empty bottles: k.m.(under construction)

the blood never stops flowing! - chapter 2

"This is how I keep my guys happy: the occasional, all-you-can-eat buffet. My night-walkers 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 day-walkers, the trusted few – they just like the party" Marcel gleamed proudly down at the mess he created on the Abbatoir floor as if Astrid wouldn't of dangled him off the roof for calling them 'his' guys instead 'theirs' but he supposed his mother was not in earshot. Every kind of 'nightwalker' - as Marcel and Astrid had so affectionately called them - were having their pick of the NOLA tourists. Music blared through the speakers to drown out the sound of screaming civilians as the clock hit midnight

Miss Astrid Mikaelson found herself playing supervisor to the midnight feast as she observed from the balcony with Diego. Having chosen more formal attire that night, her trench coat hung over her figure as she played with the floral ring that adorned her left hand. As she looked around, she noticed Marcel in deep conversation but the deep contrast between light and dark stopped her from seeing his new friend, so proving her infamous sneakiness, she listened.

"It's quite an operation. Tell me – what about the victims? Seems like a lot of graves to dig"

It was as if someone had brought a fist to her stomach. Niklaus Mikaelson, her husband - the man who she believed had abandoned her, stood arm in arm with the man she had stood by for the past 200 years. The young woman looked around with a stern expression. Her nostrils flared as she grew angrier and angrier and her eyes narrowed as she looked for a way out. Diego caught the hint that she'd heard something and his eyebrows furrowed.

"You okay?"

Just as Astrid was about to reply to her friend, Thierry Vanchure walked into the party looking ready to join in the feat till he caught sight of Astrid and Diego and paced over to them. She already had her back up at the look in his eye as he sped up the stairs to her and she left Diego's side.

"Thierry? Talk to me." The Queen commanded gently and he leant down to her ear, his hand drifting to hold her arm like a child wanting reassurance as he informed her of the ghastly news that she would inevitably have to go and tell Marcel about.

Which meant looking that bastard in the eye.

"Marcel!" Astrid began across the balcony and Klaus's head whipped around with, his undead heart beating rapidly. Astrid caught his eye and her whole head split in two before she shook him off and looked to their son.

"Six of our guys were killed in a bar outside of the Quarter. Night-walkers. No one saw who."

As she spoke, the hybrid took in her appearance. She'd let her hair grow out longer since 1919, brunette ringlets now sat around her hips. She looked powerful in a crisp white shirt and black chinos. Astrid had known Nik for 1000 years and could read him like an open book. Once she finished, he couldn't help but look away, she knew he knew something. Marcel spoke, but it was clouded as the other two in the conversation were distracted. Marcel walked away and the two made eye contact once more. All manner of sorrowful emotions flashed through Nik's eyes at once much to her surprise. She kept her eyes dark and low and resisted the impulse to jump into his arms.

Astrid was a woman who knew better.

"Love, I can explain"

"I have no time for your explanations, Nik."

One hundred years ago, her nickname for him provoked a toothy grin and a look of admiration, but this time it made his heart drop as her words were laced with an indescribable venom. She went to walk away but he reached out and grabbed her wrist, only for her to attempt to rip it from his grasp.

"Astrid-"

"I am not doing this right now-" She snapped at him, that fiery spark he used to adore flashing in her eyes as she turned back to face him. A moment of silence overcame the pair, eyes locked with tension high. He felt her chest brush his with every heavy breath, craving the feeling of her skin against his but he knew better. Astrid was unbeatable, this unbreakable force of nature that would not be bent by the sweet caress of a man - even if she had dedicated the last 900 years to him.