3

                                    

                                          
It turned out while I was daydreaming about my late husband and son, Stefan had left. He didn't rejoin us for a while, and met us at Gloria's.
"You left us." Rebekah pouted.
"Yeah, sorry. Retail therapy was making my head explode." Stefan replied and I frowned in confusion. There was obviously a lot I would have to learn.
"Tell me about it." Niklaus drawled.
"What's she doing?" He gestures at Gloria.
"She's failing." Niklaus replied.
"Oh come on, Niklaus. Magic isn't so simple. It has complex inner workings. It requires more than what you've given Gloria to work with."
"I bet you would have been able to do it."
"I had a connection to her. You're asking Gloria to try to contact a witch she has no link to who has been dead for centuries."
"See, she gets it." Gloria smiled, winking at me. "I guess we know who got the smarts in the family."
"You flatter me. Compared to Niklaus, I'm sure everyone seems smart." I returned her smile.
"But your sister is right. It's hard to find something when you don't have anything to go on, never mind contacting the original witch."
"Rebekah, you say you've worn the necklace for a thousand years?" I asked and she nodded. Her eyes lit up.
"Oh, but of course." She nodded in understanding as to what I was trying to say. "She can use me. I did wear it for a thousand years." 
"See? Now your sisters offer a solution." She held her hand out and Rebekah hopped onto the table grabbing her hand.
"She's, uh, she's looking for the necklace, huh?" Stefan asked. I narrowed my eyes. Maybe it was because I knew nothing of this man, or because Rebekah's suitors usually ended up betraying us, but I didn't trust him. No one replied as Gloria started to chant.
"I found it." She said.
"So where is it?" Rebekah asked.
"It doesn't work like that, doll. I get images. There's a girl with her friends..."
"Yes, a dead girl with dead friends, if I don't get my necklace back." Rebekah cut her off.
"Rebekah!" I scolded.
"Well, I'll have to dive back in to get the details." She explained.
"So dive."
"I need more time." Niklaus walked over to her, leaning on the table.
"And space, Niklaus. Magic isn't instantaneous and it requires focus, Niklaus. Gloria can't work with you hovering over her."
"Your sister's right. You're harshing my ju-ju." I didn't know what ju-ju meant, but I could guess.
"We can wait." Niklaus shrugged.
"I'm sure you can. But that's not what I asked."
"Hey. Hey, you know, why don't we just come back later." Stefan walked over to Klaus and leaned in. "I'm hungry anyway. I'll let you pick who we eat."
"I'm going to try to find my way around this town. No doubt you all plan on murdering and I will not be a part of that." I walked out. My siblings and Stefan, however, decided they would follow me.
"So you're an original?" Stefan asked, skeptical.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Just because I do not blatantly disregard human life, does not mean I'm not family." I glared at him.
"Of course not, it's just, well-"
"Oh leave him alone, Ami. You're pure, and that sets you apart from the rest of us."
"I'm not pure. I have blood on my hands."
"Oh, you've killed less than ten."
"And how many people have you all killed because I refused to? That blood is on my hands too."
"Well, now you don't have to worry about killing humans. You can drink from blood bags. Besides, ever since we learned compulsion, you stopped killing and we didn't have to kill your leftovers either." Rebekah said, brightly.
"So why is it you're with my brother Stefan. If he compelled away your memories, how exactly did your paths cross?"
"I'm only here because it was the only way to save my brother."
"Your brother? Niklaus, what did you do?"
"His brother was dying, I had the means to cure him. Not that he deserved it for all he tried to do. So I'm exchange for curing his brother, I decided I wanted my friend back."
"You are jesting, aren't you Niklaus. Please tell me you did not force him to travel with you?"
"Oh you make it sound so tedious, sister."
"Surely you can see what you're doing is wrong." I said. "You are not this far gone, Niklaus."
"Nik doesn't see it as ripping apart a family. He sees it as trying to get his old friend back." Rebekah drawled. 
"Oh, Niklaus, no."
"Let's go." Niklaus said walking ahead of us this time. "Stefan, here, knows your great by a lot grandchild."
"He does?" I turned to him.
"I do?" He turned to Klaus.
"Bonnie."
"Wait, Bonnie's related to you?"
"By blood, I suppose." Niklaus shrugged. "My sister and Abraham Bennett fell in love and were married. My mother was good friends with Ayana Bennett, so the mothers were quick to bless their union. They'd been married for ten years and had a child. Benjamin Bennett. Of course when he was eight, I believe-"
"He was almost nine summers."
"Our mother turned us into vampires, though not Benjamin and Abraham. Ayana was already against the spell that would turn us- and our mother didn't want to rub salt in the would my turning her son too."
"After I turned, I saw my son and husband only once more."
"I'm sorry."
"Yes, well, so am I." I said, hurriedly blinking back tears.
"Bonnie is a good person. She's smart, strong and always there for her friends. She's extremely loyal, and caring and kind."
"She sounds a lot like Abraham."
"She sounds a lot like you." Rebekah nudged my shoulder and I smiled at her.
"I suppose you were courting the doppelgänger, then?" I asked Stefan. "I'm truly sorry for your loss. My brother had no right to take her life."
"You know, Stefan, my sister was close friends with a doppelgänger." Niklaus smiled.
"Katherine?"
"No, long before Katherine. When we were human." Rebekah explained.
"You look like the man she loved."
"I do?" He asked.
"Almost exactly." I frowned. "I suppose the hair is much different, and the clothes. It took me a while to place your face. But you look like him."