The Sorceress | Klaus Mikaelson

P R O L O G U E

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"Please, Nicolette!" The young girl begged her elder sister, following her around like a stray puppy. "I never get to play with you three."

"No, Arabella," The eldest snapped, glaring down at the her.

"The other children don't like it when we bring you," The girl beside Nicolette, only younger by a few months, piped.

"Felicity, that's rude," The second youngest of the bunch frowned, turning her dark eyes towards her younger sister.

"Maddy," Arabella tugged on her sister's sleeve, stopping her in her tracks. Her round eyes peered up, tears beginning to gather on the waterline. "Please. I don't like playing alone everyday."

Madeleine Bedaux stared down sadly her youngest sister, feeling a slight pang in her heart.

"I promise I won't use any magic this time," Arabella swore, gripping her sleeve tighter. "Even if no one is looking."

"You know that is not the reason they don't wish to play with you, Belly," Madeleine sighed, gently tugging her arm out of her younger sister's grip and walking away.

Arabella watched her sisters join the other children they always play with, laughing and chatting happily. It wasn't until she felt the tear roll down her cheek that she quickly turned and walked away, the six year old child not wanting everyone to see her cry. She messily pushed her frizzy, dark curls out of sad, pale eyes, picking up her pace gradually.

Arabella Bedaux was a small child for her age, with a lion's mane of deep brown curls that always seemed to be a mess, no matter how hard her mother tried to contain them. A complexion not quite as dark as her sisters, falling a few shades lighter, and instead of dark coals, two pale green jewels made up her eyes. Differences that her sisters and all the other servant children never let her forget. Differences that made her mother stare at her in disgust when she thought Arabella wasn't looking. A reminder, that she wasn't quite a Bedaux. That she wasn't really their sister.

She's used to being excluded from the other children-- from her sisters. But this time was different. Madeleine subtly calling her out like that... it struck a chord. Nicolette and Felicity were always harsh, but never Madeleine. She was supposed to be the kind one. So Arabella ran away from the field all the servant children generally played in, into the forest as far as she could. She just wanted to get away from all the mean kids.

Finally, exhausted, she collapsed against a tree trunk, sinking down to the floor. All the emotions bubbling inside her caused the fallen leaves to begin levitating above the ground.

"Don't," Arabella whispered, squeezing her eyes and fists shut. "Grand-mère says not to let the magic control me," She repeated the teachings of her grandmother, trying to calm herself.

Just as the leaves began to sink back to the ground, she heard a soft humming coming from somewhere close. Frowning, Arabella jumped up, searching for the origin of the sound. She turned around, realizing it was coming from behind her.

The little witch continued to walk in the direction of the melody, when a towering white house came into view, hidden before by the tall trees. Arabella gasped at the sight.

It's the Salvatore Estate. Where her mother works. The Bedaux children have all been told hundreds of times to never set foot near or on the Estate, unless otherwise told. Especially not to bother the Salvatore boys. They were to stay in the Servant's house and on those grounds. Arabella knew her mother would be furious if she were to be caught.

Yet, curiosity still got the best of her, and she found herself continuing forward, making sure to stay hidden behind the trees.

A young boy, roughly her own age, sat in the middle of the grass, playing nonchalantly with a wooden soldier. His golden brown locks framed deep green eyes, and he hummed a tune softly to himself as he played.

Arabella watched him, playing all alone, and realized he was quite like herself.

Lonely.

Suddenly, he looked up, locking eyes with Arabella. Her breath caught in her throat as they both stared at one another with wide eyes, neither child knowing what to do. Slowly, the boy raised a hand, waving slightly.

The action stunned Arabella. She expected him to be mad, or frightened. Not welcoming. Nonetheless, she waved back, still clutching a free arm around the tree trunk.

"Stefan, come clean up for dinner!" The loud voice scared both of them, the boy turning towards the house.

"Coming!" He yelled back, whipping back around, only to find that Arabella had disappeared. In reality, she had rushed to hide behind a bush, hoping that whoever owned that voice would not see her.

Stefan jumped up and took a few steps forward, frowning as he searched for the girl with confused eyes. She had just been here a second ago. Where had she gone?

"Stefan!" Arabella watched as an older boy with dark hair and pale blue eyes jogged towards Stefan. "I said to come clean up. Did you not hear me?"

"I did," Stefan nodded, not turning away from the trees. "I just thought..."

The elder sighed, slinging an arm around Stefan and turning him away. "Come along. You know how Father gets when we make him wait."

And with that, Arabella watched the two boys walk away, back into the Salvatore Estate.

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Author's Note:

Hi! This chapter is a lil short just cause it's the prologue, but they get longer don't worry! Also, if you've read some of my other stories then you know that I create Character Aesthetic Boards for characters in the story, but yeah, I just feel like it helps with the visualization and stuff, and I've found that some people like them, so I keep making them! Please don't steal them haha never had that problem (...yet) but just making sure. Don't forget to comment and vote!

-Athena