A life in the shadows

43

Damon got a text and he sent a quick reply. "I am never going to hear the end of that damn necklace." He muttered.
"Necklace?" Matteo asked but Damon shook his head. Mason took another gulp out of a shot glass.
"One of you will pay for this, right? Cheers."
"Let's get to it. I killed you. You want revenge. Get in line."
"Actually I want an apology." Alaric laughed out loud.
"Good luck with that." Alaric scoffed.
"Don't you have a family to haunt? You know your nephew has turned into a mindless hybrid minion."
"That's why I'm here. To help Tyler."
"I take it you have a plan?" Matteo asked.
"Well, sorry to break it to you, buddy, but Tyler can't be helped."
"Damon."
"Right sorry. How exactly do you think you can help your hybrid nephew who's practically a slave to the original hybrid? Especially while my now no-humanity brother, or barbie Klaus won't let anything happen to Klaus's new asset?"
"What do you think Stefan's going to do?"
"I don't know. That's the point. Remember the whole Klaus compelling off his humanity?"
"It's not as if Stefan even wants his humanity on."
"Of course he doesn't. He's ripper Stefan."
"What exactly do you think turning his humanity on means for him? Back to feeling the whole pain of life and crap?"
"So? That's what makes him him. It helps him get a grip on reality."
"You are not that naive, Damon." Matteo noticed his fiancée waving him over. "Look, if you'll excuse me for a tick."
"Where's he going?" Mason asked as Matteo walked away.
"To his fiancée. She's Klaus's sister, but she hates him more than anyone else ever could."
"There's another one? And your brother is marrying her?"
"Siobhan's cool. I mean, she's anti-killing and stuff like Matt, but she's a good person. She hasn't seen most of her family since she was human, except for Klaus and Elijah who she hates."
"You have no problem with your brother marrying an original."
"She's not an original. It's a long story, and not exactly my story to tell."
"Right, whatever. Back to Klaus."
"Right. Tyler can't be helped. At least not while Klaus is alive. Which is, like, always."
"Not necessarily."

"Yes, darling?" Matteo asked Siobhan as he reached her.
"Jessamine and Olly should be getting into town any minute."
"I'll go get them."
"Great, thanks."
"Who's Jessamine and Olly?"
"Friends of ours. Jessamine's gonna be my bridesmaid and Olly's gonna be a groomsman."
"Have you told her yet?" Matteo asked Siobhan.
"Told me what?"
"Not yet. I mean we started talking and turns out we have a lot to talk about."
"Told me what...?" Rebekah repeated, slowly.
"Well, it's more of a question. Becky, will you be my maid of honour?"
"You want me to?"
"Of course. You're my sister, and there's no one else in the world I'd rather have."
"I'd love to. Silvie, are you sure?"
"Of course. I want you there with me, Becks."
"I'd be honoured to be your maid of honour." Rebekah flew into her sisters arms giving her a tight hug. "So do you know when you're planning on getting married?"
"We don't know. I mean, first we have to plan it out, the venue, guests, food, someone to officiate the wedding. We'll need a marriage license and everything." Matteo replied.
"Okay, but do you want a long engagement or a short engagement?"
"I want Finn and Kol to be there too. So until we get them undaggered, we don't want to assign a date."
"I don't know if Finn'll ever be undaggered, Silvie. Klaus has kept him daggered in his coffin for nine hundred years."
"I'm aware. But they have to be there, Bekah."
"So how do you plan to undagger them? Klaus'll probably desiccate you or kill you if you mess with them. He doesn't tolerate it."
"Staying with Klaus all these centuries sounds like a worse hell than I could ever imagine."
"He's not so bad. Our parents messed him up."
"They messed us all up."
"But him more than the rest of us. Mikael hated him. And Mother left him behind, afraid her own dark secret would come out."
"That's no excuse to be so hateful to everyone. Can we just not talk about him?" Siobhan pleaded and Rebekah nodded reluctantly.
"How many people do you want to invite?"
"A thousand. And a half, maybe."
"Damn, that is a lot of people."
"I know, but there's just so many people we want there."
"Why don't you try to cut some people out? Sit down, discuss who doesn't need to be there, or who can't make it."
"Everyone we're inviting has had some impact on us."
"Okay, write out your guest list. And then I'll sit with you and you can explain who each person is. I'll help you determine if they actually matter."
"Bekah, they all matter. These are people who've been there for me. Protected me when I couldn't protect myself."
"Kept you away from your family."
"Because Esther cursed me. Because, if it wasn't for Matteo I would never have woken up, and I might as well have been dead. Because if Esther could curse me this way, then what would stop her from going after our friends? What would stop others from attempting to do what she did."
"If these are people who existed when we were Originals, then who are they? How could they possibly still be alive?" Rebekah turned her eyes onto Matteo.
"Bek-" Siobhan started but Rebekah shook her head.
"I want to hear it from him."
"They started as witches. Just a group of natures servants. Then one of the vampires you sired turned a witch's daughter. And from there it grew. Now most of the members are vampires, with a few witches and werewolves." Siobhan looked at Matteo, but kept her question to herself. Why did he lie?