Chapter 16: I Don’t Like Surprises

“Sooooo,” Peter said as he looked at the two hybrids, the little baby and a shocked Bella. “I know you’re kinda busy, so I’ll go to your dungeons, sit there quietly until you guys are done in an attempt to mend fences an’ confirm the prophecy and shit like that. We really need to talk.”

“No, we don’t,” Bella said, shaking her head as the stories she’d heard about him bubbled to the surface in her head. Despite her hating the Cullens, there was someone worse out there and currently standing in the Mikaelson compound. “You’re a Cold One.”

“Hayley, love, go join your husband downstairs with our daughter, I’ll be with you shortly,” Klaus coached her softly.

“Y’all are wound tighter than a new girdle,” Peter sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Go deal with your crap, then come find me in the dungeon. I promise, I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“I don’t trust you,” Bella said as she looked up at him. “I don’t want you here.”

“Tough, sweet cheeks,” Peter winked at her.

Bella blinked and then looked at Klaus who seemed to be just as confused as she was. “Don’t look at me, I have no idea what he’s doing here! I’ve heard some horror stories about him but this behaviour doesn’t seem to match up with those.”

“Bella,” Peter said as he slowly moved towards her. “I know you can tell when a supernatural creature is out to hurt you, I mean, I shouldn’t even have to ask you because clearly I just saved you from being torn apart by that beastie. However, I’m going to touch you an’ you can sense it yourself that I mean you no harm. Nor do I wish harm upon your friends.”

“Don’t,” she said, jerking away, but Peter had already placed a hand on her shoulder. She blinked when she felt an intense heat coming off of him, which was insane as Cold Ones were as cold as marble. “You moved through the sun to get to me, didn’t you? Are you insane?”

“Yes, but tell me what you feel.”

“I… I don’t know, you feel warm. I… I don’t think that… well, you do wish to kill things but not me,” she said confused, slightly hesitant. “What is this?”

“That’s what we need to discuss, but it can wait, peaches,” he pulled his hand back. “I’ll be in the dungeon where I can’t do any harm nor be tempted to snoop, as your new beau is so worried about that.”

Klaus let out a low growl in warning.

“See what I mean?” Peter smirked and rushed out to go to the dungeons.

“Bella?” Klaus held out his hand for her to join him downstairs.

“Uhm… no, you go deal with them, you can introduce me properly later. I need a shower. Peter touched me,” she said as she visibly shuddered. “And I need… I need to process this.”

“As you wish,” he smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you, for what you’ve done with Hope the other moment.”

“I would never have let her out if I hadn’t figured out that she wouldn’t get hurt, you know that, right?”

“I know,” he softly kissed her. “Go take your shower, take your time.”

~o.O.o~

After things had quieted down somewhat, with Jackson, Hayley and Hope moving into their new apartment across the street from the compound and Niklaus making sure that his new friend was alright, Elijah made his way into the study where Freya was nursing the bruise on her forehead. She greeted him with a weak smile as she put her pendant back into her pocket. “I supposed I was misguided to believe Hayley’s return would ease tensions in this house,” she said with a sigh.

Elijah smirked at that. “Misguided. Delusional. Refreshingly optimistic,” he then shrugged as his smirk turned into a wide grin. “You’re new.” She would soon realize that tensions would run in the family for a very long time, and time was all that they had.

“Not as new as Nik’s new friend,” Freya said as she smiled at him, liking the light side of her brother. “What’s your take on her, brother?”

“She’s intriguing, if not a bit naive. Her bravery in the face of danger… it’s almost as if she doesn’t recognize when she’s in danger or she’s simply suicidal,” he replied after some thought. “Her past has obviously damaged her in more ways that we’re possibly aware.”

Freya nodded at that. “I always believed that she was simply someone who our brother took a liking to, a special interest, like his favourite. I never thought he’d feel for her as he does.”

“Yes, it’s clear that he does and I fear for the girl. Niklaus’ affections don’t last that long, he always does something to mess things up and ends up hurting himself or others.”

“Perhaps it’s different this time. I agree that it might have been a wrong idea of him to move her here, especially now that I sense that there is danger to come. Not just for us, but for her, as well. There is something big at play, and it’s not just a threat from the witches, it’s something else. How are we to face that when we also have to face her demons?”

“The Cold Ones will be easily taken care of, it’s merely dismembering them and setting them on fire,” Elijah replied as he leaned against the doorway. “I’m concerned about her status as a Singer.”

Freya let out a chuckle. “You do know more!”

“I have my suspicions, I seem to remember something that I’ve read in one of the books, but I won’t know for certain until I’ve re-read them. I do not want to worry Niklaus for nothing,” he said as he cocked his head. “Tell me, sister, when we were having lunch and you were performing that spell on her, were your intentions less than pure?”

“Eh,” Freya said with a shrug. “I merely attempted to push through the magic to see what it would do. Maybe even a sloppy attempt of removing it.”

“Freya,” he sighed as he tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. “If our brother finds out…”

“But he won’t,” she said sternly. “It was harmless, but I do hope that I’ll get access to some of her blood to see what’s going on. I don’t think it’s directly related to her status as a Singer, but more to her blood, her ancestors.”

“Really?” he was surprised to hear that.

“Yeah, that’s as far as I got, really. It’s old magic, very old. It was there when she was born. Perhaps finding out her lineage would be enlightening.”

“Or perhaps you could ask Davina for a favor.”

Freya laughed at that. “Elijah, I may be linked to Ancestral magic now, but Davina doesn’t like me. At all. No, I’ll ask Rebekah. Maybe she has some ideas on how to approach it, but I do want that blood.”

“She won’t part with it voluntarily,” he reminded her. “Myriam told me that Niklaus and she have been repeatedly telling Bella not to give out her blood. She’s offered her blood several times but they’ve never drank from her. Not once.”

“Wow.”

“I must admit, Freya, that around Bella, and everything that’s concerning her, Niklaus doesn’t make any sense. He truly cares for her, even when he’s occupied doing something else, he always makes sure that he knows where she is. Even Hope… he trusts her with Hope.”

“And Hope trusts her.”

“Should you find out any more information, please do let me know.”

“Of course,” she smiled at him and then cocked her head again. “Now, tell me, brother, what’s wrong? It’s not just Bella on your mind, is it?”

“I received some unsettling information from Lucien Castle. I don’t trust the source, but I… trust you,” he then explained what happened at Lucien’s penthouse, how he fed off a witch who told him a prophecy. Freya took his hand and pulled him downstairs while calling out for Klaus to join them.

“I want your blood,” she said as she instructed Klaus and Elijah and handed Klaus a bowl. She eyed Bella, who was sitting in a chair looking over some old papers before she turned her attention back to the table. “I’m well aware that I’m greedy when it comes to blood,” she continued with a shrug and lit a candle. “If you fed on this prophetic witch, her blood is still in your system. If there’s a weapon that can kill you, we need to know. Why is she here?”

“Who? Bella?” Klaus replied as he watched his blood fall into the bowl. “She lives here. And, she too, has heard the prophecy. Like myself, she thinks that the witch is merely a story teller.”

“Hold on!” Bella piped up. “I think she was making shit up about the whole singer thing. I never told you that I didn’t believe the prophecy to be real. Don’t put words in my mouth, Klaus Mikaelson, or I shall put something in your mouth that will be even tougher to swallow.”

“Like what?”

“Anal beads.”

Freya looked at Bella in shock. Elijah was embarrassed and didn’t know where to look. Klaus simply smirked.

“I swear, I’ll push them so far down your esophagus you have no other option than to swallow them and it will be painful,” Bella said as she stared him down from her seat. “Then I might have to perform emergency surgery which requires me to slash open your throat and rip the beads out, and then hope that I don’t rip out your vocal chords while doing so because I’m not a medical professional.”

He narrowed his eyes on her, smiling slightly. “And whose beads would you use? Myriam’s perhaps? I doubt she would allow you. She may have her own plans for her toys.”

“You didn’t pay attention when you emptied my underwear drawer in the bag. I have one with spikes,” she stuck out her tongue to him.

“You’re a sadist, Isabella.”

“Well yes, I had clients who liked me being bossy and sadistic, do you have a problem with that, Mr. Mikaelson?” She said in her dominatrix voice. “I can make you cry like a baby if you test my patience.”

“Shall we uhm, get back to finding out whether the prophecy is real or not?” Elijah stammered uncomfortably. “This is getting slightly out of hand.”

“Oh, by all means continue,” Freya smirked. “This is highly entertaining.”

Klaus let out a growl as he sank his teeth into his hand, before holding it over the bowl to add some more blood for his sister’s spell. He kept his eyes on Bella, a small smile on his lips. “I will deal with you later, I assure you of that.”

“The hell you will, we have things to do,” she huffed as she relaxed back in her chair.

Freya took the bowl from Klaus and set it on the table, along with three pieces of paper where the names of Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah were written on in Runes. She took a few deep breaths and tried to hide her anxiety before looking at the black candle and dipped her fingers into the blood.

As she chanted, blood started to drip from her ear, her voice becoming intense, more rough and harder to hear before she seemed to be pushing herself further and her chanting turned more powerful. It didn’t take long for Elijah to grab Freya’s arm to make her stop, there was no reason for her to hurt herself over this, but she ignored him and kept going.

After a while, Freya gasped as her eyes flew open and the papers started to burn, only to extinguish themselves when consumed. “It’s true. You have a terrible shadow over you. Rebekah, too. If this prophecy is fulfilled, you will all fall…” she said grim. “…One by friend, one by foe, and one… by family.”

Klaus and Elijah exchanged worried glances before Freya whimpered as she was drawn back into the spell. It took them some effort to remove Freya’s hands from the bowl, and when they eventually managed, she was shaking like a leaf. “The witch left something out, something I can’t figure out just yet but this is it…” she said as she took a deep breath. “The audience has to lose everything before the turning of the performance will make them stronger.”

Elijah took his handkerchief out and started to clean Freya’s hands. “So it is true then?”

~o.O.o~

While Elijah fussed over Freya, Klaus didn’t have much time to process the new information, that the prophecy was a real threat, because they still had Bella’s guest in the dungeon. Despite Peter saying to take their time, he didn’t want to waste any. The sooner Klaus could focus on his own problems, the better, because now that the war of the sire lines was confirmed, he needed to put all his resources and energy in that.

“So, did your witch confirm your little prophecy problem?” Peter greeted Klaus as he walked in first, followed by Bella. “She tell you about the extra bit? The look on your face says she has.”

Klaus let go of Bella and charged at Peter, pushing the Cold One up the wall. “I do not like magic tricks nor do I appreciate for being accused of being a fool. You will tell us what you came here for and then I’ll decide whether or not I shall allow you to leave here alive.”

“You’re being a little out of snuff, fella,” Peter said, not fighting Klaus. “I have nothing but good intentions, your little missy confirmed as much, even though she’s obviously still shaking in her boots because I’m here. Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Peter and I’m a gifted Cold One. I know things. I don’t know how, I don’t get visions or into someone’s noggin’, but I just know things, and I know things about you. It’s not a precise science, but you’ll have to do with what I give you.”

“How did you know that Bella was going to end up hurt?”

“I didn’t, I knew I needed to be here at a certain time to see what needed be doin’, an’ I saved her life. Which is good because as of righ’ now, y’all in trouble, y’see. But I don’t meddle in your trouble, I’m here because of her.”

“Speak,” Klaus said as he released the vampire, but kept himself between Bella and Peter. “What do you know?”

“Merely helping you along on your journey,” he said as he nodded to Bella. “Weren’t you lookin’ at some papers earlier?”

“Uhm…” Bella said as she was holding on to her folder. “Yes, the friend I stayed at set me up with a few things and I was looking over my family tree. I didn’t even know she had made one.”

“Allow your beau to look at the tree, he’ll find it enlightening. Perhaps a lil’ disturbing.”

Klaus scowled as he took the folder from Bella and retrieved the papers she was speaking of. It was quiet for a moment and Bella could see the color disappeared from his face. “What?”

“Love, I told you about Katerina Petrova, didn’t I?” Klaus asked carefully, fighting every urge to rip the papers apart. “And Elena Gilbert?”

“Yeah, Elena’s Katherine’s descendant and they’re both doppelgangers, why?” Bella asked confused. She hadn’t looked over the entire family tree yet, just skimmed it, in awe of Myriam’s work.

“Katerina was part of a group of witches called the Travelers. They’re non-existent now, or at least their numbers have dwindled so significantly that they can’t do anything anymore. But, around that time, they were extremely powerful. I think you’re more familiar with the term Romani gypsies, but they were slightly different from that.”

“Okay, so, what does that have to do with me?”

Klaus sighed as he handed Bella the family tree back. “You share an ancestor. You’re not from Katerina’s line, but you are essentially cousins.”

Bella blinked at him. “Ew?”

“It seems he has a type,” Peter remarked with a smug smile on his face. “You see, Bella, Katerina’s line is known to produce doppelgangers. She’s a direct descendant of Amara, and Elena is the last one in the line – for now. There are three lines of Petrova’s. There is the main line with Katerina and Elena innit, who were not the only doppelgangers but your beau never found them.”

Klaus scowled at that.

“Tunnelvision does that to a person,” Peter replied before continuing his story. “There was another line, from an older brother of Katerina’s father, but that one ended generations ago. Your line is the last one, from the youngest brother, an’ the one who practised magic the most. The last two known singers were the ones killed by Emmett. Especially in the beginning when the Cold Ones were roaming every country in the world, singers were present in abundance.”

“Oh, so people like me like to off themselves, good to know,” she remarked sarcastically before sitting down on a crate.

“Ah, you’re worrying. You shouldn’t. You see, it took the Volturi centuries to figure out that the singers weren’t just more appetizing to some vampires. They weren’t supposed to be weak and easy to kill. Singers were born to destroy Cold Ones.”

“But how? How can a mere human kill a Cold One? That’s impossible.”

He nodded slowly. “True, but I’ll get to that in a moment, peaches. Rumor has it that the Travelers were angry that their weapons were being destroyed so easily. Mainly because some Cold Ones, like Edward and Aro, can read minds, but also because singers are attracted to everything that’s supernatural. I think you have noticed that yourself.”

She sighed and hung her head somewhat in shame.

“That attraction was what got most singers killed within a short period of time when encountering a Cold One. The blood is simply too appetizing to leave it be, in a way, you were fortunate that you were, still are, the singer to a Cullen, they have more self control than others. Anyway, that brings us to this pesky word you regular vampires are struggling with now. Prophecy. Bella, my dear, you’re the result of one yourself.”

“What? How?”

“And that’s where the story ends, I’m afraid,” Peter sighed. “I need more information. You are aware that we have our limitations, an’ this is mine. What I’ve just given you is what I turned up over seven years of digging. But I do know where to get more, so that’s not a problem. The information that we need is even in New Orleans, how grand is that?”

“Where is it?” Klaus demanded. He didn’t want to believe Peter’s story but it sounded credible. And if it had to do with Travelers, then they really needed to figure this out. Especially because Petrova’s were known to cause trouble. Damn Tatia. Katerina. Even young Elena.

“It requires some breaking and entering on your part. There’s a witch repository that we need to get into and last I heard, this witch used to be a vampire or a witch or whatever. Related to you, actually.”

Klaus snarled. “Great. He has that place locked up nice and tight with some powerful magic.”

“Yes, but your sister can get in. Or this young brunette that has been sighted with him.”

“Who are you talking about?” Bella was confused as she looked at Klaus. “Is he talking about Kol?”

“Who else?” Klaus growled. “That idiot continues to cause trouble even after his death!”

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2 Comments:

  1. Oh wow! So much thrown at us. That witch left out a bit of the prophecy so I’m glad freya learned more for them. But I don’t like freya’s character. Elijah is kind of a pain too. And oh boy! Peter’s info is just as eye opening. Great chapter!!

  2. I loved it and can’t wait for more please update soon.

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