The Originals: Rewritten

Ch.6: Fruit of the Poisoned Tree

It was a beautiful day, as Klaus and Elijah sat in chairs on either side of the coffee table with a dead girl on the coffee table. Elijah and Klaus were reading books.

Rebekah walked into the parlor to see them reading.

"So, this is what you do when we're together as a family again? Vampire book club?"

"Reading edifies the mind, sister. Isn't that right, Elijah?" Klaus replied without looking up, still reading.

"Yes, that's quite right, Niklaus," Elijah agreed, also still reading, not looking up.

"And what's this business?" she accused, looking at the dead girl.

"Well, I couldn't very well let her go to waste, could I?" Klaus said, not answering her question, but assuming she'd get the drift.

"Well, I suppose I'll go fetch the rubbish bin, because she's staining a two hundred year old carpet," Rebekah commented, annoyed.

Elijah looked up from his book to see the girl bleeding out onto the table and the blood dripping onto the carpet.

"Ah, yes," Elijah commented, agreeing with Rebekah.

Klaus looked over at Elijah, and then to Katerina as she walked through the room and into the kitchen, her hand resting on her pregnant stomach. Klaus then watched Elijah follow Katerina into the kitchen.

Katherine was making herself some breakfast, when Elijah appeared, leaning in the doorway.

"Good morning," he greeted her.

"Hey," was the only greeting she could give him. She was still mad at him for leaving her without a look back, and making all of them worry about him. She knew Elijah could sense it, but she didn't care.

Rebekah entered through the back door, dragging a trashcan behind her.

"Listen, I know I'm the only one in this house that actually drinks milk, but would it kill any of you to make sure it's on the grocery list?" Katherine inquired.

"Speaking of, add bleach," Rebekah interjected.

Rebekah stomped through the kitchen and into the parlor to clean up the mess Klaus had left. Elijah dug around in a cupboard, as Rebekah did so, while Katerina pulled ice cream out of the freezer.

"I do hope my siblings were on their best behavior in my absence," Elijah stated to Katerina.

"In your absence, as you call it, I have been attacked by French Quarter vampires, was nearly murdered by witches whom are convinced this baby is Lucifer, and I have to deal with Klaus and Rebekah's mood swings, including my own." She looked up to see Elijah set a bowl on the bar counter with a spoon in hand. He set the box of cereal on the counter too, before pulling orange juice and milk out of the fridge and pouring her a bowl of cereal, and then filled it with milk.

"Oh...milk," she stated, feeling like an idiot, realizing there'd been milk all along. "They've been fine. They've become weirdly protective, which is quite different from how it used to be. I know I have you to thank for that," she added.

"I'm just happy to see you in one piece." He handed her the bowl of cereal, which she took. "So, back to the murderous witches. I have some concerns."

"I'm sure you do," she said, expecting nothing less from him. Broken up or not, he'd protect her, even at the cost of his life. He'd vowed that centuries ago to her. "For lack of a better word, they're evil, and my life is still linked to Sophie."