little mikaelson ⚜️ the originals

37

The first attack came at night, when Darla was sleeping.

There was the incessant pattering on her window that disturbed her to the point of interrupting her rest. But as she got closer to the window for inspection, she realised that it was not just some leaky pipe that had burst above her window. But instead, the liquid that dripped on her window was dark. Thick. And most importantly, it was red.

There, right above her window, was a body. Bitten and strung up for everyone to see, right above the girl's window. But it wasn't just anyone's body.

"Dad!" Darla screeched, calling out for the one person she could think of to help at the moment.

And within an instant, Klaus was there, relieved to see that she was free of any injury. But that relief was short lived when he saw what she was crying about.

"Oh, love," He muttered, rushing over to her and hiding her face in his chest. "It's okay, nothing's going to hurt you. I promise."

"Brother?" Elijah asked from the doorway, standing there with the rest of the Mikaelson family, along with Hayley, Kit, and Marcel. "What is it?"

"Get her out of here." Was all the hybrid responded with. "Kit, take her to your room, there are no windows in there. Lock the door. Barricade it if you have to. Freya will put a protection spell on it after you guys enter. Keep her calm and keep her safe. Got it?"

Nodding, Kit rushed over to his girlfriend, trying to avoid the sight of the dead body and the blood dripping down on the window.

"What's happening?" Rebekah asked, looking at her brother. "Who is that?!"

"I don't know, but Mikael is responsible, no doubt—"

"B-Belle." Darla sputtered out, holding onto Kit for dear life.

At this new piece of information, everyone in the room softened a bit. It was apparent that she was the only one who knew who the girl was, but as the eyes of the dead girl stared into Darla's soul, she found herself breaking even more.

"You knew her?" Kit asked, rubbing her arm up and down soothingly.

Darla nodded and sniffled, wiping her eyes before screwing them shut. She couldn't stand to look anymore.

"She... She was my friend. Her name... H-Her name was Belle Castro."

As she spoke the words, her sobbing became thicker, realising the weight of the situation.

"It's all my fault," She cried, throwing herself out of her boyfriend's embrace and tugging at her hair. "This is all my fault!"

"No it isn't, love—"

"Yes it is! Had I just ignored that stupid phone call and stayed with Rebekah, none of this would have happened. I should have just stayed back home where it was safe and where I wasn't such a freaking problem!"

"Darla Hope Mikaelson!" Klaus boomed, ending her rant. "You are anything but a problem. I brought you here because this is your home. This is your kingdom. You're the Princess of New Orleans, and princesses do not cower in fear or wallow in regret. They stay strong. They stand tall. They fight to defend their kingdom. And right now we are under attack. So calm down, do as I say, and stay with Kit!"

"But how can I defend my kingdom if I'm locked up in some room like Rapunzel?!" Darla fired back. "I can't stay locked up in there while all of you are out there, risking your lives! That is cowardly and hypocritical and wrong!"

"Darla," Klaus growled out in a warning tone. "You do not know Mikael. He is far more dangerous than you could ever imagine. I will not risk everything just so you can go out there and get killed!"

"Hayley doesn't know him either, and she's fighting!"

"Hayley is also a werewolf! You, Darla, are not! You're a human!"

"Even so, how are you going to tell me to fight but try and keep me locked up a second later?!"

"Because I am your father, you do as I say, and most importantly, I will not say it twice or waste time on these petty arguments!" He shouted, finally snapping at his daughter. "Now go!"

Klaus never saw himself as a "tough love" parent, but at the moment he didn't have a choice. Her emotions were going to get her killed and he could not have that. He needed his baby girl alive more than anything and without knowing where Mikael was, it was growing more and more risky by the minute. So he watched as the boy he was growing to see as a son of sorts whisked her away to his room and locked the door, keeping his princess safe and sound for the time being.

"Niklaus—"

"Don't say it," He snapped, taking his frustrations out on his brother. "Right now we have Mikael to deal with, and we cannot do that if we are all crowded in here like sitting ducks. Freya, put a protection spell on Kit's room. The strongest one you can muster up without exhausting yourself. Hayley, you stick with Elijah. Marcellus, you go with Rebekah. Kol, you're with me, and Freya..."

"Hey," The witch smirked. "I've always been sort of a lone wolf anyways."

Klaus smiled a bit at his eldest sister before turning to look at his family.

"This is about defending our family and what makes it whole," He spoke, igniting a fire of a fight within all of them. "This is about protecting our future. This is about revenge for all of the torture that Mikael has put us all through. This is about retribution for someone else's little girl that he took away from them. And most of all, this is about always and forever. We will fight, and we will fight to kill. For our future. For our past. For everything. Mikael is strong, do not forget this. He is smart and experienced and he is angry. But we have something he doesn't."

"What is that?" Hayley asked, holding her lover's hand.

At this question, Klaus smiled wickedly and began walking out of the room, ready for it to rain blood across his kingdom of New Orleans.

"We have a cause."