My Sunshine | Camille O'Connell

(48) Every Mother's Son | Part 1

So Elijah was invited to Marcel's vampire club, but I wasn't.

Who's more team vamp than me! It's bullshit.

Apparently while I was having night terrors, my brother visited Marcel and accepted an alliance without me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad when the two get along, like when they worked together to snub Klaus killing some teenagers, but when something is this personal I would at least like to be considered. Especially by the boy I raised over the man who shoved the needs of him aside as a child to placate a possessive adult.

Like I said, bullshit.

We should all be working together. While Mikael is an active threat in him possessing the only weapon that can kill us, he is largely subdued in the fact that Davina would not unleash him without the knowledge on breaking the sire bond that threatens Marcel and Josh.

Yeah, it didn't take me long to figure out why she was waiting.

On the other hand, Esther is in the body of a Harvest Girl and is currently the strongest witch the coven has since we killed everyone else, so she is the one in charge. On top of that, she has most of the werewolves ensnared as her guard dogs with the power of those stupid moonlight rings.

All of this spells out one thing, she's preparing for war. And knowing my mother, it will be both physical and psychological.

There's no limit to her cruelty.

"If you really want to be useful, Talia, you can help Rebekah and I prepare dinner for when the boys come home." I roll my eyes as I return to our hovel. I quickly grab a knife and start chopping for the stew. "Of course you gravitate towards the weapon." I continue to ignore her. "Talia!" She roughly grabs my chin so I'm making eye contact with her. "This is the last time I tell you not to follow your father and brothers into the woods. It's dangerous to go out alone, and more than that it is quite off putting for our neighbors! Do you even want to get married one day? Or would you rather be a lonely shrew that dies unhappy? Why can't you be more like your sisters? Perfect in every way, and that's not all in the looks. You can make up so much that you lack if you would stop acting like a brat. I can only do so much to brighten any offers made for you, but I would appreciate some effort on your part."

I shudder as her words pour out in my head.

I was her second daughter, the first after her and Mikael lost Freya, and I was nothing like her. Precious Freya, gentle Freya, pretty Freya, perfect Freya. Day after day after day.

When I was small I had no idea of this, which made everything so confusing. Why couldn't she love me for who I am? Why was she trying to turn me into someone else?

I was an experiment. To fix what was broken and bring back the daughter she actually loved.

I never met Freya, she died long before I was born, but I know her more than any of my siblings. Every small detail about the small child is ingrained in my head and one thousand years has not dislodged it.

I used to think the older I got, the more mother would appreciate our differences. And then Rebekah was born and things only got worse.

She was everything mother wanted. Small, petite, blonde, gentle, soft, kind. Third times the charm I guess.

Once Rebekah was in the picture there was no need to pigeon hole me into a frame that didn't fit. That was the end of an era, replaced by berating me for every mistake she believed I had. Snips and comments made to make me feel wrong and guilty about things I couldn't control.

And of course there was Mikael and the beatings.

Like I said, trauma.

Vincent used to tell me that her behavior was just projecting her own self-loathing onto someone she could control. That it wasn't my fault.