Chapter 5

Screaming, Elena rose from her trance. Cora looked at her, with her eyes wide open in shock. Elena could only imagine how her own face looked.

"It can't be." "Love, talk to us. What did you see?"

"It is impossible. How is this happening?"

"You are pregnant, Elena." Cora stated matter-of-factly. "I can't be, Cora, I can't be pregnant."
But she was, and she knew exactly who the father was.

It was Klaus who spoke: "Cora, there must be a mistake. I can't, we can't.." Elijah's face went pale, his eyes dangerously black.
"You slept with him?!" Elena was about to answer, but now Klaus' full attention was on Elijah.

"She did, brother dear."
"But she is so innocent, and you, you are a monster. Elena, how could you?"
"I don't see how this is any of your concern, Elijah." "You're carrying his child."

"And you rather it'd be yours, brother? Too bad you're not the half breed." Elijah was now growling in a low voice. Elena was scared; she had never seen him like this.

"Watch it, Niklaus." He turned to Cora. "Can you take it out?"

"Are you out of your mind? She will not take it out. It is my baby."

"You don't deserve to be a father." Elena's head began to spin.

"This is not something we have to decide now." Cora insisted. "There is nothing to decide." Klaus stated.
"Exactly, Cora, take the baby out."

Elijah took a step towards Elena, but Elena, within seconds was standing behind Elijah, throwing him through the room. It felt as if all the life was drained from her again. Elena lost her balance and only because Klaus caught her, did she not fall.

"Are you okay, love? You got very pale there for a second." "Klaus, let me see." Cora rushed him to the side and then examined Elena once more. A couple minutes later she spoke.

"It is as I feared. Elena, as hard as it is to say, but technically, you are still dead. The baby is keeping you alive." "What does that mean?" Elijah was back on his feet, looking at her concerned.

"It means, Elijah, that once this baby leaves her body, so will her life." Elena couldn't believe it. She was still dead? She was pregnant, about to have a baby, but she would never be able to see him grow up?

Life had a horrible sense of humor.

"Do you still want to take the baby out of her, brother?" Elijah's eyes widened in shock. Klaus turned towards Elena. "Love, we will find a way out of this."

"Klaus, it is extremely important that his baby stays calm. Every time it has to use power to protect itself, it takes more energy from Elena. This is, why Elena was gone for three weeks. Technically, she wasn't dead, but the baby needed that time to become strong enough to keep her conscious."
"Cora, is there a way to keep Elena from dying once she gives birth?" "I don't know, Elijah. But I will try and find out as much as I can. I will do everything in my power; I don't think a baby should grow up without its mother."

"It's a boy." Elena didn't want her son to be called an 'it'. "I'm carrying a boy."
"How do you know, love?" Klaus asked. "Because he showed me. I had a dream about a little boy the other night. It was him. I can't believe I will never meet him." Elena broke down, tears streaming down her face.

"Gentlemen, maybe you should take the young Elena home. She will need rest."

Klaus lifted Elena off her feet; he didn't want risking her falling again. She was in no state to walk, tears were still falling from her cheeks. Elijah followed close behind, but turned to Cora once more.

"Please, Cora, I beg off you, find something, anything." "Yes, Elijah. I will do anything in my power." "Thank you."

Back at the compound, the brothers took Elena to her room. They didn't dare disturb her. She was fragile as it was. Klaus could not believe what he had found out in the last two hours. He was going to be a father, and the love of his life was the mother. But the only reason she was next to him was for his son who was keeping her alive. Elijah saw the wheels in Klaus' head turning.

"They will use her against you should they ever find out that you're the father. "

"I know that. Which is why we will tell everyone that she is here because she is looking for long lost family. At some point, when we can't hide her pregnancy anymore, we will tell anyone that her human friend Matt is the father. Nobody will suspect anything."

"Maybe we should let her know the whole plan."
"Tell her, that we're here to take the city back from Marcel you mean?" "She has always had her own head. I'm sure if we tell her the whole story, she will help us."
"Under no circumstances will I involve Elena in this. She is not strong enough." "Klaus, she will find out eventually, and she will not take it lightly." "I will deal with it then. She has enough on her plate already. Marcel will summon us soon, I'm sure. His lab dogs are all over the city."

"When he requests us to come see him, we will fill in Elena. Until then, we will let her rest." Elijah's words were final. Klaus didn't tell him, but he did not want to disturb Elena either.

Sooner than they anticipated, Marcel requested an audience. So Elijah went to prep Elena, while Klaus sent a currier for Marcel.

"But why is it such a problem that I'm here?"
"It is not. But Marcel likes to control everything and you are something he didn't see coming. He rules the streets of New Orleans and he is threatened by everything he does not know. It is safer for you to meet him."

"I don't like this." "Neither do I. But angering Marcel would not be a good idea." "You will have to tell me what is going on there." "I will. But for now, just abide by the plan and we will be fine." "I trust you."

The moment Elena laid eyes on Marcel, she mistrusted him. His eyes were as wicked as they were gorgeous. He was tall, dark, and handsome and his aura was the same as Klaus'. He took Elena's hand in his and slightly kissed it.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I have heard of the Petrova beauty, but it is all the more stunning in person."
"Thank you. I'm Elena."
"Oh, I know who you are. My people have not stopped talking about you since you've arrived." "Is that a good thing?" "It is, lovely Elena. And even though I know who you are, I don't know what you are doing here in my city." "It is rather easy. You know about my family about as much as I do. I wish to find out more. And I received a tip that there might be information to find here in New Orleans."

"It is the city of lost and found. If there is anything I can do, please let me know." Elena heard Klaus mutter just the tiniest bit. He did not seem happy.

"Thank you." "And please, do attend my ball tomorrow night. It is a charity event for the victims of Katrina." "I'm afraid I don't have anything to wear." Klaus spoke: "That won't be an issue." "Wonderful. I shall see the three of you there then."
Again, Marcel placed his lips slightly on Elena's hand, a little too long for her taste, but she only smiled at him. He then proceeded to head to the door and was gone within seconds.

Elena turned to the brothers, both smiling. "Guess, that went alright." "You were wonderful, love. He won't suspect a thing." "I still can't shake the feeling that something else is going on here. Klaus, tell me the truth." He looked away. "I knew it. There is something else. Elijah, tell me."

"No, I will", interrupted Klaus. "It is me who should. We are here, because this is not Marcel's city. He used to be my protégé; I took him under my wings after I turned him. But when the fires happened, we had to flee. I thought Marcel had died then, but apparently he survived and now claims this city as his." "What does that have to do with me?" "I could not let you stay behind in Mystic Falls. I needed you by my side, and I'm even more sure so now."

"Does that mean I could have stayed in Mystic Falls?" "Yes. Cora could have easily come to you." "And you took this decision away from me?" "Elena, you didn't even want to tell your friends that you're alive; you even said you would go anywhere to find out what was going on. I didn't think, I just knew I had to get you to come with me." "And how are you so sure I wouldn't have come willingly had you told me the truth from the beginning?" Elena was starting to fume. Another man in her life that took decisions away from her. "You know, Klaus, I expected this from you. Because, even though that night you said you loved me, you don't trust me. And you, Elijah, I thought we were closer than that. I thought, at least you would trust me."

"I do trust you, but from time to time, even I am selfish. And I saw where he was coming from." "What is it with the men in my life?" Klaus was walking slowly towards her. He didn't like what he saw. "Elena, please calm down." "Oh, how dare you tell me to calm down? I'm not one of your chess pieces. Even if you treat me like one." Elijah was now moving towards her as well. "No, Elena, he is right, please calm down." "You two need to stay away from me." "We can't do that. You can't hurt us, only yourself. Please calm down." "Love, you're getting awfully pale again. Please, it's too much for the baby. He is not strong enough yet."

Elena took a deep breath. She felt blurry and was struggling to keep standing up. She needed to sit, to breathe. "Klaus.." was the last word before she fainted. He caught her and put her on her bed.