Coming downstairs the next morning, I was greeted with the rather gruesome sight of a girl spread out like an entrée, blood pooling out of her neck from where she'd been bitten and feasted upon. My bets were on Klaus. In any case, the moment I got the strong scent of blood hitting me like a wall, I balked, retched, then bolted for the nearest vomit friendly facility. Kitchen was closest. Hayley happened to be looking around for milk or something as I raced in, grabbed the sink then hurled rather violently with both Elijah and Klaus quickly following.
Klaus reached me first, vamp speeding to my side where he rather dutifully scooped up my hair and held it back, allowing me to practically throw up my insides as I then turned on the water to start draining it away. Thank god for stainless steel. "New rule. No snacks on the table. Or anywhere near me, for that matter. All of a sudden I can smell blood from a mile away." I groaned weakly, already exhausted from having delivered any digesting food from my gut into the outside world.
"Of course sweetheart, anything you say." Klaus promised rather softly, placing his spare hand upon my back to rub soothing circles to try and comfort me. With that now over, I rinsed out my mouth in order to get rid of the gross aftertaste, spitting it back out as I then pushed my hand against Klaus's face to hide his view.
"Don't look, it's disgusting and I'm not sure I won't end up throwing some of it at you for being partly responsible for all this. Both of you." I added with a gesture at Hayley behind me.
"Sorry." She apologised sympathetically as Klaus pulled my hand away in order to draw me back from the sink even as I tried to clean it up though I protested, being embarrassed about the fact that I'd just thrown up like I had the worst hangover ever. "Listen, I know I'm the only one in this house other than Lia that actually drinks milk, but would it kill any of you to make sure it's on the grocery list?"
"Speaking of, add bleach." Rebekah announced as she stomped through the kitchen towards the living room in order to clean up the mess that Klaus had left behind as he continued to rub my back and let me lean on him for a second until my stomach settled again.
"I concur. To both." Elijah promptly began to locate the milk and made Hayley some breakfast and, seeing that the two of them were about to have a moment, I pulled Klaus away in order to let them have some alone time together.
"How are you feeling?" He asked me as I wiped at my mouth, paranoid that there might be some stuff still there.
"Well, the body and the blood didn't help." I gestured at the poor girl who had lost her life by becoming Klaus's dinner. "Do you want some help Bekah?"
"No, you just sit down before you faint or something. It's only blood in an impossible to replace carpet." Shooting her brother the evil eye, I suddenly found Klaus drawing me backwards at my waist and gently guiding me to end up sitting in his lap, picking up the book he had been reading. Poetry, William Blake to be specific. Recognising this as one of our old pass times, I immediately started reading the one about the poisoned tree and enjoying the extended metaphor. Sliding further down and curling up, Klaus and I read together with one arm around me, and I found myself feeling more settled being close to him than I was further away, and I wondered if that was partly to do with the baby recognising her dad.
Maybe, I couldn't be sure yet, but as long as I feel better, I don't care if I have to attach myself to Klaus twenty four seven. He didn't seem to be complaining, in fact he had become even more affectionate as the days passed over, like he was starting to gain a little confidence and certainty in how he was supposed to act. He wasn't full blown suffocating yet, so I'll just enjoy this whilst it lasts. "Poetry about poisoned apples from dead trees. Looks like someone's worried about impending daddy-hood." Rebekah opened rather unhelpfully as Klaus and I continued reading.
"Nonsense. Elijah's back. In his presence, all problems turn to pixie dust and float away." And here I thought I was the queen of sarcasm. Guess not.
"Strange, I don't recall any pixie dust from the darkness of the coffin I was recently forced to endure." And as it turns out, Elijah also knew how to be sassy. Who knew? God I love this family. As dysfunctional as they could be, they still had their dynamics which just made it hilarious to watch them together. Glancing up, I noticed Elijah going through one of the grimoire's that apparently had belonged to his mother, searching for something.
"What are you doing with Mother's spell book?"
"Well, in exchange for my freedom, I promised the witch Davina that I would share a few pages from Mother's grimoire to help her learn to control her magic." Elijah explained before lifting his head slightly. "Ophelia, which would you recommend as a suitable beginner's spell?"
"It depends on how strong she is and how much control she currently possesses. You don't want to start with something too easy, otherwise it's not a challenge and she won't learn focus. Here." I started to get up but Klaus tightened his grip on me so I shot him a look before pointedly freeing myself from him, climbing out of the seat before going over to the grimoire. Thumbing through I saved a couple of pages where I knew there were a few spells that would be good, considering each one before I then turned to a page in the middle section of the book and tapped it with a finger. "This one. It's a cloaking spell, so there won't be any explosions or dangerous magic that she could potentially lose control over, but it requires a lot of effort and focus."
"Perfect, thank you my dear." His hand rose to gently touch at my back for a brief moment in a gesture of thanks before Elijah then carefully pulled the page free. "Niklaus, I need you to come with me. I need five minutes alone with Davina. You need to make certain that I am not interrupted." Elijah instructed Klaus with a tone that indicated that there would be no arguments, and I couldn't help but look at Elijah in surprise. He seemed to be taking charge, somehow, assuming the authority that I hadn't seen in him before and although it was unexpected, I was impressed. Elijah turned in order to look at Rebekah, giving her a stern look. "You stay here and watch Hayley and Ophelia." Bekah was not pleased to say the least, shouting after her brother as he left the house.
"How did I get elected super nanny?!"
"More importantly, who put him in charge?" Klaus seemed just as dissatisfied, so I smiled and laughed at the two of them as I continued to flick through a few more pages of the grimoire.
"Shouldn't younger siblings do as their big brother tells them?" I couldn't decide who looked more affronted by the suggestion, Klaus or Rebekah. Both seemed equally perturbed by the idea that they should obey their elder brother, and it just made me grin and laugh all the more. Of course this didn't improve their moods, but I felt great. Laughing really lifted the spirits and I didn't feel so gross anymore. I laughed until there were tears in my eyes, and then I was crying, and then I felt miserable. "God damn it, kiddo, you're turning me into a total wreck." I said to the kid as Rebekah seemed to empathise with the whole hormonal thing, though Klaus looked a little unsure of what he was supposed to do.
"Just hurry up and follow Elijah. I'll deal with all this." Bekah instructed him, giving Klaus an option to get out of here before it was too late. He did so, but not before he appeared beside me and gave my hand a warm squeeze before then disappearing altogether I strained to take deep breaths. "Come on, let's try and get some food into you. You'll feel better after." So Bekah was left to deal with me until I managed to get myself back under control, Hayley offering whatever support she could until I decided I just wanted to sit quietly and read in the sunlight for a while.
Elijah and Klaus ended up being out for the entire day, doing what exactly I had no idea, though Rebekah did receive a message that Sophie had been taken by the witch elder Agnes and as it happened, had used a cursed object on Sophie intending for it to affect Hayley and the baby. The curse was to raise a person's internal body temperature to the point of forcing a miscarriage, so it was a good thing they were no longer linked and I had the baby. Anyway, Klaus and Elijah did not take too kindly to Agnes trying to kill the child, so they were currently hunting her down.
Elijah did stop back over at one point to check on us all, but it was in that moment Rebekah chose to say her goodbyes. We'd talked about it all day, because she had been of two minds this entire time. She wanted to stay and help take care of the baby with me, but she also didn't want to get mixed up in Klaus's campaign to take back New Orleans. She'd been hurt by being between them before, and she didn't want it to end up that way again. I'd told her that I'd be fine, and if she wanted to go then she should definitely go and figure out what it is that'll make her happy.
"You make it sound so easy." She'd said to me, the both of us enjoying the pleasant breeze outside whilst bathing under the sun.
"Like hell it is, but it's something everyone's got to search for at some stage in their life. You've spent a thousand years running and being trapped within Klaus's shadow. I think it's time you started doing what's best for you. Don't worry about the baby, she's safe with me, and if all hell breaks loose I'll just come straight to you." She'd smiled at me, grateful that I'd put her mind at ease, then that had been the last of that conversation.
Honestly I was sad to see her go, but I'd meant what I'd said. The happiest I'd ever seen Rebekah was in the three months that she, Matt and I had gone travelling Europe. If she could have that kind of joy in her life again, but on a more permanent basis, then that would satisfy me. Anyway, Elijah had said something along the lines of what I'd told Rebekah, telling her to go if she wished and that she was free to do as she pleased. He did not stay long, going to check on Hayley and stopping to give me a kiss on the cheek as he passed as I smiled pleasantly to him.
I saw Rebekah off, watching her as she got into her bright red convertible then waved as she left. She got to the end of the driveway then turned back, so I waved again with a smile. I really hope she gets out of here. There's a storm brewing, and I didn't like the feel of it on the breeze. Now it was just Hayley and me in the house, so we both lounged in the front room in the chairs, doing our own thing until someone knocked. Hayley jumped and immediately looked worried but I just waved it off. "It's Josh, that new vampire Klaus has compelled. He's cool." Satisfied that it was fine, Hayley went over and answered the door to a rather panicked Josh.
"Where is he? I've been trying to find him all day." I presume that he was asking about Klaus, so I leaned back my head in order to peer through the doorframe to the front of the house where the newly turned vampire seemed like he was about to have a heart attack and die all over again. "Marcel knows that Klaus lied to him about where he lives."
"I'm not his damn keeper, Josh." Hayley sighed in exasperation, not knowing what else to say. Literally, we had no clue where he was. Probably murdering an elder witch right about now for trying to kill his baby.
"Fine, just…tell him to call me, please." Saying that she would, Hayley pushed the door shut however as she did so, my magic swamped me with a warning that someone had crossed the outer barrier, making me sit up quickly. Turning around in order to come back in, Hayley noticed my alarm and slowed to a halt as I looked around, getting a read on the guy before I honed in on him, my magic naturally directing me to the spot where he was standing. He was out by the orchard with a perfect view of the front porch, meaning that Josh's cover was busted.
"It's Marcel." I said to her in a quiet whisper, touching a finger to my lips and signalled for Hayley not to panic. Ascending to my feet, I tried to figure out what was best to do. "You'll have to answer."
"What?! No way."
"He'll know someone's here, it's better he thinks there's only one. Don't worry, I'll be here to protect you if he tries anything. He can't come in anyway because of the barrier line across the house." I promised her, telling her to make sure she stays inside the door and out of arm's reach of Marcel as he then knocked on the door. Cloaking myself in a spell after giving Hayley a hopeful thumb's up, she went to go answer the door hesitantly, taking a deep breath before pulling it open the stepping back, using the door's length to keep herself back from Marcel.
"Hi there, I'm Marcel. I don't think we've met." He smiled at her, handsome and clearly very charmingly confident. I lingered nearby, remaining as still as possible as Marcel peered into the house over her shoulder. "I'm looking for a friend of mine, Niklaus Mikaelson. Is he here?"
"No, I don't know where he is." Hayley informed him bluntly, sounding very calm and assertive. Actually, she even sounded a little pissed off at being disturbed so late in the evening, which almost made me snort with a grin.
"I see…well. Be sure to tell him I called round. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name, what was it?"
"That's because I didn't give it." I knew there was a reason I liked Hayley. Marcel laughed, making to step closer but in doing so, came against the barrier that kept any unwelcome visitors out, meaning that he couldn't get in and he quickly realised this, though in his mind he may have just presumed that someone living had taken over ownership of the house.
"In that case, ma'am, I apologise for interrupting your evening. You have a good night now." He said to her, all smiles and yet I couldn't chase away the chill those smiles brought as he turned around and left. Seemingly glad to throw the door closed behind him, I uncloaked myself in order to step back into view as Hayley ran her hands through her hair.
"How did he figure out where we were?"
"I don't know, but he won't have a clue who you are or what you mean to Klaus. You're safe." I promised her, giving a wry smile as she looked at me.
"I don't mean anything to Klaus. Not anymore."
"You're still his kid's mother. Although he might not show it, it does mean something to him." I assured her before then grinning further. "But hey, at least Elijah is showering you with plenty of concern and attention. I saw you two earlier together. You guys are adorable."
"What? No, he's just being nice."
"I've seen Elijah being nice, but I have never seen anything like that. Seriously, I think you're onto something there." Teasing her about her very clear partiality for the older Mikaelson brother, the two of us started bickering about it jokingly as I probed at her for answers about what was going on, the two of us enjoying our girl time until for the third time that evening, the border line tripped and I stopped. "Oh for Christ's sake, what is it now?" Focusing, I was surprised by the fact that I actually recognised this newcomer too. "No freaking way…is he insane?"
Going to the door as Hayley stayed in the kitchen in order to devour the rest of the ice cream, I pulled it open just as Tyler appeared and he blinked at me, clearly not expecting me to be there. "Lia?"
"Tyler Lockwood. You've got to have a death wish if you're within a hundred miles of this city. What are you doing here?!" Hushing my voice to a harsh whisper, I looked at him like he had actually lost his mind.
"I'm here to see Hayley, I just wanted to talk. Can I come in?" There was something shifty about him, an undertone of secrecy that I didn't like, so I refused at first, not entirely trusting him. "Please? It's important. I've got some information on her family and they told me that she'd be here. They want to meet her." Softening a little, I glanced back towards the kitchen and thought about how much Hayley wanted to find out where her family were. She stuck around at first to make sure Elijah came back okay, now she was here to find out where she came from.
"Okay, you can come in." Allowing Tyler in through the barrier, I turned around in order to lead him through, telling him that Hayley was in the kitchen but before I could call out to her to give fair warning, something hard and heavy struck me on the back of my head. I dropped like a stone, somehow managing to catch onto the wall for support before I could fall entirely, my vision blurring as an explosion of pain followed as I gasped, unable to even focus on a single thought except the overpowering instinct to protect the child I was carrying for Hayley and Klaus.
I slid to the ground, falling on my side where I blacked out with a hot wetness pooling from the back of my head. It hurt like hell, and the pain kept me from fully falling unconscious so when Elijah came home first and saw me collapsed on the ground, blood seeping out from the injury that had knocked me out, he moved to me so quickly he barely had time to call out my name. Feeling his hands gingerly lifting my head, searching for injuries and finding the source at the back of my head, he tenderly cupped it in order to quench the bleeding as he then pulled the handkerchief from his suit pocket and used that to press against the wound and catch the blood.
"Ophelia, can you hear me? Ophelia what happened?" Barely able to force my eyes open a crack, I tried to tell him that Tyler had taken Hayley, but out of all that, I only managed to breathe out her name.
"Hayley…" Seeing his eyes widen in alarm, Elijah frantically looked around, struggling to decide which required his most immediate attention. Deciding it was me, he flung out his hand in order to make his sleeve pull back so expose his hand more clearly, allowing him to bite down and produce a fresh stream of blood and attempted to feed it to me but I shook my head through the blur. It wouldn't work, vampire magic doesn't work on me, not compulsion, and not the healing either. This soon became apparent as Elijah's blood trailed into my mouth as he forced me to take it, telling me that I needed to heal but I retched and coughed against it, feeling like I was going to throw up my insides as I choked down the blood.
"You're not healing." Elijah realised after a few moments and seeing that I was still bleeding. "You're not…dear god." Now he seemed flustered, scooping me up in order to hurriedly bring me over to the couch where he then called Rebekah, demanding to know if Hayley was with her even though it was a desperate hope, before he then told her that he'd found me hurt in the house alone. I could practically hear the screech of Rebekah's car as she swung it around the moment she heard I was hurt, and I smiled weakly as I struggled to reach for Elijah, trying to tell him that I just needed some of my herbs to take care of the injury, my magic would do the rest.
That was when Klaus returned, announcing that Marcel had been here, and I had no clue how he'd found out, but the moment he smelled my blood Klaus practically tore Elijah back in order to swoop down on me. "Ophelia! Who did this? Ophelia wake up!"
"Yarrow…witch hazel…lavender…rosemary…clove…" I started listing off several herbs and Klaus stopped to listen, hearing each one before I began to repeat the list as my head struggled to comprehend much else. I could only focus on one thing at a time, so next thing I knew Klaus had gathered me up into his arms and cradled me to him, holding my head to help staunch the bleeding before rushing me upstairs to my room where Elijah followed, Klaus beginning to search through my neatly arranged herbal collection of vials and bottles to find each one.
Later I would be impressed that he knew what to do, combining the ingredients with the right amounts and creating a poultice by mixing the dry and wet ingredients, grinding it into pulp before adding a few other things to make it into a thick consistency before he then found some gauze from my generic medical supplies that I'd taken to carrying around with me like a travelling witchdoctor. I'd laugh if I could. Once this was done, he retuned to my side in a heartbeat and carefully parted my hair, spooning the concoction onto the gash before then pressing the gauze over it, finishing off the first aid with a bandage then laying my head down to rest.
Waking up a little as I instantly felt the herbs activate to my magic, working instantly to begin healing me as I took a deep breath and looked up into Klaus's eyes as he searched mine fearfully. "Nik." Breathing softly, my hand reached for him, grasping hold of his shirt and his larger hand came to wrap around mine as I trembled slightly. "Hayley…find Hayley…he…he took her…Ty…took…" I don't know how much of my message got across, but before I could even finish I crashed, my body simply deciding that I'd had enough for today, and the last I remember was Klaus holding my hand whilst calling to me with worry and concern.