Hidden | Elijah Mikaelson |

0.3 Compromises

"Wake up, love."

A soft voice stirred me from my sleep and I quickly sat up in bed to see Nik sitting in a chair in the corner of my room. I resisted the urge to scream and snatched the covers up to hold over my chest, "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

"I've already been invited in, which means I can come and go as I please," he explained nonchalantly while looking at the bookcase next to him. "You've got quite the collection here. I'm impressed."

"Were you watching me sleep?" I demanded, ignoring his attempt at small talk.

"Only for a little. You were doing this cute little twitch thing with your mouth," he nodded.

My eyes widened, "Oh my God!"

"Enough chit-chat," Nik waved his hands dismissively and stood up. "Tell me everything you've learned."

"Not until I put some pants on," I shook my head at him and pointed to the door. "Leave."

"You mean I can't watch?" He quirked his head to the side.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Seriously, get out." I wasn't expecting him to listen, because most of the time he didn't listen to anything I said unless it was valuable to him. But he rolled his eyes and muttered he'd be in the kitchen before leaving my room.

Once I was sure he'd left, I hopped out of bed and ran over to my drawer to put on a pair of pajama pants. That'll teach me to sleep half naked. I threw on a robe, too, because I wasn't wearing a bra, and reluctantly walked out and into the kitchen to see him sitting at the table, drinking coffee.

"Where did you—" I asked in confusion, pointing at his coffee, before the smell of it hit me. I turned around to see that he had made himself right at home and made himself coffee. And he was drinking it out of my favorite mug. "Okay, I know you're compelling me, but you're really starting to freak me out."

He chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm not here to stay. I just stopped by to see how your little investigation was going."

"I smoothed things out with Cami and Marcel," I explained and sat in the seat across from him. "They haven't really talked since the Gala, but apparently he wants her to hang out with some girl tonight at the festival. Something about how she's like a "little sister" to him."

"Are you going?" Nik asked, suddenly a lot more interested.

"Do I have a choice?" I deadpanned.

"No, you don't," he answered and got up, heading for the door.

"Wait!" I called before he could leave. I don't really know why I stopped him, but there was a part of me that wanted to know more about him. He was so mysterious. "You never told me what you are. Or how you're getting me to say and do all these things."

"It's called compulsion," he began, hovering at the door. "One of the perks of being a vampire."

It felt like my heart literally stopped. "A vampire?" I repeated, both confused and afraid. No, vampires were fake. They were fairytales.

"Yea, one of the Originals actually, which means we were the first vampires ever created. You've already met one of them," Nik continued.

"Rebekah," I realized. Well, it made sense. Both of them were gorgeous and scared the hell out of me. "Marcel, he's one too?"

"You're a smart one," he nodded.

"Why are you so bent on taking down Marcel? I thought you two were friends," I asked in confusion. They seemed good enough friends at the Gala.