006. CHAPTER SIX!
CHAPTER SIX !
THE INVESTIGATION
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WHAT SCOTT SAID HAD THE EFFECT of a bomb on the rest of the group. Without warning, Derek immediately started to run after this thing, the kanima who, if Astrid had heard correctly, was Jackson, and Scott ran closely after him. The other unknown dark-skinned boy rushed to Isaac and Erica to make sure they were alright and seeing how they weren't getting off the grass, Astrid realized they had been paralyzed by the kanima.
On the other hand, Astrid, Allison, Stiles, and Lydia remained motionless. Astrid was dumbfounded to find that, in addition to werewolves, there was also a kanima on the loose. Oh, and the others had realized she wasn't human and some werewolves had tried to kill her. What a great evening this had been.
She remembered meeting a kanima in the past but, for now, the context and time of the meeting seemed blurry. Well, she had a lot of memories from a lot of different places and periods so tracking one down could often appear tricky.
Stiles and Allison had started talking in low voices to each other while Lydia was visibly shaking, no doubt pretty shocked by the whole situation. All Astrid wanted at the moment was to get home and curl into bed. Well, maybe she could drink a bag of blood too. Then, she mentally slapped herself because she realized she didn't have any blood bags anymore and had been supposed to go by the hospital after school but had forgotten when this whole fiasco had happened.
Allison suddenly moved towards Lydia and started patting her back to calm her. "Come, Lydia, I'll take you home," she told her in a soothing voice before walking away together. Stiles, who didn't have anyone else to talk to, walked toward Astrid. At first, he seemed hesitant. After all, he had seen her getting all out with her vampire fangs and eyes. It had been dark so he might have not seen her fully but he had probably seen enough to not want to provoke her.
"Astrid...? I have to wait for my dad to arrive since Lydia called the cops. But do you want me to take you home afterward?" Astrid felt the fear and doubt in his voice while she could hear Stiles' heart beating a hundred miles an hour.
"Don't worry, I live just down the street, I'm going to walk home but... thanks." She gave him a small smile before walking away. Stiles seemed relieved by her answer as he may not have been that comfortable with ending up alone in a car with her now that he had seen her true vampire face. In truth, neither did Astrid. After what had happened, the ride would maybe be as awkward as the first one they shared, with an added tension because of Stiles' nervousness.
Stiles nodded slowly without looking her in the eyes. Astrid turned around and started walking. It was probably better anyway, the cold breeze would soothe her and allow her mind to clear a little. Astrid sent one last glance at Derek's betas to find them occupied with other things and took advantage of it to slip out of the scene unnoticed and go back home.
As she thought, she arrived pretty quickly home. Once inside, she sighed loudly. "Astrid? Honey? Are you all right?" Lana asked from where she was sitting on the couch.
"Yes, just arrived, I'm going to bed soon." Astrid smiled in response. Then, she winced. After what had happened, she was hungry, she could feel it. She was going to have to feed off her fake mother. She knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep, else.
Astrid walked toward her fake mom and sat down next to her before looking right into her eyes. "You're not going to feel this, you won't make a noise and once I'm done, you'll put a bandage on it. If anyone asked, you cut yourself while cooking, alright?" Lana nodded, no emotion showing on her face.
Astrid proceed to take Lana's arm and bit into her wrist. She hadn't expected to be drinking fresh blood so soon after Kol had left but, oh well, she should have been more organized. She hadn't wanted to feed off of Lana's neck. She was supposed to be her mother, after all, feeding off her wrist was bad enough.
When she was satisfied with her 'dinner', Astrid stood up and left the living room. In the corner of her eye, she saw Lana doing the same and heading to the kitchen to put a bandage on her wrist. With a sigh, she headed upstairs to her room.
She was ready to dive into her bed and immediately go to sleep when she remembered she had to call back her brother. Thank god she didn't have class tomorrow. Astrid sat down on her bed with a huff, took off her jean jacket, and threw it in a corner of her room before taking her phone out.
She clicked her brother's name in her contacts and after waiting for a few seconds, he picked up. "Hello? Nik? It's me," she told him even though he probably already knew that if he had read the caller ID.
"Oh, hi, Astrid. Just wanted to tell you there is indeed a cure." Wow, well Klaus really was good at making interesting phone calls. The last time he had called, it had been to tell her Elena had killed a member of the brotherhood of the five and the time before, it had been to tell her the brotherhood still existed.
She sighed and pinched her nose in annoyance. God, was this ever over? "So... you're sure of it, this time, I imagine?" Astrid didn't really know what to say about this discovery. This implied a lot, good and bad alike. She didn't know if she should rejoice about the existence of a cure. Quite the contrary, the consequences of it could be absolutely disastrous.
"Yes, I'm sure of it now. What I'm also sure of is that our dear brother Kol now thinks a so-called Silas could wake up because of it. He's become completely unhinged as of late, it's unbearable."
"Wait... Did you just say Silas?" Astrid asked him, bewildered. She couldn't believe her ears right now. How long had she heard about the great Silas and his terrible power? If finding the cure meant waking up Silas, then they had to give up the idea immediately.
"God, not you too?" Astrid scoffed. Was Klaus serious? He obviously didn't understand the gravity of the situation to be so calm in face of the threat of Silas' wake.
"Klaus?! You do know how powerful Silas is, right?"
"Okay, Astrid, I didn't call to have to manage you as well. All I wanted was for you to text Kol, or call him, I don't care, and tell him to calm down. If not, I'll have to use one of the daggers and he'll end up in a coffin again but you and I know no one wants that." Klaus told her angrily. Astrid sighed. Klaus was Klaus, stubborn as he was. And it wasn't his youngest sister who would be able to change any of that.
"Niklaus," she said, "please, be careful. Even if you don't believe me about Silas, I can assure you he's dangerous, hell I don't know if there's a more powerful wizard. And if there's a risk he could be waking up, you should avoid it altogether." She heard Klaus sigh through the phone.
"Of course, no need to worry, everything will go to plan."
"Alright, and because if someone else finds the cure before you, who knows who'll want to use it on one of us to finally be able to kill us? I don't know how I could go on if one of us dies again." Astrid told him, worriedly.
"Alright, don't worry, I'll be here to keep that from happening," Klaus said, "I love you, sister." Astrid couldn't help but smile at that, even if she was not necessarily reassured by his words.
"Love you too, good night." She hung up the phone and threw it on her nightstand. Quickly, she changed and slipped inside her sheets and it didn't take her long to fall asleep, her head full of magic, kanimas, and cures.
————✩ ————
The next morning, Astrid was woken up by the sound of the front door closing. She slowly turned around, still half-asleep, and looked at her alarm clock. It was nearly nine in the morning. She didn't remember exactly when she had gone to sleep but it had definitely been before midnight. She must have been exhausted because she didn't usually sleep that much.
She slowly rose out of bed and went downstairs and into the kitchen. While grabbing a glass and filling it with water, she noticed a post-it was taped on the fridge. She got closer and read it. 'Gone to see some friends, leftovers are in the fridge, xx mom' she read.
Astrid remembered she had to go to the hospital for blood, anyway. She wouldn't mind having the house to herself. Having more time than usual and being in no rush, she made herself some scrambled eggs. Once they were done, she sat down and got her phone out. She remembered Klaus had wanted her to calm Kol to avoid him from getting trapped in a coffin again. And if she wanted him to visit her again in Beacon Hills any time soon, she would have to do as he said. She started typing.
hey kol! hope everything's going okay in mystic falls, be careful, klaus told me he would use a dagger if u didnt calm down, whatever that meant... call me? love you
She sighed and put her phone down. She didn't want her brother to be trapped in a coffin again. She wouldn't even know for how long Klaus would keep him there. Getting stabbed by those daggers wasn't particularly painful it was just... unpleasant. She never stayed trapped for too long compared to her brother Finn, but it was always annoying, having years of your life stolen from you. Particularly the waking up part. More than once, she had found herself waking up in a completely different place, at a different time, with new customs. It was a lot. Last time, for example, she went from living in the 90s to waking up in 2012 and having to learn what a mobile phone was. Among a billion other things. Not to mention the whole Mikael and Esther fiasco which followed.
She finally got ready to go to the hospital. Her fake father, George, was a surgeon there. This wasn't a random choice as it allowed her to go to the hospital without raising too much suspicion and meant he was often working, and since her 'parents' were only there to avoid suspicion, she didn't care about seeing them that often.
On the way to the hospital, Astrid was lost in thoughts, still thinking about her phone call with her brother, the day before. The implications of a cure and Silas raising from the dead sent a chill through her body. She could not bear losing another one of her siblings. Even if she wasn't talking nonstop with them, the idea of not being able to see them and hug them like she loved to was horrifying. And losing Kol? Even worse. Kol had been her rock, always there through thick and thin, always protecting her and comforting her, knowing when to avoid some touchy subjects and which one to bring up the cheer her up. When she arrived at the hospital, she realized she was grinning just from thinking about her siblings.
Astrid had already gone to the hospital before so she didn't need to ask around or compel anybody to get to the room where they kept the blood supply anymore. Trying to appear as natural as possible, she walked down multiple corridors. She didn't want to attract any attention to herself or raise suspicion and one thing she had learned over the years was that trying too hard to be discreet only made people more conspicuous.
The blood supply was still further from the usual visit rooms so, when she arrived closer to the room, fewer people were walking around. Because of that, right before she got to the blood supply, a nurse called her out. "Miss? Hi, are you lost?" Astrid turned to find a curly-haired woman in blue scrubs staring right at her. The woman seemed in her 40s and a strand of brown hair was hanging loose from her ponytail.
"Yes! Actually... sorry, I'm here to see a friend but I got lost..." Astrid showcased her most charming smile, hoping her lies were convincing.
"Oh! You must be here to see Danny. My son went to visit him too. I can take you there if you'd like," she kindly offered. Astrid frowned, what was Danny doing in the hospital? "His room is this w-"
Astrid didn't leave her time to finish, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking into her eyes. "You are going to go on with your day as if you did not see me." On queue, the woman blinked before walking away. Sooner or later, she would have realized Astrid hadn't been honest anyway. It was easier that way.
Astrid turned around and, soon enough, she got to the blood supply. The doors were unlocked. It's not like they would imagine people were stealing blood on a daily basis. Well, it was easier for her so she didn't complain. She opened the empty bag she had taken with her and shoved as many blood bags as she could, trying to get as much B+ inside. She had to admit, she had a slight preference for it.
Once satisfied with the amount she had taken, Astrid glanced outside of the room to make sure the hallways were clear for her and left the room as if nothing had happened. All she had to do was get back home now.
————✩ ————
"Is there anything that could help us in there, something that looks like her?" Stiles asked Allison who was browsing the pages of the Bestiary on her laptop. He, Allison, and Scott had been searching for about 30 minutes now but they hadn't found anything and the fact that the Bestiary was entirely written in archaic Latin didn't help.
"You tell me! You're the one who saw her face at Scott's house." Allison answered, clearly frustrated. "Can you describe what she looked like again?"
Stiles' hand reached his chin as he concentrated to give a precise description of what he could remember. "Well, her eyes changed color, they looked a little like an alpha's but... darker? Almost bloody, I think. Then, the veins under her eyes became darker and her teeth became longer, kind of like you, actually," he said, looking at Scott.
"So you think she is some kind of werewolf? She didn't smell like one, though. And I don't know any werewolf who has darker veins when it turns." Scott wondered, out loud.
"Well, we didn't know a kanima existed before like, two weeks ago, so it's safe to say maybe she's just a different kind we don't know about?" Allison suggested. It was true that the trio apparently still had a lot to learn about the supernatural world. After all, they didn't know what Lydia was, either.
Stiles sighed in exasperation and closed the laptop. "This will get us nowhere, and we already have Jackson to take care of. Wouldn't want him to kill any more people than he already has. Anyway, if Astrid's not hurting anyone, it's not our primary concern."
"Do you think Deaton could know more about the subject?" Allison suddenly asked Scott. "I wouldn't want to talk about it to my father, if she's harmless, no need to put hunters after her as well."
Scott thought about it, "Well, he seems to know a lot more about the supernatural than we do, so it could be worth giving a shot, I guess? But without any more information, I don't know if he'll be of any help."
"Okay, say we handle the whole kanima drama and then we try and figure out what she is? And if we found more information on the way, good for us, but else, we act as if nothing happened," Stiles suggested to the couple. In response, Scott and Allison glanced at each other with furrowed brows.
"Act as if nothing happened? You mean I might be living down the street from a killer and I should just ignore it?" Scott asked him, incredulously. Allison seemed to think about it a little more.
"No, I think Stiles's right, actually. If it seems like we're not actively trying to find anything, she won't have to act as defensively, and then, maybe, she'll let something slip that'll allow us to find what she is. Also, we don't know what she is yet and before that she wasn't interested in hurting us."
Finally, Scott sighed. "Okay, I trust you. But I really hope she's harmless, then. One ruthless killer is enough for Beacon Hills as it is..."
————✩ ————
Astrid was patiently waiting for Lukas in front of a small coffee shop. She had never actually gone there but the place looked nice. A few people were working on their laptops, with a coffee while others were chatting with friends with lattes and pastries and a few people were getting in and out to get a quick lunch to go.
Having traveled a lot over the years, Astrid had found the best coffee came from Italy and the best pastries from France but she wasn't one to complain about American coffee, nonetheless.
After a few minutes of waiting, Lukas finally arrived panting. "Sorry..." he heaved, "lost track of time." Astrid smiled at him, Lukas was now bending down, hands on his knees to catch his breath.
"No worries! I didn't even wait that long, shall we go in?" she asked. Lukas smiled and lifted his head to look back at her.
"Yeah..." he nodded while still breathing loudly, "just give me a minute, I ran." Astrid chuckled at the sight. After a few seconds, Lukas' breath seemed to have calmed and he stood up again, wiping a few drops of sweat from his forehead. "Okay, I'm good, now."
With that, they both entered the coffee shop. At the counter, a girl who looked about their age, well the age Astrid was supposed to be, came to take their order. It was just after lunch so Astrid only ordered a vanilla latte while Lukas ordered a complex drink Astrid didn't manage to catch the name of. All she understood was that the drink seemed pretty sugary. The barista even looked a little annoyed that she would need to put some effort into doing it.
After they finished paying, Astrid eyed Lukas who, in response put his hands up in the air. "Hey! I'm only taking advantage of having options. I never get to drink something like this at home." Astrid shook her head, chuckling. Lukas really was someone. Without another word, they both sat down at a table near the window before waiting for their drink.
"So... what's the best thing about Beacon Hills? Actually, that's not that exciting, what's the worse thing about here?" Lukas asked her before placing his hand under his chin, waiting for Astrid's answer. Astrid's eyes widened. She didn't expect that sort of question. The problem was that either of these questions had similar answers who all revolved around the supernatural and it wasn't like she could talk about it with Lukas.
"Oh... uh, I don't know, I haven't really thought about it?" she first answered, but Lukas seemed unconvinced by that. The barista came to them, holding their drink and, after thanking her, Lukas looked at Astrid again.
"Come on, there has to be something, you don't move from LA to a town like Beacon Hills without having any thoughts," he pressed on, and he was entirely right. But, since she hadn't really moved from LA to here, it was trickier to answer.
"Well, I guess there's not much to do? I mean, I'm not necessarily bored but you don't get to meet as many people and discover as many new places," she answered truthfully. Even if she wasn't coming from a big town, at the moment, it was true that she preferred busy places most of the time. From the years she had spent around the world, she and her family had gone to both busy towns to blend in, and really quiet ones to remain unnoticed by their father and she had often preferred the bigger towns.
It allowed her to dream about the possibilities, to pretend to be someone else for a while with no one particularly paying attention to her. In smaller towns like Beacon Hills, she had to be careful about everything that she did because everyone knew each other so even one small mistake wouldn't go unnoticed and rumors spread fast.
Lukas hummed. "Yeah, I get that. I've always lived here so I don't really have anything to compare this to but I've always dreamed of moving when I graduate. The thought of being stuck here all my life... it seems like such a boring life," he seemed to think out loud, taking a sip of his beverage. The drink was topped with a generous amount of whipped cream and Astrid took some with her spoon to taste it. "Hey! Whose complaining over me ordering that now?" Lukas mocked her with a smile. Astrid only shrugged.
"So... you think your parents have a boring life here?"
"Well, my father's not really around, he lives in Texas with his new wife so we don't see much of him apart from the checks he sends every month. And I know my mom likes it here, she grew up here and went to Beacon Hills' high school too. But, even more so now that my father left us, I feel like she would have had a better, more exciting life if we hadn't stayed here. All she seems to care about is her job and us. She barely goes out with friends anymore."
Astrid nodded. She felt like she had lived multiple different lives herself, depending on the place and time, and each had its particularities. Though, she couldn't agree that a quiet life was necessarily boring. After being on the run for so long, it was true that she had enjoyed the times in France's court, doing one ball after the other, or the endless parties from the roaring 20s. But, at the same time, she loved it when they had settled in a small town in Italy for a few years in the 15th century. She remembered going on walks around vineyards with Kol, helping locals, and enjoying the nice weather, pretending her life was normal.
"But, don't you think that family makes it all worth it? I mean, yeah, sure, your mom doesn't date anymore, maybe she doesn't go out for drinks as often but maybe she's just more interested in spending quality time with her children. Doesn't mean it's a boring life for her."
Lukas shrugged, "yeah, maybe, I haven't really thought of it that way, to be honest. It's not like we're that close as a family, anyway. Like, sure, we watch movies together every now and then but my older sister is always out with friends and we don't often spend "quality time" together or whatever."
Astrid didn't really know what to answer to that. It was true that, over the years, she hadn't always been close to her siblings. There were entire decades when she and Kol didn't see Rebekah, Klaus, and Elijah and didn't particularly care about it at the time. She also always felt such annoyance at her brother Klaus when she would wake up after years in a coffin and realized he had used a dagger on her, again. Never actual hate. No, hate was something too strong for her to be feeling for any of her siblings, but she was very pissed at him. Nevertheless, she always cherished the moment she spent with her family.
Soon enough, the conversation sidetracked to another more lighthearted subject. And then another. Astrid quickly realized she could speak with Lukas for hours. And when she checked her phone after some time, she realized she had as the two had been speaking nonstop for more than two hours. Not caring that their coffees had run empty or that most people had left the coffee shop.
She felt like she could be herself with him. Well, not entirely herself, since she couldn't mention the supernatural, but she could act without fearing being made fun of or not being taken seriously. Because of her young appearance, many people often belittled her. Being a woman didn't make things any easier. But with Lukas, she could actually talk about the things she cared about freely and he would listen with actual interest.
"Shoot! I've got to go, I told my little sister I'd help her with her math homework." Lukas suddenly remembered, looking at his watch. "She'll kill me if I bail again. Or rather, my mom would kill me." He looked at Astrid apologetically.
Astrid smiled at him in reassurance. "Don't worry, I should go home anyway, try to work a little." In truth, Astrid had no desire to work but all the algebra exercises she had weren't going to get done alone. They both got up and gathered their stuff before leaving as they had already paid.
"Thanks for agreeing to meet up! I had a good time," Lukas announced with a smile. Astrid should have been the one thanking him as she was the one new to town who, therefore, didn't know many people at the moment.
"Well, thanks for proposing! We should meet up again another time." Noticing Lukas was pacing a little, glancing at his watch every now and then, she added, "now, go! I wouldn't want you to get shit for not being on time for your study lesson."
With a thankful smile, Lukas basically sprinted down in the direction he had arrived in a few hours prior. Was he always late? He had arrived running, too, after all. Astrid chuckled as she had thought earlier, Lukas really was an interesting being. She turned the other way, ready to go home too.
————✩ ————
Once Astrid got home, she immediately took her shoes and jacket off, getting comfortable. While the coffee had satiated her 'human needs', her vampire needs urged through and she could feel her desire for blood increasing by the minute. She peacefully went to go drink one of the blood bags she had just gotten from the hospital. In her room, she glanced at her school bag, full of homework she was supposed to get through but felt no actual desire to. She could look at them later, she thought.
Astrid was nearly done with her 'snack' when she heard the doorbell ring. With a sigh, she hurried on to finish drinking the last drops of blood before discarding the empty bag. She wouldn't want this bag to be found by whoever was at her door. Was she waiting for someone? She didn't remember so.
Hurrying downstairs, Astrid rushed to the door to avoid this mystery person from waiting too much. But what was her surprise when, on opening the door, she was faced by the one and only Isaac Lahey.
Her reflex made her immediately close the door on him. After the last interaction, -well there hadn't been much talking, actually-, she didn't particularly want to see him. And she didn't know if he was here to get revenge on her for breaking his arm or hurting his pride. However, Isaac, having probably anticipated that, was quicker and managed to lodge his foot between the door and the wall so that she wouldn't close the door on him.
"Wait! I'm not here to bother you." Astrid laughed, she couldn't help it. The irony of his choice of words was blatant. How had he even known where she lived? Had he followed her to her house? She didn't like that one bit. "I'm here to apologize, actually, and... to propose a deal."
Now Astrid was curious. Surprised, too. She hadn't expected him to apologize for the other day at Scott's house. From what she had understood, Derek seemed pretty unapologetic. And a deal? That was interesting.
"I have something for you too," Isaac mumbled, almost shyly. Astrid opened the door a little more and realized Isaac was holding a small parcel behind his back. A...gift? Was she dreaming? With a sigh, she let Isaac in, curiosity getting the better of her. She had to admit she was intrigued.
"What do you want?" she asked Isaac as he was making his way inside. "And I hope this isn't another plan to take me down or test me, the crystal trick followed by you wanting to kill me was bad enough. It would also be a doomed plan from the start."
Isaac huffed, "Yeah, no, I realized that. I... Derek wants to propose something." Isaac awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Was Astrid making him nervous? He hadn't been a werewolf for a long time so encountering other creatures more powerful than him probably didn't exactly scream comfort to him.
Astrid eyed Isaac up and down and crossed her arms. "I'm listening."
"Well, I think it's pretty safe to say you aren't human after last night and, uh, we've been talking, the pack. And Derek was wondering if you wanted to... make an alliance?" Astrid frowned, an alliance? This wasn't what she had in mind. Why she would care about an alliance with a random pack she barely knew? She wasn't even a werewolf.
"Oh and, here, this is for you." Isaac handed her the small parcel he was holding. At first, Astrid only eyed it suspiciously, he could have put vervain inside for anything she knew. "It's harmless, don't worry. Consider this more like... a peace offering," he added, seeing as she wasn't taking it.
Astrid rose an eyebrow but took the gift nonetheless. The parcel was wrapped in brown wrapping paper. Curious, she unwrapped it and was surprised to find a small violet flower in a pot. She frowned, was this what she thought it was?
"It's wolfsbane," Isaac explained. As if she didn't know that. "It's to show how interested Derek is. Well, I hope you won't actually use it but, you know, just in case." Astrid was thoroughly surprised. For a peace offering, this was as if Derek's pack had waved a white flag to her house and they were now pleading for her to join them.
"Oh, well, thanks, I guess? I'll go put it in my room." Isaac nodded, putting his hands in his pocket now that he didn't have anything to hold anymore. Astrid made her way upstairs and Isaac followed her. She didn't want to leave him alone in her house anyway.
She was not unfamiliar with wolfsbane, even if the one she usually encountered on the East coast was a greenish color and not a deep purple like this one but the shape and the effects were the same. Once she placed the flower down on her desk, she turned back to Isaac who was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, nervous to touch anything.
"You can sit, you know," she told him before hopping on her bed and crossing her legs. "So, what was the proposition?"
As told, Isaac sat down on the chair by her desk. His eyes briefly turned yellow, a side effect of being so close to wolfsbane. "Well, we don't know what you are but Derek thinks you may be able to help us," he started. "First of all, you recognized the kanima right away when it took us weeks. And... you seem powerful."
"What's in it for me, though? Why would I help you guys when you were trying to kill me not so long ago?" Astrid questioned. She originally wanted to avoid the supernatural so helping a werewolf pack didn't seem like a very logical thing to do.
"Well, if you're with us, it also means you're not against us, so you wouldn't have to worry about that," the beta started, "and if you can help us stop the kanima then there would be one less problem in town so life would get better for you too, without, you know, a murderous creature scaring everyone."
Astrid thought about it, a little. What Isaac was saying was true. But she had the feeling that accepting whatever proposition Derek had for her would only get her deeper into this supernatural mess.
"The problem is, I've had my share of supernatural creatures bothering me for a lifetime. Accepting your... deal would also mean getting myself involved in supernatural drama once again. And I didn't come here for that. I know you just got turned, but you'll see you eventually get tired of being a werewolf," she sighed, thinking about the numerous years spent running from her father and, more recently, how they had avoided getting turned back to humans by their mother.
"I doubt that..." Isaac only mumbled in response. That made Astrid frown. What had made Isaac want to turn so badly? Curiosity got the best of her and she couldn't keep herself from asking.
"Why did you want to become a werewolf, anyway?" Isaac looked at her in surprise, apparently not expecting her to ask him questions, too.
"Well, before the bite, you could say my life was pretty boring," he started. Then, he seemed to think about something but didn't add anything. Becoming a little impatient for a real answer, Astrid pushed the subject.
"Really? That's the only thing that made you accept? I mean, to accept everything that goes with the bite, the full moon, hunters, all of it, I'm sorry but your reason seems a little weak." Astrid couldn't help being so blunt. Being so sick of the supernatural, the idea that others could accept it so willingly without a good reason threw her off.
"Well..." Isaac seemed nervous. Astrid knew there was something else that made him accept. There had to be. But it seemed like the real reason wasn't particularly pleasant to think about.
"Actually, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I'm not here to torture you after, that had been last time, only." Isaac chuckled a little, apparently relaxing a little because of her joke.
"No, don't worry. It's just... the truth is my life was a little more complicated than just 'boring'. I was pretty young when my mom died so I don't remember most of it but... I had an older brother. My father was pretty affected by her death, so my brother practically had to raise me. Camden, he was called. He was also dad's favorite child so, when he enrolled in the army, my father was entirely against it. My brother left to fight in Irak anyway but... he didn't make it back." Isaac paused. Astrid didn't know what to say, she hadn't expected that.
"Ever since, my father seemed to be letting his anger and his grief back unto me. Hoping that I could be as successful as my brother. And I... well, I thought the bite would allow me to become stronger and be up to the task, but, I never really got to show it to him..."
Astrid could clearly see that telling the story was hard for Isaac. It must not have been easy, losing every member of his family, one after the other. That made her feel compassion for him. As horrible as it sounded, his recent father's death compensated for how bitchy he had been with her.
She couldn't imagine being in his position, she didn't know what she would have done if all her family was gone. Hell, she didn't even know how she could cope if even one of them died. Being the youngest of the family alive, she was a year younger than Rebekah, her siblings were often afraid she would get hurt and were overprotective. But, in reality, she was the one most afraid for them. Living all she had lived at such a young age, she had only her family to rely on.
Looking at Isaac's empty gaze, she felt a pang of pity for him. Carefully, she put her hand on his forearm and showed him her most reassuring smile. "There are times when I wonder how come some families get on with life smoothly, with no problem ever, while others seem to attract all the world's problems." Astrid sighed. Her family could be defined as a problem magnet. After her older sister Freya died way before she was born, there had been Henrik's death, her mother's, Finn's, and then her father's, and only five of them were left now. All of these deaths had affected the family one way or the other and, even now that they were immortal, it didn't stop other deaths from happening.
Isaac seemed to have noticed Astrid looking a little gloomy because it was his turn to ask a question. "You ever lost someone close?"
Astrid nearly wanted to laugh at that. Saying she had lost someone was an understatement. Half of her family had died and throughout the years, she had managed to get close to many people who later died as well. She wouldn't disclose all her life to Isaac, she still wished for her past life to remain a secret, but after he had opened up to her, she decided to tweak the truth a little, to concede some of it.
"Well, a few years ago, my little brother Henry died because of a stupid accident. The whole family was shattered because of it. It was hard to get back on track after that." Technically, apart from changing her brother's name, Henrik not being very common in the US today, the only thing slightly false was the time, as the event happened a thousand years ago and not merely a few years.
Flashes of the dreadful morning came to her. Klaus holding Henrik's lifeless body. Her mother's screams. Her own's. Crying in Elijah's arms. And then, the decision for her mother to cast the spell that would later make them what they were today.
"Is that what pushed you to move to Los Angeles?" Astrid had no choice but to lie now, but it was probably for the best.
"It was easier living my aunt, not having to see my parents' grief all the time." Isaac slowly nodded. Astrid hadn't thought she would spend the end of the afternoon bonding with Isaac over shared trauma but, here they were. "If it's not indiscreet, after your father's death, are you still living in your house or...?" Astrid didn't want to rub salt in his wound, so she tried to find words that wouldn't upset him more.
"I live with Derek and the rest of the pack. At least, I feel like I'm not so alone anymore. The pack feels like a new family to me. You know... the bite really was a gift for all three of us." Saying this, Isaac smiled. It was a true smile and Astrid could see that Isaac meant every word. That made Astrid wonder how come Scott hated Derek that much if he had helped those poor teenagers.
As they continued talking, Astrid eventually forgot why Isaac had come to her house, in the first place. It seemed so easy, talking to him, and he wasn't as annoying as she thought he had been. Maybe a little stubborn, but nothing years with Kol hadn't made her used to.
At first, she had built a certain image of him in her mind. She had seen him as a self-centered douchebag who reeled in his newfound power and didn't hesitate to rub it in other people's faces. The reality was much more complex. It seemed like this arrogant attitude was really a facade to avoid showing his vulnerability to others.
"By the way, sorry for breaking your arm," Astrid told him. Hearing about that eventful evening and his crushing defeat, Isaac blushed and touched his arm, as a reflex.
"Oh, don't worry, it healed. I'm not resentful. Also... sorry for trying to kill you, I guess." Isaac laughed nervously and tried to avoid Astrid's gaze.
"Yeah... I don't want to say you deserved getting your arm broken but... you did deserve it." Astrid grinned at him and Isaac seemed to relax a little and smiled too.
"I admit trying to kill you wasn't the best idea we had... In my defense, we thought you were the one killing people around town. Not that it excuses anything but, yeah..." Astrid could understand it, to an extent, of course. The original idea wasn't that bad but the execution clearly had been. After she and Lydia both hadn't reacted to the venom, the logical way to do things was to interrogate them or wait for them to transform before actually trying to kill them.
Thinking about it, she could understand how not reacting to the venom had made them suspicious. But, being a vampire meant her body didn't react to those kinds of things the same way. As an Original and because she had technically died a thousand years ago, her body had simply rejected the venom. That explained why she had coughed it out. The blood that came with it had probably been some leftovers that she'd had for her breakfast that morning. As disgusting as that sounded.
"Seeing as you miserably failed at that and that I was able to let some steam off, I'd say we start fresh, what do you say?" Astrid finally asked Isaac. She wasn't here to start supernatural drama. And as much as she wanted to avoid all things supernatural, being friends with Isaac couldn't hurt.
"Yeah, I agree," Isaac smiled. "Unfortunately, you still don't want to say what you are, right?"
Astrid's smile faltered a little, being reminded why Isaac was here in the first place. "You don't need to know that, it wouldn't change anything anyway," she said with a huff, "And, I think it's pretty funny how all you guys struggle to figure it out. But, on a more serious note, I'd prefer it stayed that way. I didn't move here to be wrapped in the supernatural again."
Isaac nodded, visibly disappointed. Of course, he had been sent by Derek to find information but a part of him was simply curious to know what she was after seeing her transformed face at Scott's house. He still had to find things to bring back to Derek, nonetheless. The alpha wouldn't appreciate it if he came back empty-handed.
Looking around the room, Isaac realized some pictures were hung on the walls. He hadn't paid much attention to them when first coming in but, now, he realized it seemed to be always the same people. Some looked older than high schoolers. He even recognized one of them, had he been to Beacon Hills recently?
Astrid's eyebrows rose when she noticed Isaac was staring at her pictures. Not that discreet, she knew, but she wanted to have a way to see her siblings' faces daily. "Those are friends from LA." she simply said, in order for him to stop looking. That made her a little uncomfortable, having Isaac stare at her family and at private moments she had shared with them.
Isaac nodded, turning his head back at her, not particularly convinced, but not saying anything either. Astrid's hands twitched a little, she wanted to get up. "Do you want something to drink? I'm sorry, I'm a horrible host for not proposing either." In her defense, she had been a bit dubious of his intentions, when he first came into her house.
Isaac seemed to debate in his mind before answering, "Oh, uh, just some water, please?" Astrid nodded and got up and out of her room. She just had to move a little after getting distraught like that.
Unbeknownst to her, that was the perfect opportunity for Isaac to find something to bring back to Derek. Once Astrid seemed far enough, Isaac got up quickly and started to rummage through Astrid's things. He had to be quick, as she could come back any time. First, he opened her dresser but didn't find anything worthy of attention. Opening some drawers, he blushed deeply when accidentally opening Astrid's underwear drawer and closed it as fast as he had opened it.
His heartbeat started increasing and he could hear Astrid coming out of the kitchen downstairs. Quickly, he opened another drawer and stopped for a moment when seeing a ton of pictures. Looking a little closer, he noticed some looked pretty old, having yellowed with time. Did she collect them? Hearing Astrid's footsteps getting closer, he quickly grabbed one at random, folded it, put it in his back pocket, and sat down where he was previously sitting after closing the drawer.
When Astrid came back, he pretended to be on his phone. She put the glass down next to him. "Here."
Isaac scratched the back of his neck. "Actually, I'm sorry but Derek just texted me. He wants me to come back."
"Oh... okay, yeah, no problem," Astrid said, a little surprised at first by the sudden change of plan. She shouldn't be disappointed to see him go but she had to admit she had liked talking to him.
"Yeah... I guess I'll see you in school?" Isaac told her, hesitantly. Astrid smiled and nodded.
"Sure. Here, I'll walk you to the door," the two awkwardly left Astrid's bedroom and went downstairs. It hadn't been so tense upstairs when they were talking but, now, it seemed like the link had been broken. They hadn't met that long ago, after all.
Astrid said goodbye to Isaac one last time before the beta left her home and closed the door after him. With a sigh, she walked back to her room. After Isaac had stared at the pictures on her wall, she wondered if maybe it was safer to take them down.
She stared at a picture she had taken in a photo booth with Klaus in the 90s. With a smile, she remembered how she had dragged her half-brother inside and how the hybrid had struggled. In the first two pictures, you could clearly see how bored he was, but the last two were fonder. After Astrid had made a face at him, Klaus had laughed and the mood had lightened and he had decided to play along with her.
If she had known, at that moment, that not even weeks after, her brother would stab her with one of his white oak daggers after she would lose control again, she might not have acted as carefree. She loved her brother fondly but, sometimes, his anger could really take the better of him, and she and her siblings were often on the receiving end of a good portion of it.
She thought of their phone call again. Knowing him, he wouldn't really listen to her warnings and do as he pleased, as always. But then again, this stubbornness was a trait common to all the Mikaelsons, her included, so what could she do about it?
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【 NOTES ! 】
a heftier chapter this time! i try to follow the episodes and have one chapter per episode but i kind of got sidetracked here as you can see. but i hoped you enjoyed it! i tried to dig a little more on Astrid's relationships with other characters
as always, reviews are much appreciated, lots of love :)
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