"Get in the car," he said before she had a chance to speak.
"Diego-"
"Get in the car, Belle!"
Annabel shook her head, finally reaching the SUV where he was standing, "No. Like I told Nik over the phone, I'm coming back tonight."
She could see his jaw clench, his eyes diverting from hers as he tried his hardest not to lash out at her. "Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"
"Didn't realize I had to!" she shouted back, not liking how angry he was looking at the pack.
"Vampires ain't welcome here!" Jamani yelled from the main cabin doorway.
Diego stepped forward, but Annabel stopped him with a hand on his chest before he could cause any violence, "Diego," she demanded, trying to pull his attention away from her grandmother, "look at me."
After a few seconds, his head turned back to face Annabel, his eyes looking down at her hand on his chest, and then up at her, his facial expression softening though clearly still angry.
"That's my grandmother," she told him. She glanced back at the cabin where Jamani stood, Alex in front of her. "And the girl with her is the one I told you about, she's my sister."
"Your sister?" he clarified with confusion.
"Yeah, it's a long story, I just- I need time, okay? I just need a little more time with them. Please."
He shook his head, anger returning, "No, Belle. You don't even know them and I don't trust them." She wanted to yell at him about trying to control her, but she already knew exactly why he was doing it. "I already lost my sister to wolves, I ain't gonna lose you too." She gave him a soft, sympathetic smile seeing the pure worry in his eyes. His hand went over hers still on his chest, silently pleading that she just listen to him and come back home.
"They're my pack, Diego, they won't hurt me. I know they won't. And you don't have to trust them, all you gotta do is trust me."
His hold of her hand tightened, licking his lips. But he could tell he wasn't going to change her mind. So he just nodded. "Okay. I trust you. Just text me tonight, I'll come pick you up."
She smiled and nodded, "Okay."
And with some reluctance, he finally let go of her hand, eventually leaving after one last look of warning across her pack.
"You really gotta start making friends with the living," Alex said as Annabel walked back down and everyone went back to as they were.
"Yeah, I get that a lot..." Once they got back in the main cabin, Annabel looked at Jamani with a sort of guilt she wasn't very familiar with and absolutely hated feeling. "I'm really sorry about him."
"Please," she said, "I could take him on my worst day." Annabel smiled, following her over to the couch. "Alexandra, go get me your journal, the one on the bottom shelf," she gestured to the bookshelf above the fireplace.
Alex obliged, grabbing it and walking back over, sitting down on one side of Jamani while Annabel sat on the other.
"Is that you?" Annabel asked Alex when Jamani opened the journal to the first page.
"Yeah, my dad drew it," she said, looking down at the drawing of herself as a toddler in her mother's lap. "It was right before he died."
"Before the vampires killed him," Jamani corrected, her tone sour. Alex nodded, quickly flipping to the next page. This one was Malika, sitting by a window, just barely showing a bump. "Oh, look at your mother... poor girl, she was so skinny. She was very sick when she was pregnant with Alexandra," Jamani told Annabel.
"Still," she said, "very beautiful."
"Yes." But Annabel heard something in her voice, it sounded almost like contempt - anger seeing the drawing of her own daughter.
⋆⋆⋆
Once they had gone through the journal, Annabel listening intently to each story that came with each drawing, they noticed it was reaching nightfall. So, as the two women continued to talk, Annabel took out her phone, texting Diego. "Are you leaving?" Jamani noticed her texting.
"I have to, I'm sorry. But I'll be back as soon as I can, tomorrow, hopefully."
"Oh," Jamani nodded, "alright."
Alex gave Annabel an apologetic smile at Jamani's sudden glumness, and Annabel said, "I'm sorry, I promised everyone I would." She thought about adding that if she didn't go back Rebekah and Niklaus Mikaelson might come down and start ripping off heads, but she decided that clearly Jamani already despised vampires, and adding mention of vampires murdering the pack probably wouldn't go over too well.
"It's okay, baby," she said, putting a hand over Annabel's as Alex put away the book. "As long as you return soon." Annabel nodded, and Jamani gave her a soft smile, touching her cheek, "Be safe, my child. I love you."
Even after Jamani had left, Annabel hadn't moved, hadn't spoken another word. "Are you okay?" Alex asked. "She didn't freak you out too much, did she?"
"She sounds like mom," Annabel said, finally looking up at her sister. "But she's so different."
Alex nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Bella, she's her mother. Family. Just like you and just like me."
Annabel smiled, looking around the camp, "I've never had a pack before."
"Well, you're gonna love it, I know you will." Annabel nodded, though she couldn't be too sure. Crowds weren't her thing, nor was socializing with strangers, at least not while sober. But she wanted to help Alex, so if this is how she did it, so be it. "Looks like your ride's here," she gestured to the SUV pulling up. "I'll see you soon, Bella."
"See you soon," she repeated with a smile, getting into the passenger seat of the car. Diego looked at her as he pulled away, seeing that the smile hadn't left her face.
"You have fun?"
"I have a sister," she said, like she was just then registering it. "And I saw Kol and Zach last month, and I graduated and I'm in New Orleans and," she maintained the smile as she said, "I feel good."
YOU ARE READING
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Fanfiction[book two] It had been just over ten years since Annabel called New Orleans home. Back then, her naivety kept her safe, clueless as to all the violence going on around her. But things had changed since then. She had changed. After graduation, Annabe...
