Chapter 25

“Well this is romantic,” Myriam deadpanned as she came to in the dungeons. “Klaus! Really?”

“What do you remember from our flight home?” He moved so he could hand her a glass of blood.

“I killed Marcel – and I didn’t mean to.”

“And after?”

Myriam thought for a moment and shook her head as she gratefully took her glass of blood. It wasn’t human blood, either. She downed the glass in one go and held out her glass for more. “That’s delicious.”

Klaus opened the door and pulled a chair in to sit with her. “I’m willing to give you my blood for as long as it takes, but since we don’t know how long you can last on one glass…”

“I’m a lab rat?”

“Until we figure things out. I’ve already compelled a scientist to look over the papers that we brought from where we rescued you,” he smiled at her. “So, you get one glass now, and once you feel itchy again, I’ll fill up another.”

“But I could just drink from you, it’s not like I’ve not done that before.”

“I’d like to stay in one piece, love. You mutilated Marcel. Now, while you won’t be able to kill me, I don’t want you to experience to see yet someone else ruined, if only briefly,” he replied and motioned around. “You have a comfy bed, and there’s even a desk for you with your bag on it. Why is it so important to you, anyway?”

Myriam sighed as she got to her feet and headed over to her bag to fetch something so she could show Klaus. She returned with her journal and handed it to him. “Alaric really helped me. This was his idea, to keep a journal. He gave me some things to write about. Every time I felt something, I had to write it down. He gave me stuff to write about,” she then blushed. “You’re the first one to read it.”

He smiled at her and handed her the journal back, closed. “I don’t need to read that, love. That’s yours.”

“Everything that I am, that I have, I share with you,” she said as she pushed it back into his hands. “You can read it.”

“Myriam…”

She took the journal and sat down on his lap as she opened her journal. “I know you ran to New Orleans, not only to claim it back for us but also because you were running after Kol’s death,” Myriam sighed. “And I’m sorry that I fell apart as I had, and that I couldn’t join you here when you went. But, while I have lost a few people over time, only my mother’s passing hit me hard and now…”

“I know, love,” he kissed the top of her head. “And I’m sorry that I didn’t know what to do with that grief, other than joining you and mutilate Stefan.”

“Oh, that was fun,” she laughed. “Can we do that again?”

“When you’re feeling better,” Klaus replied with a small smile as she kept paging through the pages and his eyes fell on some of the words. “All of us have acted out at some point or another. Whether it to be because of loss, or betrayal or simply because we could. And it’s difficult to come back from that. The next time it’ll be easier. And then it’ll continue to get easier after that.”

“But I don’t want that, Klaus. It shouldn’t get easier because then that life didn’t mean anything. Didn’t Kol mean something to you? He was your brother!”

“I got angry, of course, but I wasn’t able to do something. Even Rebekah mourned for a full day,” he replied. “I miss my brother, but to stop and think about his loss will not be any good. I’d tear apart a whole town if I allowed myself to. It doesn’t mean that his life didn’t mean anything.” He then noticed something about the veil dropping and her taking Kol home. “What’s this?”

“Oh!” Myriam laughed as she looked at the page. “That was the day that Bonnie lowered the Veil to The Other Side. So, all supernatural beings there could come back if they wanted to. She did it to find some witch, so yeah… it had some perks though. Such as Kol coming back for a few hours.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“I was selfish,” Myriam shrugged. “He wanted to incite all the supernaturals sacrificed for Silas and create mayhem, so I kidnapped him. Again. And then we had some fun until the Veil went back up. He told me to do as I told Alaric, to leave Mystic Falls and find some place where I could heal.”

“And that’s how you ended up with Alaric.”

Myriam nodded and sighed. “You smell really nice. Can I have another sip?”

“Already?”

“You didn’t give me enough to last very long,” Myriam pouted. “Don’t make me ask you again because I’ll just take it.”

“Really now?”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t said ‘please’. You’re being rude.”

“Please?”

“Nah, you didn’t mean that.”

Myriam stood up and started to pace her cell. “It itches. I am so hungry, I need blood. Please, Klaus, give me your blood?”

“No,” Klaus placed her journal on her table. “Behave yourself.”

“I’m trying! Give me more!” Myriam begged. “Please! You said you’d take care of me, you need to give me more blood, Klaus, please!”

Klaus growled as he left her cell and closed the door before heading upstairs to fetch one of his vampires before throwing them in the cell with Myriam. It saddened him that a glass of his blood didn’t satisfy her, but he wasn’t going to allow her to drain him dry, either. Myriam looked like an animal as she snacked on Shep and she squeezed him like a capri-sun pouch. “I’ll be back later, with hopefully good news. I can’t release you while you’re like this, I hope you understand.”

“I can go and kill your enemies?” Myriam only briefly looked up from the body she was mangling. “You only have to tell me where they are and I’ll happily tear through them.”

Klaus paused then, for a short moment with a small smile on his face. “As much as I’d love to entertain that notion, it doesn’t help you, my love.”

“Neither does sitting here in a cage being fed vampires!”

“It’ll have to do, I can’t have you running around New Orleans like this. But I promise you, we’ll have a fix for you shortly.”

The scientist explained to him that for all intents and purposes, Myriam was a vampire ripper now. She was addicted to vampire blood and had little to no control over it. The scientist said that it’d likely take a while to make a cure, but that it was likely that Traveler witches were involved. Klaus hated the Travelers. Good thing that he knew a witch who knew of Traveler lore and hoped that he didn’t need fancy doppelganger blood to heal his wife.

While he impatiently waited, he turned some petty thieves into vampires to feed to his insatiable wife. She kept complaining that she felt like a caged animal in a zoo so on day two he handed her her phone back so she could call Alaric to distract her. And that had also been a bad idea as she lost her temper and broke her phone.

By day three, Alaric showed up and safely sat outside her cell on a chair. “You look like hell.”

“Klaus has been feeding me, but every time he does, I just want more…”

Alaric sighed and nodded. “Sorry you have to go through shit again, it’s highly unfair.”

“Isn’t it? I mean, why me?” Myriam whined. “Although I did some pretty horrible things, so I suppose it’s karma… And why did you come all the way to New Orleans, Ric? Don’t you have classes to teach?”

Alaric shrugged then. “I can teach anywhere I want, and what better place to teach about the Occult than New Orleans? Maybe I’ll pick up a thing or two.”

“You’re moving here?” she asked hopefully. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he let out a snort. “I found this great apartment near campus, and they had an opening for a teaching position so why not? What are you going to do when you get fixed?”

“Ah, I have a legitimate business here in New Orleans. It’s time that I run it myself again, and give my liaison her freedom. Although I never compelled her to stay and run the place for me but I think she deserves a long vacation.”

“Yeah? Anything I can help with?”

“Maybe,” she smiled. “Maybe not. We’ll see. I’m just pleased that you’re moving out here.”

“So am I. Fresh start.”

“Are you staying? Keep me company?”

“Sure,” he smiled at her and pointed at her journal. “Here’s one for you; write down how you’re feeling about Dr Wes Maxfield being dead as a doorknob.”

“He died?! But I wanted to kill him!”

“Damon killed him.”

“For you. And for himself and Elena. They were infected too. However, their cure likely won’t work on you, so that’s why you’re still in here.”

“But…”

“You’re an Original now, Myriam,” Alaric reminded her as he poured himself a coffee from his thermos. “It won’t work.”

“Well… is Elena dead then?”

“No.”

“Good,” she said as she sat down at her table and started to write down her feelings like Alaric had told her to. “Then I can kill her instead.”

“Myriam.”

“I’ve never liked her, Ric.”

“We’ve been over this before.”

“I know that she’s like a daughter to you, but she’s a whiny, selfish and manipulative bitch, and she is already cured, and I’m not!”

Alaric sighed as he took a sip of his coffee. “If it makes you feel any better, at the rate that the children in Mystic Falls are going, they’ll likely end up killing themselves.”

“Not good enough!” Myriam yelled before her head shot up when Klaus came down with another vampire for her.

“Sorry about her mood,” Klaus apologised as he pushed the vampire inside Myriam’s cell and looked at Alaric. “She’ll go back to her usual self after she’s done with her feed. It’s best if you look away,” he said as he motioned for Alaric to follow him out.

“How are you holding up, Klaus?” Alaric said as they were stood in the hallway.

“The love of my life is infected by a virus that makes her want to eat vampires, and there’s no progress in finding a cure for her, how do you think I’m holding up?”

Alaric nodded. “I may have a solution. Don’t get your hopes up, but I think I know someone who might be able to help you.”

“Really? I’ve moved heaven and earth to find a witch and a scientist willing to help me, and they’re not getting anywhere, how do you think that your person will be able to?”

“On my travels for research into the supernatural, I came across a witch from an offshoot of the Traveler community. Her line can be traced back all the way to the beginning of the Travelers, but her line doesn’t want to do anything with them. In fact, they started their own coven, the Gemini, of which she was ousted because of her lack of real magic. She’s living in peace and helps people where she can when they’re afflicted by magic. She’s a siphoner,” Alaric explained.

“That won’t help because Myriam was injected with a scientifically engineered compound!”

“I’ve seen the research you’ve shared with me. The drugs that helped create the virus are nothing but glue and enhancers. It was created from a vampire that Westfield had conditioned to drink vampire blood only. That part is magic, and I believe that my friend can help her with that. Cleanse her body. Once that’s done, her own blood will get rid of everything in her system that doesn’t belong there.”

“You think.”

“What other choice is there? It’s not as if Myriam can die from trying.”

Klaus tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. “Very well. Call her. Ask her if she’s willing to help. Not a lot of witches like us these days, it was Kol or Elijah who usually made nice with them and alas, Kol is dead, and Elijah will forever stay in his box. Thank you, Alaric.”

“Of course, Myriam is my friend. She saved me once or twice, it’s only fair if I return the favor, right?”

“You’ve saved her already and owe her nothing, it’s commendable that you’re still willing to help.”

By day five, Myriam had given up. She was sat on her bed with her legs hugged to her chest and not moving an inch, only when a vampire was thrown in with her she looked up and forced herself not to go after it. It was simply better to desiccate at this point than to keep on going. Oh, she was still so very hungry, but this wasn’t fair. When Klaus came in with another, she looked up. “Dagger me.”

“I’m not sure that’s going to work, love,” he sighed and motioned at the still living vampires in her cell. “You have to eat.”

“Dagger me.”

Rolling his eyes at her, he stabbed the vampire he was holding and pushed him into the cell, causing Myriam to lose her self-inflicted restriction and attacked him. And then the other vampires. “Good, because we may have a solution and I was told you needed to be fed for the ordeal.”

She paused long enough to reply. “Why didn’t you say something!”

“Because I wasn’t sure that Alaric managed to convince this person to come over as our reputation usually proceeds us,” Klaus replied. “But this one didn’t seem to be scared or offended or against us and knew of Kol. Upon hearing that he was your best friend, the witch was willing to travel to New Orleans. His name still opens doors to some witches.”

“Alaric?”

“He cares about you, love, and normally I’d be very jealous, but I’m not in the mood.”

“What’s wrong?” she cocked her head as she looked at him, finally noticing that Klaus wasn’t looking too good. “You look like you’re sick.”

“Just some arguments with werewolves, don’t you worry about me.”

“I’ll kill them for you,” she smiled as she leaned against the door. “Where do they live?”

Klaus looked at her for a moment, considering what his options were. Granted, Elijah said he’d take care of it, but Myriam would be faster. “They’re not vampires, love.”

“I don’t care. I have a lot of rage, I’ll kill them for you, and then I’ll come back, I promise.”

“And can you promise not to go after vampires?”

Myriam sighed. “No…”

“Then you’re staying here until Alaric, and his witch cured you.”

“Yeah, just for the record,” a female voice sounded as footsteps could be heard. “I’m not his witch, and I’m definitely not yours, Niklaus Mikaelson.”

“And here they are,” Klaus smiled at Myriam before looking at Alaric and his witch. “Welcome. And thank you.”

“I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for her,” the brunette said as she walked past Klaus and held out her hand through the bars for Myriam to shake. “I’m Jeri.”

“French?”

Jeri smiled at her. “Oui.”

“I like you already.”

“I don’t like vampires like any other witch, but Kol Mikaelson is a legend. I never had the pleasure to meet him myself, but if it’s true what Alaric says and you are a former witch and Kol Mikaelson’s best friend, I am willing to help you,” Jeri replied. “Plus, you’re kinda cute.”

Myriam’s curiosity of the witch immediately dimmed as she scowled at the girl. “I’m taken.”

Jeri laughed. “I know that, petite fille, but it doesn’t hurt to flirt. Now, give me your hand.”

“I am not a little girl!”

“Myriam!” Klaus raised his voice, tired of his wife’s predicament. “Now is not the time.”

Myriam pouted as she pushed her arm through the bars. “When I am fixed, I will fix you, mon LouLou.

Jeri let out a snort as she grabbed Myriam’s hand and put her other hand on her arm. “Woah.”

“What?”

“You’ve got some serious ju-ju, lady,” she replied as she looked at Myriam before letting go of her. “Wait, there’s more than just that virus, isn’t there?” Jeri took a step back and looked at Alaric and Klaus. “Because I feel that she’s not a normal vampire.”

Klaus let out a sigh as he sat down on the steps. Tired. “My mother turned her into an Original vampire in the hopes of turning her against us. Granted, she used a modified version of the spell that created us, but-”

“Yeah. And that’s a problem,” Jeri said as she wrung her hands nervously. “You see… I can feel that. And once I start to syphon out what has been done to her last, I can’t stop myself from taking away that either. My powers don’t discriminate against other spells. Magic is magic. If I’d try that on you, it won’t work, but because she’s not entirely like you, she won’t have that anymore once I’m done.”

“Oh hell no,” Myriam said as she moved away from the bars and went to the furthest corner of her cell. “I’d rather be a raving lunatic munching on vampires than to feel vulnerable again. With your family history? Nobody stays dead. What if your mother decides to come back to life, Klaus?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you killed her yourself,” Klaus countered with a huff.

“Well… seeing as the Other Side is destroyed… it’s not entirely impossible for a powerful witch to return…” Jeri said thoughtfully.

Klaus let out a groan. “Knowing my mother, she will.”

“Klaus!” Myriam squeaked from her corner. “You’re not going to say what I think you’re going to say!”

“I’d rather have you alive and fragile than not at all, Myriam. If I allow you to be what you are now, you will eat through everyone, and I won’t be able to keep up with your currently demanding side.”

“No. Alaric! Say something!”

“I’m with Klaus on this, Myriam. I’d rather have you be a healthy vampire than this.”

“Traitor!”

Jeri turned around to face Myriam with a smile on her face. “Alright, what would Kol want for you?”

“Don’t you dare!” Myriam angrily shot at her. “Don’t you dare bring him up!”

“Well?”

Myriam was quiet for a moment. “He’d be fine with the way that I am now.”

“Liar,” Klaus and Alaric chorused. Klaus got to his feet and entered the cell. “You’re going to be alright. I’ll protect you from whatever will come our way. I promise.”

“No.”

“I’m sorry, love,” he said as he quickly reached out and snapped her neck, catching her before she fell. “She’s going to hate me, but I’m going to keep snapping her neck until you come up with a different solution.”

“There isn’t any!” Jeri exclaimed, surprised.

“Damon and Elena managed to be cured without you, so can Myriam.”

“I don’t know who’s more crazy,” Alaric muttered. “You or her.”

Jeri scowled as she pulled Alaric along with her. “Let’s go, we’re not wanted here. You should have never asked for my help! Now I have to stay in New Orleans until those two realize I am the only one who can help her!”

~o.O.o~

She was going to kill Klaus and then kill him some more. How dare he snap her neck so many times over the last few hours? Myriam wasn’t feeling any different, so that made her think that he hadn’t gone along with his original plan in the first place. Good. She’d hate to be turned back into a useless vampire who had to be careful not to piss off the wrong witch.

Klaus wasn’t with her now, though. She could hear a lot of commotion coming from upstairs, and when she paced her cell, she noticed her door being ajar. “Fuck this shit, I’m not going to wait until that witch strips me of everything that I am…” she muttered to herself and ran upstairs before killing a few werewolves and fleeing the compound.

She headed straight to one of the vampire hangouts and went to town on them. She slaughtered them all and finally, since a very long time, felt satiated enough to think clearly. Limbs were everywhere, and there was a lot of stray blood, hell, even she was covered in layers and layers of blood, but she didn’t care. She felt great. Ecstatic. High.

Myriam made the conscious decision not to head back to the partying French Quarter, but instead headed to Crescent Park and hopefully catch a few more vampires while enjoying the waterfront. The stars were pretty today, everything was so bright, the water so loud and the grass smelled so nice.

A couple was making out, and Myriam could smell their arousal. Licking her lips, she bit her wrist and forced them both to drink before snapping their necks and waited for another human to show up so she could feed her almost vampires human blood and then kill them again. She wanted more but had to stay away from the compound because she didn’t want to eat Klaus’ vampires.

She told her human to leave after having fed them to her two vampires and snacked on them. Discreetly.

Or not.

She found herself being flung out of the bench after killing her second vampire and angrily got to her feet. “Fucking witches! I wish this damn virus made me want to take a fucking bite out of you instead of other vampires!” Myriam raged as she ran towards the witch but stopped as she seemed to recognise this one.

“My, you’re in a state,” the witch replied. British accent. Not as inconsistent as Kol’s, but it was Kol, wasn’t it? Or was she merely seeing things now? Of course, she was, she was high on blood, high on life, high on everything and wanted to kill this witch. This wasn’t Kol. Couldn’t be Kol, because he was dead.

“You want to die too, witch?” Myriam snapped. “Because I’m ravenous and I won’t hesitate to turn you.”

“I can help you,” the witch said eagerly. “No ulterior motives. No backstabbing. Free of charge and you won’t owe me anything.”

“And let me guess, the catch is that I have to get my hands on a siphoner and they will take away everything.”

The witch chuckled and shook his head before reaching into his pocket and handed Myriam a vial. “This is the antidote to what ails you, tailored to what you are.”

This was Kol, wasn’t it? How else would this witch know about what was wrong and what to get for her unless it was Kol who had been watching from the Other Side? “I don’t trust witches.”

The witch sighed and shrugged before pointing at the vial in Myriam’s hands. “That works. Trust me. I do not wish to risk the chance of angering the Original Hybrid. You’re his wife, aren’t you?”

“Klaus is a puppy, it’s me who you need to be afraid of,” Myriam growled. “This works? And I get to be who I was before?”

“I promise. You needed science and magic to fix you. I made sure the cure was a little bit of both. I may be new to New Orleans, but I do wish to keep the peace between us witches and vampires. Where I’m from, we all liked each other.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, studying his face. “It’s her, isn’t it? She did this to you.”

“Take the cure. Feel better,” the witch said with a blush as he turned around to walk away from her.

She stood there, stunned, watching as the witch walked away. “I miss you, Mon Chou, and Merci.”

Kol’s shoulders slumped as he let out a sigh, but kept walking.

“Are you in trouble?” Myriam ran after him, but she got knocked on her ass by him.

“Take the cure, Myriam. Leave me alone, I don’t want you to get hurt and please, don’t tell Nik that I’m back. If Mother finds out, I helped you or-” He was genuinely frightened, and all Myriam could do was to nod and open the vial to take the cure for him.

“I won’t tell him,” she agreed with tears in her eyes, getting to her feet and hugging him. He was slightly taller now. “I miss you, be safe, whatever you’re up to.”

“Yeah,” he whispered reluctantly. “Don’t worry about little old me.”

“Come to Débauche when you’re in trouble. I’ll keep you safe,” she smiled at him as she cupped his cheek. “Thank you for saving me, Kol.”

“Always,” he smiled weakly. “I have to go. Don’t follow me or I will snap your neck and throw you into the Mississippi.”

She nodded and as he walked away from her, snapped her neck anyway.

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