One second Elijah had looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at me, the next second his body went limp, turned slowly into grey as if all of his blood left his body and then he fell ungracefully with a loud thump to the floor. I screamed and scrambled to the floor taking Elijah's head into my lap. I was shaking him and slapping him, but other than throwing his head from one side of my lap to the other, Elijah didn't react at all. I searched his body for any clue why he would just fall off seemingly dead. There was no indication whatsoever why he would just fall down! Esther couldn't have started her spell early! The moon wasn't up yet! We still had time! Why wasn't Elijah waking up?! What was wrong with him? I bit into my wrist and tried to feed him with my blood, but he wouldn't swallow it. It just flowed down the side of his mouth and onto his suit. Elijah would be mad, if – no WHEN – he would wake up. He had to! I had saw him this immobile before, but that was when someone daggered him and there wasn't any dagger, it was imposs –
They were linked together! This had to be my brothers' doing! I carefully put Elijah back on the ground and searched frantically for my pone. It rang three times before Damon finally answered.
"What did you do?" I grunted.
"What do you mean?" Damon acted innocently.
"Elijah just fell down seemingly dead! Do you happen to know anything about it?" I asked sarcastically.
"It's our best option!" He defended himself. Suddenly it all made sense. They were trying to get out of Elijah's arrangement! They really did dagger someone! Probably Kol! And what happened to one happened to all of them!
"You better fix it!" I threatened.
"I am sorry, Sarah, but we have kind of situation here. I'll call you back." I heard noises in the background.
"Don't you dare, end the call! Is that Nik's voice I hear?" But Damon already ended the call. "Damn it!" I screamed and smashed my phone. What would I do know? I couldn't just leave him like that! But I needed to find my brothers! I had to free Kol. But then again, I thought I heard Nik's voice, maybe he was already on it. I hoped he was, I couldn't leave Elijah. I put his head on my lap again and stroked his hair.
"Please wake up." I whispered. Suddenly his chest moved and he sat up gasping.
"It's okay. It's okay. I am here." I helped him get up. He still looked sick. The dagger always took a toll on him.
"What happened?" He asked struggling to perceive his surroundings.
"I am not exactly sure, but I think we should check it out." He nodded and was about to storm out of the door, but I stopped him and kissed him. I had been so worried.
"Don't do that again!" I chided.
"It wasn't my fault!" I kissed him again.
"I don't care, you scared me." I admitted. "We need to get blood for you and then find my brothers." I moved away from him, but he spun me around and crashed his lips to mine. I bit into my lip. He needed to drink and this was the fastest way I could think of. I didn't stack any blood in this apartment since I never slept there. My heart was pounding, we hadn't shared blood in so long, I wondered if it would still be as intense as I remembered it. I knew it was probably a bad idea, but I also knew that I really, really wanted it.
"You are not doing a good job at convincing me to leave." Elijah whispered, while he backed me against a wall.
"I know, I am sorry, you need to drink, but then we really need to leave." I repeated, but neither of us moved again.
"Okay." He kissed me and softly nipped on my bottom lip again. I moaned softly. "We should really." Kiss. "Move." I whispered out of breath. We both sighed heavily and finally moved apart. "How do you feel?" I asked cupping his face.
"I never felt better in my life." He replied and I didn't think he was talking about his blood loss. I smiled. I knew what he meant, so I just took his hand and together we whooshed outside.
When we arrived at the bar, Nik was just about to shred my brothers to pieces. All my happiness disappeared.
"Don't hurt them!" I called anxiously. I was mad at them, but that didn't mean I wanted them dead! We were still family, even if we were almost as dysfunctional as the Mikaelsons.
"Sorry, love, but I should have killed them months ago." Nik gritted.
"Leave them be. We still need them, Niklaus." Elijah warned.
"Wait, are you two together again?" Kol asked looking at our joined hands.
"Seriously, your mother is trying to kill you and you ask if we are back together?" I snapped at him. Nik just rolled his eyes.
"What did mother do, Elijah? What did she do?" Niklaus glared at all of us.
"You told me, but not your brothers what's going on?" I turned accusingly to Elijah.
"There is nothing we can do about it." He just shrugged and smiled down at me. This whole situation was just absurd. I kissed him quickly. Even though I didn't want my mind to go there, I couldn't help but wonder how many chances I still had to kiss him.
"Totally back together." I heard Kol murmur.
"It's just Sarah and she can't enter." Esther said.
"Just Sarah?" I repeated. "I am taking this as an insult." I was walking towards the big witch house where I saw Emily being burnt over 100 years ago. "I am just here to talk." We were out of ideas and I didn't exactly trust my brothers to do all the work. I needed to help or I would have gone insane.
"Nothing you will say will change my mind." Esther said cruelly.
"You told me, I am good for him!" I protested.
"You are, but that doesn't change the fact that my children are abominations. All of them torture and kill to get what they want. Even you can't change that. In fact, you are no better than them." She spat. I ignored her rude comment. Yes, I had my dark periods, but I wouldn't compare my actions to the atrocities Kol and Nik achieved in their long lives.
"You made them this way!"
"I made them immortal." Good point, I had to admit that. I tried a different approach.
"Okay, they kill and torture, but they are still your children!"
"You should thank me, dear." I frowned. It seemed like everyone pushed me towards Elijah, because they planned to kill him afterwards! What was wrong with this world?!
"Why would I do that? You are trying to kill my boyfriend!"
"He is not your boyfriend." She stated matter-of-factly. "You never had a normal relationship! I watched you two and in the beginning I thought you would be perfect for each other, because you really did make him happy, but he always wanted a relationship and it was the last thing you wanted. You are just no fit for each other. Because of your relationship hundreds of people died, just because both of you were miserable! Believe me this is the best possible outcome for you, you will finally be free seeing as you don't have the strength to end it yourself! He cheats on you and you still don't have the power to end it for good." I wanted to say I did, but right now I couldn't stand 100% behind this statement, but that was a problem for later. It was definitely complicated.
"It took me awhile to get used to the idea of having a serious relationship with someone and I may have never done that step if Elijah wouldn't have manipulated me to take it, but I never regretted it. Our relationship may have not always been easy, but it was worth it!" I spat. Esther didn't look happy with my confession. I landed on my butt a few meters away from the fire circle she created. Elijah helped me get up.
"I believe it's called, opposite attract each other, mother." He said calmly. He and his brothers had been listening the whole time. I was supposed to sweet talk her, but it obviously didn't work. Now they were trying their luck.
"That's lovely. We're stuck out here, while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn." Kol exclaimed. Elijah stood protectively in front of me.
"Be quiet, Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine."
"Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity." Elijah said stepping forward.
"My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago!" Esther called over the roaring fire.
"Enough. All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to Hell." Nik circled the fire like a madman, trying to find a way inside.
"For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth, stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time." By now it was clear that Esther's plan to reunite her family was just a scheme. Maybe she cared for her family once, but that seemed to have changed in the 1000 years she spent on the other side. I could still see that her accusations stung, especially Elijah looked hurt. I squeezed his hand. I didn't know what else to do. What did you say to someone whose mother wanted to kill him? Suddenly the flames were higher, Esther screamed and then she and Finn disappeared.
"What just happened?" I asked looking around and trying to find Esther.
"I believe your brothers were of use to us for once, love." Nik answered.
"How did they stop it?"
"I think they turned one of the witches." Elijah said and picked his phone out of his jacket to call his sister to tell her the good news.
"So she is gone?" I couldn't hide my excitement.
"For now." Elijah said bringing me back to reality. "She is still alive."
"But she can't channel the Bennett witches anymore. We won! She can't hurt you anymore!" I exclaimed not understanding why they weren't celebrating!
"We are still linked together." Nik pointed out. I huffed and hugged him.
"I am glad you are still alive." He hugged me back. The others were watching us.
"And I don't get a hug?" Kol pouted. I laughed at him and went over to hug him as well, but when his hand wandered to my butt, I pushed him away.
"Nice try!" He winked at me and I rolled my eyes. I went back to Elijah and kissed him hard.
"I told you we would find a way." I whispered.
"It was your brother's doing." He replied.
"Don't rain on my parade!" I whispered, kissing him again. Elijah picked me up and spun me around. I laughed and wrapped my legs around his waist.
"Get a room!" Kol called annoyed. Elijah put me down gently, remembering that we weren't alone. I nodded understandingly, but didn't let go of Elijah's hand.
I went back to the Mikaelson's mansion. Rebekah was already home after she released Elena which she made very clear she wasn't happy about. She was glad that we won against her mother, even though she had a hard time admitting that her mom tried to kill her. She had made us all victory drinks. Rebekah's face fell when she saw me coming in holding hands with Elijah. Nik und Kol had acted as if they didn't expect anything else when I returned home with them. I could see Rebekah was looking for a series of insults to throw at me. She opened her mouth, but closed it when she saw Elijah's look.
"Play nice, Rebekah." He threatened. "Sarah helped us today." Rebekah scoffed.
"Rebekah!" Elijah warned again.
"What? I only realized that I didn't make enough drinks for the extra family member." She said sweetly.
"She can have mine." Elijah suggested.
"Thanks, but I don't think I should drink that." I declined politely, but she gave me one anyway. Elijah and I needed to talk and I should stay sober for that.
"Afraid I poisoned it?" Rebekah laughed at me.
"Well, now I am." I said putting the glass she had handed me down.
"Sarah!" Elijah sighed. "It would be great if you could at least pretend to get along. You used to at least like each other."
"I am sorry Elijah, but I can only handle one member of your dysfunctional family at a time!" I said kissing him on the cheek and made my way up the stairs. Elijah followed close behind me.
"Wait?! Are you two back together?" Rebekah called after us, but we didn't turn around. I just saw Nik shrugging and murmuring "Who knows with these two."
We sat in Elijah's room. We had closed the door and for the first time since Elijah told me about his mother's plan I felt uncomfortable in his company. He was safe and I was glad he was, but we weren't on a time limit anymore. We had all of eternity again. He would live forever and I couldn't just ignore him again, but I couldn't just get back together with him either, I had promised myself to never do that mistake again. Elijah was quieter than normal.
"Is everything okay?" I asked carefully. I sat on his bed and watched while he sat by his desk and wrote some kind of letter. "Whom are you writing?" I asked again when he didn't answer.
"Elena." I got up to see what he was writing. He was apologizing for what he did to her.
"You can't feel sorry for her!" I exclaimed surprised. "Elijah, she was collateral damage. You did what you did to save your family and you were successful! You can't blame yourself for it!" I hugged him from behind.
"My mother was right. I am not better than the others. I torture and kill if I see fit."
"No you don't. Elijah, I know you! You torture and kill if there is no other possibility! You do it to protect your family! You don't enjoy it. You do it because it's necessary!"
"It shouldn't be necessary." He stated putting his pen down.
"We are vampires, we can't apply all human rules to us."
"You sound like Niklaus." He turned his chair around to face me.
"Well, he is right." I leaned forward and kissed him.
"I am leaving town." Elijah suddenly said. "Do you want to come with me?" He sounded hopeful. I opened my mouth and closed it again. I went back to the bed and sighed. Elijah got up and watched me closely.
"I can't leave town with you." I said refusing to look him in the eye and staring at the ceiling instead.
"Why not?"
"My brothers are here. Your brothers are here! You can't just leave, because you doubt yourself because of Elena and your mother!"
"My and your siblings are capable of taking care of themselves." He stated not convinced of my argumentation.
"But they need us. We need them. Elijah that is what we wanted for the last 100 years!" He sighed.
Flashback 1915 - Melrose Park, PA
It was New Year's Eve. The town had their own little ritual that I had been a part of for many years now. We all met in the local bar and celebrated together into the New Year.
"We still have half an hour." Elijah smiled and took away my glass.
"It's New Year's eve!" I said and reached for my glass again. "You should really drink more!" I pointed out and ordered him something. He was still nipping on his first glass, while I almost drunk the whole bottle already. He put his glass down beside me.
"One of us should remember this day, don't you think?" I shook my head, we both knew it would need more than that to make us both drunk, but we needed to keep up appearances. I dragged him to the dance floor.
"I love dancing with you." I whispered and nuzzled against Elijah's chest. "What is our plan for next year?" He smiled down at me and kissed me. It was a rare moment when he showed any kind of affection in public.
"I love hearing you say
our plan."
"Well, you stuck with me for all eternity."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." If my heart would still beat, it would have stopped by the way he was looking at me.
"I would like to stay here a little longer. I like this town." I admitted.
"I know." He stroked my cheek lovingly and I closed my eyes for a moment. "But we can't stay here forever." I sighed.
"I know, but let's enjoy it as long as it lasts. Alice is about to give birth, I want to be here for that."
"We can do that, did you ask her to be your maid of honor already?" I tensed.
"No." I really wanted to, but I didn't think it was possible.
"I thought we could start the New Year with our wedding." He looked at me carefully.
"We have all eternity, why do we need to marry in such a hurry?"
"Why wait any longer?" He countered. "Did you already change your mind?" He asked jokingly, but I knew a part of him still thought I would change my mind and run away. I got on my toes and kissed him.
"I will never change my mind about you!"
"Then why wait?" I shrugged and didn't look at him. He took my chin and forced my head up. "Tell me, why do you refuse to marry me?"
"How do you imagine our wedding?" I asked instead of answering him. He thought about it for a while.
"I imagine us in a little church, you in a white dress, we speak our vows and leave for our honeymoon." He smiled.
"We don't need our honeymoon as an excuse to do pleasurable things." I replied smirking.
"You are deflecting." Damn him, he knew me too well.
"See, when I imagined my wedding, I imagined my brothers. And wouldn't your siblings be mad if you don't invite them to your wedding?!" He looked at me stunned.
"You want to wait until our families reunite to marry?" He asked disbelievingly.
"Yes? Is that crazy?"
He sighed sadly. "Yes. Your family may come around, but I would really prefer it if my brother never hears about you."
"But what about your other brothers? And your sister? What about them? Don't you want to have them around?"
"I would like that, but I also would like to marry you in this life and I don't think that will be possible if we wait until Niklaus releases my siblings."
"Are you planning on never seeing your family again?" I scoffed. He may be crossed with Niklaus, but he loved his other siblings and even Niklaus for reasons I didn't understand.
"Sure, Rebekah would be mad at me, but she will understand eventually." I didn't look convinced.
"They are starting to count down." I interrupted him. We all watched the clock and counted the seconds to the New Year.
5… 4…3…2…1
"Happy New Year." I screamed with everyone around me. Elijah laughed at my excitement and kissed me.
"I love you." I smiled goofily.
"You sure you want to marry me? I know you think these human traditions are pointless, but you have to suffer through them all for the rest of eternity if you're going to be my husband."
"It's a prize I am willing to pay." He kissed me briefly. "For you I would do everything and if it is that important for you, we can wait for you and your brothers to make up." He finally said sighing.
"Thank you." I kissed him slowly. I didn't tell him that I would wait for his family to reunite as well. He wouldn't admit it, but I knew he would regret it if his family wouldn't be there to see us getting married.
"You know, I will always wait for you."
"As I would for you, I love you so much." I said kissing him again.
"Let's say I would stay in town, what would happen to us?" That was the talk I had dreaded.
"I don't know." I said honestly.
"That's what I thought. You just can't admit that you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you, can you?"
"It's not that simple!" I screamed.
"Of course it is. You make it complicated. Do you want to be with me?" We both knew what the answer to that was.
"Yes." I said immediately. I had made that clear in the last hours; I wouldn't have worried that much if it were any different. I couldn't deny it anymore. I loved him, I always had, but it didn't change the fact that we were toxic for each other. "But we both know how it ends between us every time we try it. I can't trust you. I don't know how I could."
"Then what are you doing here?" He sounded pissed.
"You almost died today!" I reminded him.
"And you had no problem being with me, so what changed now?"
"I thought I would never see you again! I wanted to be with you in your last moments!"
"And now that I am not dying you can't trust me and go back to your old behavior."
"I am not!" I said defensively. "But you can't expect me to just forgive you in one day! It takes time!"
"That's a lie! You already forgave me otherwise we wouldn't even have this talk, but you are afraid."
"How can't I?" I screamed. "Every time we try it again, someone of us gets hurt! And it is mostly me!"
"It can't just be easy with you, can it?" I scoffed and got up. I wasn't here to fight with Elijah. I had wanted to celebrate our victory, but he had to spoil the moment. The door behind me closed with a loud bang. Elijah didn't follow me. Good!
On the stairs I ran into Rebekah who smiled smugly at me.
"Sarah, leaving already? I expected to have to wait for the inevitable at least a week, but you really know how to sabotage your own relationship." I thought about just ignoring her and moving past her, but it was time someone put her in her place!
"You know what, Rebekah? Just because I am leaving now and we had a small fight, doesn't mean I won't come back. So you better get used to me!" Rebekah rolled her eyes.
"And people tell me I am the one who doesn't learn from her mistakes."
"Don't you think I know that? I wish I could keep my distance from him, but somehow we always end up together! I know how it will end when I give him another chance, but I just can't help it! So see you tomorrow and probably the day after that!"