Breathing ∞ Kol Mikaelson [1]

[4]

Emma let out a small groan of pain. Her head was pounding and the damn sunlight shining through her curtains didn't do much to help it. Grabbing the pillow and throwing it over her head in an attempt to block out the sun, Emma tried to get back to the calm serenity of sleep. However, the headache kept one question running through her mind.

She started to evaluate her memories of last night, wondering when she was stupid enough to actually drink. Because whatever made her do it was definitely not worth the hangover she was experiencing in that moment. But then she remembered it was no hangover.

Emma could feel the warmth over the fire wash over her skin as she hunched over on the ground, coughing up a storm as she struggled to breath because of the smoke. The fire weaned down, and while the orange flamed still cast shadows around her, Emma pushed herself up back to her feet, her eyes frantically searching the ground for her purse.

"Emma?" The voice calling out to her seemed so distant that the girl herself barely noticed it. And as she let out a string of coughs once more, she knew she needed to find her bag. But the voice must've been much closer than she initially guessed. Within the blink of an eye, Emma felt a pair of hands steady her as Rebekah's face appeared in her field of vision.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Rebekah's bright eyes scanned over Emma, but she was glad to see no sign of injury on the brunette.

"Bag... My bag." Emma wheezed out, her urgent tone leaving no room for argument. The blonde looked around quickly, her eyes zeroing in on Emma's leather purse laying on the ground in a haphazard manner, some things spilling out onto the pavement.

Emma was sure the lack of air was getting to her head as she thought she saw Rebekah run faster than humanly possible to her purse and back, already searching through it as she questioned Emma on what she needed from it.

"Inhaler."

Rebekah paused for a moment, unsure of what an inhaler looked like nowadays. So she grabbed the only thing she didn't know what it was. Luckily it seemed to be the right one as Emma clutched on to it and brought it to her lips in a somewhat greedy manner.

"Are you alright?" Rebekah questioned again once Emma seemed to catch her breath again. She kept her inhaler in her hand, even though the smoke around them had cleared as the fire died down.

"I'm better, thank you." Emma said in relief, her eyes glancing back to the flame engulfed car. When it first exploded, Emma thought she'd seen people close by, but there was nobody in the parking lot aside from Rebekah and herself. "We should really call somebody about that."

"No need, I already did." Rebekah lied quickly. Knowing who the vehicle belonged to, it didn't take much for the blonde to gather what happened, especially after seeing Elena and the history teacher scurrying away with Stephan in their arms.

"Should we wait?" Emma questioned, unsure of what to do with the situation they found themselves in.

"Okay, listen to me..." Rebekah spoke, her tone changing and making Emma's eyes focus on her, just as Rebekah needed her to. "You're going to go home and just get some rest. Forget about the car and the fire."

Emma nodded her head in acceptance, knowing Rebekah was right. Even though she was feeling better now, it was unwise for her to stick around. She believed the blonde to be looking out for her. And in a way, that was exactly Rebekah's goal. While the vampire wasn't expecting to make friends when she came to the high school, she took a liking to Emma. It was why she wanted to keep her friend out of their supernatural world. At this moment compulsion was the only way she knew how to.