Bloodline

THREE|dark paradise

The Originals

S1:E3

☄. *. ⋆

Veronica sat crossed leg on the couch, a mug of tea in her hands as she watched a show on her laptop.

Since this morning, Veronica had barely spoken two words. Rebekah was by her side until she stopped crying, the girl's body eventually becoming too drained to produce more tears. When she went back to sleep and woke up with a dry throat, she hoped some tea and Gossip Girl would help.

Klaus hesitated outside the living room doorway. Looking down at the item in his hands, he wasn't sure if now was the right time, but he wanted an excuse to talk to Veronica. Clearing his throat to make his presence known, he walked into the room.

Tearing her eyes away from the screen, Veronica met Klaus' gaze. Assuming he wanted the room to himself, she closed the laptop and began to stand, but stopped when he held out a free hand.

"No, stay. I just wanted to give you something."

Hesitantly sitting back down, Veronica gently placed her mug on the table before accepting the book.

Reading the cover, she opened the book and almost coughed from the dust that came out.

Klaus grimaced, "It's a bit old and hasn't been read in years, but I figured it could be of some use to you."

"What is it? I can barely read the words on the cover."

"It's information about banshees. There's some information about banshees in the French Quarter, but they're all probably dead by now."

Veronica snorted, "That's putting it nicely. Thank you for this, but is there any reason I should be knowing this stuff? Are we fighting with banshees next?"

"You don't..." Klaus trailed off, giving her a questioning look, "I'm sorry, I thought you knew by now. I assumed during your friendship with the witches they'd let you know."

"Let me know what?"

Klaus took a seat next to her, gently taking the book out of her hands and turning to a certain page. When he gave it back, Veronica shot him a confused look before reading the words.

The page was titled Traits of a Banshee, and as she skimmed through the list, she felt her heartbeat begin to pick up.

"This is a joke, right? Shitty timing after I literally just lost my brother-"

"No, Veronica. We have some old books here and I thought you'd benefit from reading it. I'm sorry for the timing, I thought you knew."

"Knew that... I'm a banshee?"

Klaus nodded, "I suppose I knew when it first happened. The witch I had used for the sacrifices to make me a hybrid informed me of it after you screamed. I got all the confirmation I needed when you were unable to cross the line of salt at the school dance."

Veronica stared off to the side, processing what Klaus was saying. This morning, she was told that her brother was dead. This afternoon, she's learning that she was a banshee. It felt as though she was dreaming.

"But I don't get it. How come no one told me before? And out of my siblings, why me?"

"I don't know, love. I don't know your family's genetic history, but I'm assuming someone in your bloodline was a banshee as well. Perhaps it skipped down and you got the gene."

"This is so weird," Veronica mumbled to herself.

Klaus gave her a small, amused smile. The atmosphere around them felt better than yesterday. Speaking of yesterday.