Chapter Eight
We All Have to Pay our Dues
There were crickets outside, so Elena originally thought that she had heard, but during the winter it was unlikely.
"It's your front door."
Elena had her head rested on the blanket that covered Elijah's lap, the fabric wrapped around her bare skin covering everything besides her feet as she faced the television. They had remained like that for hours, and dawn was soon to break.
"I figured," she replied, purring slightly as he rubbed her shoulder, massaging the spot in between the blades that easily made her croon, but he wasn't about to distract her "So… do you want to talk about it?"
The "it" didn't have to be defined between them. Elena had her own ways of letting Elijah know what she was talking about, and Alma's death had been weighing down on her mind as well as his.
She felt him stiffen, his body tensing at the thought of the late witch, just as expected.
"Why don't you tell me about what you've been up to? I'm sure your day was more eventful." The Original bypassed her question without hesitation, but Elena could feel his pain well enough. It was a pain driven by guilt, which was the worst affliction. She would talk more about it later on, pushing him now wouldn't help and she didn't want to end up pushing him further away.
"Regan had some friends in the witch's council; they were able to set something up for Lili to manage her wolf side so they took her yesterday." She wanted to keep it short and sweet as she knew how Elijah felt about the hybrid child and hybrids in general.
"Tell me about these witches…" he ran his fingers through the strands of her hair that fell over her shoulder, teasing her as she turned up to face him and groaned.
"Tessa…Emma…" she rolled her eyes, "and Liam." She spat the warlock's name like it was vervain on her tongue, "he had a lot to say in so few words." It had only taken the twenty minutes of being stuck in a room with him for her hatred to form and she realized that Elijah could feel that anger emanating between them like a veil of burning fire, this time not in a passionate sense as they had experienced not long before. The current feeling however, was matched sharply by an icy sting, forcing her to sit up and turn back to Elijah with surprise.
"Elijah, what's wrong?" she had never felt something so harsh from him before, and she wasn't sure what it was that caused it.
"Three witches…Elena?" he questioned, his jaw was taut and Elena could have sworn she saw the veins around his eyes turn, but it had to be an illusion, Elijah's eyes never turned-even as he fed.
"Yeah…why?" she reached for his hand, grasping onto one finger and watched as his expression remained cold, only becoming more frozen.
"It's nothing Elena, really." He looked into her eyes and for a moment, she could see a flash of sadness matched with a gloomy shade cross his eyes. She knew he was hiding something as he seemed defeated by his thoughts and possibly guilted by his inactions, but Elena wasn't comforted. In fact, she was frustrated.
"Elijah, I thought that we were past this!" she let go of his hand and grimaced, "I feel like…after these couple of days I finally have you back, I don't want to lose you again." In a swift fleeting glance, his expression shifted and when he opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off, "I get it okay? I don't need you to tell me every little thing that goes through your mind, but this is big. Alma was a friend and I am here for you to talk to."
When Elena had lost her parents, she did a session or two of therapy (making sure she wasn't going through survivor's guilt) but after that, she had turned her pain inward, mastering the art of wearing a smile on her face instead of the tear stains on her cheek.
She could understand what he was doing, but it would be much easier to push to the side if the thoughts weren't striking in her mind like the violent backlash of a sword.
Elijah sighed while giving a quarter nod and looked outside as the sun was beginning to rise, but Elena didn't have to look out to feel it. Since becoming a vampire, even with a daylight ring, her senses reacted erratically to the pending burning of her flesh, warning her to take cover. It was easier to ignore now, especially since she had the Original sitting before her in his distress.
"You're right." Elijah passed her a quirked smile and rubbed his hand gently against her exposed forearm. "I'm sorry." He seemed genuine, he never said anything that he didn't mean, and she could feel his discourse traveling from him to her through his fingertips, "Do you have any class today?"
At first, she wasn't sure if he was really asking, or changing the subject, but she nodded to respond. "Yeah, full schedule today. I won't get back until at least five."
She hated having a full day of classes, sitting through two hours straight of the History of the Civil War bored her to tears, the following of Creative Writing was the only thing that made it worth it.
"How about when you get out of class we will talk about Alma…and anything else you want to talk about." Elena could see it in his eyes that he wasn't able to talk about her now, and on top of that he seemed distracted, like he had somewhere else that he needed to be.
"That sounds like a plan." She replied warily, but smiled to him. She could easily find out what he was thinking-force the thoughts out of him- but she would hate it if he did that to her…but the idea wasn't as off-putting as she expected. "I should probably get ready…" wrapping her arms around his neck, she brushed a kiss against his lips, pulling herself up into his lap, teasing him as she slid against him. "But I could stay a little bit longer…" Nipping lightly into the thinnest layer of skin on his neck, she could feel his concerns fade off while he pulled her closer, his hand sliding under the blanket to move up the skin of her spine.
"Are you trying to make me forget?" he was resisting, even with her on top of him, and she hated that he always had to question every motive, even her own. It was as if he treated her like she was as manipulative as Katherine in which she could be if she wanted to.
"It's working, isn't it?" she teased, kissing him again, but he lifted her off carefully, passing her his dress shirt.
"Even though I really may regret this…throw this on so we can get dressed. I have some things I need to take care of as well."
Elena could tell he wasn't enjoying his decision by the way his eyes moved over her body as she moved to slip her arms into his shirt with a frown. She ran the back of her hand over his cheek before pulling her hair into a messy ponytail then standing up to toss Elijah his pants.
"You have clothes upstairs, come on." She grabbed his hand once he was dressed and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.
Bonnie wasn't entirely impressed when she received the text message from Jeremy telling her that Elijah had returned. Of course, she was happy for Elena but the entire situation was making her uneasy. From what her friend had told her, there were too many secrets between the two of them and that was never healthy for a relationship, even that of vampires running on such heightened emotions.
It was early in the morning when Caroline sent her usual good morning texts, this one including a picture of her and Elena, both smiling and waving to the camera with the text saying "Miss you!" underneath. Elena looked happy, which comforted Bonnie knowing that her friend was still in one piece, and smiling most likely because of Elijah's return. The "Miss you!" text was referencing to how Bonnie was usually with them, but today her first two classes were cancelled, so she had the morning off.
As she got dressed, she could hear a soft knock on the door. The last time someone had come knocking on her door, it had been Regan and while she hoped it wasn't her this time she was unsure. As she approached the door, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail she pulled her white long sleeve over her black tank top, she wondered who it was. The moment her hand touched the door knob however, she wasn't feeling a witch's power, but instead the sense of death from a vampire.
With a gulp, she opened the door with a smug glaze of irritation to be staring directly into Elijah Mikaelson's eyes as he stood casually in her doorway, his expression cold and calculating.
"Elijah…" she began attentively taking one step back, "what are you doing here?" She highly doubted he was at her house for a social call (as nobody ever was) so she needed to know.
"I was wondering if you had a moment to talk."
The witch had only invited Stefan, Elena and Caroline into her home, but any other vampire always made a subconscious effort to step inside, but not Elijah. He stood straight up without even looking past her…it was something Bonnie found strange.
"Is Elena all right?" she couldn't help but ask, even knowing her friend was okay since she had just seen her picture with Caroline, but she couldn't imagine any other reason for him to be at her home. When he nodded his head however, she found herself more confused than relieved.
"Would you mind stepping outside? I know you wouldn't feel comfortable inviting me into your home."
Elena had told her about how he tricked her Aunt Jenna into getting invited inside the Gilbert home, but he didn't seem interested enough to attempt for an invitation. "Sure…" she started, unsure, confused and feeling set back, almost as if by stepping outside she would be walking into unknown territory, "Just let me grab my coat."
Pulling on her long grey overcoat from the closet, the witch joined the Original, wondering if her father was still sleeping since his car was in the driveway. It was a pointless observation since they hardly spoke two words to each other a day, but it was anything to notice her surroundings, and Elijah's car behind his was off-setting her usual routine. "So what's up?"
Bonnie was holding her ground, refusing to go soft around Elijah, but she could see it in his expression, a deep rooted issue that he may or may not be at her home to discuss.
"I'm going to keep this visit short since I have other things I need to take care of today, so I will get straight to the point." He drove her insane. His usually cold and contemplative manner made him seem impossible to manage (and to Bonnie, all vampires needed to be "managed" one way or another, besides a few she had grown close to and she refused to place Elijah in that small group just yet) yet while not degrading he seemed so casually entitled. "Alma is dead."
Everything went out the window, her irritation, her curiosity of his intentions, her confusion. She let out a gasp before biting back the inside of her cheek to prevent any tears, Alma, while not a friend was a fellow witch and ally. "What happened?"
She led Elijah to the yard swing that sat on the property, and sat down to regain her composure.
"I am so sorry Bonnie…" was all he said, temporarily avoiding the question instead seeming softer than before. "It looked like she was attacked."
He paused and seemed to take a deep breath, but stood before her rather than join her on the swing (which was fine with her, and not much of a surprise), it gave Bonnie the chance that she needed to study him for a moment, as he seemed to be lost in the study of others so often, and she could see that he was broken about the news as well.
"So why did you come here?" she questioned, watching the vampire's features. When he first appeared at her door, she was uneasy, and he seemed plagued with disturbing thoughts which she had mistakenly taken for malicious intent. Now he seemed more relaxed in her presence, so she figured he needed something more.
"So…what do you need from me?" it seemed to be the popular theme with this vampire. He preferred to use people to his advantage, to achieve his goals, so she didn't think this was the wrong assumption. Besides, her and the Original had barely ever spoken besides one conversation (that was short lived) in her car before their dealings with Tatia, and she never considered hiding her disgust at his relationship with her friend so to be uneasy around him wasn't uncalled for.
"I don't need anything from you Bonnie." He raised an eyebrow in confusion and tilted his head as if seeing her at a new angle would figure her out faster, "I came here to warn you."
The witch found herself on the defensive, and she could see Elijah stiffen before her, also going on edge by the sense of her power.
"Warn me?" she tried not to laugh, "Warn me about what? And why didn't you just have Elena tell me?"
"I didn't tell Elena my intentions because I am not sure what you want to do about it. I know she would come rushing over here to do something, but I fear the attention would only make matters worse, I intended on explaining everything to her after I had spoken you first." He was quick to explain, and somewhat brash as if he knew he should have told her first in order to allow Elena to "make her own decision" or whatever it was he did, but Bonnie was grateful that he didn't. Elena would freak out, blame herself and only feel worse while coming at an unsuspecting Bonnie, now Bonnie could be prepared for her friend. "As for the warning…" Elijah continued, "I found Alma dead in a home that I owned, and witches were involved. The entire house was soaked in magic."
Bonnie could tell that he was with holding something important, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was, but urged him to continue impatiently.
"Alma was not one to start trouble; she caused no harm, and kept to herself. The only time she ever got into the middle of anything supernatural was when she appeared at my doorstep to help with our…Tatia, Katerina and Klaus problem. You do the math."
Bonnie nodded; she knew where this was going. The witches that assisted the Original hybrid had found a way to begin getting their revenge, and here she was thinking that they were all dead.
"Why are you telling me this?" she questioned his motives first and foremost, just like anyone else would (besides Elena, though she hated to admit it). "What could you possibly gain from this? Or better yet, what do you want?"
She knew what Elijah was about, he never did anything without an ulterior motive, or he was keeping her alive to ensure that he has a new witch in his back pocket to replace the old one.
Alma, as she vehemently told her, wasn't "Elijah's witch", but a friend but even that meant nothing now. She was dead, just like most of those connected to the oldest vampire, even Elena suffered because of his affections.
"I gain nothing," he shrugged off the snide comment but didn't take his eyes away from hers, "You helped save Elena's life multiple times, and for that I feel indebted to you. I don't want to see you getting hurt.
For the briefest moment, Bonnie softened towards him-against her better judgment- and smiled. "Is there anything else?" she asked, covering any sign of dropping her guard quickly. He is still an Original she reminded herself, even while with Elena, she would not be safe with him.
"Yes actually." Bonnie's eyes followed Elijah's hand to his suit jacket pocket where he pulled out a bracelet made of diamonds and showed it to her.
"Is this for Elena? It's beautiful!" she examined the jewelry without touching it, in amazement (yet a twinge of jealousy) for her friend, but became confused when Elijah shook his head.
"No. This is for you." Bonnie raised an eyebrow this time to Elijah's blunt and plain statement, and gave him a distant look and he chuckled. "Alma said you should have this…it will come in handy someday."
Gently, and without question as to how Alma relayed the message, Bonnie took the bracelet from his hand and was surprised by the bizarre comforting feeling teased her fingertips. This feeling, while strange, was still familiar. It was the feeling of trust and warmth that she got every time she was near another witch that she could trust. It was magic, and pulling her nearer as if the bracelet belonged to her and her alone now.
"Bonnie?" Elijah looked to her concerned as she slipped on the diamonds.
"Sorry." She examined the bracelet on her wrist as the morning sun glistened against it's beauty. "This has magic. I think it must be Alma's magic, and it may still be centered. You didn't notice?"
The Original shook his head, "No, maybe your magic had to give it a boost. It is possible." though he seemed unsure, "Are you familiar with this sort of object?"
Now it was Bonnie's turn to be unsure, and she shrugged in response. "If this holds her magic, that means that she was wearing it when she died, and it already had magical properties."
This "gift" was astonishing, the magic that she was feeling flowing through her body was soothing, yet itchy as if the power was still making itself at home, planting roots among Bonnie's. "I may be able to pull memories out of it somehow…if you want."
Elijah seemed pleased by the news, but still stood uneasily before her, he seemed to still have questions but kept them back.
"Is there anything else that I should know?"
The Original had nothing else for her, and turned back towards his car. "Bonnie, if you come up with anything, or have any thoughts please don't hesitate to call me. I want to find out who is responsible for her death, otherwise there is no rush. I have all of the information that I need right now to work with and I hope you enjoy the bracelet."
He wasn't trying to force anything out of her, or needing her help, but instead he was silently offering his own to do what she was now intending on making her goal.
She was going to find out who did this to the witch.
The day dragged on, each class-that was originally supposed to be an hour each- felt like an eternity. While Elena had an eternity to do as she pleased, she was antsy to get out and go home. As she exited the building, her final class done for the day (and thankful that she had off for the next two) she pulled her grey sweater over her purple turtleneck and fixed her hair when she saw a familiar black car in the front spot of the parking lot. Approaching it quickly while searching the campus for Caroline she reached the opposite side to the curb to see the raven haired vampire hop out.
"Look at you all studious and such!" he opened his arms wide with his usual suspicious grin.
"What are you doing here Damon?" the other vampire huffed, as if getting throughout the school day wasn't hard enough, her friend looked like he was up to something.
She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot as she stood before him, doing what she could to make herself seem taller (a habit she had grown attached to since entering the world of vampires), but she was in a rush and Caroline (who had picked her up in the morning) was her ride back, not Damon.
"I came here to bug you of course." He joked, "and to give you a ride."
"Where's Caroline?" she felt like she was in some suspense/mystery movie where the girl gets kidnapped by the guy who offers her a ride, even if Damon was a friend.
He shrugged her off though, and opened the car door for her, his grin making her that much more nervous.
The Salvatore (Stefan included) was a close friend but that consuming feeling that was meant to define her love had turned more into a sharp irritation, but sometimes she could appreciate his charm, in small doses of course.
"She had to leave early, not sure why I think something about Tyler and I happened to run into her. I'm not sure."
Elena didn't believe him, something told her that he had asked Caroline to pick her up so that he could talk to her, but she got in the car anyway figuring that there was no harm that could be done.
"So," Damon smiled again as he joined her in the car, "Here we go again. Where to Miss Daisy?"
The engine roared to life before Damon sped out of the parking lot, her intention to go straight home, and she hoped he realized that. "You don't have to play taxi Damon," she sighed and found herself playing with her hair again, a growing nervous habit, and he had her uncomfortable.
"I know, I just wanted to see how you were doing." He replied off handedly, "What? Is there a problem with that?"
The obvious answer was no, but giving Damon that kind of power over her would be poisonous.
"Yes…I don't need a chauffeur." She grinned wildly to him and pushed his shoulder lightly (careful not to disturb his hand on the wheel) , "I could have walked…or ran…" in other words, she could have done anything else, she wasn't an invalid after all. She watched the college fade away in the rearview mirror, imagining the high school times that should have been easier, but had actually become more stressful than it should have been.
"Uhh…Earth to Elena!"
The brunette shot her head up in surprise, not realizing that she had zoned out in her reflection.
"Sorry, what?" She needed to keep her head on straight, lately she had been zoning out too often lately.
"I said that I figured you would have wanted a ride since Elijah isn't around." Damon's attempt at being soft towards a situation that (while short lived) had been tough on her was unnerving, and she knew that if he had spoken to Caroline, she would have told him that he was back.
"Well…Elijah's back so you didn't have to."
Damon raised an eyebrow as they pulled up to her house at the same time as Jeremy in Matt's truck, but he left the engine running in neutral. "So, the prodigal Original returns," she could see his lip twitch slightly in disgust, "To your open arms I assume."
Damon's disappointment was not being hidden well, but she saw that for his sake, he tried.
"It wasn't Elijah's fault, I told him to leave." She didn't have to explain his actions, but Elena felt like she had to come to his defense since he wasn't there to do so himself. "Besides, it doesn't matter now; we have other things to worry about."
"What does that mean?"
"Alma is dead." She said gravely, and while she expected Damon to at least try to show sorrow or remorse, instead, he pursed his lips.
"I'm not surprised, he lost his witch. Maybe now you will see that those around him don't live very long." A strange sound erupted from Damon's throat after he spoke as he rolled his eyes. It was déjà vu all over again and of course he was always quick to make a comment about her and Elijah but thankfully Elena was quickly learning to ignore it. While what he thought was important to her in theory, Damon (and Stefan too) was too clouded by the love they had for her, and while Damon played the cat and mouse game with Katherine for the past year, since Elena and Elijah had returned however, the first doppelganger from Tatia had left, most likely in hopes of avoiding the Original.
"Anyway, I'm going to go inside…" she spoke softly as Matt waved while driving by, "Thank you for the ride Damon, really." She waved the Salvatore off as she stepped out, longing for the friendship that they used to have before everything became so complicated and followed her brother inside.
Elijah was at her door within twenty minutes of her coming home, barely giving Elena the chance to figure out what to eat, and decided that Chinese take-out was something new and was in the middle of ordering when he arrived.
With the phone on her shoulder, she pulled him inside as she waiting for her total.
"Chinese?" he questioned when she hung up, taking his jacket and nodded.
"Something different, she replied quickly, "And I didn't have time to cook anything so…" She paused for a moment as she moved his jacket onto the hanger when a strange yet familiar smell to reach her nose. Incense. "Where you at Bonnie's today?"
Chances are, had she been talking to anyone else they would have been surprised. Elijah on the other hand, snickered as he walked to the living room, understanding all too well how powerful a vampire's sense of smell really could be.
"Yes, I had to give her something that belonged to Alma." He disclosed inadvertently, "A magical bracelet of some kind…I don't really know anything about it."
He seemed distracted, and Elena could sense that he was holding back something burrowed deep and when she reached into his mind-finished with his games- and caught a glimpse of her friend and the distraught expression while he warned her…warned her of what?
"If you had asked me, I would be able to tell you myself." Elijah seemed violated as she entered his mind, but she needed answers and at least now she had his attention.
"So then tell me Elijah, what is going on? Because you aren't always so quick to share the details." She had intended on talking to him about Alma, but now they were onto Bonnie which worried her more.
"I have reason to believe that Bonnie is in danger." He told her as she joined him on the couch, "But I intend on looking into it more before explaining, I don't want to jump to any conclusions."
"So what? That means you can't tell me?" now it was her turn to be hurt, "Elijah…for two people who can share thoughts, you keep so much from me, how does that make any sense?"
For a brief moment, Elijah's expression contorted in pain and he frowned, looking away. "Alma was killed by witches, and just as I explained to Bonnie…there is only one group of witches who would do this to her." He paused, allowing Elena to speak but she was at a loss for words.
She knew what it meant, still to this day, Klaus was tormenting him. As if Elijah's brother hadn't done enough damage. "There were more witches…they did it. She breathed, finally finding the words, covering her mouth with her hand, "What does that all mean?"
Elijah shrugged, everything was still in up in the air it seemed, "I haven't figured it out just yet, but I am working on it I assure you."
"Is there anything that I can do to help?" She felt so useless. Having no connection to Alma made her empty of the emotions about her death, so she couldn't share his feelings. However, she could relate. Losing someone could hurt and she had lost so many people over the years.
"There is nothing for either of us to do, however..." he paused knowingly and a devious smile crossed his lips, "You could tell me more about those witches…" Elena could tell there was something darker about his intentions, but the doorbell rang and Elena could already smell the General Tso's chicken on the other side.
When she returned, Elijah was already grabbing utensils (but only one spoon for Elena since she never mastered chopsticks) and plates.
"I hate to disappoint, but I don't know anything about the witches. They came, me and Liam had it out, they left…end of story."
"Liam attacked you?" Elijah seemed infuriated for a moment, but that was covered by Elena's own embarrassment, it was her own fault after all.
"More like…I attacked him," she looked down and stuffed her mouth with a spoonful of rice to avoid saying anything more if she could avoid it but Elijah's look of amusement was almost frightening.
"You? Why?"
Elena shook her head as she struggled to make sure it stayed away from her food and pretended to choke back on her food before swallowing to change the subject. "Two of them were older, probably in their fifties. Why do you need to know?"
Slowly, he was prying information from her, mostly from her mind, all while she was working the same game but playing it the old fashioned way, but it was working well enough.
"There were three witches in Alma's home." He responded darkly and Elena began to feel a new kind of emotion, one that wasn't fitting in the conversation. She wanted to kill and seek vengeance, and it was making her hungry.
"So you think that these witches did it?" she bit her lip to control the need as she stared directly into Elijah's eyes, using him as her anchor something she used to do when she first transitioned. The need was growing, festering like a disease taking over but it made no sense. She didn't need to feed, but she wanted to. It was like her anger was channeling it's way into her vampire nature, a new uncontrollable feeling and she was losing it.
"Elena, are you all right?"
Slowly, the feeling faded and she realized, while she was feeling her hunger (prompting her to get up and get a blood bag) the sense of vengeance that had formed was not hers, but Elijah's. Somehow though, he showed no sign of feeling this and had accidentally shared it with her.
"I'm fine," she mumbled as she bit into the bag, "I'm sorry…"
"No, I apologize. I shouldn't have let you in."
His apology was honest, but that didn't mean she wanted to be shut out again.
When Elena sat back down it was like the room had gone cold suddenly, the conversation had turned from Alma and her death to school, Kol and Rebekah (whom he told her were returning within the next few days) and even Caroline with her abrupt arrival at his home the other day.
It had turned into a more relaxing evening after Elijah cut her out of his mind again, but it wasn't until later into the evening, after Jeremy had gone out for the night when the thoughts began to bother Elena more. It wasn't just Alma anymore. Elena felt so shut out, and she was going to have to find a way to weasel herself in.
"Elijah…" They were upstairs in her bed, Elena curled tight against his chest while she listened to his abnormal heart thump (which she realized at times, wouldn't beat for hours) and felt the cool touch of his skin against her face.
"Yes Elena?" he sounded exhausted, something rare for any vampire, let alone an Original, but she could understand. It's been a stressful couple of days for him, and that was putting it lightly. The way he was speaking now, she knew he had his eyes closed even if he was still listening.
"When you were human… did you intend on having a family?" she had to ask, the thought had been long since bothering her since she found Liliana. The way he reacted, she wasn't sure if it was only because she was a hybrid or the possibility of her just being a child in his life.
She could feel Elijah's mind racing, even though he had cut her out, and she knew that is she concentrated would have been able to travel into the flashbacks with him that she knew he was going through, but she also was too tired.
"During that time," he said after a few minutes of thought, "my not having a family was unheard of. I was the oldest of my siblings, but I refused to marry just anyone. I couldn't do it. My brother and I were fighting for Tatia's affections and at the time I was too blinded by her to see any other."
"That didn't answer my question." Elena didn't want to play ping pong with this question and answer game, she felt like she had better things to do, even if she didn't.
Elijah's hand moved down towards hers, and he grasped lightly onto it, placing a light kiss on her knuckle and replied again, "The answer is no. I never thought about it. During that time period I was raised to believe that you marry a woman, then you have children. It was a requirement, a job not done out of love or devotion but for necessity. With no intention on marrying, I had no intention on children." Had deliberated for a moment, as if taking apart her question to look into it deeper and continued, "Now, if you are asking me if I mourned the fact that I would never have a family of my own after my mother turned us, the answer is yes, yes I did. That has a lot to do with why the bond between myself and my siblings is so powerful, all we have is each other. Elena, what brought this on?"
She could tell he knew the answer already, and shrugged him off as she explained. "Nothing in particular," she lied, "It's just that since I turned I guess I realized what I can never have." She didn't have the heart to tell him that his reaction to Liliana had taken her off guard, but as his arm tightened around her, holding her closely to nuzzle his nose into her hair, she realized that Elijah knew very well what she meant.
"Since…Liliana you mean."
She tightened her stance in response, ignoring his tone of his usual, all-knowing passing. "I guess so. I think it finally hit me that…my future will be so different."
Elena could feel Elijah tense, a swift feeling of guilt washing over him, but this wasn't his fault he had to know that by now. She was the one who made the decision to turn, he only did as she asked and nothing more. Now she saw that even though he was letting her into his mind again (probably because he was slowly falling asleep) he was controlling any emotion he could, just as he always did.
"Mortality is a beautiful thing Elena…"he said softly as he ran his fingers through her hair, entwining the strands around his fingers, "But that doesn't mean immortality should be dark. There are some things that I have seen since turning that are quite amazing."
With a sigh, Elena brushed her lips against his chest and pulled the comforter to her chin. Things may be dark now, but Elena saw the beauty in things differently as a vampire. She had no reason not to cherish it.
Lush green grass sifted between her toes, and with a blink, Elena gained focus on everything around her. She was in a field in the middle of nowhere with a thick fog running through it. Walking down the rolling hill, she realized that she was still in the sweatpants and t-shirt that she had fallen asleep in showing her this was just a dream until she stopped dead in her tracks.
Fire.
Orange flames burned only yards ahead, the smoke filling her lungs and rolling around the environment surrounding her. As she stepped closer, she saw two familiar figures sitting hunched on the ground. The blonde seemed bubbly and happy but the other seemed down trodden and lost in thought, it was Elijah and Alma.
Elena peered around the fire to watch them, still lost as to where she was until she caught it, the faint smell of human flesh burning under the flames that was covered by the hint of magic. A pyre, she hadn't asked what Elijah had done with Alma's body, but now she knew.
From the distance, the dream walking vampire watched as the two talked, she saw as Elijah had trouble meeting the witch in the eyes until she began to fade into the atmosphere which is when he watched her sadly, knowing that was the last time he would ever see her. Once she was fully faded away back into the elements, everything began to make sense. Elijah saw Alma, he spoke to her after she died and it explained his drive for revenge. It was pushed by her visit, whatever she told him and his debt to her.
"Elena, you don't have to hide." He said delicately and looked to her with a smile, "I can see you."
Cautiously, she approached him, taking a seat in the grass next to him in front of the fire.
"Did you bring me here?" she asked over the crackling, but Elijah shook his head.
"No, looks like you found your way into my dream for once." He returned with a grin as she looked up in surprise.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea…"
"It's all right Elena. It's better this way." He was always so cryptic and cocking her head in confusion, Elena edged closer to him as she waited for an explanation. "I don't want you to feel like this, I hope you understand. For some reason I can't always block you out when I think about it. That is why I have been avoiding the subject."
Everything was pulling back together like it should have from the beginning. Her own agonizing need for revenge, the pain she felt when he started to open up to her during dinner…she was feeling his pain, and because of it she had nearly lost control.
"Then tell me now…" she begged, grasping onto his hand. "I'm here because you won't talk to me."
Elijah sighed, still staring into the flames while Elena waited impatiently. She knew he would talk to her when he was ready, but ready had to come soon enough. She could feel something tugging at her, as if trying to wake her up. She could tell she didn't have much time.
"Alma told me that there were three witches that attacked her," he began and Elena gasped in surprise, "My first thought was the council, but now I'm not so sure…"
The younger vampire nodded agreeably. She understood what he was saying, but the tug was getting stronger, pulling her away and she couldn't fight it. "Elijah, you don't have to worry about me. You need to tell me the rest."
Elena shot up in the bed. There was no more smoke, no grass, no fire. She was out of his dream now and feeling hungry, the feeling of the bloodlust burning in her throat.
Elijah was still asleep next to her, so carefully she swung her legs over the bed, carefully pulling from the Original's embrace.
"Where are you going?" she heard him groan as his hand took hers, and she turned back to shake him off lightly.
"I need to feed," she murmured in response and while standing up, "I'll be right back don't worry."
All of the lights were off as she hobbled down the stairs towards the kitchen, not that it made a difference to a vampire. At the bottom of the stairs, she could feel something thick in the air…another presence.
She wasn't alone.
Listening closely, she could hear Elijah still asleep upstairs, and she glanced out the window to see Jeremy wasn't home either.
On alert, Elena ran to the fridge to grab a blood bag when she felt a rush from behind by the back wall, causing the vampire to shoot around sharply, her eyes darting frantically as she held tightly onto the bag as if it were her final lifeline. The thoughts of Alma's death, and the warning from Elijah to Bonnie raced through her mind, making her wonder if her witch friend was the only one in danger from their reach.
Before she could react, a sharp pain from the back of her knee knocked her off balance for a moment, but it wasn't long enough for her to brush it off, quickly jumping to her feet again on edge. She could feel it surrounding her, a powerful magic rushing around her like a cage, and like any newly caged animal she began to panic. Her silent intruder didn't belong, and she was focused on the source when a sharp pain hit her elbow, followed by a burning surge she was only remotely familiar with.
Vervain.
Choking out, she tried to focus her mind to call for Elijah, but magic seemed to be blocking it's way. She was trapped and alone in her house and as she rapidly tried to scream, the world began to turn into a blurry mess, her focus, each sense that she relied on, her connection with Elijah completely gone and she was unable to shout, it was taken away by magic. She could feel her muscles weakening as she collapsed, magic and more vervain beginning to shoot through her system as if she was breathing it in, taking it in through her pores.
She couldn't fight it anymore, and as she gave in…everything else faded to black.
Usually I hate leaving chapters off with such cliffhangers, but I intend on updating this quickly since I put one of my other stories on a short hiatus.
I apologize if this one came out a bit messy, this is sort of how my brain is working lately but I hope you enjoyed it regardless :)
Oh and also, I didn't realize how long this chapter was going to come out to be, so thanks for reading!
Please review! Let me know what you thought!