Klaus shifted as he crossed his legs underneath himself and tried to get comfortable, but it was difficult.
And it didn't help that he was now sitting on the metal roof ridge of the Salvatore garage, which wasn't exactly a comfy leather couch.
As he adjusted his legs again, Klaus could feel his heart palpitating, his head pounding and his skin tingling a mixture of cold and hot.
His eyes shifted uneasily toward the full moon in the sky above them.
If he was going to turn, he wished that he would do it already.
The sooner he turned, he reasoned, the sooner he could escape back to the house and into Caroline's arms.
Trading himself to Dominic in place of Caroline had been logical, since he would have been harder to kill than her if the hunter wished it.
But, seeing the full moon through the window of the Salvatore home and remembering that Ioan's body was still cursed by the moon and that it might offer a possible escape clause in his plan was an added bonus.
Suddenly, the original heard a noise and his eyes shifted from the sky over to his captor, who now cracked his knuckles loudly as he stood from his crouching position a few yards away on the rooftop and started pacing, not taking his eyes off the Salvatore House and the surrounding grounds, no doubt waiting for any sign of approaching parties.
Suddenly feeling nauseous and the tingling intensifying in his forearms, Klaus shifted again, letting out a slight groan.
He closed his eyes to steady himself before opening them to see Dominic still scanning out into the darkness, clearly not interested in whatever was ailing the vampire.
Klaus hadn't turned in a long time, but he knew one thing—that it was infinitely more painful than what he was now experiencing.
And then it happened…
He turned…
Sort of.
"Whatcha looking at?" Klaus asked in chiding voice, suddenly appearing at Dominic's side
Dominic narrowed his eyes and stared indignantly back over his shoulder at the original, a small growl escaping his throat.
"Sorry," the original replied when he saw the annoyed look on the hunter's face, holding up his hands in mock surrender, "Just making friendly conversation."
But, Dominic's eyes narrowed further and he quickly took a step forward, shooting out his hand in an attempt to lash out at the vampire, but when his hand made contact with what would have been Klaus' shoulder, it only met air, the vampire's figure vanishing like a mirage and causing the hunter to spin around in confusion
"Over here…" Klaus smirked, suddenly appearing ten feet away on the other side of the rooftop.
Dominic immediately sped over to the vampire, pulling a white oak stake from the pouch on his belt, but ran right through another mirage of the original, then turned to see the vampire's figure, double, then triple in appearance right in front of him... then evaporate.
"Down here!" a voice called suddenly from below and Dominic quickly looked over the edge of the roof down onto the lawn of the Salvatore property to see Klaus looking back up at him, a glowing ball of fire now forming in his hands.
Dominic lowered the stake as he took in the unbelievable sight, but he only had moments to do so before Klaus hurled the ball of fire at him, quickly engulfing the garage in flames.
# # # # # # #
"First of all, there is something you need to know about the soul that is pinned to that compass…" Vivienne said softly
"Alright then," Elijah encouraged as he sat down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table across from Vivienne, Elena now coming to stand at his side, placing her phone on the table so that Bonnie and Jeremy could hear the conversation they were about to have, "Start at the beginning."
Vivienne took in a breath, then began, "Well, the beginning would be in the summer of 1857, when we arrived in New Orleans."
"I remember," Elijah nodded, "Niklaus had sent me a letter beseeching me, no practically begging me, to return to help with a business matter and you traveled with me so that you could visit your sister."
"Yes," Vivienne replied, "And when I called upon Cecile at her home in the French Quarter, I found that she was not alone. Years before she had written to me that she had taken in a boarder to help with the upkeep of our parent's mansion and I met him on my visit. He was an unusual man who kept to himself mostly, but I remember him to be tall and mullato, with one defining feature—a winding tattoo visible on his neck and the lower part of his arm, wrist and hand. He said his name was Luka..."
"He was there to kill us," Elijah whispered in sudden realization, sitting forward
Vivienne nodded, "Somehow he knew who and what my sister and I were—he knew were witches and that we were once bound to Klaus centuries before. By the time, I realized what he truly was and that he was essentially using Cecile, seducing her into giving him knowledge of Klaus—knowledge he could use to find him and his siblings—you- I tried getting word to you, but you never replied to any of my wires."
"Because Klaus daggered me…" Elijah said solemnly
# # # # # # #
New Orleans, 1857
"Hello?!" Elijah called as he entered through the front door of the family's mansion in the Garden District, removing his hat and setting down his suitcase, "Anyone home?!"
Suddenly, Rebekah appeared in the main hall from the back parlor, dressed in a red velvet overdress and white petticoat, her hair bundled in soft curls behind her and their mother's necklace safely around her neck.
Joy immediately filled her face at the sight of her older brother and it took only seconds for her to take off running toward him at human speed.
"Elijah!" she cried happily, closing the distance between them quickly and leaping into his arms, a broad smile crossing Elijah's face as he received her, engulfing her in his embrace and planting multiple kisses on her cheek and neck as he spun her around in circles amidst her continue squeals of excitement.
He had missed her terribly in the two years that they had been physically parted—him in Virginia and her with Klaus and Kol in New Orleans—and it warmed his heart to see and hold his little sister again.
"Welcome home, Elijah," Klaus' voice sounded from the top of the stairs and Elijah set Rebekah down, stroking her cheek lovingly for a moment before stepping past her into the center of the hall as he looked up to meet his brother's gaze.
"Niklaus," he acknowledged, his eyes kind
He hated to admit it, but he had actually missed his brother as well.
"Sister," Niklaus smirked, bounding down the steps toward them, "Why don't you show our brother a little southern hospitality? I'm sure he's tired after his journey…" then stopped on the landing, his face turning solemn, his eyes reflecting the hidden meaning behind his next words, "I'm sure he could use a rest."
"No…" Elijah whispered suddenly, his eyes widening as he quickly understood Klaus' meaning and turned back to face Rebekah.
It was then that his fears were quickly realized—it wasn't his sister he now stood face to face with, it was a dark haired, olive skinned woman with piercing green eyes.
Elijah recognized her—it was Seraphine, one of Klaus' most powerful witches.
She had cloaked herself to look like Rebekah.
It had been a trick.
Klaus had tricked him back to New Orleans.
Before he could react, Seraphine stepped forward and daggered the oldest original through the chest as he cried out in pain, hyperventilating as he felt his skin start to harden and his body quickly start to weaken.
As his knees buckled under his weight, he fell against the witch, who caught him in her arms and lowered him gently to the parquet floor.
Elijah knew that soon he would be unconscious and sensing Niklaus coming to his side, with the last of his strength, he turned his head to look over his shoulder at his brother.
He had to know something before he died.
"Where are our siblings?" he pleaded, his eyes soft and worried
"They are safe in their coffins, brother, I promise…" Klaus whispered, kneeling at his side and laying a hand on his older brother's shoulder, Elijah's vision of him beginning to blur as his eyes started to flutter, "I'm sorry it had to happen this way, but as I understand it, a hunter has caught wind of us and we need to leave town."
With that, Elijah breathed his last breath and his head fell back on Niklaus' shoulder.
Klaus closed his eyes and exhaled as he rested his chin on his brother's head for a moment before kissing Elijah's hair.
"Forgive me, brother," he whispered softly, "I couldn't leave you behind."
Suddenly, reopening his eyes and immediately regaining his composure, Klaus turned his gaze toward Seraphine.
"Go fetch Marius and have him put Elijah in his coffin, then load him into the carriage with the others and prepare for departure. I'm not waiting around for my past to kick my door down."