Phoenix Rising
Ch. 23

"What are you going to do to me?" Katie asked angrily from the chair that she was tied to with vervain soaked ropes. Jonas, Luka's father, brought her to an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

"Elijah told me that you once had a mental block put up on your old memories." Jonas told her as he looked at the grimoire in his hands. I'm going to attempt to do the opposite."

"Attempt?" Katie asked with wide eyes, afraid of what would happen to her mind if he failed.

"Don't worry. Elijah made it very clear that I am not to harm you." He told her and she looked down at the bindings on her wrists then back at him. "Mentally."

"Elijah is dead, Alaric killed him. Why are you doing this?" she asked, confused.

"Alaric also removed the dagger after stabbing him. I'm guessing your boyfriend didn't know it has to stay in for Elijah to stay dead. He woke up shortly after and came to me. I located you and Elena. He went after Elena. I am taking care of you." he answered.

She groaned and let her head fall back. "I wouldn't call giving me memories I don't want taking care of me."

"I'm sorry you don't want them, but I can't go against Elijah." He informed her.

Katie lifted her head back up and rolled her eyes. "You want your daughter back, I get it." She sighed. "But I am begging you. Do not do this to me."

"Let's just get this over with." Jonas walked over holding the grimoire in one hand as he placed the other on her forehead. He started chanting something that sounded similar to what she remembered Sheila chanting, but she wasn't able to think about it before memories from another time started flooding her head sending a searing pain through her temples.

She screamed out, fighting the ropes that bound her. "Please, please stop. It hurts, please!" She screamed, but Jonas kept going.

~1827~

"Ronan has asked for your hand in marriage." Hannah's father, a harsh and abusive man, told her from where he sat behind his desk. "In two weeks you shall be his wife."

"But I do not love Ronan." Eighteen year old Hannah argued earning a scoff from her red headed father, his mean, green eyes framed by bushy eyebrows glared down at her.

"Love is for children and fools." He scolded her. "Ronan comes from a respected family and for some reason he has taken a liking to you." He informed her making her frown deepen. "I have no earthly idea why. It's not as if you are a rare beauty to be sought after." Hannah, had she not been accustomed to such insults, would have felt a punch in the gut from his statement. "You will marry him."

"I have no say in the matter?" She asked, standing from the chair across from his desk in anger. "It is my hand he asks for. I should have the right to accept or reject him."

Her insolence caused her father to stand from the chair and backhand her across the cheek before he grabbed her chin in his strong hand and got in her face. "Ronan may very well be the only chance you have to marry. I can not for the life of me see why he would want to wed an atrocious, ill mannered woman such as you. I refuse you have you under my roof for the rest of my life." He practically threw her away from him with a growl. "You will marry him."

Later that night she caught her mother alone in her bedroom, sitting in a chair at a vanity combing her wavy brown hair. "You know you are not allowed in here, Hannah." Her mother chided her not looking at her.

"Mother, please, I do not want to marry Ronan." Hannah pleaded with her beautiful mother.

"What is so bad about him?" Her mother asked dismissively. "He is handsome and he likes you."

"But I do not love him, Mother." Hannah argued.

"Pish posh." Her mother answered with a shrug.

"Mother, please, talk father out of making me marry him." Hannah begged.

"Get out of here before your father catches you." Her mother told her with a wave of her hand to the door. "No sense in both of us catching a beating."

Instead of going to her own room she slid into bed with her sister. "So you are to marry Ronan?" her fifteen year old sister asked as they both stared out into the darkness.

"Yes." Hanna answered sadly.

"I know you do not love him, but you are lucky." Her sister told her, the innocence in her young voice brought tears to Hannah's eyes. "He is nice, unlike father. You will be getting out of here. You will be free."

"Do you know what men expect of their wives?" Hannah asked knowing she shouldn't taint her sister's innocence with talk of consummating a marriage.

"You will have to have sex with him." she answered shocking Hannah with her knowledge. "Think about it sister. Is having sex really worse than thrashings from a cat of nine tails?"

"It is if I do not love him and do not want to be with him." Katie answered, getting sick to her stomach at the thought of her wedding night.

"Do you love another?" her sister asked and Hannah shook her head before realizing that her sister couldn't see her in their dark room.

"No. I simply wish to die an old maid." She answered with a lie. What she really wished for was a love like no other. She longed for butterflies, adventure, a spark that would ignite something in her and consume her.

"Perhaps you will grow to love him." her sister suggested sounding hopeful.

Tears silently slipped down Hannah's cheeks, soaking into her bright curls. "Perhaps."

Hannah's sister had been right. She did grow to love Ronan and they lived a comfortable life together away from her father and mother. However the love they shared was that of friends and didn't hold a flame to the life that Katie longed for. A year after they married Hannah gave birth to their son, her only source of true joy. A year after Jonah was born, Hannah's sister married Ronan's younger brother. However yellow fever took him from her leaving her a childless widow. Hannah and Ronan opened their doors to her to keep her from returning to their abusive father.

~1835~

Ronan took a job on a trade ship, leaving Hannah and seven year old Jonah alone. Three months after his departure, Elijah found them in the forest near her house.

~1836~

Jonah sat at the head of the table since it was his eighth birthday, Elijah and Hannah sitting on each side of him, eating the dinner of deer stew and burned biscuits. Elijah had been with them for eight months. "Fiona could have directed me to someone who could cook." He told her with a smirk at the burned biscuit he held in his hand, examining it for any bite that wasn't charred.

"I don't think anyone else would have accepted you." Hannah countered. "Besides, it is not like you actually need food to survive." She pointed out with a smirk of her own.

"True." He told her as he set the biscuit back in the bowl.

"Mother may I be excused?" Jonah asked eager to pay with his new toys.

"Yes, you may." Hannah told him and the boy bounced down from his chair and over to the fireplace to play quietly.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to his father?" Elijah asked watching Jonah play.

"He uh…" Hannah started twisting her plain gold band. "He left on a trade ship a year ago and has yet to return." She told him as she continued to play with her ring as she looked over at Jonah and noticed the fire was getting low and the temperature in the cabin was dropping. "I need to get more fire wood." She announced as she stood from the table and headed to the door.

"I will get it." he offered as he stood.

"No, I…I could use the fresh air." She told him then went outside. She was stacking logs in her arms when she saw them…glowing yellow eyes that caused her heart to stop. The last time she had seen them was when her sister was attacked and killed by a wolf.

Elijah was sitting at the dinner table, finishing his stew when he heard Hannah's ear piercing scream. "Stay inside." He told Jonah as she ran out to the wood pile to see Hannah on the ground as a wolf tore into her shoulder.

"Elijah!" she screamed as he sped over and grabbed the wolf. It bit him on the arm as he threw it off of Hannah. It ran off into the woods.

With the wolf gone, Elijah kneeled down next to her, wrapped his arm around her back and lifted her up as he bit his wrist and placed it to her lips. "Drink, please." He told her with fear in his eyes. Hannah did as told and swallowed the blood that filled her mouth. He swept her wild curls to the side and watched as the massive spot of mangled flesh healed leaving just a bloody spot behind. Still shaking in fear she stared at him with tears on her eyes. As relief washed over him he pulled her into him. "You are okay. You are safe." he sighed as she swayed her side to side as if she were a frightened child. Still slightly in shock Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up standing her on her feet again. "Let's get you inside." he wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her to the cabin.

He left her in her bedroom to get cleaned up while he got more wood to keep them warm. When he got back inside and started stoking the fire back to life Jonah asked, "Is mother okay?"

"Yes, she will be fine." He told the young boy as she finished with the fire. "For now it is time you went to sleep." He motioned over to the small bed in the corner of the living area.

"Can I play with my toys just a little bit longer?" the boy begged, but stood from the floor as he did.

"Your toys will still be there in the morning." Elijah told him and the boy set the toys down then went to his bed. Elijah followed him, and tucked him in the way Hannah did every night.

"I'm worried about mother." Jonah told Elijah as he pulled the covers up to the boys chin.

"She will be fine, she's just scared of the wolves." Elijah assured him.

"That is not why I am worried." Jonah told Elijah as he stood up. "I hear her crying when she thinks I'm asleep."

"I am sure she just misses your father." He replied and the young boy shook his head no.

"She cried even before father left." The boy's words made Elijah frown and looked at Hannah's bedroom door.

"You have no reason to worry. Now," he pulled the covers up a little higher and patted Jonah's shoulder, "go to sleep."

"Yes, sir." Jonah replied then closed his eyes.

Elijah blew out the oil lamp then went to Hannah's door and knocked. She opened it and gave him a questioning look as she watched him tap absentmindedly on the doorframe. "I just wanted to make sure you are okay." He told her then looked up from the doorframe to meet her eyes. She jerked her head for him to come in and stepped aside. He came in and she closed the door behind him. "I am okay. Thank you for healing me." She told him as she set down on her bed and motioned him to the chair that sat at her roll top desk.

"You are welcome." He told her with a polite nod as he sat down and propped his elbow up on the desk.

"That wolf that attacked me...they only come around on a full moon." Hannah started. "They're not normal wolves."

"They are lycanthrope." He informed her.

"You have seen them before?" She asked with a curious head tilt.

"Yes. They are shape-shifters. On any given day they appear to be human, but they are not." Hannah had grown to love listening to him speak. "They are fast, strong, quick to heal, but on a full moon they transform into wolves. While in wolf form they only have one thing on their mind, killing whoever they come upon. However their prey of choice is vampires." Hannah watched him as he spoke becoming relaxed by the sound of his voice. "I am afraid it is my fault they found their way here and attacked you." He told her with remorseful eyes.

"It is not your fault. They have been terrorizing us since we moved here." She told him as she looked down at her hands in her lap. "I am glad you are here. If you hadn't saved me my son would be alone, left to fend for himself in this cruel world." She then noticed the bite on his arm hadn't healed and he looked pail and clammy. "That wound," she pointed at the bite that could be seen through the tear in his white sleeve, "Why has it not healed?"

"I'm afraid it will not heal for some time." She gave him a questioning look. "A lycanthrope bite is like that of a snake. It releases a toxin that is fatal to vampires." He pushed his sleeve up revealing the ugly bite.

"You are going to die?" She asked, saddened by the possibility.

"If I were any other vampire, yes, but I am an original. It will make me sick and delusional, however as soon as the venom is out of my system I will be fine."

Hannah stood and tentatively pressed her palm to his forehead. "You are burning up." She observed. "Lie on the bed. I will get a wet cloth for your head."

"You do not need to make a fuss." He told her in an attempt to stop her.

"You saved my life. The least I can do is make you more comfortable." She told him as she grabbed a cloth from under the wash basin and poured some cool water over it. She expected to see him lying on the bed when she turned around, but he was gone. "Or not." She tried to stay awake until he returned, but she ended up falling asleep.

When she woke up she went into the living area to see him asleep on his makeshift bed across the room from her son's. Jonah was awake, sitting at the dining table eating one of the biscuits. "He came in right after sun rise." The little boy informed her. "Is he okay?"

"Yes. He had a bad night is all." She told him as she set her hand on top of his head. Hearing them talking, Elijah began to stir. Katie walked over and kneeled down as she placed her hand on his shoulder making him open his eyes. "Why don't you take my bed so Jonah and I won't keep bothering you?"

"I am fine here." He told her then closed his eyes again.

Katie left her hand on his shoulder as she looked at Jonah. "Take your toys outside, fresh air will do you good."

"Yes, Mother." The boy replied and as soon as he was out of sight Hannah turned her attention back to Elijah.

"You haven't eaten since noon yesterday." She pointed out and Elijah opened his eyes again.

"I assure you I am fine." He insisted, but Hannah wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.

"You look like death warmed over. You need rest and no one can rest well on an empty stomach. Please, eat." She told him as she held her wrist out to him.

"You are a stubborn woman." He complained as he sat up and took her arm in his hands.

"Only when I care." She told him right before he sank his teeth into her wrist making her wince in pain. When he released her she flipped her hand over to look at her wrist only to see the bite heal before her eyes. She gave him a small smile as she reached up and brushed his long wavy hair out of his face, taking in his improved color. "There, that's better." He took her hand from his head sending butterflies through her from the skin contact, as he gave her a small smile of his own. "Now," she stood up taking her hand from his as she jerked her head to the bedroom, "off to bed with you."

After the wolf incident something about their relationship changed. They saw each other in a new light, as companions instead of strangers helping each other survive. They started talking more, sharing their lives and getting to know one another. He made her smile and laugh more than anyone ever had before.

A few months later the three of them sat at the dinner table. As usual Jonah sat at the head of the table while Elijah and Hannah sat across from each other. Hannah glanced up from her dinner to the man sitting across from her to see him already looking at her. A blush warmed her cheeks as she turned her eyes back to her bowl. A few seconds later she felt his shoed foot touch hers. She thought it was an accident, but when it happened again she looked up to see him give her a small smile. She blushed again and nudged his foot with hers. "Mother, are you feeling well? Your face looks funny?" Jonah asked making both she and Elijah laughed awkwardly at the boy's observation.

Yes, Jonah, I am feeling just fine. If you are finished you may be excused." The boy nodded and hopped down out of the chair, putting his empty plate in the wash basin before he went to the coffee table that Elijah had built and started playing. "Are you ever going to tell me why you are hiding away here in the woods with a married woman and her son?" She asked as she pulled her feet out of his reach.

"Perhaps after Jonah turns in for the night." He answered quietly.

Soon they settled in the living room. She knitted while Jonah read a book and Elijah whittled away at a small piece of wood. "What time is it?" She asked then watched as Elijah looked at his pocket watch.

"Five after ten." He answered then set his whittling aside.

"Alright Jonah. Off to bed with you." She prompted earning a whine from the boy. "Don't complain." She scolded him gently as he put away his toys and headed to his bed.

"Will you sing to me?" He asked. Hannah looked at him with a sigh then to Elijah.

"I would like to hear as well." Elijah told her with a small encouraging smile.

Jonah had asked her to sing every other night, but she hadn't been able to make herself with Elijah as an audience. "What would you like to hear?"

"Father's favorite please." He answered with an excited, but sleepy smile.

"Very well." She told him with a smile as she laid her hand on him and started singing The Parting Glass. By the time the song was through Jonah was asleep. She pulled the blanket higher up around him then stood and turned to see that Elijah had fallen asleep as well. She smiled to herself as she placed her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it, waking him up gently. When he opened his eyes and they found her face, she jerked her head to her bedroom.

He got up and followed her, watching as she shut the door behind them to keep from waking Jonah. "I Apologize. I did not mean to fall asleep, but I find your singing voice to be very comforting."

"I feel the same about your voice." She admitted with a coy smile. "So please, tell me what brought you here." She sat down on her bed and he sat on the stool in the room.

"My mother was a witch, she cast the spell on all of us, making us what we are, including my father.. She died. My father…lives on, trying to kill my siblings and me. He believes us monsters that need to be removed from the world. Out of the seven children my mother bore Niklaus, Rebekah and I are all that remains." He answered not looking are her but at the wooden floor of the room. "We split up to make it harder for our father to track us."

"So that is why you are here?" She asked with a frown. "To hide from your father?" Elijah nodded still not looking at her. Even when she slipped from the bed and walked the few steps over to him he did not look up. She tentatively reached out and placed her hand on his cheek. "Elijah." She whispered his name and he finally looked up at her with a hardened reserve in his chocolate brown eyes. "I know what it is like to have a father that despises you. You are welcome here as long as you'd like."

"You are too kind." He told her as he reached up and gently grabbed her wrist talking her hand from his face as he stood up. "Good night, Hannah."

The whole next week Elijah became distant, all smiles and flirtations stopped. Growing more worried Jonah found his mother hanging the wet laundry on the line while Elijah went out hunting. "Is Mr. Mikaelson mad at us?" He asked causing Hannah to stop what she was doing to look down at the young man.

"I is only mad at me." She replied not knowing that Elijah stood off in the distance listening to them.

"Why?" He asked.

Hannah kneeled down to be eye level with the boy. "Some people...they don't like getting too familiar or too close to others. They stay away for fear of caring too much."

"Why would someone be afraid of caring?" Jonah asked, confused.

"Because when you care about another person it means that they can hurt you, even if they do not mean to." She told him.

"I don't understand." He told her with confusion in his young innocent eyes.

"You will one day." She assured him as she stood up. "But for today why don't you go milk Millie?" The boy nodded and ran off to milk the cow.

Later that night Katie laid in her plush bed, tears of loneliness slipping from her eyes, wetting the feather pillow beneath her head.

Elijah in turn laid awake listening to the rain beating down on the wooden roof of the cabin. "She's crying again." Jonah's sleepy voice pulled Elijah from his thoughts and made him tune his ears into the bedroom where he heard Hannah's quiet sobs.

"She will be okay." He told the boy as he sat up and looked into Jonah's eyes. "Go back to sleep." Compelled to do so, Jonah laid down his head and closed his eyes.

Elijah knocked softly on Hannah's door, then listened as she came to it and opened it just a crack. "Yes?" She asked keeping her eyes down cast so he couldn't see the redness of them.

"May I have a word?" Hannah nodded and stepped back letting him inside before she shut the door and turned to see him tapping the corner of her oil lit writing desk in thought. "I apologize for my behavior here of late." He said while looking down at his hand.

"I should be the one apologizing." She replied making him look up at her in confusion knit brows. "I...overstepped and made you uncomfortable... I'm sorry."

"You did not make me uncomfortable or overstep." He told her as he turned to her and tucked his hands into the pockets on his trousers. "You showed me kindness and I shut you out. I am sorry."

"It's quite alright." She assured him as she sat down on her bed.

He sat down on the chair at the desk. "I would like to get to know you better."

"What would you like to know that I haven't already told you?" She asked as she brought her feet up onto the bed and tucked them to the side.

"How did you come to know your husband?" He asked as he leaned back in the chair with an interested look on his face.

"My family and I met him at his family's barn raising. They were new to the community. My sister was taken with Ronan from the start, but he was taken with me. Said he knew from the moment his eyes landed on me that he would ask for my hand one day. So when I came of age he did." She answered as she watched him rest his arm on the desk, listening to her with a slight squint to his eyes. "I did not want to marry him. Not just because my sister fancied him, but because I didn't." She let her eyes fall to the thick cream quilt on her bed. "I know it broke my sister's heart when I told her he had asked for my hand, but she never said so. She told me I was lucky to be getting away from our parents."

"If you didn't want to marry him, why did you?" He asked with a frown.

"Because... while my father was harsh his words were true. He informed me that love is for children and fools. And I would be a fool to pass up Roman's generous offer because it would be my only one. No man would want an atrocious, unattractive, ill mannered woman like me."

"What a cruel man to speak such a way about his daughter." Elijah said with a frown.

"Like I said. I know what it is like to be despised of." She replied still looking down at her hands.

Things got quiet between them as she got lost in thought and Elijah let her words sink in. After a while he broke it. "It is late. I should turn in for the night."

He started to open the door, but Hannah spoke up, "Elijah?" He turned back to her she wanted to tell him he could have the other half of her bed, but she knew it was improper to share a bed with a man you are not married to. So instead she said, "Goodnight."

He gave her a small close lipped smile and a "goodnight." as he pulled the door open and walked out.

Winter turned to spring and with spring came school. Since they lived so far from town Jonah stayed the week days at the trading post in town with Fiona. It was an arrangement that the two women had worked out right after Ronan left. With every passing day Hannah started to lose hope that Ronan would ever return and in doing so stated letting herself develop feelings for Elijah.

One late spring night a loud sharp howl sounded causing Katie to shoot straight up in bed. "Elijah?" She called shakily hoping he was awake to hear her.

He came into her room and saw her standing beside her bed, looking right at him even though she couldn't see him. "I'm right here." He told her as he slid his arm around her waist using the fact that she was scared as an excuse to hold her close.

Her heart rate increased, at his touch that sent a spark of pleasure through her sending the butterflies in her stomach into a tizzy. When another howl sounded Katie jumped closer to Elijah out of instinct. Without thinking she pressed her hands to his chest. "Is it the lycanthrope?"

"No." He answered confidently.

"How are you so sure?" She asked. He let go of her, went to the window and pulled the curtain back. He motioned to the crescent moon with his hand held out to the side. She walked over and ducked her head to look out the window and saw the bright crescent in the clear sky. "Oh." She answered with a blush as she stood up straight and looked at him in the very dim moonlight. Not feeling like going to bed just yet she felt her way to the oil lamp and lit it, brightening the room so she could see him plainly. "I guess I look silly now don't I?" she asked as she brushed a lock of curls behind her ear.

"Perhaps just a…" he held his pointer finger and thumb up in a pinching gesture, "little." He gave her a smile that told her he was picking with her.

Hannah laughed at herself in embarrassment and scratched the back of her neck. "I…" she wanted to tell him how much she liked him and that he made her feel things she had never felt before, but the only man she had ever been with was Roman and it was simply for procreation, never for fun. She didn't know how to flirt or even how to touch a man in a way that conveyed how she was feeling. "I don't know how to say what I wish to." She told him then lifted her eyes from the floor to watch his eyes that squinted at her then relaxed when he realized what she was trying to tell him. Deciding it would be easier to show him what she wanted, rather than tell him, she closed the space between them to just a few inches and placed her hands on his chest.

Elijah could hear her heart start racing from the contact and as soon as she looked up at him through her lashes he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into him, catching her top lip between his. The sensation his kiss sent though her to her core pulled a sound from deep within her that she had never made before, a pleasured moan. A trail of kisses left tingles along her jaw to her neck pulling another moan from her. "You are trembling." He observed as he pulled back and slid his hand that wasn't cupping the back of her head over her thin sleeping gown covered shoulder.

"I have never felt like this before." She admitted with a whisper as she opened her eyes and looked into his.

"And how do you feel?" he asked as he gazed back at her.

Her eyes dropped to her hands on his chest as she slid them up to hold each side of his neck. "Alive." She answered as she looked back up at him as a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "You're touch sends a spark…like lightening through my skin." With a look in his eyes she'd never seen before and couldn't identify, he slid his hand down her arm and grabbed her hand off his neck to hold it in his, causing her heart to start racing again. "Do you feel it too or am I going insane?" she asked with worried eyes.

Elijah kissed the palm of her hand, making her eyes flutter then placed it back on his neck. "I feel it too." Those four words were all she needed to hear to give into what she was feeling and she threw herself into him, kissing him with a hunger that she couldn't control. In two swift movements her human eyes barely caught their night clothes were gone and he pulled her back into him. With another swift movement he grabbed her curvy waist and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around him out of instinct.

They kissed as he walked over to the edge of the bed, laid her back then stood up, slipping his hand over her neck and down her chest between her breasts. She watched his face as he admired her for a quick moment then lowered himself over her, sliding his hands into hers that were laid out to the side then brought them above her head. He attacked her neck with kisses as he sank into her, "Elijah."

Afterwards they laid in her bed, covered only by a thin sheet. His arm around her shoulders held her to his side while she stared at her hand resting on his nude chest. In that moment everything in her was relaxed and her thoughts were quiet for the first time ever. Being with Elijah was like nothing she had ever felt before and she doubted she would ever feel with anyone else. "You are quiet." Elijah pointed out and she didn't respond. "Having regrets?"

"No." she answered, but he could hear sadness in her voice.

"Hannah look at me." He told her quietly, but she couldn't. "Talk to me."

"If my life has taught me anything it's that men do not like it when a woman speaks her mind." She replied still staring at her hand on his chest.

Elijah hooked his pointer finger under her chin and eased her head up to look at him. She pushed herself up on her arm to be able to look at him comfortably. "I am not your average man and I would very much like to know what is going on in that beautiful head of yours." he cupped her cheek in his hand and her eyes slipped closed for a moment.

She took a deep breath and let it out as she opened her eyes. "I am a terrible wife." The calm she had been feeling suddenly turned into a tornado and tears started quietly slipping down her cheeks. "I should feel terrible about that, but I don't."

"Then why do you cry?" he asked as he wiped a tear with his thumb.

"I do not know." She answered honestly with a shake of her head that caused her messy curls to sway, then laid back down with her head on his shoulder.

"You told me that you married Ronan because your father told you that no other man would want an atrocious, ill mannered woman like you. Do you honestly believe these things to be true?"

She rubbed his chest absentmindedly. "Yes."

"Hannah," he rolled over, and propped his head up with his elbow and hand as he looked into her eyes, "you are the most stunningly beautiful, kind hearted, open minded woman I have ever met."

"The bad stuff is easier to believe." She replied not meeting his eyes.

As the days passed Hannah, Elijah and Jonah became a family. Hannah accepted that Ronan had either abandoned them or died at sea, and took off her wedding ring. For the first time in her life she felt true happiness. The loneliness that had kept her up at night as she cried into her pillow vanished.

Thee months later Hannah stood in Fiona's trading post. "You and Elijah are getting along well?" the dark haired woman who radiated strength and power, asked with a knowing smile.

"Yes." Hannah answered with a blush as she looked at a beautiful gown hanging on the back wall of the shop. "It would be safe to say that I have fallen in love with him" Her friend made a scandalous sound that made Hannah laugh and turn to her. "The only problem is…" she paused and looked around the shop seeing that it was empty as she walked over to Fiona who stood at the front counter, "he is immortal. I will grow old and die while he lives on."

"You could always ask him to turn you." Fiona suggested not looking up from the imported fancy shoes that she was stocking behind the counter.

"As much as I love him I don't think I could ever convince myself to be what he is." She answered with a frown. "Is there anything you could do to make me live longer?" she asked looking up from her hands that tapped the counter.

"No, but…" the bell above the door rang stopping their conversation. They waited patiently for the customer to get what he needed and leave. "I have a solution to your problem." Fiona told her about the linking spell and that as long as Elijah lived she would return to him and vice versa.

"What do you need?" Hannah asked hearing all she needed to hear to know she wanted Fiona to work her magic.

"Are you sure about this?" Fiona asked with skeptical eyes.

"I am sure." Hannah answered with a nod.

Fiona placed her hand over Hannah's heart and started speaking in another language. After a few minutes she stopped and dropped her hand. "It's done."

"Will he know what we've done?" she asked.

"He will be able to feel you call to him, as well as any extreme feelings you may have. If I were to stab you, he'd be able to feel it." she explained. "You will figure it out with time."

Elijah figured out what Fiona and Hanna had done, but they never talked about it.

~1838~

It was a bright spring day. Hannah attempted to hang laundry on the line, but Elijah kept teasing her dress covered sides and kissing her neck, distracting her from her work. They were so wrapped up in their toying around that they did not realize they had company until they heard someone clear their throat. Hannah laughed as they both turned to see a man on a horse, a small child on the saddle in front of him. It took Hannah a moment to recognize the man, but when she did her heart stopped and her smile faded. "Ronan?"

"Surprised to see me, Dear?" He asked with an angry look at Elijah who still stood behind her. Ronan got down off the horse then grabbed the child and walked over to her. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"What are you doing here?" She asked still in shock.

"Last I checked I live here with my wife and son. Though I see you no longer wear my ring." He glanced over at Elijah then turned his attention back to Hannah. "Where is Jonah?"

When he realized that Hannah was unable to answer Elijah spoke up. "He is staying with a friend closer to town so he may attend school regularly."

"I don't believe I was speaking to you." Ronan snapped.

"I don't believe I care who you were speaking to." Elijah snapped back as he took a challenging step toward the raven haired man holding the child on his hip.

Hannah stepped between them and looked at Elijah. "Give us a minute?"

"Of course." Elijah stepped back a few feet and motioned for them to talk.

"You have been gone so long I thought you had died." Hannah explained with a look between him and the toddler.

"My journey took longer than expected." He told her then looked down at the child on his hip. "Her mother died on the ship, just before we docked." He explained then looked back at Hannah. "I hoped we could give her a home, raise her and Jonah as brother and sister."

"You have been gone for four years. You can not tell me you expected to just pick up where we left off and raise an orphaned child together." She argued back quietly.

"I expected my wife to be faithful. Not whore herself out to another man." He told her with wide eyes.

The sharp crack of skin on skin filled the air as she backhanded him across his cheek. "I am not the weak, dutiful to a fault woman you left behind and you will not speak to me in such a manor!"

Having seen enough Elijah walked back over and looked at Ronan. "Why don't you tell her the truth?" Elijah asked making Hannah look at him as Ronan glared at both of them. Elijah wrapped his arm around Hannah's waist holding her to his side. "The child has your eyes." He looked into Ronan's eyes and compelled him. "Tell the truth."

"I met a woman...we fell in love...she got pregnant and I could not let her raise the child alone. We were going to have a second child, but she and the baby died in child birth. I did not know what to do so I came here." Hannah's eyes turned glaring and her freckled nostrils flared. Ronan blinked in confusion. "Why did I just tell you that?"

"Get off of my land." She told him as she stepped out of Elijah's arm to stand in front of Ronan. "Leave this town and never return."

Elijah looked him in the eyes and compelled him. "Do as she says."

Hannah never told Jonah that he had a half sister. Instead she let him believe for his sake that his father had died at sea. A few months after Ronan returned Klaus found Elijah and killed Hannah. Elijah left Jonah with Fiona who located Ronan and brought the young man to his father who raised him along side his half sister.

~Present Day~

"Please tell me you are done." Katie panted weakly.

"I am done." He told her as he untied the ropes on her wrists and ankles. "Elijah told me to take you home when I was done. Is your home with the Salvatore brothers or the house you own?" he asked as he helped her stand up and she was too weak to bother protesting.

"Bring me to my house." She answered and started walking. They were almost to the door of the warehouse when a sharp pain shot through her chest making her cry out and she would have fallen, but Jonas caught her. "No, no, no." She cried as she placed her hand over her chest knowing that Elijah was dead and would most likely stay that way this time.

"Care to explain what that was about?" Jonas asked with wide eyes.

"Elijah is dead." She panted through the pain. "Something tells me they won't make the same mistake twice." She watched as Jonas's face turned angry.