𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖎𝖓 || the originals (2)

𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. In the eyes of a saint.

❝She hid her pain behind a shield of strength so that you could never truly know how broken she was.❞

¤

Hand twisting and turning as the drawing on it moved along, the redhead smiled softly before leaning her chin onto it and looking at the girl sat by her side then the vampire in front of her and raising an expecting brow.

"If you're here to tell me that my dad has a heart of gold, this is probably the worst spot, considering that there's a plaque inside near the dartboard for some woman that he killed in a moonstone ritual", her twin spoke up, Elijah only sighing in return.

His head tipped to the side and he nodded toward it, "Take a look at that storefront across the street with the charcoal awning", he let out, "Piece of land used to be our home. Smell of it still haunts me to this day; the burning wood, the crushed flowers, the berries".

His lips turned into a smile as he turned back to the two, "Your father was incessantly painting back in those days. Mixing, searching for brighter reds, for deeper blues", he recalled, "Used to wake me in the middle of the night just to show me the color that he would swear he himself had invented. I remember the first time that he showed me a turquoise", the man chuckled.

"It's also the first time I smelled blood", he added after a moment, "You see, when Mikael found Niklaus fashioning a paintbrush from a small branch, he took that branch and he struck my brother across the face".

The twins shared a look the youngest's being more of curiosity then anything else which had Hope shrug, "What did you do?", she wondered, Elijah crossing his arm over the table, "Niklaus begged me to run away with him, but I told him that I would never leave Rebekah and Kol at the mercy of Mikael. So we stayed", he emitted, brows furrowing with regret, "And, of course, it was a mistake. We should've run away together, but your father couldn't go alone", he stated, "But I did swear to him I would protect him from that very day".

The redhead looked down, her head only tilting up as careful footstep walked toward them and a figure appeared by her side.

"Peanut butter blast, whipped cream on the bottom, for you. Just how you like it", the curly haired waiter smiled, "Thanks, Landon", her sister returned the action as she placed the glass over the table, "And cheese burger with extra fries", the boy added as he placed the plate by the youngest, "Thank you", she hummed, instantly snatching a fry.

Hope noticed the curious look the Walter had as he noticed the man sat with them, his gaze flickering back to her, "Yeah. Uh, this is my uncle", the blonde stuttered, Elijah nodding in a greeting and Landon smiled down at him, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Marshall".

The vampire's face droppedbfor a second before he cleared his throat and looked away, the pain and guilt of losing the wolf he loved dearly swimming back to surface in a matter of second and drowning him into it.

"So, girls", Landon's voice brought his attention back as he noticed the girl turn to him questioningly, Camille midway through her bite into the burger, "You two haven't been around much lately", he emitted in worry, Hope nodding along, "Yeah, there's been stuff back at home", she let out with a sad smile and the boy smiled.

"Oh. Well, I was, uh, I was hoping you'd be back", he started, his finger fumbling together with the apron wrapped around his waist, "I mean, you're from New Orleans, right? I've always wanted to go. It's home to some of the greatest musicians of all time", he rambled for a second, stopping as the laughter of some boys filled his ears and he barely missed Hope's response.