7. Aftermath

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known.
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone.

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating.

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind.
On the border line
Of the edge and where I walk alone.

Read between the lines
what's fucked up and everything's alright.
Check my vital signs
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone.

~ Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams ~

Gia watched Elijah slaughter the werewolves one after the other. He was unstoppable. The wolves never stood a chance. They were foolish to even try. His family though was a different matter. They were powerful and Elijah was not only facing his brother but his mother as well. No matter how hard he fought, he was doomed to fail. And fail he did. His mother drove a stake through his heart and with her son to help her, she took him with her. Her cameras had recorded the whole thing.

Gia was in her safe house watching the recordings over and over again. She was furious with herself. Couldn't believe she had fallen for it. It was obvious now that it had all been a set up. The werewolves, the kids, they were all pawns in the same chessboard. Moved around by Esther to make her plan work. She had used all of them to trap Elijah. And now she had him. Dammit. How could she have been so blind? How could she have missed this? Elijah was suffering and it was all her fault. She should have known better. Should have been more careful. Anyway, it didn't matter now. What's done is done. No point in dwelling on things she couldn't change. Elijah was captured. There was nothing she could do to change that. She had to focus on his rescue instead. A rescue that was long overdue.

She followed the path Esther took through her cameras shifting from one image to another, watching her move till there was nothing left to see. Her sight was limited. The cameras she placed covered the biggest part of the city but not all of it. There were still places she did not have eyes on. And one of those places was exactly where Elijah was.

Gia closed the camera feed and hacked into the telecommunications network. Hopefully Esther hadn't thought of disabling Elijah's cell phone. She was an a thousand year witch after all. What the hell did she know about technology? Probably nothing. Gia was willing to bet on that. And where Esther lacked she excelled.

Gia managed to track down the signal from Elijah's cell and trace it back to its source, sort of. The signal was coming from a secluded area just outside the city but she did not know of its exact location. There was still a pretty big area she would have to search after she got there.

She arrived at the location about an hour later. It was a cold, foggy night and the area was consumed by trees. Yet, there was no sound, no movement to indicate there was anything left alive in there. The fog breached through the trees creating an eerie, haunting effect. It creeped her out. Gia made her way through the trees looking for Elijah.

It took her some time but she finally found him. There was a small wooden cabin among the trees. It seemed abandoned. Gia entered the cabin careful not to make a sound. Elijah was standing in the middle of the room, handcuffed to the wall. Two big chains kept him at his position, stopping him from escaping.

"Elijah." she called out to him "Elijah!"

There was no answer. Gia approached him and saw he was deep in his dreams. She tried to wake him up and when she saw she couldn't she realized this was not a normal sleep. Esther must have done something to him. She examined the room, searching for an answer, a way to release him and came up empty. First, she tried to break his chains but could not. For some reason the chains refused to break. She tried again putting all of her strength to that simple task. Still nothing.

Gia took a step back and looked at the chains. Time for a new course of action, she thought. This was a witch's act so maybe she needed a witch's help as well. She picked up her phone and once again she asked for her ex's assistance.

"Jason" she said as soon as he answered the phone "I need your help, again."

"What is it this time Gia?"

"A friend of mine is chained to the wall and I cannot break the chains to free him. Considering I am now a vampire that should be impossible. His captor's a witch…"

"And you think there's a spell at place preventing you from freeing him which is why you called your amazing ex boyfriend to do the job." he cut her off.

"Yep, that's exactly it. Time to show how amazing you really are baby."

Gia could hear him laugh. She knew he was going to help her. He never could deny her anything.

"Alright, let's see what I can do for you. Describe his condition and the surrounding area. There should be some clue there to indicate which spell was used on him."

"Well, Elijah seems to be sleeping but as much as I have tried to wake him up I could not. Now, the room is pretty simple. There's nothing more than a desk nearby and lots and lots of candles, everywhere. Oh, and there's a doll hanging from the ceiling."

"What kind of doll?"

"An ugly voodoo doll. Why?"

"The doll must be what prevents you from freeing your friend. If you destroy it you should be able to release him."

Gia grabbed the doll and torn her apart. Then she tried breaking the chains again. This time she was successful.

"Elijah?" she tried to wake him up again "Elijah?"

"The chains are broken but he is still asleep." she told Jason.

"So, the doll was not what put him to sleep. It only served to keep him imprisoned. I want you to take a closer look at the room. Look for anything that could be used to cast a spell."

"There is nothing else here, Jason. You know I would have noticed if there was."

"Alright, alright don't get irritated. I'm trying to help you here."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just that... I just feel so useless now."

"You are anything but useless love. Now, take a closer look at your friend's body. Some spells can react with the recipient's physical condition. Maybe his body could tell us what we need to know to wake him up."

Gia did as she was told. She closely inspected Elijah's body when she found something strange.

"He has a rash on his neck." she told Jason "It has the shape of a flower, an orchid. Is that it?"

"I believe it is, love. The witch must have used the extract of a very rare orchid to put him to sleep. You will need to find the same orchid, it's called a Marelok orchid, melt its petals and apply the ointment on his rash."

"I don't suppose you could tell me where I can find this orchid now, could you?"

"You are on your own in this one love. All I know is that it usually grows in swamps. Good luck." he said to her and ended the call.

Swamps huh? So, maybe it grew in the bayou, right where all the werewolves are. Great. Just great.

Gia brought Elijah to his house, placed him on the bed and went after the orchid.

Elijah was buried in his thoughts. In dreams of love and the horrors of his past. The scenery changed one after the other, giving him a glimpse of happiness only to have it taken away from him. Replaced by the terror he once caused. He did not know how long he'd been like this. He just wanted it to be over. He could not stand this anymore.

"Elijah? Elijah? Please wake up."

Her voice music to his ears. The emotion it contained warmed his heart. He followed the voice with his mind, slowly finding his way back to reality.

He opened his eyes, his sight blurred. Still, unable to focus. There was a figure there. A strong female presence. He could not make her face though. He watched her as she moved closer to him and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. Her lips warm on his skin. Elijah relished the feeling.

"I knew you'd come back to me." he heard her say before she walked away.

Her image faded into the night.

Elijah was standing in the middle of a massacre once more. This time it was for real. He had walked into the dinner a few hours ago, sat at a table and waited for his sister, Rebekah, to come and meet him. She had spent months hiding from their mother along with his beloved niece. Niklaus's newborn daughter, Hope. It was all for nothing. Somehow Esther had managed to find them putting both her and the child in danger. Now, they were on the run. Coming to Elijah for help. And it was Elijah's job to keep them safe, although he had no idea how he was going to achieve that. His mind was not in the right place right now. Esther's mental torture had affected him more than he would like to admit. Probably because it was all true to begin with. He had woken up from a nightmare that seemed to never end. Causing him to wish for an end, his end.

He still wasn't sure what had happened. Who saved him. He woke up in his room, in his own house with no one there but him. Niklaus was stunned to see him. He had no idea that he had been freed. Saved by some unexpected, unknown force. He just hoped that that force was benevolent and that his release was not another trick played by his mother.

Elijah started moving the bodies frustrated, in an attempt to hide them. He did not want his sister to find them. Dammit! He threw a chair to the wall, allowing his anger to consume him. He was losing control of himself and he hated it. He continued with his attempts to conceal the crime, trying very hard to regain his composure. This was supposed to be a safe place for them to meet. A safe place, not a slaughter house. He had done enough damage as it was already. Elijah had no idea how it had happened. What got over him. One minute he was talking to the waitress and the other everyone was dead. His mind went blank, memories came flooding back and his deepest, darkest impulses took him over. There was no stopping him.

Rebekah could not learn of this. She would only be concerned about him and she had to keep her focus on Hope. It was their niece that was in danger, not him. He had to keep this hidden. And he honestly thought he could. He couldn't have been more wrong. Rebekah found out about it anyway and made up her mind. She could not take a chance. Not when she had Hope to protect. She silently approached Elijah and acted upon her decision. He didn't even feel it. One swift move and his neck was broken randoning, him unconscious.

He woke up hours later to face a worried Rebekah. She was sitting on a couch waiting for their brother to appear. Rebekah had moved them to a secluded house a couple of hours away from New Orleans. One of Niklaus's possessions he assumed. They would be safe here, for now. But not for long. Never for long. They had to think of something and fast. His mother was winning the war and if they lost then his niece would meet a terrible fate. Face death by her grandmother's hand. He could not allow this to happen. He would not allow this to happen. Hope would be safe, always and forever.

Niklaus arrived at the house along with Hayley. Elijah could see the joy in their faces, their happiness. After many painful months, they were finally reunited with their daughter. Elijah did not think he'd ever seen his brother so happy before, so calm. He wished they could be like this forever, though he knew they couldn't. There were things that had to be done. A plan was formed and it was Niklaus's job to see it done. Along with Rebekah they would finally put an end to their mother's reign. They would be free at last.

Later that night, Elijah was sitting by the fireplace keeping the fire alive. His skills were not needed tonight. Niklaus had everything under control. Hayley joined him a moment later, after having put her daughter to sleep.

"Elijah? There is something I need to tell you."

"What is it Hayley?"

"I found a way to free my people." she said to him " They would be able to control their turning without the rings and that could finally bring peace to our home so that Hope could return to us."

Elijah felt optimistic for the first time after a very long time. If Hayley could actually achieve that and Niklaus with Rebekah were successful in defeating their mother then it would all be over. The need to keep Hope hidden would be gone and their family could be reunited once more. Yes, they would still have their father to worry about but their biggest threat was their mother and she would not be a problem for much longer.

"How?" he asked her, feeling doubtful.

"It's a mystical ceremony, an alpha bonding ritual but…" Hayley hesitated. "There's a catch." she finally continued. "I have to marry Jackson."

Elijah froze. Images of her demise flooded his mind. He'd always thought that getting closer to her would mean her end. Like it always did. As it turned out he was losing her for a whole different reason. One that he could not argue with. She was only marrying her werewolf suitor to save their family. Protect her daughter. It was the right thing to do. Elijah knew that. Not that that would stop him.

Elijah grabbed Hayley by her arm and pulled her closer to him. He looked deep into her eyes before placing his lips on top of hers. She responded to him deepening their kiss. Elijah lost his ability to think. He allowed his feelings take control of him. He lifted her from the ground and moved her to the bedroom, removing her clothes on the way there. Elijah stood still for a minute, admiring her from a far. Hayley was sitting on the bed, completely naked waiting for him to join her. She was stunning. Elijah took a step forward when he suddenly stopped. Hayley's tempting sight was replaced by another. He found himself in the compound, in his own room lying on the bed. A tall, dark haired woman stood in front of him, watching him intensely. He could not make her face, yet somehow he knew it was not Hayley. The vision only lasted for second before it was gone. Hayley did not seem to notice. Elijah shook his head to clear his mind and took another step towards Hayley. He allowed her touch to wash the memories away. Wipe it all clean leaving nothing but a voice. A voice that no matter what he did, he did not seem to be able to escape.

"I knew you'd come back to me." Her voice echoed in his mind.