Chapter 08

Freya had wanted her to take a nap and when Bella woke up, she was alone. The sun was high in the sky and she had liked the feeling of it on her skin that morning. She opened the door of her space and wondered if it was alright if she’d left it to walk around a little, to be in the sun for a little while.

She found it strange, however, to see people walking around in plastic suits with brooms and buckets of water. Kol hadn’t told her that that would happen. Curious, Bella decided to be bold and have a look, but she didn’t have to venture out far to realize what was going on as she stepped into a puddle. Looking down at her bare feet, she noticed that it was Cold One venom and it was likely that these people who worked for Klaus were wearing plastic so they wouldn’t get hurt. But it was still acidic; it could still hurt them.

“Please, stop,” Bella called out. “It’ll bite through your plastic!”

The people weren’t even listening to her, it was as if they were under some sort of spell… mind control… was this compulsion? She ran into the courtyard and pushed the people to the sides, away from the carnage. She saw some blonde locks somewhere, and she didn’t know what to think about this. It was obvious it was Jasper, and while he had been her friend, he had also been one of them. He had abandoned her.

She started to pick up pieces of his body while she kept the workers at bay, and put them into the wheelbarrow. For Jasper to be truly dead, his remains needed to be burned, and Cold One venom was flammable. Jasper could still be salvaged if people wanted to, his brain wasn’t scrambled.

“Bella, what are you doing?” Kol asked panicked as he jumped down from the first floor, right next to another puddle of venom. “Don’t do that, darling, we have people who do that for us. You’ll get hurt.”

Bella pointed at the workers she was keeping cornered. “This stuff eats through everything, their protection won’t hold,” she said as she continued to scoop up Jasper. It looked as if he was mauled by a wolf, or worse. “You’re going to need a hose for the things high up and the venom here on the ground,” she noted.

“Bella, stop it.”

She walked over to Kol and showed him her venom covered hands and feet, there were no burn marks on her, nor were there holes. “I’m not hurt. It itches, a little, but I’ve seen worse than this. I don’t want your people to get hurt.”

“You’re cleaning up the remains of Jasper.”

“I know,” she said lightly before resuming her task. The sun felt great on her skin. She had always believed that the sun was the biggest invention made by someone. She’d rarely seen the sun, only on occasion when she was allowed to go outside, but she had always liked it. And she was outside now, but still inside. Safe. “Have you determined if Myriam was speaking the truth about being my sister?”

“Not yet, but that’s what we’re working on right now… she’s very cooperative, please stop cleaning him up, it’s not your job.”

“Kol, I’ve already hurt twenty people this week, I don’t want your people to get damage that you can’t repair because of me,” she replied stubbornly as she slung Jasper’s arm into the wheelbarrow. It had already begun to heal, she saw the fractures, but they were closing. “He’s already healing, if you truly wish him dead, his remains need to be burned.”

“His death isn’t on you, Bella.”

“Sure it is,” she replied as a matter of factly. “If it hadn’t been for me, he’d never have come here.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Myriam said as she jumped down and started to help Bella with cleaning up Jasper’s parts. “I killed him, Bella, that’s what I do. I kill Cold Ones. Bad Cold Ones. Like Jasper and the Cullens. Jasper had it coming for several reasons.”

“But-”

“No, I’m not having that. Not everything that happens is your fault, and if it makes you feel any better, it did me well to kill him. The lying fucker who liked to mess with other people’s heads. Including mine. While he knew to stay out of it. Fucker. If I could kill him again, I would.”

“You’re using that word a lot.”

“What? Fuck? Fucker? Yeah, it’s normal language, you should try to use it sometimes.”

“Is it a bad word?”

“Hell no,” Myriam laughed as she scooped up some venom and dumped it in the wheelbarrow. “People use the word fuck or fucker to emphasize how shitty, bad, something or someone is. Jasper’s a fucker. The Cullens are even bigger fuckers. You could call them fucking fucks.”

Bella looked at Kol for confirmation and he simply shrugged. “What your sister has is called a potty-mouth. She uses foul language to get a message across that Jasper was bad and that the Cullens are even worse. She likely picked it up during her excessive training.”

“Fuck yeah,” Myriam grinned as she tossed a foot into the wheelbarrow. “I’m quite loud, too. I speak my mind and don’t hold anything back, except for maybe you, really. Because girl, you look like you shouldn’t even be doing this. You might break your back or something when you lift up parts of his body.”

Bella huffed as she threw a part of Jasper’s skull into the wheelbarrow. “I’m stronger than I look. I’m also keeping the workers from doing this because I don’t want them to get hurt.”

“Would you like to see a neat trick?” Myriam asked Bella as she shook her hands to get rid of the venom and the moment Bella looked at her, Myriam created the illusion of Bella, turning Myriam into her. “This is what you look like at this moment,” she said, a bit smile on her face. “I’ve been killing Cold Ones, looking like you.”

Kol blinked at what he saw. Two Bella’s. Identical, albeit Myriam’s version of Bella looked slightly healthier than the original. “Holy-”

“Down boy,” Myriam grinned. “I can already see you imagining the possibilities but you’re really not my type,” she said teasingly before looking back at Bella, who now looked furious. “What?”

“I got punished for what you did. They believed I could teleport out of my space and go places to kill vampires,” Bella replied. “And I didn’t understand, because I’d never leave them or kill and it was you!” Bella’s fists were balled as her arms hung from her body, she was ready to give her a big push into one of the pillars. Yes. Revenge.

Myriam quickly switched back to herself and swallowed hard. She had never thought about the repercussions to kill Cold Ones looking like her twin sister. She had always believed that Bella would be with her in spirit when she’d do that. “I-I’m sorry… I didn’t know… Jasper never told me, either.”

“Don’t feel guilty,” Bella said, releasing her fists and relaxing a bit as she identified the feeling that Myriam had upfront in her mind. She wasn’t invading her, per sé, but she had put light telepathic tabs on all the vampires in the compound because of Klaus ever since she hurt twenty people. In case she needed to protect herself. Or Kol. “The punishments were my treatments or not being allowed to leave my room. It’s wasn’t bad, it was part of my day.”

“Bella, that’s not normal,” Myriam said baffled. “Even compared to how I live, that’s not normal. That’s twisted. That’s fucking twisted and wrong. Mom and Dad would never do that to me – I call them mom and dad. They’re called Peter and Charlotte. I suppose I have to call them to tell them that I killed dad’s brother…”

“You were sleeping with your uncle?” Kol blinked.

“We weren’t blood related or anything,” Myriam shrugged. “Besides, we’re dead. Even if we were, we wouldn’t get mutant babies. He was a good fuck, though. Shame about his personality change.” She picked up another part of Jasper’s skull and tossed it in the wheelbarrow. Then another piece caught her eye. It was lodged in one of the columns and it took her a jump to get to it. She had believed it had been a finger, but no. It was bigger than a finger and it was fucking fully erect still too. What the hell! Making a face, she quickly headed to the wheelbarrow and tucked it underneath something so Bella didn’t have to see Jasper’s penis. Jasper’s once oh so beloved penis. Asshole.

“Did I hear you say Peter and Charlotte?” Klaus asked as he looked over the balcony, observing the two ‘sisters’ and his brother, who didn’t dare to move amongst the Cold One venom. “Peter and Charlotte Whitlock? I knew I recognized Jasper’s name.”

“Peter and Charlotte Jenkins,” Myriam said as she looked up, a smile on her face. “They changed their last name for safety. If Carlisle would have known I was still alive, they would have come for me. Do you know them?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Klaus said surprised. “For a while, I was on the run from my tyrant of a father and disappeared, I needed places to hide and I met Peter and Charlotte in a bar, they offered their place for me to stay in for some time.”

“Yep, sounds like them,” Myriam nodded. “The amount of stray dogs and cats when I was little… it was insane!”

“I’m liking you more and more, Miss Jenkins, you’d better be who you say you are.”

Myriam huffed as she tossed Klaus her phone. “Call them. Verify my story with them, it’s easier than to wait for the results of your doctor’s tests on me.”

Klaus smiled then, jumping down like Myriam and Kol had, and landing right next to Myriam and Bella as he thumbed through Myriam’s phone to get the right number and put it on speaker. “Since our Bella doesn’t have vampire hearing and all… I don’t want her to feel left out as we talk to daddy dearest.”

Myriam Jenkins, why have you absconded from your mission to kill the Cullens? They’re not dead yet, you know? Where the fuck are you? Are you in trouble? Do you require backup?”

“Well, that explains where she got her gutter mouth from,” Klaus remarked playfully. “You kiss your wife with that mouth?”

Who the fuck- Klaus? What are you doing with my daughter’s phone?!”

“She tossed it to me, actually, after confiding in us who her parents are,” Klaus smirked as Myriam rolled her eyes. “She was telling me a fantastical story about how she and the girl I left my brother in charge of are sisters. Now, mind you, the information we have on our girl is very slim and didn’t say anything about a sister.”

Bella? You have Bella? How? Why? What? The Fuck!”

“Your friends abandoned her into my custody, what else was I supposed to do, kill the girl? You taught me the value of helping others and helping others to help others. I was feeling charitable, forgive me.”

Where’s my daughter? Are you fucking her?”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Myriam said defensively. “Dad! I only got here, you know! It’s not as if I fool around with everyone!”

Austin… Ian… Iain… oh, what was the other one? Joel! And Stefan, was it? Or was it Damon?”

“Dad, stop,” Myriam groaned as she heard her mother whisper ‘both’. “Mom, don’t… you know that I had to scratch my itches while Jasper was away…”

I still can’t believe you’re seeing him.”

“Well, I’m not. Bella and I are currently picking up his pieces from the floor of the Mikaelsons’ beautiful courtyard because Bella didn’t want their staff to get hurt,” Myriam shot at her parents before dunking an elbow into the wheelbarrow.

Oh good, if you find his dick, send it over so we can use it as a candle,” Charlotte’s voice sounded. “He got in too deep, didn’t he? That stupid fuck got in too deep and manipulated by those fucking Cullens.”

“Yeah… I guess…” Myriam sighed. “He was different when we met up in Phoenix, and I swear, he was influencing me the entire time we were in New Orleans. The rage, the passiveness…”

Well good on you, Myriam.

“Thanks mom.”

So, does that mean you’re going to sleep with Klaus Mikaelson now?” Peter asked before he was quiet for a little while. “Well, I suppose it’s an upgrade. Can’t exactly kill him… or scare him into submission… Can’t you pick some normal guy next time?”

“We’re not going to sleep together, for fuck’s sake!” Myriam said aggravated. “I’m not that easy! I’m here for Bella and not for anything else, you hear me?!”

“Okay, enough with the fucking here,” Kol said, objecting. “Sensitive ears and all that!”

“Fuck, you two are the worst! This is why I rarely call in!” Myriam said frustrated before using her vampire speed to clean every little piece of Jasper off the floor and walls and then tossed a lighter into the wheelbarrow, causing Jasper to burn.

“I didn’t call to hear about Myriam’s conquests, Peter,” Klaus reminded him, a cheeky smile on his face as he watched the Cold One in question. It was a shame that that breed of vampires had lost everything that made humans beautiful; the flushing of skin when they were embarrassed. “Is what she said about being Bella’s sister true?”

Yeah man,” Peter replied, laughing his ass off for no doubt embarrassing his daughter in front of her new friends. “We wanted to go back for Bella, but then it was too late. We never were able to get close until Myriam decided she wanted to be turned and became even stronger than the strong man of the Cullens.”

“See, Bella?” Kol smiled at her. “You’re not alone. You have a sister! Family! Isn’t that great?”

“But I have you,” she said confused. “How would I be alone when I have you?”

“Because family makes you stronger and will never abandon you,” Kol said, avoiding thinking about the times that he’d been abandoned or stabbed in the back by his siblings. “Myriam spent her entire life trying to find you, that requires determination and a whole lot of love.”

“Love?”

Kol scratched himself behind his ear. “Uhh… kindness. Myriam has a lot of kindness to give to you because you missed out on so much of it.”

Was that all the information you needed, Klaus? I could send you all the research we have on the two girls that we managed to scrape together if you want a better picture. Hell, Charlotte and I could make a trip down to good old New Orleans and have some fun while we’re at it!”

“Please don’t come,” Myriam said quickly as she stared into the flames. “Send the stuff over, sure, but seriously, don’t come.”

You sure, darlin’? It’s possible that the information will have things you don’t even know about yourself yet.”

“That’s fine. I think it’s time now. I found her.”

“I’ll send one of my trusted vampires to come and pick it up. Please, Peter, don’t kill him,” Klaus said, shaking his head. “And I do look forward to meeting up with you sometime in the future for an old fashioned pub crawl.”

You’d better take real good care of my girl, Klaus Mikaelson, or I will find a way to kill you.”

“Dad! Stop it! I’m a grown woman!” Myriam snatched her phone out of Klaus’ hands, disconnected the call and tossed her phone in the fire. “There. No more harassment.”

“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” Klaus laughed.

“Nah, it was time for a new phone anyway. You know, in case I get tracked or something,” Myriam shrugged. “Anyway, your courtyard has been thoroughly cleaned. What’s next?”

“Do you still sparkle when you change your appearance, if only slightly?” Klaus was curious. “Because darling, you are a walking, talking, disco ball.”

Myriam huffed as she changed her hair color and put a mole on her cheek at will. “No sparkle.”

“Good,” he smiled at her. “Despite how you were created, you must admit, this is one ability that is nice to have.”

“Eh,” Myriam shrugged as she looked at Bella with a guilty look on her face. “Apparently not so much. I can actually get people hurt.”

“Let’s not dwell on past things,” he said as he offered his arm to her. “Let me show you my city, and then I’ll take you to a splendid place to have a snack.”

“I don’t eat normal food, Klaus, different breed of vampire.”

“Oh, but I wasn’t talking about human food, love, I was talking about an all you can eat buffet right here in the city, filled with miscreants that won’t be missed if they end up dead.”

“Oh, now you’re talking,” Myriam grinned as she gladly took his arm. “Lead the way, good sir.”

“Oh, they’ll definitely be shagging by the end of the night,” Kol muttered as he looked at Bella. “So, do you have ideas of what you want to do today? Rest? You’ve been through a lot today, new experiences, new information…” He hoped she wouldn’t mind spending a few hours by herself. Seeing Nik interact with Myriam, the fight with Jasper and everything else had made him horny and hungry. He needed a release for both.

“I’m never going to be curious again,” Bella said as she pointed at the wheelbarrow. “I’ll stay in my confinement. I have learned my lesson.”

“It’s good to be curious, darling,” he smiled at her. “Why won’t you take a nice bath and rest a little?”

She nodded slowly, liking the idea. “The bath is where I put the plug in and fill it with water, yes?”

“Warm water. Not cold,” he reminded her.

She nodded again. “I can do that!”

“Good girl,” he grinned as he watched her walk back to her room. After listening for the bath to be running, he was satisfied that she was actually doing just that. He informed Freya that he was heading out for a few hours and headed straight for Débauche, one of the best brothels that New Orleans had.

Bella took a quick dip in her bath to wash off the Cold One venom and got back into her clothes. She wasn’t sure how to process all the new information she had learned today. What she had experienced. Perhaps it was better to store it away and not to think about it too hard. She had to accept that her sister was a Cold One, but a good one. And if she weren’t, Kol would kill her. She didn’t have to be scared, because she could protect herself when needed. She could protect Kol when needed. And Myriam had parents. Like the children had when Bella was still at home. Those children who were crying for their mom and dad. Myriam was strong and everything that Bella wasn’t. Myriam was free. Myriam could take care of herself, feed herself. Bella- wasn’t sure if she could. Myriam was the good girl. Bella was defective and the bad girl.

There was something about Jasper’s words that morning that had scared her. That she wasn’t safe in the city and that she had a strict regime for another reason. That perhaps he knew more about her than she did. Than Klaus and Kol did. Not knowing what it was was frightening. What if it was a really bad thing and she’d do a really bad thing? And how? When? Or did he say those things to make everyone even more afraid of her?

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