The Hollow, now in her original body - a short figure with dark eyes and dark hair - telekinetically raised a witch against a wall. She tilted her head at the struggling witch, a face emotionless despite the dead bodies already behind her. "You lied to me," her voice was calm but laced with terrible darkness. "The sacrifice you want to offer to your ancestors - she's more powerful than you told me. In fact, I felt an inkle of her power and it was far stronger than any coven put together."
The witch in her grasp was choking despite no hands being around her neck. "We-we didn't think it was pertinent-"
The Hollow balled her fist and caused a strong aneurysm in the young witch. She screamed as blood oozed on down from her nose.
"You do not think for me. Don't you ever make that mistake." And with a swipe of her arm, the Hollow snapped the woman's neck. She turned around to the rest of the witches, shutting them inside the room with a spell. "I'll have to do my own research by the looks of it."
~0~
Come to me...come...come before...
A flash of Inadu stared at Maleny before she woke up. She felt a strange feeling inside of her that despite blinking awake it didn't seem to quell.
"Maleny?"
Maleny tilted her head up to see Klaus gazing down at her. He was holding her but looked wide awake as ever. Still, he seemed to be cautious as his arms started to loosen around her. Nicolas had mentioned to his father that there would be some sort of consequence from the Hollow like an infection or something, but as far as Klaus could see Maleny looked more like herself.
"Why are you letting go?" she whispered, her voice rather raspy from the long sleep (that she didn't know about) she just had.
"You don't...want to kill me?"
"...what did you do?" Maleny's voice certainly sounded like her old self, the one that really would hurt him if he'd done something bad.
A big smile came to Klaus' face after deciding it was truly her. His arms once again held her tight as he planted a kiss on her head. Maleny's eyebrows knitted together as she wondered what happened. It was then that she realized that she didn't know when she'd gotten into bed...nor how she'd gotten out of that abandoned house.
"What happened?" she eventually asked after taking another moment to really wake up.
"You don't remember?" Klaus figured that much and had thought about how they would explain to Maleny everything that occurred while the Hollow controlled her body.
"I just remembered that creepy house where you and Marcel nearly killed each other," Maleny paused for a moment to think again. A minute later had her eyes widening and her springing upright on the bed. "The Hollow! Oh my God the Hollow was-"
"Mal! You're okay!" Klaus had a hard time getting her to calm down enough to listen to his words. After a minute, he was finally able to grab her arms to keep her still. "You're okay now, I promise."
Maleny looked around the room and noticed a bowl of berries sitting on the night stand. "Did you leave the room and then come back?"
"What?" Klaus followed her gaze to the bowl of berries and playfully rolled his eyes. "Please tell me that is not your biggest concern right now?"
"You know I hate when you do that," she frowned at him. "It means you left me when I was probably the best thing to hold at night."
After everything he'd endured, listening to that made Klaus just laugh.
Maleny's glare did nothing to stop him. "Excuse you, do you need to sleep on the couch?" She did, however, reached for a couple of berries from the bowl and dropped them into her mouth.
"I'd rather hold you at night," Klaus took the last berry from her hand and ate it himself. Her glare still didn't fade. He leveled her glare with a simple look of his that studied her features. Without the Hollow invading her, that innocent aura she carried was back. Her eyes - though annoyed at the moment - were bigger and sparkly again. She was back.
He leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"You're not out of trouble yet," Maleny warned but the fact she closed her eyes was a sign of the contrary. He captured her lips with another kiss, and another, and another that each turned more heated.
Maleny...
Maleny pulled away from Klaus so suddenly that he nearly fell forwards on her. Maleny's eyes flickered around the room trying to find the source of the voice calling out to her. When she couldn't find it, and she was sure that the voice was a familiar one, she looked at Klaus. "What happened to me?" she demanded the answers fast.
~ 0 ~
To say Maleny was devastated was a complete understatement. She sat and listened to everything Klaus told her about every moment in which the Hollow used her body to commit atrocious acts. She barely kept herself together when he got to the last act...but when he brought her into a silent room where one lone coffin, with its top open, was she couldn't hold it.
One look at Elijah with grey veins broke her into sobs.
"Oh my God! Oh my - I did this! I did this!" Her hands hovered over Elijah as she decided whether or not to touch him. "I killed Elijah. I killed him!"
"Take it easy Mal, we know this wasn't you," Klaus tried to get her away from the coffin but her free hand was gripping the coffin's edge. He shouldn't have brought her there but Maleny was persistent after all.
"But it was my hand that did it! Elijah, I'm so sorry," she cried full tears for the Original who couldn't possibly hear her. "He's always protected us and this is how I repay him?"
"Freya is doing everything she can to bring him back as we speak, love," Klaus held her from behind, her small figure almost retreating in his arms. "This is only temporary."
"Oh my God, Cami!" Maleny exclaimed, eyes nearly popping out from her head. "I killed Cami too!"
"About that, don't worry, we've got another temporary solution," Klaus promised her, and with it he was able to draw her out from the room.
~0~
Downstairs, Freya was putting a small bead bracelet around Cami's wrist. "This should slow down the, uh…"
"My inevitable death?" Cami finished for her, and perhaps it would have been more lighted if it didn't appear like she was struggling to catch her breath.
"You're not dying," Hayley was right beside Cami in this whole ordeal.
"It sure feels like it," Cami rubbed circles over her chest.
"Elijah's sireline is dying as we speak but this bracelet can slow down the effects," Freya promised. "Like when a witch uses her magic to extend her lifetime. It's not curing anything, just...slowing down the disease. Each bead represents a life force energy and once the last one breaks…"
Cami once more nodded in understanding. "It's goodbye."
"That's not gonna happen because once we save Elijah I'm putting you into Nicolas' pendant," Freya assured.
"What will happen to my body?" Cami wondered. "Can you actually...bring me back?"
"With the right level of magic, yeah," Freya's smile was reassuring for the weakened Cami who seemed more focus on her breath. Hayley, however, was more tuned in. There was something Freya was keeping back.
Cami flinched as the first bead of her bracelet cracked and fell to the floor in pieces. "Guess we better get started," Freya resolved and headed to the table with the broken shards of her pendant. She had drawn a chalk circle with mystical symbols in order to conduct the spell.
"Cami?" they heard Maleny's voice. A second later the blonde woman was inside and rushing towards her cousin. "Cami, I'm so sorry!" Cami hugged Maleny back tightly, thankful that at least in all this they had managed to bring her back. "Klaus told me what I-I did and-"
Cami stopped her with a shake of her head. "You didn't do anything. It was that evil Hollow bitch. She planned everything."
"Still, I...I want to help," Maleny looked at the others, including Klaus and Nicolas who joined them. "The Hollow owes me."
"Well, if it's revenge you seek, dear Mal, then we are going to have a lovely time together," Rebekah strode in with Kol at her side. "We always did make a perfect team."
"I'm sorry," Maleny felt the need to apologize to the entire family for the actions committed with her body. "I-I should have been stronger and kept her back. It's my fault she got an upperhand and..." she glanced at Cami with fresh tears in her eyes, "...now Elijah's stuck in some pendant and you're dying too."
"Mum," Nicolas walked over and hugged his mother tight. "None of it was your fault, you should know that."
"Don't let the Hollow bring you down, Mal. It's our job to out it down," Kol smirked. Maleny found him completely in the impossible that he still had enough energy to joke.
"Please tell me we're on our way to getting Elijah back?" Rebekah moved up to Freya's table.
"Working on it," Freya was tired of repeating. "And in the meanwhile you all have your own assignments."
"Yes we do," agreed Klaus who was all too happy to get things moving. "We need to destroy the weapons that give our enemy their advantage. One scratch from the rosebush is lethal to us."
"And aunt Freya and I have already tracked them down for you," Nicolas motioned the lot of vampires to gather around the table. He directed them to a map with several drops of blood. "In total there are eight that remain, including the main plant. Here, in the Ninth Ward."
"Fine, so we burn them all and then we murder that wretched bitch," Rebekah spat.
"Exactly my thoughts," Maleny muttered.
"Lethal thorns, resurrected witches... what could possibly go wrong am I right?" Kol sarcastically waited for the answer from anyone.
"Oh uncle Kol-" Marlenie joined the gathering, smirking when Kol dramatically went 'oh no' at her presence, "-you know you should never ask that question in this family."
Kol continued with his dramatics as he turned to Klaus. "I will do whatever you want, kill whoever, just don't pair me up with her."
"Well lucky for you I don't consider you two paired up together our best chance of getting the thorns," Klaus said, though smirking like his daughter, "You'll probably be at each other's throats anyways."
"However you do it, do it fast," Nicolas warned them that time was of the essence.
With that, they each separated in pairs with the last one being Rebekah going in search of Marcel for some back up. That was no surprise, everyone thought but no one said out loud.
"Mum, you should take it easy," Marlenie warned before she had to go too. She hugged Maleny just as tightly as Nicolas had. "And Dad will make sure that you do."
"Not if he knows what's good for him," Maleny meant that literally and side-glanced Klaus to make sure he understood. Elijah was close to death and Cami was well on her way too so there was no way in hell she would be 'taking it easy'. "Let's go," she started leaving first.
"I will do my best," Klaus said to Marlenie before following Maleny.
"Freya…" Cami's shaky voice drew the woman along with Hayley and Nicolas. A second bracelet bead had just crumbled to the ground.
"We have to move fast," Freya motioned Nicolas to start the spell on his end.
"How are you going to find him?" asked Hayley, intently watching Freya enter the chalk ring. "Well I don't know yet, but since his mind shattered with the pendant, he's most likely retreated to the innermost core of his consciousness. It could be anywhere in over a thousand years of memories."
"And you think you can pull this off?"
Freya paused just as she sat down inside the ring. "I don't know. I've never actually tried this before."
"Freya, there are a thousand years of memories in there. How will you know which is the right one?" Cami wondered, worried this would become an impossible task before it even started.
"He'll recognize me. If I can find the core of his being or whatever memory he's clinging to, I'll pull him out," Freya gave her a reassuring smile. "Nicolas?"
"I'm ready, aunt Freya," Nicolas held his hands out and began to chant the spell as Freya laid down on the ground and closed her eyes. "Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz…"
When Freya eye-opened her eyes, she found herself inside a crisp white hallway...lined with dozens and dozens of doors.
~0~
Whilst Klaus preferred to give an easy, fast surprise attack to the witches, Maleny thought it best to tread with caution. After all, the Hollow could very well give her followers upgraded powers. However, the closer they got to the infirmary, the more scent they picked up of…
"Blood? I smell blood," Maleny crinkled her nose.
"Maybe someone's done us the job already," Klaus walked on past her into the infirmary. Inside he got sight of the multiple dead corpses on the floor. Many of them were young.
"What in the hell…?" Maleny walked in behind him, gaping at the scene before them. "These are all...children…"
"Mal…" Klaus called as she started nearing one of the corpses. He was sure these were mostly of the Dawson bloodline.
"They're dead, Klaus, look," Maleny brushed some hair from a young girl with dried blood on her face. "Slaughtered yet no vampire marks on them. Do you think the Hollow did this?" Klaus was more than 100% sure this was all the Hollow. Maleny straightened on her feet and kept wandering through the room, eyes keen on the corpses. "I don't understand this thing. She raises followers and then massacres them as soon as she's reborn? She's vicious on a whole other level."
"Let's just find the thorns and get out of here," Klaus set to search. He didn't want Maleny anywhere near Dawsons, even dead ones.
Maleny agreed and started searching for the thorns. In the silence of their search, she began to hear distant whispers. For a moment she thought it was one of the corpses that perhaps wasn't all that dead, but as she stopped to look around she saw the dead...dead. No one was making a sound, and yet…
Find me.
She whirled around, coming face to face with a small pile of bodies against the wall. As she studied its posture, it appeared to her like they had been purposely stacked.
Find me.
She blinked. There was definitely a voice and it was definitely coming from that pile of corpses. And by the fact Klaus was still searching like nothing, the voice was only talking to her. She zipped up to the bodies and started moving them apart. As she reached for one body, a ripple of magic zapped the inside of her head. Her scream immediately pulled Klaus from his search. She clapped her hands over her head, feeling the aneurysm incrementing.
Before Klaus knew it, the same spell landed on him. Through their pain, they twisted towards the entrance when they heard people coming in. To their misfortune, it was a flock of witches.
"Get that one," one of them, a brunette man, nodded to Maleny. "And be quick about it. The Hollow can find us quick."
Three of their flock started towards Maleny who, despite her state, shot them confused eyes. Klaus wasn't on the same pain level. With amber-eyes, he growled and zipped towards the three, snapping their necks without hesitation.
"Running from the Hollow now?" he caught the brunette's order just fine. On some level, it satisfied him to know the Hollow was now coming for them too.
The brunette glared and balled a fist, once again causing the anyeurism to strike Klaus again. "It wants her now thanks to your daughter's indiscretion. And we won't let that happen. She's our sacrifice."
Now Maleny understood no part of this but once she heard 'sacrifice' her ears opened up, her entire body pushed her to get up from there and fight. She fought the pain for as long as she could and swept towards the brunette warlock, throwing him over the bar. "What sacrifice?" her voice was a roar.
"Yours sweetheart," a witch snuck up on her and telekinetically slammed her to the ground. "Don't you know yet?"
Immediately, Maleny's eyes found Klaus and narrowed. "Klaus - what the hell are they talking about?"
Instead of answering her, he moved to take care of the nuisance. He reached out and snatched a nearby witch to break. With amber-eyes he growled and sped towards the flock.
"Distractions won't help you!" Maleny called out to him. She kicked a leg backwards and broke the witch's leg who was keeping her down. She jumped to her feet and grabbed a stool, throwing it at the flock to see which ones she would get. "Why do you people want to sacrifice me!?"
"Because you're owed to us!" someone from the flock instantly responded with, taking her aback. "Our family owned you for a thousand years because you gave yourself up to us."
Maleny was frozen to her spot, practically, as her mind raced to the last memory of those words. "No...you couldn't be…"
Her distraction was a wide open window for the opposing side. Her scream bellowed throughout the room once more. What were these witches made of that they gave aneurysms on a whole other level? Oh, well...she was sure she had the answer to that.
Klaus dropped his recent victim and moved on over to snap the neck of the witch hurting Maleny. Then, he went for the last remaining warlock - the brunette man.
"They're Dawsons!" Maleny shouted after him, making him wince for the first time in that attack. "How the hell are they here!?"
"That's what happens when we age out of the foster care, Rowan," the brunette man spat before Klaus grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against the wall.
"Last words?" the hybrid asked more out of courtesy than interest.
The brunette man laughed for a couple seconds but when Klaus gave a violent shake of his body he was forced to stop. "You're delirious if you think we're the last ones. We're out there, waiting for the right moment to sneak up and…" he made a cutting motion across his neck. "We'll beat the Hollow to you-"
"Dawsons paired up with the Hollow...great…" Maleny was ashamed to show actual fear for these people, but memories of the thousand lives she was forced to live and die in started surfacing in her mind.
"You should be scared," the brunette spat at her. "You don't get to win. You made a promise and we intend on keeping it-"
Klaus rolled his eyes and swiftly snapped the man's neck. "We're done here."
But Maleny had other plans. She grabbed a piece of a broken stool's leg and threw it directly at him. "When were you planning on telling me the Dawsons were back!?" she frantically shouted.
Klaus had caught the stool leg and gave it a languid twirl between his hand. "I didn't think it necessary to inform you when it wasn't pertinent-"
"IT WAS!" Maleny was almost red on the face from her anger and frustration. "Those people are the descendants of the people who cursed me for a thousand years, Klaus! Did you forget that!? Now they've paired up with the Hollow to get me again!"
"They're not going to touch you," Klaus let the stool leg drop as he walked up to her. He reached to touch her face, barely stroking her cheek before she turned away from him. "Mal-"
"They cursed me. A thousand years. Never knowing who the hell I was - only living and dying over and over...and over…" her voice shook with utter fear, "And over…"
"Maleny, this isn't the same anymore-"
"No, it's not. It's actually worse. They've paired up with the Hollow-"
"And the Hollow's killing them," Klaus gestured to the corpses around them. "They were the lackeys of their own bloodline. Now I imagine whoever is left of them are even lower in the scale. We can take them out, love, no problem."
Maleny glanced over her shoulder, somewhat unsure. "They scare me. They shouldn't, but they do. Just...just the thought of being...sacrificed-" she shut her eyes, "-it…" she shuddered a breath. Flashes of the knife itself started invading her mind.
Klaus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. "They'll be gone before you know it. This time I will not make the same mistake."
"It's not on you. We'll just need to be smart in how to end them," Maleny intook a breath. "Now just tell me, is there anything else I need to know?"
For a minute, Klaus wondered if keeping shut about other things would lead to the same results - he wasn't keen on being thrown stool legs. "Well, Nicolas killed the leader of the renewed Dawsons and I'm pretty sure he stashed the Harvest Girls somewhere in the compound-"
"What?" Maleny blinked and pulled away from his arms. "He did what!?"
"I congratulated him on his stealth-"
"Klaus!"
"It was Luka and I fairly think you shouldn't be that upset by his demise," Klaus made the wrong move when he gave hints of jealousy.
"Don't make me throw you something else," she warned with a jabbing finger on his chest. "Anything else you want to tell me?"
"...the Ancestors are back-"
"Are you-" Maleny ceased talking and instead opted to take in another breath to calm herself down. "Please, for the love of God, tell me that's it."
With a big grin on his face, Klaus nodded. "It's everything."
Maleny still shook her head at him. It shamed her to think this was actually the family's way of acting.
Find me.
She froze again, her head snapping in the stack of bodies against the wall, the same ones she'd been interrupted dismantling.
~ 0 ~
Cami watched as the fourth of her bracelet beads turned to dust before it even hit the floor. With a sigh, she rubbed her wrists and returned her gaze to Freya's unconscious figure in the ring barrier.
"How are you doing?" Hayley bent down beside the woman's chair.
"Um...okay, I think?" Cami peered around her legs and saw the visible trace of gray veins crawled up her skin. "Is that supposed to happen?"
"I think so," Hayley answered since Nicolas was still deep in the spell keeping Freya inside the pendant. "Freya said this thing is only slowing down the process."
"Oh great, another clock," Cami muttered and tried pulling her dress' bottom further down her knees.
Suddenly, they heard Freya's sharp gasp just as the woman woke up. Nicolas quickly dashed to her, helping her get up. "Aunt Freya, what happened?"
"I - there's too many doors," Freya rubbed her sweaty forehead. "It's a lot of power for a witch, I...I'm not sure I can find him if I continue to search randomly."
"Then maybe you need to send someone else," Hayley suggested, of course intending on volunteering herself for the job...but Cami beat her to it.
"I can do it," the blonde got up from her chair, slightly rocky on her feet for the first couple of seconds.
It was still enough to make Hayley feel the need to be her support. "Cami, are you serious? No offence...but you're dying!"
"Yeah, I know, I was there," Cami gave her a weak smile before addressing the two Mikaelson mortals. "There's a thousand doors but I bet I can find him. I think I'm closest to him next to Klaus."
"Cami, sending you in would require a lot more magic and...honestly, I don't think you would make it in and out of the pendant," Freya eyed the woman's weakened posture.
"Aunt Freya's right," Nicolas gave a nod of his head. "The force of the spell would speed up your death, Cami. I have to put you inside my pendant before the last bead of your bracelet falls." He eyed the number of beads still clinging to Cami's wrist, counting six in total. "I think you have maybe...thirty? Forty minutes the most."
"Forty minutes is enough," Cami said determinedly as she neared the ring barrier.
Since there seemed to be no point in arguing with her, Freya took her inside the barrier and instructed her to lay down. Nicolas, against his better judgement, returned to the table to prepare the spell once again.
"Remember Cami," Freya said just as she was getting back on her feet, "The core of Elijah's being has retreated deep into his subconscious. There are too many memories for you to randomly search. You have to think, where would Elijah find refuge? It has to be somewhere that represents the fundamental basis of who he is. Hopefully, that's a good place. When you find it, draw him out and wake him up. But be careful, his mind is unstable."
"Get in, find Elijah, draw him out, don't die, and wake him up," Cami sucked in a deep breath. "I can do it." And yet her heart still hammered with fear.
Freya hurried to be by Nicolas' side. The two joined hands and began to the spell once again.
Cami felt a force of gravity pin her down, forcing her to close her eyes. The next time she opened them, she was inside a white hallway covered in doors...and doors...and doors…
"Oh boy," Cami rubbed her wrist. She eyed the beads, the fifth one was beginning to crack. Time was truly of the essence.
She walked down the corridor, her boot heels making the only sound in the place. She swallowed hard. This was too creepy. Too quiet. She stopped by one door, finding that it looked just like any ordinary door. Well, she had to start somewhere and maybe...just maybe she could have some luck.
She turned the knob and walked in, peering in first for caution. She recognized almost instantly the safe house she and Elijah once stayed at for Hope's (and Elijah's) sake. Soon, she began to hear voices carrying out.
"Am I? It's no use to lie, Camille. I saw your face - you were terrified. And justly so…"
Cami quietly walked into the room, finding herself and Elijah conversing. She remembered this moment all too well.
"...I didn't want you here because I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want you to see me like this. I am not the noble man you think I am - not the one anyone thinks I am."
The younger version of Cami merely smiled. She moved over to Elijah and put her hands on his face. "Hey, I like you because you're you. I'm not here for the noble stag title, I'm here because you're my friend and I want you to get better. I'm pretty sure everyone else thinks the same. And I get it, I get that you're dealing with things I have no idea about. But if you ever want to talk about it... It's kind of what I do, It can even be over a game of chess if you'd like. But fair warning, you will have to let me win that game or else…"
Elijah chuckled at her, taking her hands from his face and keeping them in his own. "I believe that sounds fair enough."
The present Cami smiled at the memory, but her smile turned sad when she felt - in her gut - that this was not the refuge Elijah sought out. This was one mere memory. "Elijah?" she still decided to call out, just to see what would happen. Unsurprisingly, her call made no effect, and with that she left the memory.
~ 0 ~
"I can't find the wretched thorns," Klaus growled in frustration after turning over the bar counter itself.
Maleny was confused, honestly. Before she had reached the stack of corpses, Klaus had thrown them to the sides and found nothing. There was nothing but dust and spiders and Maleny was fairly sure spiders weren't the ones beckoning her to the owner of the voice.
"Okay, let's just...let's just split up to cover more ground," she ultimately decided. "Rebekah called and said they cleared the Quarter so there's still one in Gentilly. Go find that one and I will stay here and search for the stake."
"Mal, we need to stay together. It's what the Hollow wants from us. She wants us divided," Klaus said with utmost certainty. It was a good tactic - one he employed in the past - but this time it wouldn't go that way.
"And we don't have time to continue dilly-dallying," Maleny gave him a small smile. "I'll be fine. We cleared some Dawsons here and if it's true what you said, the remaining ones are probably hiding from the Hollow."
With a sigh, Klaus gave in. Still, he began to caution her. "You see one Dawson - I don't bloody care if they're twelve years old, you leave."
Maleny chuckled. "I solemnly swear. I don't think I can kill a child."
"And they would know that," Klaus meant as another warning.
"I know-"
"-so don't even-"
"-I know," Maleny laughed again. She leaned on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. "I'll see you in a bit."
Though weary, Klaus found no other option but to leave her there.
Once alone, Maleny turned to the spiders where the voice originated from. "I really hope it's not the spiders calling to me. That's the last thing I need," she whispered.
~ 0 ~
"Now uncle Kol, what are you doing out here?" Marlenie only momentarily froze Kol in the middle of his search down in the compound dungeon.
"The Harvest Girls, where the hell are they?" Kol soon got over his surprise of being caught and went straight to demanding. He knew the Ancestors were back and that meant Davina was too.
Marlenie crossed her arms at her uncle. "You want to speak to her don't you?" it was why she hurriedly got rid of their last share of the thornbush stakes. Rebekah warned Marlenie to keep an eye on Kol. He was desperate to make contact with Davina. It was practically 90% of his vocabulary when they were in their Chambre de Chasse.
"Well, what do you think, sweetheart?" Kol admonished and continued looking through the dungeon room. "Making a somewhat deal with any witches in the Quarter is never happening and I doubt Nicolas nor Freya would ever do me the solid of linking me to the dead even for five minutes so searching for lost Harvest Girls seems like the only way to go."
Marlenie actually felt sympathetic for him in that moment. This didn't seem like an ordinary scheme of his, it was for...someone he loved. And despite Marlenie's personal feelings towards Davina Claire, Kol was family. "Uncle Kol, even if you found the Harvest Girls you still need a witch to link you to the dead. You might as well just gambled on luck and directly have asked one."
"Well I don't have the bloody options do I!?" the Original shouted at her. "Everyone in this family loves to forget how wrong we did Davina!"
Marlenie sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Maybe when Nick is done helping aunt Freya...he can help you."
Kol scoffed. "Bloody likely."
"Don't think so. See, Nick was the one who made a deal with Davina years ago, he's the one that got close to her, along with Mum. So…" Marlenie walked towards him, "...if you just give us the day to help uncle Elijah, Cami and find the thorns...maybe there's something we can do to help you."
Kol scrutinized his niece for any possible trick. As far as he knew, she hated Davina - whether alive or dead it was just hatred. "Why would you help?"
"Because if it was family I'd want the same thing," Marlenie gave a shrug of his shoulders.
~ 0 ~
Cami watched the sixth bead of her bracelet fall to the porcelain, white floor. "C'mon, Elijah, show me something…" she whispered frantically. She had gone through several doors already, each of them holding memories that didn't turn out to be Elijah's retreated refuge. She was running out of time and frankly, so was he.
She neared an intersection in the hallway where the sounds of violent screams started carrying over. She peered into the corridors until she spotted the only brightly colored - and different - door in the entire place. A small gasp slipped through her lips, but before she knew it, her feet were rushing towards the door.
The red door.
"Oh no," Cami closed her eyes and leaned on the wooden door. The red door was something Elijah hadn't spoken about in years, apart from the years he spent asleep. This had to be the door. The red door was the deepest part of Elijah, whether he liked it or not. It was where he hid his most atrocious acts, and his deepest regrets.
Let me be brave, Cami took in a deep breath. If this was where Elijah was, then it meant he had reverted to a vampire who responded to his most primal urges: bloodshed. With a shaky hand, Cami opened the door and was met with darkness.
Swallowing hard, she walked inside, leaving the door open to illuminate whatever the place was. She could see various corpses on the ground with a glimmer of blood piling up. Then, she heard the distinct sound of feeding. It was definitely someone feeding.
"Elijah?" she called, her voice unintentionally shaky.
The feeding stopped.
"Elijah? I'm here to help you," Cami saw a figure rise in the corner. As it came towards her, the moon from outside - if it was even a real moon - shed some light on them. Cami clapped a hand over her mouth when she saw Elijah covered in blood. "Okay, Elijah, it's time to wake up."
But Elijah only stared at her like she was his next prey.
Cami gulped. "Elijah, I said it's time to wake up!" She jumped backwards when he took an exceptionally large step towards her. "The red door doesn't control you! Don't let it - ah!" her back hit the wall when he almost lunged at her. "Elijah I swear to God - stop!"
Since Elijah kept coming towards her, Cami felt like the right thing to do was to run. She bolted out the cabin, venturing into the woods she thought couldnt' be less fake but apparently they were real enough to enact a chase.
~ 0 ~
Maleny felt she was reaching anger on a Klaus level. The irony was he wasn't even there to see it. She had searched - ransacked - the entire place for the stupid voice and she couldn't find it. The thorns were teasing her.
"Okay listen to me whatever you are that's calling me!" she shouted at the room. "If you want me to find you then give me a clue!" she stomped her boot on the ground and nearly got it stuck. She pulled her shoe back and saw she'd left a hole underneath.
It was then that the light bulb in her head went off.
She sped up to the original place where she'd heard the voice, where the mantle of corpses had been, and she stared at the ground. She then stomped her foot as hard as she could through the floor. Dropping to her knees she peered into the small hole and grinned.
There was a thorn-covered stake tucked inside. She carefully reached a hand inside and pulled it out of there. She examined the stake with a proud grin.
Find me.
The voice made her freeze. She quickly looked around the room but the voice called again. Her blue orbs landed on the stake again and while she couldn't see it at the moment, she was sure there was something even more wicked within the stake that was beckoning her like this.
~ 0 ~
Cami had made a full circle around the woods - at least that's what it looked like now that she was seeing the cabin again. She had actually fought Elijah for survival this time and it broke her heart she couldn't bring him out of this state. Even after that amazing flip she gave him, not even the hit of the head brought him back.
Her seventh bead had just been crushed under her running feet and she was sure the eighth was soon to follow. She barely made a step into the cabin when Elijah cut her off again.
"The red door doesn't control you!" she frantically shouted, finger pointed at him.
Elijah made no such move that indicated he'd even heard her words. He grabbed her by the neck and slammed her down on a rusty, wooden table. He lowered his head, sniffing the side of her neck despite her struggle to get free.
"There's no point in telling you not to since you don't even acknowledge me!" she shouted and tried kicking him. "But c'mon!"
Elijah grabbed both of her hands, locking them in just one of his. His eyes darkened to that vampire instinct. Cami heard the crack of her eight bracelet bead and knew it was just minutes from falling off.
Perhaps this was how it would all end.
Cami shut her eyes and without realizing began to murmur the very poem that had once brought her and Elijah some happiness amidst their problems.
'The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.'
Elijah paused just beside her neck, but she didn't notice with her closed eyes she continued on.
'The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.'
Elijah raised his head, meeting her scrunched face. His vamp-eyes had faded.
'A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause.'
When it finally registered to Cami that she had not felt any painful bites she slowly opened one eye, though still with fear. Elijah was staring back at her, the familiarity returning to him.
'For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.'
Cami released a breath after Elijah had spoken. He was self aware and for that matter he backed off. Cami straightened up and, just for caution, inched towards the door leading back into the hallway.
"Camille?" he realized where he was, what was around them, and most importantly the fear in her eyes.
"It's...it's you…?" the blonde's back was now against the hallway door. "R-right?"
Elijah couldn't say 'yes' until he remembered everything, but even then with his restrain Cami knew enough. She opened the door behind her and backtracked into the hallway, hoping he would follow. It took him a couple of minutes, but eventually Elijah followed into the hallway and came out in his usual attire and appearance.
"Oh thank God," Cami put a hand over her chest.
"Please forgive me," the words paled to what Elijah felt at the moment. Despite the fear in her eyes subsiding, it didn't take away what he almost did.
She shook her head, eyes glossy with looming tears. "The red door doesn't control you," she said with a sad smile. "Please remember that always." Elijah made to reach for her but at the last minute went against it. Cami still kept her smile and walked back to him, taking his hand into both of hers.
"I'm sorry," he said with full shame.
Cami nodded and looked up at him. "Freya's going to fix the pendant and they'll put you back in your body soon."
It was then that it registered to Elijah her unexplained presence. He saw her legs and her arms were garnering that gray vein appearance of a...dead vampire. "How...how are…" but he stopped when he witnessed the eight bracelet bead around her wrist fall and crumble to the floor. He tilted his head, raising her hand with her bracelet.
"Nicolas and Freya made it slow down my, um...death," Cami gave a meek shrug, adding before he panicked, "They'll be putting me inside Nicolas' pendant right after this. Actually…" she eyed the ninth bracelet bead that was already cracking. "Nicolas said I had be back before the tenth bead falls off."
"And yet you risked your life to come fetch me inside this...my personal hell?" Elijah lowered her hand, gripping it hard. "Camille I would never want that. And after what...what happened...I don't deserve it."
"I don't care," she shrugged, smiling despite her eyes blurring up with tears. "I know you're not innocent. No one in this family is. You never hid the red door from me and I never pretended you were anyone else. I know who you are and I love you. And anytime you go behind that door-" she nodded to the red door behind them, "-I will go in and get you out. Every time."
Elijah searched her face for any doubt. The fact there wasn't any made him feel even more guilty. She would be there for him until the end of time if it came to that. Without a word, he pulled her to him for a kiss. It pained both of them that this was a goodbye kiss despite the win of today.
"Listen to me," Elijah kept one hand cupping her face while the other held her by the waist, "I don't care what it takes but I am bringing you back. I don't care the deals I have to make, I will bring you back and we'll go-"
"To Manosque," Cami finished with a hopeful smile. Her eyes met his and shared the same hope.
"To Manosque," Elijah agreed. He saw the ninth bracelet bead crack in half and knew it was time for her to go. "I'll get you back, I promise."
Cami nodded, smiling as strong as she could for him. "See you later," she even said. When the ninth bracelet bead hit the floor, she was gone.
Elijah looked over his shoulder to the blasted red door.
~0~
On the outside, Cami gasped awake and sat upright. She looked at herself and saw she was almost covered in gray veins. "Freya…" her voice had gone raspy too. "It's safe now!"
"Nicolas, the pendant!" Hayley quickly motioned the man to do the spell. "The last bead is breaking!"
Nicolas grabbed his red pendant and rushed to Cami, quickly explaining what would happen to her. "You'll be safe albeit a little lonely but perfectly alive! Aunt Freya and I are going to preserve to your body so that later we can put you back in it."
"Thank you," was all Cami could say to them. "And if it doesn't work-"
"It will," Freya assured as she came to join them for the spell.
"But if it doesn't," Cami insisted, "Don't let Elijah fall back into the red door." But of course no one would know the meaning of that. "And tell Mal, that...she was my best cousin ever." She added with a smile, bittersweet the blonde woman wasn't around yet. She looked at Hayley with the same smile. "And thanks Hayley for being my friend and...family."
Hayley really hated that her eyes were getting ready. "We'll see you really soon."
"Aunt Freya we have to do this now," Nicolas urgently said.
Cami closed her eyes and listened to the Latin words of the spell that would soon cast her into a blissful area of nothing.
~0~
Maleny's eyes reflected the fireplace flames that had ignited when she'd thrown in the thornbush stake. She needed to make sure every last thorn crumbled into nothing. Just when she was about to get up from the floor, she spotted one measly little thorn had rolled away from the fireplace. She picked it up and was about to flick it back into the fire when she heard the voice again.
Find me quick. Find me now.
Her eyes glowed that eerie bright blue again and for the briefest of seconds, she saw the image of Inadu staring back at her from God knew where. Maleny released a breath after the image was gone. She quickly threw the thorn into the fireplace and thought about what she'd seen.
The Hollow was calling out to her. Maleny closed her eyes for a moment to get herself together. Her heart was already broken knowing Elijah and Cami were sealed away in pendants because of her. A couple Dawsons were still creeping around the Quarter, though hiding from the Hollow apparently.
"Mal?"
Maleny quickly gathered herself and got up from the floor. She turned to Klaus and immediately saw the small box he was holding. Curious, she inched towards him. "What's that?"
Klaus was amused with her slow walking. "It's for you. I thought you might want something to... distract yourself from today."
"I appreciate the thought," she smiled sadly once they were face to face. "But I sort of lost my cousin today and I didn't even get to say goodbye."
"Freya and Nicolas will bring her back," he held the box to her, motioning for her to open it. "There is no doubt in my mind."
Maleny couldn't help herself and took the box into her hands. She opened the lid and immediately started chuckling of what was inside. "The shop still exists?" she tore her gaze from the delicious-smelling blueberry pie she used to love from the Quarter.
"Up and running," Klaus nodded. He loved her reaction; it was what mainly drove him to find the shop again after so many years. Blueberry pie was her favorite.
Maleny threw her free arm around his neck, hugging him tight. "Thank you for thinking about me even through all this."
"I could never stop," Klaus admitted, dropping a kiss to her hair. He brought her to the couch to sit down, but noticed the unusually excited flames from the fireplace. "Am I to assume you found the last stake, then?"
Maleny decided to skip the whole journey of how she found the stake and just nodded her head. "You know what they say, men can never find anything." She picked up a fork inside the box and quickly carved out a bite-sized piece of the pie. The moment she started to chew she moaned. "It's still so good!"
Klaus laughed at her and reached to take off some piece from her face. "I suppose you'd like this at the wedding?"
Maleny didn't think twice and nodded her head. "I hadn't even considered it. Actually, I haven't exactly thought much about it…" she gazed sadly at her engagement ring.
"It seems our time together has been very limited," Klaus agreed with a small sigh. It'd been all about stopping the Hollow here and saving Elijah there...it felt like everyday was a rush where their only moments together were those just before sleeping and just after waking up.
"I know Marlenie said she had an idea for a wedding dress…" Maleny said, now wishing she'd seen said designs. "But that's as far as I know. I don't like the feeling of...drifting apart."
"We are never drifting apart, love. Ever," Klaus scooted closer to her, making sure to put her pie box on the coffee table. He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her closer to him. "We just have the annoying talent of drawing enemies to us like magnets."
Maleny chuckled and looped her arms around his neck. "You more than me. All my enemies belong to the same family. I've only pissed them off. You could take a leaf out of my book."
"Oh, really?" Klaus mused on that one and tried not to laugh. "Or people could just stop being so annoying. I like my idea better."
"You need help you egotistical, moody hybrid," Maleny giggled at his offended expression and settled it with a small kiss. "And I would love nothing more than to marry this egotistical, moody hybrid in front of me. After Cami and Elijah are back."
Klaus couldn't agree more. He raised her chin with a finger and kissed her again. He loved her berry-tasting lips and couldn't think of anyone else he could fathom the idea of marrying.
Author's note:
So yeah, our Mal is back but with a couple of problems my poor girl :/. We'll see what happens with that Hollow calling out to her! And honestly I never liked Haylijah but the fact Hayley basically acted like she never thought about who Elijah really was never made sense. I didn't want that for Cami and Elijah here so I went with this. I hope it made sense! :)
For the Reviews:
For the guest reviews, I diiiiiiiid it and updated it! Hope you like the chapter! :)
petrovamikaelson: I never considered writing a Cami/Elijah fanfic mostly because of the plot, but who knows maybe later on I'll get one! I'd definitely let you know! :)
rosmonibon: Yup, our Cami's definitely not dead! She's just...sleeping for a while! ;)