The morning sun filtered through the cracks in the wooden walls, casting fragmented light across my face. I opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling for a moment before the reality settled in. I didn't actually need that sleep. Yet the habit of it, the comfort of surrendering to unconsciousness, that was something I wasn't quite ready to abandon. Not yet.
Sitting up, I could hear everything. The birds outside weren't just chirping; I could listen to the individual flutter of their wings, the rustle of leaves as they hopped from branch to branch. I could hear my siblings in the other rooms, Rebekah's steady breathing, Elijah's measured footsteps, even Finn's nervous pacing. And beneath it all, the rhythmic pulse of blood flowing through veins.
'This will take some getting used to,' I thought, running a hand through my hair.
I stood and walked to the window, looking out at the village that had been our home for so long. Soon, it would be nothing but a memory, a footnote in the endless years that stretched before us. The thought should have been liberating, but instead, it felt heavy, like chains I'd willingly wrapped around my own wrists.
A knock at my door pulled me from my thoughts.
"Enter," I called out, not bothering to turn around.
The door creaked open, and I heard Elijah's familiar footsteps. "We need to talk, brother."
"We always need to talk, Elijah. It's practically your favorite pastime," I said with a slight smirk, finally turning to face him.
He wasn't amused. His expression was serious, his arms crossed over his chest. "What you did last night, snapping Father's neck, spelling Mother to sleep... that was reckless."
"Reckless would have been letting Mikael stay conscious long enough to start his usual tirade about weakness and monstrosity. I merely bought us time to have a conversation without his interference."
"And the revelation about Niklaus?"
I shrugged. "He deserved to know the truth. Better he hears it from family than discovers it in some cruel twist of fate later."
Elijah stepped closer, his voice dropping. "You're planning something. I can see it in your eyes. This talk of leaving, of chaos and conquest, what are you really after, Ace?"
I met his gaze steadily. "Freedom, brother. True freedom. We've been given immortality, but what good is living forever if we spend eternity cowering in the shadows, afraid of our own nature?" I walked past him toward the door. "I refuse to be a prisoner of what we are. I intend to make the most of it."
"At what cost?"
I paused at the threshold, glancing back at him. "Whatever it takes."
When I entered the main room, I found the others already gathered. Mikael was awake, sitting rigidly in a chair with a murderous glare fixed on me. Mother was also conscious, though she looked pale and haunted, her hands trembling slightly as they rested in her lap.
"Good, everyone's awake," I said cheerfully, ignoring the tension in the air. "I trust you all slept well?"
"You dare—" Mikael began, starting to rise from his chair.
I raised a finger, and an invisible force slammed him back down. "Sit, Father. We're going to have a civilized conversation for once."
Klaus watched the exchange with barely concealed glee, while Finn looked horrified. Kol, surprisingly, seemed impressed.
"Nice trick, brother," Kol said with a grin. "You'll have to teach me that one."
"All in due time, Kol." I turned my attention to the group as a whole. "Now, as I was saying last night before I retired, we need to make plans. This village is no longer safe for us, if it ever truly was."
"And where would you have us go?" Mother asked quietly, her voice heavy with resignation.
"Europe. There are cities there, places where we can disappear into the crowds, where our... peculiarities won't be so easily noticed." I began pacing slowly. "But before we leave, there are things that must be addressed."
I reached into my coat and pulled out several vials filled with the same potion I'd consumed the night before. "These will help with the bloodlust. They won't eliminate the urge, but they'll give you control. You won't be slaves to the hunger."
Rebekah eyed the vials suspiciously. "And why didn't you offer these last night?"
"Because, dear sister, I needed to ensure they worked properly. I'm not in the habit of poisoning my family, contrary to what last night's theatrics might suggest."
Klaus stepped forward, snatching one of the vials. "If this is another one of your tricks—"
"Then you'll what, Niklaus? Kill me? We're immortal now. That's rather difficult to accomplish." I gestured to the vials. "Take them or don't. The choice is yours. But I guarantee the first time you lose control and drain some innocent villager dry, you'll wish you had."
One by one, they took the vials. Even Mikael, though his jaw was clenched so tight I thought it might shatter.
"There's one more thing," I said, my tone becoming more serious. "The secret about Klaus. Mikael, you will eventually learn the truth about his parentage. When that day comes, I want it to be clear: if you pursue him with intent to harm, you'll have to go through me first."
The room fell deathly silent.
Mikael's laugh was bitter and cold. "You would defend the bastard child of your mother's infidelity?"
"I would defend my brother," I corrected. "Blood or not, Klaus is family. And I protect what's mine."
Klaus looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read: surprise, gratitude, suspicion, all mixed.
Mother stood, tears streaming down her face. "How did we come to this? A family divided before we've even begun our new lives?"
"We came to this the moment you chose to make us into monsters rather than let us die as men and women," I said, not unkindly. "But that doesn't mean we can't make the best of it. We have eternity ahead of us. What we choose to do with it is up to us."
I walked to the door, pulled it open, and revealed the morning light. "I'm leaving at nightfall. Anyone who wishes to join me in seeing the world is welcome. Anyone who wishes to stay and cling to the past is also welcome to their choice." I glanced back one final time. "But understand this, the world is changing, and we must change with it. Or be left behind in the dust of history."
With that, I stepped out into the sunlight, feeling its warmth on my skin one last time before the world would force us into the shadows.
Behind me, I could hear them begin to argue, to debate, to plan.
Good.
Let them fight, bicker, and struggle with their new reality.
I had my own plans to set in motion, and the game was only beginning.