The day of the ritual dawns bright and clear. Spring is in the air and it is only fitting for what is about to happen. New life will emerge from things dead and dormant. Her children will once again have a life that was snatched from them and maybe they will make it good, not rave at their new found vulnerability.
She is reminded of a poet who urged his dying father to rage at death, to fight but that is the opposite of what she wants. When the time comes they should go gently, as she will. She has but little time left but her children can grow old as they should have and know that when the time comes they have lived a life and cherished it because it is ephemeral. That is what she wants for her children.
All her children but one.
He stares at them through the window as they walk around the garden. His mother and Bonnie. Witches. They conspire out in the open, before his very eyes. They've been doing it for days. She told him that she is mentoring the Bennett girl but he is no fool. They are up to something. But he lets it continue, not wanting to challenge his mother, not when she's forgiven him.
He clings to that forgiveness, more then he will ever admit. If that forgiveness was tarnished or proved false then he would not be held accountable for his actions. All he has ever done has been for his family. He had protected them from Mikael - not that they thank him for that – and now provided a place of refuge. They are now a family, more complete then he ever envisioned. That reality is now being corrupted from within.
Something odd is happening to them, one that he can't quite understand yet. At first the occurrences were barely noticeable but with his suspicions raised he became more attuned. One day his fears were confirmed when Kol, in a fit of petulance, pulled Rebekah's hair. They were all in the room at the time and each of them winced in pain. They had felt her pain. Elijah had been quick to change the topic but it had solidified his suspicions.
Something is going on and he has to find out what.
A full moon is tonight and his blood surges. Hyper alert and quick to anger he follows Bonnie as she parts ways with his mother and heads towards the gate. She senses him coming and turns.
"What?"
He smiles. "Just wanted to know how the lessons with my mother are going? Learning a lot I hope?"
"Not that it's any of your business but yes. She knows her stuff."
"I bet she does." He steps forward, his hands behind his back. "I'm having something of a predicament and I was hoping you could help me?"
She laughs nasally and turns to leave. "Sure…"
"You see for some inexplicable reason me and my siblings seem to be connected." He smiles as she freezes, back to him. He moves closer. "The others haven't taken much notice but I have. The only deduction I can make is that it must be supernatural in origin. Magical, in fact."
She turns to look at him over her shoulder and her expression is blank. "Sorry, can't help you."
"Oh I think you can." He runs forward, twists her around and slams her against the wall that fronts his property. He grabs her face and looks into her eyes. "Now then sweetheart, why don't you tell me what's going on?"
"Get off me!" She glares at him and then just as quickly becomes calm. She is getting into the state to perform magic; he has seen it done many times. He feels a tickle against his mind, an annoying one.
"I'm afraid your little brain squeezing trick won't work on me. But I have a trick of my own that will work on you." He stares deeply into her eyes and drops his voice a register. "Tell me what you and my mother are up to."
She fights, even now she fights. But his compulsion is too strong. "We're working on a spell." Her voice is dreamy and detached.
"What spell? What will it do?"
"We will bind your life force to another. It will turn you human. All of you…"
That is the last thing he expects to hear and he's left reeling. He had been so focused on the idea that these witches were plotting his downfall that he never stopped to think of an alternative. The anger and suspicion is rolled back by a wave of fragile hope.
"She – she wants to make me human? Has she truly forgiven me?"
Even under compulsion Bonnie manages a small smirk. "No."
He blinks. "No? What do you mean?"
"The only reason she's turning you human is so we can kill you. She hasn't forgiven you."
Hope is snuffed out in an instant but he feels the loss of it and it stings terribly. Growling he breaks eye contact with Bonnie and shoves her aside. She straightens and prepares to make a run for it but he grabs her arm again at the last moment.
"Wait!" He peers into her eyes and commands her again in a rough voice. "You said that you will bind our life to something. What is the binding agent?" This time she really tries to struggle, twisting her head away but he holds her in a bruising grip. He repeats the question again and again until she finally relents, exhausted.
"The white oak."
Again he is hit with another wave of surprise. "The white oak burnt over a thousand years ago. The only thing that's left of it now is ash." But even as he says it an old suspicion rises. They had left this land for the old world, taking the ash with them. It could be possible that a vestige of the tree was saved. He opens his mouth to ask where it is when someone speaks up behind him.
"Niklaus?" Esther approaches with Finn at her side. Klaus' grin is a lupine thing.
"Mother! I trust you're having a pleasant morning? I was just having the most enlightening conversation with Bonnie here." He swings her around and she shouts at him to let her go.
Finn steps forward. "Unhand her Klaus."
Klaus narrows his eyes at his older brother. "You're in on it, aren't you? You and Elijah?" Finn's stoic silence tells him all he needs to know. He has been suspicious of saintly Elijah for months so his treachery does not surprise him. "Do you care for me so little?" This he directs towards his mother who visibly pales.
"This is not about what I want Niklaus. This is for the greater good."
"Spare me your magnanimous bullshit. I have always been less in your eyes, always a symbol of your unfaithfulness. I am still a bastard and nothing has changed. I know what you plan to do and I will stop you witch."
She flinches for a second before gaining composure. Flinty eyes regard him and she speaks coldly. "Whatever affection I had for you is put aside. I will not allow you to walk a path towards destruction. The ritual will go ahead as planned. You will have no assistance from the others. I have put a spell around the house so that they can not leave until they are human. You are out numbered and fighting a losing battle. Now let go of Bonnie or I will make you."
His mouth curls and for a moment the world stops, waiting for someone to make the first move. Esther stiffens as Klaus suddenly bares his fangs and moves to bite Bonnie's neck. Esther and Finn race forward within a blink of an eye and once they have Bonnie they simply disappear.
Klaus stumbles slightly as he finds himself alone. He looks back at the mansion where the rest of his siblings are. They're trapped but safe. The only sibling who is not is Elijah and he knows just where he is.
Dusk settles over the town, turning the tops of budding branches orange. He stares at the sun and twists the gold ring on his finger. By tomorrow he will be able to face the sun unprotected for the first time in a thousand years.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"You better have deep pockets…" he looks at her as she joins him on the bench. For the last two weeks Elena has been his confidant and he hopes he has been hers. "I was thinking that by tomorrow I will not longer have to wear this thing."
He holds up his hand she takes it, brushing her finger over the red stone set in the centre. "Your mother made this?"
"Yes, she made one for each of us…" he trails off, lost in thought before he suddenly rouses himself and stands. "I have something I need to show you." He leads her back into his apartment and to a laptop. He gestures for her sit and look at the screen. Images of cave drawings appear and she frowns.
"Ok, what am I looking for?"
"You gave me a memory stick some time ago filled with numerous pictures of the cave drawings. Last night I took another look and spotted something strange." He leans down over her shoulder and clicks the mouse. An image of a tree appears with figures worshiping beneath it.
Elena stares at the image, searching for anything odd but she's baffled. "OK you're gonna have to give me a clue."
He points at the image. "This drawing was done a few hundred years after the others. See the difference in colour and style? We destroyed the original white oak but there must have been another."
Elena turns in the chair to stare up into his face. "If what you're saying is true then that tree could be long gone by now. It could sit in someone's dining room as a table or something."
Elijah manages a smile at this but his unease is strong. "I know it could mean nothing but I have learned not to ignore coincidences." He sits on the arm of the couch across from her.
"OK it is a little weird but even if there is another tree out there it doesn't matter. Tomorrow you'll be human and the tree will be harmless." She gets up and stands before him. "This is your last night as a vampire, an original. Don't you want to do something?"
He grins. "You think I should do something to mark the occasion?" He watches Elena shrug and on impulse reaches for her hand and pulls her forward gently. "There are things that I will miss, I confess it."
"Never getting old, healing, super fast and strong. Compelling people…" She trails off suddenly with a stricken expression.
He frowns. "Compulsion has always been something I avoid if I can. I use it, as you are well aware but I have always battled with it. To take away someone's will and force your own…" he shakes his head. "It's has always been the easy, convenient option but lately its usefulness is being tested. Before we could just compel someone to forget about us if they become aware of our nature but the development in technology is making that hard…I will be glad to be rid of it, the temptation was always too much."
Elena listens to him and with every passing second she seems to shrink in on herself. She looks down at his hand that holds hers and speaks quietly. "I told you that Jeremy is staying out of town with friends but I didn't tell you everything." She looks up and her gaze is filled with guilt. "I had Damon compel him to leave. Klaus almost had him killed and I just couldn't risk Jeremy being hurt. He's all I've got left."
"Ah…" He says and she thinks for a second that will be all but he continues after a pause. "If you are expecting a morality lesson from me you won't get one. I have used and abused compulsion more times then I care to count. All I can say is that if you meddle with someone's freewill be prepared to face the consequences."
Elena nods, ashamed and avoids his gaze. "You think I'm some noble person but I'm not. I want to be those things but I screw up and make choices I regret." Her lashes flutter when he stands and kisses her forehead.
"You are someone I greatly admire but do not think I hold you on a pedestal or expect you to be some paragon. I think you try and that is enough for anyone, vampire or human." He looks into her eyes with a soft smile. "We are not so different."
"Should I give you another minute or two? Don't want to interrupt this touching moment."
Elena and Elijah spin around to see Klaus standing out on the terrace. He must have climbed – or jumped – five stories to get there.
"What are doing here?"
"Oh just wanted to see you before the big night. I had a little run in with Bonnie – oh don't worry she's fine." Klaus says after Elena stiffens. "I know what they're planning and I know you're in on it. So much for familial love."
"There's nothing you can do to stop it." Elijah says, standing close to Elena.
Klaus smiles. "You actually want it to happen? You know you can't take that woman on her word. Has she promised you clemency?"
Elijah nods stiffly. "I believe that she wants to undo what she has created. She wants to give us another chance."
"Except me…she will not spare you Elijah or any of us. She spent a thousand years on the other side plotting our end and you think her mind can be changed so swiftly?"
Elena looks at the trouble on Elijah's face and moves to stand in front of him. "Don't listen to him; he's just trying to get you on his side."
Klaus laughs. "On my side? Elijah has been plotting to kill me for hundreds of years and has never stopped. Oh you played a good game Eli but I'm no fool. I don't need you on my side; I don't want you to be. I thought we could live as a family but that is past. The only word of advice I will give you is that mother is more conniving then you can believe. She will kill you if she has the chance, even precious Elena here and that is something that neither of us wants."
"All this talk is pointless. I will not be swayed and there is nothing you can do to stop her."
Klaus moves back toward the railing with a bigger smile. "You know I learned a thing or two about curses over the years. Just as with my old curse there needs to be a binding agent to hold it."
"The moonstone." Elijah says.
"Correct. This is no different. I managed to get Bonnie talking and she told me what they are using to bind our forthcoming humanity to. Even if she does succeed in turning us human there's still a way to defeat her. There's a white oak tree out there Elijah with our names on it and I'm going to burn it to the ground." With that he jumps over the railing and disappears. Elena races to look down but he is nowhere in sight. In the violet sky a pale moon is rising. Elena looks back at Elijah with worry.
"The white oak, do you think it's the same one?"
He smiles morosely. "Like I said, I never ignore a coincidence and this one is blaring." He leads her back into his apartment where they put on their coats and make their way to his car. The ritual will be performed in the woods, where the others are already setting up.
A salt pentagram is sprinkled out onto the ground and torches blaze against the dark. The wood is cold and silent but for a few mutterings in a language she can't understand. Elena stands rigid, half with the cold and half with anxiety. She looks at Elijah who must be feeling even more nervous then her but he does not show it. He watches as the witches – Esther, Abby and Bonnie - stand at the corners of the pentagram while Finn stands in the middle.
"We're ready."
"What will happen?" Elijah asks his mother.
She smiles faintly. "We will channel the Bennett line for power and cast the spell onto Finn. Because you are linked whatever happens to him happens to you. By the end of this night you and your siblings will be human."
"How long will the link last?"
"A week or so."
"And is that a certainty?" He asks, his eyes dark and probing. Maybe Klaus' words had gotten to him.
"Nothing in life is certain. This spell has never been done before. I and my sisters here had to create it." She smiles and moves forward but stops at the salt line. "Do not worry Elijah, all will be well."
He nods and walks into the wood and Elena follows him. He stops and leans against a tree trunk and blows out a pent up breath. "I can't stand to watch them any longer."
"You just want it over with?"
He nods and pulls something out of his pocket. It's the memory stick. "Take this and keep it safe. If anything should go wrong we can't have it falling into the wrong hands."
She takes it. "Nothing will go wrong."
He smiles. "I wish I had your conviction. I wish I could see those dreams for myself…"
"You don't need to; soon you'll be living them. Klaus is trying to find the white oak and I think that's what we're going to do. We have to stop him and we will." She smiles at him encouragingly and then turns when Bonnie calls out for them. They're ready to begin. Elena walks forward but Elijah shakes his head.
"I'd prefer to do this alone, if you don't mind?"
"I don't mind but you're not alone. Once it's finished I'll be right back."
"Thank you Elena. I don't really have the words…" He trails off and gazes at her deeply. He hopes that look says it all.
Elena nods once and heads back towards the pentagram. Chanting begins to rise and fall and a pulsing energy that she can actually feel runs through her body. The magic that they are creating calls to her, it makes her blood sing and her breath catch. She walks forward, marvelling at the magic that seems to match the rhythm of her heart. It is the last thought she has before a total and complete darkness settles over her mind and she knows no more.
The cold is the first thing he feels, a cold that is bone deep. He moves and immediately stops with a groan. His body is racked with pain, every muscle and joint aches. He lifts his head and sees that he's lying on a carpet of leaves. Gritting his teeth he rolls himself onto his back and blinks at the dim morning light that shines through a canopy of trees above. It's raining lightly. No wonder he's so cold. He manages to sit up and look around. As he does something else begins to nag at him and he forgets his pain for a moment.
Where am I? Who am I?
The thought eclipses his pain and brings with it an onslaught of panic. He tries to remember how he got here or his name but his mind is blank.
Its ok, must have got lost and hit my head. Keep calm. Get up.
Focusing on that command he pulls himself up using a tree and sways to his feet. He looks around but he appears to have wandered off the path. All he sees in any direction is spindly trees. Running a hand through his hair he looks at the tree he leans on and sees that one side of it is covered in green moss. A memory comes back to him then. He's leading a group of women in massive dresses and covered in lead makeup through a wood and telling them what they should do if they get lost. It had been in France, when he's not sure but it's real.
"North should lie that way." He begins to walk, teeth clenched as his muscles protest. As he walks he tries to remember how he ended up alone in a forest but again his mind is not forthcoming. A void is the only thing that answers him and it strikes a sharp fear into his being. He walks on, trying to keep his mind blank but there is a building panic that threatens to drown him.
After walking for half an hour he rests, wishing he had some water. But the image that flashes into his mind in not water but blood. Disturbed he trudges on and shouts for anyone that can hear him. Not five minutes later he hears something in the distance but it is not a voice. It's a siren. Frowning and unsure he heads towards the sound and soon sees flashing lights through the trees. A man in an orange coat stands before a large white vehicle and comes forward when he sees him approaching.
"Sir, are you lost?"
"I believe I was…Where am I?" He stares at the bright iridescent coat and the flashing lights in wonder. Before the other man can answer a blur shots past him and almost bowls him over.
"Elijah!" A young woman wrapped in a blanket grips the front of his coat tightly. "I couldn't find you! Are you all right?"
He blinks repeatedly, looking at her face. A tingle of recognition grows. It is warmth of feeling that rings something that is somehow connected to this woman. He loves her, whoever she is. He gently takes her hands in his.
"Do I know you?" He asks and the relief that had been on her beautiful face fades. The blanket around her shoulders slips to the ground and lands at her feet.
note: yes I'm mean... :P