"Damon said you plan on working with Klaus." Bonnie says, storming into the Salvatore's kitchen like some sort of avenging angel, Elena's little brother following obediently at her heels.
The older witch remains curled over her mortar, carefully grinding the dried vervain she'd gathered into a fine purple dust with short rotations of her wrist. There's Eucerin and empty plastic squirt bottles lined up on the island in front of her along with a funnel and a sterilized metal scoop. Eloise has been working for the better part of two hours trying to keep herself productive while Elijah gets into contact with whoever it is he thinks will be able to get information to them about Klaus and his current contact info. She honestly doesn't appreciate the accusation in the younger witch's tone.
"Better than killing Elena don't you think?" Eloise asks but never looks up to meet the other witch's pretty green gaze.
"How else are you going to break the curse? The key element of breaking it is doppelganger blood, last time I checked that means killing Elena."
Feeling short tempered and twitchy - because she still hasn't quite figured out the how she's going to do this yet and she's feeling a little attacked at the moment - Eloise cleans off the bottom of her pestle before setting it aside so she can give Bonnie her undivided attention. She looks tense; her hair's perfectly styled, her clothes are perfectly matched, and not even a speck of makeup is out of place and still she looks about ready to combust and bring the entire house down with her. Fortunately for Eloise, Bonnie has yet to regain her powers from the Martin's, so it's not like she'll be doing much of anything until that happens. Which is part of the reason Eloise doesn't feel like she should take the other witch's abilities into consideration. A Bennett witch without magic isn't much of a threat as Eloise has come to learn that most witches from powerful families tend to rely too much on their magic when it comes to protecting themselves or harming others. Bonnie isn't any more a threat to Eloise at the moment than Jeremy is. It's a heady feeling, honestly.
"Look, Klaus is coming into town one way or another. What do you think you're going to do about it? Fight him? You aren't strong enough on your own, and even if you managed to find the place all the witches died at - yeah, Damon told me about that - harvesting that kind of magic and channeling it will kill you." Eloise comments, and she feels more than a vague sense of satisfaction when the Gilbert boy's eyes widen.
"It's better than sacrificing Elena to a monster." Bonnie shoots back, snarling and gnashing her teeth like a wild animal.
Eloise raises an unimpressed eyebrow and says, "Stop being so judgmental Bennett, it's not all that becoming of a modern day witch."
"Are you seriously lecturing me right now?"
"Yeah, I seriously am." Eloise pauses to blow a few flyaway hairs out of her face. "Think about it like this Bonnie; what's more dangerous? From my point of view none of you are going to be able to defeat Klaus on your own and trying is only going to piss him off and we all know how that ends. Katherine's entire family was slaughtered... You still have family, don't you Bonnie? A dad and a cousin or something right? Yeah, Klaus won't have any problem stripping their skin off their bodies and hanging the tanned remains from your porch railing."
"So what," Jeremy interrupts, stopping either girl from continuing, "you want to help him to keep us safe?"
"Safer. Being cooperative will get us a long way. I plan on figuring out a way to break the curse without using Elena but if worse comes to worse we'll be able to negotiate her life by being helpful."
"She'll die!" Bonnie yells.
Eloise understands the rage, she does, she'd bring entire cities down if anything happened to Miranda or Damon - hell, she'd bring entire cities down for her siblings still despite their lack of closeness - but being irrationally aggressive about this situation isn't going to help any of them in the long run. Men like Klaus aren't used to cooperation that isn't coerced and hopefully the fact that Eloise, who's a powerful witch, and Elena, who's the fucking doppelganger, are willing to help should get them enough brownie points for Eloise to bargain everyone's safety. Besides, Klaus needs Elena alive. Can't make more hybrids with a dead doppelganger, so Elena coming out of this whole thing alive is honestly in Klaus' best interest.
"And you're forgetting that I'm a witch who's already brought one dead girl back to life. Get over yourself, Bennett." Eloise grits her teeth as she begins measuring vervain into lotion bottles. "I'm here to make sure you, Elena, and everyone else in this shitty little town come out of this mess alive. If you want to go and enrage an original vampire be my guest, but it'll be a little hard to do that without your magic."
Jeremy's cry of protest and Bonnie's abrupt jerk backward tells Eloise she's struck a nerve, but that doesn't bother her too badly because Bonnie's a powerful witch but she's so young and she needs to realize that the world isn't good and evil, right and wrong. It's varying shades of grey and dashes of vivid emotions that make up nature and not some silly philosophy that someone is purely good or purely evil. A common witch mentality when it comes to other non-witches. Eloise mixes her concoction, screws a lid on the bottle, and tosses it at Jeremy.
"Put it on in the morning, it'll keep vampires from touching you or compelling you." She tells him before doing the same to the other bottles.
"Do you have a plan?" Bonnie asks, voice terse but no longer shrill.
"I have a few actually."
"And you aren't going to sacrifice Elena?"
"Look, I'm not saying I won't but I'll bring her back if worst comes to worst." Eloise says, a half promise and lie spilling from her lips like honey.
Hopefully, Eloise will be able to pull the curse out of Klaus without too much difficulty. Miranda's already looking for possible solutions to their problem and Eloise isn't afraid of bringing Elena back from the dead - though she doubts Klaus won't figure out his own way to keep Elena alive if her blood's key to his hybrids. The only issue Eloise sees with all of this is the doppelganger herself. A cage is still a cage if it's golden and won't Elena be living a caged life? Sure, Eloise can negotiate a certain amount of freedom for Elena but after that? Will Elena be willing to bend to the whims of Klaus' arrogance? Will Damon and Stefan and anyone else enthralled with Elena? They know that killing Klaus or any other Original will likely end in their demise and Eloise has no way to counteract that. Not that she would. Having this fatal tie between the Originals and the rest of the vampire race isn't something Eloise is willing to cut, not when it makes keeping murderous vampires in like so much easier. A breath escapes Eloise as she turns to put her soiled items in the sink for washing.
"And then what?" Jeremy asks, softer and more hesitant than Bonnie might.
Eloise offers him a thin smile.
"I negotiate a deal with Klaus, Elena lives her life, the people she loves are protected, and Klaus leaves you all alone for the most part and never causes problems until the next doppelganger pops up."
"So you'll be like Katherine? Bargaining one innocent life for another?" Bonnie spits and then screams, hands reaching up to tangle around her head where the pain is beginning to swell.
The older witch drops the spell, allowing Bonnie to take a few deep breaths as she rounds the island to stand in front of the other witch's bowed form, Jeremy seems conflicted over whether or not he wants to intervene but a look from Eloise freezes him in place.
"I understand why you're asking me these questions, Bonnie." She tells the other witch cordially even as her eyes narrow, "Elena's your family in her own way and you want to keep her safe. I understand, truly, I do... But let me make one thing perfectly clear: I'm not afraid of you and I don't take kindly to being accused of things. You want Elena to live? You want Caroline and Matt and all of your other friends to die of old age instead of unnatural means? I'm more than willing to help, but if my methods aren't satisfactory you're going to have to suck it up and tolerate my presence until I leave this mess of a town... Understood?"
Murky green eyes stare up at her, the tears making the green hue so much more prominent. Eloise smiles as she reaches out to press her thumb against the area between Bonnie's eyebrows, siphoning the pain away until it's gone and Bonnie's eyes dry. She pulls away before the witch can lash out.
"I like you Bonnie, you're loyalty to your friends is commendable, but you need to learn that there are ways around a problem that don't involve violence." Eloise then leaves the kitchen without so much as a backwards glance.
Without anything pressing to do Eloise makes for Katherine's room. While some might find it... morally questionable to go through a soon-to-be-dead woman's items Eloise thinks it's a perfect idea what with Bonnie and Jeremy probably lingering to see what she does next and having nothing better to do as she waits for Elijah to get a hold of her. It's not like the older vampire's going to miss anything, she's going to die soon anyway and Eloise thinks that she might as well do one good thing and give away some of the clothes she isn't going to use anymore. Eloise slips into the guest room, eyes the closet and the dresser, and sighs. Ok, so maybe she isn't here to take any of Katherine's clothes. Maybe she's here to go through all of the other woman's things and make sure she isn't hiding anything. You know, like the moonstone or a big ole book of contacts with something suspicious. Because there's no way Elena's mother coming back into town doesn't have to do with Katherine. So it's with a tired sigh that Eloise makes for the dresser and begins sorting through all of Katherine's clothes. When the more obvious means of hiding something falls short, Eloise expands her search. She finds a box full of jewelry tucked in the back of the closet under a pile of random shit Damon probably threw in there the last time he needed a place to store something, a couple thousand dollars is found carefully taped underneath the dresser and Eloise pockets that shit because she can, there's a phone in a Ziploc bag at the bottom of the tank in the bathroom. Eloise rolls her eyes as she fishes the damned thing out and checks to make sure it's all good. There's probably nothing on it, Eloise wouldn't put it past Katherine to hide things that aren't important just to mess with everyone, but she fishes it out of the bag and shoves it in her back pocket all the same before leaving the bathroom.
A quick search shows that the rest of the house is empty. Bonnie and Jeremy must have left at some point and the Salvatore brothers had headed out earlier that morning to deal with the whole Isobel being back situation. With nothing better to do Eloise pulls out her phone so she can shoot a quick text Elijah's way. It's not even a full minute before he's calling her back. Eloise snorts as she hits the accept call button.
"It was a yes or no answer, Elijah, you didn't have to call me." Eloise says as she makes for the library.
"Yes, well, I wouldn't put it past Klaus to have something to do with Elena's mothering being in town."
"Then it's safe to assume he knows Elena's alive."
"I would say so," Elijah takes a breath, releases it, and whispers something to someone who isn't her before continuing with a contemplative, "I would expect to see him within the next few days. My brother is extremely paranoid, he'd certainly want to behold the doppelganger for himself to ensure this all isn't some sort of trap."
"Damn. You'd think he'd be happy to hear about any doppelganger."
A soft huff of laughter, then, "I assure you, Miss Brathwaite, my brother will be more than thrilled."
"Wonderful... Does he have any tricks? Like, is there something he does when he's trying to be inconspicuous?" She asks, because who better to question than the man's own brother.
"Klaus was always fond of switching bodies with those closest to anyone who displeased him."
"So he'd probably hop into someone who isn't expecting it? Like Jenna or..."
"Or perhaps Alaric Saltzman, yes. I dare say he might be more Klaus' speed." Elijah says.
"Should I say anything to the others do you think?"
"You're asking me?"
Why wouldn't she? Elijah's over a thousand years old. He's seen kingdoms rise and fall, nations build themselves and topple under the weight of their arrogance. Who better to ask than him? This might be a bit too heavy to admit out loud but Elijah's probably the only person Eloise will ask advice from when it comes to a situation like this.
"You're his brother aren't you?"
"Waiting," Elijah says after a moment, "will allow you the opportunity to catch Klaus alone. If you could convince the lovely Elena to accompany you it might surprise him enough that he'll be willing to talk."
Eloise bites her lip and says, "I don't want to drag Elena into this just yet... What if I gave him Katherine?"
"You have Katerina?"
"She's currently desiccating in the basement, answer the question." Eloise replies a bit blandly.
"I would say that bringing Katerina may be a way to get into Klaus' good graces. He's always been generous those who please him and having Katerina in his grasp would be especially pleasing to him."
"Generous enough to talk to me about his curse?"
"Perhaps not so generous as all that."
Eloise sighs loudly, taps her hand against her knee, and then a thought occurs to her.
"What if you came with me?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"I mean, sure, you and Klaus are kind of on the outs but I know a couple of pretty nasty spells that'll keep you safe enough from him and with you there to play interference I might be able to get somewhere with him."
Elijah is silent to several seconds, long enough to make Eloise wonder if maybe she said the wrong thing, but then he lets out a hesitant, "I'll meet you at the boarding house to collect Katerina. If you insist on doing this I want to ensure I don't end up in a box."
Like the rest of my siblings remains unsaid but Eloise gets it.
"That's fine. We might need to swing by the Martin house as there might be something good in one of their grimoires."
"Nonsense, I'll collect them from Jonas and meet you in, say, an hour?"
"Sounds good. The rest of the scooby gang is out and about so be careful, yeah?"
"Of course."
The line goes dead seconds after. Eloise glances at the screen before she drops her phone onto her stomach. Katherine isn't on any vervain that Eloise knows of. Having been in the basement for well over twenty four hours it's safe to assume there isn't any of the substance left in her system even if she'd been smart enough to take it after she got out of the tomb the first time. For a vampire that's spent the past five hundred or so years running Katherine's not all that smart. At least she'll be easy to compel, that'll make Elijah and Klaus happy if nothing else. Know what else would make Klaus happy? The moonstone. Eloise wonders if she should bring it with her or leave it in her bedroom. Getting Damon to give it to her had been a pain, so she really doesn't want to give up the moonstone until she's certain Klaus isn't going to attempt to kill her.
Ridiculous, isn't it? How much significance a witch can put on something as small as doppelganger blood.
Eloise scoffs. She's never worked with it before and she's not saying that there isn't something about it that gives magic a little extra something but... it's not exactly necessary for powerful spells to work. In fact, Eloise thinks that it was a poor choice of binding agent. Whoever created the vampire spell initially should have used something a little more easily obtained so that they could get more of it should their spell go wrong. Common sense is what it is. Eloise has done some pretty messy spells and ritual but her binding agents have always been pretty easy to get her hands on; blood of a virgin, as cliche as it is, adds a bit more oomph when it comes to fertility rituals but isn't dangerous to get in the grand scheme of things. Eloise wonders if maybe the reason the doppelganger had been used was because it was more convenient than finding someone or something else. Oh well, can't change anything now.
Although, Eloise is going to have to come up with something quick or this whole talk with Klaus is going to go downhill pretty fucking quickly. Her mind drifts to the vampire and the werewolf currently slumming it in the camper outside of town, hidden away from prying eyes of both the supernatural and normal kind. Jules - wasn't that the werewolf's name - isn't her friend, and there's a certain amount of vindictive pleasure that comes forth whenever Eloise thinks of giving her to Klaus to use for the ritual... Truth of the matter is that Eloise has no idea how else to break the curse without killing Elena. Using Expression might be a possibility but Eloise has never used that much power outside of a group so she doesn't really want to start now, and it's not like Miranda can just pull the curse out of him without hurting herself. Hmm. What to do, what to do.
Elena would be fine, maybe a little emotionally traumatized but they could always find some rapist or other questionable character to inhabit Elena's body while the ritual is taking place. It's not like the power in the blood is going to change if there's another person's mind in the body. Inspired, Eloise shoots Elena a quick text to let her know that she's planning on meeting with Klaus and that she has an idea for how to get her out of the ritual without her ever having to be present. Yep, it could work. Rose's current body was dead when Damon brought it in and Rose came through all right. Eloise misses Rose, she was the only girl in the group that didn't bend to Elena's whims. Sadly, her new friend is currently hunkered down a few states over trying to avoid Klaus' ire. Eloise gets it. She'd try and get out of the line of fire if she was in Rose's position too.
A knock on the front door as Eloise grunting softly as she rises from the couch so she can let Elijah in.
He's dressed impeccably. Like always. Eloise smiles as she steps aside so the Original can step into the foyer. Once Eloise shuts the door she turns to smile at Elijah only to find him holding out an incredibly old looking grimoire. The leather is butter smooth under her fingers and the carefully pressed indentations along the edges hardly register as Eloise runs her fingers along them.
"What's this?" She asks after she's flipped through a few of the pages, "Gaelic?"
"Cymraeg, actually."
"Huh, how did the Martin's get a Welsh grimoire?"
Elijah smirks at her and offers a soft, "Quite expensively, I assume."
Sounds about right.
The Brathwaite coven's library had been extensive when Eloise was a girl and it's unlikely her family members had stopped collecting after she left, but the Martin's are three witches taking an interest in witch history as opposed to the fifty-some Brathwaite's who'd collected spells and rituals like a hoarder collects junk. The grimoire in her hand is old but the spells contained within are well preserved and Eloise smiles as she moves to place the grimoire on a side table. Placing one hand palm down over the book Eloise channels her thoughts into something a bit more productive, and the resulting breeze flips through a good three-fourths of the book before stopping on a page decorated with carefully written instructions and the image of a person. Eloise grabs the grimoire and shows it to Elijah.
"There's our spell," she tells him with a bright, delighted grin. "Know how to read Cymraeg?"
Because there's no way she's going to be able to do this spell without knowing the proper pronunciation of the incantation or the steps required to complete the spell. Making things up as she goes has been something Eloise has gotten good at since leaving the coven, unfortunately, she can't just make up this spell without fucking it up in truly epic ways. The last thing she needs to do is accidentally burn Elijah alive from the inside out.
"I do not."
Eloise sighs, "Looks like that's a bust. Here."
Elijah stares at the grimoire before very gently pushing her hand closer to her body so that it's no longer hovering in the air between them.
"Keep it," he says.
"You're sure?"
"The Martin's won't miss it."
It might be morally questionable to accept a gift from someone who may or may not have stolen said gift in the first place but Eloise can't bring herself to care. Grimoire's like this are rare. Older grimoires tend to stay in families or covens, they don't just go out into the world and find themselves in the hands of desperate witches. The grimoires Eloise keeps in her shop are all donated, or given to her by older witches who don't require them anymore, or pawned. They're all phenomenal tools but the majority of them aren't this old - the ones that are usually end up in her apartment, taken by herself or Miranda for safekeeping and never actually shown to customers. So this? This is probably one of the best things Eloise has ever gotten from someone. She smiles as she wraps her arms more comfortably around the grimoire.
"Thank you... I might have something in my work room. If all else fails, I can just throw something together really fast that'll add a bit more oomph to what you're already packing."
"It's of no importance. I'd rather we plan for Klaus' arrival than waste what little time we have."
Eloise bites into her cheek as she nods.
"Well, we're going to have to go to Ric's apartment I suppose... Wait around outside maybe? I think he's going to be out of the apartment so if all else fails we can just compel the neighbor to go on a long weekend trip or something."
"What will we do with Katerina?"
"Snap her neck, vervain her, compel her? I don't really care, Elijah."
The dark haired vampire nods once before reaching to adjust his cuffs. If Eloise didn't know any better she'd say he's nervous; about seeing Katherine, meeting Klaus, or getting his siblings back Eloise doesn't know but she's willing to bet it's a bit of all three. What his relationship to Katherine is Eloise isn't sure but she's met the meaner version of Elena and so it's not hard to figure out that the two of them probably had some sort of history in the past. Eloise curls her fingers a bit tighter around the grimoire in her hands to fight off the shock of panic that strikes through her. Elijah won't fuck this up for her. Not when his siblings are on the line, not when she's admitted to practicing Expression. He's a man of honor and while that doesn't mean a whole lot to Eloise it does mean something when it comes to Elijah. Sighing, Eloise nods her chin in the direction of the basement door.
"Want to see her?" She asks.
"I think it would be best if we compelled her into complacency before we take her to Klaus." Elijah says, fingers lingering dancing over his cuff link.
"She's in the basement."
Together they make their way through the boarding house, down the stairs leading to the basement, and up to Katherine's cell door where Eloise carefully undoes the little window so that she can peak inside. She jumps a bit when Katherine's angry brown eyes appear in her line of sight, the snarl that the rightfully starving vampires lets loose making every prey instinct in Eloise's body go off just seconds before an arm around around her waist and pulls her away from the door where Katherine's attempting to snag her through the window.
"Now, now, Katerina," Elijah drawls, "is that any way to behave in front of a guest?"
A startled sort of whimpering gasp leaves the doppelganger, her hand disappears from the window, and this time it's Elijah who peaks through the small opening to watch her retreat. Whatever he must see must please him because he steps away from the door and nods to Eloise, too smart to assume she hasn't placed spells on the door to keep it sealed. Eloise likes that. She does not, however, like pulling down the spells so that Elijah can peal the door open and step into the cell with Katerina. He leaves the door open so Eloise can see the pair of them interact and, honestly, she's not entirely sure why the sight of Elijah speeding in front of Katherine and wrapping a careful hand around the base of her neck has her feeling jealous... Ok, that's a lie. Elijah's hot. Eloise would totally not be upset if he looked at her or touched her the way she's sure he's looked at and touched Katherine in the past.
"Elijah, please don't let them do this!" Katherine is begging, "I'll tell you everything I know: I'll tell you where Isobel is, I'll tell you what John told me about the Originals, I'll tell you anything you want to know just please, please don't let them do this!"
Eloise watches as Elijah moves his wrist so that his thump brushes along Katherine's bottom lip, a tender gesture. One that has no place here in the Salvatore cellar where people are put to be forgotten about. So it almost takes her by surprise when Elijah wrenches Katherine's head to the side and lets her lifeless body slump to the dirty floor of the cell. It's startling to say the least. Of all the things Eloise had expected to happen this hadn't been one of them. Well, no, it had been a possibility. Fleeting. Eloise hadn't actually thought Elijah would be so disinterested in Katherine's plight to just snap her neck like he had. Seems a little impersonal considering all they've been through together... but maybe not unexpected. It had been Katherine, after all, who caused a rift of sorts to form between Elijah and Klaus hadn't it? Perhaps not a large one but a rift all the same. Eloise stares at the unconscious vampire before looking to Elijah.
"We'll put her in the boot." He explains, the lines around his eyes a little more pronounced.
"Uh, yeah, sounds like a good plan." Eloise steps out of the doorway, allowing Elijah to slip by once he's gathered a limp Katherine into his arms.
Neither of them say anything until after they've got Katherine hidden in the trunk of Eloise's car. Alaric doesn't live too far away but as Eloise has never been to his apartment before she has Elijah direct her through the sleepy-seeming town of Mystic Falls. Driving allows Eloise to gather herself mentally. They're going to see Klaus, Eloise isn't worried about that, what she's worried about is whatever witch the Original Hybrid has managed to pull into his circle of followers. A glance at Elijah shows him staring contemplatively out the window. Clearly he's not all that bothered by what's about to go down at Alaric's apartment. But he's not mortal. Why would he have to worry when he can't be killed? Eloise pulls down a road lined on each side with cute little storefronts and wonders if maybe this isn't one of her best plans. Eater bunny. That's what Rose had called Elijah. She'd said Klaus was worse. So what does that make him? Krampus? If they're going with the holiday figures that would probably be the best fit. What does that make her then?
Th sun is setting when storefronts give way to larger brick buildings and Eloise turns into the near empty lot to her left at Elijah's behest. Eloise doesn't recognize many of the cars. Alaric's is there, but so is a silver sedan and a couple other cars that Eloise doesn't know the name of. Cars are cars. She only knows the really expensive ones because her uncle had been obsessed.
After sliding into an empty slot Eloise eases the car into park and turns to Elijah. She reaches out, fingers drifting across the crown of Elijah's head as a few more words pour out of her mouth. A protection spell. Not a very powerful one considering this is all pretty impromptu but it'll give him a little something to add to his healing capabilities. Eloise pulls away as Elijah looses a shiver.
"What was that?" He asks.
"It'll reflect harm onto an attacker. It won't stop everything but it'll deter witches." Eloise says.
Elijah nods once before exiting the car, ass outlined deliciously by the fit of his suit pants.
Flushed, Eloise follows the vampire's lead and exits the car.
Katherine is already hefted up into Elijah's arms by the time Eloise gets to the back. She looks more like an exhausted child than a dead woman with her head tucked under Elijah's chin and her face peacefully lax. Nodding, Eloise motions for the apartment building. When Klaus gets out of Alaric's body the two of them are going to have a talk about the state of his security - or lack of, in better words - because it's all too easy for Eloise to get into the building, up the stairs, and to the floor Elijah claims Alaric lives on. And the two of them are going to have a conversation about that too. Elijah knows too much about everyone in the group. So it'll probably be best if they take care of any loose ends they don't want the Original airing to the public. Eloise has a feeling Alaric has a couple of those.
The shiny gold 9 on Alaric's door seems to taunt them.
"Uh, you wanna knock?" Eloise asks, thumb pointing toward the door.
Elijah stares at her for a moment before flipping Katherine onto his shoulder - whoa - and kicking the door in - double whoa - which allows him to step into the apartment. Eloise follows hesitantly behind, bouncing between following fearlessly and lingering so she can do damage control should one of Alaric's neighbors come looking into the commotion. Because there is commotion. Someone inside the room clearly hadn't wanted Elijah there. Items are tossed about, something streaks through her peripheral vision, and then there's a thump that isn't all that different from the sound Katherine made when Elijah killed her earlier. Deciding that now would be a great time to do some actual damage control Eloise slips into the apartment and finds Katherine sprawled out on the floor, a man slouched against the wall, and Elijah standing over Alaric's prone body. She attempts to close the door behind her but it gapes a little. So she throws up a ward and calls it a day. No one can leave, no one can come in. Sounds pretty good to Eloise.
She moves to stand by Elijah.
"What the fuck is this?" Eloise asks, horrified by the primitive looking glass jars full of blood, tubes, and equipment around Alaric's body.
"I believe my brother's witch hasn't quite finished his task," Elijah smiles a bit, "Klaus will be most displeased."
"Uh, you're brother's witch is shit at this sort of thing." Eloise mutters, leaning down to take in Alaric's form.
"He is skilled enough to have earned Klaus' approval."
Eloise points to the blood sitting on the floor and says, "Primitive. There are better ways to displace someone. Here. Let me show you."
The IV comes out messy but Eloise isn't a physician. She has no idea how they're supposed to come out so all she can do is hope Alaric's not going to, like, form a blood clot and die. That'd be a shit way to go. With the IVs out Eloise moves the equipment out of the way, leaves behind a little bit of the blood, and makes for the kitchen to gather items. Alaric may not be a witch but it's clear he's prepared for just about everything. Candles are found in a kitchen drawer, the cupboard by the fridge is full of different herbs, and there's a lighter on the table. She grabs what she needs before making for the living room.
Candles spread, herbs mixed and formed in a circle around Klaus to keep him contained, and his blood carefully poured to connect them all, Eloise begins chanting. This. This is one of the things she learned early. It had been a fun little trick that the older kids in her coven had taught the younger. Always under supervision, always after they'd been taught the ins and outs of the casting, always after they could recite the entire ritual in at least three different languages. When Eloise was twelve she jumped into her cousin Raphael. They'd played each other for a week before anyone got smart. Or maybe they'd always known and were just indulging the next generation of Brathwaite witches. Doesn't mater now. Eloise dips her fingers in thick red blood and draws a symbol between Alaric's brows. Then the candles go out.
"What's happening?" Elijah asks.
Eloise looks away from Klaus and says, "He'll be waking up in a few moments... maybe you shouldn't be here right now? It might not look good."
"Oh, don't leave on my account, brother." a chilly voice commands, "I've so been looking forward to this moment."
No fear, her mother's voice rings through her head, you are a Brathwaite woman. We do not know fear.
Steeled, Eloise turns to meet Alaric's narrowed gaze but she doesn't smile. Smiling would suggest she wants to do something unsavory. It would make her look smug. And this is not a moment to appear smug.
"My name is Eloise," she says, "and I'm here to help you with your curse."
Maybe it's not the smart thing to say. Maybe she should have eased him into it. But the problem with that is Klaus' anger with Elijah will inevitably cloud his judgement, so what better way to bypass the drama and potential death than by giving Klaus exactly what he wants. The curse broken is obviously one of those things but being able to create hybrids is something he wants a fair deal more Eloise suspects. What would be the point of breaking the curse if he can't create more brethren. By the sharpening of Klaus' gaze Eloise thinks she might have struck home.
"Is that so?" He asks, voice mocking and lilting in a way that suggests pain if she doesn't respond properly.
"Yes. I have a personal reason for you succeeding."
"And I suppose tying yourself to my brother caters to those needs." Klaus smiles mockingly as he adds, "Elijah always did have a fondness for witches, a shame he never manages to keep any of them alive."
Behind her Elijah goes still. Eloise knows because before Klaus' comment Elijah's knuckled had ghosted over the space between her shoulder blades, comforting in their consistency before Klaus opened his mouth to antagonize the older Original. Eloise tries not to think too hard about what he'd said. It's not her business and the implications are pretty fucking clear.
"I don't think you want to antagonize either of us, Mr. Mikaelson."
"And why is that, love?"
"Because without me you won't be able to create more hybrids." She shrugs as Klaus lunges at her, unable to get through her barrier she remains unharmed despite his clear intent. "Oh, you'll break your curse just fine but after that? Curses are tricky little things. Believe me. I've performed several."
Klaus remains behind her barirer, panting and snarling like a vicious animal. He pretty much is. Eloise hopes her face is calm, smooth like a lake on a windless day. Her mother was always so put together, nothing ever phased her and no one ever seemed to get into her head, some of it may have come from the way her own mother had raised her but Eloise likes to think that her mother just... never gave enough of a fuck about strangers to believe their threats. She'd been a terrifying woman. Eloise had always respected that.
"Explain." Klaus snarls, and Eloise does.
She explains her reasoning for helping him, tells him about the ghost, how if she created something that scared her enough to curse them she'd never let them create another of their kind. She'd cripple them, dangle the promise of hope in front of them and rip it way because she'd want them to hurt, she'd want them to feel utterly helpless. The longer she talks the angrier Klaus seems to get. Why wouldn't he? Katherine's ancestor had been killed to create the curse, he'd been willing to kill Katherine to free himself and it would have solved one problem but then a hundred more would have popped up, and now he's attempting to do the same to this doppelganger. Anger is an emotion Eloise excepted. Rage, she expected. So when he screams and throws the chair Alaric had been slumped in across the room Eloise doesn't even jump, though Elijah steps close enough that she can feel the rise and fall of his chest at her back. As the rage fades Klaus turns to Eloise looking horribly angry but he seems less volatile. She's probably going to die.
"Let me out of this circle." Klaus demands, tone deceptively calm.
"Are you going to try and kill me or Elijah?" She asks even as she moves closer to the circle.
"Oh, love, if you get me out of here and help me achieve my ends I'll be the very last of your worries." Klaus promises.
Eloise is shaking her head, arms crossing over her chest as she says, "Me. But not Elijah. I don't expect you to forgive your brother for whatever's gotten the two of you to hate each other so badly but I owe Elijah... I'll let you out on the promise that you won't attempt to dagger, desiccate, or kill any of my people without incredibly good reason."
Dark eyes flick between her and Elijah, narrowing and widening beneath furrowed brows.
It surprises her when Klaus nods. And while not a verbal confirmation it's better than nothing. Eloise pushes her foot through the line of herbs and salt, nudging aside one of the candles with her foot.
Within seconds she's pinned against the wall, fingers curled around her throat, an angry Original pressing Alaric's body too close to her own. Across the room Elijah makes a noise, makes to move, but Klaus merely squeezes tighter and turns to Elijah.
"Don't, brother, or I'll rip off her pretty little head." then to Eloise he says, "If you're lying to me, love, I'll destroy everything you've ever touched."
Having never taken well to threats Eloise snarls as she shoves the palm of her hand against Klaus' chest, magic soaring through her and slamming into Alaric's body with the force of a fucking train. As he's not a vampire in Alaric's body Klaus is sent flying across the room where he's stopped from going any further by a bookshelf. Eloise bares her teeth at Klaus in a shark's grin.
"Don't ever threaten me, Klaus," she says, "I'm not one of your goons and I'm not afraid of you... The next time you put a threatening hand on me will be the last time you have hands to touch anything with."
Across the room Klaus smiles, the sharpness of it strange on Alaric's face, but any response he has is stopped when a pitiful sound of pain slips through the now conscious doppelganger's lips. It would seem that even in death Katherine can't help making a dramatic entrance. Lovely.
"Elijah brought you a peace offering. Have fun. We'll see you tomorrow." Eloise doesn't wait to see if Elijah follows before leaving the apartment.
Today was a good day, she decides, tomorrow's going to be better.