Always And Forever | The Originals

8: Edward Mikaelson

Hearing people talk about life before was a confusing concept for someone who doesn't remember life before. Normal is a relative matter. My normal is different from your normal. Your normal could be different from someone you live with. For me, my normal is different from a whole school of people, included in that is my sister. 

Her normal was travelling with our parents and private schools, shopping trips and having our parents around of the time. My normal was this place. This school, of different people, with a million different stories. Where I only see my parents on holidays and talk to them once a week on the telephone. That was my normal and I was okay with that.

Of course, things changed a little as the years went on. That being Penelope's ability to be left alone for longer than 5 minutes. Her boyfriend broke her heart and I guess she's just never really recovered from it. Penelope has never been told no. So it was a shock to her system and I thought a few weeks max and she'll be back to just being Penelope but that didn't happen.

She's partying a lot. Sleeping with boys getting into trouble with the town that I have to keep fixing. Dr Saltzman already warned her, if she gets in any more trouble she'll be pulled off all the committees. And if it goes further she'll be expelled. Mum and Dad chose this school for us for a reason because it's a safe place for us to be. It's the only place dad wanted us to be. So I needed to do everything I could to keep her here.

No one really know's Penelope like I know her. No one sees her the way I do. She's a lot more sensitive than she comes across. She's the ice queen in the school. She walks the halls and people move out of her way. More so when Lizzie was alone after her best friend graduated. Lizzie had no one to protect her as such... maybe not protect her in the way your thinking, more like protecting her from herself. Lizzie is none by everyone for her episodes... I personally never witnessed one but my sister seemed to use them to bring Lizzie down from her reign as queen bee. That's when things began to go south in the Penelope sanity department.

She became obsessed with being at the top. Being the best. Being the most feared. The most wanted. Lizzie had that and I saw my sister take it from her and when Lizzie didn't care she began obsessing about other things, boys, parties, trouble.

I knew Dad wouldn't want her to be like this, so I helped her hide her hangovers, and changed her report card for her. I didn't want him to be disappointed, as the years went on dad grew more and more tired. The look of defeat washing over his eyes more and more taking over. Mum would smile at us with a sad glint in her eyes. Almost like it was the end... the end of what I don't know. The end of running? The end of hiding? The of this school?

I hoped it wasn't the end of school. I enjoyed it. I really liked it here. I had a lot of friends despite being different. I didn't have any cool magical abilities. I couldn't transform into a wolf. I didn't have wings like wade. I was normal. Human... despite the healing ability... I had vampire blood running through my veins thanks to my dad.

Looking at my sister as we sit across the dinner table from my family I knew she was one more disaster from shutting down completely. She had gotten to the point where she was no longer pretending to be happy. Or okay. Mum and Dad both chose to ignore it. They just pretend like it wasn't happening, but she was miserable...Maybe the change from her normal to this normal was a lot on her.

The family was always and forever. That's what dad always said and in a way our family was slowly slipping out of her touch, the gaps between seeing them became longer and longer. The phones became shorter. They became more distant when we did finally get to see them. They were worried about something. Something was happening that they were hiding from us.

Penelope knew more... She told me there was something about black magic that was keeping them from us... but they seemed fine when we were here. No weird black magic just normal mum and dad. I say normal but not really. They seem like they're growing old before their time which is near enough impossible seeing as their vampires. But it was happening... their eyes showed their true age, they were tired, they were nearing the end I knew it I just didn't want to believe it.

Whatever it was that was taking them under was stronger than my father. Who in my world is the strongest man I know. How can something be bigger than him?