Chapter 06: The Great Escape

After having to have their shopping trip cut short, Bella spent some time with the girls in the dormitory, to talk about their options, about their past and see if she could help them in any way. Myriam was usually on top of things, but Bella had access to the same resources as Myriam due to them working together. Besides, sitting in the dormitory all the time wasn’t fun either.

She had grabbed a few bottles of alcohol and set up on the balcony of the building and invited the girls to come out and have some fun. A party. Watch the people below. See some smiles on their faces and hope. Ordered pizza and had a good old fashioned get together where they could all forget their troubles for a while.

It’s what Bella had needed.

But then the night came and she couldn’t sleep as her mind went on and on about Klaus, how he had admitted that she had been nothing but a fun shag to him and it hurt. Which was awful because she needed this to continue her life, a clean break. Or with him. And he choose without her. And it hurt.

Hadn’t she been so needy about this, this whole mess could have been avoided and she’d be having the best sex of her life right now, but she was alone. She did not need a man in her life. She didn’t. She’d been fine prior coming to New Orleans and it was Klaus who messed with her head by befriending her and eventually turning their relationship into a friends with benefits one. Oh, but they were good benefits. The sex was amazing.

She could leave again. Run away. Again.

Or perhaps just let them find her and end it all.

She wanted to live, truly, but she was only safe in this building. She liked her life as it was, but being outside, living, was preferable too and she couldn’t do that with the squirrel munchers still alive. If she lived outside the building, they would come and kill her. And then Klaus would kill them. It was basically a win-win situation, wasn’t it?

There was a chance that she would survive. Maybe she should take a chance. Truly live. Get outside, experience New Orleans for the gorgeous city that it was. She always loved it when Klaus spoke of New Orleans, almost as if it was the womb he was made in. She never liked going outside at night because the sun would be gone and they would be there. But taking a chance one of these days? It would definitely be worth it.

The next morning, Bella hauled her ass out of bed, took a refreshing shower and got dressed and went for breakfast where she was ambushed by Myriam. “Morning,” Bella said as she moved around the vampire to get to the fridge.

“You look like shit.”

“I didn’t sleep well, Myriam, but such is life. What can I do for you today? Are you allowing me to go back to work? Maybe have a little fun with a female client?” Bella asked hopeful. “I mean, I’ve been good for the last three days and I’m itching.”

“I was thinking that maybe you and I should have a talk.”

“About?”

“Some members of the squad voiced their concerns about Klaus’ behaviour the other day after a visit with you. Is everything alright?”

Bella sighed as she slammed the door of the fridge closed. “Yes. Everything’s fine. I realized that I need to rely on myself for my own happiness and not sit and wait for someone to bring it to me, unless that person wanted to be with me. And he didn’t. So I told him to fuck off or pay for my services.”

Myriam’s mouth fell open in surprise. “He didn’t?”

“He said that he can’t give me what I want. I asked him if he sees me as a fun, free fuck and nothing more and he replied yes. So, that’s what happened and that’s fine,” she said as she poured the milk over the cereal. “At least I have the freedom now to do whatever I want with my own life without him being a constant in it. I don’t have to be jealous when you two have your fun and I don’t have to wait around for him to come and make me feel worth something.”

“Bella…”

“No, don’t you see? That’s my problem. Men are my problem. I am a strong woman, Myriam. I am. I’ve proven that to myself during the time I was on the run and now it’s time to take that back. I don’t like feeling like I need someone else to complete me. Especially since he doesn’t feel the same way about me as I do about him,” she said as she threw her untouched cereal in the sink. “Hear me roar, I am woman.” Bella punched the air with her fist Breakfast Club style and walked back to her apartment to pack a bag.

Myriam curiously followed her, seeing the irrationality in Bella’s eyes. It was familiar and it was frightening. When Bella first came to stay with her, there were bouts of anger and irresponsible actions. The first few days were terrible with Bella’s mind racing and her mouth verbalizing her thoughts. Myriam watched her nearly 24/7 as she was afraid that Bella would hurt herself and if it hadn’t been for Klaus being there to help Bella level out, Myriam would have killed the girl, no matter how severe her problems were. Klaus had been a stabilizing factor in Bella’s recovery and he just about pushed her away.

“Where are you going?”

“Out. And don’t try to follow me or have people following me. I need to breathe,” Bella shot at her as she stuffed her ipad in her bag and pushed Myriam away from the door. Or at least tried to. “Myriam, please. Let me go.”

“You know I can’t compel you.”

“No, you can’t. And you know how well I do with getting tied up, I always know how to get free so let me go. If you’re making me stay here against my will, you’re not the person I thought you were.”

That hurt. She had been nothing but good to Bella over the last two years. She had protected her, thought of her as kin and now her words stung. “Stay in your room.”

Letting out a cry of frustration, Bella turned around and sat down on her bed, eyeing Myriam cautiously. “I’m not staying.”

“Yes, you are. I will fix this.”

“I don’t want it to be fixed, Myriam. I want to be left alone.”

“Then stay in your room. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Myriam closed the door and Bella could even hear it lock. Knowing that Myriam likely kept the key in the keyhole, there was no ordinary way out of her room and Myriam liked that.

What Myriam didn’t realize, however, was that Bella always had a way out. Her window swung open wide enough for her to squeeze herself through and the sil outside was big enough for her to stand on. There was a sturdy drain pipe a few steps to the left, on the corner. When the drainage system got refurbished a year ago, Bella asked for a stronger pipe as she was afraid of strong winds blowing it off the building and they obliged, which was surprising.

She didn’t like doing this, behind Myriam’s back. She’d been a rock for Bella for so long, but Bella really needed to get out of there. She needed to breathe. She wanted to get lost in the crowd in New Orleans, become a part of the masses instead of being kept inside. Just one day out in the open, all by herself. Maybe she’d even be naughty and not return for the night but stay in a hotel or something. Yeah, she could do that. She had some cash money on her.

Myriam wouldn’t be able to find her anyway. Bella knew how to disappear and since she couldn’t be read by mind readers, it was going to be even easier. There was no way that they’d go sniffing around town in daylight, it would be too obvious. Yes, the masses.

After making sure that Myriam had gone, she grabbed her bag and opened her window. She carefully climbed out of it and closed the window from the outside before carefully shuffling her way to the drain pipe before sliding down and disappearing into the alley. First things first; she was going to the French Quarter.

~o.O.o~

She didn’t want to ruin another phone, her mobile still needed replacement, but she was seething. Myriam decided to head straight for the compound and sort out her sire. What an asshole. Had he even realized that due to his actions, Bella’s recovery had suffered a major setback?

She shoved the lackeys out of the way and headed straight towards the sound of Klaus’ voice as he was playing with his child. Making sure he wasn’t touching the child, she ran in and pushed him against the wall. “You fucker,” she growled as she pinned him against the wall and looked straight at him. “You self absorbed, egotistical maniac!”

Myriam found herself in the position Klaus had been in just seconds before as he had turned them around and returned the favor. “What are you doing here?” He hissed at her. “We have rules about this!”

“Yes, we do and I broke them because what good are rules when you hurt our girl?”

“Oh, get off,” he spat at her. “You weren’t even there. It was her that hurt me.” When Myriam struggled to get out of his hold, he used more force to keep her in place.

“Nik?” Freya’s voice sounded from behind him. “What are you doing?”

“Freya, be a dear and take Hope into the other room,” he said politely, his eyes not leaving Myriam’s. “Myriam and I need to have a little chat.”

“I’m really tired of being a glorified babysitter,” Freya muttered as she scooped Hope from the floor and smiled at her. “Let’s see if we can find you something to play with in the other room, Hope. Maybe your dad left a stake around, can’t be too soon for you to learn how to stab a vampire.”

“Freya!”

“Shut up, Nik.”

Once Hope and Freya were out the room, he released Myriam and pointed to the sofa. “Sit. I’ll tell you what happened.”

“Oh, I know what happened,” Myriam huffed as she did as she was told. “She asked you about your intentions with her and you refused her. You refused her, Niklaus! How many times have you told me that you wished that you could be more to her? With her?”

He opened his mouth but closed it as quickly as he had opened it. He moved to his alcohol table and poured himself a drink. After downing the entire glass and filling it again, he finally spoke. “And I would still very much so want that, but what life could I give her, Myriam? I’d want her here, with me, all the time and she more often than not told me she didn’t want to leave you. She’s safer with you. I would only endanger her even further.”

“Oh that’s horsecrap.”

“I can not be with her unless those Cold Ones have been dealt with.”

“Excuses.”

“Myriam…”

“What?” She shot at him, getting up again and walking towards him. “Bella says she’s fine. Fine. She told me that it’s okay that you don’t feel for her the way she does for you and she wants to go out and have fun. Live life. Be independent, not feeling that her happiness is connected to one person but herself.”

Klaus let out a snort. “Are you that desperate to get us together? Myriam, please. We’re all adults here. Wasn’t one of the rules that you wouldn’t interfere in the friendship that Bella and I share and she would not comment on ours?”

“Yes. Unless you’d do something that would hamper her recovery.”

“Well, seeing as she wants to go out and have fun, I think that I am not standing in the way of her recovery any longer.”

“Out without a chaperone.”

“Good on her.”

“With those squirrel munchers still around.”

“She’ll be alright in New Orleans, love,” Klaus smiled at her. “Don’t you think that I haven’t instructed Marcel to instruct his vampires to keep an eye out for Cold Ones and dispose of them immediately if they set foot inside the French Quarter?”

Myriam grabbed the glass out of his hand and downed the drink before throwing it across the room. She realized that there was no way of making him change his mind. He wasn’t worried. Of course he wasn’t. He compartmentalized everything, it’d come out eventually. “Our girl, our lovely, sweet, kind and broken young woman, wants to go out on the street by herself, without a chaperone. Forget the threat of those self proclaimed vegetarians, remember how damaged she was when she first came to us, Niklaus.”

“Coddling her won’t help. Let her go, it will be alright.” She had hurt him by sending him away and he really didn’t want to worry himself about her any more. Or at least for a couple of days. Bella was a big girl, he had every faith in her that she’d look out for herself. She was a survivor and the French Quarter was a safe place. The worst thing that could happen to her was if one of Marcel’s vampires would take a bite out of her, but there were so many people around, the chances of that happening would be slim.

Myriam slapped him in the face. “Cochon! Don’t bother coming to me for sexual entertainment either. We’re done.”

“Oh, come on, love, you’re worrying too much!”

“Done!” She reached for his cock to break it, but Klaus moved swiftly out of her way. Spitting on the ground, Myriam made her way out of the living room, demolishing everything on her path out. She needed a new plan to save Bella from herself, especially since introducing her to Klaus and encouraging a friendship between them had been such a bad idea.

She knew she couldn’t force two people to be together for their own good because that would make her a manipulative bitch, but she had honestly thought that Bella and Klaus would be a perfect fit together. Myriam should have known better than to think that the singer and the hybrid would be able to fix each other, especially since the hybrid was such an asshole.

~o.O.o~

Elijah couldn’t help but watch in fascination as Myriam Jenkins left a trail of destruction throughout the compound on her way out. He hadn’t returned to the compound since the day before, slightly hesitant to find out how angry Niklaus would be after hearing that Elijah had found his little side project, but he couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. Myriam Jenkins seemed like a little force of nature that Elijah would love to get to know better.

“Niklaus? Is everything alright?” Elijah wondered as he strolled into the livingroom. He stepped aside and blocked his brother’s punch as he lunged at him. “Niklaus!”

“Did you have to stick your nose into my business, Elijah?” Klaus struck out to punch him again but Elijah deflected that one. “Why do you have this insistent need to have your hand in everything that I do? Are you that jealous of me?”

“Niklaus, I don’t have my hand in everything that you do,” Elijah said calmly as he ducked to avoid his brother’s fist. “Your art, for example. That’s all you.”

“Débauche is mine,” Klaus spat at him. “Well, not even mine, but I’ve helped with it and it has my full support. You should have stayed clear of it once you realized that I was involved!”

“I find it admirable of you, brother. I didn’t believe you had it in you to be kind to those who have been hurt by our community. I know that we own a brothel in town, but Débauche surprised me.”

“We don’t own Débauche, Elijah. All the money they earn is theirs.” Giving up on hitting his brother, he turned back to his alcohol. “And I want you to stay clear of it because I do not wish for those girls to be endangered by your actions.”

“Niklaus, I would never.”

“You have a habit of ruining good things, Elijah,” Klaus reminded him. “Somehow, with your meddling, good things come to an end. I want you to stay away.”

“Very well,” Elijah sighed as he straightened his tie. “On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“I’d like to have another meeting with Miss Jenkins and you’re going to arrange that for me.”

The way Elijah spoke those words didn’t please him one bit. “What are your intentions with Myriam?”

“I’d like to get to know her better, seeing as she’s involved in the club you tied one of your aliases to, I need to know if we can trust her,” a smile danced on his lips. “I realize that you trust her, but like it or not, she’s tied to our family due to your involvement with her establishment and your judgement is not always the best there is.”

“Over my dead body,” Klaus spat and took a swig of his bourbon. “She’s off limits.”

“Well then,” Elijah rubbed his hands with glee. “What can I do to help the women in need?”

Klaus punched Elijah in the face and took another sip. “Once things have quieted down somewhat I’ll arrange a meeting between you and Myriam,” he said reluctantly. “Leave Débauche alone.”

“Of course,” Elijah sighed as he procured his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away the blood coming from his nose. “Will you tell me about her?”

“No. She’s going to have my cock for dinner as it is, I doubt that the last thing she wants is to have a meeting with you, but she’ll just have to grin and bear it for the sake of her establishment, doesn’t she?” Klaus said with an amused tone of voice and headed into the other room to relieve Freya from Hope duty.

“Klaus, do you wish for me to cast a protection spell over Bella, just in case?”

Klaus leveled his gaze on his sister. “I think you have done enough, Freya. The next time you want to let anyone in on a secret I trusted you with, I wish you’d discuss it with me first.”

“You’re welcome! If it wasn’t for me, you and Elijah would still be at odds.”

“Oh, I have not forgiven him for Hayley just yet, dear sister,” Elijah’s voice sounded from behind him. “I don’t think I ever will.”

“You two suck. I can’t help but wonder how Rebekah managed to live with the two of you for all of these years!”

“It was simple, really. She was in a box,” Klaus smirked as he bounced Hope on his hip, making the girl giggle. “Perhaps I should put our brother in a box for a time out,” he mused. “But alas, I do not wish for Hope to grow up without her loving uncle.”

“No, you’d rather wish for her to grow up without a mother.”

“Elijah!” Freya shot at him. “You’re not helping things here.”

“Could the both of you just leave?” Klaus requested, not removing his eyes from his beautiful daughter. “We’ve spoken, we’ve discussed, the end.”