Chapter 03
Bella found herself on the same spot, but Kol wasn’t in front of her, no, instead, Kol was more to the side with Myriam filling some barrel and it was too close to the house. The house. The house wasn’t burning. It was all in tact and nothing had changed.
Nothing, except for the fact that there weren’t flames and Kol wasn’t standing in front of her.
What was going on?
Oh, she felt unsettled, dizzy and confused, but maybe she should take this opportunity to warn them. Again. Because there was no doubt in her mind that Kol hadn’t given her warning to Myriam. Slowly walking over, she pushed her hands in her pockets. “Uh, hey guys!”
“Bella?” Kol looked at her. “What are you doing here?”
“Wishing you a Merry Christmas,” she smiled at him. “And to make sure you’re not going to fry that turkey so close to the house. I think in the middle of the garden should do the trick.”
“It’ll be fine, darling,” he replied as he made his way over to her. “Did you look at the gifts?”
“Yes, but that’s not why I’m here, I’ll thank you for that later,” she insisted as she pointed at the barrel. “That needs to go away from the house or the house will burn, Klaus will try to kill you and then Myriam and Klaus will want to find themselves a room but that will be impossible as the firefighters can’t extinguish the fire because there’s no water source close by for them to use.”
Myriam continued to drag the barrel over to Bella’s assigned spot. “Are you sure about this, Bella?”
“Oh, I’m very sure.”
“Okay, we’ll move it, no worries. Are you staying to watch us do this?”
Bella let out a snort. “This is your project. Your little science project. I already know that it can go wrong in many ways. It won’t even be that tasty when coming out, nothing beats the oven.” She then touched Kol’s arm and smiled. “Thank you, you eased my mind about having you guys do this safely. I’ll stop by in a few hours to talk, okay?”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” she nodded before she felt the same sensation as she felt just minutes ago and quickly hurried out of sight as she felt the magic take her back to where she had left. She collapsed to the ground upon impact and was relieved to see the house still in one piece. The pungent smell of oil and burnt turkey settling in her nostrils.
Had she truly travelled in time and changed the outcome of the turkey fry?
She got to her feet and stumbled against the house before rounding it again. Kol and Myriam were standing around the barrel and Klaus was nowhere to be found. She leaned against the back of the house with a big smile on her face. “Kol, I did it!”
Kol’s head snapped to Bella and something was off, but he made his way over to her anyway. “Yes, you left and came back, just like you said. You missed us lowering the turkey.”
“That’s alright,” Bella smiled, tired all of a sudden. “At least I saved your house from going up in flames.”
“But you did.”
“Yes, but I saw the house on fire. I was here. With my dad and the fire department. We were talking about our wishes, I had you read mine and then I wanted to prevent the fire from happening and…” she saw the look on his face. “I sound like a crazy person.”
“Yes, you do,” he said as he put an arm around her. “But you look like you could pass out any second so I think there’s some truth in there. Come, let’s get you inside, darling.”
“I’m a bit lightheaded,” she admitted, leaning into him with a sigh. Oh, that felt good.
He lifted her up and walked into the house with her. He gently sat her down on the couch and helped her out of her coat before wrapping a blanket around her and poured her a drink. “So, you saw the house on fire?”
“I was here. The house was on fire. My dad and I were lounging on the couch at home when he got the call and I came along because I didn’t want to be alone,” Bella said as she looked at him. “I know it’s stupid because the house is fine now, but you didn’t tell Myriam that the barrel needed to be away from the house like I told you, because you thought it was fine.”
“But you came here this afternoon to scold us and we moved it.”
“That wasn’t this afternoon. That was five minutes ago,” she said as she took a sip of her drink and was surprised to find that it was in fact alcohol. Not caring, she took another sip. “I grabbed a hold of you and I said that I wished that I could have done something to prevent your house from burning and I was… I don’t know… I found myself in the same place in the garden, found you and Myriam fooling around with the barrel… and I warned you. And then I came back. I swear, I’m not crazy.”
“Darling, I believe you, but for the life of me I can’t be sure what you are. I’ve never come across a witch that could travel in time.”
“I have,” Klaus said as he walked in with a book in his hands. “She was one of a kind.”
“When was that?” Myriam walked in after him after she had seen Kol carry Bella into the house. “You never told me that.”
“I was told not to,” Klaus replied as he sat down in a chair close to Bella. “Time travel is a fickle thing, change one thing in the past, and it could have major consequences. For instance, you could alter the course of history and the Nazi’s could be back in charge. Or your grandparents would never meet and thus, you would cease to exist.”
“But time travel is not possible,” Kol and Bella chorused.
“But you just did it, Bella,” Klaus pointed out. “You witnessed this house on fire because of a mistake my wife and my brother made, and you traveled back to warn them.”
“Unintentionally.”
“And thus, time travel is possible. Unintentional or not,” Klaus smiled at her. “You might want to finish that drink and get Kol to refill it for you, because what I’m about to tell you might… what’s the phrase you use these days? Knock you off your socks?”
Bella did as she was told and Kol refilled her glass for her. “Thanks,” she smiled at him.
“The witch I encountered… was you.”
“What?”
Klaus nodded. “You… she… traveled back in time to give me this information, about yourself. She knew that messing with time was something she shouldn’t do, but she was determined to meddle with your future because she didn’t look so well,” he explained as he handed her the book and opened it to the pages she needed to see. There was a drawing of an older Bella attached to it, no doubt drawn by Klaus.
“Wow, I looked like that?”
“You looked quite out of sorts, yes,” he replied, gesturing to the book. “You’ll recognize your own handwriting in that book. Please read that.”
Bella let out a breath and shifted so that Kol could see it too. Hi Bella, it’s me… you. Bella. Sorry. Joke. Breathe, relax, everything is going to be fine.
Instead of you having to spend years of finding out who or what you are, I’m writing this to tell you now. Trust me, it’s for the best. I’m not going to say anything that might do harm to your… our future. Apart from this.
Remember how they told you that the Cold Ones were created by accident by a group of witches called the Travelers? Here’s another fun fact; most of modern society is related to at least one Traveler? Not the Mikaelsons, of course, but people like… Charlie. He’s nowhere near related to the Travelers who turned into Cold Ones, but from a different line that’s more related to everyone the Mikaelsons have dealt with in the past.
So, almost everyone has dormant witch genes. The Travelers – and their counterparts the Gemini – are long gone or in hiding, never being allowed to stay in one place for too long and you come from such a watered down line that it doesn’t even matter.
Until magic is being put in the mix.
You see, you were bitten by James. Fuckward never managed to get all the venom out, so it stayed in your body. It didn’t do anything for years, not until Kol used his blood to heal our foot. Give it a few more weeks to permeate, your 18th birthday… some well-intended thoughts…
Congrats, you’re a witch!
What kind of witch? Well… That was a tricky one to figure out. You can travel in time, yes. And you can do some spells. Only when you supercharge yourself by touching or holding a powerful object or person.
Don’t worry, it’s okay to be a siphoner.
That way, we can’t get in over our heads and feel overpowered.
So, this is your way out from the Volturi and the Cold Ones. Have fun. Be responsible. And read the rules that I’ll write out below this.
Bella.
P.s: Kol is an amazing teacher. Let him teach you. Don’t be afraid, you’re kickass!
Bella just stared at the pages in disbelief. Well, not disbelief, because this was her handwriting and yes, Klaus had drawn her, but what the hell? “You roofied me.”
“I can assure you, the only buzz that you’re feeling right now is that of the alcohol, but your words are true, Bella,” Klaus replied kindly. “You felt the need to give yourself a crash course, so you can blame your future self when you encounter her. She didn’t tell me why, nor did I ask, because she made it clear that too much knowledge could have altered the future.”
“But if she was so worried about altering the future, then why tell me now?!”
“Likely because with you knowing now, things will turn out better,” Klaus replied. “Time travel… it’s unheard of. It’s science fiction. Or at least, that’s what we believed. But here you are.”
“Or maybe she wants to prevent you from doing something stupid,” Kol said as he shifted so he could look at her. “We all know that you haven’t been in the right frame of mind lately.”
She let out a snort. “I’m fine. If this is all real then I have to start thinking about the future, I guess,” Bella replied before quietly finishing her drink and got to her feet. “Uh… thank you for the information, but I’d uh… better get home. Charlie must be worried that I suddenly seemed to have disappeared.”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll drive you home,” Kol said with a nod. “Then I can compel him if needed.”
“No, I’ll be fine, thanks,” she smiled at him before nodding to Klaus and Myriam. “Again, thank you. Have a good night. Don’t set anything else on fire.”
“I’ll drive you home,” Kol said again as he followed her to the door. “It’s a long walk. No discussion.”
Bella sighed as she stepped down the steps to the house. “Fine, but only because I’m pooped, I’d be fine walking home on my own otherwise.”
“Of course you would,” Kol replied as he helped her in his car and got in himself before setting off. The car was quiet until he turned onto the normal road. “It must be strange for you right now, to discover you’re a witch.”
“Yeah,” Bella let out a snort. “But I’m safe, right? I mean, I can’t do things by myself?”
“Don’t worry, you’re safe,” he nodded. “Just don’t get angry or wish for things when you’re around your shifter friends and one is touching you. You might accidentally hurt someone or set one of the houses on fire.”
“Seriously?” She looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? Set a house on fire? You mean like you and Myriam did?”
“We didn’t.”
“No, because I fucking saved your ass.”
“And discovered you’re a witch,” he pointed out. “And while you’ll likely be fine, I think we should help you with getting it under control.”
“Why? As long as I don’t touch one of you or one of the shifters, I’ll be fine.”
He had to admit, he was slightly disappointed with this sentiment, but he could understand her reasoning. All she wanted was to be normal and to be left alone. “You really think that?”
“Yep.”
“Well, I hate to burst your bubble, darling, but there are magical objects in this world. Ordinary looking objects. They’ve been created by witches and the contain magic. Your toaster could be magical, for example.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“I’m not!” Kol laughed as he kept his eyes on the road. “I used to make those kinds of items, and some witches know how to make them as well. You never know whether an object is magical or not.”
It wasn’t the stupidest thing she’d heard today. “Fine… I won’t touch anything.”
“Or, we could have daily sessions on you trying to get control over your power. We could explore what you can do,” he replied. “And when you’re in control over your power, you’ll be safe to touch whoever or whatever you want to.”
“And until then?”
“I’d suggest staying clear of the pups.”
“You’re just saying that because you don’t like them. They’re my friends.”
“Nah, darling, I don’t care much about shapeshifters or wolves. Do I need to remind you that my brother is half of those things?” He said as he turned the corner to her street. “I’m more worried about someone seriously getting hurt, and it won’t be you.”
“With what! All I can do is travel a bit back in time.”
“That we know of,” he pointed out. “Better safe than sorry, darling. I know you like your friends, so it’s best to stay clear of them. Your boyfriend might not like it, but you’ll have to keep him at bay.”
“My what?” Bella laughed. “Boyfriend? Who? Jake? Are you kidding me? He’s my best friend. I could never…. No! I could never see him as… oh, that’s gross.” She visibly shuddered at the thought. “No, I told you. No more boys for me. I’m cursed.”
Oh good, Jake wasn’t her boyfriend. “You’re not cursed, darling. You’re blessed. Your future is a lot different now than you’d thought this morning, you can start anew, do whatever you want.”
“IF I get it under control.”
“When. Not if. I have all the faith in the world for you that you’ll get it under control. It’s a matter of when,” Kol said as he parked his car in front of the house. “And if I were you, I’d keep this to yourself too. Don’t tell the pups just yet. Wait until you’ve got it under control and until you’ve gone to Volterra.”
“What?”
“Well, you have to go there in person to show the Volturi that you’re a supernatural being. They might get an inkling when you start killing the Cold Ones after you but you know, common courtesy and all.”
“Great. Let’s add that to the list. Get a job,” she sighed as she got out of the car. “Thanks for dropping me off.”
“I’ll pick you back up tomorrow, let’s take advantage of the fact that school’s not due to start in another week!”
“But…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make it fun,” he grinned. “Have fun, Bella, I see you tomorrow.”
Bella watched Kol drive away and then headed inside the house. “Hey! I’m back!” When she didn’t get a response, she headed into the kitchen and found a note from her father.
I’m at the Rez. Join us when you want to.
“Yeah, no,” Bella sighed as she poured herself a glass of water and headed upstairs to get a nice hot bath, and then hopefully sleep and wake up to think this was all a dream. People didn’t become supernatural overnight, did they? There was no way that she traveled in time and saved a house from burning. No freaking way.
~o.O.o~
She woke up the next morning by the sound of ticking. Shaking the fog out of her head, she realized someone was throwing stones against her window and after stumbling to the window, she looked who it was.
Below the window stood Kol, a big smile on his face. “Good afternoon! I’m here to pick you up!”
“What?” Bella blinked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Afternoon?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve just woken up.”
“I have…”
Kol huffed. “I’ll wait for you outside, just hurry up.”
“You could just—”
“Don’t say it,” he interrupted her. “Don’t invite a vampire like me into your home without fully trusting us. Without invitation, neither me or my family can enter your home.”
“So you don’t want to?”
“Only when you’re ready.”
Bella sighed. “It’s cold outside.”
“I’ll live,” he smiled at her. “Now, hurry up.”
Okay, so yesterday hadn’t been a dream or nightmare, but it had been real. Bella stared at Kol for a moment before retreating and finding some clothes to wear. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but while she wanted it gone yesterday, she was okay with it now. She needed to be able to get it under control.
Bella grabbed a sandwich and her stuff on her way out and looked around before looking at Kol. “Where is your car?”
“We’re taking your truck today,” he nodded. “As I said, it’s a lot more sturdy than my car… my car is also not built to drive around in weather conditions like these…”
That was a lie. “What happened?”
Kol winced. “I might have wrapped it around a tree when I turned onto the normal road…” He admitted as he looked at his feet before looking at her. “I’m merely glad it didn’t happen last night when I brought you home.”
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine, darling, I healed on the way over. The car, however, is lost. I might have to re-think my love for fast cars while we live in Forks. Any suggestions?”
Bella shrugged. “Something like my truck, perhaps? I dunno, you could go for a newer model. Or a 4×4.”
“I could! Yes!” Kol laughed. “Great idea! Now, hand me your keys, I’m driving.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere where we can practise your skills in some relative warmth and not in a general vicinity of Forks.”
“But in the two hour radius?”
“Of course. Although you shouldn’t be afraid anymore.”
“Until I get this under control I’m going to be afraid,” she nodded as she gave him the keys and got into the passenger seat. “Let’s go.”
Bella was shocked when Kol drove them straight to Seattle airport. She could feel panic set in halfway through the trip and kept anxiously looking out of the window even though it was somewhat sunny outside. Kol told her to relax and that he could take on any Cold One coming their way, but she was petrified.
He wasn’t even telling her where they were going until the plane had taken off and Bella could breathe for a moment, taking the time to vent her frustration at him with some choice words and he merely smiled at her, allowing her to rant until she finally sat down.
“As I said, darling, you’ll be safe with me. We’re merely making a quick stop in New Orleans to get some of my belongings so I can teach you better and without limited resources.”
“You can’t just take me to a different city, Kol!”
“I can, I just did.”
“What about my dad?”
“Bella, you’re an adult. Who cares about your dad?”
“I do!”
Kol sighed. “Don’t worry, we’ll be back before dinner. I have some people who can help us get my stuff into the car,” he took a sip of his bourbon. “Just relax, darling, you’re not in any danger and New Orleans is quite the pretty city. I tell you what, after you’ve helped me to gain access to my belongings, you can go and explore for a while? Don’t worry, you’ll be safe from the Cold Ones, they don’t set foot in that city.”
“Why me?”
“Because of the nature of your witchiness, darling. You can syphon the magic off the building I need to get into. I mean, I could do it differently and find a witch who’s from the same line, but why search when I have you?”
“I feel like I’m being used.”
“Only slightly. See it this way; it’ll be a teaching moment and you grant us access to the things I need,” Kol replied. “And as a bonus you can walk around the French Quarter for a while and see what it’s like.”
“Not without you,” she shook her head. “No fucking way.”
“You’ll be safe.”
“No.”
“Fine, then we’re both going to stay at the cemetery.”
Bella blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
~o.O.o~
During the winter holiday and every single day after school for three months straight she spent her time with Kol, getting her ‘magic’ under control, so that when she’d touch something or someone magical that nothing would happen.
While her lessons were sometimes frustrating, she had to admit, she liked hanging around with Kol and his family. Apart from their feeding habits, they were like ordinary humans. And Kol wasn’t flaunting his wealth, much, either. He had bought himself a sensible new car, but that was it.
Well, and he hired cabins in the middle of nowhere where they could practice without hurting anyone. She couldn’t just travel in time, no, when siphoning magic off of Kol or another willing participant, she could do spells. She could set fire to things or throw them across the room if they’d come to close. What she liked the most was that she now had one spell to knock someone out after pressing Kol for something that wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Of course, all of the spells could only be done if she’d siphoned some magic from others. And she had it all under control now, even if she’d accidentally siphon from someone, she could keep it to herself.
She hadn’t told Kol, but she had informed Jake about what was going on because he had started to ask questions on why she was avoiding him, and she told him that he needed to tell everyone else that she was simply too busy with school to stop by but that once she was able to, she would.
Oh, she knew that whenever she and Kol were out and about together and either in Forks or close by, Jake the wolf was keeping an eye on her from a distance. And she was glad that he did, especially in the beginning when she wasn’t too sure about Kol’s intentions but everything turned out to be alright.
It was easy to be around Kol. He made things easy. No pressure, not deliberately trying to force himself into her life like Edward had done. Kol sometimes took her to the movies instead of trying to have her control her gifts or teaching her new things. Or the family would invite her, and Charlie, over for dinner. Charlie was always very impressed.
Rebekah had grown into becoming her best friend. They’d hang out together after Kol was done teaching or during lunchtime. Talking about boys, or Bella’s determination to swear them off for a while, or Rebekah trying to teach Bella some control over her motor skills for gym class but it always ended up with the both of them laughing when Bella would land face first on the ground. Again.
It was easy to be herself around Kol and his family. Even more so than around Jake and their friends, and she didn’t quite understand why. Maybe because there were no expectations and the Mikaelsons were great at hiding their true feelings. They took her concerns or ideas seriously and talked to her about it. She loved it.
She realized that the thing that surprised her the most that neither of the Mikaelsons wanted to use her abilities for themselves. She was still a free person, a free agent and ‘no’ meant indeed ‘no’.
She traveled back in time for short distances, and once to help out her father on a case he couldn’t wrap his head around and she gave him some ‘clarity’. And that felt good because she had saved a family from getting into trouble. She wanted to go further back and see what she could do but per her own rules, she didn’t.
One of her own rules about time travel was that she shouldn’t go back in history to ‘watch’ or try and change things. Everything that happened in the past had set her on the course to what she was now. So the general rule of thumb that she and Kol agreed upon that she wasn’t going to go back in time further than her first trip back to save the burning house.
It was tempting, of course, mainly because of Edward, but if it hadn’t been for him and his family, she wouldn’t have met Kol and his family… in a roundabout way. But then again, she wouldn’t have been in the position she was in now, with the Cold Ones and her stupid agreement.
But she had thought long and hard about it, if she’d change anything, her future self wouldn’t have traveled back in time to tell Klaus about her and all of that had given her a headache.
“So,” Bella said as she looped her arm through Kol’s as they walked down the school corridor. “I’ve been a good girl lately, I’ve got myself under control and I think…”
“We should stop seeing each other?” Kol asked with an amused smile on his face.
“No,” she let out a snort. “They have this thing on the rez tonight and I was asked to go,” Bella looked up to him with a hopeful look on her face. “So I’m going.”
“You don’t have to ask me for permission, darling.”
“Well, I kind of have to?”
“If you feel in control, you’re in control. You know what to do when you don’t feel like you’re in control,” Kol shrugged. “I think this would be an excellent opportunity to see how you’d do around other magical beings. I never forced you to stay away from your friend, I merely said it was a good idea if you kept your distance for a while, until you got things under control.”
“I know, but still, it feels like I needed to ask permission or something.”
Kol shook his head, laughing. “Don’t be daft, darling. You’re a free woman, you don’t need me to tell you that you have pulled yourself together beautifully in terms of your abilities. I’m well proud of you.” In fact, he was so proud of her that he wanted to kiss her every time he saw her. He wanted to claim her as his, but she wasn’t ready for that. Like Myriam and Rebekah suggested, he was going to be patient.
While patience wasn’t his forté, for things he wanted the most, he could be very patient. And for Bella’s affection, he could be too. He only wished he could come with her to the reservation because that experience was likely going to be very different from her dealings with him and his own family.
After school they joined Bella’s friends for their weekly cup of coffee and he dropped her off at home after. Kol wanted to tell her that if she needed help, that all she had to do was call him but he didn’t want to come across as controlling while he genuinely was concerned for her well-being.
He was still just a friend.
“Can I call you when things don’t go so well?” Bella asked him as she turned around to face him. “I mean… I trust them, but not quite myself.”
Kol smiled widely then. “Of course!”
“I mean, I could ask you to come with but I don’t want to be rude towards them.”
“I know, darling, they don’t like vampires very much even with Elijah trying to make nice with them.”
“But you’re different from them.”
“In some people’s minds we’re all the same, and that’s alright. Have fun tonight.”
“Thanks,” she smiled at him before she headed inside and started to get ready for her night at the Rez. Warmer clothing was a must despite all the warmth radiating from her friends. They basically functioned as space heaters but Bella also wanted to have girl time with Emily. It had been far too long.
Charlie wasn’t home, instead, he was at a meeting with different police chiefs from Washington somewhere in Seattle to talk about the disappearance of so many people in the last few weeks and what they could do about it. It was almost as if they were being taken, so it was very important to be at the same page with everyone.
She drove to Jacob’s house and after parking the car and getting out, she found herself swamped by her friends, all having big grins on their faces.
“Where have you been, Bella?”
“We missed you, Bella.”
“Don’t ever leave us for something dull as education again!”
“We missed you!”
“Hi.”
Before she could duck away, she was being hugged by all the puppies, except for Jake who was leaning against her truck instead, knowing what he knew. She could feel her body absorb the magic and when they finally let go of her she simply smiled at them. “I’m truly sorry, but you know, I want to graduate with some actual grades,” she grinned before looping her arm through Jake’s. “What have I missed?”
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “Pretty much nothing, I mean… Nah, you’ll see for yourself.”
“What? Tell me!” Bella laughed as she tried to contain the magic that was now inside of her and behave. She was regular Bella. Not weird Bella.
“Nope, you’ll see, but first, let’s go to Emily’s to have some food before campfire tonight.”
“Great, I haven’t eaten anything yet.”
The big surprise was that Emily was showing. Bella had already known that her friend had missed a period, but to see that she was actually pregnant with a little cute belly made it exciting. Bella was going to have to go to Port Angeles to get Emily something for the baby.
It soon felt like old times. Fun. Drinks. Bella was completely at ease around the wolves because she could control herself. She liked running after Seth and Leah before falling flat on her face because a) she was drunk and b) not graceful at all.
She had missed the high energy of the younger people at the Rez. And joking around with the wolves, but it had been for their own good. Bella didn’t want them to get hurt by accident. They were good people and she knew what she was doing now.
Bella loved the campfire stories late at night, near the full moons, but tonight was something different. It was going to be a ritual to bless the unborn child of Emily and Sam. She’d been to several of these happenings before, but now she was really into it and understanding of why it was important. Besides, Sam and Emily were her friends. She wouldn’t have wanted to miss this in the world.
Bella sat wedged between Jake and Seth – and Leah – around the campfire and she was cosily warm. The heat of the fire, the warmth of the wolves and her pleasant little buzz. All was well in the world.
She nearly nodded off but made sure she was awake for Emily and Sam, but it wasn’t until Bella heard Emily call for her that Bella saw a glimpse of whatever it was and fire and dead wolves all around her. Consumed by fire, by her doing. The smell of burnt flesh in her nose and it was all because of her.
This wasn’t right. She needed to get away from here. She needed to find Kol and ask him what the hell she’d seen and smelled, she needed to get out.
Bella felt the now familiar sensation of the magic pulling her into the ‘time tunnel’ and she found herself falling, stumbling, uncontrollably. When she landed on solid ground, Bella felt her stomach churn and fell to her knees to throw up. Too much food and booze.
Once she felt better, she looked around and noticed that she wasn’t at the reservation. Not at all. She found herself in the middle of a town’s square that wasn’t Forks. Upon closer inspection, she was on a school campus. One of those big ones. Telling from the clothes that people around her were wearing, she hadn’t gone too far back. But this was the first time she was actually somewhere else, and not sure how or why.
Well, she had thought of Kol in her panic, but wouldn’t that have taken her to the Cullen House instead?
“Day drinking, classy,” a voice said as he helped her to her feet. “You okay?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Bella smiled at the boy as she wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Could do with something to drink though.”
“Well, follow me, I was just heading to the cafeteria to meet up with my friend.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t tend to stay long…”
“Come on, you look as pale as a sheet,” he said as he motioned for her to follow him. “The name’s Jeremy, by the way.”
“Uh… Becky.”
“Nice to meet you Becky,” he grinned. “It’s not far, I promise.”
“Where are we?”
Jeremy eyed her for a moment. “You must have been drinking a lot to forget you’re in Denver.”
Denver? As in Colorado Denver? Wow. “Guilty. What year is this?”
“Are you taking the piss?”
“Humor me.”
“It’s October 27th, 2016.”
Two years. Well, nearly. A year and a half. She blinked then, remembering the stories she was told by Kol and his family. Was this Jeremy Gilbert? Kol told her that after Klaus had retrieved all stakes that could kill his family they’d gone into hiding and eventually came to Forks last year. Kol was keeping an eye on Jeremy for ‘leverage’ against the doppelganger, Jeremy’s sister Elena. “Right, I remember.”
“You go to school here?”
“Nope. Not sure what I’m doing here, either,” Bella said as she followed Jeremy into the cafeteria and followed him to a table at the back where she saw Kol sit. His hair noticeably longer, annoyance etched on his face. He wasn’t liking pretending to be nice to Jeremy. He called him a nuisance, Bella remembered.
“Kol’s new to Denver himself, just like me,” Jeremy explained as he sat down. “You don’t mind Becky joining us for lunch, do you?”
“Of course not,” Kol replied and Bella found him looking at her with a stranger’s eyes. It was unnerving. He actually looked as if she was his next snack. “What happened to you?”
She still hadn’t gone back yet. Usually her trips lasted five minutes, or longer if she really focused, and with this being an accidental trip, she was unsure of things now. Bella really needed Kol’s help. “Alcohol,” Bella replied with a groan. “And other stuff,” she replied before shifting to look at Jeremy. “Could you please get me something to drink?”
“Yeah, of course, I promised, didn’t I?” Jeremy smiled widely and got to his feet. “Anything else?”
“Something fatty with bacon to eat?”
“Sure,” he laughed as he walked off.
Bella then turned to Kol and smiled at him. “I need your help, Kol Mikaelson,” she said in barely a whisper, to make sure that Jeremy didn’t overhear them.
Kol immediately narrowed his eyes on her. “Who are you?”
“A friend in need. Can we ditch Gilbert and go somewhere?”
“A friend? I don’t even know you!” He spat as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it, his vampire visage bleeding slightly bleeding out before it retreated.
“For Christmas your favourite family tradition is to burn wishes, you haven’t done that in a very long time,” Bella said softly. “Please, Kol, I need your help.”
“Fine,” he scowled, withdrawing his hand and getting up before pulling her along with him, taking her away from the cafeteria and out of reach of Jeremy. A few blocks away, he pushed her against the nearest wall. “I have given it a thought. I’m not going to help you. Did Nik send you to check up on me?”
“No. And don’t try to compel me, it won’t work.” She then realized that this Kol didn’t know anything about time travel. At all. He couldn’t help her, could he?
“Fine, then I’m going to have you for lunch,” he said as his vampire visage bled out and sunk his teeth into her neck.
Oh, he hurt her by driving his fangs into her neck. Bella hadn’t expected any different and, strangely, she found it exciting. She put her hand around his neck and used enough of his essence to throw him off of her, ripping her neck a little. Putting her hand around her own neck she glared at him. “Idiot! I came to you to feel safe! And this is what you do to me?!” She used the little magic that she had left to fling him against the nearest wall.
“I don’t even know you!”
“Yeah, I know! How was I supposed to know that I was going to end up here instead of where you are now?!” She shot back at him. “I-I saw something at the reservation and I’m not sure what I saw but I needed to get to you and then I panicked and I ended up here instead of your home! To a time where you don’t even know me! Which is fucking useless!” She then removed her hand from her neck to see how much blood was coming out of it and was disgusted by the smell of the blood before putting it back on her neck. “And now I’m fucking bleeding out!”
“Have you lost your bloody mind? I don’t have any friends!”
“No wonder with your attitude! To think that I thought Myriam and I defended you against your brother. I don’t know if I want to again next time,” she scoffed, her hand pressed back against her neck.
“You know Myriam?”
“Of course I fucking do,” she growled. “And she won’t be happy if you’re allowing me to die!”
Kol rushed over to feed her his blood and backed off again. “You’re a witch.”
“That’s what you keep telling me. I thought we were becoming friends, but after this, I think you really are more like my ex and his family now,” she glared and moved away from him.
“I’m sorry?” Kol said a bit uneasy. “What can I help you with? You said you had a vision?”
She glared at him before turning away, unsure if she should share with this Kol who’d attacked her. She didn’t trust this one and he was a lot more temperamental than the one she was getting to know in her normal timeline. “Do you have any idea how I can get back to where I’m supposed to be?”
“Take the bus?”
“Yeah, you’re no help,” Bella sighed as she reached out to him to grab him, and used her magic to snap his neck before spelling him to forget this encounter, but she wasn’t sure if it completely stuck. She then lifted his phone and dialed Klaus’ number. He was likely busy but she was stuck. And Klaus knew about her.
“I told you not to call me!”
“Good thing Kol’s not calling you then,” Bella replied. “I’m stuck.”
“Bella?”
“Oh good,” Bella let out a breath as she kept an eye on the unconscious Kol. “Your brother tried to have me for lunch.”
There was some rustling sound before he spoke again. “Now is not a good time for this. What happened?”
“I don’t know! Likely alcohol and a bunch of shifter wolves that made me lose control and I had a vision and wanted to go to Kol and I end up here, where your brother is a fucking dick.”
“How far did you travel back?”
“A year and a half, but Klaus, I’ve been here for the last 30 minutes. Something is wrong.”
“Or you just haven’t found out what you came back to learn yet. You said you had a vision right before traveling. What did you see?” He tiredly asked, sounding distracted as the sound of a door closing crossed the phone.
“I saw all the wolves burned and I thought I was responsible for that but if this is not the right time for you, it’s fine, I’ll just—”
“No, Bella. It’s not your fault. You didn’t pick your timing. I know that. It’s just there is another powerful being we are also dealing with at the moment. And of course, Myriam and Elijah don’t yet know about you. As far as the shifters burning, do you recall any other details? Figures in the distance?”
“The smell of burnt flesh, I don’t know, I wasn’t sure what was happening so I wasn’t paying attention. I just wanted to go back to safety.”
“You should have Kol walk through the memory to pull the details-“
“Sure! If I get back! There’s no way that I’m letting this one anywhere near me! I just wiped his memory too!”
“I don’t know how to get you back. This isn’t exactly my area. He knows most about witches, Love.”
“But I wrote to myself and—”
“It’s not here, I can’t help you with that book at the moment. I suppose you’ll just have to play nice with this Kol to figure it out. He’s not a bad person, just very… newly released from his box and scared of this powerful being we’re going to have to face.”
“I know it’s your mother.”
Klaus sighed. “I can’t help you. Kol can. Perhaps even Jeremy Gilbert, as he had teachings from Alaric.”
“This whole situation your family left in Virginia to hide from in Forks is completely fucked up.”
“No, that’s something entirely different if we are going to Forks soon, don’t you worry about that, don’t tell me the future,” Klaus replied. “We can handle our mother.”
“Still. She’s a bitch.”
“That she is. Now, go play nice with Kol.”
“Do I have to?” She whined as she kicked the unconscious vampire with a pout.
“He’s your best chance.”
“Fine, thanks,” she sighed. “Give Myriam a hug from me, but don’t actually say… you know.”
“Good luck, I hope you can get back to your own time soon.” Klaus then disconnected the call and Bella kicked Kol again before returning the phone to his pocket and sat down next to him.
Sighing, she cast a spell to revive him sooner and she found herself up against a wall again, her feet dangling underneath her. Round two, with his mind wiped. “Haven’t you learned anything?”
“Learned what? You’re food!” Kol hissed at her before dropping her to the ground again. Okay, so the wipe didn’t stick that well.
“You tried to eat me! I told you I was a friend!”
No, she hadn’t told him that. He had his neck snapped somehow and this strange girl was sitting next to him. “And I don’t know who the hell you are!”
“Becky. I’m a Siphoner witch who just learned how to have her time travel powers under control and got spooked by a vision she didn’t know she could have and that ended me up here,” Bella explained. “Now, your brother knows who I am and even though you’re a gigantic asshole, he said you’re my best bet to get me back home.”
“You know my brother? Are you working for him?”
“Fuck no,” Bella scowled. “I don’t work for anyone but you need to help me, because technically, I am outside my Cold One safety zone and they can come and kill me soon, too.”
“Cold Ones?”
“Yep.”
“And you said you had a vision? What do you remember of it? What triggered your unexplained… time travel?”
“I was at a shapeshifter bonfire? I don’t know. It was going like every other one I’ve been at before.”
“Shifters? Those wolves up in Forks?”
“Yeah.”
“And how did you get your powers under control?”
“With help from you.”
“Oh,” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Their magic is different from ours. More potent, more ancient.”
“But you allowed me to go.”
Why would he do that? “I did?”
Bella nodded. “And I didn’t just time travel, I traveled in place, and had a vision for the first time.”
“And you have Cold One trouble?”
“I kind of need to be off the street before the sun goes down,” Bella nodded again.
“I’m supposed to do something else,” he replied as he looked around. “But seeing as we’re nowhere near Jeremy at the moment, sure, why not? Come on,” Kol replied as he started to walk away from her. “I know just the place.”
“Are you going to hurt me again?”
“If you know my brother, then I’d better not,” he replied. “Besides, I’ve never met a Siphoner witch before who could travel in time.”
“And I’m going to make you forget, too.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because that would screw up my present. Your future.”
“And Nik knows about you?”
“Yeah, because I need him to tell me what I am,” Bella replied as she looked at Kol who had a questionable look on his face. “Long story. I don’t know why I did that, it’s in my future. Time travel makes my head hurt.”
“And you came to me for help?”
“Future you isn’t such an asshole,” Bella replied. “You helped me. A lot. It’s okay to be nice, you know. You’re an Original vampire, the only one you need to be afraid of is your brother’s wife.”
“Not even Elijah or Nik themselves?”
“During the first time I had dinner with you guys Myriam had garden shears on the table next to her, ready to use it.”
Kol opened the door to an abandoned building and lead Bella inside with a thoughtful look on his face. “That does sound a lot like her, yes.”
“So. Help me to get back?”
He smirked as he stared back at her. “I could try to help but what incentive do I have to want to do that? Perhaps I’d like to keep you here and see what you can do myself?”
“There’s two of me in this time. I need to get back, I’m just not sure how,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You never need an incentive, but I don’t know… I’ll take you out to dinner when I get back?”
“What use is that for me now?!”
Bella shrugged for an answer. “Klaus said that it likely has to do with the vision I had when I was at the reservation and because I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t understand it and that you could help me.”
“I could. Yes. But again, why would I? Because my brother said I would? Perhaps I can’t use you as a snack, but I could have a lot of fun with you. Right now,” he said as he slowly walked towards her, his eyes darting all across her body. “I’m still faster than you. If I tie you up, you can’t siphon my magic.”
“You wouldn’t,” Bella replied kindly. “Because I have done nothing to harm you at this point. You, however, tried to use me as a snack already. I’m not your enemy, Kol. I’m a friend. And seriously, if you going to behave like this, I’ll break your neck and I’ll try to figure shit out for myself. Or… I don’t know. Hand myself over to the Volturi so they think that it’s the real me and my current me will be free.”
Her face lit up with the idea, believing it might actually work.
Kol sighed and shook his head. More annoyed at the mere mention of the parasites. “First, I don’t know when or how you got yourself tangled up with those buggers but I doubt that would work because that all hinges on when you made your deal. Second, it’s always more fun to fuck with their overly confident heads and then pull the rug out from under them. Just let me into your pretty mind so that I can see what we are dealing with and I know what you saw. We will get you back so that I don’t have my brother on my arse for eternity.”
“Safely.”
“Yes, safely,” he nodded as he pointed at the floor. “Works better if you sit, in case you fall and hurt yourself. I promise I won’t take a peek at anything else.”
“It’s okay if you did, though,” Bella replied as she sat down in the dirt. “I wouldn’t mind.” She’d wipe his memory anyway. Perhaps leave the idea that he met a time-traveling siphoner witch, but that’s it. She didn’t want to mess with history. But perhaps he could see a different side to himself, too, and learn something.
This Kol was still a bit rough around the edges. Likely only out of his box for a few months, perhaps even weeks, now on a mission for Klaus while also worrying about his mother. Maybe the point where he’d calm down some without feeling high strung came after the demise of his mother.
“I’ll be discreet,” he said as he squatted down next to her, looking at her for a moment. “Are we involved from where you’re from?”
“We’re friends. You’re keeping your distance.”
Kol sighed. “Pity,” he gently placed his hands on both sides of her head and let out another breath. “This won’t hurt, just think of the situation you were in when you had your vision happen, I’ll find it. The first couple of visions are always the hardest.”
Bella looked up at him and blinked for a moment. “I didn’t even know I could have visions. I shouldn’t have. I can only travel in time and do some spells to protect myself.”
“That’s alright. I do suggest you telling uh- me about this when you get back. If it’s true what you say and I’ve been helping you, there might be more to your powers.”
“I was at the rez, we had some good food, a few drinks, and then we were around the campfire, I was sitting wedged between my two friends, shifters, and I think they were all touching for some reason but I was buzzing and nice and warm so I didn’t think anything of it,” Bella replied. “It was a ceremony for Sam and Emily’s unborn child. I was nearly nodding off and then I saw it. Everyone burnt. I could even smell burnt flesh and then I was here.”
Kol nodded. “Try to take a snapshot of the image of everyone burnt. It might be distressing for you, but you might have missed signs of what happened.”
“But…”
He sighed as he found the vision. Her mind was cluttered, it wasn’t as easy as for example reading another vampire’s mind. “I have it…” Yes, the wolves were all dead and burnt. The campfire obscuring the background, but focusing through the smoke, he could see an army of red-eyed vampires. Cold Ones. “Who did you piss off so much that they’d create a newborn army to decimate the reservation?”
“What?”
Kol nodded as he pulled the vision closer and looped Bella in to see it for herself. “It’s likely created from missing children from the area, they barely look legal.”
“My dad is dealing with that now…” Bella couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Kids her age, some she’d seen at her school. “You’re saying a Cold One did this?”
Kol pulled out of her mind and looked her over. “And my guess is that you know who it is. And you’re scared. It’s likely why you’re still here and haven’t gone back to your own time.”
That made sense. Bella looked at her hands just to avoid Kol’s gaze.
“However, if it’s true what you say and that I and my family have been helping you with your gifts, you have nothing to worry about, Becky. We’ll keep you safe. And if you go back now, you can inform them about your vision and they will stop it from happening to save your friends.”
She looked up at him then. “I know, you’ve been saying that.”
“Then trust us.”
“I do! I don’t want you to get hurt. This is my mess.”
“And those newborns will be a danger to everyone if they’re not being dealt with. You could, of course, allow it to happen and then the Volturi will come to Forks. Would you want that? Because they will blame you and they will kill you, too.”
“They won’t. Despite their deceit, they are true to their word and won’t kill me as long as I stay in Forks or two hours around it. On top of that, I’m supernatural like them.”
“It would be the perfect opportunity to tell them to shove it. However, newborns are extremely dangerous and volatile. They can’t be tamed that easily and they will tear through your town if you allow this to happen. Don’t be afraid, Bella. You’ll be alright.”
“I never told you my name.”
“I just went inside your head. You were lying about your name, but not about everything else,” Kol replied kindly. “You’re a good person, Bella, but if I and my family give you our word or our aid, we will. We’ve dealt with the parasites before. Or at least my brothers have. It’ll be alright, you have nothing to fear,” he smiled then as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “From what I saw inside your mind, you’re already part of our family and we’d do anything for family.”
“I’m not a part—”
“That’s because you’re not allowing yourself to feel more than you allow yourself to feel. Whoever hurt you so bad in the past, it’s not us. We’re a volatile bunch, yes, but we take care of our own. And from what I could see, you’re one of ours. Stop being afraid, Bella, you’re this amazing witch who can kick our asses when need be. Live a little,” he said as he helped her to her feet. “And my apologies for having been so… rude and… defensive. I don’t like surprises that much and I believed that Nik sent someone to check up on me because he doesn’t trust me.”
He was right, wasn’t he? Bella had been keeping them at arm’s length because she didn’t want to get hurt. But they’d done nothing to even make her panic or think that they weren’t looking out for her. “He does.”
“I know, otherwise he wouldn’t send me to Denver to spy on his doppelganger’s baby brother. I can’t wait until I can beat him up, however, I truly am sorry, Bella.”
“It’s alright, Kol,” she smiled at him. “Thank you for helping me. It’s strange how I panicked myself to here instead of home, but maybe that was a good thing as well.”
“Everything has a reason, we may not know why it happens, but it happens for a reason.”
“I am, however, going to erase the fact that you’ve met me. You won’t remember this encounter.”
“I still don’t like that.”
“Neither do I, but I don’t want to mess up my present. If you’d like, I could have you retain the knowledge of having met a time-traveling witch?”
“Take it all, darling, knowing something but not quite remembering what will only drive me insane and I’ll turn it into an obsession to find out. It’s not the best of plans.”
The way she erased his memory was to ‘rewind’ his brain until the point of being in the cafeteria by himself and added a false memory of him needing to feed. Once she was done, and confident that this stuck, she planted a kiss on his cheek as she could feel the pull coming to take her back. “Thank you, Kol Mikaelson,” she whispered before she disappeared.
