Goddess of Destruction

Chapter One

A lot has happened since that night, a thousand years is enough to change anyone. Not everything that happened was bad, Jessika considers meeting Arlo Capra one of the better things that have happened in her life.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Jessika looked up from her book to see Arlo, running around their living room pulling cushions from the sofa, looking under surfaces. In fact, in the five seconds Arlo had been in the room he'd completely wrecked the place.

"Could you please stop wrecking the place we live in , I do quite like the place." Jessika said, placing her book down on the seat beside her.

"Well maybe I wouldn't have to wreck it if I could find the damn thing."

"What damn thing are you looking for?" Jessika asked, standing up to start cleaning up the bomb site.

"The...the thing" Arlo said, holding his fingers a couple inches apart before going back to pulling the sofa cushions out

"Oh that thing." Jessika rolled her eyes at the unhelpful description. Sighing, she walked over to the coffee table, placing the books and magazines back on. She didn't read the magazines, she preferred fiction to reality. It was Arlo who judged the outfits and hairstyles, who cried whenever there was a story about a dog.

Just as Jess was about to move to the recently trashed sofa, there was a knock at the door.
"You can get that." She said

"I'm busy!" Arlo shouted as he entered the bathroom.

"No, you're trashing everything. So go answer the door, cause then maybe I'll have time to clean everything up!" She shouted back, just as there was another knock on the door.
"I'd hurry, sounds like it's important."
"It might be another magazine on 10 ways you can tell he likes you." She whispered under her breath.

"Fine! But don't touch the bathroom or my room, I haven't looked in there yet." He said, running to the apartment door.

"Your bedroom? What about my bedroom? You better not have trashed my room..." She shouted just as Arlo opened the door.

"I need to give this to Jessika Mikaelson."
Jessika stopped as she heard her name, she walked away from the sofa and to the door to see who was there.
The man standing on the other side of the door looked young, mid twenties. The first thing Jessika noticed about him was the fact that there was no emotion on his face, except his eyes it was as though they were screaming for help.
"I need to give this to Jessika Mikaelson." He repeated in exactly the same way, almost as if it was a recording.

"I'm Jessika Mikaelson, who are you?" She asked, as soon as she did he stepped forward past the barrier of the door. Only at this moment did she notice a pale brown folder clutched in his pale hands as he shuffled past Arlo

"This is for you." He said in an emotionless tone, holding out the folder for Jessika to take. She looked at the folder, which looked like it had something written on it,  and back at the man in front of her, there was something off about this. Waving her hand in front of his face, she waited for a reaction- but nothing. Just the same fearful look in his eye and the same vacant expression on his face.
"This is for you." He repeated.

"Jess, please take the folder. This guy is really starting to freak me out." Arlo said, peering round the guys shoulder, examining his face up close.

Cautiously, Jess took the folder. As soon as her hands touched the folder, he let go and smiled. Although it wasn't a happy smile, or a sad smile, in fact it wasn't even a smile. There was no other movement in his face other than the creases at either side of his mouth. Jess examined his face for a second longer before turning around and walked to the bar at the end of the room.

"Jeez what a creep." Arlo whispered as he followed Jessika, who placed the folder onto the table. It was now clear what was written on the folder.
'Jessika Mikaelson'
Written in deep red, which caused Arlo and Jessika to look at each other
" I really hope that's written in pen." Arlo said, leaning down to sniff the folder.

"Thank you." The guy behind them said, Jessika turned around to nod to him. Before turning back she saw him reach in to a pocket, this felt off to her. She couldn't understand why, but suddenly every part of her was screaming that something was about to happen. And just as she was about to turn back she heard a thud.

Dark red liquid covered the floor, oozing past a knife that was jammed into the guys throat. His face almost instantly going pale, Jess' eyes widened as she saw the situation in front of her.

"Jesus Christ!" Arlo said from beside her, rushing to the guy and kneeling down to listen for a heart beat. He sighed as he realised the guy was gone. Jessika, however, was frozen, staring at the red growing puddle her mind filling with a million questions.
"What the hell happened!? Did you see the knife?" Arlo asked walking back to Jessika, but he got no response.
"Why the hell would he do that to himself?" Arlo asked.

"He was compelled. Which means that whoever sent that folder really didn't want us finding them." She sighed, turning to the folder. She knew whatever was in there must've been important.

"We should open it." Arlo said, reaching to open it but just as he touches it he hesitates, turning back towards Jessika.
"You don't think whatever is in here could kill me right?"

"It's a folder for god sake, not a bomb." She said taking the folder and opening it, and out fell six pictures. They both stared at the photos, looking confused, both of them thinking how this whole affair couldn't have been over photos.
It was only when they saw who was in the photos that they understood, or at least partially understood.

One of the photos contained a sign which read New Orleans, French Quarter. The next two photos contained two women, one was a younger woman with light olive skin and brown hair, the other looked older with similar coloured skin and hair. The fourth picture is of a man with darker skin and a shaved head. None of these people looked as though they knew their photo was being taken, considering they were talking to other people, or just walking down the street.

The last two photos caught Jess' attention though, she knew these people. Although she hadn't seen them in over a thousand years she still recognised them.

***
A few hours later Jess and Arlo had finally finished cleaning up the blood splatter from the walls, the puddle on the floor and buried the body in a field not to far from their apartment. However, it was quite a treck to get the body down through the lobby, thankfully with a good camouflage spell no one saw the body.

"Ok, now that we have finished, can we finally talk about these photos and why you were sent them." Arlo sighed, grabbing a drink from the bar.

"Do we have to?" Jess groaned, placing the bloody cloth into the bucket.

"Uhh...yes! Considering two of your brothers are in those photos, and those other people. Something is obviously happening and someone wants you to be there."

"I haven't seen them in over a thousand years Arlo? I haven't been there when other things have happened, each time Mikael would go after them, when our mother came back from the dead- which I still don't understand. I stayed with you, away from it all, so that's what I'm gonna do now." Jess grabbed the bottle of bourbon and began drinking, staring at the place where the body was.

"Yes but you've also been considering on going back to them, and this would be a perfect time, they may need help with whatever but if not New Orleans is pretty in the fall." Arlo said, stealing the bottle off her.
"You can always chicken out when we get there, I just need to get out of the apartment, and this town- I keep seeing the same people now and I don't like it.
Jessika looked round at him, considering what he was saying. She knew it had been a long time since she last saw them, and considering they think she is dead it was probably unfair to let them keep believing this.

"Fine, but you're cleaning your mess from earlier up. What we're you even looking for?"

Arlo paused
"You know what, I don't remember anymore."
He laughed as he saw the annoyed expression on Jess' face. But he soon fled as he saw the pillow beside Jess' head soon flying towards him.