AN: Okay, so maybe I'm not the best person to keep promises regarding updates, but this chapter was extremely hard to write. Plus, I've been ill, which has not helped. Anyway, this chapter is shorter than the rest due to all of those reasons. Enjoy!
A Box Full Of Darkness
In which Adriana goes on a witch hunt
Adriana snarled at the body of Papa Tunde, a heeled foot kicking his head to make sure he was dead. He hair was up in a high ponytail, the waterfall of brown not hindering her eyesight,
"Can I get you anything, brother?" Klaus asked sarcastically. "A magnifying glass? A pipe, perhaps?"
"You have a theory you'd like to share with us, Niklaus?" Elijah huffed, standing up from his kneeling position next to the body.
"Back in the day, the witches wanted to send a threat, they'd just kill a chicken and leave it on your doorstep." Marcel informed them all, taking his eyes off the corpse.
"How boring." Adriana muttered, tilting her head to the side as she kicked the body again. "What happened to the severed head of a loved one? That's much more direct."
"It's rather a large and ominous head, wouldn't you say Adriana?" Elijah asked, turning to his wife.
Adriana just stared at him coldly, pursing her lips into a thin line.
"Papa Tunde defeated Rebekah with ease, almost got the two of us as well." Klaus stated, examining the body. "If he was supposed to be the prize fighter, why leave him for dead in our front yard?"
"Who knows." Adriana shrugged, folding her arms infront of her chest. "Who cares. All this means is that we have a bigger, more powerful meat sack on our hands. Can I go now?"
"Well, don't you all look cheery." Rebekah joked, joining the four of them. "Listen to this- A girl literally exploded from a grave today as Sabine was giving a tour of the city of the dead. It was Monique Deveraux."
"What?"
"The tourists thought it was part of the show, but the witches are celebrating like it's some kind of bloody miracle." Rebekah huffed.
"Maybe it is." Marcel stated, stepping forward slightly. "They think that all hope is lost, but now suddenly a Harvest girl is resurrected. This is how we're gonna get Davina back- kill the witch who took her place."
"See Elijah." Adriana hissed, turning to her husband as her rolled his eyes at her. "Marcel is actually thinking of productive ways of bringing my daughter back, maybe you should start taking notes."
"I have a theory about who one of them could be." Hayley said, entering the room. "Celeste. I mean, it's got to be. Davina was trying to tell us, she was drawing pictures of Celeste. She was warning us that a great evil is coming."
"I knew it!"
All eyes snapped to Adriana, the shriek followed instantly by a maddening laugh.
"I knew it." The wife laughed, a cold fire lighting in her eyes as she turned to her partner. "See little warrior, I am always right, no? I told you that Celeste was the most conniving, manipulative, drenched rat there ever was. And did you believe me? No, you didn't. But I was right!"
"That is enough Adriana." Elijah snapped back at her. "You've proven your point."
Adriana just grinned like a cheshire cat, reaching behind her and ripping the hair band from her hair as she walked towards the door.
"Where you going?" Elijah called after here, no one else moving to stop her.
"Witch hunting." Adriana called back, throwing him a cold smirk over he shoulder. "I've got a debt to settle, I'm going to be the one to call the shots on this rat. If you want something done properly, you've got to do it yourself."
Elijah growled lowly, but made no move to stop Adriana as she slipped through the door.
"First, Papa Tunde returns to settle old scores, now your murdered lover is back." Klaus told his brother, the door slamming loudly behind Adriana. "This isn't witches attacking vampires. They're declaring war on us."
"It's not too early for scotch, is it, with all the witchy shenanigans and subterfuge afoot?" Rebekah sighed, pouring herself a drink as she and Elijah talked in the study.
"It is entirely too early if one intends to drive, yes." Elijah contradicted.
"Funny, I don't have any plans to go anywhere." Rebekah shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.""She's not safe here. You have to take Hayley to the plantation house until this is over." He informed.
"Are you worried about Hayley, or whether or not you can trust me?" Rebekah demanded.
"It's precisely because I trust you that I'm asking you to do this."
"Here's a novel idea- why don't you let Hayley decide for herself?" Rebekah scoffed. "Why are you dictating her fate?"
"You know why."
"Then perhaps you should try fixing your own life before ruining someone else's." Rebekah pointed out, giving her elder brother a challenging stare.
"You've made no complaint about my marriage before Rebekah, why now?" Elijah asked, deflecting the subject off him.
"Your killing yourselves on the inside out." Rebekah explained, putting down her drink. "Please Elijah, just stop playing your game."
Elijahs stare became stone cold, the monster that resided within them all lashing out briefly.
"We'll stop playing when I win."
Adriana Angelo Mafiay-Mikaelson was having the time of her life.
She prowled through New Orleans with a cat like smirk on her face, analysing anyone that gave her even one passing look.
She was going to find that whore before Elijah was, that she was certain.
"Sabine." She pratically purred when her deep brown eyes landed on the witch. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you Adriana." The witch smiled hesitantly, weary around the nine hundred year old vampire with the aura of death. "How are you?"
"Oh, I'm perfect." Adriana drawled out, lazily dragging her eyes up and down Sabines figure. "Say, Sabine darling, have you seen any witches recently? You know, preferably ones that have the annoying habit of stealing another woman's husband?"
"I can't say I have."
"Really?" Adriana hummed, examining Sabines face carefully. "Why, what a shame..."
"Elijah." Sabine smiled gratefully, seeing the man walking towards them. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"My family needs an ally among the witches, and you've helped us in the past." Elijah said, getting straight to the point. "Perhaps together we can avoid an unnecessary conflict."
"They may be willing to make a deal, if it were with the noble Elijah. But there will never be any peace at long as it involves Klaus." Sabine stated confidently.
"Is that what all this is about?" Elijah asked her, glancing at Adriana over Sabines shoulder. "You want my brother out of town?"
"I'm just telling you how they feel." Sabine shrugged. "My people are scared, they're desperate, but they're not dumb. You have a niece on the way. It stands to reason you'd be willing to discuss how to run him out of the city."
"Let's walk together." Elijah offered, Adriana walking up to stand next to him. "You can take me on one of your famous tours."
Elijah gave Adriana a pointed look as she hissed at him, each daring the other to take the first step.
Adriana huffed like a child after several dragged out seconds, her heels clicking on the tarmac as she followed Celeste through the quarter.
"So, this next part of town is one of the few areas where any of the original French architecture remains. The most of the buildings were destroyed in the 1700s when the city burned for the first time." She turned back to them, noticing how they hadn't said anything in a while. "Am I putting you both to sleep?"
"Yes." Adriana deadpanned, a bored expression on her face as she picked at her black painted nails.
"As surprising as you might find this, it's not every day that someone asks you to betray your own brother... Celeste." Elijah hummed, Adriana letting out a long snarl at the woman.
"How did you know?" Said Celeste, an impressed look crawling out her face.
"As Davina was drawing your likeness, I dared to imagine that your presence was near." Elijah told her, Adriana stealthily sinking into the shadows around them. "And when Sophie discovered that there was no magic in your remains, I wondered- could you have possibly cheated death by using your power to place your essence into the body of another? And if so, then who? And then, I recalled the lovely visions of my brother's child precipitated the death of the last Elder within your coven. Ensuring that the Harvest ritual could not be completed- unless you were to control it. You have been playing a very long game, indeed. But to what end?"
"Oh, Elijah, my lost love..." Celeste trailed off, kissing him on the lips and watching how he quickly became weak. "After all this time, don't you understand? I died because of Klaus. And even after all his vindictive lies about witches led to my death, you stood by him. All because of your vow, 'always and forever.'"
"What have you done to me?" Elijah managed to slur out.
"Oh, it's a simple enchantment. You needn't worry. I'm not here to kill you, Elijah, I'm here to teach you the error of your ways. 'Always and forever' was the greatest mistake of your life." Celeste stated, Elijah falling unconscious by her feet.
"As entertaining as that was..." Adriana trailed off, stepping out of the shadows and facing Celeste. "Your lipstick trick isn't travelling through to me, why?"
"Blocking your connection by the bracelet temporarily is easy for me." Celeste waved off. "We need to talk."
"You're a tramp." Adriana said bluntly. "That is literally the only thing you can say to me."
"Now don't be harsh." Celeste smiled, clicking her tongue as the other woman rolled her eyes. "Adriana Mafiay, your supposed to be dead."
"What the hell are you on about?" Adriana asked, her full attention on Celeste. "Why does every witch I meet keep saying that?"
"The swan trying desperately to fly away, only to be chained down by its heart..." Celeste trailed off. "Who are you Adriana Mafiay?"
"I'm no one really." Adriana answered, tilting her head to the side. "A man I knew once gave me a box full off darkness, it took me forever to find out it was a gift."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yes it does." Adriana smiled sereenly, raising a hand to her temple when a dizzy spell fell over her.
"That'd be the connection." Celeste hummed, watching Adriana fall down next to Elijah. "Sleep tight, Adriana."
"Whore." Adriana spat at her with the last scrap of energy she had.
"You poisoned me with a kiss." Elijah stated coldly a few minutes later, still weakened by the spell. "At least you haven't lost your sense of irony."
"We may have time for more." Celeste smiled slyly. "But first, I'm going to cure you of your greatest flaw- this absurd devotion to your lunatic family, and your even crazier wife."
"Your anger is with me. Now, if you have come here seeking revenge–"
"Oh, I'll have my revenge." Celeste said, cutting him off. "Starting with Klaus. He is gonna know pain and torment like he's never felt before. Unless you choose to save him, of course. But then that leaves Rebekah, your tragic sister. She's about to find herself in quite the predicament. You could save her. But then that leaves Hayley in jeopardy."
Elijah growled lowly, looking around for Adriana, not even able to feel their connection through the bracelet.
"What have you done with my wife Celeste?"
Celeste's smile grew even colder.
"Well, even if you abandoned the other three, you still wouldn't be able to save her." Celeste purred, gesturing in the direction of the sea. "Who knew little Adriana was scared of drowning? Too bad she wont be able to get out of that coffin..."
"No..." Elijah trailed off. "No, no, no..."
"Who's it gonna be Elijah?" Celeste hummed. "One of your siblings, the women you've come to care for, or the other half of your unit?"
Adriana Mafiay was a complicated woman to understand.
To understand, you had to go back to the beginning. Before Adriana Mafiay had ever even heard the name Elijah Mikaelson.
The story of Adriana Mafiay really starts in a small field of flowers with a man named Demetri Pravello.
A rose, a box full of darkness, and a baby.
Demetri Pravello was a powerful warlock, some whispered that he was a demigod with looks that rivalled the god Apollo.
Yet, while his beauty shone like the sun, his heart was black and rotten.
He left a trail of broken hearts and deceased lovers in his wake, and carried around a box full of darkness.
Once upon a time, a young servant girl named Adriana Mafiay was given a rose the colour of blood, a baby, and a box full of darkness, all by the same man.
"I'm so sorry, your highness." Adriana screamed out a frantic apology, having run into the man one warm summers day in the rose garden. "I'm so so so sorry, I was not looking were I was going. Here let me hel-"
"It's alright." The blonde huffed, picking himself up from the mint grass coloured earth. "We all make mistakes."
He gave her a rose the color of blood that day, under the burning sun of Italy, surrounded by a million white roses the color of snow.
She still couldn't fathom how he managed to find a single rose dipped in blood while the others were painted white.
It rained a thousand tears the day she told him.
"Get rid of it." He spat at her, thunder rumbling somewhere in the distance. "Or I will."
"Please, I'm begging you." She screamed, stepping away from him and eyeing the dagger.
"You stubborn whore." He spat, staring into the depths of her soul. "Kill the child, I will not help you."
"No." Adriana screamed scampering away from him. "Please, leave my child alone. I beg of you."
"You say anything." Demetri snarled, stepping forward menacingly. "I will personally kill your child, as you watch, then rip out your pretty little throat. Goodbye, my dark angel, may you rot in hell."
He gave her two things that day: A baby and a box of darkness.
The baby was named Cienna, the only light Adriana had left.
And a box of darkness full of lies, secrets, and a trail of broken hearts.
Eventually, the light was snatched away and the box full of darkness grew.
She had only been seventeen.
Adriana Mafiay woke up gasping for breath, cold water flooding into the metal box.
"Oh come on." She whined, starting to bang at the top of the box, only to hiss and bring her hand when the skin started to blister. "Vervain. What do you know? The rat actually has some intelligence in that head of hers. Wonderful."
Water started to fill the coffin more rapidly, causing Adriana to pale rapidly as her face was slowly being submerged by murky water.
"Vampires can't drown." She started chanting under her breath. "Vampire can't can't dro-"
Her chant was cut off by a cry as the water completely filled the coffin.
There was a reason behind every single one of Adrianas fears.
Adriana Mafiay was many things.
A slave, a maid, a wife, a mother, a prisoner.
But, no matter what she was, Adriana Mafiay never feared anything without a legitimate reason.
The slave master was a cruel man, and his punishments were crueler.
One time, when Adriana was five, she accidentally mixed up the cutlery placement in the hall.
Her punishment; to be trapped in a barrel full of water for thirty minutes with only a small sliver of air left to breath.
She'd passed out a total of three times and nearly drowned to death.
The whole ordeal was traumatic on the five year old.
Adriana held her breath for a total of twenty minutes.
More out of practice and stubborness then anything.
But no one came.
No Elijah, no anybody.
It was like being buried alive all over again.
Adriana watched the large air bubbles escape her mouth with mild fascination, felt the water travel down her throat and fill her lungs.
With that single breath, Adriana Mafiay closed her eyes and drowned.
Drowned alone with her box of darkness.