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A gasp ripped through me as I came to, the stake in my chest gone. My back laid on a soft bed with a pillow that could put any other pillow to shame. My bones, regardless of the soft bed, were stiff from being dead for about an hour or two. My green eyes skimming along the room, not seeing anything familiar.
"Oh, you're awake." A woman said in a calming tone. My head lifted up a bit with a grimace. Human. It was clear based on the bite marks on her slightly loose skin. An older woman, maybe in her late forties to early fifties, stared at me with a soft smile. "You must be hungry, dear." She held her arm out and also tilted her head slightly in offering. My body was up quickly, but I didn't sink my teeth into the woman, instead connecting our gazes.
"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked her, my eyes widening to force the answer from her.
"This is Mrs. Pennington, a lovely human who let us in with open arms." My eyes pulled from the old woman's eyes to meet the eyes of one of the vampires I had pulled the dagger from.
The young man who had his hair trimmed and modern clothes on now. My thoughts instantly began to wonder about the other man who was in the coffins. If he was here as well or if he made it out before that Klaus guy stabbed him again.
"My name is Kol Mikaelson." He grinned as he introduced himself before flashing to stand next to me. His head tilting to the side a bit as he eyed me. "And you rescued my siblings and I from our crazed brother. Put us in your debt." He bowed slightly with a grin. His hand waved at the human woman, dismissing her.
"My debt? For stealing something shiny? Luck is finally on my side." I said thoughtfully with a light laugh. Kol smirked in return to my playful banter. "Eleanor Hurt - and I should be going. Things to do and such. Thanks for removing the stake from my chest -"
"Yeah, about that." Kol pursed his lips in thought. "How is it that you survived that? A stake to the heart -" His fingers brushed against where the stake had been lodged. "- usually is a death sentence." I leaned in, grabbing his hand as I acted like it was one huge secret.
"Don't tell anyone -" I started with a grin, Kol listening closely like I was literally going to tell him anything. "But....I'm a bit....different." Kol growled out a laugh, throwing his head back as he realized that was all I was going to say.
"Don't patronize our friend, Kol." I turned my head to spot the woman who I had also released. She had cleaned up nicely, not looking like she was from the 1920s anymore.
"You were all alive then?" I asked with a growing smile. "That's brilliant. Absolutely." The girl smiled as Kol grinned deviously.
"Glad you think so. Rebekah Mikaelson, and you are Eleanor? I overheard." Her smile turned a bit sheepish at the admittance of eavesdropping before dropping back into casual. "Thanks for un-daggering us, our idiot brother can be a bit moronic sometimes." She explained.
"Siblings, can't live with them, can't - Well no, you just can't live with them." I shrugged with a light laugh. "Can't really vouch for that saying though, never had siblings - or family really." Rebekah frowned at me, confused.
"No family? You had to of had parents." She tried. I shook my head before sighing.
"Mother died giving birth, back then the medicine was god awful. And father shipped me off to a brothel to pay for his alcohol and housing." I watched as Kol and Rebekah both held a bit of pain at the idea of how my family had held up, but I just waved my hand at them. "It's all fine. Past and such things."
"I should go check on Finn, our oldest brother. I believe he was trying to figure out the coffee maker." Rebekah mentioned. I perked up at this, looking past them to the hallway.
"Coffee?" Kol frowned with a tilt of his head.
"You didn't feed, wouldn't you prefer some blood over coffee?" I let the playful smirk pull at my lips.
"Are you offering?" My green eyes widening slightly to taunt him before a crash sounded in the kitchen. Kol had looked to be about to question my response but chose to run off into the kitchen with me following behind.
Glass was shattered on the floor with a brown murky liquid puddled around it as a hiss left the mouth of the man in front of us. The one that had gained my attention in the truck. His hazel eyes find mine immediately when I bring my gaze up slowly. He was in more modern day clothing, jeans and a basic grey t-shirt. His hair cut short and kind of spiked at the top in a careless way.
"Have an accident, brother? Making coffee not up to your standards any longer?" Kol joked as he eyed the spilled coffee on the floor. Finn, I believe Rebekah called him, tore his eyes from mine as his lips pursed at his brother in distaste of Kol's humor.
"The water is polluted with vervain." Finn's voice raspy and annoyed at his younger brother. I frowned as his words settled in my mind before walking over to the coffee pot and pouring myself a mug of it, ignoring the looks from Finn and Kol as Rebekah came in. My shoes crunching the glass on the floor as I walked over it. Raising the mug to my lips, my eyes looked from Kol to Finn, sticking to him as I hummed.
The strong flavor of the vervain overwhelmed the coffee bitter taste. Pulling the mug back while my tongue darted out to rid my lips of the residue left over - my gaze never leaving Finn's as his own hazel eyes darkened, watching my lips.
"Yep, vervain. Probably accidental vervain pollution. Growing in the wells, wind blowing it - could be any number of things."
"How are you so certain it wasn't intentional? Small town, maybe they have a Vampire awareness." Rebekah pipped in as Kol shrugged his hands with his eyes scrunched up.
"Just going to ignore that our little friend here just had zero reaction to vervain and can't die from a stake." He muttered causing me to snort softly with a shake of my head.
"I'm not the same vampire as the norm. Vervain doesn't effect me at all. Just leaves an aftertaste." I said with a grimace as I stuck my tongue out in disgust. "And there's not enough vervain in that coffee to be intentional. Last town I was in -"I grinned as I reminisced. "They knew about vampires and the water was extremely pungent, ruined my food source a bit. Went from pizza and fried chicken to stale rice cakes and rotting apples."
I placed the mug down before going to a tall cabinet and pulling it open to show a water cooler.
"And that explains why Mrs. Pennington can be compelled." I clued them in. Finn looked at me with a stoic expression, but his eyes showed so much emotion in them. Kol was looking at me suspiciously. Like he didn't trust me, which honestly? I don't blame him one bit. Rebekah on the other hand ignored me all together and moved to pick up the glass on the floor with a sigh.
"It's not like it matters much if the town knows or not. We can't stay here." She informed her brothers mostly. "Nik will be looking for us - and I didn't see Elijah so that must mean he will be looking for as well."
"Elijah? Exactly how many of you are there?" I questioned with a bit of a smirk. But the moment died off as Rebekah hissed as a piece of glass cut her finger, the vervain in the coffee sizzling her skin.
My eyes darkened as my jaw tightened as I eyed the small bead of blood on her finger before she wiped it off on her jeans. I turned away, breathing heavily through my nose for a moment as I tried to chant in my head a mantra to ease my hunger. Potestas est fortitudo. Pascendi donum est. Potestas est fortitudo. Pascendi donum est.
A hand turned me around, wrapping around my throat before slamming my back into the wall of the kitchen. Kol's judgemental gaze darkening his crazed brown eyes. His fangs extended in a threatening way.
