The burdens of family

14

Arkyn spent the rest of his morning and afternoon with Bonnie where he entertained her with stories of his human life, with his siblings. She soon asked him, yet again, about his age.
"You're never going to let it go, are you?" He asked and she shook her head. "I could tell you any number and you'd have to believe me."
"You won't lie."
"You have such faith in me." He said.
"I do. So will you tell me how old you really are?"
"If I tell you, will you swear not to tell another? Including Elena and Caroline, or even Stefan and Damon. Absolutely no one else?"
"Promise."
"I'm one of the first vampires to roam this earth."
"Huh?"
"My family and I became the world's first vampires. From us, all other vampires were turned. Don't ask me how. I was born a thousand and twenty six years ago."
"Whoa." She gasped.
"Grossed out yet?" Arkyn asked and she shook her head.
"A thousand years is too long to imagine. Don't worry, I won't have a mental picture of an old wrinkly guy when I see you." She frowned. "But if you were the first vampires how were you turned?"
"It's a long story." He told her, and she understood. He didn't want to talk about it.
"So what were things like a thousand years ago?"
"Everything was better in my opinion. I mean, we lived in a village where we were all close. My mother's best friend was your ancestor, actually."
"Wait. My ancestor?"
"Yeah. Ayana." Bonnie's phone rang. It was Stefan. "You should pick up."
"Or we could ignore it." She tried to put it away but Arkyn grabbed her hand and shook her head.
"Hey, it could be important." She pouted, and he tried again. "It could be an excuse to kill Damon?"
"Fine." She rolled her eyes and answered the call. She put it on speaker. "Yes Stefan?"
"Are you still with Arkyn?"
"Right here." Arkyn called.
"Is Mason Lockwood a werewolf?"
"Yes."
"This isn't some kind of prank?"
"Yes. He's a werewolf. They can't control the change during a full moon. You aren't outside right now, by any chance?"
"Maybe."
"Stefan, whatever happens don't let him bite you. A werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."
"I'll do my best." The phone hung up, and Arkyn turned to his girlfriend apologetically.
"I have to go help."
"But you just said it's fatal."
"I'm way more experienced than Stefan and Caroline, and I'm willing to bet she's with him right now. I will be fine. I promise."
"You'll come back to me?"
"Stay here." He positioned her. "Give me one minute. Okay. One minute. If I'm not back, you can use me for target practice. With your magic. Okay?"
"Okay." He sped away from her and to the woods and listened out for Stefan and Caroline.
"What are you doing?" He heard Stefan and ran into the clearing. A wolf jumped onto Caroline and Arkyn ran between them, pulling it off. He held the wolf back.
"Go!" He yelled.
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine. Just get everyone out of here." Arkyn gritted his teeth holding onto the wolf. The wolf snapped his jaws. "Now!"
"Okay." Stefan and Caroline left with Matt and Tyler.
"That's enough." Arkyn hissed at the wolf. The wolf slipped out of his hands and turned to look at Arkyn. He started circling Arkyn as though he were easy prey. He lunged at Arkyn who shoved him back with his snout. The wolf took a second to get its bearings and shook its head. "Really. You want to go one on one with a vampire. I've been around for a while. I know how to practically paralyse you." The wolf didn't seem to understand and instead wrapped his jaw around Arkyn's leg. Arkyn barely flinched as he kicked the wolf off. The wolf finally left. Arkyn lifted his pant leg and saw a big bite. "Great. Just great." He pulled it back down covering the bite. He sped back to Bonnie.
"You're back!" She grinned.
"How'd I do?"
"Two seconds to spare."
"It might've been quicker if Stefan and Caroline left when I told them."
"It?"
"I didn't kill him."
"Did he bite you?" She suddenly turned serious. She started checking him for bites when he hesitated.
"I'm fine." He lied. "No bites. I promise. Hey, I've been around for a millennium, you think I'd let myself die of a werewolf bite?"
"Don't joke!" She shoved him slightly.
"I'm fine. If I die, it'll be at the hands of my family."
"That doesn't make me feel better."
"I'm fine. Now come on. I still haven't told you about the time I almost ran away."
"You almost ran away?" She scoffed and he nodded, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"Oh yes. So this was when I was about four and my baby brother was just born."
"Wait. I thought you and your sister were the youngest?"
"We had another brother. He died, back when we were all human."
"I didn't know."
"Yeah, Henrik was beloved by all. Including our father. I had another sister. She died years before I was born."
"That's so sad."
"Yeah. It was especially hard on my parents. Losing their kids- it practically drove them to madness. Anyways, so I was jealous of all the attention Henrik was receiving so I thought the only logical thing to do would be to leave. I slipped out which wasn't hard. It was Kol who found me."
"Aww."
"He simply took my hand and walked me home. Told me that he loved me and always would, and that someday I'd love Henrik the same way."
"I'd love to meet Kol one day."
"He's changed. He's a different man. When we turned, we lost our magic. He took it the worst. He practically had his magic all his life, as long as I can remember. I knew what life without magic was like- but Kol never did. He lost a big part of himself and, like the rest of our siblings, turned into a psychopath."
"You're not a psychopath though."
"I don't know why I'm not like them. Rebekah would kill anyone who insulted her, Nik would kill anyone who looked at him wrong. Elijah, the apparently noble brother would kill anyone who got in his way. Kol- he'd kill for fun."
"What about Finn?"
"He was like me. Had no taste for murder or torture. So Nik decided to basically keep him desiccated for nine centuries."
"Nine hundred years?"
"Yes."
"But he's your brother."
"That doesn't matter to Nik. He has no loyalty to anyone. Only himself."