He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it. He'd literally been passing through, no intention of stopping. And yet he did just that. That's when he saw her. She looked the same as always. Well, she was definitely younger this time by a few years but that didn't bother him. He was just happy to see his Astrid reborn once more.
"Dude don't you know staring is rude?" his beloved's blonde friend spoke up. Elijah was broken out of his thoughts to see both females looking right at him.
"My apologies. It wasn't my intention to stare", Elijah said sincerely "you reminded me of someone I once knew", he added looking directly at the latest reincarnation.
"Really?" the brunette asked. The blonde lightly whacked her on the arm.
"Don't talk to him!" she scolded "now come on, we gotta get home". Elijah watched as the blonde teen practically dragged the brunette away.
Days passed and Elijah found himself watching over this latest reincarnation of his love. He discovered quite a few things about her during his vigil. Her name which was as lovely as the teenager herself: Evelyn. She lived with her two loving parents and a black cat named Luna. She was also an avid reader, spending a fair amount of time in the public library or occasionally in the park with a non-fiction book of some description. Another thing he learned was this version seemed more innocent than all the others. Perhaps it was her youth or her seemingly constant happy demeanour. Whatever the case, it made him even more determined to keep her safe.
Anybody else would've given in by now, stopped trying to protect her…to try to break the endless cycle they were stuck in. But not him. For a thousand years he had loved and protected every single one of Astrid's reincarnations. He wasn't about to stop now.
Then one night, he came very close to losing Evelyn. Normally he kept watch over her house at the same time every night. But he'd been a little delayed with a small vampire problem that had been brought to his attention. When he'd gotten to the house he had discovered that the front door had been kicked in. Elijah wasted no time getting inside where he found Evelyn's parents dead on the floor. His beloved was pinned to the floor, struggling against her attacker as he chocked the life out of her.
Full of rage at seeing Evelyn being hurt, Elijah ripped the human male away from her and swiftly snapped his neck. The Original gently picked her up and carried her out of the house.
~hospital~
When Evelyn regained consciousness, she was in the hospital. Her mother's older brother, Alaric Saltzman was sitting next to her bed, fresh tear stains on his face. At first the teenager was confused but then it all came flooding back which sent her into heart wrenching sobs. Alaric comforted his niece the best he could, by carefully hugging her, rubbing her back.
"Why did he have to kill them?!" she sobbed "Why!"
"I don't know sweetheart, I don't know", Alaric said quietly.
Outside the medical building, Elijah was listening to Evelyn cry. "I'm so sorry my love", he murmured. If only he'd been there on time, none of this would never have happened. But it has and nothing he could do was going to change that. However, he was going to be more vigilant with her safety. And if he couldn't be there himself to keep an eye on her, then he was going to need someone he could trust implicitly.
Only one name sprang to mind, a young vampire he met back in New Orleans many, many years ago. Now all he had to do was track her down, no easy feat considering she was one of the more careful vampires he knew. But he had to try, for Evelyn. He cast one last look at the hospital before he turned and walked away.