-•-•-

Remi sighed as her alarm clock buzzed violently on her bedside table, indicating that it was 8:30am and time to - unfortunately - wake up. She slowly slithered out of her sheets and walked over to her closet, pulling out a random navy blue t-shirt and black shorts.

The girl made her way into the kitchen and was immediately noticed by her aunt Amelia who had just gotten home from work, dark circles adorning her sunken eyes. "Remi, you're awake! Here, I made you some breakfast," she stated and handed her a plate of scrambled eggs and turkey bacon.

"Thanks, Amelia," Remi said drowsily as she sent her aunt a warm smile.

"So, did you do anything fun while I was gone yesterday?" Amelia asked as she took a sip of coffee.

Remi inwardly debated whether or not she should tell her aunt what happened. She had always been truthful with Amelia, so she decided that lying was probably a useless thing to do. "Well, um..." Remi started, but found it hard to push the words out of her mouth.

"Hey, you ok? You can talk to me you know, about anything," Amelia looked at Remi worriedly and placed  a hand on her nieces shoulder.

Remi sighed and looked into her aunts eyes deeply. "I was just doing my homework in Rousseau's with Marcel, but then... then I felt something shock my fingers. I don't know how to explain it. It was kind of like when you rub your feet on a carpet and then touch someone, like an electric shock. But that was it and I was fine for the next few minutes or so. Then I started to get a headache, but it was worse than anything else I've ever felt before. I get them sometimes, but this one was different. There were all these voices in my head... but I couldn't make out what they were saying, so I just tried to ignore it. They kept getting louder and louder until it felt my ears were going to implode... and then I fainted," Remi explained and looked down at the floor.

"Remi, why didn't you tell me this sooner?!" Amelia shouted, stressfully rubbing her hands down her face.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, aunt Amelia. Marcel brought me to his friends, and one of them is a witch. She said that she may know what caused it, but then I got scared and left," Remi replied, feeling guilty for not telling her aunt sooner.

Amelia sighed. "Remi... I need to tell you something, something you probably won't like," she started, and Remi looked at her confusedly. "It's about your mom, and how she died," Amelia continued, diverting her eyes from Remi's. The girl sat up straight and started fidgeting with her thumbs. "Your mom was an avid member of the supernatural community, which is how she got to know Marcel, as you know," the older woman said, and Remi nodded. That was all she really knew about her mom, that she was supposed to be some 'avid member of the supernatural community,' whatever that meant.

"Your mom was very powerful, and very respected. She was a natural born witch, and the magic that runs in our family was passed down to her when she was born, instead of being distributed to both of us. Our mother, your grandmother, was the high priestess of a very powerful underground coven. When your grandmother died, that title was given to your mom," Amelia continued, and Remi stared at her with widened eyes. Her mind was running at a million miles per minute.

"That role gave her access to thousands of years of ancestral magic. Once she started to gain all of that power, the other covens across New Orleans became jealous, and wanted her to distribute all of the power evenly amongst the other witches. Your mom feared what they would do with all of that magic, so she refused. The other witches resented that deeply. They all formed an alliance and channeled every dark object that could be found in New Orleans... and they attacked," Amelia's voice cracked and she shut her eyes for a moment. Remi's bottom lip trembled; it was as if all of the pain that her mom's death brought was rushing back to her. 

"Your mom tried to protect herself and her coven, but even with the power of the ancestors, and she couldn't beat them. And right before they took her down for good, she recited one last spell. A spell that took the power of all 13 witches in her coven... a transfer spell. She knew that the other witches of New Orleans would come after her, so she prepared for when that time was to come," Amelia said, her heart aching for her only sister. Amelia had wanted to wait until her niece was old enough to explain all of this to her, but she knew that she needed to say it all. Remi needed to know if she was going to be able protect herself.

Remi shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "No... Mom wouldn't have don't that. She would have tried to save herself so we could be together. S-she wouldn't have..." Remi tried to convince herself, but the pain of reliving the day her mom died was too much. She had to get out of the apartment and get some air or she was going to break down.

"That magic inside of you was supposed to have laid dormant for good, but with your headaches, the sparks, that can only mean one thing, Remi. That someone is searching for where it went," Amelia blurted out. The younger girl held her hand to her neck. It felt like she couldn't breathe, like the walls were closing in on her.

"Remi, I'm so, so sorry," Amelia pleaded. "You have to understand that I was only doing what I thought was best for your safety."

Remi got up from the chair and walked over to the apartment door, refusing to make eye-contact with her aunt. Amelia quickly got up after her and grabbed her hand, spinning her around so that the girl was forced to look at her. "You can't leave, Remi, that's not a good idea. We need to get the hell out of this city, and fast," Amelia stated, her voice urgent and shaky. The woman knew that if the magic Sarah Moore had transferred to her daughter was beginning to awaken, that the New Orleans witches would be right behind them. 

"I just, I have to get out of here, Amelia," Remi butted in, running out of her apartment and out onto the sidewalk. She leaned up against the building and slid down the wall, letting her head fall into her hands. Silent tears slid down her cheeks for a while before she slowly stood back up, taking a labored breath. Remi started walking to the only other place she knew: the Mikaelson abattoir.

It only took her a few minutes to reach the abattoir at a quickened pace. Once she reached the entrance, she bumped into Freya, who was on her way out. Remi still had tears slowly moving down her cheeks, no matter how hard she tried to stop them. 

"Remi, what are you doing here? Are you okay?" the Mikaelson witch asked softly as her concerned eyes scanned the girl's body for any injuries.

Remi took another deep breath and and slowly shook her head. Freya put an arm around Remi's shoulders and lead her inside, where Elijah and Rebekah were conversing on the couches. They both turned their heads towards the entrance as they heard two heartbeats approaching them instead of one.

"Remi... what happened?" Elijah asked as he turned his head towards the young witch.

Remi looked into his eyes and down at the floor. "I need help," the girl managed to squeak out.

"What do you mean?" Rebekah asked as she stood up and walked over to her.

"My aunt just told me what really happened to my mom. I always thought she just died in some mysterious freak accident, but apparently she was the leader of some coven. Amelia told me that once she got all of the power from the ancestors, the other witches in New Orleans wanted her to divide it amongst them, but my mom said no, and they got angry. They gathered up a bunch of witches and dark objects and went after her, but she couldn't fight them all off. And my mom knew this would happen too... so she made a plan with her coven. Once the time came, they would do a transfer spell or something. And that was the last thing she ever did," Remi explained, tears still falling from her red eyes, and everyone in the room looking at her with remorse. "So for eight years, I've had all of her magic inside me," she continued, her voice cracking at the end as she quickly wiped away the tears falling from her eyes.

"-And that's why you fainted yesterday. Someone's trying to activate the magic so they can trace it back to someone, and that someone is you, Remi," Freya stated as Klaus entered the room.

"Well, what do we have here? Lunch?" Klaus asked as he smirked.

"Niklaus, allow me to introduce Remi Moore. She is a friend of Marcel's, and any friend of Marcel's is a friend of ours," Elijah said as he stood from his seat, moving to stand beside the girl.

"...Moore, sounds familiar," Klaus replied as he tried to remember where he heard that surname from.

"Unfortunately, we'll have to cut this introduction short. We were just on our way to talk with this aunt of hers anyway," Rebekah added and Klaus raised his eyebrows.

"Freya, care to join?" Elijah questioned.

"You guys go, I have to do some digging into this transfer spell," Freya replied, walking towards the study, which held dozens of old grimoires. 

"Very well," Elijah understood and walked out of the abattoir with Rebekah by his side and nervous Remi behind them.

-•-•-

"You guys can come in," Remi invited as she jiggled her key in the lock.

But once the two vampires entered, they stopped dead in their tracks. Remi turned around to close the door, and once she faced forwards, she also halted. Right in the middle of the room, Amelia Moore was tied up in a chair, her entire body covered in blood.

"...A-Amelia," Remi muttered as she ran over to her aunt.

"Remi, No!" Elijah blurted out, but before Remi could turn around, three witches emerged from a separate room and flicked their wrists, snapping both of the originals' necks.

"Well, if it isn't little Remi Moore. I haven't seen you in ages," one of the witches said.

"Who the hell are you?!" Remi asked, as she backed up slowly.

"Who we are isn't important, but you are..." another witch answered, though they all practically looked the same; utterly crazy. Each wore a bug-eyed expression and a disgusting toothy grin. 

"What do you want from me?" Remi growled as she clenched her fists, slowly inching for a kitchen knife to her left.

"Your mother was one of the most powerful witches on this Earth. All of this could have been avoided if she had just given us our rightful share of the ancestors' magic," the nameless witch continued.

"You can do whatever you want to me, just leave Amelia alone!" Remi yelled, finally grabbing the serrated knife. The girl lunged at the witch, but it was a hopeless attempt. The witches just laughed and began to mutter a spell as Remi's neck let out a sharp snap.

"NO!!!" Amelia screamed in agony. Hot, angry tears cascaded down her face even as she shut her eyes.

"Say goodbye to the Moore bloodline once and for all." All three witches held up their, their eyes narrowing at the woman who desperately tried to escape the chair she was tied to. Blood began to drip from her eyes, then her nose, and finally her mouth. Amelia Moore was dead.

-•-•-

yikes. pretty dramatic, huh? I have plans for chapter 3, I'll probably start working on it rn. I already have the layout of the next few chapters in my notes so they'll be coming out left and right. School starts in 3 days so I'm trying to make the most of it :( 

hope you all enjoyed!

-charley

*EDITED*