The Good Daughter

Thirty eight

There was a dirty, cracked mirror across from me.

Tyler was strung up on his knees a few feet away, his head hung low, very similar to how I was tied.

"You're awake."

"Who... who the fuck are you?" I winced.

He crouched down beside me, grasping my jaw. "I've been looking for the girl with the butterfly tattoo."

"Why?"

"Groups of individuals, no matter how powerful, always have the weakest link." The man stood, grabbing a cart that was just out of my sight. On it were a concerning amount of tools. "How do I kill the Originals?"

"You think I fear you?"

"I chose my targets carefully." He picked up a hunting knife.

"Obviously not if you picked me."

"What you know will go for trillions on the black market."

Would they think I was being rebellious?

But I'd missed my check ins, surely that'd earn me a search party. "Good luck getting me to talk. There are much scarier people in this world than you, people I'd betray by telling you anything."

If it weren't for that itching feeling of both vervain and magic, we could escape.

The man had certainly done his homework.

"Then once I've extracted what I want, I'll sell you to the highest bidder." He grasped Tyler's hair, forcing his head up. "You and the hybrid are going to make me the richest man in the world."

My stomach churned. "Don't say I never warned you."

He thrust a knife into Tyler's side, and he awoke with a scream. "Another word out of you besides what I explicitly asked, and he'll face the consequences."

"Don't tease me with a good time." I tugged against the restraints, useless as it was. Tyler looked at me in disbelief. "Come now, show me you're a big boy. Unless you don't have the balls to hurt me."

"You want me to torture you?"

"I want to see how you compare. Klaus Mikaelson is the best in the world. He could do more with a toothpick than you can with your wimpy little knives."

His expression was priceless.

Almost worth whatever was going to happen.

He picked up a wicked looking dagger, sharp to a point, and approached me. "The vervain in your system is going to slow your healing, possibly even leave scars. I'll have to be extra careful not to damage the merchandise too much."

I bit the inside of my cheek, bracing for the inevitable pain.

The man sliced the inside of my bicep, and I couldn't stop the scream. "How do I kill the Mikaelsons?"

Holy shit. "Eat me."

"Stop!" Tyler shouted, fighting against his chains. "Don't touch her!"

He drove it into my gut. "How do I kill the Mikaelsons?"

"You can suck my dick." It was twisted, and I bit my lip so hard, I tasted blood. Vervained blood, which was worse.

"Looks like I'll have to break your spirit before I sell, can't have you escaping and that liability falling back on me." He tutted, eyeing me like a piece of meat.

I laughed, probably sounding half crazed, and we hadn't even really started. "Klaus is going to have fun with you."

He backhanded me so hard, my head whipped to the side, cheek stinging. He then took the dagger from my gut and thrust it into Tyler's, who screamed. "How do I kill the Mikaelsons?"

"You can't!" I fought to break free, and the restrains tore at my arms, straining them until they were sore. "They don't have that kind of weakness!"

The man tutted. "Not what I was looking for."

Tyler continued to scream as the blade was drawn upward.

"That's all I know, I swear!" My vision blurred. "If there is a way, they never told me!"

Blood poured from Tyler's mouth.

This was good. The more we bled, the more vervain was drained from our systems. Even if we were practically human at that point. It heightened our chances for an escape.

The man took a step away, and moved toward me, roughly grasping my jaw and drawing it upward. "I hear desperation, but then I see defiance in your eyes, and that is no desperation."

I tried to remove myself from his grasp but he held firm, grip tightening in a way I knew would leave a mark. "Are you going to tell me your name or are you going to continue to cower behind a thin anonymity." 

He smirked. "You'd like that."

"You're referred to as 'the man' in my head. So. Although now that I think about it, you're not much of a man."

He backhanded me again, and this time I tasted blood.

I grinned back at him.

"I know someone who likes them crazy, says it makes for entertainment when they are tamed. Perhaps I'll skip auctioning you off and sell you straight to him." He examined me. "Of course he's an old one. Not quite like a Mikaelson, but up there."

"I hope this person is better gifted in torture than you. The way you handle a blade is telling of your experience." Tyler's eyes widened. "It bores me."

"Bold words."

"And you've reminded me that I'll be sold five times now. You're trying to make me fear you. A fruitless effort and a pitiful one." I raised myself up as much as I could. "I'll enjoy watching you suffer when Klaus comes."

He hummed. "I took great care in hiding you."

"Yes, the magic." He was so certain of himself. "As you know, Tyler is a hybrid. One of Klaus'. He'd kill you for that sin alone, but me? You have something much worse coming after you than an angry Klaus. Who do you think taught Klaus to hunt?"

For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.

Rightfully so.

"Release me and Tyler now, and I'll forget this, they would too."

That hesitation, that's what I wanted. "I'll be rid of you soon enough."

"And yet their rage will still fall on your shoulders."