Klaus, ma’am? That would certainly ease his mind about me!”
Myriam smirked then. “I have not told him and let’s not tell him, okay? He’s a polite asshole who tried to get into my pants. We’re not going to tell him anything. I’m not sure what’s in the bundle of information that Dad has, but if it’s not in there, we’re not going to tell.”
“But isn’t that bad? Not telling something important to someone, ma’am?”
“Not in our case, Bella. You and I are special. Perhaps even more special than Klaus Mikaelson himself, and we can’t give away our secrets like that. You know why?”
Bella shook her head.
“Because in the case of emergency and we need to get the hell out of here, I’d rather have them surprised by what we can do than for them to have anticipated our moves,” she said as she helped Bella to her feet. “Because even nice people can be bad, especially for us Cold Ones. Now, come, let’s get you something to eat, they’ve finished setting things up. You need to tell me what you like to do for fun so we don’t get bored,” she said as she looped her arm through Bella’s and took her to the courtyard. “You do have hobbies, right?”
“What do you mean, ma’am?”
Myriam sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “What do you like to do to kill time? Like… cooking or reading or… I don’t know…”
“I remain in my confinement until I’m needed, ma’am.”
“That was there, what do you do here?”
“The same, ma’am. Although I do like it when Kol’s spending time with me.”
Myriam scowled as they sat down at the table. “Seriously, what’s up with the sir and ma’am shit? I’m Myriam. I’m your sister. I’m getting very very icky vibes off of you calling me ma’am, makes me think that the Cullens did more than you say they did. Did they ever like tie you up? Pushed their cold hard junk inside of you? Whipped you?”
“Oh, kinky,” Kol said grinning as he sauntered into the courtyard and for Myriam he was reeking clearly of blood, booze and sex after his long time at Débauche. “I’d love to, darling, but I am spent! Maybe tomorrow!”
Bella watched Kol go into his own room and blinked. “I thought vampires couldn’t get sick?”
“Oh, they can… well, they can. I can’t. I think he drank through an entire bar or two…” It was fortunate that she didn’t need to breathe, Kol’s stench almost made him vomit. “He smells disgusting.”
Bella started to fill a plate with some food and got to her feet. “I’ll be right back, ma’— Myriam.”
“Where are you going?”
“He’s sick, he needs to eat something to make him feel better, like he told me to do,” she said innocently before going over to his room and knocked on the door. “Kol?”
“Go away, Bella,” Kol’s voice sounded from the other side of the door. “I’m not feeling too great.”
He sure didn’t sound like himself. She took a deep breath and opened the door, slightly. Kol had helped her when she was feeling sick, it was kind to do it for him, too. The room was dark, the curtains were drawn and there were no lights on, and no place for the sun to come in. She hadn’t been into his room before, but it reminded her of her confinement at the Cullens, just warmer. She opened the door slightly further. “I know, but I brought you something to eat. You’ll feel better when you eat something. Those are your own words.”
Kol let out a groan. “Oh sure, now you’re paying attention,” he muttered. “Darling, I’m not sick. I merely… overindulged and I’m not sure if I’m quite done yet, but they kicked me out after having had every girl in that brothel, there was no one who could satisfy me.”
“I’ll just put the plate on your table so you can take some food when you feel like it,” Bella said as she quietly got into his room and managed to find the lightswitch so she could find a table. Kol wasn’t wearing any clothes and he was on his bed, looking at Bella as if he was shocked. Not even blinking, she slipped into his mind for a moment as she made her way over to the table to put the plate down.
What the fuck! Oh bloody hell, this is going to ruin her, why didn’t anyone stop her? She smells so good though… oh fuck, yep, there it comes. Kol grabbed a pillow to cover up his modesty and kept his eyes on Bella, who didn’t seem to be bothered, at all. “Thanks, darling, you can go now,” he said with a strained voice. Why haven’t I seen this before? No, I did. But she’s broken and innocent. Not pure, but interesting. No, this wasn’t love, this was lust. Because she was new and exciting. And I want to fuck her. Fuck. Her. Fuck. Bella. She’d feel so good…
“I’m sorry,” Bella said softly as she left his room. Why were his words contradicting his feelings? She felt a little hurt that he didn’t like the kindness that she showed him. She sat back down at the table and grabbed herself a pancake.
Bella’s silence told Myriam enough. She had read his mind. “What did you learn?”
“He was likely feeling feverish, he wasn’t wearing any clothes. He used your bad words in reference to me,” Bella replied sadly. “He didn’t like my kindness.”
“My bad words?” Myriam said surprised, thinking about her vocabulary and what Bella might have heard. “You mean fuck?”
“You use that when you don’t like something or someone,” Bella nodded slowly. “Kol doesn’t like me…” she then picked up another stray thought. “And he wants to eat me.”
Myriam started to laugh, and couldn’t actually stop laughing as Bella nibbled on her pancake. This was hilarious as fuck and she wasn’t sure if she should be the one to give Bella the talk about the birds and the bees. She wasn’t even sure if the girl was ready for that, seeing as she had a hard time identifying some emotions still, and wasn’t expressing enough on her own. “Alright, Bella,” Myriam was still laughing as Bella’s words played through her head. “Get out of his head, give him some privacy.”
Apart from the presence of one Klaus Mikaelson, this place was a hoot. Myriam was definitely going to stick around!
Over breakfast, everyone had laughed on Bella’s expense, and yes, it was kinda shitty of them, but to be honest, it was kinda funny and it was a lesson for Bella to stay out of someone’s head when they were too incapacitated to put up their mental roadblocks. Myriam went out into New Orleans to a) avoid Klaus and b) to get some board games to play with Bella since her sister pretty much said that she didn’t do anything for fun. It meant that she was sitting still, waiting for the next thing to happen.
That wasn’t living. Bella needed to have fun. Maybe, just maybe, Myriam could teach her how to bake cookies and eat them. Or lasagna, the cook’s recipe from when she was growing up had been delicious and Bella could share with the Mikaelsons for all Myriam cared. She just wanted to give Bella something to do, to keep her engaged. Like a fucking toddler needing to learn all the things.
She wasn’t going to mess with Kol and Bella’s friendship or whatever they had going between them. While the exchange had been hilarious, this was something that Kol needed to talk about with her sister, because right now she was feeling as if Kol didn’t like her very much. Which was partially Myriam’s potty mouth’s fault, but that was beside the point. While Myriam would love nothing more than to see her sister happy and taken care of, she was nowhere near that point and Kol was going to have to keep a lid on his feelings for her until she was ready. She hoped that he was smart enough to realize that.
The best part of seeing her sister up close was that she could get the measurements right. Bella was shorter, likely due to the fact that she didn’t get enough sunlight and the best food while growing up, and of course, thinner. It would likely take months for her to look like a healthy human being. Myriam loved shopping for clothes, and it was more fun to shop for someone else, while looking at them to see if it fit and if it was something for them.
Even though Myriam wanted to buy all the tight stuff, she refrained from doing so and opted for a nice summer dress instead. And underwear. She hadn’t seen any underwear in any cupboard in Bella’s room, likely because she was wearing sweatpants all the time and second hand underwear was gross. A nice cozy big shirt to sleep in and some fluffy bunny slippers. Of course, now that Myriam was going to stay for a while, she needed some essentials of her own, clothes.
When she returned to the compound, she saw Kol slip into Bella’s room – it was about time, the bastard hadn’t left his room since he returned the day before! Myriam decided to stay out for a while longer, although she secretly wanted to listen in on the conversation. It was always good when men squirmed.
Kol found Bella sitting in her favourite corner, knees hugged to her chest, and only acknowledging him briefly before staring blankly ahead of her again. “Hey, Bella, how are you doing today?” He asked as he sat down next to her. “Is everything going well between you and your sister?” When she nodded, he continued. “Can we talk about what happened yesterday?”
She looked at him then. “We don’t have to. You weren’t feeling well and didn’t appreciate my kindness.”
“I had far too much to drink, alcohol, even more than we can usually tolerate and I was absolutely shitfaced. I had a lot of blood inside of me as well and I was a little frustrated,” he said slowly and in a soft tone of voice. “It’s embarrassing that you saw me that way. Stark naked about to wank and—”
“What’s shitfaced? What’s wank?”
“Right, well, shitfaced… have you ever experienced being in a situation where you felt really good and your head was all floating and thinking crazy things? Perhaps you felt urges you’d never felt before at the same time? That’s what alcohol does to you. And drugs. And too much blood, in my case. When you’re shitfaced, all your walls come down. Like… all of them. No self control, nothing.” When Bella nodded, he continued. “And wank… well… humans and vampires alike enjoy a lot of things similarly. Wanking is the action of stroking my penis until it feels so good that white stuff, semen, comes out of it. It makes you feel relaxed. It’s basically playing with yourself until you feel good and relaxed.”
She couldn’t see the appeal to both of them. Losing control over your own actions was scary and wanking sounded gross. She’d never touch herself down there, for what purpose? It was where her pee came out! But she nodded, thanking him for his explanation anyway. More information to remember.
“And you, you went inside my head, you devious little thing,” he said as he playfully poked her arm. “You know I don’t like you to poke inside my head.”
“You were sick. I was merely trying to make sure you were truly alright,” she replied softly. “But instead I found something that I didn’t like.”
She found something she didn’t like. Progress. He hated it, though, that she didn’t like something about him. “Really? What was that?”
“You don’t like me,” she stared right at him. “You used Myriam’s bad word in combination with my name. But it’s okay, you don’t have to like me. I have Myriam now, we can go if you’d like me to.”
Myriam’s bad word? Fuck? Yeah he often used that word inside his head, they were a part of his thoughts, but his thoughts were unfiltered and—- oh. Shit. “Right,” he sighed as he put an arm around her and pulled her closer. “Didn’t they ever mention that hearing someone’s thoughts is hearing them unfiltered? That what that someone thinks is private and usually raw? Think about it. Your inner monologue is different what comes out of your mouth. It’s likely not a huge difference for you, but for most people it is. I understand you wanted to make sure I was alright, Bella, but you shouldn’t have read my thoughts while I was incapacitated like that. Just because you can, doesn’t mean it gives you a free pass.”
“Are you going to punish me?”
“Never,” he smiled at her. “Why would I punish you for things you still need to learn? You know it’s wrong now, and you likely won’t do it again.”
“But you don’t like me.”
“I do, Bella, I do,” he replied as he held her even closer for a moment. “I don’t want you to leave because you think I do. I’m not sure in what kind of context of the word fuck was used when I was shitfaced, but I think you should ask your sister about it, since she’s the one who’s using the word a lot.”
“But it were your thoughts, it wouldn’t be kind of me to discuss them with Myriam.”
“It’s from my understanding that Myriam knows a lot about the different meanings of the word fuck, I’m sure she’d love to tell you all about it.”
“But to discuss your private thoughts with someone you’ve only met yesterday?”
Kol shrugged, pretty sure knowing what his thoughts were. “Your sister is more alike to us than you or she might realize at this point, being raised the way that she is. I don’t mind. It’s actually a topic that should be openly discussed rather than to feel embarrassed about.”
“She told me to ask you.”
“And I’m telling you to ask her,” he grinned. “Now, did you manage to get any sleep or did your sister keep you awake all night?”
“Cold Ones never sleep, I’m used to that.”
“Ah yes, but you’re a human, darling, you require regular hours of sleep, how about you take a nap? I’ll have to go and discuss something with my brother anyway and if I see your sister, I shall tell her that you’re resting.”
“But you truly meant it? You do like me?”
“Yes, Bella, I do. Very much so,” he took the blanket and wrapped it around her. “Go have a nap, darling, I’ll be back to fetch you for dinner.”
She smiled then as she shifted and took her place on the floor. One of these days, Kol was going to have to convince her somehow that she’d really prefer the soft bed that was standing in her room. It wasn’t just an object, it was something she could use and it was more comfortable than the floor.
Kol stayed until she started to breathe steadily and evenly and then quietly left her room, bumping into Myriam, who had a big smile on her face. “Don’t even think about waking her up.”
“Oh, I’m not,” she grinned. “I just couldn’t help but listen in on your conversation with her and how hard you needed to work to deflect talking about your most deepest desire.”
“And what’s that?”
“You want to fuck my sister!” Myriam started to laugh. “You honestly want to fuck a broken bird, couldn’t you have waited to develop feelings for her until she was… I don’t know, functioning like a normal person?”
Kol growled as he pushed Myriam away from Bella’s room so that they wouldn’t wake her up. “I don’t want to fuck her, Myriam. I want to covet her and treat her like the brilliant person she will turn out to be. Don’t you think that I’m not appalled with the fact that I’m attracted to her? Not because she’s awful or ugly, but because she needs to find herself, she needs to get comfortable in her own skin and amongst us. She needs to forget her training and that will take time.”
Myriam hummed then, a random thought popping up. “You know, being around Cold Ones makes humans be completely infatuated by them, what if she has that effect on you?”
“Freya already checked her over for that and she doesn’t have that gene, I wish it was that easy, but it’s not.” Kol decided to change the subject then, as he was tired talking about his feelings for Bella. “How was your night with Niklaus? Did you two have fun?”
Myriam narrowed her eyes on Kol. “No, and that fucker is staying away from me. I’m here for my sister, not for anything else.”
Kol was surprised to hear that. “You two did not have sex? I have lost a bet with Freya then… What happened? Performance anxiety?”
“You need to stop or I will kill you,” Myriam told him as she slowly started to lose her cool. “I’ve already spoken to Bella about my evening with your brother, I’m not going to discuss it with you.”
“With Bella?” Kol laughed. “Oh, that poor girl, she must have been so confused!”
“It’s no laughing matter!” Myriam said as she pushed Kol away from her. “She’s twenty years old! She’s a fucking human who, until she came here, had never tasted good human food before! She’s never been through puberty, or it’s been fucking repressed. She’s so fucking innocent that I don’t even want you around her because you’re thinking about fucking her while you smell like the whores you’ve been visiting previously!” So much for keeping her mouth shut about her sister’s friendship with Kol Mikaelson.
“Hey now,” Kol defended himself. “I have been taking care of her, making sure she felt safe and secure, ate, and got some routine going with the help of my sister. I have been nothing but respectful towards her! So yeah, forgive me if I went teetotal last night because your sister requires a lot of patience and control and I’m not known to possess those qualities! I had to let loose!”
“You’re saying she’s a handful? A burden?” Myriam lowered her voice, definitely making sure it sounded like a threat as she approached him. Oh, she so wanted to kill him. Traditionals would be so easy to kill…
“I did not say that!”
“It sure sounded like it, try again, see if you can make it sound like she’s not a burden to you,” Myriam said, still advancing on Kol, who was walking backwards, towards Bella’s room. Even if he’d go inside, wake Bella up and ask her to put her shield around him, it wouldn’t matter. Myriam could get through. It would be good practise, a test of theories. “How dare you to claim to have good intentions when you’re looking elsewhere to get off? She deserves better than that! Better than you!” Myriam grabbed him and threw him across the courtyard, straight into the partition that hid an ugly spot in the courtyard, a loud crash could be heard as Kol’s body broke the partition and he dropped to the ground.
In one fluid motion, she was on top of him, not giving him time to recover. “She deserves someone who’s dedicated to her, and her alone, not allowing his needs to seek his kicks elsewhere simply because at the current time he can’t get them from her!” She wanted to punch him, but he was quick enough to dodge her fist and she cracked the pavement. “You’re not even introducing her to the most human things to do! Board games! Cooking! Ride a ferris wheel! Learn how to read, devour books! Watch movies! Let her be a teenage girl, or a child, even! She’s never had that! You know what I did this morning? I went out and bought her clothes. PJ’s. Fluffy bunny slippers and a handful of board games she might enjoy! Oh, and crayons! Because she’s never had that! And what do you do? You come in, talk, and leave her to stare into nothingness, not engaging her mind at all! You fucking claim to want her with everything that she is and that makes you no better than the fucking Cullens.” The next punch she threw, hit, shattering a cheekbone. “You’re fucking lucky I’m not taking her away from here because we have nowhere else to go, but you’re not going anywhere near her again!”
“Alright, that’s enough,” Elijah’s calm voice sounded as he pried Myriam off of his younger brother, whose face looked dented, Myriam’s knuckles having left quite the imprint. Knowing he couldn’t contain the furious Cold One himself, he pushed her towards Niklaus, who grabbed her tightly and held her close as Myriam fought him.
“Let me go, you fucker! You’re even worse than he is!” She said as she tried to push herself off of the ground, but all Klaus did was to lift her feet off of the ground. Despite being taller than Bella, she still was a tiny ball of fire and Klaus was taller.
“Calm down, love,” Klaus said softly as he was impressed by Myriam’s strength. She hadn’t been lying that she was strong and he’d never encountered a Cold One this strong – yet. “You’ve done enough breaking for today.”
“Don’t talk to me,” Myriam spat as she tried to wrestle herself loose. Klaus held her good, she couldn’t move her arms at all and her legs couldn’t even kick him as he held her at an angle, keeping everything away from her. “If it hadn’t been for your stupid daughter, Bella wouldn’t have been here.”
“No, she would have been dead,” Klaus replied calmly. “Go ahead, blame everyone and the world, but you need to calm down before you seriously injure someone.” Myriam knocked her head back, colliding with Klaus’, causing the hybrid to stumble, but not to let go of her, seriously pissing him off now. Such a shame that Cold Ones couldn’t be put into time out with a snap of the neck. He felt his hybrid façade bleed out and carefully scraped Myriam’s neck, careful not to get her venom onto him, because that would be a bitch.
Myriam stilled then. It was something Peter would do during her year of being a newborn and she was getting out of hand. She could be decapitated and that would bring her nowhere.
“Now, calm down, and once you’re calm, we’re going to have a civil discussion without breaking things, do you understand, sweetheart?” Klaus asked nicely. “I am going to hold you until you calm down seeing as we have no space in this house that could contain you in particular.”
“Kol,” Elijah spoke quietly as he didn’t take his eyes of their audience. “Would you be so kind to go to the kitchens to get yourself some blood to heal yourself a bit faster?”
“A Cold One smashed my face in, Elijah, a little sympathy couldn’t hurt,” Kol shot at him as he managed to get to his feet, Elijah moving slightly to block Kol’s sight on Bella’s room.
“You and Myriam garnered quite the audience during your little scuffle.”
“Little scuffle? Seriously, ‘Lijah?” Kol huffed as he touched his cheek and was surprised to find it dented. “Oh, bloody hell! Who thought it was a fucking good idea to have a Cold One underneath our roof? And unstable at that! My handsome face!”
“Kol,” Klaus said, warning him, as he could feel Myriam’s muscles tense up again. “Get yourself fed. Where’s Freya?”
“She’s with Keelin,” Elijah replied as he watched his youngest brother walk off towards the kitchen before going over to Bella, who was still looking at what had happened in the courtyard. “Everyone is alright, Bella, no one got hurt.”
“Myriam can still get hurt,” Bella said as she looked at Klaus holding her sister like she’d seen happen many times before. Her neck was too exposed. She needed to shield her so that Klaus couldn’t hurt her.
“I can assure you, the last thing Niklaus wants is to hurt your sister,” Elijah smiled at her. “He’s merely keeping Myriam from hurting herself or others.”
“But Klaus doesn’t like me. He’s fearful of me, why would he allow me to have my sister after she attacked his brother?”
Elijah sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Niklaus, for one time, would you please allow Bella access to your mind so she can see for herself how well your intentions are for her, and her sister?”
“Oh, I know exactly what his intentions are!” Myriam growled.
“Hush, sweetheart,” Klaus whispered in her ear, and Myriam stilled again. “I’m not a fan of that idea, Elijah.”
He looked back at the pair. “I do not either, but you need to allow Bella to read your mind to be reassured what you’re doing is the best option for now. Considering what she came from, imagine what you two appear like to her at the moment. And perhaps Myriam would gain some perspective herself when the day is over,” he finished, his tone mildly scolding as his eyes settled on the Cold One at the end.
“Do I get any reassurance that she won’t mess around in my head, instead?” Klaus wondered out loud.
Elijah huffed in frustration. “Niklaus for God’s sake…,” he retorted. Turning to Bella, he knelt near the girl in attempt to appear less imposing. “Would you only read his thoughts and nothing else? Could you promise that?”
“I can’t manipulate thoughts and feelings like Jasper could, I can read only.”
“I think he’s more afraid of what you were able to do to the humans outside if you were actually in his mind, dear.”
Bella blinked at him. “I don’t enter people’s brains to do that, it’s just happens and I don’t have control over it. But I can’t do that by myself. I never hurt people when I read their thoughts. I don’t want to hurt people.”
Elijah stared at her for a long minute to gauge her understanding. He truly felt that sinister ability was emotion based and it hadn’t affected the family at the time. Nodding, he looked over his shoulder at his brother. “I trust that she can do it. We need to begin trusting her if we want her to trust us,” he murmured in addition.
“Very well,” Klaus sighed as he opened his mind, hoping that whatever Bella would see in it wouldn’t be confusing for her because otherwise he’d be in trouble.
Bella didn’t particularly feel like she wanted to read Klaus’ mind, especially not after she had read Kol’s and he had told her that it was his privacy that she’d been invading and that his thoughts were his. Unfiltered. Raw. Unreliable. “I promise I’ll keep them to myself,” Bella said as she took a few steps closer to Klaus, his mind was harder to get into than she had anticipated. “But do keep talking, if you wish.”
I don’t like this. For Bella’s reassurance opening my mind for her? As if I would ever harm a woman! That thought is preposterous!
Myriam squirmed in his arms and smirked at her sister. “I told you he only wanted to get in my pants. Now you have confirmation of that.”
“What does preposterous mean?” Bella questioned. “I don’t understand.”
Elijah eyed his brother. “It means absurd, or ridiculous. Forgive my brother. He favors his expensive words almost as much as I.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Klaus huffed at his brother, glaring in confusion at the girl in his arms for her outrageous claim.
Expensive words, I say education. Long years of living. One’s bout to pick up words he favors, difficult or not. Myriam’s strong. When is she going to stop struggling so much? Peter should have given me other options. Other than to ‘build a bunker’ and this one. Peter doesn’t know everything, can’t know everything. Jasper manipulated his ability to know everything, danced around it. Hid things. And Peter was worried about the safety of his girl and her sister. Well, yeah, so am I. They’re safe here, for now. Peter assured me that Myriam has her own special way to make sure Bella’s safe to be around with.
That thought surprised Bella, Myriam said it would be their secret, and Peter told Klaus about it? So much for it being a secret! She liked to identify the feelings and have the mind tell her what reason it was for them to feel that way. It made her understand it easier, but sometimes it only made things worse for her.
Myriam was right about bringing more humanity in this home, Freya said the same and I was going to send Kol out to buy things that could possibly interest Bella. It’s a good thing Myriam was already a step ahead, painful, too. Myriam needs our help as much as Bella does, her life couldn’t have been easy, either. Lonely, perhaps, knowing she had a sister and not — perhaps Freya could try to bond with Myriam, they both have the same experience concerning siblings.
But why on Earth would Myriam think I was trying to woo her and bring her to my bed? We’ve only just met. I was just showing her the city. Our beautiful New Orleans. The lights. The buildings. The places she could feed safely without the deaths being too much of a nuisance. The Art. That’s what set her off. And that conversation I overheard that she had with Bella made no sense. Myriam is attractive, yes, but we’ve only just met! I was trying to get to know her and now she’s acting like this. Oh, perhaps in time, she’ll see that I was only being friendly and making sure that she wouldn’t turn our home into a ruin…
Did she really have to pick a fight with Kol, though? They both mean well and they were both fighting for Bella. Well, perhaps Kol did deserve it. Myriam was right in that sense, if Kol is truly interested in Bella as he claims, then he shouldn’t seek his entertainment elsewhere. Those days belong in the past, not in this time. Granted, we’re vampires and we don’t have to adhere to humanity’s standards… well… Kol has to. I don’t– but I do. Nowadays.
Oh, she is beautiful, isn’t she? Despite her cold, marble skin, she’s a beautiful raging sun that would make me want to see how amazing it would be if she’d exploded around me. Glorious, I’ll bet. I need to paint this beautiful metaphor. Oh, if only I wasn’t still holding her.
Bella blinked and gasped as she watched the metaphor happen. Klaus’ thoughts were quite vivid, images, feelings, thoughts, all at the same time and she tried to listen to the words, but this image was spectacular, incredibly detailed and the feelings— overwhelming. Was she supposed to see this? What was this? What needed to happen for Bella to feel this for herself? Would she even be able to?
Elijah and Myriam watched Bella’s reactions and he looked over at his brother in wonder. What exactly did she read in his head to garnish such a response. All he knew was that Klaus was trying to hide a blush within Myriam’s hair.
