Breathing ∞ Kol Mikaelson [1]

[53]

"What's wrong with her?" Marissa questioned, concern coming through as they listened to Elena trying to come up with some kind of speech right on the spot.

"She's hungry." It was Kol who answered, noticing the clear signs. If Emma's mum wasn't right there with them, he would have started a bet with Rebekah to see how long the newbie-vampire would last before she lost control.

"Well when's the last time she ate?" Marissa's voice turned disapproving, making Emma hold back a small laugh at her mother's obliviousness.

"Not hungry like you and me, mum. Hungry like Kol and Rebekah." Emma explained simply, watching the colour drain from Marissa's face at the realization.

"And it's no surprise. Can you smell that?" Rebekah questioned her brother, making the two Park women send them curious looks since they couldn't smell anything with their human senses.

"Blood, and lots of it." Kol revealed.

"Human blood? Where?" Marissa's nurse mode was kicking in. Both she and Emma were about to look around, however, the Mikaelsons were quick to stop them. Rebekah grabbed hold of Marissa while Kol gave Emma's knee a gentle squeeze which made her eyes turn to him with a questioning look.

"Damon told us to stop you. It's a test." He shared.

"Whoever starts looking around is exposing themselves as a vampire." Emma concluded. It was quite the smart tactic, she noted, putting it away in her memory if she ever needed to use it.

"He says you're even now." Kol added on, not even bothering to question what that meant. Emma had already made it clear she'd explain everything once they were out of here. But he was growing more curious by the moment.

"Well what do we do then? If someone's bleeding they might need help?" Marissa questioned, obviously wanting to help as soon as she could. It wasn't surprising, considering it was her job.

"Elena's gonna expose herself any moment now." Rebekah noted as the girl's attempts at a speech fully stopped. It was clear from just one look at her face that she could smell the blood, and if she stayed up there much longer, she'd be done for.

"And Damon and me by association." Emma spoke her thoughts out loud before she could stop herself. But it was a simple conclusion. Based on how the hunter had been looking at Damon before, it was clear he was already suspicious of him. If both were revealed as vampires, something told Emma the hunter would easily think she was one too.

Feeling him shift beside her, Emma's eyes looked up to Kol's face. She put the other issues into the back of her mind, starting to ignore Elena as she saw his muscles tense while he stared straight ahead. It made her grab hold of his hand, tracing small patterns into it in an attempt to distract him. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Stefan come up to drag Elena away, but she remained focused on Kol as he looked down at her, somewhat relaxing, but she could still see redness in his eyes.

"Getting Elena off of there doesn't make the blood go away." She spoke up, knowing that all of the vampires in the building were listening in. "Guy's not gonna give up until he gets a shot at someone."

"If we wait too long, whoever is up there could bleed out." Marissa added on as people started to rise to their feet, the singing of the choir filling the air.

"Damon wants to go rip his head off and end it." Rebekah revealed what she was hearing, but Emma quickly shook her head, knowing that wasn't a solution. "And Matt's offered himself as a bloodbag so Elena doesn't murder half the church."

"He'll be exposing more than just himself if the hunter gets away." Emma disagreed openly, focusing only on the Damon part. Her mind kept running a mile a minute, trying to think of a way to get this over with without putting more people in danger. Until she came up with an idea. "He wants a vampire to kill. What if we don't have to risk exposing one to get it to happen?"