Chapter 21

"It's all right, Sarah," one of the men said. "Elijah's not real dead. I mean, pull out that knife and he comes alive again."

"That's right," Klaus said. "This is temporary. He was out of control and in great pain. He feels nothing now."

Sarah looked confused. She knew a stake in the heart killed a vampire. The metal dagger was not made of wood, but she knew a dead vampire when she saw one.

"He's an Original, Sarah. You can't really kill one that easily," another man said.

"And there are certainly those who have tried," Klaus said with a snort.

Kiley, at Elijah's head just stared at the man he loved, finding it hard to believe Klaus had just killed him, even if it was temporary. His hands still held Elijah's head, which no longer moved in any way. It was dead weight. Gently, he let it down on the floor. He and the others stood up and backed away from the body.

"Hawk, put him back in his room. On the bed," Klaus said. "I'm not going to put him in a coffin. Not yet, anyway. Hayley, come with me."

She watched Hawk lift Elijah in his arms, while Kiley supported the head. They headed up the stairs with Kiley saying, "I'll open the door for you." Any excuse to be near Elijah, she thought. Then she followed Klaus into the second floor parlor.

"What has happened since I last saw you and Elijah?" he asked after they were seated.

Hayley had to stop and think. "What happened before you left?" After Klaus told her, she went on to tell him that Elijah had taken a shower and had become rigid and unable to move. Hawk had helped him while she went for Davina. The girl had touched Elijah and had seen a woman's hands on a crystal ball. The spell was broken, but not long after that, Elijah had felt an invisible punch to the head and had fallen unconscious onto the floor. Hayley didn't mention that she and the older brother had been on the bed together.

"Hawk put him back on the bed. I stayed in the room and watched him. When he woke up, he seemed fine. We walked out to the stairs and he suddenly screamed and fell down the stairs. He was wild, as you saw."

"And you called Davina to the scene again."

"No. She had left. I don't think she was even at the house. She came running in and up the stairs moments before you did."

"She had a hand on him. I wonder if she sensed anything," Klaus said, thinking. "I need to speak with her."

"I'd like to go to Elijah's room. If Kiley stays with Elijah …"

"You don't trust the young man?" Klaus asked with his little smile.

"No."

"Alright. Go on up there and stay with him. Of course, love, I don't know if you would take advantage of him, either. But then, I suppose Elijah wouldn't mind."

"If he is unconscious or dead, what would be the point? Still, I don't know what Kiley would do."

"Hopefully, nothing with a dead man. Ask Hawk to stay on guard. Tell Kiley to leave. Keep the bedroom door open."

Hayley left the parlor and went up to the bedroom. She found both Hawk and Kiley in the room, each sitting in a chair and watching the still body on the bed.

"Kiley, Klaus said for you to go back downstairs. Hawk, he asked that you continue to stand guard, although I don't think Elijah is going to do anything or go anywhere for a while."

"I don't see why I can't stay if you are going to," Kiley grumbled, staring at Hayley with a jealous expression.

"Why? He's dead. I'm not going to stay but a few minutes. Klaus said for you to go downstairs."

Hawk decided to step into the middle of this argument. "You better go on down, man. The boss said so."

"Did you hear him say so?" Kiley demanded of the guard.

"I ain't going to repeat it. Go." Older and much bigger, Hawk had some authority. He watched the angry younger man leave. Hayley didn't stay in the room long. As she had said, what was the point? She took a long moment to look down on Elijah's body. His clothes were a bit messy and she straightened them. She brushed the mussed hair from his forehead. Then, with Hawk watching from the doorway, she turned away. Walking past the guard, she headed for her own room.

Looking down from the gallery as she walked, she spotted Davina coming into the courtyard and heading for Klaus' office. Had Davina seen anything when she was laying a hand on Elijah's forehead? She had been chanting. Had she done anything to help Elijah? That was impossible to tell, because Klaus had daggered him at the same time.

In his office on the ground floor, Klaus eyed the teenaged girl as she came in from outside. She looked defiant.

"Where did you go?" he asked her.

"Out. I went to check on something," she said, not bothering to sit down. Instead, she stood by his desk playing with one of the pens he had stuck in a coffee cup.

"You touched Elijah when he was pitching his fit. What did you see or feel?"

"Pain. Something moving in his head. A bird, I think."

"A bird! Damn!"

"I made a connection to the witch. She was at the crystal ball again. I tried to strike back at her along the connection."

"Were you successful?"

"Yeah. Too much, I guess."

"Meaning what?"

"I killed her."

"What? Davina, I wanted to question her! Find out who she was and why she was tormenting Elijah. Now I can't do that! Damn it! Are you sure she is dead?"

"Yeah, I am. I checked with someone who checked it out. She died on the other side of the river. By the way, she wasn't working for Marcel. It wasn't him. I'm sorry I screwed things up. I was just trying to help!"

"I can see that you were."

"Is Elijah okay?"

"I am sure he is. I daggered him. You saw that."

Davina stared at him. "But why? His pain probably went away just after the witch died."

"Because he was in pain and out of control. I had no way of knowing you had just killed the cause of his pain," Klaus snapped defensively.

"I wasn't sure. That's why I went to find out. Poor Elijah. Is he in a coffin again?"

"No. He is in his room. Come with me. I'll remove the dagger, but we have no assurance yet that he is pain free."

"I guess that's true."

Hayley had left the door to her room open, hoping to hear anything from down in the office. She was unable to make out words, although she could hear the teenager's voice. Then she heard footsteps coming up the stairs and she went to the door. Since Klaus and Davina were heading for Elijah's room, she followed.

As a result, there were four people, including Hawk, who were watching as Klaus took hold of the black metal and pulled the dagger from his brother's chest. There was only a small spot of blood on his shirt, since the sharp, narrow blade made a small hole.

"It should not take much time for him to waken, due to the fact that the dagger was not in there long," Klaus said. To Hayley he said, "Davina says she made contact with the witch moments before I daggered my brother and she fired power back along the connection. She killed the woman."

"Oh boy. I guess that is good and bad news. Are you alright, Davina? I mean, killing someone is a shock."

"I guess so. Thanks for asking. Can I go now? He might not wake up for a while." She had taken the dagger from his chest when he had been in his coffin and stored in the church attic where she had resided at the time. After waking, he had stayed in the attic, basically hiding from Klaus and Marcel. During that time, he and Davina had become friends, or at least as much as either of them would allow.

"Yes, you may go. And I know you were doing your best to help, love," Klaus said, no longer angry over the killing and not really concerned about how it affected her.

Davina walked from the room with no further comment.

"Do you want to stay with him?" Klaus asked Hayley. "He should wake up soon and he won't be hungry, not after being dead for such a short period of time."

"Yes. At least he'll see a friendly face."

"You don't think my face would be friendly?" Klaus teased.

"That's not what I meant, although if he remembers you leaning over him with the dagger, he might react with fear or anger."

"I would like to say that we Originals fear nothing, but that is far from the truth. We all feared our parents, for instance."

"They must have been horrible for all of you to fear them."

"They were determined to see us all dead. Mother made us what we are and then she realized it was a mistake. Mikael called us abominations, especially me, and followed Mother's edict that he hunt us down and kill us."

"You told me once that two of your siblings are dead. He killed them?"

"No. In a way, Mystic Falls killed them. It makes no difference now. Well, do stay with Elijah. Call Hawk if need be. Or me. I'll be down in the office."

Hayley watched him walk out of the room, leaving the door open. Outside, Hawk sat on the gallery railing. With a sigh, she went to one of the chairs and sat down, her hands resting on her abdomen, as she watched Elijah and waited.

A/N I think there will be one more chapter to this story. I am glad the new season is about to start. I'm really looking forward to it.