Rebekah wanted to be normal, but she was an excellent vampire, one who tended to be vicious in her anger at the unfairness of her existence. Elijah never blamed her, they all coped how they knew how.
He chuckled. “I’ve heard people in town mention such about her. Fairly certain she’s deserving of it.” The vampire tilted his head with a smile. “She does, as she did when she was a child and as she has done for years. It’s a sight to see, her throwing a tantrum. Has this line…” he gestured between his own eyes. “When she’s angry it gets deep.”
“It is incredibly boring, so no need to attempt feigning interest.” Elijah was not a man of exciting hobbies.
Elijah nodded, recalling his own Niklaus constantly making art as a child. Whittling figurines or drawing with burnt sticks. Anything to make their world beautiful. He blinked up at Nik and smiled. “You want to make others happy with your work. Give them heroes to love. Admirable.”
“My Bekah, she starts throwing things. And yelling, sometimes. And if she doesn’t get what she wants, she’ll ignore you. For days. And glare at you. Hide your stuff… You know, it’s just so much easier to give her whatever she wants and to keep her happy.”
He pulled out his cell phone, searching for a photo before he handed it over to Elijah. It was one of three he had left of her, Rebekah glaring at someone behind the camera with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
“I don’t remember why she was mad at me, I think I drew in one of her school books. I used to do that a lot, you know? Never realized I was doing it, got me into so much trouble at home.”
He frowned them, thinking about what Elijah was saying. And shook his head.
“No, I’m not – I’ve never drawn to make others happy. I mean, I know many people like what I do and that I’m talented, but it’s never been about them. I just… I need to get my ideas out of my head or I’ll go crazy. I can’t – It’s like they are all yelling at me, in my head, you know? And they won’t shut up unless I listen. And draw. It’s… it’s difficult to explain, but I get nervous if I can’t… It’s weird.”
I’m weird.
But it was a weirdness he no longer felt bad about and so his smile stayed on his lips.
saltzatore 