Scared

House of the Rising Son

 I stand and lean against the railing of the abattoir watching the party unfold, once again, before my eyes. When I feel a presence beside me  "The city of New Orleans... people of all stripes and flavors from all over the country come here to party on our streets. Some are just looking for fun... some are looking for something a little darker, more dangerous. So, we invite them into my home and we give it to them." I turn to see a random nightwalker there, smiling, looking out over the party. I watch as Diego walks in behind a young looking couple as they look around in awe. "Then, at the stroke of midnight, everything changes, and it's time to feed." I finish and then I see Marcel lead Klaus around a balcony overlooking the party. They watch as Marcel's vampires feed ravenously on the humans, who are screaming in terror.

"This is how I keep my guys happy: the occasional, all-you-can-eat buffet. My nightwalkers love it. I've got 'em working hard, trying to earn one of these daylight rings. They deserve to blow off a little steam. My daywalkers, the trusted few – they just like the party" Marcel explains as I walk up to the two of them. I give Marcel to kisses, one on each cheek before I look at Nik, looking at the  crest of the 'M' monogram, as well as the coiled serpent. 

"It's quite an operation. Tell me – what about the victims? Seems like a lot of graves to dig." Nik says as he peels his eyes from 'M' and locks them on mine.

"Can't kill 'em all. Too many folks go missing, tourism drops. So, we heal them with a little vamp blood, erase their memory, send them on their way – no muss, no fuss." I explain and Nik eyes looking at me.

"I'm impressed."

"Nothing I didn't learn from you back in the day." I say smugly at him and look to see him smirking that cocky little grin at me. I roll my eyes and see Thierry, one of Marcel's vampires, walking toward us.

"Marcel. Natalya." Thierry says as he reaches us.

" 'Sup, Thierry?" Marcel asks

 "Six of our guys were killed in a bar outside of the Quarter. Nightwalkers. No one saw who." Thierry says and Marcel's face drops, I on the other hand know who did it. I turn to glare at Nik. I walk out of the abattoir and down the street towards the nightwalkers bar.

I get there to find six dismembered bodies. I walk around and kneel down next to one of the younger nightwalker that I had taken a liking to. I close his eyes with my fingers and pull the stake from his chest. I feel someone watching me, I snap my head up. "You could have done a lot better, Rebekah. Very sloppy and juvenile." I say not even turning around.

"Well, we all couldn't have been trained to kill in French court." She snaps back as I stand up and turn around to face the blonde original. 

"Maybe if you weren't so scared of your own flesh and blood, you could have been there by my side, riding horses, learning to fight with a blade, meeting royalty from various countries all over Europe, but no. You and your brothers had to flee, leaving me once again, alone, without my family, without my husband." I rant, stepping closer to her.

"You could have came with us." Rebekah yells. I just start laughing at her. She looks at me in such confusion.

"No I couldn't. You do realize that I was royalty. I still am. As long as Romanov blood runs through my veins, as long as the name Natalya Romanov has the title of Grand Princess of Imperial Russia, I will never run. Even if that means getting left by my so called family." I spit at her. Her eyes glazing over with tears. I scoff at her pettiness and then turn and walk away from her. 

"Natalya!" She calls after me, I stop and turn on my heel so I am facing her. I cross my arms over my chest at wait for her to say what she wants to say. "You haven't changed one bit, you are still the stubborn Russian that Nik fell in love with all those centuries ago." She smiles at me and I smile back at her.