06: Bad Girl

Bella inhaled his scent, her eyes lingering on his neck as she stepped past him into the house with a grin. Keep her back to him, she shrugged a shoulder. “Edward dropped me off. I was having troubles with the truck. I’m surprised she didn’t warn you.”

He felt on edge as he backed into the house, a danger lurking in the dark that he couldn’t see. “Don’t worry about it now. You’re home now. Just make sure you remember to call next time. I got some pizza. You hungry?” he asked as he locked the door and turned to face her but his breath caught in his throat at the horrifying mask she had on.

With her vampire visage on, her new amber eyes with black veins expanding outwards and elongated fangs, she was truly the threat in the room that he feared. “Actually Charlie, I am…”

~o.O.o~

Running around the rainy state of Washington was not something that Klaus particularly found enjoyable. The constant rainfall caused them to lose Bella’s scent frequently, not that it truly mattered as he eventually grew more frustrated by his ever cunning wife.

The group was spread out on the mountain top, overlooking the stretch of rivers as he thought about the possibilities that she might have considered when the seer called out that she had found her scent again. He was unable to resist rolling his eyes. It was pointless following it as he simply knew it would only run them into another circle. She had covered her scent over the region so well, she made sure that no one would find her until she was ready.

“Don’t bloody bother,” Klaus answered back as his cell phone rang. “She has us on a goose chase.”

Eying the unknown number before answering, his eyes narrowed as the caller ordered him with instructions; as if knowing more about his wife’s current status when no one outside the four had informed anyone of her hybrid nature yet.

As the conversation continued, he looked up to Jasper, whom had come closer to listen. At hearing the seemingly familiar voice, the Cold One rolled his eyes and eventually nodded when he was called out for verification.

“He’s telling you the truth. He may be a fucker, but Peter is unfortunately good on his word and his ability is remarkably accurate. If he said to get her north, it’s for a good reason,” he murmured.

Klaus let out a growl as he was not happy about someone unknown being familiar with his wife, and aware of the delicate situation they had found themselves in with her. Still by the end of the call, he was left unsatisfied as all the vampire could promise was that she’d show up before the full moon.

“Well, what did you do when you first turned?” Jasper asked to break the angry hybrid’s pacing as Alice and Kol watched on.

Kol pursed his lips and shook his head. “If you are referring to the first time, our mother blasted him with that curse,” he reminded his friend of their history.

“No. After he broke it.”

“It was under a full moon. I didn’t have the same circumstances of having to wait like Isabella,” Klaus mumbled, frustrated as he pulled at his hair. “Blast that woman! The first thing I’ll do when I see her is break her pretty little neck!”

His brother was unable to hold in his amusement as he grinned. “Right, of course you will. Until she bats her eyes at you and suggests a romp in bed and all will be forgotten. She has you wrapped around her finger, Nik, and she knows it. Switched off or not, Poppet knows how to play you like a fiddle which is why we are out here looking like tools and she is probably running around town deciding on her next meal.”

Klaus scowled at her brother as he checked on the time. He couldn’t but think that his brother wasn’t wrong in his suggestion as he was quite close with her as well. “Elijah should have contacted Rebekah by now and hopefully she’d have made arrangements to come assist with the nomad situation. We should head back, check any cave system along the way. She would have sought shelter in them.”

“We’ve been checking this entire time. There are dozens of nooks and crevices she could have been usings,” Alice pointed out.

“We keep checking!”

Kol let out a sigh as he pushed her ahead of him so that they could continue with their search, leaving the irritated man be. The last thing they all needed was for him to grow more unhinged than he already was.

~o.O.o~

Storming out of the house, Bella’s vision was as red as the blood smeared across her face. She fought to wipe it off with her sleeve, promising herself to rip whoever’s heart out that was responsible for that stunt.

As she walked up the street through town, her ears picked up voices in a nearby building and grinned to herself as she cocked her head thoughtfully. Looking around, she strolled to the tiny auto shop that was closed for the night, peering in through the dirty windows. Her lips turned up in a devious smile before she punched her small fist through the glass.

Pushing the door open, she took a careful step forward, testing the boundaries but was pleased to find her capable of entering the shop. “Excellent,” she sang to herself as she strode forward, straight to the prize she had her eyes on.

Grabbing the heavy chains, she hoisted them over her shoulders. She had no care if anyone saw her; no care to hide her nature. She’d simply kill the witness now. There was no way a small girl, such as herself, would or should be capable of carrying chains like she had found.

Crossing the street, she was quick as she used one set to secure the rear doors closed before making her way around the front. As she entered the building, Bella closed the doors behind her in the foyer, chaining them too, and locking them. Walking through into the congregation room, she stood in the back observing the evening mass being held by Pastor Webber.

A few heads turned to see who joined them so late but she only gave a cold smile. “Oh don’t mind me. Please do continue,” she said as she leaned on the back pew while the pastor and his daughter exchanged a concerned look before he continued with his sermon.

The pastor hesitated as he looked away from Bella, over the parishioners. He continued on, making her smile more. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members are instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you.”

The long, slow clap from the back of the church was chilling as her cold, dead look that she stared the man down with. “That was fascinating Pastor. Now I must ask. What right would you have to speak of the sins of the dead – or undead?” she questioned as she began to walk down the center aisle. Her steps took on a more predatory appearance that had the locals shrink back as they soon notice the blood on her clothing once she grew closer. “I always had issues with those of the clergy, thinking they were better than everyone else. Especially my kind. After all, it is the bible that said we all were born in sin so that makes you no better than I.”

Pastor Webber eyed Bella, blinking as he quickly took in her bloodied appearance and her darkened eyes. “I apologize that tonight’s sermon is not to your liking Miss Swan,” he said quietly as he attempted to remain calm. From the corner of his eye, he saw his daughter, this stranger’s friend, leave her seat to come to his side and as much as he wanted to object, he was afraid to set the girl off.

“Bella? What’s wrong?” Angela’s soft voice asked as she moved to stand beside her father, studying her friend in confusion.

“What is wrong?” Bella sighed as she rolled her head back, closing her eyes. No longer making any effort to play an American teenager, her natural accent began to come through in her language. “So many answers to that question, Ang. Where do I begin? My husband is playing in the woods, chasing his tail, searching for me. My brother-in-law is a two-faced arse that I would love to rip his heart out and put it on a pike. I bloody hate almost everything in this forsaken town. And someone in my twisted little family decided to pay the chief a visit recently and when I find out who it is, I will kill them.”

The pastor paled as he listened to speech, subtly pushing Angela behind him. “You’re married?!” Angela asked, not having known that about her friend. “I thought you were dating Edward Cullen!”

“Edward Cullen is dead. I killed him myself,” the girl shrugged, bored as she stared at her nails before looking up through her lashes. “Did anyone find Lauren’s body yet? She was quite…mmm…”

“Dear God,” Pastor Webber quietly cried as he blessed himself, knowing what had happened to the girl. “You…you’re…”

“Me…I’m…a…what? Go on…say it,” Bella encouraged with a smile as she took a step closer, her fingers dancing on the back of the pew. “You can reveal what I am. I don’t mind. It’s not like anyone is going to be leaving here alive.”

“Please don’t do this Miss Swan. These are innocent humans,” he pleaded, tears beginning to fall from his eyes.

The vampire only continued to smile back, her face changing. The man that was sitting frozen in fear on the pew was afraid to look at her, his body beginning to tremble as her hand grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled over the back. “There is no such thing as an innocent human,” she let out breathlessly before she dove for her victim’s neck as he let out a scream.

The rest of the congregation started screaming and running for the exits but soon found that they were trapped. No amount of yanking on the doors or pulling on the heavy chains were going to free them.

Bella let go of the body, allowing it fall to her feet as she lifted her head. Her eyes were bright and glassy from the fresh blood, the crimson fluid running down her chin. She let out a sigh, content from the feed, a smile gracing her lips as her eyes slowly rolled to take in the stricken expressions on the religious man and his daughter as they stared at her.

The vampire ignored the screaming humans as they continued to cry and attempt to pry at the thick chains, but her attention was focused singularly on the alter. “So calm,” she purred as she turned to lean against the side of the pew, bringing her fingers up to lazily wipe at the blood on her face. “I am quite surprised that you are not joining the rest of the townsfolk in their pitiful attempts to flee.”

“Demons are not unheard of throughout history if you know where to look Miss Swan,” Pastor Webber answered with a quiver in his voice. “Legends and fables emerge from tales that must hold some ounce of truth, including those of creatures of the undead.”

Bella pouted as she turned her eyes up at him. “Come on. You can say it,” she whispered. “Let everyone know the truth…”

“Why are you so insistent on this?” he asked in turn.

“What happened to you Bella?” Angela asked, afraid and concerned, trying to look around her father but he continued to hold her behind him.

“What happened to me?” Bella repeated with a dark laugh. She flashed to grab a random person that attempted to break the stained glass window featuring a rendering of one of the saints with a chair, ripping into his neck ruthlessly. Shoving him to the floor, she sneered at his body. “Have some respect for the arts, bloody sod.”

A growl let out from deep within her chest as her eyes glowed, her anger coursing through her as she attacked more people. Ruthlessly tearing into their bodies with her sharp nails, drinking the blood of a few. As the frenzy caused the remaining living to spread, frantically trying from the monster, the young girl standing with her father cried and screamed in terror.

The action only drew the young hybrid’s attention again. She turned and started to make her way back down the center aisle to the two again. Behind the humans, her eyes gleamed in amusement as the flames of the lit candles grew, seemingly without any outside influence. A furtive glance around showed the few still breathing either on the floor, continuing to fruitlessly attempt escape, or entirely focused on herself. Only two were of the latter.

“Hm, quite intriguing,” Bella mused as she stopped short, looking the pastor and his daughter over again with new eyes. “Witches. Of course. And you were just preaching about demons not thirty minutes ago,” she sneered as she held her arms up to the nearly dead fellowship. “I hate witches…”

She started to run full speed for Pastor Webber and Angela when she fell to her knees once she reached the edge of the platform of the alter. Holding her head, she hissed out in rage, struggling to look up through the pain to see which of the two was inflicting the supernatural migraine on her.

“Blasted little bitch! I will kill you!” she ground out through clenched teeth.

“Bella…” Angela started to say as she held her gaze on her friend, tears falling from her eyes. “I don’t want to do this – I don’t even know how I am doing this, but you need to stop. Please!”

Bella could feel her pulling back and she remained on her knees for a couple moments with her head down. When she finally looked up, she had nothing but emptiness in her eyes. “When my family comes to look for me, tell them whoever gave Charlie vervain, they should take it and shove it up their ass,” she smiled before flashing to the exit, breaking the necks of the two at the door and ripping the chain off to disappear into the night.

~o.O.o~

It was late when Klaus and the rest of his group made it back into Forks before they decided to return to the Cullen house after their failed search through the woods for Bella’s hide out. He felt drawn to seek out the shifters, to offer whatever assistance he could to his wife’s friends. However, he knew the larger danger was her and had to focus his attentions on bringing her back.

After having just pulled into Port Angeles, the frustrated vampires made a stop for the originals to stock up on liquor and were about to walk into the shop when Jasper’s cellphone rang. At the caller name, they lingered outside as he answered.

“I didn’t know. I only knew it was before the full moon tomorrow night. Get to the church in Forks now!” Peter snapped, hanging up quickly.

Klaus pursed his lips, the possible reasons for his wife to go to such a place seemed out of character. As an unspoken rule, they tended to avoid religious establishments where possible. However, Bella was not a typical wife.

The four abandoned the lure of alcohol, returning to the car and sped out of town, back to where they started. “Where is this church?” Klaus questioned shortly after they passed the city limit as he kept his eyes out to the passing scenery. He knew simply by instinct that she would not be there now. She was toying with them and playing a damn good game.

“We’re there,” Jasper answered, turning around a bend and the sleepy white building stood off the side of the road. He pulled off and threw the car into park, they were quick as they exited and looked to the building with apprehension. “I smell blood.”

“A lot of it,” Alice whispered as she looked around frightened. “I haven’t been able to see anything. Anything with Bella is blocked.”

“It’s bloody obvious because she’s part wolf,” Kol muttered as he followed his still silent brother as he already started for the building. His eyes took in the exterior of the church, falling on the set of doors near the back. “Nik. She chained the back from the outside.”

He paused as he looked towards where his younger brother indicated but provided no other reaction before continuing in through the front where one door was hanging loosely from the hinges. He was unable to enter but he could see enough from where he stood.

Blood soaked the thin carpet as the bodies of nearly twenty humans laid scattered. Klaus’ lips parted at the gruesome sight, something that he was not innocent of causing himself, but that he never fathomed coming the hand of his mate. There were human intestines dangling from a light fixture above them and upon closer inspection, one of the statues had received new eyes. “Isabella did this,” he quietly said. “We were too late to stop this.”

Kol was in his own shock as Jasper and Alice came up from behind. Alice gasped out and started to go in but was held back by the original. Jasper was wide eyed as he took slow steps in, testing his own control around the scent of the human blood and looked around. His enhanced senses and gift knew there was someone living still hiding. “Hello? We are not here to hurt you,” he called out.

Hearing the familiar voice, a closet door slowly opened and Angela stepped out with her father. “He’s one of them, child,” the man warned as he pulled her closer.

Jasper’s eyes narrowed on them but he ignored the comment as he continued to take in the carnage around them. “I understand your fear Pastor, but if you know what we are then you are also aware of the differences,” he responded as gently as he could.

“It was another of your kind, whatever race of demons you claim to be, that caused this massacre,” Pastor Webber responded.

Angela looked at her father confused, shaking her head before turning to Jasper. “Bella did this. She’s a vampire. You and your family are vampires too?”

At his hesitance, he looked to the others stuck at the threshold before nodding. “We are. Look. Can you invite my friends inside so that we can talk? Believe me when I say, we’ve been trying to prevent something like this from happening. We only just found out that we were needed here.”

“Bella didn’t need to be invited,” the girl pointed out. “She came in and…and…” She pointed to the bodies as if it were answer enough.

Her father shook his head with regret. “She was invited. She came with Chief Swan one day and I had invited them in together. What’s to stop these demons from doing what she had and finish what she started?”

“They are her family,” Jasper told them. “They came to take her home but they can explain what they want with you. It’s not my place. The Bella you saw tonight isn’t her. Not normally. They won’t harm you if you don’t give them reason to. I can assure you that all Klaus wants is his wife back to her normal self and that monster that did this, was not her.”

“Klaus?” the pastor questioned, his eyes narrowing in recognition and distrust.

The emotions confused Jasper, but none more than when Angela appeared to be more open and smiled. “Come in,” she said as she started to step away from her father, only for him to pull her back. “What? Bella said that her husband would likely show up.”

“Quiet,” he whispered to her as he watched the two original vampires walk inside the church and take a thorough look at the carnage.

“Poppet was really pissed,” Kol muttered as he looked around him in shock.

Klaus continued to maintain his silence as he made his way around, trying to make sense of the way she left her kills. Righting a fallen chair that laid next to the body of a man below one of the stained glass windows with a rendering of Saint Luke. He stood staring at it for what felt like an eternity before speaking. “What had my lovely wife to say before she left?” he asked, his voice soft.

Angela pulled away from her father with a decisive tug. “I’ll be fine,” she assured him, then took a few steps closer to the vampire. He only acknowledged her presence with a slight turn of the head before returning to his study of the window. “She mentioned her husband and brothers in passing. She was more angry about someone visiting Chief Swan. Said that they can take the vervain and…well…she had some colorful words about what to do with it.”

“Oh shit,” Kol mumbled, making his brother look to him. “This one is on me brother.”

“What did you do?” Klaus demanded, but the guilty expression wasn’t just on his face, but on the empath’s as well.

“When you and Bella were out for your reunion dinner, I informed Kol of the few humans that she was particularly fond of in town. Angela here, and Chief Swan, whom she was posing as his daughter. We stopped by and gave him vervain,” Jasper explained.

Klaus swallowed as he pieced together the information and looked to the diminutive girl. “How exactly is it that you managed to survive against a thousand year old vampire?”

She grimaced and shrugged her shoulders. “A headache?”

He growled as he was not pleased with the lack of answer. However tempted as he was to kill her himself, he would only suffer his wife’s ire later.

“We come from a small witch line and she only just came into her abilities. Purely defensive and it was enough to keep Bella from coming after her,” Pastor Webber said as he made his way to his daughter again.

“Nonsense. You have no reason to downplay the girl’s strength. No matter how new she is to her craft. While I believe she is new and that your own magic is weak, this little bird is strong if she was able to keep my sister away,” Kol snapped at the man.

Angela blinked and shook her head in denial but Klaus smiled at her as reassuringly as he could. “He’s correct, Love. Bella has centuries of experience with witches and is skilled in resisting the common tricks they use. Such as a headache.”

She appeared overwhelmed by the attention, attempting to shake it off. “Is there something about Saint Luke that fascinates you?” she asked curiously.

Klaus looked back up at the window over his shoulder, a fond smile ghosting his lips. “He is the patron saint of painters,” he responded.

“This man was going to break the window to escape and she killed him,” Pastor Webber said as he eyed the vampire. “Is it simply because it’s of Saint Luke?”

“Most likely and it gives hope that all is not lost for Isabella. She obviously still cares in our shared interests,” the hybrid smiled happily. “Perhaps we can exploit that, brother?”

“Doubtful. She’s more likely to use said interests to get you to turn your humanity off so that you two can run off on a murder spree that the supernatural world would never recover from,” Kol shook his head. “You know quite well how these things work.”

“Oh, but it’s fun, admit it.”

“I agree it is. And you and I had a grand time in New Orleans when those gnits hid in the attic, but remember the punishment that my dear sister put the two of us through after that? I got stuck in a bloody coffin again. No thank you.”

Klaus shook his head and looked to the young witch. Letting out a sigh, he considered his options. “How about I make a deal with you? You help my family and I find my wife and I will set you up with people who know magic and help you with yours. Fair trade?”

“Absolutely not!” Pastor Webber protested but Angela was quick to agree as she reached out to shake the hybrid’s hand.

“Deal. What do you need from me? Bella had always been a good friend and I don’t understand what happened,” she said.

“My brother will explain the details. I have someone else I must visit right now,” Klaus smiled at her, kissing the back of her hand that he still held with a bow. “Come Jasper. Bring your annoying runt of a wife with you.”

~o.O.o~

Leaving the church, Klaus ushered the Cold Ones back into the car, taking control of it himself. As soon as he was back on the road, he looked over to his acquaintance. “Where does this Chief live?”

“Make a right up ahead, then another at the post office. The house will be on the left, up the road a bit,” Alice answered in place. “Can you tell us why we are going to see him? I can’t get any visions when it comes to you and Bella. It’s annoying.”

“And you are a blasted pest that needs to be exterminated,” he replied in turn. “Are you that bloody slow that you haven’t figured out that Bella attempted to feed on the town’s police chief? While our kind is capable of blending in with humans easier than you can, we still have to keep a certain level of awareness in covering up our kills and reduce unwanted attraction.”

Because of the speed he was using, he pulled up to the house as he finished speaking and flashed out of the car. He was able to pick up his wife’s scent, knowing she’d been their only hours earlier. Making his way up to the porch, he peered through the storm door, inside where he heard a single human shuffling about in a nearby room.

“Hello? Chief Swan?” he called out.

The movement stopped momentarily before the man came out with a rifle armed in one hand and a bloodied towel holding his neck in the other. “Who are you?” he demanded.

Klaus held up his hands in a mock gesture to show that he was unarmed but it clearly only caused the human to tense further. “I am not here to cause you harm,” he said. “Can we put the firearm down and speak civilly?”

Jasper and Alice approached from Klaus from behind and looked at Charlie apologetically. However he wasn’t having it. “What happened to Bella?” he fumed. “I always suspected the Cullens were different but I turned a blind eye. All of a sudden Bella comes home and she is that – that – thing! I want answers!”

“May I come in? I will explain everything in detail of the true nature of Isabella and what occurred,” Klaus asked again.

Charlie looked back at him, uncertainty emanating from him as he glanced between the two males. “Fine. Come in. But if you try to take a chunk out of my neck like she did, I’ll blow your head right off your shoulders,” he said as he stepped back.

The threat was amusing to Klaus but he said nothing as he stepped inside. He could easily see his wife spending time there, enjoying the simplicity of human life. “Isabella is a very old vampire that has compelled you to believe that you were her father as she spent some time in this town,” he started without preamble. “You recall Jasper visiting yesterday with another man?”

“Yeah,” Charlie nodded hesitantly, his eyes blinking as he stared back at the dusty haired man. “He convinced me to drink the shittiest tea I ever tasted.”

Klaus raised an eyebrow, looking to Jasper. “He didn’t compel him to drink it?”

The Cold One shook his head. “He tried. Don’t know why it didn’t work, but Edward always had a hard time hearing his thoughts too, never with clarity like everyone else.”

“Fascinating,” the hybrid mused, wondering if that was a reason why the man drew Bella’s attention when she arrived. If she knew more about him than she let on. “Well, Chief, I am sorry to break the news to you but you may wish to drink that horrid tea more often. As it is, it was due to that drink you are still alive now.”

“I doubt a cup of tea is capable of life saving miracles Buddy. Who the hell are you and why are you here?”

“I am Klaus Mikaelson. Isabella is my wife. Has been for the last thousand plus years,” he smiled as he stood behind the sofa with his hands folded behind his back. “And the contents of that tea is something of a poison to vampires of my kind. As soon as Bella went to drink your blood, it burned her. Kol and Jasper providing it to you was only a random chance as they knew she cares for you and would not wish for another of our kind to cause you harm due to our presence in town.”

The chief scowled as he lifted the rifle back up, causing the vampire to frown back. “And yet, it was Isabella that attacked me.”

“Yes. For that I apologize on her behalf. She – is not feeling herself,” he murmured. “We have been attempting to deal with her but she has been most difficult.”

Charlie stared at him in silence as his gaze was returned. The only one to understand the nonverbal exchange was Jasper and he kept his eyes on Alice, his own displeasure and frustration with her radiating so that she would not interrupt the much needed moment between the two. Soon, the human set his weapon down and nodded. “You said Bella compelled me? What the hell does that mean?”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Klaus explained briefly of their history and what he knew of Bella’s activities with the Cullens input. When he broke the news of what Bella had done, her humanity not being a part of her currently, allowing her to do things that were so vile, he shared the event of the massacre at the church. A bloodbath in angry revenge against her family.

“So how exactly do you plan to contain what is essentially a rabid animal?” Charlie questioned once he was over the shock.

“That’s it? You’re not concerned about us all being vampires or the wolves?” Alice asked in surprise.

The chief looked at her, bewildered. “What the hell can I do about it? You see what Bella did to me? I’ll do what I can to help stop her but before what your asshole brother did and killed her friend, my friend’s son, she never gave me any indication that she wanted to harm me so I have to believe that the girl that I had believed was my daughter does have good in her somewhere still.”

Klaus gave him a small smile in thanks of his support before reaching for the glass of whiskey that the man had been nursing. Piercing his finger, he let his blood drip into the liquor before handing it back. “Drink.”

“Uh…”

“It won’t turn you into one of us. At least as long as you don’t get yourself killed before that little bit is out of your body. Our blood can heal humans. It will help heal your neck and avoid a trip to the hospital,” he explained. “It may take a day, two at most for that amount of my blood.”

Charlie hesitated before he threw back the rest of the contents of the glass. It took a couple moments but his bite from Bella soon began to heal. “Wow,” he mumbled as he felt over his neck. “What can I do to help?

Jasper grimaced as he looked up from where he hung out by the door. “You can start by helping us cover up her massacre at the church. The Webbers can help you as it seems they aren’t a stranger to the supernatural as well. Kol is there helping Angela as it seems she’s a young witch.”

“Witches?” Charlie echoed as he sat back. “I don’t think I’m drunk enough for this yet.”

~o.O.o~

It was near daybreak and the Cold Ones were milling about their usual habits at the Cullen house, which had been declared to be used as a base for the planning the anticipated attack of Victoria, as well as searching for the still unaccounted for Isabella. Klaus refused to awake Elijah and still did not wish to share the knowledge of his wife’s new hybrid status. Kol immediately made his way to the couch and took claim as he quickly fell into his sleep.

He only nodded off for short periods until the light knock on the door caused everyone that was not asleep, or capable of it, to stare at the door. Klaus’ nose immediately recognized the scent and was about to go to the door when Elijah started down the stairs, holding his hand up.

As he pulled the door back, the pretty blond woman on the doorstep smiled back at him. “What in the bloody hell have you gotten yourselves into? I decided to make a stop on the way here and visit a scenic viewpoint that I had overheard a human speaking of at the airport. Do you want to know what I came across instead? Do you brother?”

Elijah stared at Rebekah wide eyed as he wisely waited in silence for her to continue as Klaus made his way to his side. “And you! You come to retrieve my sister and you manage to get her to flip her switch! Well done! I hope you have a brilliant master plan on getting it resolved. Ducky keeps her feelings bottled up tighter than Elijah’s sphincter. Good luck in finding out what her trigger is!”

Klaus let out a breath as shifted his weight and stared back at her. “We already know it will be difficult and I already made some progress in reaching for her emotional trigger. Get back to what you started with. What did you find?”

Rebekah glared back at him, ignoring the Cold Ones watching the sibling exchange. She held up the decapitated head of a dark skinned creature like them with long dreads. “This despicable excuse for an imitation vampire attempted to kill me. Evidently he caught some of Ducky’s scent on myself as I borrowed her jacket. He was rather upset that I was not her, and I’m curious. Will someone explain to me exactly why there’s a bunch of these parasites after my sister?”