Curse of Ravens // Mikaelson

36 The Lengths I'll go to

I dragged the wooden baseball bat behind me as I walked through the warehouse. The grating sound set everyone's teeth on edge inside. My eyes glowed gold and my wolf fangs pricked my lip. As I walked, I kept my chin tilted up, eyes forward. Inside the large room with tall ceilings, vampires filled the space. They all looked at me, dozens of eyes on my person. Josh caught my gaze as I walked past him.

It was necessary. I had said to Marcellus when he came out of the church. Tell them if they don't come, I'll hunt them down. He had rolled his eyes. I reminded him how I put down the last vampire problem in this city, and he agreed to gather everyone.

"Hello darlings." I projected my voice so that it could be heard from all corners of the room, despite it's vastness. Marcel stood nearby, arms crossed over his chest. "I suppose I don't need any introduction, at least not for you lot." I flashed a sadistic grin, dialing up the madness in my eyes and the thirst for blood in my voice.

"Why are we here Marcel?" Someone asked.

"More importantly- what is Klaus's bastard doing here?"

"'Bastard?'" I echoed, glancing at Marcel. He shook his head slightly at me. Clearly this vampire didn't know much about my family if they were calling me a bastard. Perhaps it was just meant to be an insult- regardless of factuality. It didn't make a difference. "I don't know whether to laugh or rip out your tongue." I run my tongue over my teeth, like I was considering dining on said tongue. The Prince of the city gave me a look. I lifted my shoulders in a silent shrug, and swung the bat in a circle, shaking out my wrist.

"Oh, we're going to vet every single one of you. Because someone in here is working with Onyx, and we're going to find out who." Kol Mikaelson sang as he walked into the warehouse. "Lovely location." He pointed to the leaky roof as he walked towards Marcel and I, the sarcasm was unparalleled.

"What happened to working together?" A vampire pointed out the hypocrisy from the meeting in the church.

"I'm glad you asked." I walked through the crowd, resting the end of the bat on my shoulder casually. "You know what's fascinating about vampires?" I clicked my tongue to the roof of my mouth, meandering through them. They parted like fish in the sea to let me pass, wary of my wolf bite and glowing eyes.

"Witches and werewolves are born, not made." I go on. "Vampires are made. Therefore, vampire communities can spring up from a couple dozen bodies and a little blood. In that way, vampires are expendable. Easily replaced. You see, if I was in a bad mood, I'd simply kill all of you and save my time and effort. But Marcellus turned many of you, and since he's a friend I thought it was only fair to let you all apply to keep your life."

"Alice." Marcel said as a warning. Apparently I was getting a little too eager for his tastes.

"Oh fine. Plan A is to speak with every single person here. If you don't pass the test, you'll die quickly. Try to flee, I'll catch you and rip your head off. Lie to any of our questions, and you'll die by werewolf venom." I spin the bat in my hand again. "Plan B is to burn this entire building to the ground and everyone in it."

"Marcel wouldn't do that. Fire would kill him too." Someone was bold to point out.

"Yes, but fire won't kill me." I pause for dramatic effect. "Not permanently. You'd be shocked at the lengths I'll go to to uphold the threats I make." I set a hand on the shoulder of the vampire who had spoke. "Go ahead." I tell them. "Underestimate me. That'll be fun."

The vampire shrugged me off, and I cackled in faux amusement. I walked back to my uncle and Marcellus. "Let's begin."

For the first ten vampires, eliciting fear without setting an example was a tad difficult. But the eleventh vampire was bold enough to run. Or at least they tried. It was easy to set an example when I decided to eat the vampire's heart in-front of the rest of the crowd. The thirteenth vampire begged for her life, exposing the Kramer marks and crying profusely in repentance.