STEADY SILENCE || KLAUS MIKAELSON ¹

8 • bring my brother back.

As they drove through the dark streets with rain pouring heavily from the sky silence filled the air. Neither Nell nor Luke knew what to say to one another. Nell didn't know what to say to reassure her brother and Luke didn't know what to say to comfort his sister and so nothing was said at all.

"I'm proud of you" Nell tells him breaking the heavy silence.

"Oh yeah I'm a real winner" Luke replies sarcastically.

"Is this a good place?" She asks ignoring the sarcasm.

"Oh yeah it's a palace" He replies with sarcasm once again "a summer camp for junkies"

"I'm proud of you, it doesn't matter what you do, I'm always going to be proud of you" Nell tells him turning to face him with a smile before turning her eyes back to the road "just being my brother back."

"You're really okay aren't you?" Luke suddenly asks.

"Me?" Nell asks "I'm perfect, I've got the perfect husband, the perfect job. I'm great"

"You're sleeping okay?" Luke asks not all that convinced that she's as okay as she says she is.

"Yeah. It's easier with somebody else next to me. Just like it was when we were kids" Nell smiles.

After that silence once again falls over them. They drove down a dimly lit street when Luke told Nell to pull over. For a moment she looked like she wanted to protest but then she seemed to think better of it and pulled the car to a stop. For a moment Luke didn't say anything, the only sound the rain hitting the windows and the windscreen wipers wiping it away.

"Do you have any cash?" Luke asked breaking the silence but he didn't look at his sister, instead he just stared out of the window out onto the dimly lit street.

"A bit. Why?" Nell asked Staring at her twins profile.

"I uh. I just need one more favour" Luke begins turning to face her finally.

"Why are we be..." Nell begins when Luke cuts her off.

"See that guy?" Luke asks pointing to a man on the street corner, his body covered in a dark hoodie.

"Yeah.." Nell replies suspiciously.

"Okay so, here it is. Uh. I need to get well before I go in." Luke tells her.

"I'm not sure I understand" Nell tells him.

"It helps. You know. Um you get well and then you get to go through the gates and you get to kind of get it out of your system ya know?" Luke says "an-and get well. It helps. It's just really helpful. See I was just gonna have you stop here and I was gonna hop out and take care of it but um... he's, that guy in the dark hoodie, see I owe that guy and if he sees me coming and I don't have the money he's... he's just not gonna sell to me. But Um he doesn't know you. So..."

"So you want me to buy drugs for you?" Nell asks "you want me to buy you heroin and then drop you off at rehab?" Nell asks, her voice raising and her eyes beginning to tear up.

"It's a little thing Nellie" Luke says beginning to get agitated "I'll pay you back as soon as I get out. And it's gonna take I promise you. Look I'm tired of this shit okay? I'm done. I'm gonna do it this time. Look I can bullshit Steve and Shirl and Theo if I've gotta but not.. not you Nellie. Never you. Look at me. It's just you and me, that's it, this is it. I'm gonna do it. I just I just uh. I just need to get well one last time. Just to push me through the gates and then that's it, you believe me right? I believed you. I always always believed you. When we were kids and then when we were older and you said what you thought you saw, I believed you. Believe me now."

"How much is it gonna cost?" Nell asks her voice filled with heartbreak.

"20 bucks. That's all you need" Luke tells her.

"I always believed you. You know that?" Nell asks.

"I know. I know. Just, just help me get well okay Nellie?" Luke asks.

"Okay" Nell replies her voice shaking before she grabs some cash from her wallet and then opens the door "I'll be right back. I promise"

As soon as Nell leaves the car Luke watches her cross the street before he looks down to her purse and when he does and he spots the pills he reads the label and lets out a low fuck, realising that he should have trusted his instinct when he thought his sister was hiding something from him. Realising that she's really not all that well but she defiantly won't open up to him now after buying him drugs.

Soon enough Nell is back in the car and handing the drugs over to him.

"Thanks" Luke tells her taking the heroin and preparing it.

"He just spit that out of his mouth" Nell tells him shocked.

"Yeah that's what they do" Luke tells her.

While Luke prepares the heroin Nell stares out of the window.

"You still collecting those buttons?" Luke asks.

But Nell is too shocked to properly answer as she catches sight of bent neck lady right there, in the middle of the road infront of the car.

Luke keeps speaking but Nell can't answer as she keeps staring at bent neck lady just standing there staring.