[Blood Diary Entry – Rebekah Mikaelson]
"Rebekah," I heard her magnetic and soothing voice, "a pleasure to see you again, after all these years!"
Gloria seemingly welcomed me warmly, like a long-lost friend, but I could see the irritation flashing behind her eyes.
I smiled, imitating her friendly façade. "Indeed, it's been way too long."
Her eyebrow twitched slightly. "And what brings you here?"
"Ah, you know… I was in the area and decided to pay this place a visit. I did spend quite a lot of time here last time I was in town."
"Well then, welcome back, Rebekah." She turned her attention to Isolde. "And who is she?"
"She's a friend," I said quickly.
"I see… shall we go inside?" She stepped aside and raised an arm towards the door.
"Yeah, I'm eager to see if this place has changed at all."
"Well, we were forced to change a tiny bit after a certain incident." She said with a knowing tone.
"How tragic… I'm glad you managed to get it back into shape." I spoke, as I looked around inside the bar, and it was almost exactly the same as I remembered, minus a few more modern touches.
"I always do," she guided us towards a private booth, the very same Niklaus and I used back in the day. "Wait here for a bit, I've got to deal with the mess you caused." She said as she looked at me.
"Gloria, please be a dear and tell my friend here," I gestured to Isolde, "why it is that you picked that man for door security."
Gloria eyed Isolde for a couple of seconds. "Is she a new flame of yours?"
If Isolde and I were drinking anything, we would have both spit it out in a comical fashion.
"She isn't."
Gloria nodded in realization. "Ah! Then is she a rookie in all of this?" She said meaningfully, to which I nodded.
Gloria then looked back at Isolde. "That man was a transitional employee of mine."
"Transitional?" Isolde asked, confused.
"It means that he wasn't going to stick around for long, even by security standards," Gloria answered.
"Why is that?"
"Because I needed someone to fill in until I found a more suitable candidate. Cause you see, that man was actually indicated to me for that sole purpose. I heard he caused a few incidents in the last few security jobs he worked in. He would be completely unprofessional towards women, be they clientele or coworkers. Rumor has it that he followed the meeker ones, and you can imagine the rest."
"So why hire him at all?"
"Because he would eventually try that with someone from my clientele and would be dealt with. And I would also get someone to fill in that position until I found a more suitable candidate."
"What happened to the previous guard?"
"Shaving accident, he ended up bleeding to death in his own apartment."
"Oh…
"'Oh' indeed."
I giggled on the sidelines, watching as Isolde started getting used to the supernatural world.
She already seemed to have some initial notions, but she was still too green in the whole business. She knew more about how to keep herself from getting in dangerous situations than she knew about how to blend in and what to expect.
"What's going to happen to him?" Isolde asked.
"He's going to become an involuntary blood donor. And then he will have a shaving accident." Gloria answered.
"Do me another favor, please, and turn that accident into an animal attack," I spoke up.
"That is not too believable in the middle of Chicago, Rebekah," Gloria said.
I shrugged my shoulders. "He was messing around with illegal dog fighting."
Gloria sighed. "Fine."
"Atta girl! And do make it hurt, please."
"Sure, sure… I'll send someone to take your orders. Be back in a bit." And then she left.
Soon enough, a bartender came and took our orders. Both of us were in a bit of a drinking mood, so we asked for the stronger stuff.
We drank in silence, as Isolde wanted to get her thoughts in order, whereas I had some important thinking to do.
I closed my eyes, and I was almost transported back in time, the memories so vivid that it seemed I was actually there.
Which isn't all that unbelievable, since these were memories I had of a few months back in my perception, even if to everyone else, eighty years had passed.
I remembered the music—which was more elegant, but much less spirited than what people hear today—softly playing in the background; sometimes Gloria herself would go up the stage and sing. There were also the clothes that were much more refined but had less personality. There was my laughter and Klaus' as well, as we enjoyed a moment of respite from Mikael's relentless pursuit.
Then he came… He was elegant and charismatic. At the time, I thought him to be immensely bold to approach us, and also somewhat amusing.
Stefan was fun to be around in that chaotic, entrancing way.
Easy to talk to, and he always found a way to turn the monotonous into something exciting.
Klaus quickly grew close to him. He became carefree, like he had found a kindred spirit. So much more than he had ever been with any of our siblings.
I was happy for him.
And in a truly attention and affection-starved manner, I convinced myself I had fallen for him.
Klaus also didn't seem to oppose, which made me overjoyed at the time. So, I dove deeper into that forced feeling.
Then, in one particular night… Mikael managed to catch up to us. In the middle of the panic, I lost sight of Stefan, and the next thing I know, Klaus is stabbing me with that accursed dagger.
After that, I spent eighty bloody years in a forced slumber. The thought of that alone makes me want to rip Niklaus's face off.
I sigh, trying to regain control over my emotions.
Then I do something that both sickens and enlightens me.
I start comparing the last couple of weeks to that time in 1920, and they couldn't be further apart.
It's almost pathetic that I had to come here to realize that.
However brief and confusing all of it has been. The last couple of days have also been the truest and somehow happiest times I've ever had.
With that, the lingering image of that man in my head completely went away.
And only the image of Darian was left.
'Goodbye Stefan…' I muttered.
And when I opened my eyes again, the world felt much lighter and clearer.