Episode-9
SOUTHERN LOUISIANA DOCKS
It was pouring down rain at the docks on the southern coast of Louisiana bordering the Gulf of Mexico.
Marcel once asked me what it feels like being daggered. I told him it's like a deep, dreamless sleep. But this is no ordinary dagger.
Rebekah laid in the coffin with a stake in her chest. The handle had ornate skulls carved into the surface that were coated with black varnish and embellished with red gemstones in the eye sockets.
In a warehouse at the docks, a man was using a forklift to transport the soggy, seaweed-covered shipping crate that contained Rebekah's body over with a stack of wooden pallets.
This stake ensures I feel everything. The aching cold. The suffocating darkness. The burn of my veins crying out for blood. And the long agony of waiting.
A middle-aged sailor was rubbing his hands together to warm them as he waited for the shipping container to be dropped off.
Sailor sighed, "Right where he said it would be." He turned toward five of his lackeys, who were swarming around the crate. He smiled widely, "Open it! This Mr. "Elijah Smith" paid big money to have this dredged out of the Gulf. What's ever in it has gotta be worth a fortune. I say we renegotiate."
The men finished opening the crate, but before they could fully examine its contents, Elijah appeared behind them and snapped his large, black umbrella close as he looked at them in annoyance, "I'm afraid that was my final offer."
The sailor and his men started to get into defensive positions.
The Mikaelson stripped off his coat, threw it onto a pile of lumber before vamp-speeding toward the sailor, plunging his hand into his chest, and ripping out his heart. Elijah fought and killed several of the other men and the rest of the men run away from him in terror.
Once everyone had fled or been dealt with, the now-blood-splattered Elijah walked over to the shipping crate and opened the lid of the coffin before yanking the stake out of Rebekah's chest.
Rebekah immediately woke with a gasp as the color started to return to her skin, though she was still pale and peaked-looking. She sat up and looked around in shock before she noticed his presence and sighed in relief.
He smiled at her widely, "Hello, sister."
The younger Mikaelson smiled weakly, "Tell me I didn't miss Christmas!"
MIKAELSON COMPOUND
Cami sat in an armchair in the courtyard, which had been completely made over with Christmas decorations, including a huge tree in the middle of the room that was adorned with white light and gold and red baubles.
She watched with equal parts curiosity, horror and exasperation as a compelled woman drained blood from a cut on the palm of her hand into a wine glass. She gave her a confused look, "Do they, like, pay you?"
The blood donor smiled at her cheerfully as Nikole waltzed into the room and answered her question, "Handsomely! And with a generous Christmas bonus." She looked over at the woman, who hands her the glass of her blood, "Isn't that right?"
The woman smiled weakly and nodded before she left.
The hybrid smirked at Cami in amusement as she sat down in the chair next to her to enjoy her morning meal.
Cami looked at her in slight disbelief, "So, you just compel her to nod and agree with whatever you say?"
Nikole smiled, "I compel her to feed me... and to hang the occasional Christmas ornament. She can say whatever the hell she wants."
