Chapter Twenty

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Author’s Note

Well…

This story is coming closer to an end. Only a few more chapters to go before it’s all wrapped up. I promised I would give a fair warning when I was close to ending this story so this is it.

Tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy!

-Ade

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Bella walked into the kitchen and began to set up to make breakfast. She had woken up early, taken a shower and changed all so she could get started with breakfast. She had thought about waking Henrik up but decided to let him sleep in. She figured she’d wake him up when she had breakfast made for him. Bella tied her hair up in a high ponytail as she decided to get started on breakfast.

“What are you doing?” Esther questioned as she entered the kitchen a glare framing her face as she looked around the room.

Bella didn’t bother to look at the woman as she focused her attention to the pancakes she was cooking. “I think it’s quite obvious what I’m doing here, I’m making breakfast.”

“Well, stop!” Esther said walking closer to Bella. “If anyone is going to cook for my little boy, it’s going to be me.”

Bella added the finished pancake to the pile and turned to Esther. “You’re going to cook? Correct me if I’m wrong, but do you even know how to use any of the appliances in here? I know what my husband enjoys to eat, so I think out of the two of us I’m more qualified to make breakfast”

Bella turned around and grabbed a plate and fixed it up for Henrik. She ignored the obvious glare that Esther was giving her. She turned her head as she heard Klaus walking into the room. “Hey, Nik!” She greeted with a smile. “Want some pancakes? I made you scrambled eggs since I know you don’t like the sunny side up ones like Henri does.”

Klaus smiled, “I’d love some, Bella. Where is Henrik?”

“I’m assuming he’s just about to come down the stairs.” Bella responded she handed Klaus his plate. “I thought I’d make him breakfast. It’s been a bit since he had a home cooked meal.”

Klaus set the plate on the counter and took a seat on one of the stools. He would normally head to the dining table, but he didn’t want to leave Bella alone with his mother. “I’m assuming since he’s home he’s back to his more formal wear.”

Bella smiled widely as she saw Henrik approaching and he was in fact in one of his suits. “I have no doubt the suits are back.”

“You can’t go wrong with wearing a suit, Belle.” Henrik said entering the kitchen. He ignored his mother and walked over to his wife and kissed her on the cheek. “Breakfast?”

Bella nodded and handed him his plate. “Thought you might enjoy it.” She smiled as he took a seat beside Klaus.

“Any plans for today?” Klaus questioned curiously as he looked between Bella and Henrik. He glanced towards his mother for a moment and saw that his mother was heavily glaring at Bella, whom wasn’t paying any attention.

“Henrik, I was hoping you would spend the day with me. I wanted to get a chance to talk you,” Esther said breaking her silence.

Henrik clutched his fork tightly and took in a deep breath. “I have plans today. Belle and I are heading into town, we have some things to do at work before the new school year begins.”

Esther glared at Bella, “That’s fine. I’m sure we can spend time together at another time.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up if I were you,” Henrik replied he turned to watch his mother huff in annoyance and leave the kitchen. He looked to Bella and smiled, “Thank you for the breakfast, Belle.”

Bella smiled, “You’re welcome. Are we really going to go to the school today?”

Henrik nodded, “We ditched all the staff meetings and I think we should make some sort of appearance. Let our boss know we’re not dead.”

Bella rolled her eyes, “I suppose, if it’s completely necessary.”

Henrik smiled at Bella. “It won’t be too bad, Belle. Really, all you have to do is check in.”

Bella smiled, “You’ll have it the worst, so I guess we can go.”

-Page Break-

Bella smiled as Henrik had his arm wrapped around her waist as they walked into the school. “Are you feeling okay?” She questioned curiously as she hadn’t been able to ask him that until they were far away from the house

Henrik nodded, “You can feel my emotions.” He replied simply.

Bella rolled her eyes, “I know I can feel your emotions, but I want to hear it from you. It’d be better if you can accept it yourself.”

Henrik sighed, “I feel angry and betrayed.” He replied simply before he looked at Bella and they stopped walking. “She tried to hurt you, Belle. She claimed to love me, but she still tried to hurt you. It fills me with so much anger that she’s doing this. She should have stayed on the other side. She shouldn’t be back here to ruin everything.”

Bella sighed, “No matter how bad it gets, we’ll always come out on top Henri.”

Henrik nodded, “I just need you to promise me that you’ll stay away from her. I don’t want you to ever get hurt, Belle.”

Bella nodded, “I promise.” She said as she kissed his cheek. “I should go check my office. I’ll stop by your classroom when I’m done.”

Henrik nodded, “I’ll be waiting.”

Bella entered her office and sighed in great annoyance as she saw the vanilla folder sitting on her desk. She knew that this was going to be something the other teachers had pushed on her when she was gone. She picked up the file and flipped through it. “You have to be kidding me.” She whispered as she read that she was in charge of Sex-Ed week. She read through it and almost laughed aloud when she read the names of the fellow teachers that would be helping her with this. It wasn’t looking so bad now. She set the folder down and closed the door to her office shutting the blinds so that she could use her super speed to move around the room and get things in order.

At lunchtime Bella left her office and headed toward Henrik’s room. She knocked on his door as she wasn’t sure if someone would be in there with him or not.

“Come in, Belle.” Henrik said he looked up from the papers on his desk with a large smile as he saw Bella walk in.

“How’s it going?” Bella asked with a smile as she walked in and sat down on top of one of the desks. “Didn’t think you would have much work now did you?” Bella taunted as she saw the large stack of work he had to do.

“No, I didn’t. I think it’s ridiculous that I have to prepare an outline for work that is months away.” Henrik said he set the pencil down and smiled at Bella. “And how is your work going? Utterly entertaining I assume.”

“The greatest entertainment of my life.” Bella replied with a smirk. “It turns out I was signed up to do some teaching myself this year.”

“Really?” Henrik asked curious he leaned back in his chair. “What exactly will you be teaching?”

“Sex.” Bella responded, she held back a laugh as Henrik’s eyes went wide.

“What are you talking about?” Henrik asked quietly.

“I was assigned to teach Sex-Ed this semester.” Bella said with a shrug. “I’m literally going to be talking about sex for a week to every student in this school.”

Henrik groaned, “You’re killing me, Belle.”

Bella smiled, “It’s not done yet.” She looked towards the door. “Hello, Alaric.”

Alaric opened the door and smiled sheepishly. “Didn’t want to interrupt, I went by the nurses office and figured you were here when I couldn’t find you. I just wanted to go over the details for Sex-Ed week. We have to get through all the students so I wanted to know if you had any ideas.”

Henrik sighed and leaned back in his seat. “You’re joking right? You’re both going to stand in front of all the students and talk about sex?”

“Umm… all three of us actually.” Alaric said nervously. “We were the three that didn’t show up for that particular meeting, so we were assigned the task. We’re all doing the Sex-Ed talks.”

Henrik looked to Bella who grinned widely at him. “This is what you think is so funny?”

Bella nodded, “I honestly just can’t wait for that week to come.”

-Page Break-

Bella rolled her eyes as she could feel Esther’s glare on the back of her head as she moved throughout the kitchen. She looked up as Kol entered promptly ignoring his mother and smiling at Bella. “What are you doing in here?” Kol questioned as he looked around and took in a deep breath. “What is that wonderful smell?”

Bella smiled, “It’s dinner.” Bella responded easily. She took out the ham from the oven and set it on the counter. “Henri is with Klaus in the library, and as much as I love them both, I didn’t want to spend my evening just sitting there reading. Smells good?”

“Wonderful,” Kol praised as he reached forward and took a small piece of the ham. “Delicious, so what else are you making?”

Bella smiled, “Not much, there’s wasn’t much in the fridge to work with, but I did manage to make some things. I made some scalloped potatoes with onions and cheddar cheese, creamed spinach, Farro Salad with peas and Leeks, potato dough rolls, and an apple pie.”

Kol laughed lightly, “Not much?

Bella shrugged, “I like to cook.” She replied simply, she swatted Kol’s hand away as he reached for the pie. “You’re going to have to wait, mainly because I always get the first slice.”

Kol took a seat on the counter, “Have you always been good at cooking?”

“Not always, though it is something I get better at with time.” Bella responded as she moved the cooked ham to a serving plate. “It’s really not as hard as many people make it seem.”

Kol continued to watch as Bella moved around the kitchen. The only reason he had entered was because he knew his mother was in here with Bella. He was also well aware that Bella was only cooking such a large meal because she knew Esther would spend the entire time in here with her instead of bothering Niklaus and Henrik who were in the library together. He looked over at his mother who had stood by the door without making a single move.

Once everything was done Kol helped Bella take everything into the dining room. He assisted her with setting the table and preparing everything. He looked over to see his mother had stayed with them in the dining room. Kol watched as Bella set everything perfectly, she even went as far as to light the candles on the table.

Henrik entered the dining room and grinned, “This smells wonderful, Belle.” He walked towards her and kissed her. “You okay?”

Bella nodded, “Just fine.”

Henrik looked over as his other siblings walked in and took a seat at the table. “You went all out.”

“Only because it makes her angry.” Bella responded with a smirk. “Truly it’s something amazing to behold how angry she can get when I make something she doesn’t know how to create.”

Henrik smirked, “Come on, let’s have a seat. The sooner this is over the sooner I can speak to you privately.”

Bella nodded getting the meaning of his words. They were able to figure out what there mother was up to. She watched curiously as Rebekah, Elijah, Finn and Esther were barely touching the food on their plate. While, Henrik, Klaus and Kol were all eating it up. She suspected this had nothing to do with the taste of her food, but Esther. It was her guess Esther didn’t want any of them eating the food Bella had made.

Bella waited patiently until dinner was before she took Henrik’s hand and the two of them set off into the woods for some privacy.

“What’s going on?” Bella questioned curiously. “What did you find?”

“I found the spirits, or what they are. They’re guarders. They will only guard her as long as she follows instructions. If something happens that no longer makes her worthy of being guarded then she’s weak. After that, she’s practically human. The witches won’t protect her and her powers will be solely dependent on the moon, she won’t be as strong as me or you.”

“You’re certain of this?” Bella questioned. “All we have to do is secure that she does something horrific enough that the ones protecting her will leave.”

Henrik nodded, “There’s a catch. Before they leave her, the guards will put all the power they have into her, making her very powerful for just a few moments. Then the power will be too much and they will be willingly released from her body.”

“Oh that’s perfect, the woman that wants my head on a pike is going to be powerful just before she dies. That won’t be a bad situation at all.” Bella responded with a shake of her head.

Henrik smiled, “Don’t worry, Belle. I wouldn’t let her hurt you.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “It’s not always about me, Henri. If she can’t kill me because of you, I think she’ll try to hurt you to get back at me, to get back at you. I don’t have a good feeling about this. I feel as if no matter what we do, this will end badly.”

Henrik kissed her temple. “We’ll be fine, remember what you told me, we always make it out okay.”

Bella nodded she leaned against Henrik, “We’ll be fine in the end.” She agreed quietly. “The full moon isn’t that far away.”

Henrik nodded, “No, so that means the death of my mother isn’t far away ether.”

“Ah, the wonderful life we lead.” Bella hummed as they continued their walk through the woods. “So what’s the plan? What are we doing to get your mother to fuck things up?”

“We’re setting a trap.” Henrik replied with a smirk. “And what a wonderful trap it will be. Though, someone will have to die, but there’s always a way around that if we look hard enough for it.”

-Page Break-

Bella looked to Henrik, she kissed his cheek and disappeared. Henrik looked to Klaus and Kol, he still hadn’t forgiven Kol, but he was leaning towards it. “Do not allow her to escape and do not under any circumstances let her convince you to let her go.”

Klaus chuckled as he watched Henrik walk away. Kol turned to Klaus. “I’ve never seen him so serious.”

“He gets like this when someone puts Bella’s life in danger. Not to mention he really hates our mother,” Klaus replied, he clapped Kol on the shoulder. “Let’s go do our part.”

Kol nodded, “Right, I’ll go make sure the Bennett Witch is in place.”

“And I’ll make sure our other siblings don’t ruin everything we’ve planned so far.” Klaus replied as he disappeared. The plan they had come up with was tricky, and it would take a lot of power, but they all had hope that it would work.

Henrik finally approached his mother and Finn. “How utterly pathetic of you, Finn.” Henrik said as he approached. “How weak you must be to follow her into death…”

Esther stepped forward and looked to Henrik, she looked up at the moon it still had a couple minutes until it reached its highest peak. “You must watch the way you speak, Henrik.”

Henrik rolled his eyes. “You have no power over me, I will speak how I please.”

“Henrik, you must understand that this is for the best. The world can no longer handle so much destruction. It’s time to give peace.” Esther said she stepped closer to Henrik, the roaring flames a barrier between them. “You must understand that what I am doing is for the good of everything.”

Henrik took a step closer the flames close to his chest. “Then you must understand that I will not stand here and let you do this. You do not decide what happens to our siblings, you hold no such power.”

“Henrik.” Bella said as she came to stand a few feet behind Henrik.

Henrik didn’t turn his head, instead he kept his eyes on his mother. He watched as her face twitched minimally, and like he knew she would she cast a curse towards Bella. This time he didn’t move to protect Bella like she thought he would. He smirked as he watched his mother fall to her knees clutching at her chest. “I told you there would be consequences if you even thought about hurting my Belle.” He laughed as he saw the look of pain on her face as the spirits leaving her body. Henrik waved his hand and Bella’s body blurred and before Esther’s eyes the body of Bonnie appeared in its place. Henrik squatted down to be at his mother’s height. “It was all an illusion.” He whispered to her quietly. “You just killed a fellow witch. I don’t think I’m wrong when I say that’s the highest offence you can commit as a witch.”

“You knew.” Esther whispered quietly.

Henrik nodded. “You’re not as smart as you would like to think, mother.”

Esther closed her eyes and stayed silent.

Henrik stood with a wave of his hand he sent Finn to the ground. He stepped inside the circle of fire and paced around his mother. “I will not let you destroy this family. Not again.”

Esther stood, her body tensed as she did so. “You have hurt me.” She whispered her voice broken as she spoke. “You are not the boy I raised.”

“I am no longer a boy.” He responded as he turned to look at her.

“I was wrong.” She said as she looked at Henrik. “I should have never gone after the girl. I should’ve gone after you.”

Henrik easily blocked the curse his mother sent his way. He laughed bitterly. “Is this your final attempt at survival? To kill me?”

“No.” Esther replied quietly, harnessing the power of the moon as it lit the space around them, adding it to the power she had left from the guards. “I would never kill you, my sweet boy. I will punish you. I will make you lose what you love the most.”

Henrik’s jaw clenched as he knew who she was refereeing to. “Goodbye, mother.”

Esther nodded she straightened up and faced him fully. Her head held high as she faced him. “Goodbye Henrik.”

In an instant both of them released everything they had at each other. Henrik’s eyes widened as he hadn’t anticipated the full strength his mother had. He watched her fall to the ground, her lifeless body hitting it with a loud smash. Henrik’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he tried to fight the strength of her magic and as he was able to fight a part of it off, it wasn’t enough. He hit the floor everything around him going black as he fell into nothing.

Bella rushed forward and fell to her knees cradling Henrik’s head in her arms. “Henri.” She said quietly. “Henri.”

“Bella.” Klaus said as he approached cautious of being too close to Bella knowing that without Henrik she could be unstable.

Bella shook her head her eyes filling with tears. “I told him it was a bad idea!” Bella said as she felt the tears streaming down her face. “I begged him to let me be at his side. He just never listens.”

“Here, let me carry him back.” Kol said stepping closer.

Klaus grabbed Kol’s arm stopping him. “The last thing you want to do is get near her.”

Bella picked Henrik up, “I’m taking him home. You can deal with your siblings and that dead witch’s body.”

Klaus watched Bella disappear. “Go check if Finn is breathing or not.”

“You don’t think Henrik could’ve killed him do you?” Kol questioned curiously.

Klaus shrugged, “At this moment I wouldn’t put it past him to do so.”

-Page Break-

Bella settled down next to Henrik’s body. She knew he would be okay, but it still hurt to see him like this. She ran her hands through his hair as she watched after him. He had been so stubborn, insuring that she stay out of the way and stay hidden. He knew that his mother would try something in the end, only he really had believed she would try to go after Bella again, he really hadn’t thought she would be brave enough to go after him.

“What did she do to you?” Bella questioned aloud to herself. She hadn’t been close enough to catch exactly what Esther had done. All she knew was that it was a very strong curse, and as soon as he woke up she would figure out what she had been done.

Bella closed her eyes and fell asleep lying beside Henrik. She woke up panting, she quickly stood and put her hand to her chest trying to slow down her chest. She walked over to the door and opened it. She fell with half her body inside the room and the other laying outside.

“Nik.” She squeaked out as she tried to breathe. She began to choke on her own breath, she started blinking slowly and before she knew it Klaus was in front of her.

“What is happening to her?” Kol questioned.

“She’s choking.” Klaus said as he picked her up, he blurred past his siblings that were watching curiously. He really did the only thing he thought would work. With a swift movement he threw Bella’s body in the indoor pool.

“What are you doing?” Kol practically yelled.

“I’m doing what I think will help.” Klaus replied as he ignored Kol. His other siblings seemed to be smart enough not to enter.

Bella reached the surface and pushed her hair away from her face. “Something’s wrong, Nik. Something is really wrong.”

“What are you referring to, Bella?” Klaus said as he kneeled down to be at her eye level.

“I don’t know,” Bella said, “I was sleeping, and then I felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was like something was being torn out of my chest Nik, I don’t what was happening. All I’m certain about is that it has to do with Henrik. Esther did something really bad, Nik.”

“We’ll figure it out, Bella.” Klaus assured. “Are you going to stay in there?”

Bella shook her head, “I can’t, I have to be with Henrik.”

“Need help?” Klaus replied.

Bella nodded, “Can you get me a towel? It’s going to be a pain to get dry, but thanks for throwing me in here.”

Klaus turned and grabbed a few towels for Bella. With amusement he watched Kol’s eyes widened as he saw Bella get out of the pool pulling her tail with her to the surface. Klaus hit his brother on the back of the head. “Don’t stare.”

“Am I seeing this clearly?” Kol questioned as he watched Bella dry down her tail.

“You don’t have to look so surprised.” Bella replied with a roll of her eyes.

Klaus smiled at Bella, “It comes as a surprise to everyone when they first see you.”

Bella sighed, “I suppose so.” Bella sighed in relief as everything went back to her human form. She thanked Kol and Klaus before she disappeared to head back up the stairs.

-Page Break-

Bella sat curled up on the chair at the side of the bed watching over Henrik. Aside from the occasional twitching he never really moved. If she couldn’t feel him in her chest she wouldn’t be sure if he were alive or not.

“Bella.” Klaus said entering the room slowly.

Bella turned to him curiously. “Something wrong, Nik?”

“I came to give you some blood, it’s been two days and you need to feed.” Klaus said as he handed her the blood.

Bella didn’t argue and took the blood. “I’m worried he’s not going to wake up.”

“He’s going to be fine.” Klaus assured as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Bella nodded as she finished off the blood. She threw the empty bag away and sat up straighter. “I can feel how bad it’s going to be.”

“What are you talking about?” Klaus questioned.

“I can still feel him, but it’s different. It’s like a part of him isn’t there anymore, like there’s something missing.” Bella said as she placed her hand on her chest. “It really hurts, Nik.”

Klaus went to reply, but the words halted in his mouth as Henrik twitched only this time it didn’t stop. He stood as Bella did the same he looked over at her as she became completely still.

Henrik’s eyes blinked several times before his eyes settled on Klaus and then flashed to Bella for only a moment. “Nik.” He said quietly. “What happened? Why am I in this room? And who is she?”

Bella froze and water formed in her eyes. “Do you not recognize me?”

Henrik sat up on the bed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are. I’ve never see you before.”

Bella turned to Klaus, “I told you.” She said quietly as she turned back to Henrik trying hard to hide the sorrow in her eyes.

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