spilled blood

bonnie obliges, sinking down into the seat beside her. there's something guilty festering in her, ridiculously enough, like she's seven again and getting caught by grams with her hand literally in the cookie jar right before dinner. "i ... they died. they were killed, by this maniac—the original vampire called klaus. and i did something stupid." she takes a breath, meets sadie's eyes. they're strangers, but she's grasping at straws for support, for someone, anyone in the world who might actually be anywhere close to the family she needs right now. "i ... used dark magic to bring matt back. i resurrected him." she flinches, all too aware of the balance she's upset in doing so.

As Bonnie began delving into her explanation, Sadie couldn't deny that she was surprised. She'd honestly assumed that Bonnie had never dabbled in dark magic before; that her grandmother would have tried to deter her from it as much as possible before her passing. Obviously she didn't do a good enough job at that - not that Sadie was complaining. If anything, it made her end goal a little easier to reach. "I see." She breathed out, keeping her tone light and sympathetic. She reached out to gently take Bonnie's hand in her own, giving it a comforting squeeze. "For starters, I just want to say that I'm sorry. A young, promising witch like you should never be in the middle of vampire business. It does nothing but end in our own suffering; trust me. And I'm sorry to hear about your friends dying.. But, Bonnie.." The older witch pursed her lips. "You can't hold onto that guilt. You did what you thought was right, and it came from a good place. You're so strong. Stronger than a lot of other witches can only ever hope to be. Dabbling in dark magic doesn't make you evil or a bad person. Any witch worth her weight in magic explores all facets of the craft. How can you master magic as a whole it if you don't understand every avenue of it?"

@bittenlore !

try as he might, no matter how much the original struggles—even he can't free himself from whatever magic holds him captive now. this feeling of helplessness is unique, unfamiliar; puts him in a cold sweat. made all the worse when his yelling, his straining, his writhing accomplishes nothing ... and this lookalike returns with even more mayhem. body parts. rebekah. elijah. kol. he winces, muscles aching in their embrace of immobility as he longs to lean back, get away. he won't look at them for long; can't. "release me. if you want a fight, you have one—face me without your magic crutch and see how long you survive."

The way that Klaus struggled and fought against the invisible restraints of his own mind sent a rush of glee and giddiness through Silas' core. On some level, he knew that it was wrong, some might say sadistic and psychotic, for him to garner so much joy from the pain and anguish of others, but it wasn't anything that wasn't deserved. Klaus had been the cause of so much distress and trauma over his lifetime that Silas knew he deserved every second of the hell he was about to put him through. "Release you? But we're almost at the grand finale. Don't you want to see what else I have for you?" He haphazardly tossed the appendages of his siblings on the floor with a dull thud, a sinister grin on his lips as he reached inside of his bag. "And last, but certainly not least.." He pulled out the severed head of the Original's youngest brother. "I just know you would have wanted to be there for this one. He definitely wanted you to be there. If only you could have heard how he cried for his big brother in his final moments.. Truly gutwrenching, actually."

👻 — Matt smiled and shook his head, knowing all too well how it sounded. "What do we know?" he agreed. "Yeah, uh, there should be some behind the bar. I can grab on real quick?" It wasn't uncommon for newcomers to want a quick hire in the little establishment. Mostly drifters for bartenders, or people getting on their feet as a waiter for a month or two. He couldn't quite place who this guy was, or what position he wanted, so he figured he'd have to find out. The human smiled, sheepish but appreciative.. folding the bills to tuck them hesitantly into his shirt pocket. "Thanks, man. I'll get you back." He beckoned him to follow, heading to retrieve one of this applications.

"Absolutely nothing, apparently." Henrik mirrored the other's smile, nodding his head. "Yeah, that'd be great. I'd love to look it over. Maybe even fill one of them out." The vampire often found himself growing bored; bored enough to pick up an odd job here and there. After being alive for so long, it was only normal for him to want to pick up the facade of being a human that actually needed to work for his livelihood. "No need to thank me. Just promise me that you'll treat yourself to something good." He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he trailed behind him. "So tell me a bit more about this place - do you get a lot of business?"

👻 — "Thanks." It always made him nervous, when he could remember, to have vampire blood in his system. Though, thinking about it now—it sure would've come in handy for him and Jer. He shook his head, shooing the thought away. Despite the side effects, he was happy he didn't become a vampire. His mouth comes to her wrist, tasting the blood and wincing as he felt his neck began to heal.

"You're welcome." Brianna watched as he drank from her wrist, her free hand resting against the back of his neck. Matt had been the only person who had ever drank her blood, seeing as how she never had a reason to heal a human or turn one. The act was a little uncomfortable, but she would bet it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as having teeth sink into your neck. "You good now?" She asked as she pulled her wrist away, eyeing the now healed spot on his neck.

then the apology. "stop." the command is firmer than he's been since discovering henrik's true identity, but klaus softens immediately thereafter, hand clutching the back of the boy's neck to keep him close. "don't apologize to me. not after everything." how long has he believed it should be him begging henrik's forgiveness? "i won't waste another century on resentment. not with you." already his mind reels—their mother kept this from them. henrik's never seen klaus before, not truly, not in this new light. he'll hate you, mikael's ghost whispers; klaus grits his teeth in answer. "the thousand years i've had, henrik ... i can only imagine what yours must have been like."

The firm command was enough to silence Henrik's verbal apologies, but it did nothing to stop the steady flow of tears that continued to leak from his eyes. Once the dam had been broken, the flood had come nonstop with no end in sight. Every word his brother spoke was the reassurance he needed to know that he'd made the right decision in seeking out his family. Did he regret not doing so sooner? Of course, but life would always be full of regrets. It would just be a mistake he would never make again in the future. "They weren't a cake walk, I can tell you that," he murmured weakly, letting out a distressed chuckle. A thousand years of loneliness and self loathing was something he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. "I know you said to stop apologizing, but.." He looked up at his brother. "I truly am sorry, Nik. For allowing you to think I've been dead for all of these years. That was very.. selfish of me. I should have been more considerate of your feelings. And our siblings' feelings."

i'm here for you. it's a little too good to be true, but god, she really needs to believe that right now. bonnie laughs a shocked little laugh, says, "that sounds ... amazing, but why now? i'll take the help, i need it, i just don't—" but she freezes, tonguetied, because isn't it obvious? resurrecting matt with that dark magic. all the anger she's felt from her ancestors on the other side; it's all come back to her in the form of sadie. hastily, bonnie backs up inside once more, gestures for sadie to join her inside. as soon as the door is shut behind her, bonnie tentatively tries: "do you ... know what i did? is this about matt and jeremy?"

Bonnie suddenly cutting herself off mid sentence made Sadie raise an eyebrow in curiosity, moving forward to step over the threshold of her home. Once they were safely behind closed doors, Sadie moved farther inside of the house as if she owned the place, casually settling herself down on the sofa. "Matt and Jeremy?" The older witch echoed, confusion evident in her tone. Of course she knew who the two of them were - she'd done more than enough research on all of the people in Bonnie's life before making her presence known, but she didn't know everything. She gestured for her descendant to sit down next to her. "What did you do, Bonnie?" Her tone was sympathetic, not at all judgmental or condescending. "Don't worry, I won't judge you. Just tell me what's going on. I can help."

"fuck." the word is all breath, like he'd just been magically railed. there should be caution here between them, probably; some fear, definitely. but it's kai parker, so the only sincere emotion glittering in his eyes now—is anticipation. "pleasure's mine, sadie. that's a mean handshake you've got there."

When his grip on her hand loosened, she almost refused to let it go, the darkness within her almost taking over, goading her into unleashing a wave of magic that would take out the whole establishment if she allowed it, but she reigned it in - years of practice and self restraint fortunately kicking in. Sadie released his hand from her grasp, a small giggle slipping past her lips at his murmured expletive. "You have no idea, handsome." She tilted her head to the side as her eyes examined him closely. "I have to say, I'm a little offended. Trying to siphon off of me when we've just met. What kind of girl do you think I am? You could have at least offered to buy me a drink first."

"you always have been a child. if i'd tried to give you that freedom you crave, you would have taken it and run with it. too far." there's an ugly stamp upon klaus' tongue of burning resentment at being cast the villain in his siblings' story. of course he throws it upon his own shoulders, primarily has himself to blame—of course he understands the unfairness in which his so frequently emotionally charged, impulsive actions are viewed. but again, and again, and again, time after time, klaus cannot shake that little voice in the back of his mind, informing him of all of his siblings' true motivations: they're going to leave you behind. "you think i don't understand what it was like to live under his rule? i know. but having your fun is one thing; instead you always seemed all too eager to separate yourself from your family and live some grand little life of your own." klaus unhands him, grants them both their space; there are old wounds here, festering and infected. "you blame me for my loyalty. daggering you is how we got to keep you."

"See? That's it right there - if you tried to give me that freedom. Who are you to decide my freedom? You're my brother, not my caretaker, Nik. You don't get to decide my thoughts and actions. You need to stop trying to control me." That was the easiest way to get on Kol's bad side; trying to control him, telling him what to do and how to behave. It was his trigger, so to speak. The younger Mikaelson's free will was everything to him. Having control over his own life meant everything to him, and he didn't want anyone trying to take that away; not even his own brother. Especially not his own brother. "Is it really so horrible that I want to live my own life? For God's sake, Nik - we're over a thousand years old. We've spent the better part of our entire existences with one another. I'm the bad guy for wanting to be on my own for a while?" He clenched his fists as the muscle in his cheek twitched. Trying to reason with Niklaus was like trying to stop a natural disaster - useless. "You're insufferable. Do you even hear yourself right now? So daggering me is how you show your loyalty? Keeping me in a box and stripping me of my free will?"

👻 — "Trust the vampire that wipes my memories." But it wasn't rude, just stated for prosperity. Even the promise that he'd eventually move on, he couldn't stop himself from considering it. Until the next vampire came along, he thought. It was always uncomfortable, but he liked to believe Brianna was being gentle enough. No point in bleeding her dinner out, he figured.

Brianna liked Matt. He was a good guy with a good heart; he was just trying to keep himself and his friends alive in the midst of supernatural chaos. It was no place for a human like him, and yet, he proved to be strong and grounded. She respected that about him. So much so that she tried her best to ease the pain of being fed on, not making any sudden movements or gripping onto him too hard. She drank and drank until she had her fill, keeping a steady hand on him to prevent him from toppling over as she pulled back. "Thanks, Matt. Delicious, as always." She licked the blood from her lips, before sinking her teeth into her own wrist. "Here. Let's get you healed up."

👻 — "No," he sighed. "It's not in their best interest. And at the end of the day, it's not my budget it's hitting—just, sometimes my paycheck." Which was always a bummer, but he'd gotten used to it by now. Half the time it wasn't even a situation he was involved in. "Always," he chuckled. "It's a revolving door around here." Matt thought little of it until he counted the bills, taking the majority of the change and shaking his head. Offering it back. "You don't have to do that, man, it's cool."

"Not in their best interest? They're losing out on money by letting these people eat and skip out on their bill. But hey, what do I know?" It was unfortunate that the other male had to take a hit to his paycheck due to the bad actions of others, especially when it was obvious that he took his job seriously. "That's unfortunate. Got any applications lying around here?" He looked down at the cash offered back to him, immediately denying it and pushing it back into the blond boy's hand. "No, really. I insist. Please, I want you to have it. All this hard work you're doing on your own.. You deserve some kind of compensation or treat."

sweetheart. handsome. is it the genuine cutesy pet names doing it for him right now or all that delicious heartstopping power emanating from her in near-palpable waves? "don't mind if i do." kai sits precisely where she points, and he'd probably start barking, too, if she asked. "is this where we small talk? because i'm thinking introductions. hi, kai." he extends a hand, wiggles fingers all too eager for a taste of whatever she's got going on magically.

The power emanating from the being sitting before her was undeniable. Sadie picked it up the second he walked through the door of the establishment - one of the reasons why she had invited him to join her at her table out of the blue. She was curious, to say the least. And she could tell that he was too. She glanced down at his wiggling fingers, an easy chuckle slipping past her lips as she took his hand in her own, locking eyes with him. "Pleasure to meet you, Kai. I'm Sadie." She gripped his hand firmly, her smile slipping into a smirk.