Chapter 04

It felt as if years of knowledge had suddenly been crammed into her head on their way to Spain and if it hadn’t been for their frequent sexual escapades, she wouldn’t have been able to deal with it all. She had also made a new mini army of demons on their way over to Spain, after having left all of them occupied in Italy.

She had taken a handful of creepy looking dolls in Marseille and had attached her demons to them, just to unnerve Kol, and it was hilarious. Ever since Marseille, the dolls were at one side of the carriage, and she and Kol were on the other, and for some reason, Kol felt as if the toys were staring at him at all time. It was fun. A lot of fun.

Of course, during sex, she’d put the dolls away because even that was going too far for her.

She wasn’t nervous about meeting Kol’s family. If anything, after all the stories he told her, she was more than curious about Klaus and Rebekah. She wasn’t sure about Elijah yet, because Kol had told conflicting stories about him. One of him being a fountain of knowledge, and other stories about him being an absolute stick in the mud and needing to control everything, including his siblings.

But she was so happy to be able to get out of the carriage without having to get back in again that she happily jumped out of it and released the horses herself. “Go run, friends, you deserve it! Make some whoopee, build a family!”

“Those were good horses!” Kol complained.

“And they served us well!” Myriam countered. “They deserve to be free. That’s what I do with all my pets who served me well. Except for you. I can’t seem to get rid of you!”

“Ha!” Kol barked out a laugh. “Fat chance, darling. Leave your belongings inside, we’ll get someone to take your bits and bobs to our room.”

“Our room?” she blinked at him. “Our room?” she repeated, a bit more force behind her words. “Excuse me, but just because we’re having sex doesn’t mean we need to share a room!”

“Yes, our room. Until I’m certain that my siblings won’t try to kill you. It’s not every day that I’m bringing someone home to meet my family. A wonderful lady, at that.”

“Lady?” Myriam shook her head. “I am no lady!”

“I know that. Your farts smell terrible, and you stink up the carriage when you do it! Ladies don’t fart!”

“Dried blood stinks worse! I told you time and time again, to be discrete and careful of your clothes, but noooooo. Seriously, tie a napkin around your neck! How hard can it be?!”

Frustrated, Kol pushed her towards the closed door. “How about I bite down your breast and use you like a wet nurse?”

“I’m on vervain,” she winked at him. “I’d like to see you try!”

The door opened then, revealing what looked like one of Kol’s brothers. “Brother, you finally made it home,” he greeted him.

“Darling, meet Elijah, Elijah, meet… her. She refuses to give me her name.”

“Interesting,” he said as he gently took her hand and kissed it. “Come, you must be weary of your journey.”

“Ah, another Mikaelson with impeccable manners,” she said as she withdrew her hand and stayed close to Kol. “Tell me, are you a messy feeder as well?”

A small smile danced on Elijah’s lips then. “I assure you that Kol is in a class of his own.”

“I thought so,” she said as she had her hand on one of her amulets around her neck. While yes, her dolls in the carriage were possessed, she still carried one or two demons with her on her person. “You’re not even surprised he brought someone home?”

“There is no doubt that you’ll end up as his next meal,” Elijah replied. “My apologies, for being so blunt, miss. But Kol’s conquests don’t last very long.”

“Good thing I’m not a miss nor a conquest then,” she said as she looped her arm through Kol’s. Elijah was incredibly unnerving to her senses.

“Wait!” a girl squealed from one of the rooms they passed, and a blonde head popped out. “You’re married?!”

“Oh hell no,” Myriam shook her head. “I’m merely saying I’m not a miss. Nor a lady. I’m no angel. Not anymore.”

“She’s a vampire at heart, believe me,” Kol said to his sister. “Rebekah, meet her. Darling, this is my sister Rebekah.”

“Her name is ‘her’?”

“No,” Myriam smirked. “I just never felt he was worthy enough to know my name. Not yet, anyway.”

Rebekah raised an eyebrow then. “For my brother to have kept you alive you must be quite special.”

“Who says she’s not keeping me alive?” Kol blinked at his sister. “Honestly, Bekah, I do know how to treat people just fine.”

Another door opened, and a man with dirty blond hair and beautiful blue eyes peeked out but didn’t say anything. Myriam thought he was even more handsome than Kol. There was something about him that made her heart beat just a little bit faster.

“How did you two meet?” Rebekah asked curiously.

“Oh, he kidnapped me,” Myriam nodded.

“What!” Kol exclaimed in shock. “You kidnapped me, first! And my kidnapping was a lot more gentle than what you had planned for me!”

“True,” she shrugged. “But I am kidnapped. He’s not willing to let me go.”

“That is ridiculous,” Rebekah huffed as she hit her brother on the arm. “Why aren’t you willing to let her go?!”

“She doesn’t want to go, and once you get to know her properly, you’ll want her to stay as well. For the last year and a half, I’ve been teaching her all I know, including English because one thing that I do know about her is that she’s French. She is not a mere witch, she’s special.”

“I hate that word, special,” Myriam scowled as she let go of Kol and started to explore the home on her own while the siblings talked amongst themselves. It was fine if they talked about her, as long as she wasn’t around to hear it. As she explored, she found another library that was at least the same size as in the Mikaelson home in Florence, and a study that overlooked the vineyards outside. It had some art supplies laying around and whoever was the painter in the family was quite the talent.

Looking at the portraits hanging on the wall, she couldn’t help but notice a familiar technique used on the painting that was in her possession and currently still on the carriage. Angry, Myriam marched back to Kol with her eyes narrowed at him. “You knew all along!”

“Excuse me?”

She walked outside to the carriage, took the painting off of the luggage rack and walked right back in with it. “Someone in this house painted this! You knew!”

“Darling, I did tell you that Niklaus and Elijah were at the court of Medici two hundred years ago.”

“She wasn’t alive two hundred years ago!”

Rebekah just smiled as she watched the girl go off on her brother and he was taking it. Elijah had paled just a little, and when her eye caught the painting, she could see why. “My brothers tend to keep their political allies close, and introduce themselves to every new generation to continue their business, their protection.”

“Speaking of the Medici family, Kol, were you in Florence a couple of months back?”

“Uh,” he said impishly.

Myriam turned her eyes on him as her hand reached up to grasp her necklace.

“I honestly can’t remember, she and I have had so much fun over the last year and a half…”

“But that painting was in Florence,” Elijah pointed out. “Niklaus gifted it to one of the brothers who remained at home.”

Myriam glared back at the senior vampire. “I do not know what your business is with those cochons but it is terminated and someone new has taken over.”

“There is not a family left to do business with, mademoiselle,” Elijah replied calmly. “I received word that there had been trouble and when I went to investigate I came into an empty house, rotting bodies on a pile, a fountain of blood and some ashes in one of the bedrooms. There was no Medici in sight.”

She appeared unfazed but perhaps a little proud. “I did enjoy that fountain.”

“So it was you!” Rebekah said to her brother.

“It wasn’t me! Well, some of the bodies were, but it wasn’t me!”

“It was not him. It was myself, though I did give him permission to feed on some. Impressive, no?”

Elijah’s jaw fell on the floor as he looked between his youngest brother and his witch before he collected himself and looked at the young woman. “Do you have any idea what you did?”

“She was likely taking her revenge, brother,” the unnamed brother finally left his door and joined his family and the girl with the painting. “I remember painting this woman, Veronique. She was a very valued member of the Medici court when we visited last. I heard stories about her being dismissed upon falling pregnant with one of the Medici’s and no one has ever heard of her or her offspring since.”

“She’s dead,” Myriam replied solemnly. “She died of consumption nearly 4 years ago, leaving me alone after it claimed the lives of our friends and family.”

“I am truly sorry to hear that, love. Your mother was quite an amazing woman,” he smiled kindly before extending his hand. “Klaus Mikaelson.”

She took his hand and shook it. “Pleasure. My name is Myriam.”

“That it?” Kol said surprised, not believing what he was hearing. “That’s it? That’s all it took?! I went a year and a half not knowing your name and my brother telling you a story about some painting is what did the trick?!”

“Not some painting!” Myriam shot at him. “And unlike yourself, your brother feels like he can be trusted blindly. With you, you never know what you get! Those are your words, not mine!”

“I like her,” Rebekah smirked as she took Myriam’s hand. “Come, let me find you a room. Don’t worry ducky, you’ve survived Kol for a year and a half, no one’s going to hurt you.”

“Oh, I have no concerns about that,” Myriam replied as she smiled at her. “But he was worried.”

“Of course he would be. No one he’s ever brought home lasted very long, but you’ve endured him for longer than most,” Rebekah replied as she opened the spare bedroom. “This one is the only one not taken, but if you prefer to have Kol’s bedroom that’s on the other side of this one, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind switching.”

Myriam looked around. It was more than just a bedroom. It had a desk, a bookcase, a luxurious bed and enough space for her to move around. Her creepy dolls could sit in a corner. There were paintings on the wall, and there was a beautiful view of the village below. “Oh, don’t bother, I can sleep everywhere,” she eventually said, although she was quite hesitant.

While she had been in more fancy homes, including the Mikaelson family home in Florence, and other elegant homes along their way back, she had never taken the time to get used to it. It was bed, sex and sleep for the most part. If she was going to stay here for a while, she wasn’t quite sure how she’d be able to keep up the pretence that this wasn’t too much.

“Are you sure?” Rebekah asked. “Because the other side of the house has a much better view!”

“I’m sure,” Myriam replied with a smile. “I’ll get my belongings from the carriage. You don’t mind dolls, do you?”

“Yes!” Kol could be heard from the hallway. “I do mind! Those things have been staring at us since Marseille!”

“Kol adores them, really,” Myriam smiled as Rebekah followed her towards the carriage and got one of her dolls out. “See?”

“Darling, are you feeling well? That doll looks quite unnerving?”

“Ah, they’re harmless, I promise,” she put a few in her bag and carried the rest. “If you do see one that you like, you can have it? A token of my appreciation for your warm welcome.”

“Oh, I can’t.”

“Too creepy, huh?” Myriam smiled at her. “How about one of my necklaces? Don’t you think they’re pretty?”

“Darling, I can have anything I want, you can keep your trinkets,” Rebekah eventually said as she followed Myriam back into her room. “In all honesty, the dolls look unclean. Dirty. Broken. Doesn’t quite fit the decor of this house.”

Myriam had to agree with that, but that didn’t matter, there were plenty of trinkets in her room that she could transfer her pets into and Kol wouldn’t even know. Perhaps until she would get rid of the dolls, but even then he’d have a hard time sussing out where they were. For all he’d know was that she released them. It was an excellent idea.

“How about I give you some time to settle in?” Rebekah smiled at her. “Feel free to have a look around the property and give a shout when you get lost, one of us will be able to find you.”

~o.O.o~

“It is impossible for a normal witch to have that kind of destructive power,” Elijah said as he was sitting in the sitting room with his siblings. “Are you sure that the only thing you’ve done was to feed on some of them?”

“Yes, Elijah,” Kol replied with a sigh, repeating what he had said before. “She is quite something. She’s intelligent, and there is no doubt in my mind that she can be an excellent manipulator. She’s powerful and a quick study. She spoke perfect English within five months. The speed that she picks up new information, new spells, is incredible, but her magic is dark. Very dark.”

“Fascinating,” Elijah replied. “I imagine you’ve taught her all of your tricks?”

“I taught her how to protect herself better in case something happens to me.”

“Now what would happen to you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Nik, you lot could decide to dagger me again!”

Elijah released a frustrated sigh. “Kol. How do you know that she hasn’t manipulated you to get to our family? Perhaps a plant by our father to lower our defences as I’m sure he’s aware of your affinity for witches.”

Kol sighed. “When we first met, she didn’t even know what vampires were. That she disturbed me while I was feeding. I’m a messy eater, and I like my screamers, so she believed that I was taking advantage of a young lady like herself. She took me to the cabin she was staying at, not using her magic as she had a fundamental understanding of it, but she used… other skills. When she realised that she was in trouble with me around, she snapped my neck and ran.”

“Again, that could be a ploy.”

“Let me finish, Elijah,” Kol rolled his eyes at his brother. “I chased her and saved her from some angry farmer she was using the stables of for herself and her horse. The horse didn’t make it. It took her six months to open up to me about her life, her mother. She had this trinket belonging to the Medici family so I suggested we’d go on a trip to see daddy dearest and I promised her I’d continue teaching her as long as she didn’t hurt me. And as long as I didn’t do anything to hurt her, she wouldn’t do that.”

“You can’t tell me that she didn’t get on your nerves, brother,” Rebekah said as she sat down in her chair. “Besides, she’s a witch, she’s mortal. You could have killed her easily.”

“But I didn’t want her to leave, and as long as she didn’t want to leave, things were alright,” Kol replied with a smile on his face. “We passed a field of vervain, and she loved the colour of it, decided to frolic around in the field and bring a bundle back to spruce up our carriage. You should have seen the look on her face when she hurt me. It broke my heart.”

“Sounds to me as if she’s a good actress.”

“Elijah, I’ve spent the last year and a half with her. Every day. Every night. No actress is that good. Besides, if Father would have planted her, he would have chosen someone who wasn’t as poor as she was. He’d choose someone clean, well mannered and easy going. While she’s clean now and can have manners, she’s anything but. Father would have chosen someone who’s able to be compelled.”

“She’s not easy going? She’s a challenge for you, Kol!”

“It’s a game of survival, Elijah.” he shot at his brother. “For three years she travelled from Nice to Spain to get to a port in the hopes of gaining entry on a ship that would take her to the New World. To start her life over. She’s one tough cookie who hasn’t known kindness in a very long time. Mikael wouldn’t go for her, in fact, if he were smart, he’d stay well clear of her because I believe she does have the ability to kill him.”

Klaus had been silent to that point, listening about their new house guest and looked up in interest from his glass of bourbon. “Then perhaps we should utilise her skills should he come our way. What is it exactly she can do?”

“That’s not going to be easy, Nik,” Kol replied. “She won’t allow herself to be used, trust me, I’ve tried. However, you could try reason with her. We encountered someone in Florence that is a part of our history, and when I told her that, she was more than willing to do something so that she always knows what she’s up to.”

“Tracking spells are not uncommon unless she took the individual’s blood, Kol,” Elijah replied, bored of the subject.

“She doesn’t need spells to protect herself or others. In fact, through her actions, she killed the new Hunters of the Five, and she hasn’t gone mad because of it.”

Klaus’ head turned in the direction of the guest room, curiosity piqued in his eyes. “That pretty thing killed the Five on her own?”

“With a little help of her pets, who stayed behind in the house in Florence.”

“I’ve heard these pets mentioned a time or two,” Rebekah frowned. “What are they exactly?”

“Myriam is a demonologist. She summons demons and attaches them to objects. Commands them to do her bidding, and she releases them when they have served her well.”

Elijah ran a hand over his face, realising that what they were housing was undoubtedly well beyond their element. Meanwhile, Klaus’ smile grew as he held his glass up to his lips. “We shall make certain she is as comfortable as she pleases. I certainly have no intentions of standing in the way of her dreams of the New World. Certainly, we can finance that if she could help us should we need it someday, hm?”

“She doesn’t work that way, Nik, and might I suggest you tread carefully when it comes to her? She will use everything she knows for harm if something doesn’t go the way that she wants it to go. Trust is to be earned, both ways, I understand that. But I trust her, and she trusts me. We’ve worked hard on earning our mutual trust. For her to give you her name like that… she must be attracted to you. Even when I told stories about my family, she wanted to know about you all. And you don’t know her. Get to know her before you ask for a favour. That’s all I ask.”

“Of course we have to use her against Mikael!” Rebekah cried out. “If she’s able to take him away then we could finally live our lives in peace!”

“Rebekah,” Kol shook his head. “I’ve contemplated asking her, especially since we went after her own father, but Mikael is something entirely different. She has her own way of looking at things. Please, get to know her the way that I have, and you’ll come to the conclusion that it’s not in our place to ask.”

Klaus stared at the wall of books in the room they were in, lost in thought. “I do not believe we have any prints on demonology. It would be a fascinating field to learn more of, I think.”

Kol gave him a disbelieving scoff. “Don’t be so sure of yourself. I won’t put it past her if she has one of her little demons in here spying on this conversation and reporting back to her.”

“So she doesn’t trust you,” Elijah pointed out.

“No, she doesn’t trust you,” he countered with a sigh. “Give her some time to acclimate to her new surroundings and then get to know her,” he then rose to his feet. “I’m going to check in on her, see if she needs anything.”

Rebekah’s face scrunched up. “But she wouldn’t give you her name? I don’t understand.”

“As I said before, sister, we have a mutual understanding. As long as I don’t hurt her, she won’t hurt me.”

“Perhaps I’ll join you,” Klaus offered, setting his glass down. “She appeared to like me. Maybe I can start a rapport with her.”

Kol shrugged then as he walked to Myriam’s bedroom and found her sitting in the middle of a circle of her creepy dolls. “Did you learn anything fascinating, darling?” He asked playfully.

A smile appeared on her face as she opened her eyes. “I’m not particularly fond of your brother.”

“Which one?”

“The one that’s not here,” she replied as she rose to her feet. “My apologies, it’s perhaps rude of me to instruct one of my demons to eavesdrop.”

Kol smirked as he glanced at Klaus. “I expected as much. I just thought I’d be the smart one to come and tell you everything in person.”

“I’m alright with you talking about me when I’m not in the room,” she replied. “I merely wanted to gauge the responses. Perhaps it would be best if I would find a different place to stay?”

“Nonsense,” Klaus spoke up as he sat down in one of the chairs in the room. “My family is naturally cautious when it comes to strangers in our home, especially when said stranger has formed a bond with our youngest brother.”

“I understand. You believe Kol’s unreliable and wild, but in all honesty, that’s not how I got to know him. He managed to reign himself in quite well over the last year and a half,” Myriam replied. “But I imagine you might be frightened by what I can do. I promise you unless I’m threatened or hurt, I’m not using my magic or my pets to protect myself. You have my word.”

“And I believe that. See? There’s no reason for you to find an alternative place of residence,” he told her. “And as we’ve said before, you’re free to roam the property. There’s no need for you to stay in this room.”

“I’ll come out when I want to, thank you, mon LouLou,” she smiled at him before sitting back down in the middle of her circle of dolls. She didn’t miss it that Klaus winced at her choice of nickname for him. And that pleased her greatly.

“Oh, I see how it goes,” Kol rolled his eyes at his friend. “He gets your name and a nickname on the same day!”

Myriam merely smiled at him, knowing that her silence unnerved him greatly.

He relented with a sigh. “We’re still having sex tonight!”

Myriam shook her head and used her magic to push Kol out of the room gently. It was harder to get Klaus out as he was seated and she’d have to move him and the chair, but Kol was trying too hard. “Not anymore, Mon Chou, but you’ll always have a special place in my heart,” she said before closing the door the moment Kol was outside.

“That’s not fair!” Kol whined from outside the door. “You can’t replace me like that!”

“There’s nothing to replace because there wasn’t anything,” Myriam said as she looked at Klaus who had an amused look on his face. “Kol told me about your family being meddlesome and in each other’s business, but I wasn’t aware that it was this bad.”

“When you’re as old as we are and have lived with each other for so long, a little codependency doesn’t hurt,” he replied. “It’s what keeps us together, as a family.”

“Kol told me about the vow you made with Elijah and Rebekah, always and forever, but why didn’t you include him? Is he really such a menace to you all that you refuse to give him the light of day?” Myriam questioned him. “Don’t get me wrong, Kol told me, and showed me, how he likes to have fun. He told me about his unstable emotions and insatiable bloodlust. But you do know that all he wants is to be loved by his siblings, don’t you? He doesn’t care about consequences because you don’t care about him.”

“You’re very perceptive, Myriam, but I don’t think you’re in the position to lecture me on how we function as a family.”

“Perhaps not, but over the last year and a half he significantly relaxed and became more at ease with himself and his troubles. And he became my family.”

“Did he now?”

“I lost mine, and when we met, we gave each other what we didn’t know that we needed. I gave him stability, he made me feel home.”

“And you had sex.”

She shrugged then. “We both have our needs. Kol was the first one where I didn’t feel like I had to, and that I could take control. I didn’t need to use myself as payment for services or favours.”

“And you never have to again.”

“I know that. My body is mine to give away, freely,” Myriam smiled. “On top of that, I think I’ve ended the entire Medici line, or at least thinned them out greatly. I have control over their estate through my mother. I had them sign everything over to her, and since she’s dead…”

“You didn’t give them your name?”

“Of course not, Kol would have found out,” she replied as a matter of factly. “It was a lovely thing to see him squirm and beg for my name all this time. I’m a little sad that it’s over.”

He was silent for a few moments as he watched her with her dolls. Unsure if Kol was able to hear them or not, if she placed a silencing spell on the room, he felt the need to ask. “So why give me your name? You do not know me, and I assure you, I’m known to kill just as freely as my brother.”

“Kol told me about you, and I felt a draw to you,” Myriam said after trying to find the right words. “Even when you peeked out of your room when we arrived, I could feel it. I knew it was you.”

“You cast a spell on my family?”

“No! I’d never!” She blushed then. “Perhaps, I’ll admit to having one of my pets follow Kol when he’s left me to assure he had kept his word. Nothing more, ever.”

“Then what is it that makes you so interested in me?”

“I think it’s kindred spirits. Kol told me all about your family, and about being vampires. Your story resonated with me, and I don’t know how to explain it. I’m very aware that you don’t know me and that I only know you from Kol’s experiences. But perhaps we could be friends? See where we end up?”

“Sweetheart, I’m a vampire. You’re mortal. You know it won’t work out.”

“Perhaps not, but there’s no reason not to try and open your heart a little bit. Everyone deserves to be loved, no matter how awful they think they might be. Because according to your rhetoric of your family being one of monsters, then what does that make me? I’m not a white witch. I pray to the dark Goddess Hecate for my power.” She then pointed at her dolls. “And I play with demons, who could seriously harm me if I don’t do it correctly. I had them kill your hunters. I had them do terrible things, and I’m not remotely remorseful. Because they earned my punishment. And in other scenarios, I needed to protect myself and my family.” Before he could say anything, she smiled up at him, her dark eyes meeting his blue. “There is beauty in darkness. Just because we live in the dark doesn’t mean we can’t love or be loved, either.”

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