What day is it? And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
Talia slowly opened her heavy eyes to the bright white lights of a hospital room. "'Bout time you woke up," a female British announced.
Talia sat up to find Rebekah sitting in one of the chairs. "Rebekah? What's going on? Where am I?"
"Slow down, don't strain yourself. You're in New Orleans, St. August Hospital. Niklaus brought you here after the Bennett witch stoned Silas and his freaky mind powers wore off on Dr. Fell while you were in her hospital. Why he's left you in a coma, I don't know."
"A coma? How long have I been asleep? Where's Elijah? He's probably worried sick."
"Geez, you're just full of questions, aren't you?" Talia gave her a look. "Fine, you've been asleep for nearly four months and Elijah is missing."
"Missing? Four months?" Talia whispered more to herself than Rebekah. "So what now?"
"We're gonna go find Elijah," Rebekah answered tossing Talia some clothes. The blonde then got up to leave.
"Hey Rebekah," Talia called causing Rebekah to pause and turn back. "Thanks." Rebekah nodded and closed the door to let Talia get dressed. As soon as she had her clothes on, Talia met Rebekah in the hallway outside of her room. "Won't people be suspicious when I suddenly disappear from my room after months in a coma?" Talia questioned the blonde vamp.
"I've taken care of it. Come on, we need to get going," Rebekah replied.
"Can we please stop somewhere and get something to eat? I haven't had a decent meal in months."
Rebekah sighed a little, "Alright, but afterwards we have to stop and have a little conversation with a certain witch."
Talia waited outside the witch's shop eating her lunch as Rebekah zipped around inside, attempting to scare the poor girl. Then after the witch screamed at someone called Marcel, Talia used her powers to blast open the front door and walk in.
Rebekah was holding the brunette witch's wrist above her head keeping her from stabbing the Original. "Sophie Deveroux, my brother Elijah told me about you. Know who I am?"
Sophie nodded, "Yeah. I know."
"Then you know we need to talk."
Sophie's frightened brown eyes looked over at Talia, "Who's she?"
"Elijah's girlfriend," Rebekah replied as Talia crossed her arms.
"You're human" Sophie noticed and nodded to her smashed in door. "A witch?"
Talia shook her head, "Not exactly." Sophie took Rebekah and Talia to a cemetery on the outskirts of the Quarter. "If I had to guess, knowing Klaus' history, Elijah has a dagger in his chest," Talia told Sophie.
"It's a magical object," Rebekah explained seeing Sophie's confused expression. "You're a witch, do a locator spell, locate the dagger, locate Elijah." Talia's heart soared at the possibility of finding the Original.
Sophie sighed, "I can't use magic. It's punishable by death, Marcel's rules."
"That's horrible," Talia declared.
"Marcel? What do you think I'm going to do to you if you don't give us what we want?" Rebekah threatened.
"Not much," Sophie deadpanned causing Rebekah to cross her arms. "I've been linked. So anything you do to me you do to Haley." Talia's eyes widened.
"Who?" Rebekah questioned and Talia rolled her eyes. "Oh right, the mumsy."
"Rebekah, Elijah promised Haley he'd keep her and the child safe," Talia reminded the blonde.
Rebekah peered at Sophie, "Well, lucky for you Elijah seems to care about her otherwise I'd break your neck right here." It was Sophie's turn to cross her arms.
"How did Marcel get so powerful anyway?" Talia asked changing the subject.
"He wasn't like this when I left a hundred years ago," Rebekah said more to herself than the other two.
"Marcel has a way to tell whenever there's magic done in the Quarter," Sophie explained. "The how isn't relevant."
"I'll tell you what's not bloody relevant," Rebekah snapped. "A coven of witches who can't do magic. Here's an idea, move away."
"We practice ancestral magic," Sophie responded. "This cemetery is full of the remains of our witch ancestors. Without access to them, we're powerless. If we run, we're leaving our legacy behind. Our home, our family."
"Well, family's overrated," Rebekah stated as she turned the corner and sat down. "Look at me, I'm back in a city that's given me nothing but heartache, looking for a brother that's hell bent on protecting a baby I don't care about after I rescued his human girlfriend from an induced coma."
"I find that hard to believe," Sophie said.
Talia shook her head, "Well, the coma part's true. But she's right Rebekah, you're here aren't you?"
"Only for Elijah, the instant I find him I'm gone. He was the one who idiotically believed this baby would be Niklaus' redemption. And now he's missing probably at the hands of Klaus himself." Rebekah glanced up at Sophie. "And you were foolish enough to believe that Elijah could convince Niklaus to go against Marcel when everyone knows they have a history."
"Klaus sired Marcel, I'm aware," Sophie insisted.
Rebekah shook her blonde head, "You don't understand. Marcel is not just some guy that Klaus turned into a vampire. Klaus loved him like a son." Talia's eyes widened at this new information. She had a difficult time picturing Klaus as the fatherly type. "I was there the day that they met. We were burying Emil, the governor's only son, or so we thought. Turns out the governor had another son from a mother that he owned. Klaus saw himself in the boy. He remembered how our father used to beat him. He too was the bastard child of a man who saw him as nothing but a beast." Talia never thought she'd feel more pity for Klaus than when Elijah told her their family's history and after what he'd done to her and to Elijah, but she did. Rebekah suddenly stood up and faced Sophie. "And that is why your plan will fail. All you've done is bring back together two long lost souls. Without Elijah between them, who know what they'll do. Come on Talia." Talia followed Rebekah out of the cemetery and back to the car.
"So, where to now?" Talia asked as Rebekah started the car.
"I'm taking you to the mansion on the outskirts of town, you'll be safe there. In the meantime, I'm going to go find my brother and Marcel, see if I can find out where they put Elijah," Rebekah answered.
Talia glanced over at her, "Why can't I go with you?"
"Elijah would never forgive me if you were hurt. Just find some way to occupy yourself and I'll let you know if I find anything."
"What about Klaus? What if he comes home?"
Rebekah's expression hardened, "Try to hold him off and call me, I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you." Talia nodded as Rebekah pulled up to a beautiful white mansion.
Talia walked inside and was astounded by how immaculate the place was. She was itching to explore the grand house in its entirety. There were rooms upon rooms filled with expensive furniture and priceless paintings. Eventually Talia came across a series of journals written by Elijah. A part of her wanted to read them but another told her these were his private thoughts and she shouldn't intrude.
Hours passed and Talia eventually chose a room she liked with pale blue walls and a royal blue bedspread. She suddenly realized she had no belongings, no clothes, none of her mother's books, nothing. Maybe she could go get them once they found Elijah.
As night closed in Talia heard shouting outside and ventured out the front door to investigate. "…your little nighttime stroll put it all in peril," Klaus scolded the brunette girl next to him as he stood in front of a pile of dead bodies. Rebekah took a step toward one of the bodies still moving. "Leave him! You've done enough, don't you think? Leaving a trail of bodies like a roadmap to my door."
"If I hadn't overheard that sod bragging about werewolf heads, everyone here would be screwed," Rebekah argued. "And don't give me that crap about having plan, you've had all the time in the world to execute a plan and no one's seen you do a damn thing! Elijah made a deal to protect your child so it could save you from your selfish, rotten self. You obviously don't give a damn about the child or Elijah because what have you done to honor it besides put Talia in a coma for an entire summer?"
"I have done everything!" Klaus growled. "Let me spell it out for you, shall I? From the day I arrived Marcel hasn't trusted me. From day one he's had his vampires ingest toxic vervain which, you know little sister, protects them from my mind control. I needed a spy, someone on the inside with me who Marcel would never suspect. So I created a day zero and got there first. Marcel had just six vampires, thanks to your little murder spree, and he needed new recruits. So I made the new one mine before he'd even had a drop of vervain. But we all know the real way to a man is through his heart," Klaus said as he glanced up at Talia before pointing to the still moving vampire on the top of the stack. "And this one, I'm going to drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah, so that he can explain to Marcel why he lost three more vampires tonight." As he ranted Klaus dragged the body inside with the three girls following. "Does anyone have any more questions?"
"Yeah, I have one," Talia spoke up, glaring at the Original Hybrid. "Why the hell did you leave me in a coma for four months?"
"Well, it's quite simple, love. When I found you on a short trip to Mystic Falls you had already been in a coma for some time due to your friend Silas. However, I knew once you awoke you would try to contact Elijah and when he did not answer you, you would try to find him and therefore create a mess like my dear sister already has. So the only logical option was to keep you in a coma for the time being and, seeing as I did not know where you were from, I opted to bring you to a hospital here in New Orleans so I could keep an eye on you for Elijah's sake," Klaus explained. Talia had to bite her tongue to keep from lashing out at him but she had to admit that were she in his shoes she could understand his reasoning. "Good because I have a question." He glanced over at the brunette girl who Talia assumed was Haley. "Haley, what were you doing in the bloody French Quarter in the first place?" Haley simply glared at him in response. "Answer me!"
"Leave her be," Rebekah upbraided him.
Haley took a step forward, "You wanna know what I was doing? I was buying poison so I could put your little baby out of its misery." Talia's eyes widened at Haley's braveness but she should've realized Klaus would not take it well.
Within half a second Klaus had Haley up against the wall by her throat. "Nik!" Rebekah cried. "Nik!" Rebekah blurred and pushed Klaus away. "Keep your hands off her; she is pregnant for God's sake!" Talia went over to make sure Haley was alright. Despite the bruises forming, she seemed fine. "All of this crap about not wanting the child and then the second she tells you she's ready to get rid of it… It's okay to care. It's okay to want something. That's all Elijah was trying to do. That's all he's ever wanted for you. All we've ever wanted."
Talia watched as Klaus' expression changed as he slumped down on the stairs. Rebekah immediately joined him. "I gave Elijah to Marcel," Klaus admitted.
Anger, no, pure rage boiled inside Talia, "You what?!" Her fists clenched as the entire house started to shake.
Rebekah looked up at her and stood warily, "Talia, just calm down, okay. We're going to get him back, I promise." Talia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The house stopped shaking and Rebekah sat down once more.
"Marcel was nervous," Klaus explained. "Bad enough one Original returned to town but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone so I gave him a peace offering."
"You bartered our brother," Rebekah accused.
"I have a plan," her brother insisted. "Gain Marcel's trust, dismantle his empire, honor Elijah's wish that that baby be born. I am executing that plan the only way I know how. If you two don't like it, there's the door. See if I care." And he stalked off.
Talia thought about it for a moment, if she had a chance to save Elijah then maybe she would have to work with Klaus. To get away from the Original siblings downstairs, Talia journeyed upstairs to her room. A little while later there was a knock on her door. It was Haley. "Hi," she greeted awkwardly.
"Hey, uh, can I come in?" the werewolf asked. Talia nodded and stepped aside to let her in.
"So Talia, right?" the brunette girl declared.
Talia smiled kindly, "Yeah, and you're Haley, the werewolf carrying Klaus' child?"
"Yeah," Haley answered quietly.
Seeing her so disheartened, Talia embraced Haley, much to the wolf's surprise. "It's nice to finally meet you."
"Yeah, Elijah told me a lot about you," Haley replied as they pulled away. "I can see why he loves you, you're just as oddly accepting as he is."
"Well, us female freaks gotta stick together, right? How are you doing with the situation and all?" Talia asked avoiding the comment about Elijah; she really was worried about him.
"Elijah asked me the same thing. I guess I'm just taking one day at a time. It's not easy though. I thought getting rid of the baby would make it all go away, but I just couldn't do it." Talia nodded in understanding. "So Elijah said you're different...was that what that was downstairs?"
Talia smirked secretly, "Yeah, that just tends to happen when I lose control. Would you like a demonstration?" Haley eyed her as if to say go for it. Talia slowly raised her hands levitating nearly every object in the room. Haley smiled and chuckled in awe as the room returned to its resting state. "I'm a protoporou myalo, it's Greek for mind mover, ancient way of saying telekinetic."
"Wow," was Haley's reply. "Handy."
"Yeah it can be."
"So it works on anything?"
"Everything I've tried, except for vampires. Elijah thought it might be because I'm human and they're not. I've never tried it on a werewolf or a witch though."
"Interesting. Elijah mentioned that he's known you since you were a baby, so was it awkward when you started to fall for him?" Haley questioned sitting on the bed.
Talia shook her head as she sat down as well, "Not really. I guess it would seem strange to most people but it all came naturally, as easy as breathing. Though it took forever for Elijah and I to fess up."
"What's it like, being in love?"
Talia looked at her curiously, "You never have?" Haley shook her head. "It's unlike anything you've ever felt before. It's like flying and falling at the same time. Your heart is pounding and your head is spinning; the entire world just seems to fade and everything else matters a little less." Talia snapped out of her thoughts of Elijah. "You should probably get some sleep; you've had a long day."
"You're probably right. Thanks," Haley said as she got up to leave.
"And if you ever need to talk, don't hesitate," Talia told her. Haley nodded and closed the door. Minutes later Talia was fast asleep.
*15 years later*
I gaped at Talia, "You were seriously in that coma for the entire summer? That's where you were?"
Talia nodded a bit ashamed, "I didn't want to tell you the truth and get you mixed up in all that."
"Would Klaus have brought you out of the coma if Rebekah hadn't shown up?" I questioned.
Talia shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think so, not until some point in the future when he had Elijah back and I would be some token of his apologies."
"So how did you get Elijah back?"
"Well the next day..."