"Welcome"

The sudden welcome not only broke the quietness of the early morning but also shocked the four sneaking people to the core. Turning around they came face to face with the second eldest Mikaelson, who seems comfortable sitting in the arm chair with a book in his lap, without any crease in his suit.

Typical Elijah

'We should've sneaked through the bedroom windows rather than walking confidently through the main door.' They thought in self-pity, thinking that at least they could've escaped the upcoming question session. But the words of the just arrived biggest baddest Mikaelson made them realize how stupid their thoughts were, "Oh, you guys came back. Good. I was getting bored, guarding the bedroom windows whole night."

Hearing this, Anastasia mentally face-palm, 'It's going to be a long night or rather than a long morning.'

"'Finn, Kol and I are out. Don't miss us. –Anastasia' It seems like you guys went for some hunting." Elijah said after reading the letter Anastasia left, pointing to the traces of blood in their clothes and on their face which they got due to their full night adventure.

"Or more like cleaning." Anastasia muttered, glaring at the notorious duo aka Kol and Enzo, who now became best friends after one night adventure, causing them to return at the morning five.

"Look who's talking? All you did is sit and gave orders." Kol snorted.

"Don't start again Kol. My sister can take my credit. Not a big deal." Finn interjected, shocking Elijah and Niklaus since they know how much he hates doing all this, especially cleaning Kol's extra-ordinary hunting. But it seems Finn is obvious to the shock he caused because he left mentioning the need to take shower, leaving the poor soul under the questioning gaze of their second and third eldest brothers.

"Well, we all do need shower."

"We're not finished yet."

"Good night brothers."

"Hey, who is this young man? You all can't just leave without answering. Hey, I'm....."

"Phew, I'm saved for now." Anastasia sighed in relief upon closing her bedroom door, successfully blocking their call and making the long morning lecture short.

~

"Finn, you ok?" Anastasia asked, entering his room after washing the blood and putting on a fresh clothes, "You were kinda quiet the whole way to home."

Saying so, she placed a cup of warm blood in his bedside table, and kept one in her hand, not knowing whether it was good idea or not to bring blood as drink in such an important conversation.

'It's now or never' she repeated it to herself like a mantra, trying to build her self confidence.

She focused her attention on Finn whose stance hasn't changed since the moment she entered the room and still he is facing the window, making it difficult for her to comprehend his expression.

"Are you... are you disappointed with me?" She finally asked the question which has been plaguing in her mind for a long time.

Her voice was so low that Finn doubted if he wasn't vampire, he wouldn't have heard it. He can hear sadness in her voice, making him panicked.

"What? No" He was quick to deny her idea but it seems his words have gone to deaf ear seeing his sister's rambling.

"I know Finn. You don't have to lie with me. I know you don't like us being vampire and the bloodlust it brings. You always hated it and in one sense it's our fault. Instead of daggering you, we should've helped you to come in terms with it. We're so sorry. I am so sorry.

And today all those killing, setting things on fire, compelling Aaron's aunt to forget tonight events, stealing Padfoot, crashing Nikky's car have surely upset you. I am so... "

He cut her off by pulling her in hug, "Breath my little sister, breath."

That's when she realized about her increased heartbeat and how all this time she was pacing around the room, making her sigh. Following the instructions of Finn, she calmed herself down and listened to his point of view.

"I am not disappointed or upset with you, my little sister. You were so extraordinary today." Seeing his sister's disbelief look, he continued, "All those things you mentioned of today's event are just like one side of the coin. Do you want to hear the other side of the coin which you forget to mention?" He asked flicking her forehead, causing her to pout in non-existence pain but nod nevertheless.

"Today, you saved someone and all those possible future victims by killing that doctor, you set all those things on fire so that it won't be used against someone, nobody will become scapegoat under it.

You know, I used to hate compulsions. I felt like somebody's freewill, his/her thinking capability is taken. But today you showed me a different side of it. You used your compulsion on his Aunt so that she wouldn't feel unsafe or threaten. You could have used it to make her afraid of us so that she won't go against us, or the incapability to talk about today's event. But you used it for her benefit so that she would be able to continue her normal human life.

But you didn't use it on Aaron because you did consider him as your friend. And ancient vampires, the Originals, us, making friends with weak human, I can guarantee sister, it's something unheard. You can go and ask any of our siblings. For each friend, I would throw 100 dollars. None would say they have one. So you made a history, my little sis.

Now coming to Padfoot, you took him because you felt attached to him... because in your heart, there is humanity. And due to that humanity, you returned him to his place not wanting anybody to suffer though you were hurt with his departure.

And about crashing Niklaus's car and hiding the fact from him, well, that was bad." Her growing smile fell as she guiltily looked down. Unknown to her, a huge smirk formed in his face, "But if we don't destroy the things of our siblings and irritate them with it, then who will?" A face splitting grin formed in her face upon seeing the rare mischievous look in Finn Mikaelson's face.

"Besides, the car has mysteriously appeared in our doorstep without any damage. So no big deal."

Though he said that, they both, unknown to each other, are worried regarding this uncalled show of kindness. This action indicate that the person who send the car knew their identity as well as their current location which further indicate that somebody is keeping an eye on them. And possibly, that person is a vampire, a stalker, a foe.

Only time will tell

"But really, Anastasia Mikaelson, today you made me realize that we're not the evil creatures as I interpreted us to be. We, the vampires, do have humanity inside us. It's on us to find it and show it in our work." Finn said, keeping his suspicion regarding the car matter to himself.

"You're right brother. Everybody, be it vampires, werewolves, humans, witches, has demon inside them. It's on us which part, we represent."

Saying so, she took the cup of now cold drink from bedside table and warmed it up with her magic creating a beautiful wave of red color in her hand, kind of like Scarlet Witch.

'Ah, I miss Marvel.' Anastasia thought.

"Cheers." Finn said, raising his cup. Seeing his sister's happy expression, he didn't have the heart to disclose their mother's plan of killing all of them, excluding her. 'I have to make everything alright ASAP.' He thought, looking at his sister's smile, not wanting it to ever vanish.

"Cheers." Anastasia said in return, clicking her cup with his. Finally, she got Finn in their 'Always and Forever' side.

Anastasia – 1 | Fate – 0

"It was nice of you, making him understand." Elijah said, coming up behind me.

"Elijah, you scared me." I said, holding my chest which is beating wildly while glaring at him for showing his mischievous smirk in my expense. Please man give this human heart a break. Otherwise it will go to a never return break. After calming down, I added, "Well, what can I say I am awesome!" giving a cheeky smile, I added. He ruffled my hair in return.

After some silent walking towards my room, he said something which caused my heart to skip a beat, "Anastasia, it came to my attention that you have grown up." Hearing this, I'm desperately trying to keep my heart steady in case he notice any abnormality. "I am proud of you."

Looking towards him, I found his eyes on me. There's something in his eyes, like... like, nothing is hidden from him. Like, all my secrets aren't secrets in front of him.

Does he know?

No, it can't be. Who would believe in such absurd theory? Impossible

"By the way Ana, I wanted to ask you something," 'Oh no! He is going to ask. He is going to ask me where he's sister is. What'll I do? What'll I say?' "Who is Aaron?" Elijah asked in a non-caring tone, causing me to stop and looked at him with the most dumbfounded expression on my face.

Right now, I'm feeling like I was about to face a horrible subject test but suddenly the teacher postponed it before 3 hours and I don't know whether to sigh in relief or beat the shit out of the teacher for all the pressures I went through.

"Seriously Elijah?"

"What?"

"Goodnight Elijah." I huffed, closing the door in his face, with a helpless smile on my face, thinking of his inquiry. Protective Jerks

"Goodnight Ana." Elijah muttered. Thinking of his sister's flustered expression, he let out a chuckle.

~

Feeling a cold breeze on my skin, my sleep got disturbed. Although I don't feel the coldness like my human self used to feel, I can't help but shudder. Courtesy to Human psychology

Opening my eyes, instead of being in my bed, I found myself in the ground surrounded by dead leaves and dark forest. How can it be dark? When I went to sleep, the sun was already up, and so the bedroom was bright. I remembered pulling the curtains to make it dark.

I could hear scrunching noise, and seeing the dry leaves, it seems the sound is of someone stepping on it. Looking here and there, I saw a girl running between the trees from the corner of my eyes.

"Hey! Who are you?" I shouted, running after her instinctively. Although I can't reach her, I'm sure she was supposed to hear my call. But it seems she can't. She kept on running like she is being chased, continuously looking over her shoulder. Due to darkness, I can't see her face. But one thing I'm sure. She is a Vampire, and seeing how fast she is sprinting, she is an old one.

"Stop! Stop! Don't go." Overwhelmed by her fear, it seems she didn't realize how deep she is going into the forest. The more deep she goes, the darker it becomes making it difficult for me to see where I'm stepping on.

In a blur, someone jumped out of darkness and stabbed the girl with a wood. Hearing the painful moan, one can guess how much pain she is in. It seems the person is whispering something to the girl while holding her in his/her arm. Wanting to save the girl, I rushed towards her in time to see the person pushing her away from his/her embrace. Before I could catch her and prevent more internal damage to any of her organ, she burst into flame and became a burnt body in no time.

But what I saw in a matter of nano-second, in the light of fire, was her eyes, the familiar blue eyes.

My eyes

That girl was me