Untold || E. Mikaelson

005.

"What do you mean 'is'? I found her obituary." I huff. "She had to disappear, to protect you. The moment you were born, she knew the Gemini coven would never accept you as Matriarch."

"Why would I be?" He exhales deeply, as if already regretting what he's going to say. "Gemini witches always have twins to carry on the bloodline. They complete a process called "the Merge" where they fight, and whichever one wins absorbs the other." Twins...I realize what he means. "I...I have a twin?"

"No. You had a twin. Mia, you completed the Merge before ever being born. You absorbed your twin in the womb. But that's not why. You're not a regular witch. You're a siphon. Like your uncle, Malachi. But he turned crazy, went insane. Killed a few of his siblings, tried to kill Jo. She survived. She baited Kai into the Merge and trapped him in a magic duplicate of the world, called a prison world, losing her own magic in the process."

I feel sick. I killed my own twin? And I'm descended from a crazy person? What if I end up just like him? Driven crazy by being an outcast. My mother is alive. This whole time. This is too much. Too much. "You don't have your own magic. You can take it from other people, from objects. That's why they won't accept you. If they knew Jo was alive, they'd come for her. For you."

I can barely choke out a whisper. "And Maisie?" He shakes his head. "Human. Her mother was Lila." I've heard enough. I turn and bolt up the stairs. "Mia, wait!" I ignore him. The frustration of the last few days finally crashes down on me. I'm crying before I even reach my room. Closing the door behind me, I collapse onto my floor.

Pushed up against the door, I draw my knees up to my face. I'm suffocating. There's a hole in my heart that wasn't there before. It's the startling absence of something I never had. Something I could've had. A twin. The tears fall in torrents, and I'm drowning. Drowning in my own sadness, my own grief, my own guilt. It overtakes me, drags me down. I'm trying so hard, so hard to kick free, but it keeps me stuck in place.

I'm glued to this moment, this spot. My sobs wrack my chest, and I hope that Maisie can't hear me. Gasping for air, I force myself to stop. No use crying over spilled milk. I cough once, twice, then stand up. I think I need a nap. And some answers. God, I'm filthy. The swim was over two days ago, and I have dirt and paint smudged on my clothes and skin. I'm not even sure where the dirt came from.

Stepping into my personal bathroom, I see just how dirty I am. My hair is in knots and becoming greasy. My eyes are rimmed with deep purple, despite just being asleep for a day and a half straight. And they're haunted. Red around the iris. As for the rest of me, I'm still relatively healthy. I've lost no weight, nor gained any. All my limbs work, except for a slight soreness in my neck.

Point being, I'm dirty and tired. I think this warrants a nice, hot, bath. I slide into the warm caress. The water soaks my joints and hair. My eyes slide shut.

~~~

I wake up with a gasp and sit up in the tub. The water is cold now, and my fingers are wrinkled. I must've fallen asleep. Stumbling out of the bathtub, I nearly trip. My head is spinning. I dry myself and put on some comfortable pajamas. Then I collapse in bed.

When I wake the next morning, my head is buzzing even worse than the night before. Ugh. I pop an aspirin, and sigh. A loud humming sound jump-scares me. But it's just the light. Strange. It must be broken. I reach up to unscrew it, and it shatters in my palm. I yank my hand away, but it's not bleeding.

My face in the mirror is one of a demons. I shriek and fall backwards. But when I look again, it's normal. My father pushes through my door, looking around. "Mia! Are you okay? I heard you screaming!" I push him away. "I'm fine. Shut the door behind you."

Ignoring his hurt look, I turn back to my business and begin brushing my hair. The second the door clicks shut, I sigh and dig the glass out of my pocket. It feels like feathers.

~~~

Elena Gilbert is the first to notice me in class. She catches me in the hallway. "Mia! Are you okay? Elijah told me he'd return you when I surrendered. I did, but it's complicated. Did he do anything to you? Do you remember?" Jeez, slow down. "I..." A ludicrous smell wafts into my nose, unlike anything I've smelt before. It's warm, and delicious, and coming from Elena.

In the part of her neck where the blood is rushing. "Mia? Oh my God!" Elena yelps as I grab onto her shoulders and yank her into the janitors closet. Her arms flail out as I bite her finger, turning into a muffled shriek. She bites her tongue, trying not to make a sound. But it tastes all wrong. Disgusting and metallic. I spit it out, sputtering.

"Ew! What the hell?" She stares at me in shock. "You're a vampire?" What? No. "No." I shake my head. "I don't know what came over me." And just like that, it's like earmuffs are put over my ears, and all sounds are dulled, back to their usual form. I blink, and I can't see every individual hair on Elena's head anymore.

"You need to come with me. You have to tell us eveything about Elijah and what he wants. I have a friend who might be able to help you. She's a witch." So with that, I allow the young doppelgänger to usher me away. What's funny is that I'm actually a year older than Elena. I'm nearly out of high school. A senior.

Whatever. Pretty soon, I'm sure that won't matter. At this rate, I'll be dead before my eighteenth birthday.

~~~