9 French Fever
Living with two constantly bickering siblings is bad, but living with two constantly bickering thousand-year-old Original vampires is even worse.
Elijah still wasn't back and the mood in the Mikaelson household was deteriorating fast. It has been over a week now and at this point Jenna jumped at any excuse to be away from Klaus and Rebekah whenever she could. Tonight she was on a blood-run, as she liked to call it. With her appetite they tended to run out of blood bags quickly and since Jenna didn't trust herself with drinking straight from humans, she volunteered to get some more from the local hospital. And by that she meant steal them.
Jenna turned one more corner as she made her way towards where they kept the blood bags stored. She knew the way by now and whenever someone would tell her she wasn't allowed to be back here, she simply compelled them to leave her alone. In fact, Jenna had compelled most of the staff working near the blood storage to recognize her, but never remember her. This way they wouldn't bother her and she could get in and out quick.
The hospital was such a depressing place to Jenna. It was so white and grey and sterile. Full of sick people. And it smelled. God, this whole heightened senses thing really wasn't that great sometimes. Also, she had made the mistake of coming too close to the ER the first time she was here on her own. As it happened, there had been this horrible crash somewhere in town and all the bleeding victims had been wheeled in one after the other. The smell of blood had been overwhelming and almost too much. It was a miracle she hadn't rushed into the ER and started feasting on all the free flowing blood in there.
It shook Jenna's entire body to think back on that. Now she just held her breath whenever she was here as best as she could. She couldn't make it too obvious. You stop visibly breathing in this place and someone will notice. But even if that happens, there's still compulsion. A handy little thing.
Only when she was in front of the door that would lead to all the deliciously stored blood, Jenna released the breath she was holding and, after making sure no one was watching, slipped behind the door. She opened the freezer and started to fill her shoulder bag with blood bags. This hospital was really well stocked, so Jenna didn't feel so bad for taking the blood. It was either this or killing people by feeding on them. At least that's how she rationalized it to herself.
To be honest she was getting a little anxious, too. It shouldn't take this long to return Elijah to his family, should it? What good is it to be the freaking leader of your own so called kingdom, if you can't even do this one little thing within a reasonable amount of time?
Rebekah was convinced that Marcel was only stalling, that he doesn't plan on returning Elijah at all. If she was in charge, then she would probably bust down that church, but there was still the little matter of the spell that kept Elijah inside.
And yes, Jenna knew about that, because she got Rebekah to spill her little secret. Well, she hadn't really been trying, in fact, she hadn't even known that there was a secret. But Rebekah had slipped up and then it took her about two seconds before she started to spill everything. She had been waiting to tell someone, because she sure wasn't going to tell Klaus. Going to the church attic and trying to bust out Elijah while Klaus' precious plan was in motion, telling him that wouldn't end well. So Jenna kept her mouth shut on that, too.
While her thoughts kept wandering, Jenna felt herself get angry. Jenna wanted Elijah back, she wanted Klaus and Rebekah to stop fighting, she wanted Marcel to be swallowed by the earth and she wanted to be free of Sophie Deveraux. That was another thing. Being free of Sophie's magic. So far it hadn't really impacted her or even threatened her live once, that she knew of. Still, she wouldn't ever be able to truly relax again until she was sure Sophie's spell was broken. When were they finally going to talk to the witches about that?
Jenna was snapped out of her thoughts when something cold started to flow over her hand. When she looked down she realized she had been holding on to the blood bag in her hand so tight that she made it burst. Weird, Jenna thought, there was no reason to get this angry or distracted.
Looking at the mess, Jenna actually had to restrain herself from licking her hand. She fished a tissue out of her jacket pocket with her clean hand, but it wasn't helping much. Her hand and her sleeve were still smeared with blood, but at least it didn't drip anymore.
After exiting the cold storage room, Jenna called a staff member over and let them know that they had a blood spill to clean up, then headed straight back the way she had come. She wasn't feeling so good anymore. Maybe it was all the sick people around her. She couldn't contract anything from them, but she still wanted to get away from here.
Jenna could see the door that would lead to the stair case, but for some reason it seemed to take forever to get there. As some point two nurses and a doctor rushed past her wheeling something in front of them. They made a sharp left turn and disappeared into one of the rooms. Voices were shouting, machine's were beeping and it was getting really loud. Louder than it should be. Jenna suppressed the urge to cover her ears from the noise and kept on walking.
When she passed the room the nurses and doctor had disappeared into, she couldn't help herself but stop and look inside.
"Clear!" The doctor shouted and everyone in the room, save for the person lying on the hospital bed, made sure to no longer touch said person before the doctor used the defibrillator and shocked the patient. Her chest rose up high and when the patient's back connected with the bed again, Jenna could see her face. It was her own face.
"What?" Jenna shut her eyes tight and looked again. It was still her, lying on the bed getting resuscitated, hopefully. Except this made no sense since she was standing here by the door, wasn't she? She was pretty sure she was.
As the doctor shocked the patient once more, Jenna could've sworn she felt the shock in her own chest. She sucked in a deep breath and hunched slightly over. She felt like she could no longer breathe. Someone put a hand on her shoulder and Jenna spun around to find a nurse looking at her with a concerned expression on her face.
"Are you alright, Miss?" It took Jenna a moment to formulate an answer, "I'm fine."
She turned back and looked into the room. The patient no longer looked like herself. It was a brunette woman who had absolutely no resemblance to her whatsoever. Jenna didn't know what was going on here, but now she really wanted to get out of here.
"Are you sure, because you don't look so good. And look, you're bleeding." The nurse grabbed Jenna's hand and wanted to examine it.
"I said I'm fine," Jenna said louder than necessary and pushed the nurse away from her with too much force. The poor woman hit the opposite wall and sank down to the floor, but was still moving. Jenna's eyes grew big. She couldn't believe she did that. She hadn't meant to use so much force.
Jenna put her blood covered hand inside her jacket pocket and practically ran for the exit.
xxxxxxx
Klaus had been looking for Jenna for the past five minutes, but he couldn't find her anywhere in the house. He did find his sister, though. "Where's Jenna?"
"She's getting more blood bags. I swear that girl is insatiable." Rebekah rolled her eyes at something she was reading in her magazine.
Klaus frowned, "Again?"
"Yes, I think we might have also chased her away with our bickering," Rebekah shrugged.
She didn't really blame Jenna for not wanting to be caught in the middle of her and her brother every time they were in a room together. The only thing that would end the tension in the house would for Elijah to come back, but that was the problem. He still wasn't back.
Klaus considered this, "Are we that bad? I thought we used to be worse."
"Yes, but poor Jenna hasn't seen us at our worst." Rebekah returned to her magazine for about thirty seconds, "But while we're on that subject..."
"Oh, don't start again," Klaus groaned and turned to leave. He was not having this conversation again tonight. Before he was out of the room he turned back again, "Did you notice something strange about Jenna lately?"
Rebekah looked up from her magazine, "What do you mean?"
"The last few days she seemed a little off." He wasn't sure how to phrase it right. She didn't seem that much different. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Rebekah thought about that, but shrugged again. "She's probably just irritated with us. I'm sure she's fine. I mean she would have said something otherwise, right?"
"Right," Klaus nodded and Rebekah returned to her article.
xxxxxxx
After last night's episode Jenna had wanted nothing more than to just fall into bed and sleep until morning. She was sure that after a good night's sleep everything would be fine again. She had been exhausted and the tension in the house was getting to her. She convinced herself that everything was going to be fine.
Except it wasn't.
Jenna had spent most of the night awake, sitting in front of her bed and tearing through the blood bags one by one. She was still sitting there, now with her knees drawn up to her chest and an empty blood bag clutched in her hand. All she had wanted was to get a quick snack before bed, but once she had tasted the blood there seemed to be no stopping. She became more and more hungry to the point where she was almost ready to go outside and search for some warm blood.
It was the sheer horror at her own behavior that kept her where she was. It's true that she had felt a little weird over the past few days. Kind of like she was getting a cold, except she couldn't really get sick, because vampires did not get the common cold. Yet whatever had been building up inside of her, it had started to spill over last night at the hospital.
Then there was a knock at the door. Jenna's head snapped up and she tried to focus her thoughts again. "Jenna, are you awake?"
Jenna wanted to answer Klaus' question, but before she could there was this voice telling her not to.
Don't let him know you're here. You wouldn't want him to see you like this. What would he think?
Jenna wasn't sure if she was imagining hearing the voice or if it was in her head or if she's completely lost it now. She felt a hysterical laugh making its way up her throat, but she swallowed it back down and kept quiet.
Could you really take that pitying look from him? Look at yourself, you are a mess.
She was still wearing the clothes from last night. Her sleeve was still smeared with blood and her hands didn't look much better. She was surrounded by scattered and empty blood bags. Kind of like a junkie, Jenna thought, and shook her head. She needed to get away. She needed to move.
When the door opened the room was empty and the window wide open. Klaus took a step inside and immediately saw the empty blood bags on the floor. No sign of Jenna anywhere.
"Nik, are you coming?" Rebekah shouted up the stairs impatiently. Klaus took one more look around the room and left with an uneasy feeling.
xxxxxxx
It has been days and Elijah was still stuck inside of the attic. He and Davina talked whenever she was here, but she still wasn't convinced about letting him go. Elijah could tell that she was seriously considering taking him up on his offer - his protection in return for his freedom. He had meant it, too. He would help her stay safe from the witches that wanted to kill her, he was even willing to give her some of his mother's spells, so she could practice to get better with her magic.
Elijah had learned a lot about the teenage witch in the past few days. She was alone up here most of the time. Maybe she just didn't want to go against Marcel's word, but Elijah had a feeling that she might not want to let him go, because then she would be all alone up here again.
Davina had told Elijah about what had happened at Marcel's party and about how Marcel figured out that it was all Klaus' fault and was now plotting against him. How she could not tell him.
Elijah was worried about that. Marcel had promised to return him to his family, but so far nothing had happened. He was still trapped inside the attic. Elijah also knew that eventually Klaus would run out of patience, Rebekah probably sooner. It would get ugly.
Today had started out as any other day, until Davina surprised Elijah by interrupting him mid-sentence, "I have decided to let you go."
Elijah recovered from his surprise quickly, "Really? That is fantastic."
Davina nodded, "I expect you to keep your word, though. You have to help me stay safe from the witches and I really want to try some of those spells you spoke about."
"I will keep my word, Davina." Elijah smiled at the young witch, "But can I ask what changed your mind?"
"I have been thinking and I know it took me a while, but I really want to get out of here sooner than later. You're an Original, Marcel is afraid of what even one of you could do and I figure that it is better to have at least one of you on my side. No matter what Marcel might say about that."
Elijah nodded in understanding and watched Davina as she started to break the spell that kept him prisoner inside the church attic.
xxxxxxx
Marcel wasn't at the compound. At least that is what his men told Klaus and Rebekah. It's what they had been telling them for days.
"They are lying." Rebekah was done with their stupid games.
Klaus was looking for his phone, "I get that."
"This is ridiculous. I did what you told me to, but it's enough now. Marcel won't return Elijah. Can we do this my way now?" Klaus looked at her sister and considered it. This cat and mouse game has been going on for too long. "And what would your way be?"
Rebekah smiled, "We go to Sophie, tell her about Davina and make her bust Elijah out. Marcel had promised to return Elijah and he had enough time to do so. I say we take matters into our own hands now."
Klaus was checking his phone and mumbled his consent. He had tried to reach Jenna a few times on the way over here, but he wasn't even sure if she had her phone with her.
Rebekah held her hands up, stopping her brother from walking past her, "This was too easy. You have been fighting me on this for days. What changed?"
"Nothing." Klaus was too distracted to fight his sister anymore. Something didn't feel right about this whole situation. He couldn't stop thinking about the blood bags in Jenna's room. He knew Jenna had problems with fresh blood. They had never really talked about it, but he knew. He was sure she knew that he knew, too. That's why he made sure they would never run out of blood around the house. Klaus wasn't a stranger to feeling an insatiable hunger, but he had gotten it under control eventually. Jenna wasn't quite there yet and he was afraid that something bad had to happen before she was able to find a way to control it the way he can.
Rebekah put her hand over her brother's, "I'm sure she's alright."
Klaus nodded and followed Rebekah back to the car.
xxxxxxx
Klaus had surprised Rebekah by knowing exactly where Sophie lived. Rebekah hadn't bothered to find out. She thought she might still be hiding out at the cemetery, but Klaus knew better. Of course he would know where the witch lived that was threatening Jenna's life. Rebekah couldn't help but smile at that.
At the door they were not greeted by Sophie but another witch that neither of them knew. "Sophie isn't feeling well at the moment."
The witch tried to block their way inside, but she might as well have tried to stop a speeding train. Klaus and Rebekah easily pushed past her and made her way inside. The small house was empty and the only noises seemed to be coming from upstairs. So that's where they went.
It wasn't hard to find Sophie. All they had to do was follow the sound of coughing. Without wasting time on unnecessary things like saying hello, Rebekah went straight to the point, "You will be pleased to hear that we know now what Marcel's secret weapon is."
Sophie lifted herself up as best as she could and tried to find a comfortable position on the bed, "Really? And here I was thinking the first thing you would demand to know is what I did to Jenna."
Klaus shared a confused look with his sister, "What about Jenna?"
Sophie tried to answer, but could only manage a painful fit of coughing. She did not look good at all. She was pale and sweating and weak. Rebekah leaned against the wall next to the door and watched Sophie, trying to decide if she was faking it or not, "Jenna's fine."
"I doubt that." More coughing from Sophie, this time more violently. There might have been some blood.
"The spell...we're bonded by blood. Whatever is happening to me here, it is happening to her as well." Sophie fell back on the bed with a groan. She's in pain, Klaus thought, but Jenna seemed fine. She had been a bit off lately, but he thought it was just him and his sister wearing down her nerves. He knew they could be hard to be around when they were fighting. To them it was normal, to others mostly annoying.
"How long had this been going on?" Klaus hadn't seen Jenna today or last night and then there were the empty blood bags.
"A few days. It started out harmless enough. I thought I had a cold, but it kept getting worse. To be honest I was wondering when you'd finally show up." Sophie coughed again, "It wasn't anything I did. I may have threatened to kill us both, but I would opt for a quick death and not whatever this is."
"Rebekah, find Jenna." Rebekah straightened up. Her brother's voice left no room for argument.
"I will." Rebekah was out of the house and on her way back to her own home, before Sophie could even form her next question. "What is that secret weapon you were talking about earlier?"
Klaus shook his head, "Forget about that now. I want to know how this happened."
He believed her when she told him that she really didn't know. Sophie was dying, Jenna was possibly dying and Marcel was mysteriously unavailable. Klaus knew where to go next.
xxxxxxx
Jenna couldn't tell how long she had been wandering around aimlessly. Eventually she had reached the city. The voice hadn't spoken again and she began to think that maybe she had only imagined the whole thing. Instead there was another sound now. It took Jenna a moment to place it, but eventually she realized it was her phone. She only saw now that she had a few missed calls. Relieved that she wasn't hearing things, she managed to answer the it.
"Hello."
"Jenna, where are you? Are you alright?" Jenna winced at the loudness of Rebekah's voice. She spoke so fast Jenna had trouble deciphering what she had said.
"I'm in town, I think. I'm not sure what's going on." Jenna spun in slow circles. There were so many people on the streets. Where did they all come from all of the sudden.
"Ok, remember that little diner where we went when I talked to Marcel? I want you to meet me there." Jenna nodded, then realized she had to actually speak to tell Rebekah that she remembered the bar. "I'll meet you there."
The diner Rebekah had mentioned wasn't too far away. It took Jenna about ten minutes to squeeze through the mass of people walking on the sidewalk. She bumped into a few of them and she gave up walking in a straight line about two blocks ago.
It wasn't a very hot day, but Jenna felt warmer by the minute. By the time she had reached the diner she was sweating and had taken off her jacket. She was ready to lose her shirt too, but had enough decency not to strip in public. Even worse she felt herself get hungry again.
The waitress from the diner came over when she noticed Jenna entering, "Excuse me Miss, do you need help?"
"I'm...I'm fine, I think." Jenna spun around looking for the door, "I'm just waiting for a friend."
She was slightly distracted and when she turned back the waitress no longer stood in front of her. Suddenly it was someone entirely different, but not unfamiliar. "Elena, what are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here...with Klaus? How could you betray us like that?"
Jenna shook her head, "I'm not betraying you."
"Then why are you hiding from us?" Jenna wasn't sure how to answer that. Then the voice came from the other side of the room. "Oh, look who's taking a walk on the wild side. Exciting, am I right?" Elena giggled, but it sounded all wrong. Then Jenna realized that it wasn't Elena, it was Katherine.
"Not you again," Jenna groaned and clutched her head and closed her eyes.
"Nice to see you too." This time Jenna thought she heard Rebekah's voice. When she opened her eyes she saw her standing over by the door.
"What is it you're going to lecture me on. To stay away from your brother? To go back to my family?"
Jenna was swaying wildly from side to side and about to fall. Rebekah quickly walked over to her and grabbed her by the arms. "What are you talking about?"
Rebekah thought Jenna seemed confused by the question. She was touching Rebekah's face when she finally answered, "You're real."
"And you're scaring me."
"Rebekah, something's wrong." Way to state the obvious, Rebekah thought and caught Jenna before she hit the floor. She held her up easily enough and gave the waitress a charming smile. She needed to get Jenna back home, because she really didn't know what else to do.
xxxxxxx
Josh wasn't even sure what he was doing here. He had received a call from Klaus earlier telling him to meet him in an alley not far from the compound. He was no longer under the hybrid's compulsion, but not showing up might seem too suspicious.
"Took you long enough." Josh spun around to be greeted by a grim looking Klaus. Obviously he was anything but in a good mood.
"It wasn't easy to get away without anybody noticing." It was true enough. Josh had made sure no one had followed him, at least he hoped so, because he had no way of explaining this. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"
Klaus said nothing for a while, simply looked at Josh. He wasn't sure how to phrase his question exactly. Or if there even was a question to ask. After seeing Sophie being in such bad shape, Klaus had been worried what that might mean for Jenna. He hadn't seen her since yesterday. She had seemed fine then, but that could have changed in the mean time.
Then there was Marcel, better said his absence. He was avoiding him, Klaus knew as much. That's why Klaus had called Josh. He finally wanted to know what was going on. Rebekah was probably right, but he couldn't tell her that. She would storm in and most likely make thing worse than they already are. He had tried to keep her from doing something dramatic and stupid, because at least one of them had to keep a clear head. Jenna would scoff at that and tell him that he probably wasn't the best person for that job and she would be right, of course.
While Klaus thought all of this though in his head, Josh must have taken his silence a different way. Or maybe it was just his own guilty conscious that made him crack. "You know, don't you. I am so sorry. He made me do it. He would have killed me."
"And what is it exactly I know?" Klaus asked surprised by Josh's outburst.
"That he is no longer your little spy."
Josh and Klaus both turned simultaneously to the direction of the voice. Marcel had entered the alley and was leaning against a wall. He turned to Josh, "You can leave now."
Marcel's voice was full of authority. Josh looked between the two men. Should he leave or stay or maybe make a run for it out of town, far, far away. In the end it was no use either way, he left.
Marcel smiled to himself. Any victory, no matter how small, over Klaus Mikaelson felt great. "As you can see, Josh knows now who to listen to. Without compulsion, I might add."
Klaus felt the vibration of his phone in his jacket, but he ignored it. He had finally Marcel in front of him and he wasn't going anywhere until he had the answers he wanted.
xxxxxxx
Back at the plantation Rebekah dragged Jenna through the front door, up the stairs and into the bedroom. Halfway to the plantation Jenna had collapsed and Rebekah had to carry her the rest of the way.
"Alright, careful." Rebekah helped Jenna lie down, pulled her shoes off and checked her temperature again. "You're burning up."
"What's happening to me?" Rebekah tried not to let her face give too much away. She didn't want to scare Jenna any more than she already was. But the truth is, she wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with her, but it was obvious that she was getting worse and there might not be a way to help her. "I'll try calling Nik again."
Before Rebekah could get far, Jenna grabbed her by the arm. She was scared and she had no idea what had happened. Since the hospital yesterday she had been getting worse. Slowly at first, then all at once. She was a hot, sweating mess, her head felt ready to explode and her breathing became more labored. "Don't leave."
Rebekah nodded and sat down on the side of the bed. She dialed her brother again, but just like any other time she had tried before she only got his voicemail. What was so much more important than answering a single call from his sister?
"On the bright side, Sophie is just as effect by what's happening to you than you would be by her." Rebekah tried lightening the mood, but that hadn't really helped.
"Great, we'll both be dead."
"Don't say that. You're not dying." But even as she said it she knew that it wasn't true. Jenna was dying. "Ok, let's focus on something else."
"Fine. Just tell me something about when you were here the last time. What was it like?"
Rebekah smiled and told Jenna the story of how she and her brothers had come over to New Orleans from England. How they helped form and shape the city. She even got into the story of how they had met Marcel and how much Klaus had liked having him around and how much she had liked having him around.
She made it her task to distract Jenna as best as she could. There was nothing Rebekah could do besides maybe going out and find her brother, but then she would have to leave Jenna and she just couldn't bring herself to that. Elijah had asked her to keep an eye on her and she had miserably failed. She couldn't see how it could possibly be her fault that Jenna was dying, but she liked her enough not to want her to be alone when she did.
"Let me get this straight," Jenna said and paused to catch her breath. "Klaus killed your boyfriends? And when Marcel had the choice to be with you or be a vampire, he chose death?"
"Pretty much."
Jenna thought she was beginning to get a better understanding of the relationship between Rebekah and her brother. There was just so much wrong with it. She was sure there must be good things, too. Clearly Klaus looked out for his sister and didn't want her to get hurt, but at the same time he didn't seem to want her to be happy either. Maybe because he wasn't? But that was just guess work and Jenna had more pressing issues to think about. Like dying, for example.
The burning in her throat was driving Jenna crazy, but she felt so exhausted she couldn't even get up to get something to drink. "I'm so hungry."
Rebekah nodded and stood up, "I'll get you some blood. I'll be right back."
She didn't rush down and back up again. She walked slowly down to the kitchen and opened the fridge. They had some blood bags left, not many though. Jenna had gone through almost all of them. On her way back she heard the front door open and close. "Nik, is that you?"
She wanted to berate him for not answering her calls, but when she entered the hall, all the angry words disappeared from her mind. "Elijah!?"
"Did you miss me?" Elijah held his arms out and Rebekah didn't hesitate for even a second. She launched herself into his arms and hugged him tight, "Finally, I was beginning I won't be seeing you again."
Rebekah let go of Elijah, still smiling like a little kid in a candy store, "Marcel really let you go then."
"No, he didn't, but I was able to talk Davina into letting me go instead." Rebekah became immediately suspicious of that statement, but then she remembered the blood bag in her hand and her smile dropped immediately. Elijah noticed. "What's wrong?"
Instead of answering Rebekah simply took his brother by the hand and pulled him along with her. He had to see this for himself.
xxxxxxx
Elijah was surprised to say the least and not in a good way. Jenna lay on the bed, breathing hard. When she saw him she managed a small smile and a breathy 'hey' which only led her to cough violently for the next thirty seconds. He walked over to her, asked what was wrong, but she only shook her head. Rebekah had taken him back outside into the hall after feeding Jenna the blood and explained as best as she could.
Elijah had been quiet during his sister's monolog about everything that he had missed. This was not good. He had been gone for too long. It shouldn't have gotten this far, but being daggered and held hostage by a teenage witch had slowed him down a bit.
"Elijah, are you even listening?"
"Yes, of course. I was just thinking." Rebekah looked at him expectantly. Clearly she wanted her big brother to tell her what to do. He was the brother she listened to. She needed him to fix this.
"While I was with Davina I heard a conversation between her and Marcel. Something about a werewolf and that it would require Davina's help."
"Werewolf? You mean they might have poisoned Jenna with werewolf venom?" Rebekah could not believe it. How could Marcel do this. Why Jenna? Her symptoms were not unlike what would happen after werewolf poison enters a vampires blood stream, but Rebekah hadn't really thought about this as being the cause.
"Wouldn't we have noticed if Jenna had been bitten? I'm sure she would have mentioned something."
"Unless she didn't know. What if Davina used her magic in some way? I should ask her about it. This way we'll know for sure." Elijah grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. "Keep an eye on Jenna and call Niklaus. Tell him to come straight home. If this is werewolf poisoning he's the only one who can cure her."
Rebekah nodded and fished her phone out of her back pocket and started dialing her brother for what seemed to be the hundredth time today. It rang, the seconds ticked by, but Klaus didn't pick up. Instead it went to voicemail again where Rebekah would leave the first in a series of messages that progressed from urgent to angry to desperate.
xxxxxxx
Davina was putting some of her herbs away when she felt a little rush of wind though the attic. She turned, but before she was even able to utter a single word, she felt herself being moved faster than humanly possible.
It was hard to put into words what it felt like, but when Davina was able to focus her vision again, she realized that she was no longer in the attic. A quick look around and she saw Elijah standing a little off to the side.
"I'm guessing there is a reason for being so rudely kidnapped." Davina rearranged the dress she was wearing.
"Yes, I'm sorry, but as you can see there is no time to lose." Elijah walked over to Jenna and checked her to see if she was still breathing. She lay really still on the bed, but when he got closer she opened her eyes, so he knew she was still with them.
Davina stepped a little closer. She thought she recognized the woman on the bed from Marcel's Party. She had worn a mask then, but she was almost sure she had been the one who walked in on Klaus' arm. "What's wrong with her?"
"Funny, that's what we were going to ask you." Rebekah entered the bedroom and walked over to Jenna with a glass of blood. She helped her up a bit and held the glass to her mouth.
"It appears Jenna had been poisoned by a werewolf." Elijah explained and could see the gears turning in Davina's head. "Now, I heard Marcel ask you to help with something that involved a werewolf and I was wondering..."
"...if maybe that was what he wanted me to help with." Davina finished Elijah's thought and she couldn't really deny it. Marcel had asked her to work her magic, but he had never told her what exactly he needed the venom for and she hadn't asked to be honest. All she had on her mind was to get back to the attic and make sure the Original was still where he was supposed to be.
"What exactly did you do?" Rebekah wanted to rip the little witch's head off, but only after she had fixed Jenna.
"Marcel had asked me to magically force the werewolf he had captured to turn a little in order to extract some venom. Then I put a spell on the venom that would conceal the effects for a while. Instead of slowly getting worse, the infected wouldn't be noticed until it is almost too late. They have about twelve hours from when it breaks out completely until it kills them. It's the best I could do." Davina shrugged and looked down at the floor. She hadn't meant for anyone to get hurt. That was stupid of course, because poison hurts people, no matter what she wanted.
Rebekah advanced on Davina whose guilty face quickly turned into a frightened one. "And you just did it without thinking what Marcel might do with it?"
"You don't understand..." Davina wanted to explain that she owed Marcel, but she didn't think that Rebekah was interested in hearing about that.
"I understand perfectly, you little..." Elijah stepped between his sister and Davina at the last possible moment and stopped Rebekah from whatever she might have done next. "Assigning blame isn't going to help Jenna."
Rebekah looked up at Elijah, but he held her gaze. Eventually Rebekah signed and took a step back, signaling that she was going to play nice with the witch.
Elijah smiled at his sister and turned around, facing Davina, "Is there something you can do, Davina? Reverse the spell or something."
"No, I'm sorry. Even if I undo the spell I did, it wouldn't change the effect of the venom. It might even make it worse." Elijah had figured as much, but he had to ask.
Davina felt bad for causing so much trouble. Now Jenna would die because of her. She wasn't sure why she even cared so much about this. She shouldn't, there was no reason. Then again Elijah had been nothing but nice to her. She didn't want to break the deal they had made. She needed his protection and he clearly cared about what happens to Jenna.
"I'm sensing more magic, though." Davina blurted out and surprised the rest of them. "Something about Jenna...I can't really explain it."
Elijah and Rebekah exchanged a look, trying to decide how much they wanted Davina to know. Elijah knew that Davina is hiding from the witches and getting rid of Sophie Deveraux might work in her favor. "Sophie Deveraux has put a spell on Jenna and herself that binds their lives together."
"You mean she dies and Sophie will die, too?"
"No need to sound so upbeat about that." Rebekah noted and used all her restraint not to wring the little witch's neck. She might also still be upset about having been thrown out of a church window.
Davina tried not to smile, she couldn't. She might have powerful magic, but Rebekah would kill her for that. The prospect of getting rid of Sophie Deveraux, who without a doubt was looking for her, was appealing and it would be so easy. The expression on Elijah's face, however, told Davina that this was about more than Sophie Deveraux.
"I guess I could try to reverse the spell that Sophie has used to bind herself to Jenna." It wasn't much, but Davina felt like she should at least try something to help. "You mentioned your mother's spell book. There might be something in there."
Elijah nodded his approval but Rebekah only rolled her eyes at them. She couldn't help but get one more shot in. "Yes, you do that. That would be such a big help. Meanwhile I'm in here with Jenna. You know, the person dying because of you."
xxxxxxx
Marcel and Klaus stood in the alley on opposite sites, staring at each other. "You have been a hard man to find."
Marcel shrugged and his smile never wavered, "I have been busy."
"Where's Elijah?"
Marcel waved the question away, "Save in his coffin. But I'm guessing your brother isn't really your biggest problem right now."
Klaus figured he was referring to whatever was happening to Sophie and possibly Jenna, but he couldn't exactly say anything about Sophie. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."
"Then I guess you also don't know about what happened between Max, the witch and Thierry?" It wasn't really a question. From Marcel's tone, Klaus could tell he had been found out. What wasn't very surprising, now that he knew Josh was somehow freed of his compulsion.
"That phone of yours is buzzing like crazy." Marcel laughed and pointed to where the vibrating came from, "I think you really should answer that."
Marcel smirked at Klaus and watched as he took out his phone. The display informed him he had seven missed calls, all from Rebekah. Before he was even through listening to the first one, he had vanished from the alley.
xxxxxxx
Jenna lay on the bed with her eyes closed, getting worse still. Rebekah had pulled up a chair beside the bed. Elijah and Davina were downstairs working on the spell that would unlink Jenna from Sophie, although Rebekah really didn't see the point in it anymore. It was Sophie's fault. She was the one who decided to bind herself to Jenna, now she was dying along with her. If Rebekah had any say in it she would just let the witch die. Then again if Jenna wasn't going to survive this then the witch wouldn't live for much longer either way. Klaus wouldn't allow her to go on living, Rebekah was sure of it.
She put a cold wash cloth over Jenna's forehead. The vampire was burning up. Rebekah wished she could do more, but all she could do was stay here and not let Jenna be alone in case Klaus wouldn't be able to save her.
Jenna's breathing became shallower and when she stopped drawing in another breath, although in theory she didn't need to breathe at all, Rebekah started to panic. "Elijah!"
Rebekah started to shake Jenna, "Don't you dare die on me now!"
xxxxxxx
Something pulled at Jenna and suddenly she felt lighter, as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The pain was gone, too. A feeling she wasn't entirely unfamiliar with and that's what scared her.
When Jenna opened her eyes again she found herself standing outside in a park. Not really sure what had just happened, Jenna began to walk around a bit. She felt drawn towards one of the benches. A girl sat on it with her back turned to Jenna and her head buried in a book. It was strange. Something about the girl seemed familiar and the closer Jenna got, the more she knew why. She knew the girl, "Bonnie?"
Bonnie's head snapped up, "Jenna!"
Bonnie couldn't help but call out, not caring if anyone thought she was a crazy person talking to someone who wasn't even there. She was a little shocked, but soon recovered and smiled at Jenna brightly, "There you are. I was beginning to think you didn't like me anymore."
It was supposed to be a joke, Jenna thought, but she didn't get it. Why would Bonnie think that and why was she so happy to see her? Maybe this was just another hallucination. Before any of this could go any further, Jenna had to ask, "Ok, two questions. Where are we and what am I doing here?"
Bonnie laughed out loud, "Well, we're not far from campus and I'm not sure why you're here. I'm just glad to see you again."
See me again, Jenna thought about that. Bonnie must think she's still a ghost.
"Wait, the last time we talked you dropped the veil. You didn't do that again, did you?" Jenna asked slightly panicked, but Bonnie rushed to explain that this was not the case.
Jenna was relieved. She really didn't need a repeat of that, "Right, but you can see me."
"It's a bit of a long story, but yes, I can see the dead now." Bonnie answered vaguely, "But shouldn't you know that? Haven't you been around?"
That was something Bonnie had asked herself many times, but was unable to find a satisfying answer. After becoming the anchor between this and the other side Bonnie had met many people again. Her grams, Alaric and even Vicky, not to mention each and every dead supernatural being passing through her, but never once had she been able to contact Jenna. She was new to this and maybe it simply didn't work unless the ghosts actually wanted to be seen, but why wouldn't Jenna want to be seen? Bonnie knew that it would mean so much to Elena to hear from her, to know she was alright on the other side.
While Bonnie seemed very pleased to see Jenna, Jenna kept on replaying Bonnie's words in her head over and over again until it finally sunk in.
I can see the dead now.
xxxxxxx
Klaus had finished listening to Rebekah's messages halfway back to the plantation. A thousand different things were going through his mind while he raced back home. How bad was it and how was she holding up? Would he make it on time? Werewolf poison was a nasty thing, he knew.
It wasn't until he had reached Jenna's open bedroom door that he slowed down. He completely stopped and dread began to fill his insides. He saw Jenna lying on the bed with Rebekah on one and Elijah on the other side. They were both slightly leaning over Jenna's body which lay perfectly still. She didn't move or showed any signs of acknowledging his arrival. Was he too late? He couldn't even think about what he would do if that was the case.
"Nik, we need you over here!" Rebekah shouted at her brother, but he didn't move. He still stood by the bedroom door, completely frozen.
"Niklaus!" Elijah's voice pulled Klaus back to reality. He closed his eyes momentarily and cleared his head again. It wasn't too late, it couldn't be.
Klaus rushed over to Jenna, slightly pushing Rebekah out of the way and started to shake Jenna. No hybrid blood in the world would heal her now if she was already gone. He needed her to wake up or at least show some sign of being still with him.
xxxxxxx
"Oh no, so it's true? I am dead…again?" Jenna sighed frustrated and hung her head. It was beginning to get ridiculous. She started to pace back and forth, talking to herself. "Just how many times can this happen to a single person?"
Bonnie, of course, was completely confused by this, "What do you mean…again?"
Jenna's head snapped back up at that. She didn't mean to give too much away. Dead or not, she was not ready to have this conversation, especially if she had in fact died yet again.
"Jenna."
Jenna spun around. She could've sworn she had just heard someone call her name, but there was no one there. Strange, Jenna thought.
"Are you alright?" Bonnie asked Jenna a little concerned.
"Yeah, I think so." Except she wasn't. She didn't feel quite as light as before. It even got a little harder to breathe.
"Jenna, wake up!"
There it was again, more urgent this time. Someone was definitely calling her and it was getting louder, too. Jenna grabbed her head and tried to breathe through the pain that spread through her entire body. She felt like someone had set fire to her insides.
Bonnie stood up and took a step towards Jenna, but Jenna instinctively took a step back. She couldn't explain why, but she knew that it was better to keep her distance. "Can't you hear that?"
Bonnie looked around and tried to listen to whatever it was Jenna might be hearing. They were in a park and there were different sounds all around them, but Bonnie guessed that Jenna was referring to none of them. Whatever it was she heard, only she heard it.
Jenna touched her forehead. Why was she sweating?
"Jenna, what's wrong?" Bonnie tried to get to Jenna, but just as she was about to touch her, she was gone.
xxxxxxx
With a loud gasp, Jenna opened her eyes wide. She pushed up from the mattress, but found herself restrained by something. Jenna felt like she had just been dumped back into reality.
Reality sucked, however, because reality was painful. Not much made sense to her in that moment. She could tell there were other people around, but she had trouble clearing her vision.
"She's back!" Jenna thought she recognized Rebekah's voice, "Quick, do it!"
The next thing she knew was that blood invaded her mouth. She could tell right away that it wasn't human blood, but in that moment it didn't matter, Jenna swallowed it all the same. It felt revitalizing and she was still so blindingly hungry.
As soon as she got her hands free she grabbed onto whatever it was that provided her with the liquid. She never realized it, but at some point her fangs popped out and she bit down hard, trying to drink as much as she possibly could. Her entire body seemed to relax then and started to heal itself. The pain faded, she no longer felt like she was about to suffocate and after a couple of more moments Jenna's vision cleared and for the first time she realized what exactly it was she had a death grip on or rather who it was.
Klaus leaned over her with one knee resting on the bed beside her, his forearm still pressed to Jenna's mouth, "You had us scared there for a moment, love."
You had me scared, he thought.
Jenna simply kept staring up at Klaus who smiled down at her, the relief on his face plain to see. Jenna was confused. What the hell had just happened? Did she have another dream or a hallucination?
"It's alright, you'll be ok now." Klaus assured her.
Why was he still leaned over her? Jenna wanted to tell him to back up a little so she could sit up, but then, a little embarrassed, realized that she was still holding on to Klaus' arm and that her fangs where still stuck inside of it.
Awkwardly, Jenna willed her fangs to go back and the veins underneath her eyes slowly vanished. She tore her eyes away from Klaus' and noticed the bruises her grip had left on his arm when she finally let go. She hadn't realized how much strength she had used, but she also wasn't too worried about it. They would heal quickly.
Jenna tried to sit up, but could only lift her head off the pillow before dropped it back down. She was too exhausted.
"Don't try to sit up yet. You need to rest." It was Elijah's calm voice, Jenna realized, and she obeyed. Not that she could do anything else. It felt like all the energy had drained from Jenna's body, but despite that she felt better. There was no pain anymore other than a few sore muscles. She no longer felt like being on fire and the burning for blood in her throat became manageable again.
Rebekah stepped in front of the bed. She looked a little shaken, Jenna thought. She had probably been freaked out about Jenna almost dying on her when she specifically ordered her not to do that. At least she thought she might have heard Rebekah scream something like that at her at some point. Jenna smiled and wanted to thank Rebekah for staying with her, but she found that she didn't even have the strength to form the two words. She would have to do that later.
Rebekah breathed in deep and exhaled loudly, "Well, I need a drink." She walked over to the door, but turned again before she exited and pointed her finger at Jenna, "Oh and you could use some beauty sleep. You look like hell."
"Rebekah!" Elijah chided, but, regardless of how exhausted Jenna felt, it made her laughed out loud.
"She's rude, but she's right. You should sleep for a while." Elijah, the voice of reason. Jenna had to admit she had missed him and seeing him back and in one piece made her happy. She managed a smile and nodded at him. He left, leaving only Klaus and Jenna in the room.
To be honest Jenna was a little hesitant about closing her eyes. It might be stupid, but after today she was afraid she might not open them again.
Klaus seemed to notice and tried to smile at her reassuringly, "It's ok and I'll stay here if you want."
It wouldn't take away the uneasiness, but it was better than nothing. Jenna nodded and Klaus went over to the other side of the bed and positioned himself with his back against the headboard beside Jenna. He put both arms around her and pulled up to him a little while he sank down further, so her head was resting on his shoulder.
In this position Jenna could no longer see his face, but that was kind of the point. For the first time in a long time Klaus had actually been scared. Real fear was something the hybrid didn't have to face too often. He was strong and powerful. He had vampire and werewolf advantages without having to turn at every full moon and the only stake that could kill him for good was in his possession. Real fear paralyzed him and he hated the loss of control that came with it. That's why he had long ago stopped showing signs of caring. Of course he cared about a whole lot of things. Like his family, including all the siblings that tried to kill him at one point or another, even the ones who were dead now. Eventually he had reached a point where he couldn't let that get into the way anymore. It was too dangerous, too painful. It didn't always work, of course. Sometimes people slipped in and sometimes he would let them in if he was sure that he would easily keep the upper hand.
Klaus wasn't sure how Jenna had managed to slip past all those walls he had put up to protect himself. It's not like he meant for that to happen. He liked her a lot, but just like with everyone else he cared about, he tried to keep her at arm's length. Yet she repeatedly knocked his arms out of the way and stepped closer to him, whether she realized it herself or not. The thought brought a little smile to his face.
Klaus turned slightly and kissed Jenna on the forehead. Jenna tried her best to stay awake, but within seconds her eyes fell shut and she was asleep.
xxxxxxx
When Jenna opened her eyes again she was immediately relieved that she had. At least that meant she hadn't died in her sleep or something, "How long did I sleep?"
Klaus glanced at the clock on the bedside table, "A couple of hours. How are you feeling?"
Jenna thought about that for a second. The question could be answered in many ways. She was so not okay with a lot of things happening, but if she started complaining she might never stop again. So Jenna settled for the easy and obvious, "Better. No pain, no insatiable hunger or feeling like I might be melted from the inside."
"That's good."
There was a silence, then Jenna finally said what was really on her mind, "This is the third time I died."
Hearing herself say it out loud made it somehow real. Maybe it had been a hallucination, but something inside her told Jenna that she really had left this world, or more accurately this side, if only for a short amount of time. It scared her more than she wanted to admit.
"I saw Bonnie."
Before Klaus could say anything to that, Jenna rushed her words out. She was afraid if she didn't say it out loud then she would forget about it, that it would fade away like a dream one can't recall after waking up. "I was somewhere else and Bonnie was there. She could see me and asked me where I had been. I was scared that this meant that I had died again."
Klaus frowned, "You mean you were on the other side again?"
"I don't know, maybe. It had felt a little different, though."
Klaus didn't like this one bit. Jenna had looked pretty dead there for a moment, but he wasn't going to tell her that. "Maybe it didn't really happen. Maybe you were just hallucinating because of the poison. Besides, you keep on coming back. That must mean something."
Jenna wanted nothing more than to believe that. It had felt slightly different. She hadn't left her body the same way she had before. The last time she had died she had gotten up off the floor and saw herself lying dead before her. This time it hadn't happened this way. She had appeared at a completely different place and Bonnie had been there.
That was something that confused Jenna even more. Bonnie had said that she can see the dead now. What was that supposed to mean? Did something bad happen back home? Seeing dead people couldn't exactly be a good thing.
"Yes, it means I got lucky again." She sighed, "Eventually my luck will run out and I'll be stuck forever on the other side being alone, wandering around and bitterly watching people live their lives."
"That won't happen. I won't let it. And if it did happen then you still wouldn't be alone. I will always see you, I promise." There was just so much about this statement that could be said. For instance, that was a really big promise. They never found out why Klaus was able to see Jenna when she was a ghost and there was no way of knowing if that would happen again.
They both fell into an easy silence. After a while Klaus' eyelids started to droop when Jenna suddenly asked him something completely unexpected. Something she had remembered from earlier when she had been talking to Rebekah.
"Is it true that you killed every single boyfriend Rebekah ever had?" Jenna asked and Klaus raised an eyebrow. Where had that come from?
"Not every single one. Stefan's still alive." Klaus said to defend himself. Jenna looked skeptical. Rebekah and Stefan? Stefan Salvatore? For some reason Jenna just couldn't picture it, no matter how hard she tried.
Klaus shrugged, "She just never learns."
Jenna lifted her head off Klaus' chest and propped herself up on one elbow, "How can she if you've never let her."
"None of them were ever good enough for my little sister. Each and everyone would have broken her heart eventually." Klaus felt that he had to defend himself. How was this even relevant?
"So you broke it for them instead? She needs to make her own decisions, learn from her own mistakes."
Klaus raised his hands in surrender, "Alright, calm down. Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"
Jenna shrugged and let her head rest against Klaus' chest again, "I don't know. I just died for the third time. I guess that would make anybody a little...I don't know." She didn't want to think about it anymore.
"Would you maybe stop pointing that out?" Klaus said and tucked Jenna little closer to him.
Jenna wanted to ask why, but decided against it. She remembered Klaus' face after she had slammed back into her body. He had seemed relieved and Jenna was beginning to think that maybe it had been his voice that she had heard. She couldn't say for sure. Rebekah and Elijah had been there as well. She couldn't help it, but she had to smile at the thought of him being scared for her life.
They had come a long way since that meeting at the Mikaelson Ball. Who would have thought that she would ever be lying in bed with Klaus Mikaelson? Who would have thought that after all the death threats, killings and various other attempts on the life of Jenna's family members they would ever care about each other so much that they wouldn't want the other one to die? Because Jenna knew she wouldn't want him to die and after today she was more sure than ever that he would never let her die if he could help it.
It was one of those realizations that changed the dynamic between them and Jenna most of the time felt helpless when that happened. She didn't really know what she wanted or if she should try to stop this and get out while she still could. It was what Rebekah had told her to do before her brother would get a chance to drag her down with him. But Jenna knew it was too late to get out, even if she wanted to.
"You're not going to do something stupid now, right?"
"Define stupid," Klaus said, but knew exactly what she meant.
"Don't go tearing heads off and hearts out of chests."
Klaus kissed Jenna's hair gently, "You know that I can't promise that."
Jenna nodded slightly, hoping for once things would not turn disastrous, but even while she was thinking it she knew it wouldn't happen.
xxxxxxx
Rebekah walked into the compound. It appeared to be deserted, but she knew exactly where she had to look. Without hesitation or knocking Rebekah burst into Marcel's room and found him sitting in a chair, reading. He looked up slowly.
"Not the Mikaelson I had expected." But something in his smile indicated that maybe he was expecting her.
Rebekah wasn't losing time by meaningless chit chat, instead she went straight to the question she came over to ask Marcel, "It was foolish to think that this plan could actually work. I mean, my brother's blood cures the werewolf poison. You knew that, so why do it?"
Marcel remained silent and watched Rebekah with a smile. He shrugged. Rebekah was getting impatient with his lack of speaking, "If you wanted Jenna gone, then there are easier ways. Ways that don't involve killing her."
Marcel got up from his chair and walked over to Rebekah, never losing his smile, "But I had the right idea, judging from your brother's reaction. I tried to hit him where it mattered. He's the one who told me that people who are in love do stupid things. I was merely seeing if he was willing to do stupid things."
"And now what? He'll make you pay for this."
"Oh but I want him to come after me." Marcel stepped closer to Rebekah and put his hands on her shoulders, "And I was hoping you would be willing to help me fight him."
Rebekah scoffed, "Me? You must be mad."
Marcel looked Rebekah straight into the eyes. He wanted her to really listen to him, "Am I? I've seen how he treated you throughout the years and from what I've seen so far it hasn't improved. He's still the same." Rebekah wanted to argue that her brother had changed, that he was better now, but she had nothing to prove her point. It was merely a reflex.
"Don't pretend to understand the relationship I have with my brother."
"I don't need to pretend, Rebekah. You'll never be free of him. As long as he's around, you'll never be in charge of your own life." Rebekah had to admit he had a point there. She was shackled to Klaus. She went where he went and if she went up against him she would only find herself daggered for another century or two. "Together we could make him go away forever and live our lives free of his tyranny. "
She couldn't possibly even consider this, could she? It was crazy, Rebekah knew it, also so not why she came here. She was here because of what Marcel had done to Jenna. He had almost made her break her promise that she had given to Elijah. Also, she didn't want to appear that easy.
Rebekah moved fast, too fast for Marcel to react in time. She stabbed him with a piece of wood she had so thoughtfully brought along with her. "That's for Jenna."
Marcel groaned at the pain in his gut. It took everything not to sink down to his knees. He had expected Rebekah to show up sooner or later, but he hadn't expected her to take the attack on Jenna so personally.
Rebekah smiled and patted Marcel on the shoulder. She turned and told him on her way out, "If you come up with a plan that isn't suicidal or involves harming Jenna, you can give me call."
Marcel pulled the piece of wood out of his gut and looked at it for a moment. Not how he had planned for this to go, but it was a start.
