The Original: Book 5

Chapter 13

Grabbing my tea, I slowly made my way out to the courtyard, heading for the stairs. As I passed the bar, something blue caught my eye and when I looked over, I saw that it was a woman. She was lying on what looked like lavender. Taking a step closer, I saw that it was Laura, my only employee at the shop. Her wrists had been cut open, the blood already drying. The teacup in my hand fell, shattering on the ground as Nik and Elijah came into the compound. Nik quickly went over to her body, grabbing the paper from her hand. He read it before handing it to Elijah. "Roses are red, lavender is blue; come find me before I find you," he read out loud.

"I remember her a better poet," Nik stated, looking at the note again.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that this is lacking in poetry." I watched in silence and shock as Elijah bent down to examine Laura's body.

"She wants us to find her. So let's." Nik dropped the note, turning to leave.

"She who?" I finally spoke up. "Who the hell did this?"

"The last time he even said her name was a thousand years ago, when he told me never to speak it again in his presence," Elijah informed me.

"So, I'm to wait as she leaves her little calling cards all over my home? While the woman carrying my child is here?"

"So, it's safe to assume this woman – whatever her name is – is an ex of yours?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest. "And now she's here in New Orleans?"

"It would appear so."

"Wonderful," I mumbled, moving over to the chairs and slowly lowering myself into one.

"There's something you should know," Elijah declared, looking up at Nik. "When mother seized control of my mind, unleashing those monstrosities that lurk behind the Red Door, I saw something. Aurora was there." So, that was her name. Aurora.

"If you mean to confess a thousand-year-old secret that will divide us after our hard-won reconciliation, then te absolvo, brother. There is nothing you could have done involving her that would be worse than what she did to me."

"Please do not dismiss this –," Nik cut Elijah off.

"Whatever it is, it can wait. We have a plate of here-and-now problems, and I mean to clear it. If it makes you feel any better, we can kill Aurora together. Then neither of us need play her little mind games ever again." Nik walked out of the compound, leaving Elijah behind.

"Elijah, wait," I called out as he started to follow Nik. "Would you mind getting someone to take care of this? And in a nice way? She was my employee; I don't just want her body burned. She should be buried properly." He nodded and I let out a sigh, watching him leave the compound.

***

Setting the glass down in front of Nik, I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for him to grab it. "Do it, Niklaus, or I will do it for you," I remarked, voice firm. He grabbed the glass with one hand while biting the other. The sound of footsteps echoed in the courtyard, quickly coming in our direction. I looked up as Freya entered the room, eyes wandering over her siblings.

"May I ask what happened?"

"We had a little chat about the past," Nik conceded, filling the glass.

"I politely informed Niklaus that I'm not his enemy. And though they entered the city under the guise of peace, Tristan and Lucien, in truth, are allied against us, a fact that required a bit of gentle persuasion," Elijah explained.

"And so, I reminded our brother who angered them in the first place."

"And after all this civil discourse, what understanding did you come to?" Freya asked, taking a seat at the table.

"That we expose and destroy our first-sired," Elijah revealed.

Nik slid the glass of blood over to his brother, "couldn't agree with you more. You see, gentlemen know when it's time to call a truce and turn our fury in a more pertinent direction." Nik lifted his own glass, clinking it against his brother's.

I rolled my eyes, letting out a sigh, "I'm really glad my sire line is dead."

So, this chapter is short and boring. Sorry about that.

My character and her story are of my own imagination. They belong to me and nobody else. Please do not steal. Copyright 2018.