Dangerous Creatures | Chapter 39, Part 1: Birthday Gift
Summary: It might be Mackenzie’s birthday, but she’s got a gift for her boyfriend too
Pairing: Elijah x OC
Words: 586
A/N: Please, remember that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there. I’m sorry this is so short, I wrote this a couple of weeks ago as the first part of chapter 39 and found myself unable to finish it, so here it is.
“I ate too much cake,” Mackenzie complained as she let herself fall on her bed.
Elijah closed the bathroom door and walked across their bedroom in a pair of black joggings, looking for his shirt and found it on Mackenzie. He chuckled.
“That’s mine.”
“It smells like you,” she smiled as she stretched her arms towards him, inviting him to join her.
He took her hand and kneeled on the mattress as he brought it to his lips and placed a kiss on her knuckles, a kiss on her wrist, kissed up her arm until his mouth found her neck. She wrapped her arms around him as she giggled at the contact of his tongue on her skin.
“What did Heidi want?” he asked, but a whisper in her ear.
She bit her lips before she kissed his cheek and pushed him off her, pushed him onto his side and onto his back and moved to straddle him with a smile on her face.
“I asked her to find something for me.”
“And did she?” he asked, placing his hands on either side of her hips.
“Yes.”
“Does it have anything to do with your late nights with Olivia?”
“No more late nights. I have what I was looking for.”
“And what was that?”
She grimaced. “I don’t know how to tell you.”
“It looks like good news, from the smile on your face.”
She laughed. “Yeah. It’s just… I wanted to do something for you. But I didn’t know how, and Olivia tried to help and maybe, eventually, we would have found a way. But… I asked Heidi to help. She found it.”
“Found what?”
“A spell.”
“A spell to do what?”
“For vampires to have children.”
Mackenzie felt him freeze under her, like time had stopped, like his heart stopped, like she’d just put a dagger through his heart.
“What?”
It was a quiet murmur, but she heard it loud and clear.
“It works. Heidi got it from Ambrosia. She knows it works. She’s pregnant,” she said, which didn’t seem to help him get his mind around the information, “I just… I just wanted you to know… one day, you can have a child of your own if you want. I just wanted you to have that choice back.”
He tilted his head slowly to the side as he watched her with confounded eyes like she was speaking an alien language he couldn’t understand.
“You don’t have to say anything,” she said as she lied down on top of him, resting her head against his chest. “I just wanted you to know. I have the spell. If you want it. One day.”
It took him a while to get his breath back, took him a while to shake off his bones that certainty he would never be a father, took him a while for the mere idea of having children to register within his mind as a simple truth, a normal possibility, an eventual opportunity.
A shaky breath escaped him as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, and she didn’t need to look up at his face to know tears had found their way onto his cheeks, she didn’t need to say any more words, and he didn’t need to speak either. She knew, because she knew him so well. She knew who he was, to his core. Maybe she knew him better than he knew himself.
“I love you, Elijah. One day I’ll be ready to give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
Dangerous Creatures | Chapter 38: Happy 20th, the First of Many
Summary: It’s Mackenzie’s big day, and she knows exactly what she wants for her twentieth birthday
Pairing: Elijah x OC
Words: 3636
A/N: Please, remember that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there. I’m going to try not to take another 9 months to post chapter 39.
Warnings: a bit of adult activities but nothing unusual that comes to mind
When Elijah stepped into his bedroom, he was surprised to smell the sage burning from the silencing spell. What could Mackenzie possibly have to tell him she didn’t want Klaus to hear? It made him a bit nervous.
She had taken a shower and was ready for bed, although he doubted she would stay until morning. She would probably join Olivia downstairs in Klaus’ study once he fell asleep. He tried not to be too curious about what she was doing, but he couldn’t help but worry.
“Something wrong?” he asked as he started to undo his tie.
“Plenty wrong,” she replied with a sigh.
She sat on the edge of the bed as she watched him cast his tie to the side and remove his jacket.
“I found Marcel’s secret weapon.”
The vampire froze. He frowned as he tilted his head to the side. He certainly wasn’t expecting that. He threw his jacket onto the bed as he stepped towards the elemental.
“You did?”
“Well, Olivia and I did. She took me to...” she paused, looked up at him warily, knowing he would get mad, “and don’t be angry,” she added, “she took me to the French Quarter, where she sensed some strange magic the other day with Lizzy.”
“You went to the French Quarter?” he repeated quietly, the mere implications were enough to cause terror to take over his mind.
“And I’m fine,” she insisted. “I was with Olivia, and I would have probably been fine on my own,” she told him as she stood up, looking away from him as she couldn’t stand the look of horror on his face. She was tired of his overprotectiveness.
“Mackenzie…”
“That is not the point of the story, Elijah,” she cut him off. “We found Marcel’s secret weapon.”
The Original seemed conflicted, although he should be relieved by the news as it meant their plan was progressing slowly, he still couldn’t help but imagine what would have happened if Marcel or one of his daywalkers had found her wandering around the French Quarter. Although there was a tiny voice in his head that reminded him it would have been an awful encounter for them, he couldn’t help but picture Mackenzie getting hurt, like everyone else he had cared about in his life.
“Where?” he asked, choosing to let it go.
“In the attic of a Church.”
“What it is?”
“It’s not a what. It’s a who. About sixteen years-old we think,” she said as she turned around to face him. “Olivia says she has powerful magic, but it’s weird… like it’s not hers. And she can barely control it all. She could be dangerous, to some people… but we think she’s in danger too.”
“From Marcel?”
“No, he’s clearly protecting her. We think she’s in danger from the magic. There’s something really wrong there, almost… unnatural. I think we need to ask Sophie about it. That might be what the witches are hiding from us.”
“I think you may be right. What’s her name?”
“Don’t know. She tried to attack us, Liv stopped her, erased her memory of us. She won’t be telling Marcel.”
“That’s good,” Elijah nodded. “We can call Sophie the day after tomorrow.”
“What’s wrong with tomorrow?”
Elijah raised an eyebrow. “Tomorrow’s your birthday. Heidi and Alexander are supposed to arrive in the late morning.”
“Right,” Mackenzie frowned as she was surprised she would forget about her own birthday. It seemed to be the least of their problems, though. Like they had better things to do than celebrate her twenty years on this planet.
“We shouldn’t tell Niklaus. He’ll want that power for himself, and she’ll die refusing him.”
“Hence the sage,” Mackenzie smiled as she stepped towards him. “I’m sorry you have to figure this out,” she sighed as she brought her hands to his abdomen and slid them slowly onto his back, resting her head on his chest, “I’m so tired of having to worry about every unhinge decision Klaus will take…”
“Tell me about it,” Elijah chuckled quietly as he wrapped an arm around her and brought a hand to her head. “We’ll figure it out. Everything is going to be okay.”
Mackenzie scoffed. She didn’t believe it and she knew he didn’t believe it himself.
***
To his pleasant surprise, Mackenzie was still in bed with him when he woke up around eight in the morning, and it seemed she hadn’t left the bed at all that night. She was wrapped around him, her head resting on his chest. He brushed her hair away from her beautiful face and cupped her cheek with his hand, stroking her skin with his thumb. He carefully moved and let her lie back on the mattress before placing kisses on her neck, her shoulder, down her chest, down her body, going down, down under the sheets.
Mackenzie woke up, hot and bothered, moaning deeply.
“’lijah,” she breathed out, but got no reply from him. She wasn’t going to complain.
She bit her lips, trying to silence an uncontrollable groan, fisted the sheets as she arched her back. Elijah was relentless, he wouldn’t stop until she was done. He was careful not to overstimulate her though, that would be beyond the point.
She gasped as she met her end and her climax exploded through her, leaving her trembling under his tongue.
“Happy birthday,” he said as he emerged from under the cover.
She giggled and took his face in her hands, pulling him to her, crashing her lips against his.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
***
Their good mood only lasted as they walked down the stairs and vanished as they walked into the kitchen where Klaus and Oliver were having a heated argument. Felicity and Olivia were watching with amused looks on their faces while Hayley looked more annoyed than anything else. She was used to Klaus’ outbursts by now. She had grown tired of it months ago.
“I want you out of my house!”
“We were invited to a birthday party,” Olivia reminded him. “Which is today.”
“And you better be gone by tomorrow, all of you,” the hybrid growled, “or I’ll get you out myself!”
“You and what army?” Felicity scoffed.
“You overestimate your power, little witch.”
“Do not talk to her like that,” Oliver growled back as he came inches from Klaus’ face.
“You three really seem to be under the impression I’m not a threat to you.”
“There’s a very simple reason for that,” Olivia said.
“You’re not,” Felicity finished.
“Allow me to prove you wrong,” Klaus smirked, seizing Oliver by his hair but releasing him almost as fast as Felicity used her magic to take him down, having him fall to his knees.
“Need your girl to defend you, eh?”
“My girl can kick your ass.”
“Allow me to prove him right,” Felicity said, ready to follow on her words.
“That won’t be necessary, I’m sure,” Elijah intervened. “Isn’t that right, Niklaus?”
The hybrid growled and remained silent for a moment before a laugh escaped his lips.
“You are correct, as always, brother,” he said and after checking with Mackenzie, Felicity released him from her grasp. “You know me, just jesting.”
The three companions from Germany scoffed in unison as Mackenzie offered her hand to the original hybrid. He gave her a strange look, and she could see he was pondering about whether or not to ruin the day. Her day.
“Please,” she whispered as she insisted.
He sighed, rolled his eyes, then took her hand.
“Am I still invited to your party?”
“If you promise to behave,” she nodded with a small hopeful smile.
“I promise I’ll try,” he told her before vanishing.
“I apologize for my brother’s behavior,” Elijah said, as the good host he was. “Let us resume our breakfast.”
“Yes,” Hayley said, her mouth full of cereals, milk sliding down her chin, “let’s.”
“May I ask what this was about?” Elijah inquired as he made his way towards the coffee machine.
“We went to the Bayou yesterday,” Oliver answered. “Met some interesting wolves.”
“Interesting how?” Mackenzie asked, taking a red apple from a plate.
“They were werewolves, in daylight,” Hayley said as if there was nothing more to it.
“Right.”
“That is interesting, indeed,” Elijah nodded.
“Felicity says they’re cursed.”
“Couldn’t you smell it on them?” Oliver asked the pregnant wolf. “They reeked of misery.”
“Well, I think they knew me. They… they looked at me weird.”
“One of them certainly did more than the others,” Oliver chuckled. “Any idea why?”
“I wish,” Hayley scoffed. “I came to New-Orleans to find my people, my family. Maybe they know a thing or two about it.”
“They probably know more than just a thing or two,” Olivia replied. “And if they’re cursed we’ll need to know exactly how to find a cure.”
“Which will be hard to figure out since we can’t talk to wolves,” Oliver said.
“Every curse has a loophole, we just need to find it,” the princess shrugged.
“But not today,” Felicity said. “Today, we party.”
“Yes, let’s have a big party while a pack of wolves is cursed out in the Bayou…” Hayley disapproved.
“Well there’s nothing we can do about it now. Let’s not ruin the day. The wolves will have to wait just another day, I’m sure they’ll still be waiting tomorrow,” Olivia said.
“Speaking of party,” Oliver interrupted, “are you sure you want to invite the hybrid? Sounds like a terrible idea.”
Mackenzie chuckled. “Yeah? Excluding him sounds like a worse idea, trust me.”
“I’m afraid she’s right,” Elijah sighed as he brought his cup of coffee to his lips. “If there’s one thing my brother hates, it’s to be excluded, especially by family.”
“He’ll ruin the day either way, you know how Nik gets.”
Mackenzie turned around as she recognized the familiar voice and she almost shrieked of joy at the sight of the blonde standing with her arms crossed over her chest in the doorway.
“’bekah!”
“Happy to see you too,” she said as she opened her arms to the ultimate.
“Wha- I thought you were in Europe. Where’s Matt?”
“Mystic Falls,” she sighed. “We broke up.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she shrugged. “I guess we were doomed from the start anyway… a mortal and an immortal… it’s not meant to last…”
Mackenzie frowned as a shudder travelled throughout her body.
“Obviously if the mortal is the most powerful creature on the planet, that doesn’t apply to her,” the blonde added.
“Don’t be. I was growing tired of him anyway,” she lied. “So, who’s this?” she asked as she stepped inside the kitchen.
“Rebekah, this is Olivia, Oliver and Felicity, guys this is Rebekah.”
“Witches and werewolves,” she sighed. “This is gonna be a fun party.”
***
“Happy birthday to you!”
The guests sang, even Klaus, even Hayley, as miserable as she was, as Mackenzie stood, leaning back against Elijah’s chest as he had his arms wrapped around her, his mouth close to her ear, as she watched her friends, her family, wish her a happy birthday.
The evening had been flawless so far, Klaus surprisingly keeping his promise, and even more surprisingly, making good friends with Alexander. Heidi and Olivia were inseparable, Oliver and Felicity kept Hayley company while Rebekah got to know the mother of her unborn niece. Elijah had been spoiling Mackenzie with gifts, and even Klaus had had a few thoughtful presents for the elemental. Jewelry, dresses, grimoires, magic artifacts… everything she had never asked for, never needed, but made her happy in more than one way. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had a family. A family that loved her enough to be so thoughtful. That was the ultimate gift.
“Kol sends his best,” Rebekah said as Mackenzie opened the absent vampire’s present.
“Well, I guess we know what he’s been doing in Brazil,” she chuckled as she found talismans and spells inside the box. “Twenty years is enough to stop time,” she read the note that puzzled her.
“Immortality in a box,” Heidi said as she took a peek inside. “Not bad,” she approved as she inspected the spells.
“Better than sucking the life and magic out of my family tree.”
“What?” Hayley frowned.
“Forget it,” Mackenzie chuckled.
“Yes, let’s forget it,” Elijah said before planting a kiss on the top of her hair.
“Who wants cake?” Klaus grinned, happy to change the subject.
The party was surprisingly perfect, if Mackenzie had to be honest. Laughs and smiles, music and dancing, fun and practical gifts, although Elijah being Elijah, the car he got her, which came with free driving lessons, from him, was more practical than fun, as it would serve as a mean for Mackenzie to escape New-Orleans on her own one day, should she have to. She tried to ignore the implications of the gift, tried to ignore how much money he had spent on it, on her, and just took it with a smile, thanked him, and promised she would be the most careful driver in the world.
As the party had reached a point where the couples were slow-dancing in the ball room, Rebekah watched as she was reminded that she was once again alone, that once again she hadn’t gotten what she wanted, no matter how bad she had wanted it, no matter how hard she had worked to get it, to be honest and true, to change as much as Matt had wanted her to. But no matter what she had done, she couldn’t change the fact that she was an Original vampire whose siblings had caused pain and grief to his friends and to his town, and she would have never stepped out of that shadow that her brother had cast on her. She hadn’t come to New-Orleans to stay, although Hayley and Mackenzie were two perfectly good reasons to, but New-Orleans came with a mountain of memories and regret she would rather not awake. She wondered how she would tell Mackenzie that she would be leaving before dawn. Before she somehow came across Marcel and awake those old wounds she had tried hard to hide and put behind her.
Even Klaus had been the perfect guest/host tonight, towards Mackenzie’s friends, and towards the future mother of his child. Rebekah frowned as she watched the two dancing and tried her best not to eavesdrop on her brother and the wolf.
“You’re quite charming tonight,” Hayley noticed.
“I’m quite charming all the time,” Klaus replied, making her scoff.
“You’re up to something.”
“Aren’t I always?” he smirked.
“Something bad.”
“As always.”
“So, what plan are you cooking up?”
“Nothing you should worry yourself about, little wolf.”
“Should Mackenzie and Elijah be worried?”
“Perhaps… I’m just trying to find a way to get to what I want faster. Elijah likes to use diplomacy, but it takes too long.”
“As opposed to maiming and killing your way through it?”
“Exactly,” he smiled. “But don’t worry. I’ll never do anything to compromise the wellbeing of my child. That includes protecting its mother.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” she sighed. “Do you mind?” she asked as she stopped dancing. “My feet are killing me.”
“Not at all. I was on my way out, actually.”
“You’re leaving? Where are you going?”
“On an adventure.”
“Well, have fun,” she breathed as she walked away, towards the couch. “Don’t kill anyone.”
“I can’t make that promise, love.”
“Just pretend you’re not going to kill anyone.”
“As you wish,” he chuckled before he silently made his way towards his brother.
“Niklaus, enjoying the party?”
“I am, Elijah, tonight was lovely, thank you for inviting me,” he told Mackenzie with a smile.
“Thank you for being a lovely guest,” she smiled back.
“Happy birthday, love,” he said as he took her hand and brought it to its lips before placing a kiss on her knuckles. “Enjoy the rest of your party.”
“You’re leaving?” Elijah asked.
“Yes, I have… somewhere to be.”
“Don’t kill anyone.”
“Why does everyone think I’m going to kill anyone?” he sighed.
“Because that’s what you do, Nik,” Rebekah said as she joined them. “Where are you going? Can I come?”
“Bored already, sister?”
“No offense, but yes. This party has come to an end, it was fun while it lasted.”
Mackenzie laughed. “Well, I had fun. Thank you for coming, I’m really happy you’re here.”
“Well, enjoy me while you still can,” she said, making Mackenzie frown, before turning back to her brother. “So, can I come?”
“I don’t see why not,” Klaus shrugged. “Although, I really am not planning on killing anyone.”
“Ugh,” Rebekah rolled her eyes, “whatever, let’s go.”
Elijah and Mackenzie laughed as they watched them exit the room, bickering in good fun, like normal siblings. It made Mackenzie wonder if they could ever truly have that, every day of the year, not just on her birthday.
“Did you really have fun tonight?” Elijah asked her.
“I did,” she smiled. “This was really relaxing, to be honest. I needed that.”
“I think I did too.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Heidi said as she appeared from behind Elijah. “May I have a word with my goddaughter?”
“Of course,” Elijah nodded. “Where’s Alexander?”
“Went with your siblings, I can’t believe they’re getting along.”
“Me neither,” Mackenzie nodded. “Although I think he could be a good influence.”
“I would tend to agree. Now, come.”
Mackenzie smiled, amused, as Heidi turned her back to her and made her way out of the room. She wasn’t one for small talk. And she wasn’t one to wait either.
“Any idea what she wants?”
“Yes,” Mackenzie said, although she wouldn’t say what. “We won’t be long. Keep Hayley company, she looks miserable.”
“I’m not sure how I can fix that.”
“Just talk to her, Elijah. Tell her everything is gonna be okay.”
“I’m not sure she’ll believe me.”
“She will. Because you’ll mean it.”
She tiptoed and kissed his lips, then his cheek, before following Heidi’s footsteps. He watched her leave, trying to convince the part of him that wanted to follow them that it was a bad idea. The reasonable, honorable part of him won the argument, and he made his way towards Hayley and sat down next to her on the couch.
Mackenzie found Heidi on the porch, and closed the front door behind her as she joined her. She tried to breathe through the pain in her chest, tried to chase her worries and anxiety away. She didn’t want to get her hopes up and tried to dial down her excitement, so she wouldn’t be too disappointed if Heidi hadn’t been able to find what she had asked for. She had been waiting for this moment ever since the witch had arrived at noon.
“So, do you have it?”
“I do,” Heidi said as she rested her elbows on the wooden railing.
Mackenzie’s heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t believe it.
“You… you do?” she asked as she practically launched herself towards her godmother. Heidi nodded. “Oh my God,” she breathed, her knees almost giving up under her, but she held onto the railing. “And… and it works?”
“Yes, it works,” Heidi nodded again, looking at the quiet forest before her.
“Are you sure? How did you get it? Where did you find it?”
“I cheated,” she admitted with a smile. “I asked Ambrosia. I knew she’d have it.”
“How…”
“She was in love with a vampire once. It didn’t end well…”
“But it works.”
“Oh yes, it works.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I used it,” she said as she turned towards the elemental. “Alexander and I, we tried it. And it worked.”
Mackenzie stared at the witch speechlessly. It took her a moment to understand what she was saying.
“You… you’re pregnant?”
Heidi smiled. Heidi grinned. A genuinely happy smile Mackenzie had never seen on her godmother’s face before. She almost couldn’t recognize her. She looked like a different person entirely.
“The oracles confirmed it. That’s why we couldn’t come sooner, I’m sorry.”
Mackenzie breathed out a laugh. “You’re sorry? Are you kidding, oh my God, Heidi!”
She wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug Heidi wouldn’t normally lean into, or allow.
“I have to thank you. If you hadn’t insisted, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to hope for it. But I did, and it was worth it.”
“Congratulations. You’re going to be an amazing mother.”
Heidi chuckled. “Alex is over the moon. It took everything he had in him not to let anything show.”
“I bet.”
“He’ll be the greatest father.”
“We know he will.”
“Your Elijah would make a good father, too.”
“Yeah, he really would,” Mackenzie nodded as she too leaned over the railing, elbow to elbow with Heidi.
“You’re too young to have kids, Mackenzie. Now is really not a great time to have one either.”
“I didn’t ask you for the spell so I could have a baby right now,” Mackenzie reassured her. “I just wanted the pain to go away.”
“His pain?”
“I can see it on his face every time he looks at Hayley. Every time he talks to Klaus about it. He envies him. And he deserves it so much more.”
“You went to all this trouble just to give him the possibility of having children?”
“To be fair, you went to all this trouble.”
“It kept me busy.”
“It took you like a month.”
“I told you, I cheated.”
“How did you find Ambrosia anyway?”
“The oracles knew where to find her, she wasn’t hiding, for once. I’m sure she promised Pandora not to. She’s in Rio.”
“Brazil? Maybe she’ll meet Kol.”
Heidi gave her an amused smile.
“Oh, they’ve met.”
**********
Please do let me know if the tags are working, and if you still want to be tagged. Please do leave some feedback as it is always encouraging.
Summary: Elijah tries his best not to worry too much when Mackenzie mysteriously leaves their bed at night to research her mother’s grimoires on her own. It gets more suspicious when she asks Olivia’s help for a project she refuses to tell him anything about.
Pairing: Elijah x OC
Words: 2978
A/N: This is the chapter I posted at the end of July on Patreon, it’s been available publicly since August 1st but I suddenly remembered I never posted it on here, probably because I found it too short at the time and thought I’d write more for this chapter, but since I haven’t been able to write anything in months, I thought I’d at least post this now. Do not expect an update any time soon. Asking me to update is pointless. Thank you for your patience and I hope you’ll like it! Feedback is always appreciated and motivating.
Summary: Mackenzie Alemaund is an unlucky 18 year old teenager whose life changes drastically after she gets kidnapped by two vampires and learns, in the same day, that she is not human.
I have denied every single impulse I have ever had for that woman. Out of some misbegotten respect for intentions that you don’t even have. I’m warning you. I’ve forgiven you. I have stood by you. I’ve forsaken every single one of my desires in the name of your ridiculous redemption. No more. If I want something I’ll take it. And nothing will stand in my way.
Elijah Mikaelson in The Originals (2013–2018)
“I believe that when you love someone and that person loves you in return you’re uniquely vulnerable. They have a power to hurt you that’s like nothing else.”
Summary: Elijah tries his best not to worry too much when Mackenzie mysteriously leaves their bed at night to research her mother’s grimoires on her own. It gets more suspicious when she asks Olivia’s help for a project she refuses to tell him anything about.
Pairing: Elijah x OC
Words: 2978
A/N: This is the chapter I posted at the end of July on Patreon, it’s been available publicly since August 1st but I suddenly remembered I never posted it on here, probably because I found it too short at the time and thought I’d write more for this chapter, but since I haven’t been able to write anything in months, I thought I’d at least post this now. Do not expect an update any time soon. Asking me to update is pointless. Thank you for your patience and I hope you’ll like it! Feedback is always appreciated and motivating.
Elijah woke up in an empty bed, to his concern, yet again. The dim light of the moon poorly lit the bedroom he shared with Mackenzie who barely slept there anymore. Or at least not during the night. He had noticed how she slipped away after midnight when he was asleep, to lock herself in the downstairs office, rummaging through old grimoires she didn’t understand.
Elijah sighed, concern running through his veins, before he got out of his bed. He walked across the quiet and dark plantation house, its inhabitants and guests sleeping soundly at this late hour. Every step he took blindly, as the moonlight barely showed him the way. But he knew this house. He had lived there long enough, even if it were centuries ago, he had walked down that path before, countless of times, in complete darkness, helped by his supernatural senses, but mostly by his deep knowledge and connection to the place. When he reached the office, he found Mackenzie sitting on the floor, surrounded by opened grimoires and paper rolls, dictionaries scattered among them.
He could see in her eyes she had wished he wouldn’t have found her here, and all he wished was for her to be honest with him. Which she hadn’t been, ever, every time he asked her about what she was doing there, in the middle of the night.
“If you show me the book, I’m sure I can translate it for you.”
“Heidi says I need to learn for myself.”
“I can teach you.”
“It’s two in the morning, ‘lijah, I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Then ask me tomorrow.”
She paused briefly, no doubt looking for another excuse, then, as she found it, looked away.
“I’ve already asked Olivia to help me.”
“With what?”
“I just… I just want to know what kind of power I have here. What kind of world wrecking spells are hidden in my mom’s grimoires, in Margo’s… in your mother’s…”
“Why do you need a world wrecking spell, Mackenzie?”
She scoffs. “With your family… I just want to be prepared. To protect us.”
“Us?”
“Hayley, you… me.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of anything, ‘lijah. I’m just curious.”
“Can you be curious once the sun is up? You need sleep.”
She sighed, and for a second it seemed like she was going to protest, but instead, she closed the dictionary resting on her lap and as she got up, all the books and parchments made their way from the carpet back to Mackenzie’s mother’s chest. She dropped the dictionary on Klaus’ desk, then turned around and took the hand he was holding out to her. He brought her to his chest and placed a kiss in her hair.
“You know you can tell me anything,” he whispered, a hint of sadness in his voice.
“I know, ‘lijah. I promise you, everything is fine.”
And even though he knew she was hiding something, he believed her all the same.
***
Klaus was furious. He could never hide it. Mackenzie saw it on his face. His silence was telling enough. Mikaelsons and guests were gathered in the dining room for breakfast, and Hayley, although confused over the unexpected arrival of Mackenzie’s friends, welcomed the newly found positive attention that they brought with them. She didn’t question it when they mentioned the oracles and their visions about her miracle baby, and when the witch Felicity told her she was carrying a girl, she glanced at Klaus, who seemed happy to hear it. Or perhaps, she thought he did.
But of course, everybody was having too good a time for his taste, and he obviously had to ruin it.
“So, where are you from again?” he asked, uttering his first words of the day.
“Germany,” Oliver replied as he cut a piece of pancake with his fork.
“Right, and who’s Margo?”
“My mother,” Olivia answered.
“Your mother, the Queen of Germany?”
She smirked back at him as she brought her cup of tea to her lips.
“It’s a long story, Niklaus.”
“Well, I have all day, Elijah.”
“Concern yourself with your lost kingdom,” Olivia told the wolf, “before you lose it forever.”
“Is that a threat?” he hissed, losing all semblance of diplomacy.
“Only advice,” she shrugged before she finished her cup of tea. “Mackenzie, shall we?”
The elemental nodded as she stood up from her chair and led the princess to the study.
“What are they plotting?” Klaus asked his brother, who didn’t seem too happy.
“Nothing you should be concerned about.”
“But something that worries you?” he said in a mocking tone, “trouble in paradise already, brother?”
“Olivia has a lot to teach her.”
Klaus scoffed as he got up, throwing his napkin on his untouched plate.
“What can a witch teach an ultimate?”
***
“The spell you are looking for… is rare. Very few people have found it, even less have managed to do it.”
“But Heidi’s found it?”
“Heidi said she had a lead. She’s been looking for a long time, you know. Centuries. It was Alex’ idea.”
“I’m sure it was,” Mackenzie mumbled. “Look at all those books, those… grimoires. There must be at least one of them that has it!”
“These are only dark spells,” Olivia said as she put the grimoires her mother had gifted Mackenzie down on the desk. “Will make you even more dangerous than you already are once you know them.”
“I don’t want to know them,” Mackenzie told her as she kept looking through the old paper rolls, ”I’m dangerous enough.”
“You can never be too dangerous. Especially when you’re supposed to be the strongest creature on earth.”
“I wish people would stop reminding me that.”
“If it makes you feel better, there’s a debate at court about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, take Pandora for example. I’ve met her once. And Ambrosia. They’re scary. And they’re friendly with us. I can’t imagine having them as enemies.”
“But you can imagine having me as your enemy?”
Olivia chuckled. “You have a good heart, Mackenzie. Therefore, not scary.”
“Don’t they have a good heart? The sisters?”
The witch paused. “They’re old. Like… really old. They’ve been through… a lot. I don’t think they have any heart left at all…”
“Maybe they’ve just turned their humanity off…”
“Vampires can do that, because they’re not, de facto, human.”
“Neither are they.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Doesn’t your mother know that spell?”
“If she did, she’d have told me. She never needed it, so she never looked for it.”
“Well then, I’ll have to make it myself.”
Olivia raised an eyebrow. “You? Make a spell? That spell? You wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Would you? Would Lizzie, would Heidi?”
Liv sighed. “If Heidi could, she’d have done it already. Lizzie’s never gonna need it… I… I mean… it could be interesting to work on… but…”
“We could at least try.”
“You’ve never made a spell, and you want to start with that?”
“I never needed any other spell. I’m not…” she stopped herself. “I’m an elemental. I use the elements. Witchcraft… is harder for me.”
The witch pondered the matter for a few seconds. Mackenzie knew she couldn’t do it without help, and Heidi would never stick around New-Orleans to help her even if she wanted to. Olivia was probably her only hope.
“Fine then. I do like a good challenge. And it would be interesting to work on.”
Mackenzie sighed in relief as her lips uncontrollably turned into a smile.
“But you do realise… what you’re asking for may be impossible.”
“You said it’s been done before.”
“By witches far more powerful and clever than I am.”
“Where does all this modesty come from?” Mackenzie asked, sounding amused.
“I just don’t want to get your hopes up. I want to help you, I just can not promise you that I can.”
Mackenzie nodded, as if she understood, but she was young, and so were her hopes, and her eyes shone with unflinching determination.
***
The study was probably the coolest room in the house in this hot afternoon of June. Mackenzie’s body could never get too hot or too cold, but when Olivia started to complain about the New-Orleans’ heat, to which she was not accustomed, the elemental made sure her powers would benefit the witch as well.
They were sitting on the armchairs, the sage still burning on the table between them. Notepad in hand, Olivia took notes as they theorised about the best way to achieve their goal. What kind of ingredients they would need, what were the most powerful symbols, what other spells could they use as model or stepping stone to the one they were trying to create.
As she listened to Olivia carefully, Mackenzie tried to learn as much as possible about how the witch went about creating a new spell. Most things she already knew from Heidi, some of the lessons she had been given in the Forest suddenly becoming crucially useful, as her god-mother had promised.
Olivia went on and on about all of the things that could work, but also all of the reasons why they wouldn’t, and the two young women fell into a spiral of confusion that left them both with a migraine.
It didn’t help when Klaus stormed into the study, breaking the door open, startling them both.
“Where is she?” he hissed, directing all of his fury towards Olivia who remained impassive.
“You know doors have handles right?” Mackenzie said as she pointed at the door now on its way down to the floor.
“Where is Hayley?!”
“Relax,” Olivia sighed without even trying to hide her annoyance, “she’s with Olivier and Lizzie. They went for a walk.”
“And who gave them permission?” he asked as he took a menacing step towards the witch.
“Permission?” Olivia mocked. “Who needs permission? We’re all adults here.”
“She’s carrying my child!”
“It’s also her child, you seem to forget that a lot.”
“I invite you into my house…”
“Your brother invited us. It is his house as well, isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry, Klaus. Lizzie’s a powerful witch, Hayley’s perfectly safe.”
“And where, may I know, did they go?”
“I don’t know,” Mackenzie shrugged, “don’t worry, they’ll be back before nightfall.”
“If anything happens to her…”
“You’ll kill us, we get it,” Olivia cut him off as she rose from her seat. “Let’s go, Mack. Some fresh air might do us some good as well.”
Mackenzie gave a reproving look as she walked pass the hybrid, his anger growing stronger by the second. And as he was left alone to think about the petty and cruel punishment he would most certainly be reserving to them, the New-Orleans’ heat finally reached the study.
***
“This place is not so bad,” Olivia said as she fanned herself with a hand, as she walked down the streets of New-Orleans, side by side with the elemental.
Mackenzie chuckled. “Elijah would have a heart attack if he could, if he knew I was in the Quarter without him.”
“Well, you’re not alone. And you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself.”
“Well you know that, and I know that… he just… worries.”
“Can you blame him though? Can’t even imagine what his brother has put him through for the past thousand years.”
Mackenzie didn’t reply. She had heard enough from Elijah to imagine the worse. Understood why he was so worried to lose her, as he had lost everyone before.
“So where are you taking me, anyway?”
“Lizzie and I felt powerful magic the other day. We’ve been trying to follow it, but this place has magic all around. That’s what happens when you practice Ancestral Magic,” she scoffed.
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s asinine. All for the promise of more power. But in the end, you are trapping yourself and your magic in one place. Such a fragile system. Ends up making the whole coven weaker.”
“Well, they can’t change it now, can they?”
“Sure, they could, if they wanted to. Most places in Europe have already. The youth overpowered the elders and their silly traditions.”
“What kind of traditions?”
“Different places, different names. It’s always about getting more power though. You give to the ancestors so they can give back, their magic stronger than ever.”
“Does it work?”
“In principle, yes. But when there is tension in the air, it corrupts the magic.”
“Corrupts it how?”
“Instead of making the community stronger, it gives the ancestors more power to act from their graves.”
“Like… coming back to life?”
“Well maybe if you screw up enough,” Liv chuckles. “Here we are.”
Mackenzie looked around as they stopped at an intersection and gave her friend a confused look.
“That’s the furthest Lizzie and I got. From there it just all fades together.”
“And you want me to…?”
“Follow the magic.”
Mackenzie breathed out a laugh. Of course. Like a bear going after honey.
“Fine,” she sighed before taking a deep breath.
She felt the witches’ magic all around, probably exactly what Liv and Lizzie felt, but unlike them, she could take it all apart, like strings, each leading to their own magical source. All she had to do was find the biggest, strongest string among them and follow it to its source. She had to admit, Liv’s curiosity amused her and she too wanted to find out where that string led.
“This way.”
The path was clear, like a beacon in the darkest of nights, and it wasn’t hard for Mackenzie to walk down it. To their surprise, it led them to a small church and the great power emanating from it intimidated Mackenzie.
“I hate witches,” she said, shivering at the memory of the abandoned house where Elena and Damon had taken her once.
Olivia raised an eyebrow at her.
“No offence.”
“None taken,” she said, amused, as she opened the church’s doors.
“Don’t tell Heidi I said that!” she begged as she followed her inside, and the empty church resonated with the witch’s laughter.
The place seemed ordinary. Just a normal church, lacking a priest. It wouldn’t raise any suspicions to anyone but those who could feel the abnormal amount of power coming from the attic. Liv found the stairs first. She was as curious as Mackenzie was worried.
“Shall we?” she asked as she showed her new discovery.
“If we must,” Mackenzie nodded with a resigned sigh.
She wondered who they were going to find up there. Maybe an old witch, an elder of the French Quarter Coven, hiding from Marcel because too powerful to be allowed to live. Or maybe just a loner, a hermit, someone who wanted nothing to do with either the witches or the vampires. How would she or he react to visitors?
The stairs led to a small hallway, an old and dirty window barely allowed any light to filter through. The floor was covered in dust which showed footsteps, too big to be a woman’s. Olivia and Mackenzie shared one last look before the princess knocked on the door. The lack of answer meant whoever was hiding behind it definitely did not want to be disturbed. Not that it would stop the witch, who pushed the door open.
The door squeaked as it slowly opened, giving view to what seemed to be a bedroom. Standing at the end of the small room, before her bed, was a teenage girl who couldn’t be older than sixteen. Mackenzie and Olivia looked at her with surprise. The little witch seemed scared and worried, like she had just been caught with a hand in the cookie jar.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Who are you?” Mackenzie echoed.
“You’re witches.”
“So are you,” Liv scoffed.
“If you hurt me, Marcel will kill you!”
Mackenzie raised an eyebrow. She ignored the threat, the implication was more important. She looked up at Olivia who had the same look on her face.
“Well I think we found that secret weapon all the fuss is about.”
“She’s just a kid,” Mackenzie breathed out, speechless. “Why are you helping him?”
“Who are you?”
“Bossy,” Liv complained. “And what power… she’s way too strong for her age.”
“You have no idea.”
The girl stretched out her arm and a strong wind appeared, books and paintings fell over as the whole building started to shake.
“Cute,” Liv rolled her eyes before she waved a hand and the girl fell unconscious on the floor.
“Well that was weird.”
“So much power in such a young and undisciplined body… that’s a recipe for catastrophe. Should we take her with us?”
“And what? Bring her home to Klaus? No way.”
“We can’t leave her here.”
“Why not? At least we know where she is.”
Olivia thought about it for a second, then shrugged.
“Very well. I’ll make her forget we were even here, then. That way she won’t tattle to her King.”
“We can’t tell Klaus about her. He’ll want her power for himself. She’ll refuse, and she’ll end up dead.”
“Without a doubt. What do we do, then?”
“I’ll tell Elijah. He can do what he wants with the information. Klaus wants to take back New-Orleans from Marcel, he’s getting impatient, he’s going to become even more unbearable than he already is.”
“Can’t wait…”
“Honestly, if it weren’t for Hayley and the baby, I’d already be out of this place.”
“See, I told you you had a good heart.”
“You say that like you disapprove.”
“If I were you, I’d have taken Hayley to the Forest already and leave the hybrid alone and miserable.”
“He’d find us and kill us all.”
“Or you could just… get rid of him.”
Mackenzie scoffed. “Mmh, and then what? Elijah would hate me for it.”
Summary: Mackenzie Alemaund is an unlucky 18 year old teenager whose life changes drastically after she gets kidnapped by two vampires and learns, in the same day, that she is not human.
She knew she should say something. But she didn’t know what. Maybe anything would do. But she didn’t feel like speaking. And she had a sense she’d regret it. She stayed out of Eric and Bill’s mind as they were probably thinking the exact same things as her. They were going to die before dawn, they’d never see Sookie again, they’d never have a chance to fix what had been broken.
On the way to New-Orleans, Eric had explained the sanguinista movement to her. Crazy religious vampires who thought Lilith was God and humans only served one purpose: to be food. They were suspected to have infiltrated the AVL and the Authority, which meant keeping the fact that she was a fairy a secret was vital. Under no circumstances were they to find out, because that would be catastrophic. Not only for Sookie and herself, but also for all the fairies that were scattered around the world. They’d be hunted down, and killed, if they were lucky.
There would be no mention of her mind reading abilities, no mention of day walking or of human tears. She was a vampire who could make a strange light come out of her hands, that was all she was. A mystery. To them, to the world.
That was who she had always been to others. But she had always known she was a fairy. She had kept that secret her whole life, even to Sookie. All her sister had ever wanted was to be normal, so she kept it a secret. It wasn’t like anyone would have believed her anyway.
And now, all that Brooklynne wanted was to be normal too. Not human, because she didn’t know what that meant, but normal, living a simple life with her family and friends, not having to worry about the Authority or anyone else that wanted to hunt and kill her and the people she cared about. She wanted to be happy. She wished she could have had happy days with Eric before they had to meet the True Death.
The van stopped and Eric squeezed her hand, not to reassure her, but to say goodbye. “This is it.” “I love you.” “I’m sorry.” She didn’t squeeze back.
He didn’t let go of her hand as they exited the vehicle. She didn’t understand right away that it was because he was afraid they’d take her as soon as they were out of the van. He kept his hand around her wrist and kept her close behind him. It was useless and they both knew it. If they wanted her dead they’d kill her and would have no problem going through him first. But it was her maker’s instinct to protect her and he would until he couldn’t anymore.
They were led to an elevator. Two armed guards joined them inside and positioned themselves behind them. As she felt the elevator move up, she slid her hand in Eric’s and intertwined her fingers with his. He looked down at her, hoping he’d see some forgiveness in her eyes. He didn’t know exactly what he saw in her pupils but at least she didn’t look away this time. She looked right back at him, and, to his relief, he saw no hate there.
As the elevator stopped and the doors opened, she slid her other hand on his arm and moved closer to him. He put his hand on top of hers as the entrance revealed itself. It was surprisingly empty, with only a busy receptionist at the desk. She didn’t even acknowledge their arrival.
“No welcoming party?” Eric said, looking at Bill. “Can’t be good.”
“At least there’s not a firing squad.”
There were led by one of their guards to the next room on their right. Music welcomed them when he opened the door and they entered a big conference room. Five vampires were waiting for them there, with red champagne. Brooklynne recognised Chancellor Akinjide, who gave her an amused smile.
“Congratulations, boys!” the other man, a white tall and well dressed vampire said with a heavy German accent as he welcomed them from where he was sitting at the end of the room.
“There are the boys!” a short red-head woman raised her glass at them.
Chancellor Harris was sitting on her own on one of the two blue sofas that had been arranged into a small relaxing area at the opposite of the large conference table at the other end of the room. Facing her were two women, one whom Brooklynne recognised to be Molly as she congratulated them. The woman to her left must be, according to Eric and Bill’s description, Chancellor Agrippa: Salome. At Molly’s right sat Chancellor Akinjide on a black leathered armchair and to his right was Chancellor Braun on an armchair of his own.
“Hail the Conquering heroes,” Salome said as she made her way to them.
She shook Bill’s hand before she kissed him on the cheek as if they were longtime friends.
“Roman is very impressed,” she continued as she put a hand on Eric’s right arm.
Her eyes finally fell on Brooklynne who was still holding Eric’s left hand, harder now, as if he would be taken away if she let go.
“I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”
“Salome,” Eric cleared his throat, “let me introduce to you my progeny, Brooklynne.”
“Right,” the chancellor smiled as she held out her hand to the hybrid.
Brooke stared at it for a long moment before she took it.
I wonder why she’s here, why did they include her in their plan? Perhaps he doesn’t care about his progeny at all. No, he must, seeing the way he’s protecting her. She’s just a baby vampire. No reason to worry. Russell is here. The plan doesn’t change.
She released the chancellor’s hand as if it had burnt her and seized Eric’s arm again. Salome rose an eyebrow but thought nothing of it. She was just a baby vampire. She was intimidated and scared, that was all.
“Please, join us,” Salome said with a nod as she led them to the sofas.
The petite vampire, Molly, walked up to them with a candid smile. She took a phone out of her jeans pocket and unlocked it.
“And you don’t need these anymore,” she told Eric and Bill.
And as she lifted her hand and reached for Eric’s heart, Brooklynne swiftly seized the techie vampire’s wrist as she took a step forward. Molly jumped and opened her mouth but the deadly look in Brooklynne’s eyes silenced her. The chancellors started to laugh.
“It’s okay,” Eric said as he took his progeny’s hand away from Molly. “She’s just removing the iStake.”
Brooklynne stepped back but didn’t even attempt to apologise to the girl whom she let worked.
“She’s quite protective of you this one,” Chancellor Braun said. “Is that why you brought her along?”
“She helped us a great deal in the capture of Russell,” the Viking replied with a servile tone.
“Our heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to you three, then,” he raised his glass of bloody champagne at them.
“Okay, stand still,” Molly told Eric before she slid her hands under his shirts.
Brooklynne almost growled.
“Don’t want to accidentally set up this thing, would’t that be ironic?”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Brooke told her with a menacing tone.
Bill chuckled. Brooklynne could swear Molly had gulped. Good.
Chancellor Harris started to laugh. “I still can’t believe you snagged that little psychopath alive.”
“Have we learned who released Russell from the ground to begin with?” Eric asked as Molly finally removed the iStake from him.
“Salome has been interrogating Russell but…” Chancellor Akinjide started to say.
“Well, he’s been a little tight-lipped,” Salome finished.
He can’t be asking questions now. There are only so many times I can avoid the question.
Brooklynne frowned. She watched as Salome picked up three glasses of bubbly blood she intended to give to them.
“We should know soon.”
You will all know soon.
“But for a moment at least, let’s celebrate.”
Enjoy the party, boys. Things are about to change.
Eric took the drink she handed to him before he summoned the courage to ask:
“Would it be possible for me to speak to Chancellor Gainsborough?”
The suspicious thoughts of the chancellors echoed in her head, but there was only Salome’s that interested her.
Don’t worry, you’ll see your sister soon enough.
“Chancellor Gainsborough has revealed her true sanguinist leanings while you were gone,” she informed them.
Bill wasn’t surprised, though saddened by the news. However, Eric was stunned.
“Anyway, I should go back to interrogating Mr. Edgington…”
I have to make sure he understood the plan. Russell is a wild card. Only Lilith can save him. Only she can save us all.
“I’m hoping he will provide us with a wealth of useful intelligence.”
Even the smile she gave them was fake.
“Be careful,” Eric warned her. “He’s the strongest vampire I’ve ever met.”
“Well, he’s been silvered intravenously. He’s quite impaired. Trust me.”
Lies. Only lies came out of that woman’s mouth. But how could Brooklynne safely warn anyone? Would they even believe her?
“Congratulations again, and thank you for all you’ve done. We will not forget.”
Lilith will not forget.
“It was our duty,” Bill smiled at her.
Salome gave him a weird look before she walked away.
“Boy Scout,” Eric whispered.
“Delinquent.”
Brooklynne’s eyes followed Salome who was about to exit the room but a vampire entered through the same door she meant to take.
“My boys! My boys!” he shouted as he spotted Eric and Bill. “There are my boys! From here on out, officially known as the guys who took down Russell Edgington. How’s that sound?” he said loudly, as if any of them were deaf. “Well done, well done.”
He tapped them both on the shoulder before his eyes fell on Brooklynne.
“My apologies,” he smiled at her. “Kibwe did mention you helped as well.”
“She did, Guardian,” Eric nodded.
“Right, and she demonstrated some… abilities,” he inquired after Eric. “How did you describe it, Kibwe, remind me.”
“A light, Guardian. I saw this young vampire here use light against Russell. She stopped him from killing Mr. Northman here.”
“Brave, very brave,” the Guardian nodded, “to expose yourself in order to save your maker. You can’t wish for anything better from your progeny, can you?”
“Indeed,” the chancellors echoed their leader’s sentiment. “Here, here.”
“So, what are you?”
There it was. The questions. The Guardian’s eyes pierced through her, as if he were trying to see inside of her, but she knew that he knew. And he knew that she knew too.
I have no interest in your kind. I’m sure you want to keep it a secret, in fact I’m certain your maker has told you to. Do you know what you are? Fairy?
“Yes, I know,” she said, and even he was surprised to be surprised.
Eric’s worry worsened but the other vampires in the rooms were just confused. The Guardian laughed.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be honest about it.”
“Neither was I.”
“Brooke…” Eric tried to stop her but she raised a hand to silence him.
“I wasn’t going to, but there’s something I know you need to hear.”
The Guardian rose his eyebrows. “I’m listening.”
She took a deep breath, before she moved her eyes on Salome who was standing behind the Guardian.
“She’s the traitor you’re looking for.”
Gasps filled the room and even Eric was too shocked to worry about the implications of her accusations.
“When I shook her hand I heard, I saw. She hasn’t silvered Russell at all. In fact she’s the one who freed him.”
“Impossible!” Chancellor Harris breathed.
“What are you talking about,” Salome laughed nervously.
“If you think I’m lying there are easy ways to find out.”
“Brooklynne,” Eric tried to make her stop.
“Think about it, Eric. You told me she’s the one who helped Nora’s career, she’s the one who convinced your sister to become sanguanista. I saw it, Eric.”
“You cannot come in here and start making insane accusations at a chancellor of the Authority. What proof do you have?” Chancellor Braun asked.
“Like she said,” the Guardian replied. He was pissed. He was fuming. “There are easy ways to find out.”
He gestured for the guards that were posted at each side of each door to move on Salome.
“Arrest Chancellor Agrippa. I will check on Russell myself.”
“It’s a lie!” Salome yelled. “They’re setting me up! Can’t you see?”
“I will see,” Roman snarled. “Lead them to their quarters. Next time I see you three, someone will die.”
***
Eric was alive and that’s all that mattered for the moment. She had been given her own rooms, though she could see they were someone else’s. Personal items were scattered around the room, makeup and dresses in the closets… At least the sheets seemed to have been changed.
She could hear Eric’s erratic thoughts. She could feel him worry. But why would they have to worry? She had told the truth, and the Guardian would see that. And as pissed as he would be about the betrayal of another one of his chancellor’s, he couldn’t exactly put that on them.
She sat on the chaise lounge, not knowing her maker had sat right there just a couple of days earlier. And she waited. And she wished Eric were there so they could talk. So she could explain. Eventually, she started to wonder if she should even feel bad. After all, she could make her own decisions, and she hadn’t endangered any of their lives. In fact, she had saved many lives, including the Guardian’s. He were to be thankful for that, wasn’t he?
Maybe she had done it out of anger and frustration. Maybe she were too tired for these schemes and secret plans. Better to be done now than having to deal with it later on. She had seen Salome’s plans. What would have happened if they had succeeded? It would have been a catastrophe.
About two hours after having been locked in those chambers, she heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Coming for her. She straightened up as the Guardian entered the room. He didn’t seem angry. Or not at her, at least.
“These were Salome’s chambers,” he said. “I’m not sure why I wanted you to see them. Or perhaps, I just wanted to make a point that Chancellor Agrippa was a trusted member of this Authority and now, these rooms are all that is left of it.”
“You killed her?”
“No, no,” he chuckled. “No, she will be given the True Death. But, she has many things to tell us first. Your help would be welcomed.”
“What are you gonna do with Eric?”
He rose an eyebrow. “Your first thought is for your maker. Such loyalty is rare nowadays.” He sighed. “Mr. Northman and Mr. Compton have been given full pardons,” he informed her as he sat in the armchair before her. He crossed his legs as he leaned back. “What do you know of Salome’s plans?”
“She thinks you’ve betrayed all vampires. But she wanted to go by the book, so, she meant for Russell to kill you then pardon him as she would take your place.”
“She thinks the mainstreaming agenda is an abomination, doesn’t she?”
“Yes. As Guardian her first order would have been to put a stop to it.”
“You got all of that from shaking her hand.”
“I looked around inside her head. She’s… old.”
“That she is… that old bitch.”
“What about Nora?”
“What about her?”
“Are you going to kill her?”
“She will be given the True Death. She is, after all, sanguinista.”
“Salome brainwashed her! I saw it. It took years and years of manipulation for her to convince Nora.”
“And she is still convinced. I can’t release Nora as she is now.”
“What if I can get through to her?”
The Guardian frowned. “How do you mean?”
“I could get inside her mind, remind her of what it was like to be human, of a time when she thought differently.”
“What if you can’t help her?”
Brooklynne paused.
“Then I can’t help her.”
“How long have you known Nora?”
“I don’t. I… I met her once.”
“And you would do that for her?”
“She’s Eric’s sister.”
“Indeed… None of us knew Nora was Mr. Northman’s sister.”
“I shouldn’t have said, it was a mistake.”
“That mistake, Miss Stackhouse, is how I know I can trust you.”
She watched as he stood up.
“You will have your chance to speak to Nora. For now, it is time for all of us to rest for the day.”
“Wait! Have you… who else knows…”
“The Chancellors may know, as I did, but they’re under strict orders to keep it confidential.”
She frowned, as she couldn’t understand why he’d even try to protect her secret.
“Why?”
“Few of us know about fairies. But those of us who do know for a reason.”
“Daylight,” she guessed.
He nodded. “The sun is forbidden to us. And it would be against our own laws to allow vampires to go after another vampire. Even if you’re only half a creature of Lilith,” he said as he turned around and made his way to the exit.
“Can I…”
“You may join Mr. Northman in his chambers,” he finished her thought as he disappeared out of the room.
***
She didn’t know what to expect from Eric. He’d be angry, for sure. Worried too. But would he be more pissed than anxious? She had lost all of her confidence from before. She had thought about it while she waited in Salome’s chambers. It wasn’t confidence that had made her do it. It was anger. It was frustration. She was in a room, surrounded with the most powerful vampires in the world, and she had the one information that could save them all, and the only reason she couldn’t tell them was because it was dangerous. Because she was too weak to do it. But she wasn’t weak. She wasn’t strong, or as strong as them, but she wasn’t weak.
Her whole life people had told her what to do, what not to do. But what about what she wanted? It was never considered. It was always about her safety, about what was best for her. And that had led them here. That had led Eric to leave her. Never again.
Two guards opened the door to Eric’s room and they closed it behind her as she disappeared inside. Eric was pacing, worried, no doubt, for both his sister and Brooklynne. But when he heard the door open, he was expecting to see the Guardian or another chancellor, someone to tell him they had killed Nora and taken the gifted vampire away.
She saw the surprise on his face, but mostly the relief in his eyes. He froze, not daring to move, as if she were a hallucination he could blink away. But she kept walking towards him. She was real. She was safe.
“Hey,” she said gently as she stopped before him.
He stared at her, a million thoughts running in his mind. He didn’t know what to do, what to say first. She was expecting another scolding. But it never came.
She felt his lips on hers before she even saw him move. He put his hands on each side of her face as she tiptoed to meet his mouth. He put all of his regret and all of his relief into the kiss.
He kissed her so deeply, as if he were looking for something. Her forgiveness maybe, or just her love. He kissed her like it had been a thousand years since the last time. He kissed her, maybe, to tell her all the things he wanted her to know but for which he hadn’t found the right words. He had looked for them, had tried to find ways to tell her, but it was as if the words didn’t exist, as if they hadn’t been invented yet. So he kissed her, because that was the only thing he could do to let her know how sorry he was. How much it broke his heart to leave her behind, how it had almost killed him to walk away from her. She had to know it was the most painful thing he had ever done, and for four days, those torturous four days he had been away from her, had been convinced he’d never see her again, all of his thoughts had been for her. And he died all over again each day when he woke up at sunset without her. And when he came back, when he entered Fangtasia and saw her on his throne, it was like coming back to life, like his heart had started beating again just to get crushed all over again by the look in her eyes. It had felt like a thousand needles to see that look of betrayal in her eyes, that pain and that anger, and those tears… And though he had tried to remind himself he had done it to protect her, he couldn’t help but regret it, because he might had just lost her while trying to save her. So he had included her in his plans, he wasn’t about to make the same deadly mistake again. He wouldn’t put her aside this time, he would stay with her and never leave her again. Until the Authority came for him and gave him the True Death. Because even if his last days consisted of chasing after Russell Edgington, they’d be the most beautiful days of his life if she were there with him. But he wasn’t dead. And she wasn’t dead. Even after his worst fears came true. Even after all of this and all of that, she was there, she had come for him, and she was kissing him too.
She kissed him because she loved him. She kissed him because she had missed him. She had missed his lips and his hands on her. She had missed his blue eyes, his voice and his subtle accent. She had missed his love. She had missed him. As angry as she was she kissed him. Because that was the only thing that could wash off the last five days. It wouldn’t erase them, but it would make it better, for the moment. Because she had been convinced she’d never see him again and for those four agonising days she had wondered what she’d do with herself and an eternity without him. She could taste his regret and his pain on his lips, and after a while, after they got each other’s clothes off in a desperate hurry, the pain went away. His mouth traveled on her body, and after kissing every inch, biting every weak spot, devouring her like she liked it, his lips started to feel normal again, as if her skin had cleaned him of his sins.
And though she still had things to say, she cast it aside for now, wanting to enjoy the moment. She had thought she’d never see him again, thought she’d never be here again, thought she had lost him forever. Every second with him healed the wound he had given her, filled the hole he had left in her chest. So she laid on the bed and let him worship every bit of her. Let him make amends.
To say that Brooke and Sookie were having a hard time was an understatement. Sookie, after killing Debbie and having Pam turn Tara into a vampire, was judged and hated by all, and she had come back from work a wreck, and had dove into the cabinet were gran had always kept the alcohol. She turned on the stereo, and the loud music woke Brooklynne up.
She had spent the entire day in bed, and even though she kept waking up and kept having the worst lucid dreams, she stayed under the covers until way after sunset.
Not only the music was loud, but Brooke could hear her sister’s devastating thoughts. She had cast Bill away from her mind, she had enough humans judging her for her to worry about the traitorous bastard her vampire ex-boyfriend had turned out to be. She was so drunk she couldn’t hear Brooke think really, really, loudly that she wished she’d turn down the music a bit. Perhaps Sookie didn’t even know her sister was in her bedroom upstairs. She rarely were anymore.
Lafayette called. He had found Sookie’s car destroyed against a tree, and wanted to check on her. She was fine, apparently, she had jumped out of the car at the right time, and had even found it funny. She must be really drunk, Brooke thought.
She heard another train of thoughts approach the house, but his smell told her who he was before she could even hear anything. Sookie was waiting for another well deserved scolding from the werewolf but was surprised to hear Alcide had told Debbie’s parents some lie about how the Alpha from their pack had slept with her then killed her. Good. Because if Alcide had told the truth and Sookie had been sent to jail, not much would have been left of the werewolf after that night.
She tried to tune out the party that was going on downstairs, but it was either listening to Alcide and Sookie’s drunk thoughts about each other or thinking about her own issues. And she really didn’t want to think about Eric at the moment.
When Sookie and Alcide started to make out on their grandmother’s couch, she thought about leaving the house, not only to give them some privacy but also because she really didn’t want to hear any of it.
But then she heard his voice. Or rather, his thoughts. Bill was standing right there, outside of their house, watching the werewolf and the fairy take each other’s clothes off. A creep until the end. Brooklynne felt like fighting, and he had just given her a reason to beat his ass.
She sped out of her house, wearing nothing but a tight shirt and silk shorts and went straight to Bill whom she pushed away with supernatural strength. The King of Louisiana landed in the cemetery near the house.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as if he were still standing right in front of her.
It took a couple of seconds for him to get back on his feet and return to his spot.
“You know, I am still your King.”
“What are you gonna do?”
Bill sighed. “I get that you’re mad, but…”
“But nothing. Leave my sister alone.”
“I didn’t come here for Sookie.”
“What then?”
“I told him to meet us here,” Eric said as he appeared beside his King. “Granted, he could’ve picked a better spot.”
“Weren’t we supposed to go with Alcide?” she asked, remembering the plan. “He’s drunk now.”
“Clearly,” Eric mumbled.
“Let’s sober him up,” Bill said, and Brooke had no doubt he was more than happy to put a stop to the party.
***
Alcide took them to Doug, the employee that had found the hole in the parking lot. The werewolf had been smart not to ask about the obvious tension between the vampires while they drove in his van to the site.
Doug was a chubby man almost as tall as Alcide. His hair was longer, and so was his beard. He seemed shy and squeamish, and didn’t feel comfortable with whatever was happening. They had taken them to Russell’s former resting place where fresh cement had been poured to cover the hole. Brooklynne asked Doug to hold her hand and close his eyes and focus on that night, on what he saw. He had been glamoured by the vampire who had dug up Russell and it was harder for her to get any useful images from his mind.
“It’s a woman,” Brooke said. “She’s digging up Russell with her hands.”
Russell appeared like a bloody overgrown baby with no skin and the memory made Doug start to shake in fear.
“What the fuck is this?” he asks as if he were living it for the first time.
“Wait,” Brooke squeezed his hand harder as he tried to step away. “It’s Nora,” she breathed out.
“That’s not possible,” Eric said, trying to ignore Bill’s ‘I told you so’ look.
“She has the same necklace.”
“It could be any member of the Authority, then. Do you see Nora’s face?”
“No, just the necklace.”
“So we don’t know for certain it’s her,” Eric insisted. “It’s not Nora, it can’t be. She thought Russell was dead. She risked her life to free us.”
“Can I go now?” Doug asked.
But they were far from done.
The woman, whom according to Eric was not Nora, had Doug scoop Russell up like a baby and take him into an abandoned facility at the other end of town. That was their next destination.
In the van, Eric and Bill kept arguing about Nora while Brooklynne, helped by Doug’s blurry memory, led Alcide to Russell’s location.
“She’s a traitor and a liar, just like her brother,” Bill spat at the sheriff who showed fangs at the insult. Bill followed suit.
“Take that back,” Eric growled.
But the fight was cut short as Bill’s phone started ringing. Brooke couldn’t help but listen.
“Hello?”
“Hey, guys. It’s Molly. Remember me? Giving you a shout-out to let you know your countdown has started.”
“Our countdown?”
“Yeah, your iStakes are set to activate at dawn. Bummer, right?”
“There must be some kind of mistake.”
“No, I’m launching a test. Is your iStake glowing?”
Brooke took a look at the two vampires at the back of the van. Eric opened his jacket and a red light was coming from under his shirt, right where his heart was. iStake. It sounded stupid, but scary. That was what she had felt the previous night when he had held her against his chest. And that stupid but scary thing would kill Eric if they didn’t find Russell before the end of the night. She looked up at her maker with a heart and eyes full of worry. They wouldn’t have time after all. She wouldn’t have time to forgive him. And as he stared back at her, she saw in his eyes that it was okay. That he knew.
“Yeah, they’re glowing…”
“Cool. Means we’re good to go. Good luck. And if you don’t make it, it’s been rad serving you. Peace out.”
Brooklynne wanted to tear that Molly apart for the total indifference she showed at her maker’s True Death. But she had bigger problems. They all did.
Doug was reluctant to enter the building, but all Alcide wanted was for it to be over, so he dragged him in and started looking.
“Wolves have been here,” he sniffed.
“They come with Russell,” Bill said with a sigh, wondering which would kill him first, the iStake or a werewolf.
The building was an abandoned asylum. Brooklynne would find it ironic that Russell would hide here but she was too anxious to find it even remotely funny.
They dragged Doug, or rather Doug led them, through Brooke, down to the morgue, walking pass freshly severed hands and other dead bodies being eaten by rats.
“Well, at least we’re in the right place,” Eric said.
“The morgue,” Bill thought aloud as they walked pass the indications on the wall. “How convenient.”
Helped by a flashlight, Doug and Alcide followed the vampires into the darkness of the basement. Hearing, or perhaps sensing something Doug couldn’t, the vampires revealed their fangs as Alcide said:
“We’re being watched.”
Doug had reached his limits and let go of Brooklynne before he ran away. Knowing it was a bad idea to leave the human alone in this abandoned asylum where a three thousand year old psychopath was hiding, Alcide went after him. It was only when Doug started screaming that the three vampires followed him.
They found what seemed to be Russell’s pantry, where over a dozen humans were hanging from hooks like pigs in a butchery. A man started begging for his life, begging for them to take someone else, anyone else but him.
“Where do they take the prisoners?” Bill asked him.
“Down the hallway. There’s screaming and then there’s not!”
“What do we do with them?” Brooke asked.
“We’ll come back for them after we’re done with Russell,” Eric said before turning around and exiting the room, followed by the rest of his suicide squad.
Stakes in hands, they made their way to the end of the hallway where they found Russell lying on a hospital bed. He looked pale and sick, even coughed a few times. He looked almost human. Almost.
“Ah, miss Stackhouse. I see you’ve joined us,” he said with an eerie smile.
“We came here to finish what we started,” Eric told him as he approached.
“Well… give it your best shot.”
Russell’s smile grew bigger before Alcide, who was still standing in the hallway, behind Brooke, got jumped by a wolf.
“Eric!” Brooke shouted as a wolf launched itself at her maker.
She went to help him but was stopped by Russell who positioned himself between her and the Viking.
“Mmh, you’re just what the doctor ordered,” he smirked. “I’m sure becoming one of us just made your fairy blood even stronger.”
He trapped her against a wall and as he aimed for her throat she used her light to push him away. His back hit the wall at the other end of the hallway and he collapsed on the floor painfully.
“Yeah,” he cackled like a maniac as he sat up and leaned against the wall, “there is that aspect of you which I loathe.”
Eric killed the wolf that was after him then sped towards Russell. He crouched to get to his level then seized his face and made him look away from Brooklynne and directly at him.
“Look at me. I want to be the last thing you ever see,” he growled as he directed his stake towards his heart.
But before he had the chance to make a big mistake, Bill had his own stake aimed at Eric’s heart.
“He dies, we die. Most certainly. But if we take him back alive, maybe we don’t have to die.”
“Unlikely.”
“But not impossible.”
“Eric! Please,” Brooke begged. “He’s right!”
Eric snarled but eventually let go of his stake and put his fangs away. Russell used this short moment of weakness to pick up the disregarded weapon and attack the Viking. In less than a second, Eric was on his back, Russell on top of him, the sharp tip of the stake on his heart. Brooke moved fast and once again used her light to push Russell away from the man she loved.
It all happened really fast, and Brooke barely had time to register what was happening, as a group of heavily armed soldiers came in. Half of them had their guns pointed at Russell and the other half at her own heart.
“Freeze!”
Russell surrendered without protest, the red lights now aiming at his chest. One move and he’d be a pool of blood.
A tall, black man all dressed in black, from his shoes to his cap, joined them and stared at Brooklynne like she was the worst thing he had ever seen in his entire life. Eric quickly positioned himself between her and the man who was obviously the one giving orders here.
“What is this?” he asked with a strong accent.
“She’s mine,” Eric growled.
“Yours?”
“My progeny.”
There was no hiding anymore, no lying anymore. They had seen it. The light, the speed. It was useless to deny it, they were damned either way, and if they had to die tonight, they were at least going to be honest about it.
“What is she?”
… Well, half a truth was better than a complete lie…
“She’s a vampire.”
Russell chuckled.
“Lie,” the commander hissed.
“I turned her myself.”
“I suppose we will see what Guardian has to say about… this,” he said, looking around at the room where two dead werewolves were lying naked next to Bill. “Wolf and human are here,” he continued as Alcide appeared behind him, buttoning his jeans. “Why?”
“Doug led us here,” Bill started to explain. “Nothing that a little glamouring won’t take care of.”
“Do it,” the commander agreed before he exited the room.
After thoroughly glamouring Alcide, Eric made sure he got out safely and wasn’t stopped by any of the soldiers that the Chancellor had brought with him.
“He’s fine, he got in his van and is driving home,” Eric told Brooklynne as he saw the worried look in her eyes, though she didn’t worry about Alcide, she knew the werewolf would be okay.
Eric sighed.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he cupped her cheeks with his hands. “This is what I wanted to keep you safe from.”
He placed a kiss on her forehead before bringing her to his chest. He rested his chin on her head as she hugged him back. Still, no word came out of her mouth.
***
Chancellor Akinjide seemed impressed, and though he wouldn’t let Brooklynne go, he had stopped looking at her with disgust but rather with curiosity.
“No one thought you two would actually be able to deliver Russell Edgington,” he told them as he led them out of the building and into a van. “Guardian will be extremely pleased.”
“Pleased enough to not execute us?” Eric asked as he sat next to Brooklynne.
“Only Lilith knows that.”
“As only she knows all,” Bill replied with a smirk.
The chancellor didn’t reply as he closed the doors of the van, trapping them inside the vehicle.
“Who’s Lilith?”
“Enough with this religious bullshit already,” Eric sighed. “Lilith can fucking blow me.”
“No, she certainly cannot!”
Bill chuckled.
“Lilith is like the God of vampires,” he explained.
“And why are you suddenly so into it?” Eric asked his King.
“I’m just covering my ass.”
“Are you telling me the Authority is a religious government?”
“It could be worse,” Eric said. “They could take the word of the Vampire Bible literally.”
“The what? The what?!”
“At least the sanguanista aren’t in charge…”
“Who…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Eric told her as he took her hand in his. “I’ll explain on the way to New-Orleans.”
“New-O…” she stopped. “Are we… are they… Are we going to die tonight?”
She caught his eyes and saw. They were most probably going to be executed tonight, and she would be questioned and experimented on and maybe they’ll use her blood to give the sun to all vampires… And everything he had done to keep her safe was crumbling down on him, breaking him apart as this voice inside of his head screamed at him that it was his fault and that he should have known better.
He wiped a tear off her cheek and took her chin between his fingers. He tried to give her his most sincere smile as he said: “I love you.” And he didn’t wait for her to say it back because hearing those words coming out of her mouth would kill him before dawn. So he kissed her forehead and rested his cheek on her head, hoping, praying to whatever God there was that he hadn’t just sentenced the woman he loved to death.
The heavy silence was more awkward for Bill than anyone else. Brooklynne couldn’t even look at Eric in the eyes. She hadn’t said a word ever since they had entered the club, and it seemed Eric had been rendered speechless by her silence. He had tried to speak to her, but when he said her name, she walked away. She lowered her eyes and walked passed him, down the stage and towards the office. Eric watched her walk away, his heart breaking with each of her steps and completely shattering as she closed the door behind her. Bill tried to make himself as small as he could and didn’t say a word when the Viking went after his progeny.
***
The door of the office was half-closed, she knew he’d come after her. She was standing before his desk, her back turned to him. He waited, or maybe she was the one waiting for him to speak and he was just looking for the right thing to say. But there was nothing he could say to make it better, and he knew that. So he said the only thing that was on his mind, the most beautiful word he knew, it came out of his mouth like a plea.
“Brooklynne.”
Her name still on his lips, still in the air, barely said, made her explode. She grabbed his stupid desk sculpture, the gold heavy and cold in her hand, and threw the lion at him with a force that was as supernatural as her speed. He dodged it easily, though he moved before he could understand what was happening. He didn’t fight back after that. The golden lion crashed on the floor in a loud noise that was devoured by the deadly silence. She moved towards him, anger and pain covering her face, and she hit him, again and again, she hit him and she pushed him away, her hands punching him, pushing and pushing against his chest, but he didn’t move. He didn’t stop her. And at some point she started screaming and she didn’t realise the screams were coming from her just like she didn’t feel the tears falling on her face. Little by little, as her screams turned to cries then to sobs, her punches became slow and weak, and he finally moved. He put his arms around her, bringing her to his chest, holding her against him, as tight as he could, like he had wanted to do ever since he had walked away from her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
He placed a kiss in her hair then rested his chin on the top of her head. He apologised, again and again, because he didn’t have the words, or maybe they just didn’t exist, so he said ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again, hoping it would make it better, hoping that maybe one day she would forgive him.
***
She wiped her tears and left the office without a word, making her way back to the club where Bill had been waiting. She couldn’t bare to look at Eric, so she picked a stool at the bar and sat, and started to wait too. She didn’t even ask him what was that thing she felt under his shirt, strapped to his chest. She didn’t have the strength to speak. Eric came to sit beside her, but he didn’t try to speak to her again. There was nothing he could say. She just needed time.
Eventually, Pam’s roars chased away the silence as she entered the club shouting vulgarities.
“Ginger, we’re open till 4, bleach bucket! Where is everyone?!”
“We sent them all home,” Eric replied, making the vampire jump.
Brooklynne looked up at her big sister, surprise and relief written all over her face. Pam released a shaky breath, as if she had been holding it ever since Brooke had told her Eric had gone. She was followed by Tara who was probably confused as to why everyone acted like this was a funeral.
“Why is she here?” Eric asked, eyeing Tara.
“Uh… she’s… mine. I made her… vampire, while you were gone,” she stuttered her answer. She didn’t understand why he’d care about Tara’s presence when the Authority was after him.
“We need to talk,” Eric said before he turned to Bill. “Would you mind?”
Bill nodded, then gestured Tara to follow him. Pam gave a look at Brooke who was focusing on some spot on the dirty counter before her, then turned her attention towards her maker. She knew Eric too well, she knew something was wrong, and it wasn’t just about Brooklynne this time.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
There was many things he wanted to say, especially to Brooklynne, but she didn’t want to hear any of it, so he straightened up and chased any regret and sorrow away, locked them up in that tiny human part of him and let his vampire self take over his composure entirely. This was serious, and they didn’t have time for sentiment.
“On our way out of the country, Bill and I were arrested and taken to the Authority.”
At these words, Brooklynne finally looked up at him, and he continued.
“They were going to execute both of us, but we managed to convince them to let us out.”
“How?” Pam asked. She couldn’t imagine what could make the Authority spare anyone.
“Before we got arrested I received a call from Alcide. The parking lot where we buried Russell… someone dug him up. He’s out.”
Brooklynne jumped off her stool. That had been another one of his promises. Russell would be buried under that parking lot for the rest of eternity. She’d be safe. Sookie would be safe. The world would be safe from that three thousand year old maniac.
“The Authority ordered Bill and I to find him.”
“Because if they didn’t kill you, then Russell would,” Pam shook her head.
Eric nodded.
“We don’t have a lot of time, they will be keeping an eye on us.”
“How do you plan on finding him?”
“Alcide’s employee is the one who found the hole empty. Brooklynne will help us see everything he knows, and we’ll go from there.”
Pam eyed Brooklynne. She probably hadn’t been asked about the plan, but she nodded all the same.
“We have to go to ground for the day,” he continued.
He was about to say more but she didn’t give him the chance.
“I guess I’ll see you tonight then,” she said as she started to make her way out.
She walked pass Pam and exited Fangtasia without a word.
Pam was a small comfort. Brooklynne knew her vampire sister was grieving too, and probably trying to think of all the places Eric and Bill could be right now, all the places they’d be tomorrow, and all the places they’d never be again. Brooklynne had spent the last three nights at Fangtasia, knowing Pam would need the support, and that she certainly wouldn’t want it. Not that Brooklynne could help the vampire. It was Pam who had spent the last century with Eric. It was Pam who could legitimately feel his loss and truly miss him. In truth, being close to Pam made Brooklynne feel close to Eric, but she liked to think they were better together than apart. There were a family, and Pam hadn’t asked her to leave her alone, and deep down, Brooklynne knew Pam wanted to look after her too, though she’d die before she would admit it. They were both hurting, and Pam had her moments of vulnerability that she had only allowed Brooklynne to see, only Brooklynne, because she was her sister, Eric’s progeny, the love of his life, and she would die for her as he would, because she knew he’d want her to. She knew he’d want them to be a family, to take care of each other. So she kept the same look on her face, that pissed-off look that Brooke had come to love and find reassuring, because that was who her sister was. She was strong and she didn’t depend on a man to go on. Pam could do this. It would hurt like nothing else, but she would do it. For Eric. For Brooklynne. For herself. Brooklynne wasn’t as strong. She couldn’t go on or even pretend to be okay. She sat on his throne, up on that stage, staring at the door, waiting for Eric to walk through it with Bill. She was still in denial. She couldn’t believe he was gone. She couldn’t believe that he had left her behind. It hurt too much, and thinking about it just felt like torture. It was tearing her apart in the inside. Her only comfort was Pam, and that supernatural feeling, that certainty, that her maker was still alive. For now.
“This is the worst night ever.”
She had said those words. Those foolish words. And Eric had known better. Eric always knew better.
They had saved the vampires of Bon-Temps from a psycho necromancer and that was how the AVL and the Authority had chosen to repay them? She gave her life for this? It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. And Eric had broken all of his promises, in the name of love, he had left her behind, because he had to pay the price, he was the one running away, from what, from whom?
The rage built up inside of her and she felt her blood boil. She wanted to kill someone, anyone, everyone. They were in his club, laughing, not knowing what he had sacrificed, what she had sacrificed, for them, for their miserable lives, and she wouldn’t get a thank you, Eric wouldn’t get a thank you. Not, all he got was a death sentence. And as she sat there she thought of all the vampires, all those baby vampires, like her, who thought they were so cool and dangerous, whose makers had probably abandoned them as soon as he had made them, who barely knew how to glamour someone, how to bite a human being without draining them completely, she thought about those people, stared at those people, who were bragging about not drinking Tru Blood, because Tru Blood were for pussies and real vampires drank real human blood. They spat on all that Eric and Bill and even she had fought for. She had fought for it that night when she died at that AVL conference to enforce the Authority’s mainstreaming agenda. How was any of it fair? She wanted to go home and run to her grandmother, her gran would have something wise to say, or if she didn’t at least something comforting. She’d cook her favourite meal, even at midnight, and she’d play cards with her until she felt better, until she were too tired to be upset. How could they live like this? Did they know how unfair it all was? Did they know how much people sacrificed for them to be able to live in their blissful ignorance? She hated them. She wanted them gone. She wanted them dead.
Pam, who was sitting on the throne beside her, staring at the same people she had, suddenly lifted her head. The movement tore Brooklynne from her descent into madness and brought her back to reality, as if she had fallen asleep and all of her thoughts had only been a nightmare, a manifestation of her subconscious. Brooklynne stared at the vampire, waiting for her to speak as it seemed she had heard something she had missed. But all she did was roll her eyes in that dramatic way of hers and her pissed-off face seemed even angrier as she shook her head.
“That stupid bitch,” she said before she disappeared.
Brooke wondered what Tara had done to have Pam run after her that way. The vampire had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with her progeny. Turning her had only been a courtesy to Sookie, who now owed her. However Brooklynne knew Pam wouldn’t leave Tara defenceless. She knew one night, when she missed Eric the most, she’d want something in her life, to fill that hole he had left in her chest, and she’d take her role as a maker more seriously. Perhaps as seriously as Eric had taken it. As Godric had.
For a short moment, she wondered what it would be like to be a maker. The thought made her grimace. Not only because she’d probably never see her own maker again, but also because she couldn’t imagine trying to turn someone just to wake up next to a corpse, to realise that her hybrid status made her unable to have any progeny of her own. She shuddered. She was 25 and had only been a vampire for a few weeks. She had no business even thinking about becoming a maker. The mere idea scared her.
Brooklynne took a deep breath and leaned back in her seat, thinking back about that time she had come here after her brother and ended up on Eric’s lap, answering all his questions. She remembered how patient he had been with her, how interested. He had answered her questions too, and truthfully. She missed him. God, she missed him. And perhaps she missed him so much she had summoned him, or maybe she was hallucinating, but she was fairly certain the man who had just entered the club was Eric. She stared at him and he stared back. He looked surprised to find her on his throne. Surprised, but happy. Relieved. She stared, expressionless at him. She couldn’t believe it, it didn’t make any sense. But Bill appeared behind him, the King of Louisiana having entered the club last.
She didn’t flinch when he made his way to her with incredible speed. He stood there, towering over her, the fabric of his pants grazing her bare legs. She didn’t move, just stared back at him, not only in disbelief but in shock. She felt so many emotions at once, and perhaps if she had been human, it would have been easier, but now that she was a vampire everything was more intense. She felt happiness, of course, but that feeling of betrayal was getting stronger. The grief, the sorrow, the worry, the half-admitted anger of the past few days surged over her. Almost suffocated her. Her eyes filled with human tears, and he saw it all. Everything she was feeling, he saw it in her eyes because he knew he had done that to her, he knew it was his fault.
As happy as she was to see him there, at that moment, safe and alive, she still felt the pieces of her broken heart fall apart inside her chest. And as Bill shouted at the entire club to pay their bill and get out, neither Eric nor Brooklynne moved, because of all the things he wanted to say to her, none of it sounded good enough, and of all the things she had imagined doing if he ever came back she could only think of one thing. And as she stared back at him, a tear falling down her cheek, all she could see was him snapping her neck, leaving her behind.
***********
Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it! The whole chapter can be found on my patreon as well as chapter 24! Find me at patreon.com/alonelydreamer
Capricious | Doctor Strange x reader (updated: 10-03-21)
Hi, hello, bonjour :)
So, I saw Doctor Strange (and it was amazing, I’m going back Saturday) anyway, the cloak made me laugh and I had this idea that I really hope you’ll like.
Because I live in a small city that sucks, I was condemned to watch it in French so some vocabulary might be wrong.
Also, I tried not to include spoilers even though this happens after the movie.
Please, note that I am French and so there might be some mistakes here and there. And, also, I know nothing about Doctor Strange outside of the movie I just saw.
Words: 633
Summary: How you meet Doctor Strange (A little, soulmate story ;) )
This is my first Marvel imagine.
Enjoy :)
You were a young orphan when the Ancient One took you in. She taught you everything she knew, (well, almost everything), and you were now a very powerful sorceress. You preferred to be alone and you were somewhere in Iceland when you heard of the events of Hong-Kong. You immediately took your relic and packed your bags and used your sling ring that you never took off to open a portal and go straight to Nepal.
You arrived in the library and, immediately, the sound of your footsteps made Wong look up. He smiled as soon as he saw you.
“Y/N! Welcome back!”
“Hi, Wong,” you smiled back at him.
“What are you doing here?”
Your smile vanished. “You know…”
“Oh…you’ve heard…”
“I wish I had been there,” you told him and he gave you a sad look and nodded.
But suddenly, the relic you were wearing started to lift you off of your feet and made you levitate.
“Not now, Green!” you hissed. You looked up and saw Wong mocking you. “What’s so funny?”
“Maybe I should tell you…” he started to say but he didn’t have the chance to finish as you were dragged outside of the library. You couldn’t see where you were going and you couldn’t stop it.
“Green, stop it! Now!” you ordered your relic but it didn’t stop.
Eventually, you hit something. Or rather, someone. You turned around as soon as you were back on your feet
“What the hell? I’m so sorry, my…” you stopped as you couldn’t recognise the sorcerer who was standing in front of you.
“Hello?” the stranger frowned. He rubbed the back of his head.
“Hi,” you stared at him and he gave you a funny look. “Right,” you sighed. “I’m sorry, Green is capricious.”
‘Green’ lifted you off of your feet again and pushed you into the stranger’s chest. You put your hand on the back of his neck and he caught you in his arms.
“Your cloak has the same sense of humour as mine,” he grinned at you as he put you back on your feet. “Green?”
“Well, yes,” you shrugged. “It obviously has a mind of its own and… it’s green, so…”
He chuckled. “I see. Should I call mine Red, then?”
“These cloaks were once worn by two great sorcerers,” you turned to see Wong standing in the entry of the room behind you. “They loved each other so much, some said they were soulmates,” he smiled and you immediately blushed and took one step from the stranger. You looked up at him and you saw him raised his eyebrows, like he didn’t believe a word Wong was saying. “Others even said that their love was so strong, its power passed onto their cloaks and they would always reunite two people made for each other.”
You gave him a dreadful look, hoping it would shut him up but he chuckled before he turned around and left. You sighed and turned to the stranger. You gave him an awkward smile.
“Stephen Strange,” he said as he held out his hand.
“Excuse me?”
“My name is Stephen Strange. Doctor Strange.”
“Oh, right, of course, uh, I’m Y/N,” you said as you shook his hand.
“I figured we should know each other’s names if we’re soulmates,” he told you, making you laugh.
“So, you’re the one who saved the world?”
He chuckled. “I am.”
You stood there, in an awkward silence, just staring at each other for a short moment.
“Maybe we should start with dinner,” he grinned. You gave him a puzzled look. “I’d like to know my soulmate better.”
You tilted your head on the side as you thought about it.
“Well, why not?” you smiled. “Just to see if Wong’s story is true.”
