Chapter 06
They had watched Myriam go into Bella’s room with all the things she had bought for her after calming down. She couldn’t get away from Klaus fast enough, it seemed. Kol was still nursing the dent in his face, this time with alcohol, in Klaus’ study. Elijah and Klaus went up to the study as well and Klaus sighed as he sat down, relaxing. “Next time we have an out of control Cold One…”
“You’ll get to wrangle her again,” Elijah smirked as he poured his brother a drink. “You’re the only one strong enough to do so.”
Klaus scowled as he took his drink from his brother and downed it in one go. Bella had been in his mind and he had survived the ordeal. He hadn’t even felt her inside of his mind, which was extraordinary and dangerous. It was unnerving, as well. It was fortunate that he, and most of his siblings, were capable of closing their minds completely, but who knew what errand thought she could pick up on when they were not at their best? Was that also one of the reasons why Myriam picked a fight with Kol, because Bella saw something in his mind while he was incapacitated? “Kol, your partying days are over, for now.”
“Don’t you think I know that now?” Kol scowled. “Especially now that I look like a crash test dummy after it got hit by a wrecking ball! You really know how to pick your women, well done,” he added sarcastically and poured himself another drink. “And for your information, Bella knows not to poke around in our heads, she hasn’t been doing it ever since I started with her. She was just worried about me, that’s all.”
“We know,” Elijah and Klaus replied, both half shrugging. “But still, had Myriam not been around, I would have said the same thing,” Klaus continued. “I don’t care about your face. It will heal.”
“I sincerely doubt that Bella likes you for your looks, Kol,” Elijah mused. “And on that note… I’m wondering what young Bella experienced in Niklaus’ mind that made her all flustered.”
“What!” Kol blinked as he stared at his brothers. “Niklaus allowed Bella inside his mind and she was flustered? Nik!”
“I can’t be certain what she picked up, it could have been anything. I was thinking many things at the time, you know very well how thoughts work,” Klaus said as he took a sip from his drink after refilling it. “As I said, I didn’t know when she was in or out of my mind, but whatever she experienced inside my mind, I’m glad it was enough for her to see that I wasn’t going to hurt her sister.”
“She might have gotten more than expected,” Elijah replied, swirling his bourbon around in his glass. “I suppose Kol and Myriam could be required to answer some uncomfortable questions.”
“What do you mean? I wasn’t there, Elijah! I was stuffing my face with blood!”
“Relax, whatever it was, she found it a pleasant experience, with her cheeks pinking up beautifully. Seeing as we’re still men at heart, it doesn’t take a genius to know that it was likely about sex.”
“What! Why! I think of having sex with her and she basically thinks I dislike her and she sees it in Nik’s head and she gets all flustered? That’s so not fair!” Kol objected.
Klaus sighed. “The answer is simple, brother,” he eventually spoke. “We have different ways of thinking, I wasn’t incapacitated when Bella entered my mind and perhaps my thoughts were a bit clearer for her to understand. And for your information, I wasn’t thinking about having sex with her. She’s all yours.”
Kol blinked, still in disbelief. “Okay. So she saw you thinking about shagging her sister. Again, tell me the difference because I’m failing to find it here.”
“Think of you as being as subtle as a bull in a china shop when drunk, imagine what your thoughts would be,” Elijah thought out loud, comparing both of his brothers. “Niklaus is like a fine wine, smooth and subtle and he was in control over himself, he merely allowed Bella access. She didn’t like his choice of expensive words.”
“Either way, she’s not quite at the mental stage to accept sex. I accept that, but why would she – Nik…” Kol was so disappointed and frustrated with himself as he sat on the couch.
“I was thinking about artwork, different things, beautiful sunsets, orgasms, everything. She didn’t get a full picture.Or perhaps a jungled imagery of orgasms.”
Kol looked at him and shook his head. “She felt your mental orgasm.”
Klaus sighed and hung his head in shame. “She felt my fantasy of an orgasm.”
“With her sister,” Elijah pointed out, not so helpfully.
“And so what of it?” Klaus defended himself. “Myriam is a beautiful young woman, highly intelligent and her vulgar language and strength is a turn-on. I’m being courteous as to taking my time to get to know her properly before trying to make any advances.”
“I don’t dispute that but it would rather be a difficult coupling. As much as I would be pleased to see you happy here, I don’t know if it is possible,” he shared his opinion. “I do like the girl, do not mistake my words–”
“Don’t you think I know that, brother? Perhaps we can ask Freya if she’d know something… a fix for this. A supernatural condom for all I care. But until then, my thoughts are just that. We all think about sex all the time, and she’s currently my tormentor. Don’t tell me you don’t have your own in someone, brother, because that would be a lie.”
Elijah hesitated and looked out of the study, struggling to find any words of reassurance for his brother as he had tried that route on his behalf already.
“And you were right, by trusting Bella inside my mind, we established some more trust. I think that’s what’s more important than her having felt my fantasy or whatever she saw in my head.”
“Except if she saw you go on a murderous rampage,” Kol muttered.
“I think she’d be used to that, brother,” Elijah chided him a little. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry she’ll avoid us for having done all of that. I can’t help but to be curious as to what information Marcellus will return with after having picked it up from Peter Whitlock.”
“We need to keep in mind that the information might not be trustworthy seeing as a bulk of the information was provided by Jasper who knew about Peter’s ability and managed to work around it,” Klaus replied with a sigh. “Peter’s quite unhappy about it all, because the Cullens might know about Myriam, as well. If they know that she survived, they might actually send the Volturi Guard over.”
“Just how much have you been in contact with the empath’s creations?” Elijah enquired, glancing over to his brother before turning back to his drink.
“Peter raised Myriam. Peter helped me during the time I was hiding from Mikael, on the run. I owe it to him to make sure that his adopted daughter and her sister are safe. He contacted me after our talk on Myriam’s phone through one of my contacts, hating that she destroyed her phone.”
“So you are telling him what she’s doing, knowing she cut off contact? That’s not like you brother,” Elijah remarked.
“I’m not telling him about her,” Klaus angrily countered. “All he needs to know is that she’s alive and safe. I’m calling him for information. How to calm her down, for example. What she’s like, if she’s as loud as she is presenting herself to be. How her first year of turning has been for her.”
“Best subduing methods. Okay,” Elijah nodded, swallowing his bourbon as he gaze remained towards the courtyard.
“We might be safe from her onslaught when she gets truly angry, but our sister, and her sister, aren’t,” Klaus continued.
“She seems more reactive towards you than anyone else. I wonder why that is.”
“I don’t know. She sure doesn’t like me and I’m not sure why,” Klaus shrugged.
Kol had been quiet, continued to rub his indented cheek. “Don’t be a sissy. She likes you but she doesn’t want to admit to it. After all, if you can call the empath a relationship, she wouldn’t attempt a true friendship or romance immediately without ulterior motives. She’s like you, only with a gorgeous set of knockers and a lot better looking.”
“Thank you for your input, Kol, always so insightful,” Elijah sighed. “Unfortunately, you’re not wrong. There’s no doubt in my mind that Myriam might have some trust issues when it comes to us men.”
“Some!” Kol huffed and pointed at his face. “You call this some!”
“Well, at least she made sure you won’t be able to visit Bella for a day or so, just like she wanted,” Elijah countered playfully. “Mission accomplished, I’d say.”
“Very funny.”
“So, what’s next? How are we to proceed?” Elijah asked his brother. “As we were?”
“For now,” Klaus nodded. “Marcellus instructed his vampires to patrol New Orleans more intensely and keep an eye out for Cold Ones. I want to read Peter’s information myself before thinking of other ways to protect and help them.”
“So I have nice breasts?” a voice spoke behind Klaus and Kol, while Elijah covered his discomfort with a fresh glass of liquor. Myriam looked down at her chest, cupping them with her hands when the two turned to face her. “I do think they are rather nice indeed.”
Kol scowled as Klaus just smiled at her. “Yes, love, your assets are rather well formed. One can’t help but look at them, especially with the way that you’re dressed.”
“Like what? A whore?”
“Can’t you just take a compliment?” Kol sighed tiredly. “Just say thank you or something.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “How about you go fuck yourself. Considering if you are interested in my sister you can’t go fucking her or anyone else. So you are left with Palmela Handerson.”
Kol set down his glass and got to his feet, still not in the mood to deal with Myriam the psycho. It was true that she’d fit right in with them, but he was not in the mood. “Perhaps I should show Bella my face and tell her I got beaten up by you,” he muttered as he walked out of the study.
“Go ahead,” she said over her shoulder. “I already admitted to beating the shit out of you, and that I enjoyed and would do it again. If you go in there, be ready for a lot of coloring. She decided she likes coloring books.”
“She didn’t have to know you beat me up!” Kol whined as he went down the stairs. “You’re so not fair!”
“Well she doesn’t quite need to know what an orgasm feels like but she does, doesn’t she? I’m not going to discuss what that little experience exactly means with her quite yet,” Myriam retorted, turning her gaze on Klaus. “On the subject of my sister. You people don’t own a television.”
“No, we don’t. We entertain ourselves with our books and art,” Klaus mused as he refilled his glass. “Hope is quite the little artist,” he said proudly.
Rolling her eyes, Myriam let out a sigh. “I think she might benefit some with watching television. It’s a normal human activity.”
“Both Kol and Freya have a television in their rooms, Kol with the additional game consoles and whatnot,” Klaus replied.
“Do you really think it appropriate she goes in his room at this point?” Myriam scowled.
“Very well, we shall get her a television. What do you require, Myriam?”
She was taken aback by the question, glancing at Elijah. “Why would you ask me that? I don’t need anything. I don’t eat food or sleep…”
“If you’re going to stay with us, then wouldn’t you require your own room, perhaps?” Elijah asked her curiously.
“If I need time away from this testosterone party, I’ll go out into the city for awhile,” she shrugged. “There are some decent clubs in town.”
“Everyone needs their own sanctuary, love,” Klaus said quietly. “Allow me to give you one by preparing a room to your liking. What do you need?”
She continued to grow uneasy and narrowed her eyes at him before pushing herself off the doorframe she’d been leaning on. “I’m fine. I didn’t ask for anything. I don’t want anything. Stop asking me,” she blurted out before turning to leave.
Klaus quickly got up and blocked her exit. “Now, we’re trying to teach Bella about the act of kindness. On how by being kind, we can help each other out. There are no ulterior motives when it comes to kindness. I merely want to give you a place of your own so that you can have some privacy and don’t bunk with your sister as she requires hers.”
“You want to do something for me? Find a way to stop me from sparkling like the goddamn tooth fairy,” she hissed and sped around him.
“What makes you think that we’re not already working on that, love?” Klaus questioned, as he watched where she was going. “We have, after all, a witch on our hands.”
“And I bet she has no answers for you,” Myriam answered knowingly.
“You’ve only been here for two days, she needs some time.”
She turned and stared back at him emotionlessly. “Don’t you think that Peter knew witches as well?”
“You need to have some faith. My sister isn’t an ordinary witch, and neither is my daughter, she’s quite the special young witch who managed to snare your sister. Have some faith and trust that we’re looking into it.”
“I am familiar,” she replied sarcastically. “We wouldn’t be here otherwise and if Peter wasn’t so insistent we stay, trust me, we would have been gone awhile ago and you wouldn’t have even known.”
“I’m thinking… a nice jacuzzi, maybe a spa type of room for you. With a nice calming water feature, endless of hours of staring into those. Or books? DVD’s?”
Myriam raised an eyebrow. “Somehow I have a feeling you have some extra imagery going on behind those particular thoughts. Shall I get my sister to take another walk through your mind or might I grab you a box of tissues and lotion now?”
“Do you wish for me to call your father and to ask him to order you to accept some kindness?”
She smirked and crossed her arms. “Do try. I dare you.”
Klaus scowled as he mimicked her stance. He already knew what would happen, basically. Peter had told him about Myriam’s stubbornness and her ability to really mess with people. “Very well, I suppose you’re well in your rights to reject my attempt of being kind, but do come to me if you’re passed all of that and you need something?”
“You mean like an itch to scratch? I think your imagination handles that well enough,” she shrugged nonchalantly, thankful at least for being a Cold One at that point.
“Yes, I had a random thought about you in a …. Very compromising and intimate position,” Klaus said frustratingly. “How can I not? You are a beautiful woman! Have you not learned that all men think of sex, 99 percent of the time? I apologize that your sister had picked up on that random thought while she was making sure that I wouldn’t hurt you. It’s not a crime to fantasize, it’s not as if I’m acting on it!”
“It’d be quite painful for your cock if you did,” she blinked, looking down at his crotch.
“Perhaps, but there are other ways to —”
“Niklaus, that’s enough,” Elijah sighed as he rose to his feet and made his way over to Myriam. “Miss Myriam?” He offered his arm to her. “I’d like to show you something that I’ve prepared yesterday, shortly after you went into Bella’s room to vent your frustrations with my brother, I’m sure you’re going to like it.”
“Monsieur Elijah,” she curtsied, taking his arm. “There would not be much that could satisfy my frustrations with your brother – either one.”
“Oh, believe me, I fully understand. I’ve lived with them for over a thousand years,” Elijah chuckled slightly as he took her to a room opposite of Bella’s. Not next to Bella’s, but opposite of the courtyard. “This is for you,” he said as he opened the door to an elegant looking living room that lead into a different area with a walk-in closet and a bathroom. “If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask, please.”
“I don’t piss,” she pointed out.
“You do take showers, don’t you?” Elijah countered playfully, hearing his brother mumble something underneath his breath from upstairs that she gets pissed off enough. “The toilet was already there, the workers had to make a minimum of noise.”
Myriam rolled her eyes at Klaus’ antics and smiled. “Thank you Elijah. It’s lovely. Now I have an excuse to go shopping for new clothes courtesy of Daddy.”
Elijah grinned then as he handed her a prepaid credit card. “I’ve put a little money on this for you, please, spend it any way you want.”
“No, no. Peter can well afford it and he has me stuck here with your insufferable brother. He can suffer a little financial hit, since they seem to be besties and all. I wonder if they were ever more than that…?”
“Knowing Niklaus, anything is possible,” Elijah smiled as he put the card back into his jacket pocket. “Dinner is in a few hours. Please join us, we do love your company.”
~o.O.o~
Myriam hadn’t been kidding when she said that Bella liked to color. Even with having the crayons for only half an hour, Bella was intensely coloring in her book, making sure she stayed within the lines, although with crayons that was quite difficult, even Kol knew that. She didn’t even notice him coming in, or so he thought.
Bella looked up to him and blinked when she saw her face. “She got you good.”
“Trust me, it was far worse,” Kol sighed as he sat down opposite of her and looked at the coloring that she was doing. “That’s great, Bella! Those colors fit absolutely well together.”
“Do they?” Bella replied as she looked at her picture and then back at Kol. “Your face is healing on its own.”
“Slowly, yes. Your sister packs a mean punch, broke some bones.”
“I can heal too, want to see?” she said excitedly as she took the box knife that Myriam had used to get rid of tags on the clothes and open the crayon package and sliced open her hand. She hadn’t expected it to hurt. She hadn’t expected it to bleed so much, but she couldn’t show Kol that she was hurting. Instead, she held up her hand and made him watch for a while before she pulled her hand back and started to poke the incision. “Why isn’t it healing?”
Kol bit his hand and pooled some of his blood into her hand to start the healing process. “Don’t do that again,” Kol said as he grabbed a towel from the bathroom and started to clean her hand.
“But why isn’t it healing on its own?”
“Freya has been cleansing you from everything you were affected with, remember? Perhaps your regeneration abilities were magical, herb induced, and it’s a good sign that you’re not healing. That means Freya’s antidotes and spells are working.”
“But… but now I’m defective,” Bella said as she looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I can get hurt now.”
He smiled then as he finished cleaning up her hand. “You’re not defective, darling, it means you’re becoming more human, and that’s very important because that’s what you are.”
She gently touched his bruised face then. “Does it hurt?”
“Only a little, don’t worry about me, tomorrow I’ll be handsome again,” he smiled at her before pointing at her crayons. “Would you like me to see if Nik has pencils? They’re much easier to use than those crayons.”
“Oh,” Bella looked at her crayons and then thought for a moment. “No, it’s alright, I don’t want to bother him for that. I’m happy with these.”
“Are you sure? I could go to the shops instead?”
Bella nodded. “You don’t have to do that for me. I like this.”
“If you’re sure?” Kol asked as she nodded again for an answer. He sat back down in his chair while she continued to color in her coloring book. “Do you mind if I stay here for awhile?”
Kol’s face had healed by the time breakfast came around and for the first time everyone saw Bella in different clothes; Myriam had convinced her to wear the summer dress that she had bought and had fixed her hair and Bella looked like a real girl. Absolutely beautiful. “See, she scrubs up nicely,” Myriam smiled as they sat down at the table, Myriam happy to see the same small glasses of blood on her plate as during dinner the night before. It had been such a surprise that this way she was able to join in on a normal thing such as breakfast, lunch and dinner.
She was still ignoring Klaus, and Kol. She still wasn’t convinced that this was the right place for her and Bella.
“Hope’s coming home from school today for a week or so,” Klaus announced. “I shall pick her up myself in Mystic Falls and inform her about the recent changes since I last saw her. I will be gone for a couple of hours.”
“Rebekah texted me last night, she’ll be arriving home today as well,” Kol said as he moved the stack of pancakes closer to Bella. “And I believe Marcel arrived home this morning, no doubt that everything is in your study, Nik.”
“Well, that will have to wait until tonight after Hope’s sleeping,” Klaus referred to the information Marcel had retrieved from Peter. “Elijah, if you’d be so kind as to put that in our safe for now, that would be lovely.”
“Of course.”
“I’ve finished my coloring book,” Bella spoke up as she carefully picked a pancake from the plate as she looked at Kol. “Some images aren’t neat, I couldn’t stay within the lines with the thick crayons… I thought about sharpening them but you took the knife away when you left last night.”
“Of course I took the knife away after your little stunt,” Kol laughed as he buttered himself a roll. “You’d likely have tried to see if you’d still heal despite it was proven otherwise. All night! We would have found you dead on the floor because of the loss of blood!”
“Wait, what? Why didn’t you tell me?” Myriam said as she was on her sister within a blink. “Where did you cut yourself?”
“Relax, she’s fine,” Kol rolled his eyes at Myriam. “She was watching my face heal and she told me that she could do that too, heal quickly. You left the box cutter there, so it’s your fault she wanted to prove it. But thanks to my sister’s cleansing spells and detox potions, Bella has lost that ability now. She’s turning into a proper human.”
“I won’t do it again,” she said as she withdrew her hand from Myriam’s grasp to get her pancake and started to eat it. “But I liked the coloring, it brought some quiet in my head.”
Klaus quickly went up to his study and grabbed some blank paper and a set of pencils, colored, but also grey ones to draw with, before returning for breakfast. He sat down next to Bella for a moment as he drew a small bird on one of the blank sheets. “Did you know you can make your own coloring books? Just like this,” he said as he kept drawing. “You first draw what you want to draw, and then color them in.” When Bella looked at him in amazement while still eating her pancake, he smiled. “Why don’t you try that after breakfast? As stated earlier, I’ll be gone for a few hours as I’ll be getting Hope, but I’m sure that if you ask Kol nicely he’d get you some more blank paper when you need it.”
“Thank you, Klaus,” she said, truly meaning it. She didn’t know what happened with Klaus, but he was kind to her now.
When he finished drawing the bird and its broken cage, he put the pencil down and went back to his own seat to finish his breakfast. “You’re very welcome, little bird.” Perhaps Bella had a talent for drawing, for art. Who’d know? Bella was observant, she noticed the littlest details, perhaps she’d be a great talent! But it required extreme dedication and patience to color in a coloring book with crayons, and that’s why he made the decision to give Bella some of his expensive papers and pencils to play with.
“Or,” Myriam said after angrily knocking back one of her glasses of blood, “We could play board games, I bought some yesterday, I showed you.”
“Can we do that tomorrow, Myriam? I’d really like to try this,” Bella said as she pointed at the papers.
“Perhaps you could try to draw Myriam today,” Klaus suggested. Even if Bella wasn’t talented – it was too early to tell – everyone should have the opportunity to draw a portrait. It was what children were taught in school. He had Hope’s first painting with him framed in his study. It was special, and no doubt it would be something special for Myriam too, to have something like that. “That way, you’re still spending time together.”
Myriam huffed. She hated it that Klaus had become less fearful of her sister and that he was able to connect to her in his own way. She hated him for being so perfect in that way, but she was wondering if that would have ever happened had she not beaten his brother to a pulp.
Kol snickered as he took a sip of his blood and continued to eat his roll. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pass up on making a remark, so he did. No matter the consequences. “Why won’t you draw Tinkerbell as one of your French girls, Nik?”
Myriam growled as she reached out to Kol and broke his arm, before driving a fork through his hand.
“Hey! Ouch!” Kol whined, pulling the fork out of his hand and straightening his arm again so it could set properly. “Careful, Tink, or we will have to build you that Cold One proof bunker so we can put you there for safekeeping!”
“That’s not kind, Kol,” Bella told him as she reached for another pancake. “And what is a French girl?”
“It’s from a movie called Titanic,” Freya explained kindly. “It’s about a ship that had an accident in 1912 and sank. It sailed well for four days, and the story of that movie takes place during that time. There’s a boy called Jack, and a girl named Rose, and when Rose discovers that Jack’s an artist and drawing a lot of French girls, she asks him to draw her like that. So she poses for him without her clothes on, naked.”
“But…” Bella dropped her pancake as she thought deeply. “Only couples should see each other naked, right? Like…” she thought hard. “Alice and Jasper were a couple. I sometimes saw them imagining each other naked in their minds when they forgot I was around. Or Emmett and Rosalie. Or regular human beings when I was outside. And a couple means two, right? Klaus and Hope are a couple?”
“No!” Klaus said shocked. “Sweetheart, do you even know what it means to be a couple? What a couple is? Especially in the context that you want to use?”
Bella shook her head.
“It’s when two people are completely and utterly in love with each other,” Freya said when no one decided to explain it to Bella. “Me and Keelin, for example. We are in a romantic relationship and we’re a couple. No one should ever be in a romantic relationship with a child and besides, Hope is Klaus’ daughter, no one should ever be in a romantic relationship with your own child.”
“Oh. But I saw Kol naked.”
“Because he’s an idiot,” Freya replied. “But you’re right, Bella, you don’t necessarily have to be in a relationship, be a couple, for an artist to draw someone naked. It’s what makes things art.”
“But you’re not going to draw anyone naked, you hear?” Kol said quickly. Oh, he’d be horrified if she’d turn out to be extremely talented and would draw him naked. Not that he was ashamed of his body, not at all. He used to be quite the exhibitionist in his day, just like the rest of the family, but no.
“Are Myriam and I a couple?”
“You’re a couple of sisters. You’re not in a romantic relationship with each other,” Freya was glad that Bella seemed to become more aware of everything, soaking up information and not acting completely like an idiot. Like Kol had said earlier, Bella was getting clean. “I know, I know, the English language is quite annoying with the different meanings for the same words.”
“Like the word fuck.”
Kol spat out his tea as he looked at Bella in shock. Did she honestly just say the word out loud?
“I still don’t know the other meaning of it though. Just Myriam’s version of it,” Bella said innocently as she nibbled on her pancake again. “And from what I’ve heard, it’s the best meaning of it. She doesn’t like the other meaning very much, so it must be horrible.”
“To be fair, it’s a horribly vulgar way to describe something so intimate and beautiful,” Klaus said as he got up. “I’ll be back in a few hours,” he said before heading to the exit.
Kol still couldn’t believe that Bella voiced the word ‘fuck’ and it had been strangely arousing the way she had said it so innocently. He needed to get help for his stupid infatuation with this girl. Even if she’d unlearn everything taught to her over the course of the last twenty years and would somewhat resemble a normal human, it would be wrong as he’d been the one partially responsible for her recovery.
It was just that; a stupid infatuation and lust. He needed to create more distance between himself and Bella. “I might go to France,” he said. “I was supposed to join our sister there but seeing as she’s returning today, I can go by myself.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Kol,” Elijah told him. “With the threat of the Cullens still around, and their masters, we need you here.”
“But I could do a side trip to Italy and take care of those masters,” Kol countered. “Volterra, big castle, hard to miss.”
“And again, you’re staying.”
Fine. Then he’d simply have to get some sense beaten into him by his sister once he and she would catch up, and he was going to ask Freya if she was sure that Bella didn’t have something extra to make him like her. Like magic. Or another ability or something along those lines. How else would he have fallen so hard for someone like her?
Bella was simple, yet she had a brilliant mind. Bella was emotionally stunted due to her treatment by the Cullens, but she was getting better. She was quite what he wanted in a girlfriend, strong and smart and incredibly gorgeous, but Bella was so.damn.innocent. And that was endearing, cute and adorable. And he didn’t do all that. Myriam was more of his type, but oh, he had a severe dislike to the Cold One and only tolerated her because of Bella.
He was fucked, in the wrong sense of the word.
Myriam was glad that Klaus left for a couple of hours, it gave her some breathing space. She figured that while Bella was drawing – such a boring thing to do, really. Myriam had only given her the crayons and the coloring book to see what Bella would do with it and how could she have known she’d go obsessive about it? – she was going to explore the city some more. Perhaps run around and check hiding spots for Cold Ones. On the other hand, she was one herself, and Klaus’ vampires could be a little excited and then she’d had to kill him and then nobody would be happy because that meant less protection and—
Sighing, Myriam downed her last glass of blood. “I’m bored. Is there maybe someone I can spar with?”
“Can you promise not to break them?” Elijah mused.
“No, because I don’t hold back.”
“Then it’s best if you don’t spar, Myriam, we need our vampire army to be in one piece.”
“And we are certainly not going for another round,” Kol said as he got to his feet and headed to his room to unplug his television and went to install it in Bella’s. He didn’t need the TV anyway, and he was certain that Bella would get bored with it. Or, she’d learn the wrong things and his TV would be returned. For now, he needed space.
He went all to the top of the building to look down on Bella, who had made some room on the table and had started to draw shapes for a couple of hours. Lines, getting familiar with how things worked and the first thing she drew wasn’t a stick figure, no, it was a fucking glass, in 3D and everything. Sure, there were tiny mistakes, but from his point of view it was perfect. Bella was observant and had an eye for detail. Klaus was going to want to nurture her drawing skills, and Kol wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
He did see her get lost in the lines, though. As if she was meditating and using the lines to guide her. Finding Freya, he sat down next to her on the sofa and poured himself a drink. “Question; do you think Bella’s mental powers are getting stronger?”
“I sure hope not,” Freya laughed as she looked at her brother. “Why? Are you worried she won’t keep her word and stay out of our heads?”
“No, I’m worried that she’ll continue to hear the thoughts from the entire street outside. Did she gain this ability naturally?”
“That’s uncertain, brother. A lot of things about her, and her sister in that sense, are uncertain. It could be a part of her DNA and as you may know, DNA can’t be changed. If it does get worse and she won’t be able to control it, turning her might be the only safe option for all of us,” she then had a thought. “I could see if she’s able to perform magic on her own, then it’s quite possible that the mind reading thing is connected to that, and that…”
“Is connected to her DNA. Gotcha,” Kol sighed before realizing that he was yet again, busying himself with Bella’s wellbeing. “Do you reckon she can make us see things that aren’t real?”
“I believe so, but I doubt she knows about it,” she replied quietly. “She’s told me a few times now that she hates this ability of hers and hopes that once she’s declared healthy by me, and Keelin, that it’s gone.”
“And you don’t see that happening?”
Freya shook her head. “Most of the gunk we found in her body, magical or herbal, was to gain control over her. To repress her abilities. I think the Cullens were scared shitless of her, in all honesty. But then again, if they hadn’t stunted her growth, she would have been able to control her powers more and not go into meltdown mode and hurt people.” She sighed then. “She could still prove to be a danger to us all, what if the Cullens meant for her to come here to make sure we can’t form a coherent thought? I mean, you’re unkillable, but she can still hurt you.”
“We are also self healing, it might take us some time, but we’ll be alright,” Kol snapped. “And don’t you dare to bring that theory to Niklaus because he’ll go into full paranoia mode while I can’t see Bella do that to us, at all. And no, I’m not blinded.”
“No, I think you’re right. She knows what she can do, but does she understand her abilities? That’s the best way to learn control, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, but unfortunately she can do a lot of damage with her abilities, who’s going to help her understand it?”
“I vote for her sister, but that’s only because she’s a Cold One and might be more resilient.”
“We should wait until we’ve discussed the information Peter has sent along with Marcel. Perhaps there’s more we need to know,” Kol replied as he looked over the balustrade and saw that Bella was still drawing. “Klaus will love it that she’s a natural.”
“Ah, just wait until she gets introduced to the television,” Freya laughed. “She’ll likely be glued to it and we’ll have to think of ways to get her off of it.”
“I doubt it.”
“Twenty bucks says she’ll be addicted to it.”
“And I say twenty that she’ll have to be dragged to the bloody thing to watch it because she doesn’t like it,” he said as he shook his sister’s hand.
“Oh, is there a bet?” Rebekah’s voice sounded as she walked onto the courtyard with all of her bags and smiled up to her brother and sister. “I’m in!” She then pointed at Bella, who was still drawing at the table. “Who’s that? Oh, don’t tell me, Nik is going through that phase again where he brings home strays.”
“Actually… she is Hope’s fault,” Kol grinned as he used his speed to walk down the stairs and stood next to Bella. “Bella, this is my sister Rebekah, Rebekah, this is Bella. She was raised by Cold Ones in the worst possible way, but she’s friendly.”
“Uhuh, and what’s her defect?” Rebekah questioned.
“She’s not defective,” Kol said as he looked at Bella, who was now frowning as she looked at Rebekah. “She’s different, and she’s getting better. I think you’ll like her.”
“And why am I not surprised you have a crush on her?” Rebekah said tiredly. “Honestly, Kol, I never liked Davina but…”
“Don’t even go there,” he growled as he gently squeezed Bella’s shoulder. “Where’s your sister, darling?”
Bloody bleeding hearts, the lot of them! Did I forget that cute dress in France? Such a pity… I swear, if they bring in another stray, I’m going to leave. Permanently. It’s hard enough to get the attention around here! I need to take Freya for a pampering session at the spa, I’m still in vacation mode and she needs to get to my level. Get ridiculously drunk. Buy more clothes, one can never have too many clothes. I need a drink. Why is the girl looking at me like that? Do I smell bad? Something on my face? Oh, she looks so unnerving and could do with some weight gain.
“Stop that, Bella,” Kol said kindly. “Could you call your sister for me so I can introduce her to another one of mine?”
“She’s bored,” Bella finally spoke as she looked up at him. “I suppose she can teach me to play one of the board games she has in her bags,” she concluded. “Myriam? I’m done drawing.”
“Great!” Myriam said as she appeared with some snacks and one of the board games she had bought; Ticket To Ride. It seemed easy enough. After placing it on the table, she noticed that Kol was standing close to a blonde and her sister. Not trying to go in full rage mode, she smiled at the girl. “Myriam, I’m Bella’s sister.”
Rebekah stared at Myriam for awhile before responding. “Rebekah, Kol’s sister… and are you sure you’re welcome here? Nik doesn’t have a habit of spending time with Cold Ones.”
“He doesn’t have a choice. I’m here for my sister,” Myriam replied as she started to open the box and set the game up. Deciding to at least try to be civil, she looked up to the two traditionals. “You two want to join us? It’s a lot more fun to play a game when there’s more than two playing.”
