Dearest brother
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Too often Klaus had broken his promise.
When they were still human, he had promised Elijah not to proceed into the woods too far, something which he of course didn't keep to.
After a few centuries as vampires he had promised not to go completely berserk and murder the staff and customers in a pub. Something which he of course didn't keep to as well.
No, Klaus was never one to keep his promises, Elijah thought sadly, as he entered the huge mansion his brother had built and renovated for their family, or the many sired hybrids running around, or just because he liked to dwell in luxury.
There were times when Elijah had hated his younger brother so much, all he'd wished for was to kill him. So many centuries he had spent lurking in the shadows, waiting to make his move and finally stop Klaus.
When Elijah came to think about it, all he had wanted was to get his family back.
Niklaus had taken them from him one by one. First Finn, then Kol and then even Rebekah. But he'd always forgiven his brother. He had forgiven him for taking advantage of Katerina Petrova, for being violent to him, for daggering him, even for killing their mother.
Klaus was the one responsible for destroying their family even if he claimed they had destroyed him, but Elijah couldn't help it, he had loved his younger brother and had desperately held on to the little remaining pieces which were left after their family had split up.
Elijah was now standing in the hallway of the grandiose house and all he could hear was the echo of the sigh, which had escaped from his mouth, in the empty rooms.
The dining room had been restored to its former glory after Rebekah had taken out her fury because of Niklaus' various betrayals on some of the expensive decoration.
Elijah remembered the evening with the Salvatore brothers Klaus and he had spent in this room, shortly after Elijah had felt blood pumping through his veins again and his limbs regaining life. His family was definitely not the only messed-up one but sometimes he wondered why destiny had been so cruel to all of them. If it was destiny at all, if their parents had not attempted to play gods. But there were too many 'ifs' for Elijah's liking. What'd happened, happened.
Before the curse was broken there was still hope for Elijah, that when Klaus would be finally dead and their siblings would walk amongst the living again, he would also be happy again. As happy as he was when they were still humans, before Tatia had entered their lives. But you can only go back in time as far as your memories last and probably his human life wasn't that happy at all as he liked to imagine.
Walking through this house, which was filled up with all kinds of unnecessary and expensive stuff, brought back so many memories for Elijah.
He had chosen to stay at Klaus' side for far too many years. His attempts to get some reason into Klaus' brain, to get him to be at least a bit moderate, had all failed, but he sometimes just had tried half-heartedly or not at all, he admitted, as he was too afraid to lose even more people from his family.
Maybe he should have raised an objection when Klaus daggered Finn.
Elijah now reached Klaus' table where some of his brother's paintings and drawings lay spread out. One of them showed Rebekah at her dressing table, another one Kol running in the gardens with a football and one with Finn and their mother Esther immersed in a private conversation. Maybe if Klaus had allowed Finn to leave with Sage, maybe then their oldest sibling hadn't turned against them in the end, Elijah thought furiously, running through his hair with one hand.
He then picked up a drawing of Caroline Forbes, the sheriff's daughter, Elijah frowned. Klaus had developed a crush on the young woman lately, something which caused Elijah to grin. He was far from believing that his brother and the blonde baby vampire had really succumbed an affair as this innocent, inexperienced, teenage creature would clearly not had been able to get through a relationship with the infamous Klaus without turning her into a twisted and cruel version of her former self.
Klaus had been able to have a great impact on other people and more so on their minds. He lulled them with his charm, warm low-tuned voice and intense gaze until his victims couldn't defend themselves anymore , falling for the nebulous man with the foreign accent and then finally submitted to him, giving him anything he wanted.
No, Caroline Forbes was probably better off without his brother, Elijah thought. Otherwise she may have ended up like poor Mary Porter.
Elijah remembered the cheerful, trim Mary with her rosy cheeks, who, in all her innocence, had been fascinated by the creatures of the night since she had come to know of their existence.
Elijah had tried to protect Mary from his brother's cruel ways who liked to bewilder and corrupt his female human playthings. Elijah had to admit that he'd had a soft spot for the simple, rustic girl and he as well might have added to her slow downfall from sanity.
He brushed these thoughts aside and proceeded into Klaus' bedroom. Niklaus had always liked to keep something personal of his victims. Some of them famous, having had an impact on history or just random people, mostly women. But in the end they would all have turned up lying dead on the floor or in their beds with their houses being ransacked. Deprived of their wines, jewellery, paintings and, to Elijah's astonishment, their private letters, mostly love letters as he now studied the wall behind his brother's bed. For a long time Elijah had thought that Klaus would have forgotten to have any kind of romantical feelings but supposedly he had just been desperate to be able to feel something. Maybe someone who would have taught him how to love again.
Klaus had never made it easy for people to like or even love him, Elijah thought bitterly. They feared and therefore respected him. Some of the weaker ones desperate for his attention and approval, but almost no one to show him real friendship and love.
Elijah was walking alongside a bookshelf when he noticed some old poetry books, which he remembered to be in Klaus' possession already when he had still been with his younger brother. How many nights he had spent flicking through these books waiting for Klaus to return home he couldn't tell anymore.
Sometimes Klaus would have come back late or not until the morning, sometimes he had been drunk. How many liqour stores Niklaus had had to empty to be in this state were beyond Elijah's comprehension.
Sometimes he had been in a good mood, sometimes in a bad mood taking it out on their furniture. But always his shirts were soaked in blood with single bloodstains on his hands or face. And always it was Elijah who set off to clean up the mess his brother had left behind, compelling people to forget.
As Elijah retreated from Klaus' bedroom he almost stumbled over a stool, one of the things Niklaus had kept from their old family home. With a sudden pain in his heart Elijah recognized that it was the very same stool were Henrik had used to sit on while he was carving a figure in wood with his little knife.
Yes, it had all been Niklaus fault. If he hadn't taken Henrik with him that night, their youngest sibling would have been alive for many many years. And they all would have been able to live an ordinary human life.
Klaus had promised not to incite Henrik to go on dangerous trips. Something which he of course didn't keep to.
Elijah felt it was time to leave these walls behind, become the level-headed older brother again and be a comfort for Rebekah as it was now her who needed him.
He straightened his jacket and with a last turn around in the doorframe Elijah thought that Klaus had also promised, many centuries ago, not to leave him behind.
No, this time Elijah wouldn't forgive his brother.
The end