The Apprentice (The Originals/The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter One

 
 By time the end of the shift came, Annette Chevalier was exhausted. She practically ran out of the factory to breathe in fresh air. She began walking home at a fast pace. Even though the sun was out today after several days of rain, and she would have liked to enjoy it, she just wanted to get home as quickly as possible.
 
 She had hoped her parents would be already home by the time she arrived, but their little rooms were empty. She sighed, and began preparing their supper.
 
 Her mother and father arrived home soon after. They both looked exhausted, and why not? Those long hours working in the large factories were brutal on anyone. Yet all three of them were able to smile happily when they together. 
 
 Dinner was at its usual quietness, with everyone being exhausted, but it was always a comfortable silence. Annette went to bed early, as she often did, since she had to get up early for work the next day.
 
 What she did not expect was to come face-to-face with any vampires. 

~~~~~~

 Annette awoke in the night to the sound of her mother screaming. She heard the growling and sucking noises coming from her parents' room. She quickly light her candle and opened her door.

 "Mother? Father?" she called softly.

  The door was slightly ajar. Annette opened it the rest of the way, only to see horrors she wouldn't have ever been able to conjure up in her dreams.
 
 Monsieur and Madame Chevalier lay dead in their bed, their throats torn open and blood everywhere. Hovering over them was what looked like a man, yet had teeth like a wild creature. When he turned his bloodstained face towards Annette, all she could think of do was scream.

 The man lunged for her, and she ran. She stumbled down the stairs only to feel someone grab her from behind; she screamed again. She tried to fight back, but the creature was too strong.

 Annette then felt herself get pushed aside; she hit the wall and collapsed onto the floor. She sat herself up, and saw that whoever had pushed her had killed the creature. It lay dead on the stairs with a wooden  stake through its heart.

 "Come with me," a voice whispered in her ear. Her savior took her roughly by the arm and led her out into the streets of Paris.

 "Wait! Stop!" Annette attempted to pull away, now on the verge of tears. "My parents-"

 "They are dead. That is certain. Stop fighting me; I am helping you." 
 
 The man took her into a small, noisy inn and led her up the stairs to a small dim room. Annette finally pulled herself from his grip and asked, "Who are you? What was that thing that attacked me?"

 "That was a vampire. I am one as well, though I would not say it's something I am proud of."

 "Vampire?" Annette repeated. "But they aren't real! They're only in children's stories."

 "That is what humans are meant to believe. Now, stay here and don't go anywhere. I will not be gone very long."

 "Where are you going?" Annette asked. "If you are going back to my home, I want to come with you."

 "No, you are not. It would not do you any good to see your parents' bloody corpses. And I would imagine you have more sense than to walk the streets of Paris dressed like that."

 As he left, Annette remembered that she only had her nightgown; her other clothes were still at home.

 Not knowing what else to do, she lay down on the bed as tears silently rolled down her face. Her parents were gone; they had just been murdered. And now she was with a man who claimed to be something that didn't even exist.
 
 He returned sometime later. "Your parents have been properly buried. Tell me, do you have any other family?" 
 
 She merely shook her head. 

 "How old are you?"

 "Fifteen." 

 "Here." He handed her a carpet bag containing her clothes. "I took these before I left. Tell me, what is your name, girl?"

 "Annette Chevalier."
 
 "Very well, Annette. Perhaps you should just stay here for the rest of the night. I will decide what to do in the morning."

 "How do expect me to sleep now?" Annette demanded. "My parents were just murdered! I have no other family!"
 
 "Then you will just have to come with me. Get dressed, and we'll leave now."
 
 "Leave for where?" 
 
 "I shall decide that once we arrive at the train station. Get dressed while I get us a cab."

 After he stormed out of the room once again, Annette quietly dressed, tears still spilling down her cheeks. She would go with him to the train station, and then demand to know everything. Vampires. It was all ridiculous.
 
 Wasn't it?