Twin Image: Family, Before Anything

67

-November 10th, Thursday-

~Natalie's POV~

"So," I start, opening my menu, "Where would you like to start?" I ask, watching her do the same as she sighs. "Well," she says, "Other than my name, I guess I should start with something basic. Uhh, I'm twenty-five, and up until about twenty-three, I was born and raised factionless. I was raised by my grandmother, given my parents had passed around the time I was two. I have three biological siblings, two full brothers and a half sister. And a woman I call my sister. Not to mention, her rambunctious offspring. I call them my nephews. But uh," She pauses, "My grandmother passed last year, I speak to three out of the four siblings I have so, that'd be my half sister Marie, my brother Gio, my adoptive sister Nicolette, and her three sons." She explains, having our drinks arrive as she finishes. "My condolences. For both your grandmother and your parents, I couldn't even imagine." I say, and she thanks me, sipping her drink as she tucks her hair behind her ears. I notice something. "Don't sweat it when it comes to my parents, I've made my peace with that a long time ago. Now my grandmother on the other hand," she trails off, touching exactly what I caught a glimpse of.

A neck tattoo. "Is that ..?" I question, and she nods, moving her hair for me to get a better look.   A .. a vampire bite. A very detailed vampire bite. Realistic blood dripping from one of the two holes and everything.

And it took me a second but, I know who's work this is. "Well, I'll be damned. That's Tori's work, isn't it?" I ask, and she wasn't surprised I guessed correctly. "It sure is. I refused to go to anybody else. I've had another tattoo done by her beforehand and she's very gentle. And I couldn't let heavy-handed Harold do me and my grandmothers matching tattoo." She says, cracking me up. "So you and your grandmother loved vampires that much huh?" I ask, and she nods. "We sure did. She was a supernatural folklore writer, and over the years, and after so many stories, she developed a severe case of arthritis. And the only way she could get her stories out of her mind, was writing them, paper to pencil. She and I quote, 'damned typing to hell'. And I loved hearing her vampire stories so much, I took over for her, having me write whatever she spoke. Eventually I convinced her to let me type them up and print them all out for her but, to this day, I know she was never fully okay with it. I started to help and give her ideas when it came to the vampire stories and from that day forth we bonded even more so than we already had. The woman with the lowest pain tolerance in the world, got a tattoo, purely for us to share something that we both love. And it's ironic cuz uh, my mother named me after her." She tells me, making me smile. Like my mother did with her best-friend.  "She sounded like one hell of a woman love." I say, and she nods in agreement, "She sure was." She adds, and I literally see the question she wants to ask in her eyes. She knows about my daughter and her power, she just doesn't feel like she can ask that just yet.

And just then, a brilliant idea, smacks me in the face as I stare at her tattoo for a second. Last night, I was up for hours, reading her books and searching for anything suspicious that's affiliated with her account. Tobias literally had to take my phone from me so I'd fall asleep with him. I didn't find anything suspicious but, I did find out one thing. "But after hearing this interest in vampires," I pause, "I can't wait to introduce you to Damon." I say, emphasizing his name.

And her eyes widen at me as I wiggle my eyebrows with a smirk. "Oh my god. You found my secret account didn't you?" - "Oh honey I found all three of them. Found the smut one first." I make very clear and she cringes and facepalms. "How much have you read??" - "More than enough to know just how obsessed you are with a walking dead man you haven't even met." I point out, and she groans, hiding behind the menu. I chuckle just a bit, "I'll answer that question of yours with a yes if you agree to meet him." I say, and the menu smacks down on the table revealing a slightly confused but intrigued face. "W-What question?" She asks, and I raise an eyebrow at her and give my 'really?' face.