The Originals: Euailibrium

by DaniIngram11

This takes place after the events of Legacies. where the infamous Mikaelson brothers, Klaus and Elijah, are brought back from the dead. The main story takes place back in New Orleans where the siblings are reunited and are given grim look into their families uncertain future. Thanks to a close betrayal Elijah ends up on a completely new journey as he makes friends and new family

The Originals: Equilibrium (Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: The Revival

Elijah Mikaelson walked through the hospital feeling mentally exhausted from the day's events. He readjusted his tie and suit jacket whilst navigating the maze of long hospital corridors, walking past the harrowing white walls the until the colors merged from the meek white to a joyful baby blue covered with bright patterns and animals the closer, he got to his destination. He passed room after room of sickly children, lying hopeless in their beds their loved ones weeping at their sides cherishing every last moment with them, the ward smelling of pure death. Elijah then made his way to a small unit of rooms at the back of the hospital, dreading what waited for him there. He turned the corner of the unit and saw his destination in front of him. A huge window was in front of him as well as someone already guarding what he was there to see. The man being a perfect replica of Elijah, the two men looking physically identical. Feeling Elijah's presence within the room the twin turned around with a small smile and in an American accent said, "He's a fighter just like his father,".

17 months earlier

He felt drowsy, as he opened his eyes seeing the clear blue sky above him. He didn't want to wake up, feeling that he had be awoken from his slumber too soon. He tried to let his tiredness overtake him once more closing his eyes tightly but was not successful. Instead, her heard a mix of excited and scared voices as he slowly drifted back to earth. Then something hit him on the leg, something hard like a rock as he opened his eyes again and slowly began to sit up. Nicklaus was in right in his face with a gleaming smile, pushing a daylight ring into his hand telling him, "Wake up sleepy head,". Elijah rubbed his eyes trying to properly wake up "did you throw a rock at me?" he questioned breaking through his drowsiness. Klaus winked at him, and Elijah shook his head. Klaus then helped him up where he almost immediately plummeted on the floor his legs wobbling like Jelly. When he finally was able to stand, he looked around and saw banners and balloons everywhere like it was someone's birthday seeing what looked like young adults watching them like they've seen a ghost. On closer inspection he saw that the banners read 'happy birthday Hope', it was Hopes birthday party. He then saw an unrecognizable Hope amongst the crowd sharing her father's gleaming smile. Klaus then went over to her where they embraced in a huge hug. Elijah tried to go see her but as soon as he tried to walk his legs caving in causing him to fall over onto the ground. After a few minutes he was able to walk again and him and hope shared a brief hug, "Look at you, you're a young woman now," he told her seeing how much she had grown since they last saw each other. Hope informed them that she was the one who brought the pair back from the dead as a birthday present to herself, "I thought screw it, what's the point of being a tribrid if I can't embrace it, so I brought you back. Of course, it was only a onetime thing," she told them trying not to get into trouble with her father for bringing them back to life. The rest of the day seemed like a blur, the party going on till the dead of night with Hope and Klaus enjoying every moment of being together again. Elijah enjoyed from a far, as even though him and Hope were on okay terms he didn't want to get in the way of her party and her reunion with Klaus. He watched the stars shimmer in the nights sky, something he didn't think he would miss before he died, he laughed about the irony of missing the small things of life as the party slowly come to an end. Elijah heard as Hope and Klaus approached him video calling someone, presuming it was one of his siblings. The two arrived next to him Hope shoving her phone in his face, seeing Rebecca on the other end of the phone, "Hi, Elijah," she waved from the phone smiling excitedly at him, "Hey Rebecca," he answered back. Then Hope took the phone back and they talked for a few minutes before hanging up, "See you tomorrow!" as the call ended. They had decided to return to New Orleans so everyone at mystic falls didn't have a heart attack. The three of them talked late into the night Hope telling them about her adventures at the school, which made Klaus proud and Elijah question how the school had remained open. Then Hope went inside to get them another cup of blood and Klaus waiting for her to go inside turned to Elijah and coldly said, "If Hope and Caroline's children didn't live here, I would burn it to the ground,", Elijah rolled his eyes and let out a small laugh. Before Klaus could comment Hope darted back passing them both backs their cups now full of blood. After a long chat about Klaus' experience in hell the three of them headed inside, the cold night air over taking them, Hope inviting them in. For the rest of the night, they discussed what was going to be the first things they were going to do when they arrived at New Orleans with Elijah not knowing and Klaus wanting to scare the shit out of Marcel. Soon morning arrived and the pair called for a taxi saying their goodbyes to Hope them both hugging her goodbye. Elijah got in the back of the taxi and heard Klaus telling Hope, "As soon as I get a phone, i'll message you and we can't talk whenever you want," and he gave her one last hug and got into the passenger seat of the taxi and headed on their way back home to New Orleans waving at Hope as they turned the corner. As they did Elijah felt like he could hear a huge sigh of relief coming from the crowd behind them.

After a few long hours they arrived in New Orleans looking like nothing had changed since they had died. The city was thriving with life everywhere as they watched the crowds of people in the streets going about their lives. Elijah and Klaus smiled in awe glad to be back home. The taxi went through the vibrant city going past the busy city center going to a secluded area full of ancient houses centuries old, until they stopped outside Klaus' house, which looked more run down than he remembered. They got out of the taxi, Klaus compelling the driver not paying him. The taxi then drove off and Rebecca ran through the front door running up to Klaus hugging him tightly. Then she did the same to Elijah squeezing him tightly. The three of them went inside where Kol and Freya where waiting for them. The sibling reacquainted them celebrating being together again. They spent the rest of the day catching up, relishing each other's company as if nothing had changed since the last time, they were all together. Although they couldn't get drunk the 5 of them went through 3 vintage red wines and 2 bottles of scotch celebrating Klaus and Elijah's return, Freya not having the same level of alcohol tolerance as her siblings was passed out on the sofa next to Elijah. "We should do something as a family to celebrate us all being together!" Rebecca suggested. Kol choked on the mouthful of wine he had just drank, "Like what?" he choked. Elijah hitting him on his back with Kol glaring back at him, Elijah stopped hitting his back. "I don't know," Rebecca said lost in thought. "We should give Marcel the scare of his life!" Klaus said pleased with his idea. Everyone ignored him, "We should go see a fortune teller, that would be fun! We could see what the future has instore for us now were back together," Rebecca was fond of the idea, "No Rebecca, fortune tellers are nothing but lowlife fraudsters trying to get a quick buck," Klaus said sternly. "That not true Nic, you know some witches have a sixth sense when it comes to seeing the future." She insisted. "Besides if they turn out to be frauds, we can just kill them,". She looked at him with pleading eyes gesturing to Kol to help her out. After a few waves Kol got the idea, "Yeah, we should go do that, it will be fun,". Klaus then turned to Elijah to get his opinion and he shrugged his shoulders not really caring about what they did. "Fine, we'll go see a fortune teller!" Klaus finally caved in and Rebecca had a huge smile on her face, "I can't wait!" as she darted off to plan the day. "Me too!" Klaus mumbled sarcastically under his breath. "Come now, Nicklaus. It may be rather enjoyable," Elijah remarked having to shout a little because of Freya's snoring, Klaus glaring back at him menacingly. "Fine. But, I still say that scaring Marcel would be better family activity," the boys laughed together, another thing Elijah didn't know he would miss. Rebecca then stormed back in, "I have it all planed!" she screamed excitedly, and the brothers all exchanged worried looks, wondering what was in store for them, and their distant futures.

Chapter 2: It Begins

"Why are we going to a fortune teller again?" Elijah questioned. "Because it will be fun and we need to do something to celebrate us all being together again," Rebecca cackled. "Almost all of us," Kol retorted referring to a still dead Finn. "You say that like you want him around," Klaus joked, "cause if you do you know where to go,". The family looked back at him Rebecca shaking her head, "Really Nick, you've only been alive for a few days and you're already threatening Kol?" she smirked. Klaus rolling his eyes. "Would be a new record," Elijah chimed in, Klaus nudging his shoulder, the brothers exchanging evil glares. They then proceeded to walk to the fortune teller stall which was part of the secluded part of the city. They knew they were in the right place when the saw pieces of multicolored fabric along the front of the store. Elijah and Klaus exchanged worried and confused looks. "I'm not doing this Hippie shit," Klaus snickered. Rebecca then turned to stop him assuring him that it would be fun and a good family experience. Klaus reluctantly agreed and they went inside. Inside the store was full of old dusty spell books, a variety of different animal skulls and crystal balls over the shop. Freya sneezed from the sheer amount of dust in the store, "Could use a clean," Freya retorted. They were then approached by the shop owner, she was in her mid-50's, had silver hair, blue eyes and was wearing typical fortune telling attire a long dress and a pink bandana from the same material from outside the shop. "Welcome dear children- "She began and the 5 of them looked at each other bewildered knowing they weren't children, "-How can the spirits be of service to you?". "We would like our fortunes read," Rebecca replied. "You seek knowledge of the future, wait here whilst I prepare," the woman said disappearing into the back of the shop. Klaus and Freya casually began walking around the store touching everything that looked remotely interesting, them being done with the whole experience already. Whilst, Kol, Rebecca and Elijah just waited to the side for the woman to come back. After Freya sneezed a dozen more times from the dust the Woman came back and was ready for them. They then proceeded to enter a small room plastered with the same material on the walls and in the center of the room was a table with a crystal ball with multiple cushions around it. Klaus looked unimpressed when they all began to sit down on a cushion. The woman then turned off the lights, lit a candle, and told them all to hold hands. "I thought we were getting our fortunes read not doing a seyonce," Klaus whispered. Kol laughed being in hearing distance. "SHUSH!" the woman commanded, she then proceeded to say a spell which caused the candle to suddenly go out and the crystal ball to start glowing. They all then focused on the ball, "I see great challenges that you will face, only in unity will you prevail. But, be warned one will be led astray, leaving your house in disarray," The woman then began to violently shake her eyes turning black as she began to chant like she had been processed, "Beware the death touch, for their wraith is fierce, if you are to incur it at deaths door you shall sit," she repeated three times. A huge gust of wind appeared seemingly out of nowhere pushing against the siblings. The candle relit with a green tint making the room fill up with green smoke. The siblings panicked and confused on what was going on. When the woman finished chanting the third time the wind blew the candle out, causing the smoke to disappear with the wind. This ended the spell, freeing the seemingly processed woman from her tournament. The light then turned on leaving the siblings visibly confused, not having a clue on what they had just witnessed. They then quickly darted out the room not wanting any part of the woman's spell. When they came to the open shop floor Klaus turned to Rebecca, "Okay. Thanks, Rebecca, for your fantastic idea to go to the fortune teller to say that our family is doomed. AGAIN!" Klaus said sarcastically. Freya shrugged her shoulders and Kol and Rebecca just looked at each other in dismay and Rebecca snapped back at Klaus, "I didn't know that was going to happen, did I?". They go to leave when the woman stops them in their tracks, "The spirits have spoken, they want me to give a message to the 1st and 3rd born Mikaelson's,". Kol, Rebecca and Klaus stopped arguing and turned to Freya and Elijah. "Good luck you two. We'll be waiting outside" Kol laughed then went outside followed by Rebecca and Klaus. Elijah sighed and Freya rolled her eyes, "great," she huffed. "Lets have the 1st born first, which one of you would that be?" the woman asked. Freya stepped forward, "Okay lovely, you want to come with me," Freya then followed the woman into the room leaving Elijah alone. They went to the same room they were in previously but this time she left the lights on. Freya then proceeded to sit down on the cushion with the lady sitting across from her. They both looked at the crystal ball when the woman performed a different spell making the ball turn red, Freya was engrossed staring into the ball, "Dear child, the spirits have called upon me to warn you-" she began "About what?" Freya interrupted. The woman sighed, "they have told me to warn you that your actions will decide whether your family stays together or falls apart. The treatment of four shadows will decide your fate. Be careful or you might lose something that you can never get back," She finished. "What does that mean?" she questioned. The crystal ball then turned from red to regular transparent and the woman returned to normal. "What does what mean dear?" she questioned. Freya looked at her puzzled, unsure if she was being sincere, "You know 'you'll lose something that you can never get back?''" she replied. "I don't know, that's for you to find out I'm just the spirits messenger dearie," the women replied. Freya was not best pleased with this answer. She then was shewed out by the woman where Elijah was still waiting in the store admiring a shark jawbone on the center wall. Freya and the woman then came out of the room where Freya didn't acknowledge her brother and hurried straight outside. "Okay, just you left then sweetheart," she said pointing Elijah to the back. Elijah smiled awkwardly and followed her to the room. But instead of using the crystal ball she got out a set of tarot cards. She then proceeded to mix them up and made Elijah pick 4 cards. The first card he chose was the seven of swords, "Someone close to you will betray you for something that they desperately desire,". Elijah was a little worried but remained unphased as his own brother had stabbed him several times before. The next card he picked was an upright death card, "how interesting, this means that there will be a new chapter in your life, a new beginning," the women commented. Elijah was intrigued by this. He then picked his third card which was an upright empress, "This looks at nurturing and the idea of fertility and motherhood, but I guess fatherhood in your case," Again Elijah was intrigued and confused by this observation as it would be impossible for that to happen. He then picked his last card which was an upright Hanged Man. He didn't need help from the spirits to understand it's meaning, 'Sacrifice,'. "The sacrifice card. You will need to make a decision that you may not favor," the women said. This was a lot for Elijah to take in from being betrayed by someone close to him, the possibility of somehow being a father and having to sacrifice something was a huge variation. Then as quickly as she did for Freya the woman got up and shewed him out the store wishing him good luck. He then met up with the rest of his family outside. "Elijah what happened you look like you've seen a ghost," Kol asked. The others then turned towards him, "Just some of her observations were a bit confusing, that's all" Elijah replied. "Was the information she gave you encrypted as well?" Freya asked. Elijah nodded still lost in thought. "Yeah, lets not pretend that anything that lying hag said is true. Thanks, Rebecca, for this pointless 'fun' activity that you decided to drag us to," Klaus retorted. Freya nodded in agreement whilst Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Well I enjoyed it, holding Freya and Nick's hand made me feel like I was part of the family," Kol added. They all shook their heads and sniggered. They then went back home where they continued to talk about the days events and Elijah was still thinking about whether Klaus was right about her making everything up but what plagued him was what it meant if it was true.

Chapter 3: The Betrayal

The next few days the majority of the family kept wondering about what the fortune teller meant and who would be left astray, and possibly put in a coffin for safe keeping if Klaus had his way. Whilst Freya had her mind on something else entirely. Freya's wife has been battling cancer for 2 years, they had tried all the spells in the book as well as hospital treatments, but it had just kept coming back. Since they got word that it had returned and had spread throughout her body Freya was looking for more creative solutions to cure her, even looking into dark magic, not wanting to lose the woman she loves, but again had no luck. She angrily threw the spell book at the bookshelf with the book hitting one of the other books on the shelf then plummeting to the floor. She went to pick it up when she noticed she had hit the book of ancient magic artefacts leaving it poking out due to the attack. Freya then went through the book and found a possible solution to save her wife, a blood diamond. An ancient witch artefact infused with powerful magic that could cure any disease. There were meant to be only 3 known blood diamonds in the world and where all owned by the Blood Order. The Blood Order was a millennium old witch order that is run by the Blood family. She knew that Bloods had returned to their family home to help the witches get back on their feet after 15 years of Klaus Mikaelson terrorising them, but effectively knew it was a power grab. Freya then told Klaus that she was going to the Blood Order and not trusting them he told her to take someone with her. Freya saw Elijah reading in the living room and she went over to him and managed to coax him to go with her and the pair went off to the order. Elijah tried to ask her why they were going but she brushed him off telling him it was none of his business. Soon they arrived at a huge mansion, it was nicely kept the outside painted white showing off a beautiful Victorian exterior but for some reason Elijah felt that it was hiding something. They then approached the doors where they were stopped by two security guards, they looked at Elijah like he had something on his face. Elijah went to compel them to let them through, but Freya stopped him from doing so, grabbing his arm. Freya then turned to the guards diverting their attention from Elijah to her and told them, "Hi I'm Freya Mikaelson, we would like to speak to your boss please," Elijah not used to introductions stood there in silence staring at the guards, he hated waiting especially as he wouldn't be doing it if Freya had just let him compel the guards. Nevertheless, they were eventually let through when they were given the all clear. Once inside the house Elijah got more eerie vibes from the mansion, the inside matching the outside exterior and was practically all white: white floor, white walls, white furniture. To Elijah it looked like a psychiatric ward which he was far too aware of, he began to feel uneasy. The pair where then taken to a staircase where they where they were told to wait a few minutes for Mr Blood to see them. They were offered some water, which Elijah initially refused before Freya told him it was rude and answered for him. When they left, she turned to him, "what's wrong with you?" she questioned. Elijah a little confused, "Something feels wrong about this place," he said concerned. Freya rolled her eyes, "of course". Freya did find the choice of decoration odd as well but she didn't think much of it. The same guy who asked about the drinks came back with two identical glasses of water placing a glass in front of each of them. Freya then went to drink some and encouraged Elijah to do the same, not to be rude. They both took a sip from the glass with Elijah's tasting a bit odd but was unsure if that was the waters natural taste. Then someone came downstairs to say that Mr Blood was ready to see Freya. They both got up, "I'm sorry only Freya I'm afraid. You'll have to wait here. Elijah would of usually found this offensive but he was more concerned about his sudden fluctuating temperature and the sudden blurriness of his vision as he began to lose consciousness. But by then it was too late Freya was already up the huge staircase and was told to go straight on into the first room up the stairs. She did so using the gremlin door lock to wait for permission to enter. The door than swung open revealing a huge room that was more nicely decorated then downstairs. There was a wooden desk in the centre and lots of different paintings and artefacts scattered everywhere. Standing next to the desk where 3 people. The two men where both in there mid 50's but there red hair was still a dominant trait. Whilst the women had blonde hair which started to show grey streaks. Having red hair was ironically a blood family trait. "Welcome, Freya. I'm Alistair Blood, head of house Blood. What can we do for you?" Freya took a moment to think of how she would ask. She then took a deep breath, "I would like to borrow one of your blood diamonds,". The other man let out a small laugh, "Now, Now brother, that's not how we treat our guests,". Alistair's brother nodded and they focused their attention back to Freya. "why do you need the diamond?" He questioned. Freya hesitated, "My wife is dying, I need the diamond to save her life,". "How noble of you. The only issue is that we only have one diamond with us, one was stolen years ago, one ran out of magic and the one that remains is almost at it's limit. So tell me Mikaelson, why should I waste my last diamond on you?". Freya was left speechless he was right he had no reason to give her the diamond, but she needed desperately needed it and wasn't going to back down so easily. "I'll do anything, I just need the diamond" she shouted. The brothers exchanged smug looks. "I'll tell you what as you're a defected member of the order I will give you the diamond," Alistair then got up and went over to the picture where he revealed a safe. He then proceeded to open the safe and retrieve a medium sized red velvet box, placing it in front of Freya on the desk. He then opened the box revealing a large diamond. Freya was ecstatic, "Thank you!" she shouted overjoyed as she went to reach for the diamond. But she was cut off by Alistair smashing the box closed barely missing her fingers. The others in the room sniggered leaving Freya confused. "But... you are a defected member so I can't just give the diamond to you, you can't be trusted to keep Oaths. We're going to need something in return," He said. "But I don't have anything to give" she replied. "Oh I think you do," He sniggered. Freya was unsure what he was talking about. "Fine as you are clearly struggling. You can have the diamond if your little friend downstairs stays with us,". Freya was unsure on how to take this she didn't have much of a choice if she wanted to save her wife but that would mean leaving Elijah behind and if she did that Klaus and the others would be furious. But what really mattered was saving her wife. "well, do we have a deal or not?" Alistair echoed his tone changing to get her to make a decision. "Yes," Freya sighed. "Perfect," he then opened the box giving her the diamond. By the time they had finished finalising the deal Elijah was nowhere to be found. Freya felt guilty but was ultimately unphased, she did what she needed to do to save her wife and that what was what mattered.

Chapter 4: The Pits

Elijah opened his eyes where he found himself on the floor looking up at what appeared to be a rock ceiling. His head still throbbing. His memory scattered, the last clear thing he remembered was Freya going off and his head starting to hurt, feeling hot at the same time and his vision becoming hazy. He recalled being dragged off somewhere but anything after that was pure guess work. "Is it him?" he then began to start hearing whispers and mumbling, "Raven's waking up,". The voices fell all around him as he started to come to trying to sit himself up from the floor, which was proving a challenge for him to do. When he eventually was able to sit up he was met with dozens of unknown faces staring at him in utter silence. They all were dangerously skinny and covered in filth and covered with scars and bruises. Elijah looked around at everyone realising that there was a huge amount of people there with him he counted at least 90, including children but could have easily been more, his pounding headache impairing his judgement. He also realised they had on their necks something that looked like a collar, he then placed his hand on his neck and realised he had one too. He then began to panic confused on where he was, who these people were, what the collars were for, why his head still hurt when his thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him "Are you okay?" Elijah turned to see who it belonged to, it was a woman in her mid-30's, she had long thick white hair and gleaming red eyes, she was an albino. He nodded, "I think so, my heads killing me. Where am I?" the rest of the group seemed disappointed when he spoke hearing them mumble and sigh in the background but Elijah still recovering didn't seem to notice. "This is the pits, a literal hellhole us wolves call home," the woman spoke. Elijah took a moment to take in what she had just said, "Wait, you're all werewolves?" he questioned. The others seemed surprised that Elijah knew werewolves were real and not fiction. They all nodded. "What's your name?" a man asked he was sitting next to the woman he spoke to, he too had white hair and red eyes. "Elijah," he replied, his head still aching. All the wolves were intrigued accept one who was lingering in the background. As Elijah recovered from his ongoing headache the wolves introduced themselves and he began to get a better insight to who they were. "How did you guys get down here?" Elijah questioned looking around noticing they were seemingly in an underground cellar the room open with another smaller room towards the back. The air was cold, the only light being provided by electric wall lamps scattered across the walls of the cellar, close to the ceiling so they were out of reach to the occupants of the cellar. The only way in and out being a metal reinforced door, which had a tiny cat flap. "Can I tell it?" a young boy no more than 10 asked, Elijah turning being brought back to reality and to the wolves. "Caleb honey, let the adults tell it, you don't know all the details," his mother, Lily, said. The boy was disappointed, "Alpha, you should tell him," Claire, the woman with white hair said. The rest of the pack nodding in agreement, "Yeah Alpha Peter is the best at telling stories," a small bunch of children chimed in. The man than came forward he slightly bigger than the others and was the true definition of a silver fox. His hair a silvery grey with piercing brown eyes, considering his age he had a strong build looking like he could handle himself in a fight. He walked over and looked at Elijah momentarily as if he was studying him looking eyes with Elijah before huffing at him and moving to the centre of the room. Elijah had no idea what he did to evoke that kind of response from him. Everyone was now focused on their Alpha he then began to retell a story his voice, "One stormy night around 300 years ago our pack ancestors were sleeping in the homes in the forest when a fire mysteriously started engulfing the village into flames. The members of the pack hurriedly escaped the chaos by grabbing what they could and getting the pack outside. But in the shadows waited an even worse fate-" Elijah looked around at everyone they were completely engrossed in the story, "they were then surrounded by a band of witches, the Blood order. They tried to reason with the wolves saying that if they came with them willingly, they wouldn't hurt them, but the wolves refused. Then in retaliation and to make Alpha Oliver comply they killed the pack's Luna. Infront of the whole pack including her 2 young children, infuriating Alpha Oliver but not before he was knocked out by the witches thus subduing the pack to their will, where they then brought them here where the pack has continued to reside here generation after generation until we are what's left of the original wolf pack," He finished. Elijah was in complete shock, "you mean the whole pack has been stuck down here for over 300 years?". The Alpha nodded "-And what did they need the pack for?" Elijah questioned. "Nobody knows. All we know Is that if you are chosen and are dragged to the right we will never see them again," Claire sighed "And if your dragged to the left?" he asked, "A different nightmare entirely," she replied slyly gesturing to the children's presence, Elijah got the idea and decided not to press her for anymore information. Before he could ask any more questions the three lights that where on the wall suddenly went out leaving the wolves in total darkness. Indistinct mummers echoed through the darkness from the wolves now engulfed by the darkness, as the wolves slowly began to fall asleep Elijah still able to see got up to look at the front door, now that he had fully recovered, he wanted to get out. He walked up to the front door when a little boy called from behind him, "Don't it will hurt you,". Elijah paused thinking about the boys warning but wanting to escape he approached the steel door and tried pushing it open. But he felt a something trigger in the back of his collar that caused huge volts of electricity to converse in his body rendering all muscle function useless and was incredibly painful even feeling some parts of skin burning form the inside. He then felt a force from behind him pulling him away the pain slowly going away the further he got from the door. When the pain stopped, he looked up and saw that the Alpha had been the one who dragged him back, he was shaking his head looking down at him disapprovingly as he let go of Elijah, "If you do that again, I'll let you fry," he retorted as he walked away going to his usual spot to sleep, before sitting down he roared, "LIGHTS OUT! Nothing to see here". The wolves all started to settle down and go to sleep like clockwork, leaving Elijah alone to think about the days events, he had started the day a free man but now it seemed he was a prisoner of the Blood Order.

After about an hour the wolves were all fast asleep small snores echoed throughout the pits. An eerie chill came through from the small gap under the door causing some of the wolves to noticeably stir. Elijah was fixated on what he was going to do. he had to get out of this literal hellhole before he next needed to feed as with them all being wolves, he wouldn't be able to feed off them and this was a problem as he would need to eat eventually. But every time he tried to remove his collar, he felt volts of electricity rush through his body each time a higher voltage and he could feel that it was also drugging him with something. He then heard a whimper that distracted him from his thought process and turned to see a little boy shivering, the same boy who tried to warn him about the door. He was no more than 5 or 6. Elijah then took off his suit jacket and put it on top of the boy to keep him warm. The boy stopped shivering and Elijah when back to his place and closed his eyes for a moment almost mimicking sleep. He then felt a warm weight on the right side of his body and when he opened his eyes to see what it was, he saw the boy had snuggled in next to him. He then moved him allowing the boy to lean comfortably on him putting his arm around his shoulder. He then closed his eyes again and was meet with a similar pressure on his left side, this time it was a little girl, she had been with the boy. Elijah doing the same let the two sleep and began to sing a lullaby, that his mother often sang to him and his siblings when they were children making the room full completely silent. "That was beautiful," Claires voice whispered from across the room. Elijah trying not to wake the children slowly turned his head towards Claire "My mother used to sing it to me and my siblings when we were children," Elijah replied. Elijah hesitant to ask her anymore more gave in "So, the whole pack has been stuck down here all their lives?" asked Elijah trying to pry any information he could from her. "Yep, we're born in the pits, given a collar and a number like were common dogs, and live our lives in fear. Until, we die in one way or another." Elijah looked up at her confused, "Number?". Claire then pointed to her wrist on her right hand to show Elijah where to look. Elijah trying not to stir the boy moved his right arm slowly to reveal his wrist. Although it was dark, he could faintly see a number on his wrist that he hadn't noticed earlier: 3794. He looked at it confused as to what it meant. "It's a curse, anyone who's been to the pits gets a number and that stays with you for ever. Or so we think, we don't know," she said. "Anyway, you should probably get some sleep it's getting late," she continued. Elijah didn't know if this was the appropriate time to tell her that he was a vampire, and it was beyond his capabilities to sleep but before he had the chance, she was fast asleep. Although he couldn't sleep, he closed his eyes thinking about if Freya would betray him and how the pack would escape. Then he turned his head slightly where he started to hear the boy's heartbeat, but he could tell that there was something different about him compared to his sleeping companion, he wasn't a wolf. The boy's heartrate was slightly slower than the girls, which was often the case with wolves and he didn't smell like a wolf Elijah's elevated senses meant in close proximity he could tell the difference between wolf and human. Although taking blood from a child wasn't ideally what he had in mind the boy's blood would stop him from frenzying for the hopefully small amount of time he would be staying in the pits. He was relieved to find a solution to at least one of his multiple problems. He then closed his eyes waiting for morning, hoping this was a nightmare, The Alpha was lying on the floor listening to Elijah and Claire's conversation his back tuned to them as he shed a lone tear alone in the dark.

"Look he doesn't have a heart!" one of the children said pressing their ears against Elijah chest, this waking him up, he had no idea how the children didn't wake him up from his hypnosis when they first woke up. "Yeah, Raven doesn't have a heart," the girl confirmed, "are you dead?" The boy asked looking worriedly at him, "What?" Elijah questioned. The wolves were slowly starting to wake up, "Alpha, he has no heart!" the girl called. "Sarah don't be silly of course he has a heart," George the male albino told Sarah, he was Claires twin brother. "But uncle George, his heart isn't boom-boom-ing!" she called across the pack. The wolve looked started to look concerned casting worried faces back to Elijah. He turned to the children and told them, "It's not meant to, I'm a vampire,". He watched as their faces quickly turned from worry to fear as the adults slowly backed away grabbing hold of their children and forcibly tucking them in behind them. "Nathan, Sarah come here," George called sternly trying to get the pair to come to him. Instead, they curiously stared at Elijah looking thrilled, "But the elder's said vampires are ugly monsters, with pointy fangs and no souls," Nathan recalled studying Elijah's teeth for fangs. "You've never met a vampire before, have you?" he smiled showing his fangs. "Cool!" both Sarah and Nathan exclaimed excitedly. The wolves began to talk in a dialect that Elijah couldn't understand. One of the wolves around the same age as the albino twins was arguing with the Alpha and Elijah could tell it was getting pretty heated with Claire and George intervening as well. Elijah turned to Sarah, "What are they saying?". Sarah turned towards him, "There arguing about whether you're a danger to the pack, Uncle Aries says you're a dangerous untrusty bloodsucking monster who isn't one of us.". He then watched as the Alpha shut him down, "We can't get rid of him, he's down here with us, were all in this together no matter what species we are,". He then turned to Elijah and asked, "Are you safe?". Elijah glanced at the two children before answering, "Honestly, no I'm not,". The Alpha looked at him appreciating his honesty, "see he admits it!" Aries cried. The Alpha only had to give him one menacing glare asserting his dominance for him to shut up. "How can we make you safe for the pack, one bite from you would kill us," he asked trying to find a solution. Elijah looked down biting his lip. "That is true, but it wouldn't kill him," Elijah said turning towards Nathan, "If I take small amounts of blood from him at a time, I won't frenzy," he finished. The wolves took a moment to think it over, Nathan didn't seem bothered with this arrangement. Alpha Peter walked over to Nathan, "Nathan, it's up to you-" he began "I don't mind" Nathan interrupted. "What no! Nathan is a child he doesn't know what he's agreeing to," Aries voice called from behind him, Alpha Peter shut him down once more " This child is already, at such a young age, is protecting his pack. Which is more than you're doing right now" He bellowed back at Aries before turning back to Elijah "Promise me you will only take what you need from him, no more, no less." he commanded. "You have my word," Elijah replied, and the pair exchanged nods. Satisfied he turned to the rest of the pack "It settled then he's one of the pack," he was again met with opposition from Aries, "You can't be serious, he's a monster just because Ash and" he uttered but what was viciously cut off by the Alpha slapping him hard across the face. "DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!". He then retained his composure Aries cowering away, "I'm your Alpha how dare you undermine me! The way I see it, we are all stuck down here together, we have a solution to the problem and unlike you he won't cut into our rations" he roared at him. Before anyone could comment any further the steel flap under the door began to beep. "Breakfast!" a Wolf called Lily shouted and came through a large basket full of homemade bread and boiled eggs. There was enough for everyone to get a one piece of bread and half an egg each. Everyone got up to get their food with Nathan, Sarah, Sarah's older sister Katrina, George and Claire all sitting with Elijah wanting to hear stories of the world outside their prison. But instead, they got more questions as Elijah noticed a white powdered cemented in the dough of the bread. He asked to borrow Nathans smelling it. The bread was laced with vitamin powder to give the wolves the nutrients they were being deprived of by being stuck in the pits. "What's with your names?" Elijah asked. George and Claire looked at each other and smiled, "Up until 20 years ago we only had about 5 books, they were bird books, a collection of old anthologies, an old book of baby names and I think a bible, or did that get destroyed?" Claire asked George. "Destroyed I think,". "So, Raven and Aries are names from these books?" Elijah questioned. "Yeah, poor Aries and Andy really got shafted on that front" Claire sighed. "Andy?" Elijah said puzzled. "Andromeda," Gorge replied waving at her from across the room. "What language where they talking in earlier? It sounded familiar?" Claire and George looked at each other. Katrina finished her mouthful of bread, "It an ancient wolf dialect, past down generation to generation, it how we communicate sometimes,". Elijah looked intrigued, "Can I learn it?". George and Claire looked surprised, "You might as well, will give you something to do," Claire retorted. "How about I give you my blood if you tell us awesome vampire stories!" Nathan bargained seemingly out of nowhere. Elijah smirked "I don't know you drive a hard bargain,-" he paused looking at Nathan and Sarah's pleading faces, "But I think that can be arranged," he winked at them and they erupted with happiness and ran off to talk to Caleb. "They've taken a liking to you," Claire laughed watching them run away Elijah smiled, "What did Aries mean, who's Ash?" The twins went quiet looking at each other than the floor, "It's not our place to tell you, but he was a good friend" they mumbled and Elijah not wanting to get any further on the Alphas bad side decided not to pry too much. Elijah then began to tell them about what life was like outside the pits, the whole pack slowly becoming hypnotised by takes of the golden sun, waterfalls and open spaces, the wolves falling in love with every minute of it. But where brought back to their harsh reality when the lights turned off engulfing them in darkness.

The concept of time became an alien to him as there was no way to physically tell how many hours or even days had gone passed since he first arrived. Everything become merged into one depressing reality, Elijah having no idea of how long he had been down there with the wolves. He watched as multiple food baskets came and went and he had fed on Nathan a few times, taking the blood from his arm only taking a mouthful when he felt the desire to feed, but his imprisonment had affected his internal clock became and his hunger proved to extremely difficult to anticipate with him wanting to take more but knew in doing so it would harm Nathan. Despite this him and Nathan had become closer, with Nathan and Sarah not leaving his side in fear of missing one of Elijah's vampire stories that all the children seemed to weirdly adore. Nathan especially seemed glued to Elijah's hip and Elijah had grown quite fond of him, he reminded of him of Kol when he was his age. He had begun to feel a pain in his neck that felt like just a pinch, but it had slowly become more irritating, his collar preventing him from getting any relief. When he wasn't retelling stories or trying to itch the pain in his neck, he was learning wolf dialect, the pack Alpha constantly gave him a hard time about it saying he was too nasally or that his pronunciation was terrible, giving Elijah the idea that the Alpha didn't like him very much. Throughout this time, Elijah had given up on the prospects of his family finding him, but he didn't give up on getting out along with the pack, he didn't care how long it would take.

However, little did he know the nightmare had only just begun. The pack was beginning to wake up from another cold slumber when they heard thundering footsteps coming down the stairs. Elijah watched as the wolves jolted awake after hearing the approaching footsteps. Their faces riddled with panic, many hyperventilating and rushing to get the older children to hide in the smaller room bathroom. Nathan and Sarah grabbed hold of Elijah's hands looking up at him scared. Elijah not knowing what was going on looked around in confusion as the footsteps grew louder and louder as they approached the metal door. Alpha Peter seeing him told him, "Whatever happens don't try anything, Raven," He warned him. Elijah looked at Claire who nodded in agreement but was more focused on getting Katrina in the other room. But by that time, it was too late as the footsteps stopped right outside the door and the pack echoed with silence. They felt their collars activate turning from red to green feeling a sharp pain in the back of their necks. Then two men came in, both dark haired and a medium build. The wolves looked down towards the floor as they looked over at them as if they were looking for something. Elijah watched their every move, and in doing so began to hear their heart beats, he had an impulse to feed, which he had resisted so far with Nathan. He watched the larger one walk over to Katrina who George had tried to hide behind her but was unsuccessful. He looked down at her placing his finger under her chin lifting her head up towards, using his spare hand to weave through her blonde hair all while glaring down at her blue eyes. Both George and Claire where noticeably offended Claire happening to bite her tongue both their cheeks where red and their breathing heightened "I might have to ask the boss if I can have you when you're older," he told her. "Why wait? You know the boss wouldn't" the other said. Elijah was now infuriated, their heart beats growing louder with each word that came from there disgusting mouths, "It's no fun when they can't fight back" the other one replied the pair both laughing. Katrina began to cry, Claire grabbed her hand and held it tightly whilst not taking her eyes off the guys looking like she wanted to rip their faces apart. Seeing Katrina's crying the man went to touch her again, going to wipe the tear from her face, "Leave her alone," Elijah roared not wanting to watch this harassment anymore. The two men then turned their attention to the voice, "What did you say?!" the one harassing Katrina said angrily. The wolves all shared worried looks back and forth from each other, unsure on what was going to happen next. Elijah paying no attention got up from where he was sitting standing up ready to confront them, "I said leave her alone," he repeated sternly. The pair laughed in his face, "This ones got spirt, I wonder how long it would take to break it?" the older one said looking intently into eyes looking for a hint of fear, but was unsatisfied with Elijah just smirking back, "longer than it would take for me to break your neck,". The men laughed, not believing him. Then he made the mistake of twisting his head to talk to his companion, Elijah taking this opportunity to strike bore his fangs and bit into the mans neck draining as much blood as possible before his companion activated his collar which shot volts of electricity run through his body, making his jaw clamp even further onto his neck. "Get off me!" the man shouted pushing Elijah off with the other pulling him. They eventually succeed with them pulling him off Elijah taking a chunk of the victims skin with him, collapsing onto the wall spitting the chunk of flesh out from his mouth. "That bastard bit me!" He said clasping the open wound on his neck. The wolves looking onward in complete shock, the children enjoying every second. The wounded man then came over to Elijah, who was still recovering from the shock, "That ones crazy!" the man echoed from behind him, "Maybe, but I'm a firm believer that all animals can be tamed. They just need a reminded of who their superiors are,". They shared an ominous grin between them as they walked over to Elijah dragging him out the room without much resistance as he was recovering from the electric shocks. The whole pack almost in unison whispering, "Until the next life" as Elijah was dragged off to the left, Sarah and Nathan hugging one another.

Disorientated from the electric shocks that continued to plague him, most of his body had become numb and he grew tired, like the collar was not only shocking him but drugging him into submission as well. They brought him to a cold dark room with a pillar in the middle of it and a dirty mattress to the far left with a metal loop on the wall above it, the room reeked of death. They then tied Elijah to the pillar using chains that were enchanted for wolves. They then went to the front of the room picking up a leather whip from a box in the corner. They smiled at each other, nodding in agreement, "If he wants to be an animal, we'll treat him like one,". They longed to hear his screams of agony after each blow, they couldn't wait to break him into submission. But were ultimately disappointed, Elijah not giving them the satisfaction of hearing his cries, instead with each blow he remained silent as he felt the whip rip apart his skin piece by piece, each strike more vigorous and deeper then the last as he felt blood trickling down his back. Bored and exhausted from whipping him over 20 times with no reaction they finally relented unsatisfied. They then removed the handcuffs and grabbed hold of his arms as they dragged him back to the pits, pushing him in and locking the steel door behind him. Sarah and Nathan ran over to him paying no attention to his bleeding back and greeted him with a huge hug. Elijah embraced them but when he did gritted his teeth as the force made his back explode with pain. Seeing this the children let go looking upset, "Don't worry I'll heal," he whispered to them so they wouldn't feel scared. He then carefully sat back in his place and saw Katrina asleep on Claires lap, once he was settled Sarah and Nathan joined him. "What were you thinking? I told you not to try anything" the Alpha said sternly. "I couldn't sit there and do nothing, I would rather they do this to me then go near Katrina or any of the children," Elijah replied pointing to his back which hadn't started to heal yet, the alpha looked him proud of his answer and didn't press him any further. Curious about why they were down here in the first place Elijah looked at the pack and asked, "What where they here for anyway?" fidgeting to get comfy. The pack looked at each other in sadness before Aries spoke up, "They were scouting, it means one of us won't be here much longer,". The pack was deathly silent, Nathan and Sarah grabbing hold of Elijah's hands squeezing them tightly nesting their heads into his chest. As the pack dwindled in their misery Elijah felt that his back wasn't healing as fast as it would usually still feeling the blood flowing down his back hours after the wounds were inflicted but this became more of an afterthought as the pain in the right side of his neck had become more prominent. The pain had grown from just a small pinch to feeling like someone had punched repeatedly in the neck, his collar preventing him from achieving any kind of relief. Looking down he saw Nathan already passed out by his side still holding his hand and wouldn't let Elijah reclaim it, Sarah was still awake but was slowly drifting to sleep. Elijah tried to get comfy placing his back against the wall but couldn't find the right position. "Here, this should help," Elijah looked up at the Alpha who gave him an old woolly jumper scrunched up looking like a pillow, Elijah took the jumper pillow and placed it on his back leaning against it, "Thank –" the Alpha cut him off, "Its just to stop your infuriating fidgeting. Nothing more," and walked away, Claire and George smiled at each other, "he likes you," they whispered to Elijah as they laughed amongst themselves unlike like clockwork the lights went out the wolves slowly falling asleep.

The next few 'days' flew by the pack walking on egg shells as they waited for one of their family to be taken from them and never be seen again. Elijah could feel the tension in the pack and in his back which still hadn't healed, but the jumper had helped him get comfortable at least. The children were feeling down too, not being their usually excitement loving selves, not leaving Elijah's side even to go play with the other children, only moving to hear stories about Elijah's family. The pack was mourning for the family member they were going to lose. Then they heard the thundering footsteps approach once again, shewing the children away into the room. Four came in this time, the same two from last time and another two guys for reinforcements the one that Elijah bit having a neck brace on. They new guys getting straight to business went over to Claire, "The boss said this one," pointing to her, Claire erupting with tears, George started to cry in disbelief. They then started to drag her away from George and to the front door, leaving George trembling on the floor. "Where are you taking her!" Elijah screamed getting up but the other two anticipating and wanting him to attack punched him in the gut, "Looks like someone didn't learn their lesson last time," he said sarcastically, Elijah spitting in his face smirking at him. The man laughed wiping the spit from his face, "ready for round 2, are we?" as he and his companion dragged him out the room as well and Elijah got one last glance at Claire as he saw them dragging her through the corridor, her struggling with all her might but to avail and was dragged beyond his range of sight never to be seen again. They then proceeded to drag Elijah into the room and tie him to the post using the handcuffs. They then opened a barrel of saltwater dipping the whip in the barrel before whipping him with it, he gritting his teeth as he not only was he getting new lashes but the old ones felt like they were on fire. He then heard the mournful singing from the wolves next door. They were singing in wolf dialect and their voices were muffled but he could make out it was a song for the ancestors, a plea for the lone wolf not to die alone. Listening to the song he manged not to make a sound, again infuriating his tortures. They then threw him back with the others, bearing through the pain to sit back in his place, the wolves all weeping over the loss of Claire. Nathan and Sarah gently leaning into him sobbing, with Elijah stroking their hair holding them close to him. The days events had only cemented his determination to escape this prison, he just didn't know where to start. There collars preventing them from getting too close to the door and they couldn't be destroyed or tampered with, all he knew was that he needed to find a way out and soon. His lack of healing had him concerned and he couldn't risk taking any more blood from Nathan without seriously hurting him.

Time continued to tick for the wolves of the pits as they familiarised themselves with Claire absence and continued to live their miserable lives. George had not moved from the corner of the room feeling lost without his twin. Elijah had thought about ways of escaping but came out empty, with all possible solution needing at least a witch, a witch they did not have. From above them they hear the roaring footsteps rush down outside, waking up the pack who were lost in their own world, "already?" they murmured worriedly but before they could do anything the man that Elijah had bit came storming in looking furious, "Where is he!" looking around at the wolves before seeing Elijah sitting with Nathan and Sarah, "You! This is infected because of you!" he gesturing to his neck which was fully covered in bandages expecting a snarky comment in return but was met with silence and his expressionless face. The other man then came in behind him wanting to see what he was about to do. "Don't you ignore me you bastard," he roared his breathing intensifying, but Elijah did not relent. He looked at the children seeing Nathan and Sarah clinging onto him scared, and he smiled menacingly back at Elijah. "Marcus, go get the thing from next door. It's time the children got a demonstration in what happens when you disobey the rules," he snickered as the other one left the room to retrieve something. They pack looked onward in confusion, Elijah fully expecting it to be a whip. The children hiding behind Elijah scared of what was going to happen, "It's going to be okay" he whispered to them assuring them. Then Marcus returned neck door with a whip and something else that resembled a muzzle. The man laughed taking the muzzle from Marcus, it had a thick metal mouthpiece which would be placed in the centre of the mouth preventing the wearer from biting down. "Clever isn't it, once it's locked in you can't get it off and each layer of metal is laced with silver and wolfspain the more you bite the closer you come to death. You want to bite you face the consequences" he explained with joy as he and his partner walked towards Elijah, pushing Nathan onto the floor as they pushed Elijah against the wall as he tried to resist them, but from the lack of blood and healing he couldn't put up much of a fight. The bigger one of the two restrained him holding him against the wall and using his collar against him whilst the other shoved the mechanism in his mouth trying to clip it in place but was proving difficult as Elijah kept moving his head. "Get off my dad!" Nathan roared using magic to push the man away, his eyes flashing white. The man went flying across the room his whole body slamming against the metal door. There was an onlook of shook from the wolves as they watched everything unfold. Nathan stood there not sure on what just happened but remained confident as the man got up, "You little shit!" as he picked up the whip from the floor rushing towards Nathan with it. Nathan didn't move from the spot prepared to take the beating, closing his eyes as he saw him raise the whip at him. Yet he felt nothing. Nothing except a presence in front of him, opening his eyes he saw that Alpha Peter had caught the whip with his hand before it had managed to hit him. "Get out now! I will not watch you torture innocent children. Leave whilst your head is still attached to your body," he shouted sternly not backing down. The whole pack stood up with their Alpha all had evil glares on their faces. The two men left scared for their lives; the pack stood together as they watched the door slam before turning to Nathan making sure he was okay. Once the Alpha knew he was okay they both rushed over to Elijah the mouthpiece was still in his mouth, but the clasp had not been fully closed. Without hesitation, the Alpha pulled the clap apart providing relief as he removed the mouthpiece from Elijah's mouth. The Alpha out of nowhere hugged him and Nathan, that caught Elijah by surprise. After that Elijah hugged Nathan, "don't ever do that again," he told him wiping the tears from his face, "I don't want to see you hurt," Nathan agreed happy that he was okay. "They will be back," the Alpha warned interrupting their embrace. "We wont be hear when they do," The Alpha looked confused at Elijah. "Were going to escape," Elijah smiled at him. The whole pack erupted with excitement as the prospect of freedom. "How?" the Alpha asked, Elijah turned to him, "Nathan is a witch, I'll teach him the spell,". The Alpha turned to Nathan not wanting to believe that their only hope of freedom came from a child but loved and trusted him enough to know he was more than capable.

After what seemed like days of preparation of Elijah remembering the right spell and teaching it to Nathan the day came for them to finally escape from the pits. The pack had gathered all the things they wanted to take with them of what little they had in the pits. They waited until just before lights out to try and mask there escape and to avoid getting into unnecessary confrontations from any witches guarding the outside. When they started to hear large vibrations of some sort of music coming from upstairs almost like a party, something that the wolves had never heard before. Elijah looked over at the wolves most of them had their hands cupped over their ears because of the noise. After a while the music seemed to quieten down freeing the wolves from there torment. Elijah then felt Nathan grab his hand, "Dad, I'm scared," he said softly. Elijah then bent down to his level, "Why don't we be brave together," he smiled. Nathan than reached around his neck and removed a locket and placed it around Elijah's neck. "What's this?" he said admiring the locket, with a family emblem branded on the front that he didn't recognise. "A good luck thingy, I've had it since I was little. So, we can be brave" Nathan replied hugging Elijah. He would need to remember to give it back to him later. There were about to strike when Elijah started to feel woozy, he noticed the others were feeling the same, his vision started to go blurry as some of the wolves collapsed to the floor. He then turned to look at Nathan's collar before he completely lost consciousness and saw that the light attached to the front of the collar was red glowing red, they had been drugged. Although he tried to fight the drug coming from his collar, he slowly began to lose all feeling in his fingers and legs and started to fall to the ground. Before, he was completely unconscious he heard a rumble coming from the entrance and someone coming in, but his consciousness escaped him before he could see what they were doing. When they woke up it looked as though nothing had been taken, everyone was still there, and all wolves were accounted for. A wave of confusion hit all the adults of the pack, not knowing why they had drugged the whole pack. They regained themselves making sure everyone was awake and ready to leave. When it was confirmed, Nathan performed a spell using his magic that Elijah taught him to open the entrance of the pits. The door exploded open causing a huge bang that echoed throughout the pits, the wolves were shocked but remained calm and collected. Elijah then slowly led them out trying to be as quite as possible, looking out for possible guards but he didn't see any around. They pressed on forward to a labyrinth of staircases leading into different directions, there was a lit candle in the corridor near the staircases that was lit with a green flame, not paying attention to it he looked at the possible exits trying to see if he could physically see any difference between them. He knew they needed one that was going up to get to the surface which eliminated some of the options but not enough, they couldn't be caught not now. " The last one on the right is the freedom you seek," a voice murmured, echoing throughout the space. Elijah turned around to the wolves, "did you hear that?" he asked. The wolves shook their heads. Elijah took no notice and went to the last staircase on the right and followed it all the way up to an old wooden door that was covered in mould and dust. Without hesitation he flung the door open revealing a beautiful sunny morning and without thinking and the wolf's eagerness for freedom pushed him outside. But despite having no daylight ring he didn't set alight, he held his hand out in the sun and laughed not sure on what was going on. This was short lived as the pack began to emerge from the shadows seeing the sun for the first time. Their faces lit up with glee as they felt the suns heat dancing on their skin. Many of the older pack members started to cry as they absorbed the warmth, almost touching it. Elijah looked down at Nathan who's hair which looked completely black in the pits was illuminated with light brown streaks due to the sun and his eyes were a deep hazel colour opposed to the brown, similar with Sarah the sunlight made her blonde hair and ocean blue eyes pop he smiled and gave the two a huge hug. The whole pack where a mix of excited and frightened as they began to look down from the sun and take in their nearby surroundings, breathing in the refreshing air of freedom. The Alpha closed his eyes as he smiled basking in the golden sun listening to every sound, every whisper as he embraced his freedom. He opened his eyes hearing birds chirping in a tree nearby and wore a huge smile on his face, he and Elijah's eyes met, and they shared a smile, earning his respect.

Chapter 5: New Beginnings

After they had basked in the sun for a little bit Elijah then led them to the old wolf pack grounds which had been previously abandoned because of the presence of Elijah's mother Ester. They were all overjoyed over their new home, there were plenty of homes for them and it was a huge plot of land for the wolves to expand on if they wanted to in the future. Happiness filled the air as the wolves went to explore their new home, jumping into the river and enjoying themselves whilst others explored their new homes searching for items of interest. Whilst they were exploring their freedom Elijah looked at a newspaper he had retrieved from a stall on the way to the pack, seeing that the date on the newspaper realising that he had been in the pits for 8 months without anyone noticing "8 months? I was in the pits for 8 months?" he muttered under his breath disappointed. It hadn't occurred to him that it had been that long, but it had been hard to tell as the days just seemed to roll on one after another as there was no way to tell how many hours or days had gone past. But what was even more pressing was that his family hadn't noticed his disappearance.

Emerging from one the pack houses, Alpha Peter came out with a pair of garden sheers and tried to cut off his collar on his own. Elijah seeing this ran over to stop him from killing himself. "You're going to injure yourself if you do that," Elijah scolded. The Alpha glared at him but gave Elijah the sheers and found that the front of the collar wasn't making contact with the skin. He then took the sheers and snapped the metal mechanism at the front causing the collar to break in half revealing its locking mechanism and The Alphas freedom from the contraption, leaving behind a deep scar around his neck from where the collar had been. He then picked up his collar and reattached it and placed it on a branch of the biggest tree in the centre of the pack's territory. Alpha Peter then did the same to Elijah removing his collar and placing it next to his. The pair then proceeded to remove everyone's collar where they all placed them on the same tree which was now a reminder of their struggle to freedom. Although there was relief that the collars were removed, they were unable to escape all reminders of the pits as when looking at their wrists their numbers still remained. Disappointment echoed throughout the pack, but it wasn't enough to dampen the mood, they were free for the first time in their entire lives, a number wasn't going to get in the way. Elijah watched as the wolves embraced there newly found freedom. Some of the wolves where sleeping in the sun, whilst others were jumping around in the lake. Nathan and Sarah tugged Elijah's hand, "Can you play with us?" The pair asked cutely. "How can I say no to you two?" he gladly obliged. They then proceeded to play tag for what seemed like an eternity. Until Alpha Peter gathered all the pack to make a speech as the majority of the pack had calmed down from their previous antics. Night had began to full over them putting the wolves in a trance-like state. He stood by the tree with its newly dawned decorations, "Today we celebrate a new beginning. Our pack have been prisoners our whole lives, living in fear, losing people we love-" he started looking over at Elijah. "Made new friends. But we have overcome such challenges and we are finally free. And I, as Alpha, intend to keep this freedom alive!" he roared with the rest of the pack cheering him on. The pack then looked up the stars enamoured by their beauty, their eyes lit up in amazement as they watched them sparkle in the nights sky. Caleb then came out of one of the houses carrying what appeared to be a phone he then showed it to his mother, who gave it to Elijah. Elijah turned on the phone and was surprised that it still had battery left after being abandoned for years. He started to play with the phone finding a number to order pizza, he called the number surprised the phone was still working and ordered 20 pizzas' to be delivered to the pack. About an hour later 3 delivery men arrived at the pack with the pizzas attached to their bikes. George, Elijah and Lilly started to take the pizzas from the guys, compelling them afterwards, which caused his neck to sting. George then smelled the pizza's intrigued on what was secluded inside the boxes "What is it?. "It smells YUMMY!" Sarah screamed excitedly. "Its Pizza, its food," Elijah replied distributing the boxes of pizzas amongst the wolves hoping that he had ordered enough for them all to a least get a slice each. They all then sat under the stars eating the pizza. Nathan, Katrina and Sarah were sat with Elijah, Alpha Peter and George on the ground around a box of pizza. Sarah noticed that her sister wasn't eating anything, "don't you want to eat, Katrina?" she asked. Katrina then looked at the pizza with disgust "I'm okay little sis, you eat it" she said grasping her stomach, "I'm not hungry," she said softly. "Okay, if you're sure," Sarah said. Elijah felt that Katrina wasn't herself and went to ask her when Nathan tried to shove a slice of Pizza in his mouth. Elijah gently pushed Nathans hand away "No thank you, bud. I can't eat food,". He said scuffing up Nathans hair. "Hey. Stop that!" Nathan laughed. It hadn't occurred to Elijah until that moment that he hadn't properly eaten in months but now he was free he didn't feel the urge to get a full meal, which he found odd. "This is the best thing I've ever eaten. EVER!" Caleb shouted from the other side of the pack. The wolves agreed and they all talked amongst themselves for the rest of the evening. It began to get late, and the wolves began going to bed.

The wolves had designated where they would be sleeping, all except Nathan and Sarah who were playing with Elijah when the wolves were deciding. "Dad i'm tired," "Me too" They both whined. Elijah was unsure on what to do. Peter noticing this and suggested that they stay in the pack house. "It's too big just for me, Raven, there plenty of space for you and the kids,". In reality the Alpha didn't want to be alone. Elijah trying to stop the children from mistaking him as a pillow once more obliged and they went into the pack house into one of the empty rooms. Elijah then tucked the children into bed and sang them his lullaby making the children fall asleep within seconds. Elijah smiled as the two started to snore, he then left the room leaving the door slightly open. He then heard snoring coming from downstairs as well and when he went to investigate it was Peter cuddled up on the sofa fast asleep. He then caught his reflection in the hallway mirror and noticed a small black mark on his neck. On closer inspection it looked more like a bite, but he didn't recall getting bitten by anything. It was inline where his collar would have been, so he thought that maybe Peter accidently snagged his skin when removing his collar, but it was in exactly the same place that hurt from the pits only the pain had only grown since. He took no notice and went outside to finally go confront his family on why they didn't look for him. When he arrived at Klaus's home it was quite and empty. He entered the house and found that no one was home, so Elijah took a quick shower and changed clothes and took a glass from the cupboard and went into Klaus's study to reveal a secret compartment in the wall with whisky that Klaus hid for special occasions. He then went into the front room and poured himself a glass sitting on the sofa. Before he could take a sip, he was interrupted by the sound of someone approaching the house. When the door opened, he was faced with the one person he didn't want to see, Freya. Freya's jaw dropped when she saw Elijah sitting on the sofa. "Did you expect to see me again?" he remarked. Freya took a moment to pull herself together. "Elijah please listen, I had no choice. I had to get the diamond to save her," she pleaded. Elijah hesitated and looked at her irritated, "You traded me for a blood diamond? Is that all I'm worth to you?" he questioned his voice starting to rise. "I was desperate. I did what I needed to do to save the women I love! I'm sorry but I had no choice," she shouted. Elijah brushed passed her retrieved a knife from the kitchen returned to Freya and stabbed a brick. Freya looked at him puzzled. "You had another choice- "he started pulling the brick from the foundation emptying its hidden contents into his hands. "You could have asked to borrow mine," he finished showing her a huge blood diamond. Freya stood in shock realising that she had effectively traded her brother for nothing. "Elijah I'm-"she was interrupted by the sound of someone approaching. Freya's mood suddenly changed "Klaus can't know what happened, he would kill me," she mumbled under her breath. Seeing no choice, she grabbed the knife from the table that Elijah had left it on the side cut her finger and then went up to Elijah who was waiting by the door and cut his left hand then creating a blood pact, "Under the Mikaelson vow, you are forbidden to tell anyone what happened that day and everything afterwards," she said completing the spell. Elijah felt a small sharp pain go through the cut in his hand before it began to slowly heal to signify the active pact. Before Elijah could retaliate the door opened revealing a slightly tipsy Rebecca and Klaus, "Elijah's back!" Rebecca cheered. "And he's drinking my Whisky!" Klaus shouted noticing the glass bottle on the table. "How did you even find that," he questioned. Elijah shrugged, "you must have left it out, Nicklaus,". Klaus wasn't convinced. "So how was the trip?" Rebecca asked. Elijah looked back at her confused taking a moment to realise that this must have been Freya's cover story on why he went missing. "It was great, a real eye opener," he replied coldly whilst glaring over at Freya. "I need some fresh air, if you would excuse me," Elijah said trying to escape from the room and Freya. He went past his siblings and picked up a spare daylight ring from the counter by the door as Klaus often kept spares there. "Why is there a bloody brick missing from my wall!" Elijah heard Klaus scream from the other room as he quickly got out to get some clarity and to escape Klaus's wrath.

Elijah wandered around town unsure on what to make of the day's events. The rollercoaster of emotions had now begun to overwhelm him, he was a prisoner this morning now he was free, but he didn't feel it. Now that Freya had sworn him to secrecy about it all, he didn't know if he ever would. He then came across the bar that Josh used to own before he died. Elijah didn't know it had been reopened, but then again, he was only alive for a few days before he was placed in the pits. He decided to stop for a quick drink before other going back to the pack or going back to Klaus' home. He went inside and sat on a vacant bar stool and ordered a double whiskey as wine wasn't going to cut it this time. He received the drink and slowly began to drink it. Just before he was going to order another one, the bar tender gave him another. "But I didn't order one,". The barman pointed to a woman on the other side of the bar she was blonde, blue eyes and although skinny she had an hourglass figure "That lady there bought it for you," he said. Elijah was unsure on what to make of this usually he would be the one buying the drinks. He looked over at her again, but she wasn't there. "Looking for me brown eyes?," a voice said. Elijah jumped back slightly unaware that she had sat down in the chair next to him, she seemed slightly tipsy. "Thought you could use some company, you look like you've been through hell," she laughed. If only she knew Elijah thought. "so what's troubling you then?" she asked. Elijah didn't know what to say but considering she was drunk, and he was starting to feel a bit strange himself, he blurted out "I went missing for 8 months, escaped from a literal hole and my family didn't even notice I was gone" as if he had no filter. The woman seemed unphased by this. "I came here because I felt something telling me to come here, but I didn't find what I was looking for" she said sadly. The pair continued to talk about their struggles, there family lives and they got along rather well. DING DING. "Last call!" said the bartender ringing the bell. Elijah hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. He went to stand up he felt lightheaded but apart from that felt fine. The woman on the other hand was struggling to stand so Elijah offered to take her home. The woman went into her bag and retrieved a small parchment of paper from her purse, she then handed it to Elijah. when he looked at it he saw that it was an address. The pair then proceeded to go to the address with Elijah effectively pulling the woman along as she had wrapped her arm around his neck. It took a while, but they made the house. It reminded him of Klaus' house the structure was practically identical the only difference being that there was no balcony on the second floor. They then approached the front door with Elijah prepared for the possibility of being unable to enter. But the surprises just kept on coming as he just walked in with no issues. Elijah scoped the woman up who was now asleep then put her in a bed upstairs and put a cover over her. He went to leave but noticed the door lock was broken, someone could easily brake in while she was asleep. Deciding to stay he sat in the front room trying not to pry. However, after 20 minutes of boredom his curiosity got the better of him and he started to look around the living room. He turned his attention to the multitude of books on the bookshelves. He read through some of them and discovered that they were spell books but not just any normal spell books- dark magic spell books. The woman was a witch who clearly very talented with dark magic. But there was something else, they were in a completely different dialect than any other spell books he had seen in the last century, they were in Ancient Tongue. A form of dialect that was used to write spells before Elijah was even born that the witches had dubbed as forbidden as it extremely difficult to use and control. The witches would change ancient tongue to old tongue and then spells where modified to what they are today, Elijah had never had a problem using ancient tongue. He then took one of the spell books and began eagerly testing himself to see how much he could remember from when he was a child. This turned out to be a daunting task as when he looked up from the page it was morning, and he was only able to decipher 3 spells from the book. He then heard the stairs creak as the woman began to come down the stairs. She came into the living room and saw Elijah and began to freak out. "WHO ARE YOU!" she screamed. Elijah tried to answer but realised that they hadn't even introduced themselves last night, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" she shouted using her magic to levitate a fire-poker and placing by his neck, confirming that she was indeed a witch. Elijah showed no fear in his face as she did this, "We met last night at a bar, you passed out and I brought you home,". She looked at him as if she was studying him to see if he was telling the truth, she was clearly hungover her eyes drooping as she looked him over. She seemed to calm down for a moment lost in her own thoughts lowering the poker from his neck. Elijah went to get up when she raised the poker forcing him to sit down, this time the poker was contacting his skin. "Did you take advantage of me?" she sternly questioned. Elijah was taken aback by this, "No, I would never do that," he replied. She looked at him with uncertainty. "I took you home, put you in bed and went to leave but the door lock was broken, and I didn't feel that it was safe to leave you alone, so I decided to stay," he recalled. She instantly dropped the poker believing him, "I keep telling them to replace that stupid door lock, but they never listen," she groaned. She then realised that she had almost killed her guest. "I am so sorry about the almost driving a poker through your neck thing," she said. He chuckled, "don't worry about it, my own siblings have done far worse." They both weirdly grinned, "But a word of advice-"Elijah started with the Woman staring intensely at him, "Next time go for the heart,". Elijah then got up off the sofa and went to leave this time with no opposition from the woman. He got to the front door and before he left, he turned to her, "and you should get the lock fixed, there are plenty of monsters out there,". The woman nodded and Elijah left heading back to the pack to check back on the children. Leaving the women alone in thought believing she had seen a ghost.

Chapter 6: Then There Were Three

About half an hour later the woman had fully recovered from being hungover unsure if what happened was reality or fiction due to her memories being blurry. Just then she heard the front door swing open. She went to investigate and when she saw who it was her mood dropped like a rock in deep waters. Infront of her was a woman, slightly older than her with a similar build and blonde hair the only difference being that the woman had emerald, green eyes compared to her blue, and a slightly rounder chin which she had always despised. "Serena, you're here," the woman said coming inside the house. Serena looked at her in disgust, "Alex, why are you here?" she asked snottily. The tension between the two sisters was undeniable. "This is my house too remember," Alex replied. Serena shook her head not satisfied with her answer, "No, why are YOU here?" she emphasised. Alex looked at her sister now understanding what Serena meant, "I felt something, like a pulse of magic, but it felt like demon magic. Then James called, feeling it to and we decided to meet in New Orleans," she finished. Serena looked at her in shock, "I had the same thing happen to me yesterday, I tried to find out what it was, but I had no luck. James isn't here is he?" she said sadly looking around behind Alex for their older brother, "He's not here yet" she assured her. Serena looked at her studying her to see if she was lying then moved on "But, I did have this crazy dream where Gabriel was alive, but he had different hair and a weird accent and I tried to kill him with a poker," Serena recalled leaving Alex confused. "I don't know why I'm telling you this." Serena pondered. There was an awkward silence between the two sisters that lasted for a good minute. "Serena, I don't know how many times I can tell you I'm sorry for what happened,". Serena ignored her rolling her eyes, "I might not be able to kick you out, but we don't have to be in the same room as each other. Your room is the one on the right up the stairs. I suggest you stay in it, dear sister," she threatened. Alex looked at her in disapproval and took her bags and went upstairs. Although Serena despised both of her siblings, she couldn't help but wonder where the magic came from and why her siblings would come all the way to New Orleans to figure it out. But she knew it meant something and she was not going to stop until she found out what.

Chapter 7: Early morning freedom

Elijah had used his vampire abilities to rush back to the pack after he had left the house and to his surprise the wolves where all still fast asleep. He went into the pack house to see Sarah and Nathan spread out on the bed snoring away. Elijah went to leave when one of the floorboards squeaked, not stirring the children but the Alpha downstairs. He then went down the staircase to the living room where Peter had woken up on the sofa, "Where did you sneak off to last night?" he asked slowly sitting up on the sofa. "I went to see my family," Elijah replied. "And what happened?" Peter questioned feeling that something was wrong with Elijah. "They didn't even know I was missing. Turns out my sister traded me for a diamond and didn't tell anyone about it" He replied sadly. Peter looked at him as if he wanted to give him a hug, but he stopped himself not wanting to make light of the situation. "I'm sorry Raven," he said apologetically to Elijah "You know you could have slept in a bed upstairs," Elijah commented trying to escape from their current conversation. "What's an upstairs?" Peter asked looking at Elijah confused. Elijah laughed but quickly realised he was being serious forgetting for a moment that the whole pack had lived in a hole their entire lives. "It's just the floors above us," Elijah said pointing upwards. Peter looked up "Oh, I get it," he said. Just then they heard the floorboard creak again and soon after a rush that sounded like a stampede of elephants came running down the stairs. "Morning dad, Alpha Peter!" Nathan roared full of energy. "Morning," Sarah echoed. "You two sleep okay?" Elijah asked the two children and they nodded. Just then their stomachs began to rumble, "Dad, I'm hungry," Sarah whimpered with Nathan nodding in agreement. Elijah then realised that there wouldn't be any food in date as the pack grounds had been abandoned for years. "You might have to hold off on that for now, I have to go to town to get some food." Elijah replied. This would be a mammoth task as to feed all the wolves would mean a lot of trips back and forth from the city to pack grounds. He would at some point need to get clothes for the wolves whether he made them himself or bough them, Nathan had already put in a request for a suit. Elijah ultimately came up with a plan to take 15 wolves at a time to get food, clothing and a chance for Elijah to play tour guide, meaning he would be able to split the work down. Once the wolves were all awake, he suggested this plan and split the wolves into multiple groups of 15. He then proceeded to take the groups into town showing them around explaining what things where whilst getting food and materials to take back to the pack. He surprisingly managed to do this quite quickly with him managing to get through most the pack before noon. When he returned to the pack once more, Nathan pleaded to him he didn't want to be left again but Elijah told him it wasn't his turn yet as he was taking, he children last to get them some clothes that fit as there wasn't much choice clothes wise for the children as this would take longer and he would need another adult help to take care of them. Nathan was not pleased. "There's one more group, then I'll take you," Elijah promised. "But I want to be with you!" he screeched. "I'll be back before you know it, why don't you eat some food while you wait," Elijah said scuffing up his hair with Nathan too angry to stop him. Elijah sighed and then lead the last remaining group of adults outside the pack. Showing them around the city and getting them food, everything was going great as they started to head back to get the children for their outing. When suddenly Elijah noticed a little boy standing aimlessly wondering around in the middle of the street. Although his vision was obscured, he could see that the boy had black hair and was around 6 years old. "Nathan?" Elijah questioned as the light went from red to green with the boy in the middle of the road. He saw a car start to come round the corner and the next few seconds were fuelled by pure adrenaline as he rushed over to the other side of the street. Nathan stood in shock as the car approached him, his heart was pounding with fear. Just as the car was about to hit him Elijah grabbed Nathan and pulled him to the side of the road. Bystanders stared at them and applauded Elijah. He looked down at Nathan who was holding onto him shaking. "You're okay you can let go now," Elijah whispered but he wouldn't budge. Although he wanted to tell him off but decided it would be better to do so once he had calmed down, so he scooped Nathan up, which was difficult in itself as he had a death grip and went and joined the other wolves. They too were worried but as they had no idea on the dangers of cars as they only had Elijah's reaction to go on. They then went back to the pack with Elijah carrying Nathan the whole way. On the way back Elijah pondered on why he reacted like that he hadn't acted on impulse like that in a really long time. He had known it in the pits, but this proved that he was getting attached to Nathan far beyond the scope of just looking after him, he loved him. He then felt slightly lightheaded, and the right side of his neck began to throb in pain, exactly where the mark was where Peter had snagged his skin. Elijah and the members of the pack made it back to the grounds where the wolves told the others what happened. Elijah looked down at Nathan, but he was fast asleep. He would have to talk about it later. He then went into the pack house and placed Nathan in bed he then came back outside with Sarah looking sadly at him. "I told him not to go, but he wouldn't listen," Sarah cried. "Sweetheart it's not your fault," he said with Sarah hugging him crying. "You children are so emotional today" he joked squeezing her tightly. He let her go, "How's Kat today?" he asked. "She's fine. She was playing with me and ate some food the others brought back," Sarah replied. "I don't like the orange long ones," Sarah said, "you don't like carrots? Well, that's too bad, because do you want to know a secret?" Elijah asked. "What is it!" Sarah asked curiously. Elijah signalled her to come in closer "Carrots are a vampire's worst nightmare, they help people see in the dark so they can spot vampires," he whispered. "Really?" she asked excitedly Elijah nodded. She then ran off presumably to eat more carrots Elijah was unsure if she knew that he was a vampire, but he was all for children eating vegetables. Elijah then found a measuring tape and got the general sizes for everyone so he could sew some new clothes using some of the materials he had bought but could not find a needle and thread anywhere. Then he remembered that he had an old sewing machine back at Klaus's house that he could use so he decided to head back and told George to keep an eye on the children. He would have to talk to Nathan later. He grabbed the measurements and as much material that he could carry and headed back unaware what was waiting for him there.

Chapter 8: Family gatherings

He arrived back at the house and entered the dining room to put the materials down while he got the machine ready in the basement but was stopped by his family receiving guests. He heard laughing coming from the dining room he slowly walked over, not impressed with what he saw. Sitting on the dining room chairs were four strangers, three men and one woman. The two of the men were brothers looking practically identical with the only real difference being one was noticeably older and had a crocked nose and a more rounded face then his younger counterpart. Then without warning the woman turned her head and saw him her facing lighting up with joy, but no noise came out. She then got up from her seat and bowed on the floor, Elijah looked puzzled on what was going on, then the two brothers turned around their jaws dropping at seeing Elijah. This made the rest of the Mikaelsons confused on what was going on with them sharing concerned looks with each other. "Elijah you're here, perfect timing! These are Alastair and Dick Blood" Rebecca called to him trying to break the ice, Klaus and Kol laughing at Dicks name with Freya having to hit them on the back of the head. Elijah looked at Rebecca and saw a spare seat next to her at the end of the table, he decided to sit down and then Alastair told the woman sternly to get off from the floor. She immediately obliged, like she was under his control when she sat down, she looked at Elijah like she was about to cry and he saw that her hair was brown, her neck covered in long thick scars, "Sorry about that, she usually behaves. But demons can be so unpredictable" Alastair told him nervously, Elijah not being so sure. They then began to talk about the new wolves and wondered where they came from, but Elijah knew the truth, their basement. But before he could hear anymore a voice questioned, "Have we met?". Elijah turned towards the voice and saw that it was the same guy that he had took a chunk out of in the pits, Elijah's demeanour changing as a result as he bit his lip and shook his head in disbelief, "I don't believe so, no,". The man then squinted his eyes studying him not taking no for an answer, "Are you sure? You sound familiar,". Elijah laughed inside, and had a small grin on his face, "Tobias, leave him alone he said you hadn't met," Dick nudged him on the shoulder, but he wasn't convinced, but reverted his attention back to conversation about the wolves. Meanwhile, Elijah glared menacingly across the table playing with a steak knife wanting to dig into his skull for what he did to him. Controlling himself, he put the knife down and opted for something else, something psychological. "What happened to your neck?" Elijah asked curiously getting his attention, "A wolf took a chunk out of my neck," he quickly fired back, Elijah turned his head slightly, "What happened to him?". Tobias looked at him with a smile on his face "I taught him a- I didn't say it was a he" he realised stopping mid-sentence, "didn't you? I didn't mean to presume please continue" Elijah replied sarcastically not breaking his gaze from his torturer, "The wolf bit me so I taught him a lesson-" he started interrupted by Elijah, "to always respect his superiors. Or was it that all animals can be tamed?". The man stared at him in disbelief, coming to the realisation that he was the 'wolf' he tortured in the pits. He started to breath heavily, his palms sweating, Elijah could hear his heart pounding through his chest and smiled gleefully enjoying every moment. Then Elijah's eyes flashed white for a split second before turning brown once more, he had no idea of the change, only feeling a sharp pain in the right of his neck. Tobias' face was riddled with fear as he got up from his chair, "I've got to go!" as he ran out of the room fleeing for his life, not knowing his fate had already been sealed. The others watched him disappear confusion written on their faces. Rebecca turned to Elijah who had a huge smile on his face, "What did you say to him?". "Nothing" Elijah relied Rebecca didn't believe him but wasn't going to call him out on it in front of guests. He glanced at the she demon who was smiling at him, she was well aware of what he had just done even if Elijah wasn't.

About an hour later the Bloods were getting ready to leave, "Well thank you for a wonderful evening, I hope we can count on you in the future to help with our wolf problem," Alastair said getting up from his chair. Then his phone began to ring. "One second I have to take this," Alastair said as he picked up the phone, "Lobo, this better be important" he began sternly down the phone, the others watched his change in expression and knew it was, "What do you mean he went crazy and jumped off the roof? He didn't get blood on the tiles did he, we just had those replaced" he asked down the phone. The Mikaelsons siblings exchanged worried and concerned looks unsure on what was going on. They watched as Alastair quickly wrapped up the phone call acting like nothing had happened, "Sorry about that, our little half-brother has quite the imagination, come on we need to go," he sweated nervously as he hurried the others out of the door, rushing back home. The siblings looked at each other exhausted from hosting. Rebecca turned to Elijah, "What did you say to him?" Elijah looked back at her confused calmly telling her, "I told you, nothing.". Rebecca didn't seem to buy it, "People don't just jump off roof's, Elijah". Elijah seeing what she was implying sat upright on the chair, defending himself, "I had nothing to do with that, besides he didn't say who jumped off the roof. We could be having this conversation for nothing," He remained calm, and Rebecca seemed to back off having no proof against him. Elijah then looked at the clock and saw that it was almost Nathan and Sarah's bedtime. He then got up announced he was leaving and went to the front door where he was stopped by Klaus, "Where are you going?" Elijah looked back at him wanting to leave, "I have to take care of something," he replied trying to open the door, but Klaus forced it closed, "Did you compel that guy to jump off the roof? You can tell me I don't care," Elijah squinted at his brother who seemed excited at the prospect of Elijah compelling the guy to fall to his death, "No I didn't" he answered honestly Klaus seeming disappointed removing his hand from the door and Elijah went to open it, but he slammed it closed again, Elijah giving him the side eye, "Freya told me to tell you, that we have some guests coming for lunch on Tuesday and said for you to get here early, 11 should be okay," he then freed the door from his hand and Elijah walked out, agreeing to get their early, not sure where he stood with his siblings. He then headed to the pack to see the children to sleep.

Two days later Elijah had arrived at the house early, as instructed by Klaus, as they were expecting guests again. He entered the house and it seemed empty, his siblings being nowhere to be seen. Then he heard footsteps coming from the kitchen, Rebecca was rummaging around the cupboards until she spotted Elijah, "Oh good you're here, I need to pop to the Cellar. just sit down. Kol and Klaus are upstairs they will be down soon," as she disappeared into another room to go into the cellar. Whilst the others were busy Elijah sat in the dining room with an eerie silence looming over him. Then amongst the silence he thought that he heard faint whispers coming from the living room. He got up and looked around to see if anyone was there but, there was no one. "Rebecca! Did you say something?" Elijah shouted. Rebecca, who was in the cellar, shouted back, "No, I'm just in the cellar". Elijah thought about it for a moment them decided to sit down again. A few seconds later he heard the same noise, but it was much louder this time. He looked around the room again starting to think he was hearing voices, following the mumbles to the living room. But again, no one was there. He studied the room cautiously and heard the sound again and it sounded like it was coming from the fireplace that had been left on, the whispers were now starting to become unbearably loud. One thing that seemed odd was that the fire seemed to have a green tint rather than the blue it would usually have. He walked over to it cupping his ears with his hands as the sound began to pierce his ears. He then put the fire out relieving him from the torture of the immense sound. He waited a few minutes for the fire to cool before investigating the chimney further. Maybe something was stuck? Elijah thought as he moved onto the fireplace climbing into the chimney. But as he expected there was nothing there. He tried to retreat back out but found himself stuck. "Great," he huffed. Inside the house Kol had come back from upstairs with an old tablecloth and passed the living room. Finding a pair of legs sticking out from the chimney and made a confused chuckle, "Who's there?" Elijah asked hearing the chuckle from the chimney. Kol just stood silently laughing for a moment, "Klaus, you better take a look at this, the chimneys grown legs," he laughed. Klaus then came out from the Kitchen "What are you on about Kol?" He asked, Kol pointing to the fireplace and Elijah's legs dangling out. Klaus' face showed visible confusion, but he couldn't hold back his laughter. "Can someone get me out I'm stuck," Elijah shouted from the chimney coughing from the soot. The pair then started to laugh out loud with Elijah still stuck in the chimney. "What are you two laughing at?" Rebecca bellowed coming into the living room. Although she did smirk at Elijah being stuck in the fireplace, she didn't hesitate to go over to help him out. "Elijah, I'm going to grab your hips and pull you out," she said. "okay," Elijah's voiced echoed. Rebecca then grabbed Elijah's hips and began pulling him out to both Kol and Klaus' amusement. Rebecca then pulled him free creating a cloud of soot that covered the whole of the living room. Elijah started to cough erratically his whole upper half covered in soot. The others started to cough as well. Freya then came in and stared at her siblings in disbelief as she encountered the large mess everywhere around the room. "What the hell happened?" She screamed. Rebecca, Kol and Klaus all looked Elijah. "Of course." Freya scolded looking over at Elijah disappointedly. "Tidy this up. NOW!" she screeched as she left the room. "Hang on it's my house, you can't tell me to-" Klaus began. "Do it, Nicklaus!' she interrupted, Klaus shook his head and huffed. "How did you get stuck in the chimney anyway?" Kol asked turning his attention to Elijah. "I thought I heard a noise up there, but it turned out to be nothing," he replied unsure if he should be telling them that he had heard voices. "well, no matter, you go get cleaned up and we will quickly clean this up," Rebecca said touching Elijah's shoulder then sneezing afterwards. Elijah nodded and went upstairs to get clean. Rebecca than ran to get a dustpan and brush and they began clearing the soot, which didn't take long after using their vampire abilities to speed up the process. "Elijah's been acting strange though," Rebecca commented. Kol and Klaus nodded in agreement "I've barely seen him since he got back," Kol added. But before they could divulge any further the door bell rang. Ding-Dong. The three of them quickly threw the soot info the rubbish bin and put the dustpan back whilst Freya opened the door. Three people entered, first was an angry Serena who was tricked into going by her older sister Alex who came in behind her. Then a man came in last, he was noticeably older, tall blonde hair and blue eyes like his younger siblings. The trio then were sent to the dining room where a small banquet was waiting for them. Freya following in behind them, "everyone these are the Petersons. We knew each other when we were kids. We have James, Alex and Serena" she introduced them, with the trio all looking at her disapprovingly, "that's one way to put it" they whispered. "Wait, since you've been kids? What are you then?" Kol questioned knowing that wasn't possible, "Were demons". The Mikaelsons looked back at them confused, "What? But demons are extinct" Rebecca remembered her mother stories of how the demon and their evil were purged long before they were born. "Not all of us" James grinned. "How come we have never heard of you until now?" Klaus asked. "We try and keep a low profile, stops people from asking too many questions and keeps the murders at a minimum" James grinned, "Why have enemies when they can be six feet under" Serena commented with a full-blown smile on her face whilst looking at them causing the Mikaelsons to feel the underlying tension between the two families, "We went in the opposite direction". "No kidding, for hundreds of years we've heard tails of the Mikaelson's vampires killing whoever they want, whenever they want, not staying around to face the consequences. Although that doesn't just apply to the vampires in the family does it, Freya?" Serena scowled confirming a dark history between the Peterson's and Freya. "Serena, stop" James mumbled under his breath. Freya and Serena shared an evil glare as tension between them began to boil, Freya's silence irritating Serena. But before there was a argument James stepped in, "But were not hear to bring up the past. We asked to come here to ask for your help because, a few mornings ago we felt a powerful magic surge that we believe may belong to a demon. Shortly after I received a message that told me the surge came from New Orleans. We would really appreciate your help finding where it came from since you are more familiar with the city then we are" James admitted revealing their true motive for the meeting. Freya looked at them, feeling powerful that they needed her help. But they had long been her enemies after what she did to them so she politely told them, "I can't help you. I wouldn't even know where to begin".

The Petersons weren't having any of it they knew that Freya had the resources to help them find what they were looking for and the first time in over 1,000 years they were almost working together to get the help they needed. Then the staircase boards began to creak as Elijah began to make his decent downstairs. He then entered the room clean and dawning a new black suit. Serena and Alex where frozen in shock, Serena dropping her glass on the floor with it smashing into pieces when they saw him. "Again?" Klaus questioned recalling a few nights ago when the Bloods had a similar reaction. The others staring at each other in bewilderment. Elijah cleared up the broken glass and sat down next to Rebecca opposite Serena on the other side of the table. After a few moments the conversation started again about helping them, but somehow managed to trigger Freya into retelling her entire life story of how horrible her life was with Dahlia after she was taken. Elijah then noticed that his siblings were starting to become uneasy, kept shuffling in their seats and sniffing the air around them. He began to smell it as well, the notorious smell of blood. He then felt something trickle down his back. He looked down at the floor seeing some drops of blood looking back at him, realising that the blood was coming from him he then excused himself from the table. Going upstairs to try and stop the bleeding and to change his shirt once more. Back at table Freya was still babbling on with her life story and Serena trying to escape her boredom asked to use the bathroom. "It's just up the stairs the last door to the side," Rebecca recalled, surprised she even remembered. Serena then got up and went upstairs happy to get away. She tried to remember the instructions but failed miserably, with all the doors looking the same. She then saw that one close to the end was slightly open and went inside. She jumped back as she saw Elijah's bare back covered in multiple deep lashes that looked like he had been through hell. Elijah then turned round noticing her presence and looked at her staring at him, but more intently at his back, "You can't tell anyone about this," he snapped at her. "You mean they don't know?" she asked with her memories starting to flood back from the night at the bar. Elijah nodded sadly. He then bent over to pick up another shirt off the bed his locket hanging down whilst doing so. "What's that?" She asked pointing to the locket. Elijah started to do up the buttons of his shirt looking down at the locket. "A boy gave it to me when we escaped the pits. I forgot to give it back to him," he said. Serena approached him, curious to know more. She leaned in close to Elijah gripping the locket for closer inspection. Satisfied she let go and met eyes with Elijah "how old is he?" she asked. "What?" Elijah replied confused. "How old was the boy that gave you the locket?" Serena asked clearly to get a concise answer from him. "He's about 6," Serena eyes lit up excitedly like a child at Christmas. "Take me to him now!" she commanded. Serena went to leave when she noticed that Elijah wasn't following her, she looked back at him seeing confusion his face. She then went back in and reached around her neck removing a locket and placed it in his hand. Elijah then examined it comparing it to his. "It's a Peterson family tradition, each new child born into the family receives a locket-" she started reaching for Elijah's hand getting hers, "me and my siblings have one, but-" she paused and took a deep breath "The one that you have was my babies. My baby, that until 2 minutes ago I thought was dead. So please take me to see the boy," she pleaded her eyes started to well up with tears. Elijah obliged with him finishing the buttons on his shirt and retrieving his jacket. "Follow me," he said as the pair went downstairs and passed the dining room where Freya was still talking about her life hardships with everyone bored as a post. They saw Elijah and Serena leave, leaving everyone at the table confused "where you going? take me with you," James mumbled under his breath. But they were already out the door leaving both their families confused. Elijah and Serena then headed to the pack, with Serena becoming more nervous with every passing moment. Elijah seeing this tried to comfort her, "Nathan, will like you don't worry,". "Nathan? That's his name?" She asked. Elijah nodded. "Tell me about him. Please," She pleaded. "Don't you want it to be a surprise? We're almost there now" He replied. Serena took a moment to think, Elijah seeing her nervousness told her "He's mischievous, gets into trouble with Sarah a lot but is a very compassionate and caring child," Elijah said seeing she was in two minds, Serena face lit up with joy. Before he could tell her anymore, they had arrived at the pack. Elijah went in first with her coming in behind him feeling the intense gaze of the wolves as she entered. They reached the centre of the pack where the pack centrepiece got her attention the tree covered in collars, not realising the children and Nathan were playing right in front of her. Elijah got her attention and pointed to Nathan, who was playing with Sarah, Katrina and Caleb. She gasped wanting to cry although was unsure on why he was wearing a suit. 'I'll go talk to him and I'll introduce you," Elijah said walking away to go speak to Nathan leaving Serena alone in suspense. She watched as Elijah crouched down to Nathan, almost falling over when Nathan hugged him. She felt her heart skip, she longed for that interaction. She watched the mood change as Elijah started to talk to Nathan about her as Nathan turned his head to look at her. Serena was overwhelmed with emotions, for the last 6 years she believed her baby was dead but now he was possibly right in front of her. She watched eagerly as Elijah bought Nathan towards her the pair holding hands. "Serena, this is Nathan," Elijah introduced them Nathan hiding behind him "Hello," he said shyly. Serena didn't know what to do she was plagued with emotions. On one hand she wanted to squeeze him and not let go, the other hand she just wanted to sob uncontrollably but she didn't want to overwhelm the boy. Instead, she crouched down to Nathan and showed him her locket, Nathan seeing this stepped out from behind Elijah and looked at the locket. "That looks like mine, but I gave mine to dad so we could be brave," he said looking up at Elijah who in return took his locket off to show the lockets where indeed two different pieces. "You see, Nathan, each time a baby is born into my family they are given a locket, just like yours," she said pointing to the locket in Elijah's hand. Nathan looked at the lockets not quite understanding, "Nathan, Serena is your real mother," Elijah said trying to address the elephant in the room. Nathan looked up at Serena studying her then looked back at Elijah who gave him a comforting nod. He then went over to Serena and gave her a hug, which Serena accepted gracefully wishing it would never end. Elijah then went to give his locket back to him, "I gave that to you so we could be brave together" he said giving the locket back to Elijah. "Nate it's yours," Elijah replied trying to give it back, "but Dad, I gave it to you," Nathan insisted closing his hand. Serena was slightly jealous of their relationship.

Chapter 9: Revelations

Although Serena was pretty sure that Nathan was hers, she asked Nathan for a drop of his blood, which in turn she used for a spell which confirmed that Nathan was indeed her child. After which she bawled her eyes out. "I have to tell Sarah!" Nathan said running off to find Sarah paying noy attention to his crying mother, "No Nathan don't!" she mumbled as tears dribbled down her face not wanting anyone else to see her vulnerable side, but it was too late Nathan had already begun to search for his sister. Elijah handed her a handkerchief so she could wipe her eyes. "Thank you. For everything," she said softly Elijah smiling back at her. Serena managed to clean herself up before Nathan returned with not just Sarah but all the children in the pack. "This is my mum!" he proclaimed. She looked at the children's curious faces all looking at her in awe. "This is Sarah, Katrina, Caleb, Kassie-" Nathan began with Serena trying to keep up with all the names of these children but lost the battle four children in. "And that's everyone!" Nathan finished. Serena suddenly came back to reality after blanking out, Elijah nudged her shoulder. "That's great Nathan." She replied covering herself by waving at the children where they all dispersed except from Nathan and Sarah. "Can you play vampires and knights with us?' Sarah asked. "What's that?" Both Serena and Elijah asked one being more concerned than the other. "It's a game that Sarah made up. One of us is a super evil vampire and the knights have to stop them from creating a vampire army," Elijah looked at them bewildered. "Don't worry dad, it's just pretend, we won't really kill you," Nathan replied this making him feel somehow more uneasy then he was previously. They played the game with Elijah being designated the 'super evil vampire' with Serena being his accomplice and the children being the knights. It turned out to be a lot more dramatic than Elijah had initially thought, with Knight Nathans speech about avenging Knight Sarah's death at the hands of Serena. Nathan then proceeded to 'kill' his mother. They all they turned to Elijah who up until this point hadn't been a big player in the game, getting the cue he stood up, "Er- You may of defeated my minion but I will not rest until I have my vampire army!' he improvised. The children laughed, "I will stop you! Evil beast!' he cried and the two engaged in combat duelling each other with sticks until Elijah succumbed to Knight Nathans superiority and died. Just then they heard a bell ring coming from the pack house. "Dinner!" Alpha Peter shouted. A flood of wolves then went inbound going towards the call, making an orderly que. Sarah rushed off after seeing Katrina go that way and Serena, Elijah and Nathan slowly made their decent, as they didn't need to eat, but wanting to investigate the strong smell of whatever Peter was cooking. Upon arriving to the pack-house, they saw what looked like an old cauldron and inside was hybrid mix of Gumbo and Soup. "It took George and Trisha's help but we managed to find a recipe to cook this," He said gesturing up the gumbo. Elijah realised that they hadn't had a lesson since they had escaped. "It looks delicious," Serena said, Nathan nodding in agreement. The wolves then sat enjoying the meal and Serena was told about the wolves' endeavours including their escape lead by Elijah and Nathan, their experience in the pits and baby Nathans sudden appearance. Serena was shocked on what the wolves went through as the stories seemed to be full of torture, violence and abuse. Night began to fall, and the pack slowly began to disperse. Leaving the trio on the outside porch of the packhouse. "I had a great time today," she smiled brushing Nathan's cheek, with him being almost asleep tucked into Elijah. "It really was. Some cake would have made it better though," Elijah replied feeling the desire to eat something sweet. Serena looked at him confused but decided not to ask him. Noticing that Nathan was almost asleep Elijah sang the lullaby to send him off and as expected he fell asleep straight away. "I didn't know vampires could do magic," she questioned. "What do you mean?" he replied complexed, "That song is a sleep spell," she said. Elijah thought about it for a second and realised that she was right, "That explains a lot." He chuckled. "My mother used to sing that to me and my siblings every night when we were children,". "What did you do to your mother that she needed to spell your family every night?" Serena joked. They both laughed and Elijah sighed, "I didn't want to ask earlier but, how did Nathan end up in the pits?" Elijah asked. Serena looked at him sadly, "I honestly don't know. That day happened so quickly, I woke up with a loving husband, about to start our family but by the end of the day I had had lost everything,". Serena revealed stroking Nathans hair. "What happened?" Elijah asked softy. Serena took a deep breath. "My husband, Gabriel and I where at home with Alex when we get a message from our ancestors that something was coming. My husband went out to investigate but we were attacked and me and Alex were knocked out. When I woke up the Blood Order told us that Gabriel was dead and they threw his bloody horns at my feet," she paused caught up in whirlpool of emotions, her eyes starting to water, "The shock made me go into labour, the birth was hard, and I passed out shortly afterwards and when I woke up the baby was gone. When I asked Alex, she told me that the Blood Order had said that they didn't want any more demons around so gave her the choice of killing me or the baby. She chose the baby." Her tone changed from sad to angry, "I was so angry, I wanted to kill my sister for what she did." She stopped for a moment retrieving her phone from her bag, "Then life bites back with my son being alive and my dead husband's doppelganger practically raising him," she finished. Elijah took a moment to realise what she had just said and before he could say anything she showed him a picture of her with a man that looked exactly like him, the only difference being his hair was red rather than Elijah's black. He studied the picture extremely carefully and concluded that it was indeed his doppelganger as the picture was taken 7 years ago when he still would have been in France. Elijah was lost for words, his very first thought was what would Klaus think, after all that trouble he went through for Elena's blood to make hybrids, and he had always just been there. There was a sudden chill as the late-night hours dawned, it was almost midnight. Elijah not realising how late it had gotten scooped Nathan up and took him inside to bed with Serena right behind him. He placed Nathan in the bed with Sarah snoring away in the bed next door. Both parents smiled at the sleeping duo and left the room. Elijah looked at the phone that Klaus had given him, he had a total of 37 missed calls from all his siblings that he hadn't noticed as the phone was on silent, "I should be heading back, they're going to think I've gone missing otherwise," he said waving the phone. Serena herself had completely forgotten about the dinner and her siblings "opps," she muttered. Serena decided to stay at the packhouse for the night, and Elijah started the journey home into the night to assure his siblings that he was still alive, unsure if he was going to tell them about him being a doppelganger.

Chapter 10: Mysteries

Elijah had almost made it back to the house by using his vampire speed noticing that he wasn't going as fast as usual, when he felt a chill down his spine, he was being followed. He stopped to investigate, looking around. He felt a presence of something around him but couldn't determine who or what it was. He waited for a minute trying to see if it would give itself away. CRASH! A large sound came from his right with a trash can being kicked over. He was then attacked from behind, Elijah sensing this dodged the attack throwing his assailant on the ground. Then two more came out of nowhere attacking him from the sides coming at him with extreme speed, they were vampires. He wasn't as quick to dodge this time but managed to break the man's arm which stopped him in his tracks with the man crying in pain. His female counter part was clearly a better fighter, almost landing a few punched that Elijah had to counter but ultimately, he overpowered her, pinning her to the wall to try and find out why they were attacking him. Before he could, she bore her fangs and hissed at him, almost as if she was a wild animal. But the biggest surprise was that her eyes began to turn from hazel brown to a blazing orange as she broke free from his grip. The other two recovered and dawned orange eyes and fangs, it was then Elijah realised that they weren't just vampires but hybrids. The trio then decided to calculate their attack with all three attacking Elijah at once trying to catch him off guard. He blocked them it is getting progressively harder with each passing moment. His neck suddenly began to throb, fighting through the pain he managed to subdue one by smacking his head into a lamppost multiple times until he lost consciousness. The other two countered and Elijah used all of his might to fight back without being bitten by these mystery hybrids. The woman came at him quickly combining her speed and strength to try and deal multiple blows at once, Elijah tried his best to defend himself blocking most of the punches, but she managed to catch his arm with her nail on the last one causing him to bleed. Elijah now done with the whole ordeal revealed his fangs and bit her causing her to become unconscious. He then went to deal with the final guy grabbing hold of his wrist, about to snap his arm and possibly his neck when he noticed something on his wrist. He looked down and saw a number engraved into his skin: 3731. Then the realisation hit, they had come from the pits. The man started to struggle to get free and Elijah accidently broke his wrist in the process when the let go Elijah felt a sudden surge through his body, his eyes turning white, and the man went 30 feet across the street without Elijah even physically throwing him. Elijah was shook not realising that he had done magic, but something else took precedent a pain in his stomach his insatiable hunger, he needed blood. So, Elijah decided to get some blood from the house to satisfy his hunger then he would tell the pack in the morning that he had figured out what the order was doing with the wolves. Not thinking straight, he left the unconscious hybrids and went to the house to eat. He would be able to think about the hybrids existence later when he could think straight again.

Elijah then rushed back to the house, going straight to the fridge and where there was a collection of blood bags. He then grabbed one and went in one of the draws in the kitchen to retrieve a metal straw which he used to pierce the bag, putting the straw inside. He then took a mouthful and was met with the bittersweet reaction of his hunger being filled but the repulsive taste caused him to gag with him trying to keep the blood down. He then turned around to see Klaus, Rebecca, Kol, Freya and Marcel all glaring at him. There is an empty silence that lasted a good few second, "What happened to you, didn't you get our calls?" Rebecca asked breaking the silence. Elijah looked at his siblings them all seeming noticeably concerned, except Freya that is. Elijah took a sip from the straw noticing that the scratch on his arm had healed. "My phone was on silent," Elijah replied. Klaus was not satisfied with his answer, "What's the point of you having a phone if you never answer it?" he questioned. "You just left, you didn't even say where you were going," Rebecca scolded. "I didn't realise I had to," Elijah said complexed. "Elijah, you've been gone for 12 hours, didn't pick up any of our calls, we had to call Marcel to see if he had seen you," Rebecca continued to scold him. "Where did you go anyway?" Kol asked. "Serena wanted to see the sights, so we did. We then went to visit the pack and got stuck there for most the night," Elijah answered. "Serena? Your on a first name basis?" Freya asked repulsed by this. "Yes, I'm not going to call her Miss Peterson when I know her name, am I?" he snapped back perplexed. He then took another small sip through the straw. "What that about?" Marcel asked gesturing to the blood bag. "I left it a bit short," he smiled confidently. "No shit, you couldn't find a living person anywhere?" Klaus replied. "Surprisingly not," Elijah replied sarcastically. "As flattering as it is that you were all worried about me, I am an adult and don't need to explain myself to you. Now if you would excuse me, I have some reading to do," Elijah said sternly placing the half empty blood bag in the sink leaving the room leaving his siblings in shock. "Who is that, and what have they done with Elijah?" Kol half heatedly joked, but the siblings couldn't hide the fact that they were worried. Meanwhile, Elijah sat down in the dining room reading spell books about curses to try and see if there was some clearer explanation about the new hybrids but as expected there was nothing. His neck was still aching hours after the fight and eating. He became lost in thought as he pondered on why and how the Bloor Order were making these hybrids. But more importantly how to relinquish them from their control. He had more questions than answers and that annoyed him but was happy that he could finally provide the wolves with the closure they deserved.

Chapter 11: A magical surprise

The sun started to beam down the next morning and Elijah left immediately trying to avoid any confrontation with his siblings. After successfully doing this, he ran to the pack eager to tell them his news. When he got to the pack, he saw Serena reading a book to the children he asked to borrow her for a moment and the pair went inside the pack house with George, Aries and Peter sitting in the living room eating burnt toast. Elijah went up to Alpha Peter, "I know what the Blood Order needed the pack for," he asserted. Everyone looked at him perplexed, up Alpha Peter even spitting out a bite of his toast. Both George and Peter got up from their seats looking excitedly at Elijah. "Go on," Peter commanded. Elijah took a deep breath, "You're not going to like it" he sighed. "Please Elijah, tell us," Alpha Peter pleaded. Elijah acknowledged that was the first time that Peter had used his real name not his wolf nickname, Raven and proceeded to tell him the story. "I was attacked on my way home last night-" he started with the three of them looking concerned, "At first I thought they were just vampires until I grabbed one of their wrists and saw the number 3731 engraved in his skin-" both George and Peter gasped remembering that number belonged to a wolf in the pack named Apollo. "The Bloods have been using the pack to make hybrids," Elijah finished. He was locked upon by puzzled faces. "But that's impossible. The amount of black magic that would take… it can't be done," Serena said starting to doubt herself. "I know what I saw," Elijah replied softly. "What's a hybrid?" Peter asked. Elijah hesitated for a moment, he had told the wolves about his family in the pits but must of missed the part of Klaus being a hybrid. "It's a combination of wolf and vampire," he replied. George and Peter both dawned looks of confusion and disgust. "You mean we were stuck in the pits our whole lives, so they could use us to make these 'hybrids?'" Peter asked affirming that he understood. Elijah nodded. "We were lab rats," George said angrily. Serena was sat in silence trying to come up with a reasonable explanation on how this was possible. Although the possibilities where endless none of them seemed to quite fit, which was irritating her. "Alpha, if what Raven is saying is true, hybrids or not, there still family we have to bring them home." George asserted. "I agree, George, but I wouldn't know where to begin," the Alpha replied. Aries began to anger his checks turning red, "We can't leave them in the hands of the Bloods! After everything they did, after everyone they took: Claire, Ash even Luna Victoria, and you still won't do anything!". The Alpha slammed a cup on the table causing everyone in the room to fall silent. Peter then looked at Aries and George understanding their pain with Elijah and Serena trying not to get involved in the fight. "Screaming won't bring the people we lost back," Peter said calmly. George started to well up with tears. "But I didn't say we wouldn't bring the hybrids home, only that I didn't know how," Peter comforted him. Elijah heard the faintest sound coming from the hallway and knew exactly what it was, "Nathan, Sarah, I know your there come out," he said. The pair then came into the room from the hallway with sad but guilty faces. "How long have you been listening?" Serena asked. The pair exchanged looks of desperation not wanting to lie, "Er, the whole time" Nathan mumbled trying not to make eye contact with his parents. "Is it true that Aunt Claire may still be alive?" Sarah asked eagerly. "We really don't know, sweetheart," Serena said. Sarah looked saddened by this answer, "But, we promise we are going to bring the hybrids home," Elijah finished half smiling. "Elijah why don't you watch the children, and we'll start to make a plan," Serena suggested, the children's eyes brightened excited at spending time with their father. Elijah looked at her confused as why he was being singled out but went along with it. "Okay give me one minute then we'll do some gardening" Elijah told the children. "Yay!" they screamed and ran out the house. "Why am I the one babysitting?" He asked. "They love you?" she smiled. "that's the best you could come up with?" he joked. Serena nodded; Elijah shook his head, smiling. "Okay, but I'm taking the doughnuts," Elijah said leaving and grabbing a pack of iced doughnuts from the coffee table and leaving the house. Serena again was confused as she didn't think vampires could eat normal food. Whilst the three of them got started making a plan on how to rescue the hybrids.

Although Elijah was not pleased with being kicked out from the plans he was not going to pass on time with Nathan and Sarah, so he went over to them. The three of them retrieved some shovels, spades and vegetable seeds from the garden shed and went back to a plot of dirt where they would be planting the seeds. Elijah then showed them what do by digging out some of the mud with a spade placing a carrot seed in the middle of the whole and covering it back up with the dirt. Sarah and Nathan then mimicked this as the trio made quick work of the patch. Elijah hated it, having flashbacks of him being responsible for a whole patch of farmland when he was a child but seeing the children happy was enough to keep him going. When they had finished the children looked at Elijah, "what next?" they asked intrigued. Elijah smiled, "Well plants need water to grow," he replied. "I'll get the water-thingy" Sarah called dibs with Nathan looking disappointed. Sarah ran off grabbed the watering can and went into the kitchen to fill it with water, "Nate, why don't you go help her the watering can will be heavy once she's filled it up," Elijah suggested, and Nathan gleefully accepted this mission running after Sarah and shortly after the pair returned with a full water can with them both holding it up. Elijah then started to water some of the dirt until the watering got about half empty, where he passed it over to Nathan and Serena who took it in turns to water the rest of the plants. After they had watered them all they both stared intensely at the patches of dirt, not breaking eye contact not even to blink. "What are you doing?" Elijah asked them perplexed on what they were doing. "Where waiting for the vegetables to grow," Nathan replied. Elijah chuckled, "they take time to grow, it's not instant,". "But waiting's sooo boring!" Sarah whined with Nathan agreeing with her. Elijah sighed, "What am I going to do with you two," as he tried to remember a spell that he used to use as a child. Once he had remembered it he told Nathan to repeat the spell after him. However, when Elijah said the spell before Nathan could repeat it the ground began to shake and the patch started to grow quickly revealing the carrot tops, but it didn't stop as the all the plants nearby began to grow sporadically and out of control becoming overgrown with invasive vines climbing the outside of houses. The trio looked at each other in disbelief with Sarah and Nathan having huge grins on their face. Then Serena came out of the pack house in a state of shock. "Who did that?" she bellowed with both Nathan and Sarah pointing at Elijah who himself was frozen with confusion on what had just happened, his neck throbbing and a new sharp pain near his heart pulling him back to reality. Serena rushed over to see if they were okay and like any mother once she found out they were she screamed at them, "What did you do?!". "I tried to show Nathan a spell to make the vegetables grow faster, but I don't know what happened," Elijah started. "Dad, don't be silly you did magic!" Nathan smiled gleefully. "But, that's impossible, I'm a vampire, vampires can't do magic," Elijah said trying to convince Nathan he was mistaken. Then Serena looked more closely at his neck and noticed a black mark that resembled a bite was getting bigger. "How long have you had that mark on your neck?" Serena asked curiously pointing to it. "I've had it since we escaped the pits, Peter snagged my skin when he removed my collar," Elijah replied Serena shook her head, "you better come with me. You too Nathan we have to talk about something important," she said. "Are we in trouble?" whispered Nathan to Elijah, Elijah shrugged as they followed Serena somewhere more private, unaware of what to expect. They found refuge under a tree near the lake, Serena looked at them with a serious face. She took a deep breath, "Elijah, you're transforming into a demon".

Chapter 12: A New Hybrid

"I'm what?" Elijah questioned confused on what Serena had just said. "A Demon," she asserted. Elijah was lost for words he didn't know what to think. "It makes sense. You said you hadn't been healing very well since you escaped from the pits, right?" she asked. Elijah nodded thinking deeply about it, "I was able to walk in the sun without a daylight ring,". "You see despite popular belief among witches, Demons only feed once or twice their entire life. Usually, a Demon would fall in love and would remove the soul of their lover to begin their transformation into a demon so effectively they can you-know" She stopped remembering Nathan was there too, "Eww" he screamed dawning a look of disgust on his face. "The other way is more of a defence mechanism. If a young demon is in trouble and connects with a soul and feels that person could protect them, they remove the soul so they can do exactly that," Serena finished. Elijah looked curiously at Nathan thinking about this, "So, Nathan has been feeding of my soul? That's why I've been feeling weak". "Yes, but that only begins our problems. Usually, a demon will take a soul in one go so the person being transformed feels as little pain as possible when their horns come through and them getting their magic-" she said. "Wait, horns?" Elijah interrupted. "Shush! We'll get to that" she asserted. "Where was I, oh yes. But judging by the mark on your neck Nathan has been taking small amounts of your soul over a long period of time meaning that you have begun to transform, but the part of your soul that's left is causing the pain you've been experiencing,". Nathan's face dropped and he started to cry, "I'm sorry dad, I didn't mean to hurt you," he sobbed. Elijah bent down to him, "Don't be silly Nathan, it's not your fault," Elijah replied picking him up for a hug. "Please continue Serena," Elijah said cuddling Nathan. "Also, when demons feed, they usually pick up one or two personality traits that they inherit from the soul, so Nathan gradually feeding off your soul would mean that he would inherit even more aspects of your personality," Elijah looked down at Nathan already wearing a suit and knew that what Serena was saying was the truth. Serena then proceeded to take off one of her rings revealing a pair of horns. They were black in colour and were about 3.5 inches tall, almost looking like bone. Elijah and Nathan were stunned and intrigued by Serena horns, "hope your listening because a demons' horns are the most important thing in demon culture,". Elijah nodded putting Nathan down, "Another thing witches assume is that demon magic is limitless, it's not. A demons horns act as stabilisers, the longer the horns the weaker the demons magic, the shorter the horns the less time the magic has to be stabilised. Nathan's father was what they call a 'death touch' his horns where soo tiny but his magic was unmatched, I imagine that the both of you will have similar looking horns, especially after what you did today," she finished putting her ring back on once again concealing her horns. Elijah was lost in thought, although everything made sense on why he was feeling weaker and the pain he couldn't quite wrap his head around him becoming demon. "So is dad going to be a hybrid-thingy?" Nathan asked his mother excitedly. Serena paused she had not even had the chance to think about that, "I guess,". "Cool!" Nathan said ecstatically with a huge grin on his face. Elijah wasn't so happy. "Can we stop the transformation? Or Speed it up?" He asked. "I don't know. But, I know once a demon starts to feed they have to take the full soul, but that's it," Serena said annoyed with herself that she couldn't be much help. "Is there anyone how would, any other demons perhaps?" He asked. Serena shook her head, "All the demons are in hiding…. " she paused and her face dropped as she began to rant to herself in ancient tongue. Both Nathan and Elijah looked at her confused, Serena then walked over to Nathan and covered his ears with her hands. "My arsehole brother would know what to do," she revealed releasing her hands from Nathans ears. "I heard what you said," he replied cheekily. "Shush you," Serena joked messing up his hair. "You don't have a good relationship with him?" Elijah asked. Serena shook her head, "my younger brother's heart was used by your sister as part of her Blood Order initiation, if James hadn't run off, he would still be alive. We haven't spoken since,". Elijah was taken aback by this he could tell at the diner that Freya and the Petersons had history by the tension but had no idea that there was that much depth to it. The trio then started to head back to the rest of the pack with Serena contemplating whether she should reach out to her brother or not. When they got back the wolves had finished dealing with the overgrown foliage. "Did you think of a plan?" Elijah asked Serena remembering this morning's events which seemed like an eternity ago. "No we got distracted by the ground shacking," she smirked. "We could take a break and go into town?" Elijah said. Nathan perked up, "Can we?!" he asked excitedly. Serena and Elijah exchanged grins and she shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah we can, maybe we can get some ice cream," she said suggestively. Nathan looked at Elijah confused not knowing what ice cream was, "trust me, Nate, you'll like it," Elijah winked. Elijah then asked Alpha Peter if he needed anything since they were going to town where he replied that his magic hiccup had provided them with enough food for a while but said he needed to talk to him when he got back later. Elijah then turned to Sarah and Katrina to see if they wanted to go, Katrina politely refusing. The four of them then left the pack going into town.

Chapter 13: The Park

They arrived at the park where there was a playground full of children, full of slides, climbing equipment, swings and even a zip line. Both Sarah and Nathans eyes lit up with joy, they wanted to run right to it and play. But Serena and Elijah walked right past heading to the ice cream truck to get some ice cream. Nathan and Sarah pleaded to go to the park with Serena telling them they will get some ice cream first and then go to the playground afterwards. Although the pair weren't overly happy with not going to the playground right then and there, they followed them to the truck to get some ice cream. They waited a few minutes for their turn as they watched the children in front of them get handed a white thing that looked like a cloud and start licking it with their tongue. Before he knew it Elijah handed him an ice cream and watched as Serena used a spell to convince the man she paid him for the four ice creams. The family then sat on a bench near the playground, their ice creams in hand, they made sure it was secluded so hopefully no one would recognise them. Nathan watched his mum and dad start to eat the ice cream and saw that they were enjoying it. He then started to eat his, his face lit up and he had the biggest smile on his face it wasn't like anything he had ever tasted before so cold and creamy. "Dad that is Delicious!" he screamed with joy. Sarah was too busy devouring hers to comment. Elijah winking at him he was almost done with his as well. They all sat there eating the desserts like they were in heaven, them all enjoying the cold sweat buzz of the ice cream until there very last bite of the wafer cone. After they had finished Elijah used his handkerchief to get any extra ice cream off their faces and after a few minutes they headed to the playground. Both Sarah and Nathan were buzzing with excitement. Elijah and Serena managed to secure a bench in the playground and Elijah told the children, "Be careful and don't talk to strangers," Nathan looked at Elijah confused, "What is a stranger?". "It's people you don't know," Elijah replied remembering they had no concept of stranger danger. "If someone tries to hurt you punch them right in the face!" Serena butted in, Elijah giving her the side eye. "Okay, mum!" Nathan said as the two of them rushed off to play on the climbing frame. The proud parents watched them walk off when a child ran up behind them, Nathan blurted out, "Back Stranger!" "Our daddy says were not allowed to talk to you!" Sarah chimed in. Serena looked at Elijah who was embarrassed, whilst Serena was laughing hysterically. "Begone stranger! My dad's over there" the pair heard Nathan call from across the playground. The other parents at the playground were starting to look at Elijah and Serena with judgemental stares. "We should probably go tell them not to hit anyone in the face," Elijah commented. Serena's face dropped as she realised what she had told them, and they rushed off to prevent them from punching another child in the face. They went over to them as they were transitioning from the slide to the swings, "I did what you said dad," Nathan said, Elijah couldn't argue with him he did tell him not to talk to strangers. "Do you want me to push you on the swing?" he asked Nathan and he happily obliged with Serena doing the same for Sarah. Although he found it difficult to control his strength while pushing the swing ending up just using his index finger to keep the swings momentum making sure Nathan didn't fly off into the nearby forest. Meanwhile Nathan was having an amazing time of the swing, "I can touch the sky!" he exclaimed. "Please don't let go," Elijah said worriedly not wanting him to swing off into the horizon. Then at the corner of his eye he saw Marcel walking past. Serena followed his gaze still pushing Sarah, "Who is it?" she asked finding Marcel. "That's Marcel. If he sees me here, he will tell Klaus," Elijah replied trying to act casual. "Why didn't you say so," she said preforming a spell which turned Elijah's hair blonde. "Haha you look funny!" Nathan laughed looking behind at Elijah's hair. They watched as Marcel walked by without even looking their way. Elijah let out a sigh of relief and Serena clicked her fingers turning his hair back to normal. "How did you do that?" He asked. "I've been known to dabble in illusion spells," she chuckled "I would like to know what else you dabble in," Elijah said not meaning it the way it came out. "I bet you would," they both laughed, the children being confused. Nathan and Sarah then got off the swings and went to have one last go on the slide before heading home, Elijah and Sarah waited on the side. "On a serious note, my speciality is curses, James is the master of illusions. My sister Alex, well, you don't want to be on her bad side. I heard it's gets bloody" Serena said sadly. "So do demons have special aspects of magic that there better at?" Elijah asked. "Er- not really it's up to the demon what they use their magic for, even before I was turned I enjoyed using my witch magic to curse people. I even made a bunch of girls in our village barren once, now that was fun," she laughed. Elijah shook his head and smiled, "Why do I feel like you and Nicklaus would get along,". She looked at him in disbelief, "Na, there would be too much of a power struggle. Which I would inevitably win," she said assertively. "I don't know if he would agree with you about that," Elijah said grinning at her. Then Sarah and Nathan came back from the slide and Serena asked, "You ready to go home?" to which they both nodded tiredly. The four of them began to head back but before they got there about halfway Nathan and Sarah couldn't walk anymore so Elijah carried both Nathan and Sarah after Serenas failed attempt to hold Sarah. They then proceeded to walk back with Elijah trying not to trip over with his limited vision. Serena was deep in thought barely speaking on the way back. Although he couldn't turn his head Elijah could sense Serena was upset about the possibility of reaching out to her siblings. Elijah sighed, "I have done things that my siblings should probably hate me for-"he started Serena looked up following his voice, "But although I have done these things I know that if I needed help they would come to my aid because that's what family is,". Serena looked at him his admiration for his family made her feel envious and lonely, "So you think I should just forgive them for everything that happened?" Serena asked half angry half curious to see what Elijah would say next, "Of course not. What I'm saying is that you need to move forward for both you and Nathan. He deserves to be spoiled by his aunt and uncle," Elijah smiled. Serena laughed knowing that if her siblings did find out about Nathan, he would indeed be spoiled but she didn't know if she could find it In her heart to tell them. "What if I can't do it? What if he doesn't want to help you and Nathan because of me," She questioned sporadically. "There's only one way to find out," he replied. They arrived back at the pack Serena now boosted with confidence knew exactly what she had to do to help her son, she didn't have a choice but to call James. She went to get out her phone when she realised that she didn't have his number. Meanwhile Elijah put the two sleeping children in bed for a nap then went back downstairs to find Serena who was on the phone outside when he was stopped by Alpha Peter. "Raven, your back. Can I borrow you for a moment," he asked. Elijah nodded and followed him to the next room which was a huge study, there where boxes everywhere with matching cobwebs and large amounts of dust. Alpha peter then walked over to the desk and retrieved a letter from on top of the desk, he then handed it to Elijah. Elijah looked at the letter

Dear Wolves,

I am writing to invite you to the High Witch Council for a meeting to renegotiate the terms of the packs expired contract.

The meeting will be held at harmony hall at 11am Wednesday.

Kind regards,

The High Witch Council

Elijah studied the letter repeatedly he had no idea what the contract would be for, "I got this yesterday, and I was hoping you would know what it meant," The Alpha said hoping for insight into the letters meaning. "I don't. But I'm sure there's a copy of the contract somewhere. Probably in here," Elijah replied looking around at the multitude of boxes. Suddenly, Serena appeared in the room, "How did it go?" Elijah asked, with Peter looking confused. "I forgot I didn't have James' number, but I left Alex a voicemail saying I need to talk to her," Serena replied proud of herself after taking the better part of 5 minutes to dial the number hoping that Alex wouldn't answer right then and there. "Look at this," Elijah said passing Serena the letter. She looked at it thoroughly and looked up confused, "What contract?" she questioned. "That's what were trying to figure out," Elijah replied. "We think they may be a copy in one of these boxes," Peter continued. Serena looked at the room full of boxes knowing that it was going to be a long and tiring task. "we better get started then" she sighed picking up the box closest to her and began to shift through it's contents with Elijah and Peter following suit. After an hour the trio where swiftly going through the boxes but had yet to find the contract or anything resembling one. Serena still looking through the boxes at a fast pace as she was thinking about something else entirely. "Which one of you went missing 300 years ago?" she randomly blurted out. Elijah looked back at her confused. "Because if the wolves were taken 300 years ago that means that they would have already known what they were doing, they would have needed vampire blood too, right?" Serena looked at Elijah with confidence. "But you're assuming that the hybrids are directly sired to one of my family," Elijah replied. "Think about it, you're making artificial hybrids you would want the strongest possible outcome- a direct sire descendant of an original would be ideal." Elijah couldn't argue with Serena's logic it would make sense for the vampire line to be of one of Mikaelson decent as they are meant to be strong and unbeatable. "If we figure out who it is maybe we can use it to our advantage," Serena replied excitedly. "But who?" Peter chimed in the mystery overtaking him. "It's not Klaus, he and his hybrids have yellow eyes not orange like the hybrids I fought. But-" Elijah began trying to remember if his memories matched. "around 300 years ago I was imprisoned for a few years, they removed my blood and didn't replenish it so I ended up frenzying and killing almost everyone on the estate," He watched the contrast in faces between Serena and Alpha Peter. Serena trying to hide a lustful smile whilst Peter looked back at Elijah in terror. "So, the Blood Order took your blood, preserved it somehow and have been using it since to create their own personal army of hybrids. Seems legit." Serena recapped. Elijah sat in silence and nodded and continued to pull another box towards him. "Oh and we need to talk about magic lessons," she said. "Magic lessons? I know how to read spells," Elijah replied. "Witch magic and Demon magic are completely different. Witch magic is full of holes and is spell driven where Demon magic is much more natural, plus it's much more emotion and dark magic based. We could do it here,". "Not at the pack I don't want to draw any unwanted attention to them. But I know a place in town," Elijah replied and Serena nodded. "AHAA! I think I found it!" Peter cried with both Serena and Elijah shushing him. Peter apologised forgetting that Nathan and Sarah were sound asleep upstairs. He then rushed over to them with the contract.

The contract itself was around 20 pages long. Elijah skimming through the contract which was an agreement allowing the witches to pick plants with magic properties on pack grounds. In return the witches would pay the wolves money for the inconvenience of invading pack territory. Also, the contract outlined in regards to selling the plants they picked that the wolves would receive a percentage of the profit. But after reading through hours of documents including bank invoices Elijah knew the wolves had been manipulated as they had barely received any profit when he knew himself that some of the plants mentioned in the contract were difficult to find.

"What does this mean?" Peter asked. "I'm not sure, but this is definitely exploiting the wolves, that is not nearly enough money, some of these plants are extremely rare," Serena said with Alpha Peter looking at her weirdly. "What? I make potions, rare plants can cost a lot of money," She replied sternly. "When is the meeting?" Elijah questioned "Wednesday at 11am I think? I couldn't read all of it," Peter replied embarrassed that he couldn't read it all, Elijah remembering that the pack were more or less illiterate only being able to read a few words at a time, "So, it's Saturday today, so I have a week to build a case." The others nodded. "I'll teach the pack how to properly read and write," Elijah comforted Peter. "Me too, then we can go do magic practise afterwards and I get to spend more time with Nathan" she added. The trio decided that Elijah and Serena would teach the pack in the morning up until lunch where Serena, Nathan, Elijah and Sarah would go to learn to control their magic. They were about to come up with a plan to get the remaining hybrids back when they were disrupted by a large DING! The sound continued to echo throughout the room as both Elijah and Serena scrambled for their phones. Realising that it was Serena's phone she quickly grabbed it from her bag and when she saw who was phoning her face dropped in disgust, "It's Alex!" she whispered trying to hand the phone over to Elijah, Elijah pushed her hand back towards her, "I can't answer it!". Peter looked over at Elijah perplexed. Serena didn't want to answer but after some encouragement from Elijah she let out a big breath and answered the phone. "Hello?" she answered wearily. Elijah watched as Serena shifted from the confident women, he had begun to know over the last few days dissolve into a nervous wreck, with Serena biting her fingernails and playing with her hair he then whispered to Peter that her and her older sister didn't get along. "Yeah, I just really need to talk to you-"she said nervously looking at Elijah for support. He gestured to her to continue the conversation, "I was wrong to blame you for what happened, and I wanted to apologise in person," she finished Elijah nodding in approval with Serena waving him off. "Tomorrow morning? I'll be there, bye" she hung up the phone and let out a huge sigh of relief. "You happy now?" she asked looking back at Elijah "What exactly did she say?" he questioned. "Alex said she's going to be at the house tomorrow morning so we can meet her there," She replied with confidence. "We?" Elijah looked at her complexed. "Yeah, me, you and Nathan. I'm doing this for you so damn right you're going to be there," she snapped back. Elijah couldn't argue, Serena and her family where the only ones that had any idea of what was going on with him and how to fix it. After clarifying there plans for the next day Elijah and Sarah sat back in silence on the floor exhausted from the day of planning and playing, whilst Alpha Peter was looking around in confusion like a curious puppy. He was about to speak when Sarah and Nathan came into the room groggy and dazed after waking up, there hair stuck up from where they had been resting on their pillows. "What's that noise?" Nathan groggily asked. Elijah turned his head up and listened to see if he could hear what Nathan was talking about. He waited only hearing the pitter patter of rain from outside beating against the windows. "It's just rain, honey" Serena replied being met by inquisitive eyes. The Alpha approached the front door of the pack-house with the children lingering behind him. He then proceeded to open the door and waited on the porch lifting up his right hand into the rain. He held it there for a few moments and smiled. When he was satisfied, he stepped off into the porch directly into the rain and did a t-stance allowing the rain to reach all over his body where he just stood there smiling like he was in blissful heaven, he was overwhelmed by this experience. He was then joined by the rest of the pack who had emerged from their homes entering the cold trickling rain with huge smiles across their faces as they became entranced. Nathan and Sarah now watching from the porch turned back to Elijah as if they were asking permission to go out in the rain where Elijah then took their hands and the three of them went out into the rain. The children smiled gleefully as they watched the raindrops fall onto their skin seeping through to their clothes. Serena watched from the porch of the pack house enjoying watching the children frolic in the rain, loving every moment. After about 15 minutes the pack retreated in from the rain, but the wolves were all in high spirits, it was the first time they had ever seen rain. Once they began to dry off Elijah and Serena began to tell Nathan about their plans to meet his aunt tomorrow Nathan being ecstatic to meet someone new from his family.

Chapter 14: Demon reunion

The following morning Serena was up early pacing herself around the living room nervous about talking to her sister properly the first time in 6 years. She didn't want to, but it wasn't about she wanted, Nathan needed her so she would have to swallow her pride just long enough to get James' number where she would have to go through all this again. In the Kitchen Peter was making toast for the kids and himself whilst Elijah was drinking black coffee leaning against the counter eating a cupcake. "Is Serena, okay?" Alpha Peter asked watching her pacing around the living room as he put two pieces of burnt buttered toast in front of Nathan and Serena, with them both looking at it in disgust. "Yeah, she is just nervous because she hasn't spoken to her sister in a long time," Elijah replied finishing the last drop of coffee from his mug placing it in the sink. "Are you sure you don't mind watching Sarah?" he asked. Peter turned towards him, "No not at all, I've got a whole thing planned," Sarah looked up excited. Serena then came over to see if the Elijah and Nate where ready to go. Nathan looked down at the burnt toast and went to get his jacket and the three of them gathered their things and left. It took about 10 minutes for them to reach the Peterson's family home. Serena stood outside taking a moment to contain herself and what she was about to do and the three of them proceeded to enter the house. To Serena's surprise no one was home as the three of them began to look around. Serena looked around confused, "Alex!" she shouted with no response. "Alexandra if this is your idea of a joke it's not funny!" she shouted again met with her own echo reflecting at her. "Maybe she isn't here yet?" Nathan suggested with Elijah nodding in agreement. Serena then got the two of them to wait in a separate room by the door until Alex arrived. Serena then went into the kitchen to get some water for them both when she heard the door swing open and shortly after Alex came into the kitchen. There was an eerie silence between them with both sisters waiting for the other to speak first. "Alex, I wanted-"Serena started being interrupted by her sister who cut straight to it, "What do you want Serena?" Alex huffed. Serena was slightly taken aback by this, "What do you mean, what do I want?". Alex raised her eyebrows and shook her head, "Don't play dumb sister. You are the queen or grudges. You haven't willing spoken to me in 6 years, James for over a 1,000 and you think that you calling me saying you want to make up doesn't seem suspicious at all? So, let me ask you again, what do you really want?" Alex questioned. Serena took a moment to think of how to answer her, "I needed James' help with something I was hoping you could give me his number," Serena replied truthfully. Alex was impressed that Serena told her the truth but also a bit downtrodden that the call was just a rouse, she was hoping that she was wrong and that her and Serena could make up. "You don't need his number he's here,". Serena looked around, "What do you mean? He's in the house?". Alex nodded, "I was afraid you would finally try and kill me so I called James, that's why I wasn't here when you first arrived" Alex said looking around to see where James was. Serena then bolted to the room where Nathan and Elijah where in and when she entered saw James intensively studying the mark on Elijah's neck. Alex then came in behind Serena seeing Elijah and Nathan on the sofa. Alex seeing Elijah turned to Serena "You didn't turn him, did you? Just because they look the same-"Alex began. "My mum didn't turn my dad, I did" Nathan interrupted coming to his mother's defence. Alex and James shared a moment of silence as they stared at Nathan. "Everyone this is my son, Nathan" Serena said breaking the ice. Alex and James took a while to process what Serena had said but once they did, they had huge grins on their faces. James was the first to give the boy a hug with Alex looking excited but confused, "But I watched them take him away" she said softly. "He somehow ended up in the pits," Serena replied. "The pits?" Alex questioned. "It was an underground prison where the Blood Order kept the wolves to be experimented on," Elijah finished filling out the blanks. James turned back to Alex exchanging horrified looks. Alex then proceeded to go over to Nathan and hug him almost pushing James over in the process. She then noticed Nathan's number on his wrist. "Whats that?" she questioned. "That's my number," he replied Elijah rolled up his sleeve showing them his number as well, "You poor things," Alex said squeezing Nathan even tighter. "So when we all felt that huge magic surge the other morning that was Nathan using his magic to escape the pits?" Alex asked with Serena nodding in agreement. "The message makes sense now," James said. "What message?" Serena said with both her and Elijah looking confused. "The reason we went to the Mikaelsons for help was because I got a message just after the surge saying that a familiar face would take us to what we seek. I never met Gabriel, so I assumed it meant Freya." James clarified. "Anyway. We have a problem, Nathan unintentionally began to feed on Elijah's soul in the pits and I thought if anyone would know what to do it would be you, James" Serena said. They all turned there attention back to Elijah and James again examined his neck. "How long have you had this mark on your neck?" he asked, Elijah thought about this for a moment, 'I'm not sure we had collars on, so it was hard to tell," Elijah replied. James not satisfied with Elijah's answer turned to Nathan. "Nathan, do you remember any time when you felt funny or tired after you spent time with your dad?' he asked. Nathan took a moment to think but nodded. "Do you remember how long ago, don't worry you're not in trouble," James continued. Nathan shook his head getting tired with this line of questioning. "What's so important about it?" Serena asked. "If we knew when Nathan started to feed on Elijah's soul, we would know how much time we have left to remove his soul before-" He stopped "Before?" Serena prompted. "Before Elijah's soul completely caves in on itself and kills both him and Nathan. That's what the mark on his neck means" James finished. "So, we need to get Nathan to finish feeding on Elijah's soul? That won't be too hard." Alex insinuated. "That depends on how long it's been. The longer it's been the more resistant the soul would become and given Nathans age I don't think he would be able to take the rest of the soul on his own," James said. "So, your saying my own soul is killing me?" Elijah questioned. James nodded "it's a defence mechanism, no one can live with half a soul, so it slowly begins to decay killing the souls original host and the Demon feeding upon it.". Everyone accept James was shocked by this news. "But we have time to fix it right?" Serena questioned. James hesitated for a moment, "I think so. It will be tough, but I think we should be able to work something out. Besides, I just found out I have a nephew he's not going anywhere" James joked winking at Nathan with Nathan smiling back at him. "So, what are we going to do?" Elijah asked. "We'll have to see if Nathan can take the rest of your soul on his own. Otherwise, we will have to find a way to manually remove it ourselves," James finished. "But something like that has never been done before," Alex inserted, with James shaking his head, "Our best bet it to keep both halves of the soul together, this will hopefully buy us some time to if needs be, make a spell," He replied almost defeated. "Alex, Serena, why don't you go show Nathan around the house me and Elijah just need to talk about something," The two sisters looked at each other in confusion. "Just two minutes" James told them sternly. Serena rolled her eyes and took Nathans hand and went out of the room followed by Alex. James then turned to Elijah "Now, have you had any magic surges since you left the pits?" he asked. "Magic surges?" Elijah questioned. "Magic surges. Transforming Demons often have uncontrollable surges of magic that is a prelude to their horns coming through. Have you ever blacked out or don't remember something?" James asked. Elijah though deeply about this and nodded, "When the Bloods came to my brothers house the other day, they brought one of their friends who just happened to be the one that whipped me In the pits. I scared him off then about an hour later they got a call saying he jumped off a building to his death. So is that what you mean?" Elijah recalled as James stood staring at him with his mouth open in shock. He eventually nodded, "I'll have to make you something so we can hide your surges," James suggested, thinking about what he could do to hide a death touches magic. Elijah sighed, "Will Nathan survive?" Elijah asked out of the blue. James smiled, "I told you, he's not going anywhere,". Elijah let out a small grin and nodded. "You really care about him, don't you?" James said noticing that he was only worried about Nathans life and not his own. Elijah smiled. "I didn't know vampires had feelings," James joked and the pair laughed. James then got up and went over to cabinet on the left side of the room and found some glasses. He looked over at Elijah and choose the ones with the thicker frame and performed a spell on them. He then threw them at Elijah. "These will hide your eyes colour changes if you unexpectedly have a magic surge," James said. Elijah then put the glasses on but was uncertain about them. Then Serena, Alex and Nate arrived back in the room after giving Nathan the house tour and they discussed Magic training, the wolves and how Elijah's family couldn't know about any of it.

Chapter 15: The council meeting

"Raven! Are you ready?" Alpha Peter called from the packhouse kitchen; the day had come for the meeting at the witch council. Elijah had spent the last few days gathering evidence to support the wolves in getting a new fairer contract that the witches could not exploit. He picked up the folder containing the evidence he collected and met Alpha Peter at the door ready to go. They then made their way to the address on the letter to the High Witch Council, finding it to be a huge hall in the centre of the city. They then both entered, Elijah still not used to not having to be invited in because of his transformation, and went up to the receptionist desk. Alpha Peter then got out the letter showing it to the receptionist and upon reading it she looked them over recognising Elijah, "How did you get in here? Oh never mind I don't get paid enough to care" she murmured and led them to one of the meeting rooms. When they entered the room was huge hall with multiple level of stands to hold the capacity of the council, The room was full of witches towering over them from the stands whispering amongst themselves upon seeing Elijah. "Silence!" A woman's voice echoed throughout the hall, with everything falling deathly silent. The woman then got up standing in the centre of the stacks, emanating her control over the other witches in the room. She was in her mid-40's brown hair and blue eyes but the way she controlled the room they knew she was in charge. "Thank you for coming, I am grand councilwoman Valerie, leader of the High Witch Council" her voice was soft but firm. The witches all looked back at Peter waiting for his response to which he nervously replied, "My name is Peter. I am Alpha of my pack, and this Is my vampire friend Elijah". Valerie nodded not sure who let the vampire in, "We have asked you here today to discuss the expired contract between the wolves and the witch council and the contracts renewal. The contract itself has been in place for 200 years and has received positive reception by witches and wolves alike". "But your council is the only party that has benefited from such arrangements, exploiting the previous wolves that resided at the pack, not paying them what they were owed" Elijah shut her down and saw the councilwoman gobsmacked as his comment and the rest of the room remained silent, listening to what she about to say next, "What are you implying?" Valerie responded not sure what to say. "I'm saying that the council exploited the wolves and profited off their ignorance. This can be seen in the very contract you provided under paragraph four subsection 2 which states plants picked on pack grounds to be sold, the wolves are to receive 40% of the purchase price plus 20% of any profit. However, according to these records form the last 7 years although plant prices have increased the wolves have yet to receive their share of both purchase price and profit, making this contract void. Unless you want to pay…" he smiled flicking through his notes "$87,260 to the wolves for the last seven years of backdated payments". This left the room in silence, the witches all frozen in shock. Elijah went up to stack passing her his notes to look at which included evidence of the non-payment form the witches, plant prices for each year and his calculations. The councilwoman was impressed by the evidence, seeing his notes to be correct putting her in a difficult spot. Peter had no idea the gibberish coming out of Elijah's mouth but judging from the witches' reactions that it was good. The councilwoman finally looked up and sighed, "The council is in no position to pay-" She was cut off by Alpha Peter, "Then thank you for your time but I have decided that my pack will not be renewing the contract." The whole room erupted with whispers from the witches residing in the stands, 'where will we get our plants from?' 'The prices will go up' were some of the comments echoing throughout the stands. Freya amongst them was furious with what her brother had done, she would never be able to live this down. Peter smiled and turned around to leave feeling proud of himself. Whilst Elijah, went up to get his notes from councilwoman leader Valerie who continued to look at him in shock. He took the notes seeing Freya glaring at him from the stands as she mothed to him 'meet me outside' as the witches began to disperse from the stands. Elijah then followed Alpha Peter outside waiting for Freya to emerge from the hall telling Peter to head home as his sister wanted to talk to him, to which Peter thanked Elijah for helping him and headed home to the pack.

Elijah met Freya outside of the town hall. Her cheeks were red, and Elijah could hear her heart loudly thumping from 30 feet away, she was fuming. She approached him like a raging bear, "we need to talk" she said firmly. Elijah looked at her confused and looked around. "In Private" she said leading him back to Klaus's house. Where Kol and Rebecca were casually sitting on the sofa reading and Klaus was on the phone with Hope. When Freya came in slamming the door after Elijah entered, making the three of them jump. "What was that!" she shouted at Elijah. "What was what?" He replied calmly. "You made me look like a fool, in front of all the witches!" she screamed the others now intrigued by the argument Klaus telling Hope he would talk to her later. "I researched everything properly, every word I said in there was the truth. It's not my fault that your council didn't do the same," Elijah calmly snapped back. Freya became further enraged, "It has been the same contract for over 200 years! Do you have any idea how much prices will rise? Do you realise what you've done!" She questioned Elijah angrily. "With respect Freya, same contract or not its still exploitation. The wolves have every right to renegotiate the terms of the contract, as stated in paragraph 14 subsection 3. Therefore, they also have the right to refuse its renewal," Elijah retorted whilst keeping his calm demeanour. "You read the contract?" She huffed. "Didn't you?" He fired back. Freya silence gave him the answer he needed. "Do you know how hard I've worked climbing the ranks of the witch council? How much I sacrificed? For you just to come along, with not a care in the world and ruin everything!" She questioned him. Elijah began to feel a blinding rage inside of him as he shook his head, "You are a fool to think that the witches would ever give the power of authority to a Mikaelson," he snapped back. Freya deep down knew this was true but was too riled up to admit it. "You're lying," she said trying to contain her anger but her trembling voice betraying her. "I'm many things but a liar isn't one of them," he quickly replied offended by Freya's comment. "Why were you there anyway, there just wolves," she shouted her voice somehow getting louder each time she spoke. "You know why!" Elijah raised his voice, not quite shouting but jut enough to tell he was annoyed. "We don't know why" Rebecca interrupted. "Care to enlighten us?" Kol followed, Elijah looking over at his siblings on the sofa with Klaus staring curiously at Elijah's glasses. Elijah then turned towards Freya trying to see how she would wriggle herself out of this. Her face was blank and expressionless as she tried to collect herself, Elijah was giving her the side eye to prompt a response from her. "No, I wouldn't," she roared back. Elijah angrily huffed and rolled his eyes, he hadn't expected her admit everything but something would have been nice. The lights then began to flicker violently around them. The siblings all looked at one another concerned on what was going on with Elijah remaining in the same stance. The cupboard doors in the kitchen then began slam in rhythm with the light flickers. "300 something years I've lived in this house and now suddenly there's a poltergeist," Klaus snorted. Without warning the light bulbs exploded causing glass to shatter all over the living room floor in tiny little pieces. Elijah then began to feel a numbness in his body, in a matter of seconds it had taken over his entire body and he mentally lost consciousness, his eyes flashing white. Without a word he proceeded to leave the house, leaving his siblings confused as the phenomena seemed to stop as soon as he left the house. He arrived at a rural area outside of town where he performed a spell on the plants growing there. The plants with magical properties all began to whither and decay within moments of the spell being performed, infecting all the plants that resided there with death and disease and like a plague it began to quickly spread throughout all the plants and foliage around it, leaving nothing untouched until the whole area lingered with death. This chain of death continued to plague the whole city only stopping at the New Orleans border. Satisfied, Elijah wiped the black blood dripping from his nose and went back to the house went up the stairs to one of the bedrooms, put himself in bed and fell asleep none the wiser on what he had just done.

Meanwhile, Panic had begun to set in with the witches as they watched as a flood of death infected and killed all the living plants that they use for spells, killing everything it touched. "We can't stop it!" One cried trying to use her magic to control it but failing miserably whilst others tried to remove some of the healthy plants from the infected ones but to no avail. Valerie the leader of the high witch council had no idea what was going on but she knew it was some force of dark magic. "What's going on?" High councilwoman Valerie hollered seeing death reaching everywhere. "We don't know, mistress, the plants just all started to die randomly," one Witch said. "What about the reserves?" the high witch asked thinking about the small collection of plants looked in one of the cellars for safe keeping. The High witches underlings looked shyly at each other waiting for one of them to give her the bad news. "We lost those too," One finally plucked up the courage to reply. The high witch sighed, "Call a meeting, we need to find out what this before it gets any worse!" she sternly commanded. All the underlings except one went out of the room to make an emergency Witch meeting call. Whilst the high witch then stared into the distance hoping this was a sick joke and not what she thought it was, some sort of demon invasion. She then noticed one of underlings still standing behind her, "Didn't I tell you to make that emergency call?" she questioned wondering why he hadn't left. "actually mistress, there was another message," He began. The councilwoman turned around curious about what other new could trump this tragedy, "Go on". "We had another report last night of a hybrid attack, apparently there were 4 hybrids that attacked a bunch of drunk Witch teenagers. There were no survivors, one of the boys had their skull crushed. They had to identify him by his dental records," He finished. Councilwoman Valerie was mortified by this news. "That is the 3rd attack in 3 weeks, this is all getting out of hand. Thank you for telling me," She replied acknowledging that it was worthy of her time. The underling nodded and disappeared. The high Witch stood lost in thought as to why the world had decided to go to shit when she was in charge.

RING! RING! Elijah's phone began to ring. He startled awake confused on how he got in bed as the last thing he remembered was leaving the hall with Freya after the meeting. Still groggy he roamed around the room trying to find his phone and eventually found it on the floor by the bedside table. He picked it up and answered the call his vision still blurry he was unable to tell who it was, "Hello?" he slurred, his head noticeably throbbing. "Where are you?" Serena's voice screamed on the other end of the phone. "I'm at home… I think," Elijah replied unsure of where he was. "Look out the window, NOW!" Serena panicked down the phone. Elijah then got up and went towards the window in the room, pulling the curtain back so he could see. He saw that the plants had all withered and decayed and deep down he had a small feeling that he had something to do with it. "Did I do that?" he said to Serena on the phone. "Just come to the place you showed me the other day we need to talk," Serena muttered hanging up the phone. Elijah then proceeded to get ready having to change his shirt as his back had bleed through again stuffing it in a box underneath the bed. He then retrieved another jacket and readjusted his glasses before heading out. But before he could he was stopped by Klaus who saw him coming down the stairs from the living room, "Why are you wearing glasses? They don't suit you" he asked from across the room. Elijah looked longingly at the door wanting to leave and avoid answering but he knew that Klaus would stop him before he could. He then looked back at Klaus, trying to think of a decent excuse, "I've been doing a lot of reading lately and they stop my eyes going blurry," was the best he could come up with him hoping Klaus would buy it. He knew he had to change the subject so before Klaus really had a chance to think about what Elijah had said he quickly fired, "Where's Freya gone?" noticing that she wasn't in the house. "Emergency Witch meeting or some crap like that," Klaus replied. "Okay." Elijah replied slowly backing away towards the door. "What were you two arguing about earlier on? Something about the wolves?" Klaus asked curiously him looking at Elijah intensely awaiting an answer. Elijah honestly couldn't remember any of the argument he had with Freya before he surged so again had to make something up on the spot, "I've just been spending a lot of time with the new wolves helping them get on their feet after the horrific endeavour they experienced. Freya didn't know I was acting as their 'lawyer' I guess that pushed her off the edge." Elijah replied truthfully hoping the questions would end. Klaus starred him down for a good 10 seconds deciding if he believed him or not. Elijah didn't stare back but didn't change his demeanour allowing Klaus to sway to the side that Elijah was being honest. As soon an Klaus turned his head Elijah bolted for the door and headed to the cemetery not looking back, just in case Klaus or someone was following him.

Elijah arrived at the cemetery he went up to one of the tombstones in a small cluster in the middle of the derelict cemetery and turned the crest anti-clockwise revealing the secret room beneath the cemetery. He entered finding Serena, Nathan and Sarah already inside waiting. Immediately after she saw him Serena slapped him across the face, "What did you do!?" She screamed at him with the children watching back intrigued. "I don't remember," Elijah replied. "You better try, James and Alex are at this stupid emergency Witch meeting covering for your arse!" She roared back, slowly calming herself down. "I remember going back to my brothers house and arguing with Freya but after that It's all a bit of a blur and I woke up in bed," He finished recalling everything he remembered to Serena. She looked at him believing him, "Freya must have really pissed you off if she caused you to do that. I'm surprised she's still breathing. I would have killed her right where she stood if she got in my face," Serena trailed off. "She's still my sister, try not to make open threats when I'm here. Especially in front of the children" He reasoned, and Serena smiled softly. "You really are an idiot you know that. You managed to kill every plant in the city that are used for magic spells except the ones at the pack," She retorted. Elijah turned at her surprised letting out a tiny grin. "Why are you smiling that's not good," she chuckled back as if she wasn't screaming at him a mere two minutes ago. "How did you know if you were at the pack?" Elijah asked coming back to the issue at hand. "Alex called and told me, she said to get you and wait here till they got back," she answered, "So Magic training whilst we wait!" Serena cackled watching as both Elijah and Nathan's faces dropped like a pile of bricks, "No!!" Nathan shouted in disbelief. Serena laughed she learned she loved winding them up. Serena then got two identical candles from the back and placed them on a table to the side of the room using her magic to light them she then got each of the boys to sit behind a candle, "Were going to learn to send messages the Demon way!" she announced proudly with only Sarah seeming interested. They spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to send messages to each other through the fire from the candle, they took turns giving and receiving the messages but had no luck, only hearing whispers of the message with Nathan's mainly being about his boredom, the flames would turn green for a matter of seconds before reverting back to normal the message being interrupted. "Why don't I have horns?" Nathan asked out of the blue showing where his thoughts had wondered off to. Serena looked at him confused as to where that question came from but responded as best as she could, "Natural born demons don't get their horns until they hit puberty, so around 14 or 15 years old, kind of fits in with you growing up. But because you're a death touch I imagine that yours may come in a year or two early,". Nathan looked both disappointed and satisfied at this answer Serena giving him a huge hug. Just then they heard footsteps treading about outside. The four of them went silent for a brief moment knowing that it was probably James and Alex but just to make sure Serena retrieved 2 daggers from the same place she got the candles and handed one to Elijah just in case it was someone uninvited. Nevertheless, the doors opened it was indeed Alex and James making there way into the room. Elijah then handed Serena back the dagger she had given him and she put them away. Alex and James waved at the trio and Nathan ran up and gave them both a hug, which they both embraced. Once they had gotten the pleasantries out the way they began to fill in the others in on what happened at the meeting. "How did it go? Did you sort it out?" Serena questioned inquisitively. Alex and James exchanged worried looks, something wasn't right. "Em- they don't suspect us but all the witches know that our families don't get along," James mumbled. Serena looked upon them with confusion, "What do you mean?" Serena asked. "Freya started it, going on about it how it must of been us because we're demons and don't have a good bone in our bodies." Alex retold. "She's one to talk" Serena commented, "That what I thought" with James in agreement. "So we said that it wasn't us and then-" James stopped looking at Elijah before continuing "I said that it was more likely to be the Mikaelsons because from what I've heard your family always seems to be involved with this kind of stuff,". Elijah gave him an evil glare. "Then what happened?" Serena asked. "No one took responsibility and the council moved on to the hybrid situation," Alex finished. "Hybrid sit-u-tion? Sarah questioned. Elijah, Serena, Sarah and Alex looked up intrigued about this new information regarding the hybrids. "They said there had been a number of attacks. I know you said you had hopes of bringing them back to the pack but..." James started with both James and Alex looking nervously towards the ground. "For god sake just tell us!" Serena roared impatiently at her siblings. James glanced at Alex for a second as they shared a nod then James proceeded to gulp before saying, "There planning on killing the hybrids,".

Chapter 16: The Hybrid plan

The six of them then went back to the pack to tell Alpha Peter the news. He was shocked, his whole-body trembling, he was glad that he had kicked George out when Elijah and the others arrived. "Is there anything we can do to stop them?" Peter worriedly asked. The Petersons shook their heads. "Unless" Alex began lost in a trail of thought. "Unless what?" James said with them all looking at her hopefully. "I don't think the attacks are random like the witches think," Alex began. Everyone looked at her perplexed and unsure where she was going. "All the hybrids' attacks were on lower ranking high witch council members," she continued. "So, you're thinking someone got the hybrids to attack and kill whoever they wanted," James concluded, and Alex nodded in response. "But who?" James asked. "The Blood Order," Elijah replied, and the room went silent. "The Blood Order experimented on the wolves in the pits making their own hybrids using my sire line," He finished. "Your sire line? Can't you control them then?" James asked pretty sure that was how vampires worked, the turned vampire has to do what their sire tells them. Elijah shook his head. "I guess it depends," Serena started. "On what?" James said confused. "When the first hybrid was made. If it was made when Elijah was dead his sire line technically wouldn't have existed, making it easier for the bloods to manipulate it and the hybrids, to their will," Serena guessed. "So theoretically all we would need to do is reattach Elijah's sire line and the hybrids would do as he says," James concluded. "Why do I get the feeling it's not that easy," Alex Questioned. "Cause it isn't. To magically reattach it would cause both Elijah and the hybrids to be in excruciating pain," Serena explained defeated. The group looked around defeated, unsure on what to do. "What if we don't have to fix it with magic," Alex said coming up with an idea, everyone looked at her hopeful to hear her idea. "Hear me out. Wolves are territorial right? So, what if Elijah challenged the leader of the hybrids if he wins the sire line would hopefully revert back to normal saving the hybrids," Alex finished. The group took a moment to think about Alex's suggestion, they were all infatuated by this idea and if it would work or not. "I think that might just work," Serena said softly trying to hide her excitement form her sister. "But son, your transformation, will you be strong enough?" Peter asked worriedly he had just accepted Elijah as his son he didn't want to lose him. "I'm an Original, I'll be okay," Elijah replied touched by Peters concern for him but deep down knowing that he was right he wasn't his usual self. "Anyone want a drink?" Peter replied and he went to get drinks for everyone, sluggishly leaving the room. The others continued to work on a plan whilst Elijah was curious as to what was upsetting Peter. "so all we have to do it wait for the hybrids to attack again, then get to them before the witches do, challenge the Alpha, win said challenge then were home free!" James quickly recapped shocking everyone in the room. Elijah then went into the kitchen to see if Peter needed any help. Before entering he saw Peter hunched over by the sink, starring off into the distance. "Do you need me to take some of the drinks in?" Elijah asked curiously. Alpha Peter then jumped back into reality as he turned towards Elijah his eyes watering. "Raven, you startled me. How long were you standing there for?" He questioned trying to pull himself together sniffing up his runny nose. "Are you okay?" Elijah prodded. Peter let out a weak smile he didn't want to lie to him. "Do you think they will blame me for what they did to them?" He asked sadly. Elijah went up to him putting his hand on Peters shoulder, "Blame you?". "I was their Alpha, I was meant to protect them and instead I just watched one after the other be dragged away, like animals. I watched as both my mate and my son were taken from me and I didn't do anything to stop them," Peter finished starting to well up with tears. Elijah sighed, "what could you have done? You saw what they did to me when I tried to do something," looking towards his back which still bared the scars from his experience in the pits. "I lost myself when they took Ash, I felt like an empty shell, putting on a facade for the pack pretending to be Alpha I once was, when in fact I was far from it." Peter confessed and there was a small silence between the pair "You remind me of Ash you know. He was compassionate always putting the needs of the pack before his own, just like you. I just don't want to see you get hurt like he was," He continued softly. Elijah was touched by this, was this what real parental love felt like? He gently smiled back at Peter, "You don't have to worry about me. –You should be worried about the kettle." Elijah said noticing that the stove-top kettle was steaming up all over the Kitchen with the tiny clouds of heat coming from the lid and nozzle accompanied by a loud wailing sound. Peter then rushed over picked up an oven mit and removed the kettle from the stove placing it on the unused side of the stove. Peter just laughed hysterically after afterwards, "Still getting used to everything". Elijah just shook his head and smiled. Then the others came in from the other room wondering what the commotion was all about. Where Peter retrieved cups from the cupboard and made everyone coffee. After everyone had their drinks, Peter went into another room and came back with a medium size box. "I got these for you in town today," He said placing the box on the kitchen side and opening the box revealing 12 delicious double chocolate muffins inside. The four demons' eyes lit up with desire. "Not all of them, I promised Nate and Sarah some," Peter said sternly. They all took one muffin each and shut the box but all of them continued to stare at the box longingly wanting another muffin. Seeing this Peter removed them from the counter, so they weren't visible. Suddenly, they heard Nathan and Sarah running from outside and they came into the kitchen hugging Elijah but almost toppling him over in the process. George then came in behind them out of breath from where he had been chasing them home. "Where do they get their energy from," George joked crouched over recovering from the rigorous exercise. "Did you behave for your uncle George?" Serena asked with the pair nodding with huge smiles on their faces. "What did you eat?" Elijah asked. "I had a burger and an ice cream!" Sarah replied gleefully. "I had an Ice Cream explosion! It was like a big, big, BIG hill of ice cream!" Nathan said excitedly. "That's sounds great honey, why don't you two get ready for bed me and your father will be up in a minute," Serena said. They then rushed upstairs. "How were they?" Elijah curiously asked George, "They were really good. They asked for you a lot though," George replied. "Did they ask about me?" Serena inquired trying to see where she stood regarding Nathans affection. "Not really, they just asked for their dad," George replied a little downtrodden. Serena glared evilly at Elijah and whispered jokingly to him, "You bastard you think you can buy their loyalty" and Elijah with a huge smile on his face whispered back, "don't be upset that I'm their favourite," as he nudged her shoulder winking at her and the two laughed. "Did you figure everything out?" George asked pulling them back to reality. "Yeah, we have a plan, when the hybrids attack next we'll find them before the witches. Elijah will challenge their alpha and win reattaching the sire line where he will be like 'follow me' and lead them back here," Alex replied brushing over the plan. with George looking cluelessly at her. Unknown to them Nathan and Sarah were listening intensely from the top of the staircase being as quiet as mice trying to make sense of what the adults were saying. Until they heard Elijah and Serena begin to approach the staircase where they quickly bolted into their bedroom acting like they had been waiting their patiently all along. Elijah then tucked them into bed and told them the story of how him and his family stopped his mother from killing his niece, which they seemed to enjoy. "Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you the story of how I ripped out the heart of-" "NO YOU WONT!" Serena stopped him. "awwww" the children mumbled disappointedly in sync with Serena rolling her eyes and grinning back at them. "Off to bed now, you two," she sighed as she made sure they were tucked in bed and left. Elijah then went over to them and kissed them on their heads but when he went to leave, he saw a piece of paper sticking out from underneath Nathans pillow. "What's that" he said as he picked up the paper from underneath the pillow. He then thoroughly studied it seeing that it was a spell in ancient tongue, but not just any spell a spell for necromancy. He looked back at Nathan who was looking hesitantly at him, "I just wanted everyone to be able to say goodbye," he said softly. Elijah smiled, "That's very noble of you, son. But, speaking to the dead is forbidden magic," he replied Nathan looking upset. "But… I'll talk to your mother about it, you know how she likes to break the rules," He replied trying to comfort him, Nathan letting out a smile. Elijah smiled back and told them to get some sleep and left the room with the spell in his hand. He then went downstairs joining Serena and the others. "What's that?" Serena said noticing the paper in his hand, Elijah then presented it to her and she took it and began reading, "It's a spell for necromancy. Nathan had it hidden under his pillow, I think he wanted to give the wolves closure," Elijah explained the group all looked touched by this sentiment. "Aww bless him, he's so cute," Alex said admiring his nobility. "But the witches declared necromancy a forbidden magic centuries ago," James begun "Only because they couldn't do it," Serena snapped back still looking intensely at the spell. James giving her the side eye. "What? You know it's true," she responded to her brother with them both knowing that the witches had a habit of labelling spells as forbidden when they couldn't perform them themselves. "I think not right now, but we should definitely consider it when the pack in reunited again," Alex suggested with everyone nodding in agreement.

Chapter 17: A parental distraction

Although they were ready for the hybrids to attack, they seemed to be incredibly illusive, with them not showing up anywhere for 12 days. In which time, Elijah and the others had got themselves into a busy routine. They had really taken focus on the pack's education, with them taking in turns to teaching them different things such as writing and reading. It was a tedious task but with Elijah mainly teaching the children as they listened to him more than Serena and the others. They would teach the boring subjects in the morning where they would break for lunch then proceed to do fitness training afterwards. This consisted of shooting arrows and working on their combat skills as well as weapons training. The Peterson's where shocked by the sheer amount of progress the pack were making in a little number of days, almost like sponges soaking up water. The pack was beginning to be a force to be reckoned, now only waiting to be reunited. When they had finished training the wolves for the day Serena would take Nathan and Elijah for their magic training which was the extremely rigorous, each discovering something new about their magic each day. Over the 12 days their control over their magic had improved immensely to the point where they could understand and send messages through fire, which they had struggled to previously, as well being able to listen and communicate to their demon ancestors. Although Elijah had not yet found out how to reverse his spell. In between all this, because of the elongated time spent together Serena and Elijah had begun to grow closer and had developed feelings for each other that they were both oblivious to. Alex however was well aware of her little sisters' feelings towards Elijah and knew she needed to talk to her about it sooner rather than later.

The next day started like any other. The wolves got up had breakfast and had their morning lesson and went to break for lunch. Elijah was talking to Serena as they watch the children play when James came out from the packhouse and rushed over to them, "I just got a message from Alex, there's an emergency at home and she needs all of us," He blurted out trying to catch his breath. Serena and Elijah looked at each other in disbelief. They then got up, Elijah asked Peter to watch the children for him and they left the pack curious about what was going on. They dashed off to the house hoping it was all a misunderstanding but when they got there, they were met with an eerie silence. The three of them slowly proceeded to enter the house remembering the lock was broken and they began to slowly look around. "James!" A voice called from the kitchen, but it didn't belong to Alex. The three of them walked into the Kitchen and standing there was an older couple with Alex sitting on a dining room chair next to them. "Mum, Dad? What are you doing here?" James asked confused, "We own the place son," the man replied, almost a mirror image of James with the minor differences of his nose shape and dusty brown hair rather than James' blonde, the brown being accompanied by some grey hairs. The couple then looked over at Elijah, "Who is he?" The woman asked, she looked like an older version of Alex. "This is our friend, Elijah," Serena replied smiling. "So you're the one who got them all to talk again," Serena dad asked rhetorically gesturing to the siblings with him intensely staring Elijah down. "When's the wedding?" The mother asked out of the blue with the siblings all paralysed with shock. Alex who had just taken a mouthful of coffee splattered it out on the kitchen counter. "Mum! It's not the Middle Ages. He's just a friend," Serena said feeling something was wrong with that statement. "Aw, that a shame I love a good wedding," her mother replied. "Besides I'm already married," Serena replied looking down at her ring finger but her ring that was no longer there. "you're a widow sweetheart, there's a difference," Her mother snapped back with Serena looking like she was about to cry. Elijah seeing this wanted to comfort her but didn't want to give Serena's mother any ideas, instead James stepped in getting his parents attention away from Serena, "Why did you send the message mum?" he asked. "Is it a crime for me and your father to want to see our children all together?" she replied sarcastically. "Yes!" The three of them replied with Elijah remaining silent with the father still staring at him. "You really sent that emergency message, just so you could see us all together the same time?" James questioned not buying what his parents had said. "Not exactly, we also wanted to know if you gorgeous children knew anything about the rumours of a new demon in town, we heard that whatever it was killed the witches herb supply. Isn't that right honey?" She finished looking at her husband who was still looking at Elijah confused. "You look familiar, I can't quite place it." He said to Elijah deep in thought. Serenas' mother just rolled her but on closer inspection she too saw that something about Elijah seemed familiar to her as well but before she could dwell on it Alex interrupted, "So a catch up and gossip, how unoriginal,". Serena's mother turned her attention back to Alex, "Well are you involved with this demon or not?" she asked sternly. "Do you have an older brother maybe?" the father asked Elijah almost over his wife. "I do have an older brother, but you wouldn't know him," Elijah replied, the old man looked defeated but was determined to figure out why he looked so familiar. "Why would we be involved with a death touch?" Serena replied to her mother's question, her mother looking at her that she had said something wrong, "because you were supposedly married to one,". "What do you mean supposedly?" Serena snapped back at her mother slowly beginning to anger. "Do you have any younger brothers?" Serena's father asked Elijah with Elijah nodding, Chaos had begun to form with one half of the room arguing about Serena's love life and the other on trying to decipher Elijah's identity, which would have been cleared up if Elijah told them his last name. "How do I know you even got married? Me and your father weren't invited to the wedding," She replied, Serena looked pissed off at her mother that she wanted to wrap her arms around her neck and strangle right then and there. "Maybe I should go find my marriage certificate with my dead husband's name on it, would you be satisfied then!" she quick fired back her voice elevated. Serena's father took his attention of Elijah for a moment to address Serena's behaviour, " Never raise your voice to your mother like that again!". James and Alex then jumped to her defence whilst Elijah noticed the candle on the side flickering green for a few seconds. He then watched it to see if it would do it again. It took a few seconds, but the candles fire turned green again and Elijah tried to listen to the message and see who it was from. " The prince and his friend are in trouble. The creatures are after them. You need to stop them, there in the cemetery." A voice whispered from the candle. And just like it had never happened the candle turned back to normal, and Elijah knew that although the message was vague, Nathan and Serena where in big trouble, they were being pursued by the hybrids. Elijah then interrupted the argument between the Petersons, "I need to go, thank you for having me," he said trying to signal the others, but they were too involved in the argument. Elijah then wasted no time, as soon as he got to the door her quickly dashed off to the cemetery hoping that he wasn't too late. Back at the house noticing Elijah had gone the arguing seemed to dial down a little, "You scared him off honey," Serena's mother said to her husband. "I'll figure out who he reminds me of, even if it takes me an entire lifetime, it's going to bug me" The father replied. Meanwhile the three siblings were confused over Elijah's abrupt exit, they had no idea why he had suddenly left. Then the cruel realisation set in, the hybrids.

When Elijah arrived at the cemetery, it was eerily silent, a low fog resided making it difficult to see. He tried his best to see if he could see anyone through the fog but was unsuccessful, "Nathan! Sarah!" he called but received no response. He started to worry that he was too late when he heard the little pitter patter of footsteps running towards him. He listened to the running getting louder and louder with every passing moment, Elijah was wildly looking around trying to find what way they were coming from as he was stood in path conjunction. BUMP! He felt something crash into his back and Sarah started screaming. Elijah quickly turned around to the source of the screaming seeing Sarah and Nathan, she then stopped screaming recognising Elijah and Elijah after hearing the approach of multiple assailants dragged the children away from the conjunction and hid behind a large tombstone. "What were you two thinking?" he sternly whispered trying to not draw attention to them. "We had to stop the witches from hurting them," Sarah said shyly, Nathan showing a large cut on his hand, "We lead them away, but they started chasing us,". Elijah was overrun with emotions he knew that they had done this with the best intentions, but they had been extremely reckless. "We will talk about this when we get back, but your both grounded," Elijah angrily whispered. They both looked shocked, but Elijah had more pressing matters to deal with, the hybrids were still lurking around. "WHERE ARE YOU HIDING!" A voice screamed in the distance. The children were paralysed with fear holding onto Elijah. "How many were chasing you?" he whispered. "Three," Nathan replied. Nathan began to speak when Elijah covered his mouth with his hand and shook his head and put his finger to his lips, there was one right next to them. The fog was covering them but if they made a sound all he had to do was turn around. Elijah thought about how easy it would be to rip out his heart right then and there, but he promised to get them home. They remained silent frozen in fear as they waited for the hybrid to leave but he just stood there, waiting. Elijah could sense the other two drawing closer as well, he had to make a move. Without warning the fog that had been giving them cover began to evaporate, the hybrid turned towards them now being able to see them and retracted his fangs. But before, he could do anything Elijah quickly got up and threw him across the cemetery creating a line of destruction with pieces of destroyed tombstone all over the cemetery. This alerted the other two who rushed over to them one went to fight Elijah whilst the other went after the children who were now running away. For Elijah fighting the hybrids wasn't a problem, the difficulty was not killing them. Whereas, before he would just rip out the heart of the person attacking him, he had no such luxury with the hybrids. The hybrids attacked trying to land a punch, but Elijah blocked it, and when he went to punch him again he took his arm and cracked it against the tombstone next to him, causing the hybrid to scream in pain. At the back of the cemetery Elijah watched as the children were being pursued by a female hybrid, he had to look twice to make sure, but he saw a head of white hair following close behind them, "Claire?" he muttered smashing the head of the hybrid into the tombstone enough to knock him out but not enough to kill him. Elijah then went after the children.

Nathan and Sarah were darting around the cemetery trying not to get killed by the hybrids, they regretted sneaking out from the pack. Suddenly, Nathan came to an abrupt stop, they had reached a dead end. Sarah knocked into him, "why did you stop?" she said but when she looked up she saw a big concrete wall in the way, blocking them in. The two remaining hybrids were drawing nearer, both were closing in behind them. Nathan used his magic to throw the male hybrid back whilst the other one slowly began to emerge behind them. From the Shadows emerged Claire, her fangs where bare and her eyes glowing red. "Aunt Claire?" Nathan whispered seeing her emerge from behind them. Sarah placed herself between Nathan and Claire protecting her younger brother, fearing for her life, her eyes glowing a darker shade of red. But to Sarah's surprise instead of hurting her, Claire stared right into her eyes then she sniffed her and put away her fangs "Sarah?" she whispered. Sarah opened her eyes after feeling the danger was over and then Elijah came in behind her placing a knife at her throat with no intention of using it, hoping he could reason with her. "Get off me!" she roared struggling against the blade. "I'm not going to hurt you. I need you to listen to what I have to say," Elijah said quickly. Claire hesitated for a moment, feeling something familiar about her captor's voice, she slowly began to smile, "Raven? you made it out". Feeling that this was a genuine reaction, Elijah removed the blade from her throat, and she went over to Sarah and Nathan and hugged them and began to cry, Elijah watched her and smiled "We've come to take you all home,". "But how did you get out? Did they hurt you too?" Claire suddenly panicked looking them over for any injuries, "No Aunt Claire, we escaped!" Sarah said excitedly. "Yeah. One second, we were there and then POOF we escaped thanks to dad," Nathan explained pointing at Elijah, Claire looking over at him. "We want to bring you and the other hybrids back home, but we can't do that whilst the Blood Order still has control over you. I need you to take me to your Alpha." Elijah said getting straight to the point. Claire looked at him processing the information that Elijah had given her whilst imagining the prospect of freedom. She then nodded, "I'll take you." She said leading them away. The hybrid that Nathan had thrown had regained consciousness, "Orion, I have to do something important, you stay here with Apollo until he wakes up. I'll come get you two later." Claire commanded, and he nodded in response and called "Until the next life" which Claire repeated back. She then proceeded to lead the four of them out the cemetery "NO KILLING ANYONE ORION!" she shouted as they walked through the front gate of the cemetery. Nathan looked back and saw Orion who was now sitting neck to the unconscious Apollo with his thumbs up and then continued to join the party, unaware of the chaos about to unfold.

They had been walking for about 10 minutes as they had to change their route to avoid the prying eyes of any witches, using an underground network of tunnels under the city to avoid detection, which explained why they were never seen. Claire then came to one tunnel which looked that it had been used more often than the others. Unlike the previous tunnels there were no cobwebs hanging on the ceiling and on the floor there where fresh marks where the door had been recently opened. "Were here," Claire said menacingly as she pulled a lever on the left side of the wall and the door slowly began to creak open. They then went into the room which looked to be part of an old basement, "How did you find out about the tunnels?" Elijah asked curiously. "We were given a blue map which showed us where they were," Claire said whilst looking around to see if anyone was In the basement. When she was sure there wasn't anyone nearby she turned to them, "They should all be up there, I'll take you to see Ash and the kids can stay-" "were not staying here!" Nathan interrupted with a brave look in his eyes. Elijah looked at Claire who looked like she was already caving into Nathan, she then huffed, "fine, but not a sound," she replied sternly. They then began to tread up the old basement stairs which to Elijah's surprise led to a cold and derelict unfurnished house which was two stories tall. The room they were in currently had ripped curtains and dust dancing around everywhere, their breath echoing throughout the room. Claire then moved them on to a small overgrown garden with a mermaid fountain as its centre piece. He then noticed a smaller staircase that reached up to the second floor. The three of them were looking around although Elijah was doing it more subtly than Nathan and Sarah. Claire just stood facing forward. Shortly afterwards faces seemed to emerge from the upstairs balcony looking down on the four of them, there were about 6 or 7 different faces that Elijah could see from the ground floor. Nathan then tugged on his jacket and Elijah saw that more had appeared around them, they all stared awkwardly at them, almost looking like they were confused. Elijah glanced around the garden counting them, he counted 14 hybrids, 7 on each floor including the two at the cemetery would be a total of 16 hybrids, he was perplexed on how the order where able to create so many. "I'm here to challenge the Alpha," Elijah announced. The whole room erupted in shock, with the hybrids chatting loudly amongst themselves, with some even hissing at him. Suddenly without warning the room fell deathly silent as the sound of footsteps approached from behind them "That would be me," a familiar voice called with an American accent. Elijah then turned around and saw himself looking back at him. The copy looked confused as well, his eyes thoroughly studying Elijah for a good minute or two. He then took a step back, "What trickery is this?" he screamed not taking his eyes of Elijah. He was met with a cold silence from Claire, with Ash looking vexed. On the other hand, Elijah couldn't believe that Peter had not told him that him and Ash where doppelgangers, but it did clear up how the order where able to make the hybrids. "I want to challenge you," Elijah repeated sternly. Ash smirked back at him, "Challenge me? Do you know what I am?" Ash questioned getting in Elijah's face trying to impose his dominance. Elijah reflected a smirk back at him, "Of course." He paused "I'm just not worried about it," Elijah said coldly playing into Ash's insecurities. Ash looked at him angrily, "You want to challenge me, copy. Go ahead," he said as calmly as he could, his tone betraying him. "On the contrary, it is you who is the copy," Elijah snapped back, hoping his anger would cause Ash to make a mistake. He then got Claire, Nathan and Sarah to wait safely on the side lines whilst the two of them fought and gave Nathan his glasses to look after. The rest hybrids watched silently intrigued for as the pair began to get ready for the fight to begin. They both looked at each other with the hunger and drive for defeating the other, Elijah knew he had to be strategical and wait for an opening as he wasn't as strong as he usually was because of his transformation. They then began the fight. Elijah was ready to block Ash's incoming punches readying his right hand. Unexpectedly, Ash had led with his left hand instead, catching Elijah off guard and left unable to effectively fend off the attack with Ash punching him several times before sending him flying across the room. Elijah composed himself and went in for an attack using his speed to try and build a stronger punch. Weakened by his transformation Ash managed to successfully block and retaliated using his left hand to punch both his face and ribs simultaneously using his speed to build up the momentum to make each hit a fatal blow, "I'm going to enjoy crushing your skull," he screamed with Elijah then blocking his last punch the stop in momentum meant that both where repelled from each other with Elijah crashing into the fountain and Ash thrown at the wall. Disorientated, Elijah began to get up from the floor underneath the fountain, his nose was bleeding, and he could feel that even though he had blocked the punch Ash had still managed to catch his face. Before, he could fully recover Ash speed over to him and grabbed his neck submerging Elijah's head in the fountain. He tried to fight back but the pressure around his neck was too strong. He could feel the water divulging into his lungs, he was drowning, he would soon be unconscious, and all of this would have been for nothing. Nathan and Sarah where watching horrified from the side lines, "leave my dad alone!" Nathan shrieked being held back by Claire, their voices echoing through the water. Elijah knew he had to act now. He elbowed Ash hard in the stomach and sure enough he released his grip from his neck causing Ash to fall backwards. Elijah knew this was his opening so he recovered as quickly as he could coughing up a small puddle of water before using his vampire speed to go up to Ash and break his left arm. Ash's over reliance of it, had made Elijah believe that his doppelganger was left-handed and he used that knowledge to his advantage. Ash roared in pain and bore his fangs but by that point it was over. Elijah punched him multiple times with Ash not being able to counter very well with his right hand. Elijah then proceeded to throw him across the room like a predator playing with its pray until he suddenly stopped. He then walked over to Ash who was now lying lifeless on the floor and put his foot on top of his head applying pressure to his skull, Ash was frozen with fear but remained brave, "what did you say about you crushing my skull?" Elijah asked whipping the blood off his face from where Ash had caught him. "Be done with It then." Ash said in defeat waiting for Elijah to finish him off right then and there. "You are defeated. Accept me as your Alpha," Elijah replied. Ash was confused to still be alive, "I don't want to kill you. I want to take you home to your father and the only way I can do that is if you accept me as your new alpha," Elijah said trying to reason with Ash. Ash took a second to take this in, his new masters had told him that his dad was dead after he had first turned, but Ash now knew that they only said that to get him to comply. "I accept you as my Alpha," he whispered. A huge gust of wind came in thrusting all the doors to the house open. Elijah felt a small sharp pain go through his body as he removed his foot from Ash's head and watched as the hybrid's eyes all turned a mesmerising orange, each one bearing their fangs one by one. Once they all done this the hybrids and Elijah's noses started bleeding until the final blow which felt like their hearts where being pierced and the hybrids all collapsed on the floor for a few seconds due to the immense pain. The mysterious wind left as quickly as it appeared leaving the hybrids with a reformed sire line. Nathan and Sarah who had no clue what was going on rushed over to their dad and hugged him, Elijah embraced them but was alerted to the fact that he had some broken ribs when they did. The hybrids slowly began to wake up and once they all where awake Elijah tested them and commanded them to lift their right hand, which they complied. "It worked," he whispered. He then helped his doppelganger off the floor by pulling him up, which caused them both extreme pain. A huge eruption of joy took over the hybrids. It was like a huge weight had been lifted as the hybrids who seemed to act like a hive mind before where now showing personalities laughing and joking with each other. Elijah then turned to Ash who himself seemed mesmerised by this transformation with a huge grin on his face, "What did you do?" Ash asked looking back at Elijah. "Your free from the control of the Blood Order," Elijah replied. Without warning Ash stepped forward and wrap his arms around Elijah hugging him and was met with another painful reminder of his ribs being broken, "ow," he muttered as Ash retreated from the hug. "Can we go home now?" Sarah questioned and Elijah laughed and nodded. They waited for Orion and Apollo to return from the cemetery after Claire called them and told them to return. Once all 17 hybrids where reunited they began the journey home to the pack excited and anxious for what was awaiting them there.

Chapter 18: A pack united

The hybrids remained deathly silent as they got closer to the pack, there anxiety had overtaken them the closer they got. Instead, there was a flood of gleaming smiles at the thought of seeing their families again. Elijah was leading the way with Nathan and Sarah holding his hands, Claire and Ash where just behind them. "Alpha Peter and Uncle George are going to be soo happy!" Nathan said to Ash and Claire breaking the silence, they both looked confused, "Yeah! They have missed you lots" Sarah interrupted. The two hybrids looked pleased by this news and was happy that they would be welcomed back so swiftly. The group then reached the pack, their new home.

The hybrids arrived at the pack full of anxiety and excitement as they saw the family that once lost right in front of their eyes. The wolves hadn't noticed their arrival straight away giving the hybrids to take a good look at the scenery of their new home. Then there was a sudden eruption of cheerful screaming when the wolves eventually saw them. "Dad!" Caleb screamed as he began to run up to the group of hybrids, finding Orion amongst them and hugging him. This alerted the other wolves who all started to come outside their homes and reunite with their families. George saw Claire and they both ran up and hugged one another and Claire started to cry. "I missed you so much," she whimpered squeezing her twin brother tightly, "aww, aww, you're squeezing to hard you're going to break me!" he half joked, and she loosened her grip on him "Where's Katrina?" Claire questioned as the pair went off to find her. Elijah stood there taking in the warmth of the reunion, everyone was ecstatic of the hybrids return. He then turned to see Alpha Peter staring at Ash in disbelief, he was breathing heavily and looked like he was crying. Ash then proceeded to walk over to his father and smiled giving Peter a huge hug, which Peter embraced "I thought I lost you for good,". Peter then used left hand to signal Elijah to come over, "You too Raven, get over here," he whimpered. "come on," Peter ushered and Elijah went over feeling compelled to do so. The Peterson's then came out of the pack house meeting Sarah and Nathan watching the whole endeavour. Peter then pulled away letting go of his two twin prisoners and looked at their bruised faces, "What happened to you?". Ash and Elijah both looked awkwardly at one another, and Peter just laughed. Elijah then saw Serena talking to the Claire and the children and smiled at her then Ash looked in the same direction, curious about where his new brother was looking. Serena thought she was seeing double, "Alex, there are two of them right, or is it just me?" she said not surprised she knew he was a doppelganger but confused. Alex glanced over to where Serena was looking "No, there's definitely two of them," Alex replied. "Dad has a twin! Didn't you know that mum?" Nathan remarked. "No, I didn't sweetheart. But I do know you snuck out and almost got yourself killed," she snapped back waiting for a response. "How do you know that?" he shyly asked. "I'm your mother, I know everything. So no dark magic for the rest of the week" she replied. "But Mum!" he whined.

But, before she could reprimand him any further Elijah and Peter came over to introduce them to Ash. Ash turned his attention to Alex "I don't believe we've met before, I'm Ash," he said smoothly trying to act cool in front of Alex who just smiled. Elijah rolled his eyes "Ash these are my good friends: Serena, Alex and James and you already know Nathan and Sarah," Elijah introduced them. "Hello" they all muttered. There was a sudden pain coming from Elijah's ribs from where they were slowly starting to heal back into place, where his scar on his face still hadn't begun to heal. He also felt the familiar trickle down his back meaning his lashes where bleeding again, he knew he would have to go back to Klaus' afterwards to change his shirt. On the other hand, Ash's left hand was already back to normal as if it had never been broken in the first place. Serena seeing this knew that they would have to work on removing Elijah's soul soon. Claire and George then joined the group with them introducing Claire to the Petersons where the girls instantly clicked. The pack now reunited spent the evening catching up, laughing and retelling the story of how Elijah and Nathan single handily led the pack to freedom over and over again much to the hybrid's amusement. The pack was full of warmth and happiness as the sun started to set on the pack. "We should take a group picture!" James roared, everyone looked confused. James looked back excitedly, "but the sun" Elijah replied pointing to the setting sun. "Your right. We better hurry!" James shouted not getting Elijah's point. But surprisingly the pack quickly managed to organise themselves by height pretty quickly, having the children sitting on the floor. Elijah, Serena, James and Alex waited on the side with the rest of the pack looking confused as to why they weren't joining in. "What are you waiting for?" The Alpha asked. "Were not wolves," Serena replied. "So?" he fired back. "We can't be in the picture," Alex replied with the others nodding in agreement. Peter looked at them complexed, "That's absolute nonsense. Wolf or not you are all family," The four of them smiled "Now come get in here and take the photo before it gets too dark" The Alpha commanded. The four of them then quickly found their places with Elijah and Serena fitting in the centre next to Ash and Peter and James and Alex a few rose In from the end. James used his magic to lift his phone up and take multiple pictures of the pack squashed together. When they looked at the pictures many where terrible but one in particular had the beautiful sunset prevalent in the background with the pack all smiling and looking happy. "I like that one," Peter said admiring the photo. The pack agreed and slowly began to disperse.

Serena was curious on how they were able to create so many hybrids when they would of turned there only doppelganger first meaning that the others shouldn't of been able to be made. But she was more concerned with Elijah's back not healing yet as she could see him messing around with his shirt and a strong stench of iron coming from him, which was more noticeable now that they were indoors. Serena then got the children to play with Claire and George whilst Serena helped Elijah. "Do you want me to have a look at it?" She asked gesturing to his back. Elijah nodded and the two went into the Kitchen where Elijah pulled up a chair from the table and sat on it with him facing the back of the chair. He then took off his jacket and bloody shirt so Serena could examine his back. She looked thoroughly at the open wounds on his back still fresh, looking like it had happened yesterday when she knew it had been just under a month. "There not healing," she said confused as she stood contemplating why it hadn't even begun to heal in those three weeks. They both took a moment to consider how Elijah's transformation into a demon was preventing him from healing. Before they could confer, they were interrupted by a startled scream. Alex had unintentionally walked into the kitchen and saw Elijah's wounds. "What happened to you?" she asked concerned with James, Ash and Peter coming in behind her after hearing her scream. "I didn't do that," Ash said clearing himself. Elijah rubbed his eyes, "There from the pits," he whispered, Peter looked down on the floor. "The Blood Order did that to you?" James asked looking angry for him and Elijah nodded and retrieved his shirt and put it and his jacket back on, putting the chair back in it's place. Whilst he was doing this Alex saw the locket dangling from his neck, "Nathan's locket. That's how you knew Serena isn't it?" she questioned the events of that night at the Mikaelson's finally falling into place. "I accidently walked in on Elijah changing his shirt and I saw the locket, that's why we left," Serena replied. Alex smiled and mumbled, "you didn't miss much". James looked at him confused, "Why hasn't he healed yet though. Is his transformation prohibiting his extensive use of his vampire abilities?" James questioned with his two sisters looking confused and James rubbed his hand against his forehead. "What I mean is that his prolonged transformation into a Demon may also be affecting his long-term vampire abilities," he said. "So, the longer his transformation the more of his abilities will become weakened," Serena said understanding what James was trying to say. James nodded in agreement, "exactly,". Elijah understood but was confused on why his injuries from today where healing themselves, but his back wasn't. "But, I broke some of my ribs fighting Ash and they've healed," Elijah said. "Did they heal as fast as they usually would?" James questioned and Elijah shook his head. "We're in a rather unique situation, you're turning into something completely new, completely different. We have no idea how it affects you or how any of this works. No one outside of these walls can know anything about this, it may put us all in danger," James bellowed. They all agreed. "Witches fear what they cannot control," Serena said morbidly, having the personal experience of being forced to sign a pact where she couldn't make any more 'half breed' demons after she thought Nathan had died. "we'll figure this out," Alex assured everyone. "I'll take him to see Holly tomorrow, she'll be able to stop the bleeding and clear any infection," Serena suggested. "Holly?" Elijah exclaimed. "Don't worry she doesn't bite,". Serena realised the irony of what she said and the group laughed. Soon after Elijah went off to put the children in bed and Serena and Alex went outside to talk. "What is it Alex?" Serena asked unsure on why Alex pulled her out. "You like him, don't you?" Alex questioned. Serena looked surprised by the question and Alex could see Serena trying to wriggle out on answering, "Who? Elijah? No way!" She responded trying to brush off her feelings, unsuccessfully she was blushing. Alex looked at her not buying it, "Your blushing," she fired back. "I'm not!" Serena fired back with Alex raising her left eyebrow. "You can have feelings for him, I don't care. What I care about is you mistaking your feelings for Elijah for your love for Gabriel. He doesn't deserve to be messed about" Alex calmly replied. "Don't you think I know that! Every day when the four of us are together I get the painful reminder of what we could have been, a family," she sobbed "I know you think it's stupid," she sniffled while rubbing her nose. Alex looked at Serena and put her arm around her, "Why would you think that? He's your husband's doppelganger and Nathan adores him. You're going to get your feelings confused," Alex said comforting her sister. "It's like I know there two different people but they are so similar sometimes-" Serena started "Except for the accent" Alex joked with Serena laughing aloud. "What makes Elijah different from Gabriel in your eyes?" Alex asked trying to get through to Serena's true feelings. "His hair," Serena joked with Alex giving her a serious look. Before she could answer the sisters saw Elijah come out of the pack house and seeing them talking waved at them before darting off. "Seriously Serena, what do you like about him?" Alex questioned softly. "I like the way he treats the kids as his own, not many men do that these days. He's kind, loyal. Sticking up for causes he believes in. His voice, how his shoulders look in his suit" Serena started to trail off. "Serena please stop, I get it," Alex begged not wanting to hear anymore and the pair laughed. "He's a good man," Serena added with a smile running across her face. "We'll without him we wouldn't be having this conversation," Alex said remembering that they hadn't spoken in almost 6 years before Elijah had convinced Serena to talk about his transformation. Serena then turned towards her sister, "I'm sorry for blaming you for what happened. They gave you an impossible choice, it wasn't your fault. I'm sorry for not realising that sooner," Serena said sadly, and Alex smiled hugging Serena. "He's clearly a good influence on you," Alex chuckled, and Serena shook her head and smiled. "Why don't you think about it for now and see where it goes. You might not be ready for another relationship yet," Alex suggested, and Serena nodded in agreement. "You're right, I'll take it slow and see if he feels the same way," Serena explained. "Exactly. I just want to see my baby sister happy," Alex exclaimed. "What about you and Ash? He couldn't keep his eyes away from you!" Serena joked waiting for her Alex's reaction. "No way, no," she laughed. "aww, but you would be such a cute couple," Serena joked playfully nudging Alex's shoulder Alex pushing her gently away. "I even have the perfect ship name for you: Drash!" Serena exclaimed. "Eww no, that sounds like a horrible disease," Alex screamed. "What are you two laughing about?" James asked from behind them. The two sisters jumped back they hadn't noticed James approaching them. "James where did you come from?" they questioned. James looked at his sisters confused looking back at the pack house, "The pack house. I just thought it was getting cold so I thought I would get you in,". The sisters looked at each other they hadn't noticed the icy chill lingering in the air. The three of them then proceeded to go back to the warmth of the pack house with Serena walking slightly in front of James and Alex. "James, I need you to help me come up with ship name for Serena and Elijah," she whispered James looked at her puzzled, "A what?" Alex huffed, "I'll tell you about it later," she exclaimed disappointingly as the two of them joined Serena in the warmth of the pack house.

Chapter 19: Family Troubles

After wrapping up the conversation with the Petersons, Elijah put the children in bed which took a while as they were over excited from the day's events. When they finally dozed off Elijah headed home, waving to the Peterson sisters on his way out, to change his shirt which was now laced with blood and sweat. He was in a joyful mood after the pack's reunion but all that changed as soon as he walked through the door to the house. As soon as he entered, he felt a bitter tension echo throughout the house. He tried to slowly go upstairs but was stopped by Klaus who was glaring menacingly at him from the living room, "Where have you been? We've all been calling you" He questioned gesturing to the others sitting in the living room. Elijah slowly made his way back down the staircase, trying to hide his bruised face but failing miserably. He then entered the living room the lights illuminating his bruised face even further. "My boy, what happened to you," a concerned voice sounded from across the living room. Elijah looked over and saw not only his mother, but his Aunt Dahlia glaring at him from the back of the room. The family waited for Elijah to answer seeing his injured face. "I got into a fight that's all," Elijah said trying to reassure his family. Esther then got up from the sofa and tried to grab Elijah's face with him swatting her away like a fly. "You, didn't answer my question brother, where have you been?" Klaus asked. "I've been busy," Elijah fired back. "Too busy to answer our calls?" Klaus argued. Elijah thought about the last time he used his phone and that was well over a week ago. "My phone died," he responded. "Then charge it" Kol interjected wondering why his brother was acting so guarded. Elijah then pulled out his phone from the inside of his jacket pocket and water poured out from his phone leaving a small puddle of water on the floor. Elijah knew that his phone must have gotten wet when Ash pushed his head into the fountain earlier. "Maybe it's a good thing you didn't charge it" Rebecca commented and her and Kol laughed with Esther hitting them both on the back of the head. "Why are you here mother?" Elijah questioned trying to get the topic off him, "I wanted to see my children and my beautiful granddaughter," She replied but Elijah was not entirely convinced that was her only motive. "Anything else?" he pried. "We heard rumors of a new hybrid when we were in hell, so we wanted to see for ourselves whether they were true. Whilst of course visiting the family" Dahlia answered honestly. The siblings exchanged looks of concern with one another, "A new type of hybrid?" "Is that even possible" where some of the multiple questions they exchanged to one another. "The Peterson's have been in town for a while now, I'm sure they have something to do with it," Freya inserted. Dahlia looked down towards the floor when Freya spoke, avoiding eye contact with the rest of the family. "You shouldn't be so quick to cast the blame on the Petersons," Elijah commented with everyone in the room turning towards him in shock, Freya seemed to be agitated by his comment. "What? Clearly, they've have some involvement in what happened. There are the only ones who could perform a spell like that!" Freya snapped back at Elijah. "I just don't want to create an unnecessary enemy when we have no proof of their involvement," Elijah replied smoothly trying to be the voice of reason and get suspicions off the Petersons. Freya glared menacingly at Elijah not able to argue back, but she was not impressed with his 'sitting on the fence' attitude. Although the arguing had stopped there was still a strong underlying tension in the room with Freya staring Elijah down and Elijah being interrogated with questions from his family about his injured face, his glasses and why they hadn't seen him in so long. In response Elijah told them a multitude of white lies to try and get them to leave him alone. One thing that was clear was that his mother and aunt weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Meanwhile across town, in the Blood family home Alistair Blood was pacing across the floor of his study with his wife, Mary, and his younger brother Dick anxiously watching trying to calm him down. "WHERE ARE THEY!" he roared. "I don't know, brother, stop asking," Dick said sarcastically. "Something happened, they should have been back by now!" He screamed angrily. "Hush honey, I know," Mary tried to sooth him. "Those incapable test-tube bastards! Can't even follow instructions right!" he roared the sound echoing across the house. Knock Knock. The sound came in though the wooden door, "enter" Mary signaled and the door swung open revealing two redheaded men one was about 10 years older than the younger one "What do you want?" he growled at them. "We heard you shouting from the other side of the house, brother." The older one said with the Alastair becoming even more infuriated. "Son, me and your uncle Lobo need to talk, could you give us a moment?" he said calmly as he could his left eye twitching. Mary and Dick where at the back of the room grinning knowing the chaos about to happen. The son in his early 20's nodded and left the room leaving his uncle to face his older brother's wraith. Alastair waited for his son to leave before his anger erupted, "YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER!" he spat in Lobo's face. Lobo didn't back down as he was used to this demonic treatment from his half-brothers. "Like it or not we are still brothers. It's not my fault father raped my mother!" he fired back. Alastair grew enraged and slapped him across the face knocking Lobo back slightly. "You wolf bastard! Father was going to have you killed the day you were born, you know!" He screamed at Lobo. "What stopped him?" Lobo growled feeling his face where Alastair had slapped him. "Sophie. Our dear sister convinced him not to and somehow you, a bastard half-breed wolf, became fathers favorite," Alastair sneered. "So, that what's this is about, because you weren't fathers favorite after I was born? How pathetic" Lobo sniggered. "GET OUT!" Alastair screamed. "Fine, but I'm not going anywhere. Brother." Lobo finished going to leave the room before he could he was met with Alastair's final insult, "Sophie left our family because of you,". Lobo should have walked away but a fire ignited within his heart he then turned towards his brother, "She left because she saw what our family truly is, a pack of monsters that will stop at nothing to gain power even if it means experimenting on innocent lives," Lobo finished, "Now if you excuse me, I actually made plans with Jennifer today," he said leaving the room for good. Jennifer was their niece, Sophies daughter, who had a young daughter of her own and had recently returned to New Orleans a few months ago after her husband had tragically died. Lobo could still hear his brothers screams from outside the house as he disappeared onto the streets. After Alastair had calmed down from the explosion with Lobo he returned to the issue at hand, "That may have been a bit harsh honey," Mary Commented turning towards her husband. Alastair didn't acknowledge his wife and continued with their previous conversation. "If the hybrids have been compromised, we will need to find a safe place for the orb, we can't be implicated in their creation. It would destroy everything we've worked so hard for." Alastair commanded with the others nodding in agreement. "What are we going to do about the hybrids, brother? If they aren't loyal to the Order anymore" Dick asked. Alastair then turned to them and smiled, "No need to worry, little brother. We have a plan B,".

Chapter 20: A Day out with a Demon

The morning sun rose over the city, followed by an icy breeze. Elijah sat motionless after the non-stop questions his family had spat at him all night long. He sat on a dining room chair drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee craving some double chocolate fudge cake to go with it. Just as he was getting to the end of his drink the candle on the table lit up with a green tint with Serena telling him to meet her in town in half an hour. With his family occupied in the other room he slowly made his way upstairs to finally change his bloodied t-shirt, something his interrogation had stopped him from doing. After quickly changing his shirt, he differed on whether to go back downstairs and leave through the front door and hope his family don't stop him or climb out the window and use the pipe to climb down. He decided on the latter and climbed out of the window clinging onto the water pipe for dear life as he successfully made his decent to ground level. He then met Serena in town where he was attacked with hugs from Nathan and Sarah "Dad!" Nathan called and Elijah embraced their hugs. Serena looked guiltily over to him, "They gave me the eyes," she responded, and Elijah looked back at her with his eyebrows raised in disbelief, "I couldn't resist," She insisted, and Elijah shook his head and scruffing up Nathans hair. "Dad stop that!" Nathan retaliated and they all laughed. Serena then led the four of them to the poorer area of the city to a small building. There was a sign out front saying New Orleans Medical center. They then proceeded to enter the building which compared to the outside was completely different it was well kept and clean as they reached the reception area. Serena took the lead in talking to the receptionist as Elijah and the children waited in the waiting room. The three of them sat next to the children's area where Nathan and Sarah played with the multiple toys at their disposal. Elijah watched their imaginations run wild playing as Serena sat down next to him, "The receptionist said shell see us soon," Serena said after she sat down. Elijah sat back turning his head towards Serena, "How long have you known Holly?" he asked curiously. Serena looked back at him, "er, about 80 years we met at the end of World War 2 and we became friends after that," She responded confidently. Elijah looked at her puzzled, "Is she a vampire?" He asked confused over her age. "No, Holly's a witch. She lives in the House of Thirds, the house was enchanted to stop the residents there from aging" Serena replied. Elijah was still confused but knew that magic was often unpredictable and left it at that. "Did you change your name on my phone" She asked suddenly. Elijah looked at her confused, "I didn't do anything to your phone, why?" Elijah replied. "I tried calling you this morning, but your caller id was different, it said 3794 instead of your name," Serena commented. Elijah squinted, "My number?" he whispered. Before he had a chance to think about it any further, they were called in to see Serena's old friend. Serena led the four of them to the room where a woman in her mid-30's with dark brown hair and blue eyes waiting inside. "Serena, how long has it been!" Holly cheered as she and Serena embraced, "Too long," Serena replied with Elijah, Nathan and Sarah standing awkwardly waiting in doorway. Holly's face turned upside down when she saw Elijah standing in the doorway, "Serena, you didn't bring him back from the dead did you?" Holly asked Serena concerned knowing that Serena husband and their child were killed 6 years ago. "No, no, no. It's not like that. He's Gabriel's doppelganger, Elijah," Serena exclaimed. Holly studied him and relaxed but then her face went pale as she turned to Serena, "Elijah as in Elijah Mikaelson?" Holly asked her heart pounding having recognised the original vampire and Serena nodded. "Get out! I cannot have an original vampire in my clinic Serena!' she argued now hyperventilating. "He needs your help!" Serena echoed back trying to get through to Holly. "What do you mean?" Holly asked calming down a little. "He isn't just a vampire anymore, he's something else," Serena replied. Holly looked at them confused, "Something else? Like…" She paused coming to the realization that he was a demon. "You've made a new hybrid? Are you crazy!?" She exclaimed, Serena looked at her "It wasn't intentional" Serena started, Nathan looking down guiltily at the floor. "I need your help, I'm not healing properly, and Serena said you may be able to help," Elijah interjected trying to move the conversation along, but Holly had become intrigued by the mark on his wrist. "What's that," she questioned pointing at his wrist. Elijah showed her the number on his wrist. Holly looked at in shock and shook her head. "The rumors were true." She whispered. Serena and Elijah looked at her perplexed. "There have been whispers that the Blood Order had been imprisoning people underground for as long as I can remember, but to see it actual be true is… devastating." She said sadly. Holly then walked over to the children and asked to see their numbers, they looked hesitantly at Elijah as if asking for permission. When Elijah gave them, the all clear they both showed there numbers to Holly, "You poor things," She sighed. She then turned her attention back to Serena and Elijah, "Lets see what needs to be healed then," Holly asserted, and Elijah began to remove his jacket and shirt revealing his scars. Holly stood for a minute in shock after seeing the multiple deep lashes imbedded in Elijah's back with small patches of blood dribbling down his back from the wounds. "The Blood Order did this to you?" Holly asked and Elijah nodded. "And healing it with magic didn't work?" Holly continued Serena shook her head, "We think it may be because of his ongoing transformation," Serena added. Holly looked down at Elijah's back trying to think about what she could do but had no idea where to start. "If magic didn't work, I don't think I can heal your back for you. But, I can bandage it for you to stop any infection and give you a recipe for a cream to stop the swelling. For both your back and your face," Holly replied softly. "That would be great," Serena replied. Holly then got a bandage out from her medical supplies unit and cleaned Elijah's back and put a bandage over his wounds to keep them clean. "What about these two little ones?" Holly asked looking at the children now sat on the chair watching Holly at work. "These two troublemakers are Sarah and Nathan." Serena replied to stroking Sarah's hair whilst the pair waved hiding behind Serena watching Holly's every move. "Don't worry you two I'm being as gentle as I can with your dad," she told them, and they started to emerge from behind Serena. Holly quickly bandaged up his back and Elijah put his shirt and jacket back on. "You should change the bandage daily to avoid any infection, I'm putting you two in charge to make sure he does, okay." Holly commanded turning towards the children. They looked happy to accept the responsibility, "We promise!" they grinned. Holly then went over to her desk found a pen and paper and wrote the recipe for the cream and passed it to Elijah "You should go to Kora's to get the supplies for the cream. But I will warn you prices have skyrocketed since all the plants we use for spells died," Holly said, Elijah gritting his teeth. "Thank you," Serena said to Holly with Elijah saying the same as they four of them went to leave. "I do hope that next time we met it's under better circumstances," Holly said saying goodbye to Serena and the others, "Me too, we shouldn't wait so long to catch up," Serena smiled. "Agreed. It was lovely meeting your new family," Holly smiled to Serena whilst waving at Nathan and Sarah. "Bye nice doctor lady," Sarah cried waving back leaving the room and from the hallway echoed, "Thanks for fixing my dad,". Elijah then followed them leaving Serena alone, "Take care of them. If the witches find out what they are, they will never see the light of day again," Holly warned Serena. Serena nodded and went to join the others who were waiting for her. "Mum, can we go to the park now?" Nathan begged. "We need to get your dads medicine first then we can maybe go to the park afterwards," she bargained with him, "and if you're a good boy we'll even get ice cream, what do you say?" She added. Nathan leapt for joy at the thought of ice cream as the family went off to find ingredients for Elijah's back.

It took longer than expected due to the fact they had to walk all the way to the other side of town being unable to use magic because of the distance. When they finally got to 'Kora's florists' a family run florist which happened to be run by a long line of witches. The shop doubled as both a florist and a witch flora supply and was the biggest supplier in the whole city. The four of them looked at the store it didn't look busy. Outside was a sign that in huge block letters read 'No entry to Mikealson's and on a line underneath that 'No entry to Peterson's'. "Mum, Dad what have you done?" Nathan joked with both Elijah and Sarah shrugging their shoulders. Nevertheless, they entered without any restrictions and saw the shelves that where usually filled with plants with magical properties where dusty and bare. Serena then hit Elijah on the shoulder and whispered, "You started a witch recession,". Elijah glared at her and the two went to scroll through the plants at the shop with the children curiously going around touching everything. Serena got out the list and looked at the ingredients she knew that she had seen most of them at the pack. She turned her attention to the last plant on the list a evernight flower, this was incredibly rare without the plant recession. Luckily, there was one tiny one left on the top shelf which she struggled to reach but managed to get eventually. Meanwhile Elijah was a few shelves down scooping up a similarly rare plant that was usually used for commas. "What are you doing with that, Holly's recipe says you need an evernight flower not, that," she quarreled. "I know, but I used to make a healing child as a potion as a child and you need one of these," he answered back holding the Orchid out in front of Serena. Serena tutted and shook her head, "How typical, you have a list of specific ingredients and you're choosing not to follow it. Why?" Serena questioned him. Elijah looked at her perplexed not sure what she was talking about, "What? I just want to try something that's all," he tried to assure her but she stated to become more aggravated, "Why risk it when you have a perfectly good remedy right here!" she argued waving the paper in his face, Elijah didn't know why she was so angry at him, but before he could reply they were interrupted by a voice of a women, "Can you two take your lovers quarrel outside? This is a shop not a brothel". The pair jumped back looking frantically at each other and turned their attention to the voice where a young brown-haired women stood glaring back at them, "were not dating," Serena called back. The moment she said that the women's jaw dropped at she recognised the pair, "How did you even get in here! I never invited you in" She shouted. Elijah and Serena looked awkwardly at each other not sure on what to say next. Serena gulped, "I invited him, and I used a spell to get in," Serena confidentiality lied. The women sighed, "4 generations, my family has had this shop and had the No originals- Vampire or Demon rule, and now that's gone" she started pausing for a moment before moving on "Never mind, you've been my only magical customers all day, how can I help" she said sadly. "Business not going well then?" Serena questioned. "Not since all the magical plants died. Thank God for the florist sideshow, it's the only thing keeping me afloat at the moment" the woman replied. "I'm so sorry. We want to purchase these..." Serena began turning to Elijah grabbing the Orchid from his hand and turning back to the shop keeper. They then walked over to the counter where the shop keeper wrapped them up the flowers in brown paper and Serena paid, "Just out of curiosity, what do you plan to do with them?" she asked Serena as she bagged up the flowers. "We're planning to use them for some healing remedies," Serena told her. The shop keeper looked intrigued, "where are you getting the other ingredients from, I haven't been able to get my hands on anything,". "The wolves managed to save some plants before the crisis," Elijah interrupted trying to get out the shop. The shop keeper continued to be intrigued by the conversation, "Oh really?" Elijah then had a light bulb moment, the wolves needed a steady income and them being the main provider of magical plants to the biggest magic florist would be ideal and would benefit both parties, "They managed to save a lot of different varieties, maybe you could go over there and see if you like them, maybe we could work out a deal," Elijah suggested and watched her face seriously consider his proposal, "I didn't see you as much of a business man," she joked. "I don't wear suits just for fun." Then from behind them there was the noise of something smashing on the floor, they turned around and Nathan and Sarah had knocked over a small vase from where they were playing. "Were sorry" the two children uttered them looking guiltily at the floor. "Nathan!" Serena ushered pulling the children towards her. "Oh, don't worry about it, it was on its way out anyway" the shop keeper smiled. The children cheered up after this, and the shop keeper turned her attention back to Elijah's proposal, "Anyway, I've kept you long enough, but I shall have to come to the pack and see for myself. Maybe we can figure something out, cause the prices the council are charging at the moment are extortionate" the shop keeper "I'll tell Alpha Peter that…" he paused not knowing her name, "Kora, after my great grandmother" Kora filled in the blanks, "I'll tell him you may call" he said grabbing a pen of the counter and writing Peters phone number on it and passing it to her, with her studying it intensely and smiling. The four of them went to leave the shop with Kora quickly stopping them to give Nathan and Sarah a lollypop. "Thank you" the two children politely thanked her and continued to follow their parents outside, "can we go to the park now?" Nathan begged. Serena and Elijah looked at each other nodding to confirm their answer before Serena turned to Nathan and Sarah with a huge smile on her face, "Okay, let's go". The children erupted with excitement as the four of them made their way to the park.

When they arrived, the playground was full of life, children darting around and their Parents shouting their names after them in the far distance. Elijah and Serena watched Nathan and Sarah run off to join the playground commotion whilst they sat on an empty bench with a good view of the whole playground, keeping a sharp eye on their two troublemakers. Serena turned to Elijah sitting next to her for some reason feeling a little jealous of his conversation with Kora, "did you have to flirt with her?". Elijah looked back at her confused, "I did no such thing. I was just utilizing business for the pack" defending himself unsure why Serena was upset, "By flaunting your brown eyes and suit at her?" She snapped back. But before they could argue about it any further, they both had an overwhelming feeling that they were being watched. They both slowly began to turn around to try and see if they could find out who it was, trying not to be inconspicuous in doing so. But, they couldn't locate whoever it was, feeling uneasy Elijah went to get off the bench to collect the children but was stopped by a voice pepping from the right of him, "Serena, old friend". Elijah looked at where the voice was coming from and saw a woman of a thin stature with long brown hair and blue eyes staring back at them. Serena's face dropped, Elijah watched her demeanour shift to more defensive, he could tell by her reaction they weren't friends. "Millicent, fancy seeing you here" Serena told her coldly. "You know me, I was in the area and saw you, thought I would say hello." She said friendly, "You've said hello, now piss off" Serena roared back. "Now that's not nice, you haven't even introduced me to your hunk of a friend here" Millicent told her off. Trying not to elevate the situation Elijah extended his hand introducing himself, "I'm Elijah" in the background Serena's voice sarcastically echoed, "Be careful, she bites" Elijah immediately retracted his hand. Millicent then began to stare at him, "Elijah, huh? For a moment I thought you had brought your husband back from the dead, Serena. He does know about that doesn't he?" she laughed, and Serena frowned, "You would know all about that wouldn't you". "Oh, you're not still upset about that, are you? It's been 6 years" Millicent's response caused Serena's anger to rise. Then Nathan and Sarah ran up from behind them, full of excitement. "Did you see us Da.." Nathan began but was cut off by Elijah putting his hand over his mouth, Nathan looked confused then got the idea and Elijah removed his hand. "Oh look at you in your little suit, you're so adorable. Is he yours?" Millicent asked Elijah as she bent down to Nathan squeezing his checks. Elijah didn't know what to say, "No, there not were just babysitting for the wolves" he replied quickly seeing Nathan and Sarah's heartbroken faces, making him feel guilty as he really did love them like they were his children. "So, their werewolves? How interesting.". She said standing back up and the children feeling the tension from their parents grabbed Elijah's hand hiding behind him. "Anything else? Or do you intend to stay here and torture us with your presence?" Serena fired back sarcastically. Millicent chuckled, "I told you I just wanted to say hello," she then turned to Elijah looking to his eyes as if she was trying to compel him, "We should go out some time," she suggested, "I won't be going anywhere with you" she looked surprised by his response proving she was trying to compel him. "Hm, we'll see. I can't let Serena have all the fun," she laughed looking up and down at Elijah seductively before darting off into the distance, leaving the four of them alone in thought. "I hate that bitch!" Serena shouted, Elijah giving her a disapproving look gesturing to the children who were standing their open mouthed and shocked, "Don't EVER repeat what I just said, okay?" she told them and they nodded. Elijah then turned to the children, "I didn't mean what I said, okay?" they looked back at him, "We know dad, but just to prove it to us can we have ice cream?" Elijah and Serena smiled and shook their heads, "How about we get some cupcakes? There's a bakery not to far from here" Serena suggested and all their faces lit up, "You had me at cupcakes" Elijah smiled feeling a craving for something sweet. The family then went off to the bakery hand and hand to go eat some cupcakes. But Elijah had an ongoing suspicion that Millicent wasn't the person who was watching them at the park.

Chapter 21: The dangers of Family Therapy

After a long day running errands and eating cupcakes the family of four began to slowly tread their way back to the pack. Upon their arrival Alpha Peter and Ash welcomed them with coffee and open arms. "I got a call from a girl called Kora? She says she spoke to you about the possibility of seeing the plants that you overgrew and setting up a deal?" Peter told him and Elijah realised he hadn't told him, "I was meant to tell you about that" he assured him taking off his shoes that were killing his feet. "Well, I thought as much and she is coming tomorrow morning" Peter told him before looking behind him for a letter and going up to Elijah with it, "I got this today as well. It's about the unification of the packs," Elijah then took the letter reading it, "I remember, your pack are the original cursed pack, so all wolves have descended from you. When the original pack went missing the wolves separated into seven main packs. The unification would be the first time all wolves have been together for over 300 years" Elijah told Peter and Ash. "I was wondering if you could go with me, like the witch meeting?" Peter asked. Elijah sighed, "I can't. Only wolves are permitted at the meeting" Peter looked at him with pleading eyes, "is there a way you can come anyway? I don't want to make a fool out of myself". Elijah felt the pressure weighing down on him, "I'll see what I can do," he caved but the look on Peters face made the decision worth it, the wolves would need support if they were going to war with the Blood Order. They spent about an hour talking about what to expect at the meeting until Elijah got a phone call from Kol saying that Ester had enrolled them into family therapy tomorrow afternoon and that everyone was expected to come.

The following morning the pack was up bright and early cleaning for their expected guest. Thanks to the hybrids vampire speed they were able to clean the whole pack grounds in a matter of minutes. Elijah and Alpha Peter who were in the packhouse feeding the children emerged from the house impressed with the packs valiant efforts cleaning the pack. "What do you think Dad?" Ash asked his dad, his face masked with mud, "It's amazing son, you all did an amazing job. Now go get yourself cleaned up," Ash pleased with his father's praise went inside the pack house to have a shower, "Try not to get mud everywhere please, Ash" Peter told him just as he entered the packhouse and was met with a "I won't". He then turned to Elijah, "He will" and the pair both laughed, Nathan and Sarah running out of the pack house behind him, "Where's Serena and the others?" Peter asked remembering not seeing the Peterson's this morning. "They had something they needed to do" Elijah told him not remembering what it was despite Serena telling him, just remembering that it involved all three of them. Soon afterwards they heard the sound of approaching footsteps from the packs entrance and from it emerged Kora, who then waved at Elijah and started to walk up to him. When she reached out extending her hand to Peter, "Hi, I'm Kora. You must be Peter, we spoke on the phone" Alpha Peter shook her hand, "Hi Kora, I believe you already know Elijah..." he paused hearing Ash fall down the stairs "and this is my son, Ash" he said as Ash recovered getting off the floor appearing on the pack house porch. Kora looked at the two men, "Your doppelgangers? First case I've seen" She said, "There's plenty out there" Elijah reassured her. Ash then extended his left arm, and she continued to look intrigued, "Your left-handed? And your right-handed? Doppelgangers are thought to be exact physical replicas, this changes everything. This means that doppelgangers genetics aren't necessarily as pre-disposed as we originally thought, this is amazing!" Kora went off on a tangent leaving the boys confused. "Should we get to the reason you are here? I'm sure Ash and Elijah will answer your questions in due course" Peter intervened trying to hurry her up, knowing that Elijah had somewhere he needed to be in a matter of hours. "Of course," and the boys lead her to the garden of flowers which the witches used for spells. Kora seemed immediately impressed by how well the flowers were kept. She bent down to examine each species, Elijah could tell she was impressed. But to seal the deal he grabbed the orchid from the pack house along with a bowl and grabbed a stone of the ground, before returning to Kora and the others, "I can show you the effectiveness and make a healing potion," he said placing the leaves of the orchid in the bowl and grabbing the wild plants which were also part of the recipe. He crushed the plants in the bowl using the stone until it created a paste, all well Kora was watching the process behind his shoulder. He then boiled some water and added it to the paste, turning it into a liquid substance, "It works faster in liquid form" he told her. They then got Caleb, who had cut his leg when he fell out of a tree to be the Guinea pig, giving the liquid to him to drink. They then watched in awe as in a matter of seconds the cut on Caleb's leg healed. Kora got up a warm smile on her face, "You have a deal on two conditions" Elijah looked at her confused, "What conditions?" "Number one you let me observe you and Ash. And secondly you continue to make healing potions, which I will pay extra for of course" she told him. Elijah saw this as a victory the pack would now have a steady income, agreeing with Kora's condition Elijah, Kora and Peter went to write a contract and secure an amount for the flowers but thankfully Kora was on the same page delivering an extremely generous offer for their services and a 50/50 profit on the healing potions. A fair deal that benefited both parties immensely, "Pleasure doing business with you" she smiled as she signed the contract and left the pack with Aries helping her take her first load of plants to her store. The pack celebrated the new deal, and something good happening for the first time since leaving the pits. But Elijah couldn't celebrate for long as Rebecca called him reminding him about the family therapy in 20 minutes, "That took a long time" he uttered under his breath as he quickly said his goodbyes to the children and the rest of the pack before darting off to the community hall, hearing the wolves' voices echoing 'until the next life' growing fainter behind him.

Arriving at the community hall with only a few minutes to spare, the effect of his transformation on his vampire abilities were becoming more prominent, as he was much slower than he usually would be. He went inside the hall, completely forgetting about being invited. The hall itself was huge the walls plastered with information of various Youth groups and pictures. In the centre of the room were multiple blank canvases on stilts, making him feel like he was in the wrong place. Then Klaus and the rest of his family emerged from a supply closet hidden in the back of the room carrying a bunch of painting supplies. But he was surprised seeing Serena and the rest of her family come out behind them. Upon seeing him both families waved at him simultaneously with them exchanging weird looks to one another. As the two families went to their canvases, Klaus handed Elijah some art supplies before moving to the canvas next to him. Serena's father was across the room finally connecting the dots working out where he recognised Elijah from, "Your one of Mikael's sons!" He shouted from across the room to Elijah, "I knew your father, that's why you looked familiar!" He bellowed, everyone just staring at him awkwardly, his wife nudging his shoulder. But before anyone cottoned on to the fact that for him to say that he would have had to of met Elijah before, a woman appeared, "Welcome to your first session of family therapy, I'm Melanie!". Her voice was annoyingly high and optimistic as she quickly glanced at a piece of paper she was holding. She looked up again waving her auburn blonde bangs out of her eyes, "You guys must be the Mikaelsons" she began pointing to them and "you are the Petersons." She turned towards them with Alex waving her hand up like a beauty pageant queen. Serena glaring at her causing her to immediately put her hand down. "Today, it's about me getting to know you and your families, through your individual expressions of art.". They all looked at each other wondering what Ester had signed them up for, this wasn't like any therapy they had ever heard of before. They then began painting. Elijah watched his siblings pick up their paint brushes and start painting, filling their canvases with colour, whilst he stared at his unsure on what to paint. He looked at Serena who looked like she was the same problem, her arms crossed focusing on the canvas until their eyes met. Where they then partook in a form of charades with Serena waving her arms around trying to tell him something, but for the life of him couldn't tell what. She kept gesturing to slicing her throat which she then followed through into putting her thumbs behind her back, she did this several times and it still did not make any sense to him. But he could see she was getting more frustrated with every passing moment, Elijah just mouthing "what?" back to her. "This is family therapy not speed dating, cut it out you two" Melanie shouted seeing the two of them trying to communicate when they should of been painting. Klaus than hit Elijah on the shoulder "focus" he said. Elijah looked back at him he already started painting an outline of beautiful woodland with a river in the centre, he then turned back to the task as hand trying to think of his own painting, all inspiration illuding him. Without warning he felt someone grab his shoulder from behind catching him off guard, he bore his fangs to see James standing behind him. He then retracted his fangs, "James!" he shouted. He then looked around that everyone was still painting. "Do you want to come with us?" he asked, Elijah looked puzzled, "Go where?" James smiled, "There are rumours of an underground cavern under the city, were going to check it out want to come with us?" James informed him. Elijah looked at his empty canvas before turning back to James, "Okay". "Come on then, I've already done a spell, they won't even notice were gone" James assured him, and Elijah followed him outside meeting up with Alex and Serena. Upon seeing him Serena laughed, "I tried to ask you" and Elijah turned back to, "That's what that was? I wasn't sure if you were threatening me" and the pair both shared a flirtatious smile. "Listen you two, my spell will last for just over 2 hours. This gives us about an hour and 30 minutes to find and explore the caverns" James said excitedly. The four of them then went off to find the entrance to the underground tunnels and continued to go deeper underground until they were engulfed in darkness only a line of light green flames from old wall mounted lanterns providing them with any light but even this was short lived with them reaching a dead end, "Is this part where you dagger me and leave me for dead?" Elijah asked the Petersons, but they ignored him using the light on their phones to examine the wall. Elijah watched as the siblings found an inconsistency in the wall, "look, this part is raised" Alex told her siblings as they diverted their attention to the spot, brushing away the cobwebs feeling something engraved on the top, "Look at this, this is early ancient tongue, I can barely read it. Can you Serena?" James said stepping back making way for Serena. She looked at the engraving trying to make sense of it, "I can't make out most of it but from the bits I can understand it says, 'Beware something gate something near'" she told them. "Well, that's reassuring" James rubbed his hand against his head. "Should we press it?" Serena asked with them all shrugging her shoulders as they watched James step forward pressing the raised part into the wall. At first nothing happened, disappointment flooded on their faces, when suddenly the cracks in the wall started to glow red and they began to hear a sound echoing throughout the cavern, like a raging avalanche. Without warning the ground gave way from underneath them, the four of them falling through the hole plummeting into the darkness below. There was a deep moan from the bundles of bodies piled on the floor. "Get off me!" James called constrained from the bottom of the pile. "I can't feel my leg" the voice of Alex shakily echoed. "Alex that's my leg" Serena told her pushing whoever was next to her over. The four of them slowly began to regain their footing feeling around the darkness, Serena finding Elijah's hand grasped onto it tightly. Then a lime fire lit further down the middle of the tunnel and a chain reaction started to occur with fires lighting up from the old candle holders illuminating the tunnel. They slowly crept down the tunnel to the main source of light, Elijah and Serena further ahead of the others. They reached the end of the tunnel, around the fire was several small pillars that Serena saw had more messages in ancient tongue engraved onto them, "James, Alex you need to see this!" she shouted. But before her siblings could get any closer James accidently sprung a trap, causing a rock door to slam shut locking Elijah and Serena inside the room. The separated pairs ran to the door full of panic, "SERENA! ELIJAH!!" the siblings shouted as they tried banging on the door and pulling it open with no luck. On the other side of the door Elijah and Serena could hear their muffled voices trying to open the door, "James! Can you get us out?" Serena shouted from the top of her voice, Elijah trying to pull the door with his demon transformation betraying him. Instead, placing his ear against the door to hear James' response, "No. But we will find a way to get you out" Elijah made out hearing the vibrations of the pair stumbling about. "Were going to be here a while" Serena mumbled under her breath sitting next to fire on the fire on the floor. Elijah giving up on hearing whatever they were saying did the same sitting next to her, "I wonder what these are for?" he questioned looking at the pillars. This catching Serena's attention looked at the one closest to her but found the engraving to be illegible. "Were going to be stuck here for a while, why don't we do something, so we aren't bored to death before they find a way to get that door open" Serena suggested, Elijah liked the idea, "like what?". Serena thought about this for a moment before she came up with an idea, "How about we tell each other something that you've never told anyone in your entire life before". An awkward silence resonated in the cavern. Elijah sighed, "Okay. Whenever my family asked what my first memory was, I lied, often telling them it was something stupid like playing in the meadow or welding my first sword". Serena listened intensely, but grew curious about what it actually was, "If you don't mind me asking, what is your first memory?" she watched him become uneasy shuffling his position on the floor before turning back to her, "I was around Nathans age, I did something wrong, I can't remember what now. But I remember my father being mad about whatever It was, beating me over it, my mother not doing anything to stop him. After he finished, he turned to me and said, "you should have died instead of Freya. You can't miss something you've never met", then I was made to plough the field by myself," he recalled Serena staring at him open mouthed in disbelief, her face riddled with shock, "I'm so sorry". Elijah smiled weakly back at her, "your turn". This caught Serena off guard, still engrossed in Elijah's confession. Elijah turned is head looking at her, his eyes open like a dog begging for a treat as he waited for her answer. Serena smiled softly, "It wasn't James fault that Noah was murdered, it was mine. When our village was attacked my dad went with the other men to fight back. Alex wasn't home and mother went after her with her bow to bring her back home safely," she paused taking a deep breath as her eyes began to water, "But before she did, she put James in charge of the three of us. I grew restless wanting to help my parents and ran outside. James followed me and stopped me from getting killed, and he dragged me back to the house. But when we got there, Noah was gone. We looked around for him and shortly after, we found his lifeless body on the floor with Freya standing over him his heart in one hand and a bloody dagger in the other, she had cut out his heart. She was our friend, and she did that to our little brother. But I blamed James, telling him that it was his fault for going after me and leaving Noah behind. We barely spoke after that," she told him, holding back her tears causing her blue eyes to pop against the lime green flames. "Freya never told us any of this," Elijah told her shuffling next to her putting his arm around her where she leaned on his shoulder, "Why would she? She only did it to be initiated into the Blood Order, which she didn't even stay in" Serena answered his question, then hearing someone knocking on the door. The pair then rushed over to the door placing their ears against the door, hearing James on the other side yelling, "We found a lever, we're going to push it". They then heard a faint clicking sound, followed by a huge bang but the door didn't open. "James, it didn't do anything!" Serena shouted by the door, Elijah turned around hearing a trickling sound that he hadn't heard before, he then felt something cold and wet run across his feet. Looking down he saw his reflection staring back at him illuminated by the slowly dying green flames, the cavern was filling up with water. Serena noticing this screamed, "The rooms flooding!!" pounding on the door. Elijah attempted to force the door open but wasn't strong enough, losing his grip and falling over, the water level rising so fast that his suit was soaked through.

The water was quickly rising through the cavern, Serena began to panic throb her fists at the door as the water approached their waist level, throbbing so hard that her hands began to bleed "Were going to drown!" she screamed. Elijah was trekking through the water trying to find entrance points to try and block to give them more time to find a way out but was having no luck. Then they as the water rose above their waists the lime green fire from the centre piece began to fade and they slowly began to be submerged in a blanket of darkness until all light had been eliminated from the cavern, leaving Serena and Elijah in total darkness. "Elijah!" Serena shouted panickily not being able to see anything. She then felt something grab her hand, and as a reflex she turned around punching him in the shoulder. "Serena, it's me" Elijah's voice told her, she then found his hand grabbing onto it not letting go. The water hastily began to fill up the room, now as Serena's shoulder level and the room was only a few feet above Elijah's head, they knew time was quickly running out. "Could you hurry up?! We're running out of air!" Serena screamed at the top her lungs, but all she heard was the frantic movements of her siblings running amok on the other side of the door. "Have you ever drowned before?" Serena asked Elijah, "Can't say that I have, no" his voice echoed throughout the cavern, "Me either". The water rising just below her chin, Elijah grabbing her hips pulling her up to his eye level, giving her some extra room to breathe. Which if they weren't fighting for their lives Serena would have seen as an intimate moment between them. Then the moment came when the water went above their heads and the pair still holding hands, swam upwards to the little air gap that was left. "Hurry up! Were out of time!" Serenas last words echoed as they took one last huge breath before becoming completely submerged in the water. Their senses deprived they tried to make their way back down to the door diving deep into the ebony abyss. Feeling around they found the door entrance and they blindly tried to tug at it with no luck. Elijah could feel the water slowly making its way to his lungs and gathering form the warm bubbles of air he could feel from Serena, she was experiencing the same. He began to feel faint any vision he did have was quickly seeping away, a deep haze starting to form over his eyes, Serenas grip on Elijah's hand slowly began to loosen as the pair began to drift into a state of unconsciousness which for anyone else would have meant death. With one last failed attempt at pulling the door open they succumbed to brutal cold of the water losing the fight of consciousness as their bodies became lifeless husks floating in darkness.

A loud creek echoed from outside the room as the rock door slowly began to open. The water and its contents escaping to the halls, like a flash flood the water flooded the hall finding a route to escape out of the tunnel devouring anything in its path. Alex and James becoming victims to the raw strength of the flood as it carried them with it on its journey to freedom. Finally depositing them in what looked like an underground sewer. Alex and James barely being able to compose themselves from the excitement. But then they saw Serena and Elijah's bodies face down from where the water had dropped them off. Without a second thought they both rushed over to them taking one body each as they turned them over tilting their head backwards to clear their airways, where they proceeded to give them 5 rescue breaths. After Alex had provided the rescue breaths Serena started to cough, where in response Alex turned her on her side to get her to cough the water out as she regained consciousness. Elijah was being stubborn, with James having to move onto a round of CPR before he started responding to the resuscitation, coughing out the water in his lungs, "Thank god, you stubborn bastard" James smiled, hitting Elijah in the chest by accident. Alex and James then moved Elijah and Serena out of the shallow waters of the sewers to a small path of concrete on the edge of the sewer so they could recover, whilst they looked for a way out. As they waited for the others to return back, Elijah and Serena leaned against the wall with their hands unknowingly weaved together, "Well that was certainly interesting" Elijah smiled turning his head towards Serena, she just laughed "Better then family therapy?". Elijah chuckled, "definitely. But next time let's not kill ourselves in the excitement" Serena smiled back at him, "Next time?". But before they could flirt anymore Alex and James returned having found a way out of the sewer. "You ready to go?" James called from the tunnel; they got up following him through the tunnel to a ladder that ascended upwards to a sewage drain cover. James took the lead climbing to the top of the ladder sliding the cover off so they could get out. He then climbed out confirming everything was okay before calling the others up. Serena went up first and after a small argument over the principle of chivalry Elijah followed, then Alex came up from behind him and James pushed the sewer cap back in place. The sudden source of light blinding them with them all covering their eyes and squinting as their eyes readjusted to the natural light of the sun. When they were able to see again, they realised they were outside Kora's flower shop, which thanks to their earlier business arrangement was now booming with business. Kora seeing Elijah from the window waved at them, which Elijah waved back. "Guys we have 10 minutes to get back to therapy before my spell runs out and they find out we ditched" James said showing the time on his phone that was surprisingly still working. "But the community centre is halfway across town we'll never make it" Serena informed them. "Not to worry dear sister, I've got this" Alex said proceeding to break into a car trying to hotwire it. They followed her trying not to look inconspicuous, "I could just compel someone" Elijah suggested but was cut off by Alex, "Let me have this, Elijah". Elijah then got out of her way standing arms crossed as several people he knew walked past them giving him weird looks. Then they heard the roar of the car engine starting, where they proceeded to get into the car and drive to the community centre, "We have 6 minutes" James informed them as Alex pressed down on the acceleration panel, "We'll make it in three" as she danced her way around the other cars in the street, not even breaking once, speeding their way all the way to the community centre, "remind me not to get on your bad side Alex" James huffed as he was being pulled left and right for only his seatbelt as protection. After parking the car, they rushed inside leaving behind a trail of water, the four of them still soaking wet from their misadventure. They peered around seeing everyone was still painting, a sure sign that James' spell was still in effect. They then crept off to their own spots acting if nothing had happened. Elijah silently creeping past his siblings to make it to his blank canvas at the end of the room. When he made it back, Klaus instinctively lifted his head up sniffing the air around him smelling the lingering smell of sewers, leaning over to Elijah. But, he was interrupted by their family therapist, "all right everyone, that's time. Now everyone put down your paint brushes and let's see what you've painted" she said in her high pitched, annoyingly optimistic voice treating them like school children. Then as told both families put down their brushes and turned their canvases for everyone to see. "Okay some beautiful houses and garden paintings from Mr and Mrs Peterson" she then turned to Serena and her siblings, who had fairly basic and childlike drawings as a result of only being in the room for a grand total of 5 minutes before they ditched. James had drawn his family as stickmen, showing minimum effort. Melanie then moved down the line to Alex who had painted a decapitated head and labelled it as 'my enemy', "I think we need to book you in for some private sessions" Melanie commented disturbed. Serena's picture was an oval and a squiggly line attached to it which if looked at with a dirty mind or a different angle someone could presume it was a painting of sperm, which was not her intention. Melanie was left open mouthed at the Peterson siblings lack of creative etiquette and talent and decided to move on to the not so creatively challenged Mikaelson family. "Okay let's see what your family has painted" Melanie began looking through the paintings, Ester and Freya painted their own artistic expression of a flower garden, Rebecca had painted a portrait of a flower vase and Kol had painted their childhood home. Klaus proudly showed his complete painting of a forest with a river down the centre, perfectly painted and contrasted, "That is beautiful" she praised him moving on to Elijah's blank canvas. She looked at him with a disapproving look in her eyes, "Middle child?". Elijah looked at her puzzled, "What?" "Are you the middle child?" she asked again. "If you cut out Nicklaus, yes?" he answered not sure where this was going. "Classic middle child manoeuvre, You didn't paint anything as an outcry for affection from your family" She told him, He began to get irritated, "That is not true" he told her. But she just looked at him as if he was lying, "Well it looks like I got my work cut out for me. Both of your families are extremely dysfunctional and need work". The siblings then dispersed leaving the details to their parents, Kol slipping over on a puddle of water on his way out. No one could contain their laughter.

After they made sure Kol was okay the families went their separate ways, Elijah quicky popping back to his house with his siblings to have a quick shower before to remove the sewer stench embedded in his skin. Eliminating the smell proved to be no easy feet with him having to use a whole bottle of lavender wash just to numb the poignant smell. But once he no longer smelt of sewage he got out of the shower got dressed where soon after he received a call from Peter which he was amazed his phone was still working after the days earlier events. He then held the phone far enough away from his face that he wouldn't be electrocuted but close enough that he could hear what he was saying, he told him that Kora wanted to order more healing potions as they had sold out in a matter of minutes, "That's good. How many does she need?" Elijah asked into the bottom of his phone, "She has a pre-order of 24" Elijah was shocked as the success of the healing potions, "Tell the children I'll be right there," he said hanging up the phone. Before he rushed off he snuck into Freya's old room retrieving an old stone pot and herb crusher from the top of the wardrobe brushing the blanket of dust from it. He then left the house without saying a word to his siblings who were gathered on the sofa and rushed off to the pack to not only see Nathans and Sarah but fulfil the orders of healing potions as well. Arriving at the pack he quickly said hello to the children and got to work on the order of healing potions. Thanks to the Petersons, who had come to the pack strait after family therapy, they managed to make enough for the order and then some before the sun began to set. Elijah and Serena put the children to bed before they made their way downstairs sitting on the porch whilst the others were making hot drinks. "What a day" Serena sighed as the pair looked into the dark sky glistening with stars. "We died" Elijah chuckled Serena nudging his shoulder smiling at him, "technically." She replied her mood changing, "I know it's silly, we can't die, by drowning anyway. But, when we were stuck down there, I felt so scared that I would never see Nathan again. That I wouldn't be able to tell him I love him ever again. I feel like such a fool." She confessed Elijah looking at her complexed, "You're no fool, you're his mother. If you had any other thoughts going through your head, then I would be concerned". Serena weakly smiled back at him, "Promise you won't tell anyone what I told you in the cavern" with him nodding, "If you promise to do the same". Serena agreed, "What happened in the cavern, stays in the cavern" the pair laughed as Alex, James, Ash and Peter joined them on the porch passing them a cup of coffee each, which they accepted gratefully. Peter looked at Elijah with a disapproving look on his face, "you didn't tell me you almost drowned at family therapy today".

Chapter 22: A Day of Disguise

A few days later Elijah was staring at himself in the mirror not recognising his reflection staring back at him. His promise to Alpha Peter to mange to go to the Wolf meeting had gotten him into a mess of posing as waiter to keep an eye on Peter. The Peterson's had helped him embrace his new persona with James creating a necklace which alerted his physical appearance. When Elijah placed the necklace around his neck, he watched his hair fade to a dusky blonde, accompanied by a pair of sapphire blue eyes and his nose appearing to be smaller and thinner, he felt like he had died and had woken up in someone else's body. To top it all off Serena went along his cheeks with an eyebrow pencil drawing fake freckles, finishing off his look. The siblings finished with the look turned to each other and high fived, "No one will recognise him!" Alex said excitedly. "I barely recognise me" he told them not happy with the drastic change in his appearance. Serena turned reassuring him, "It's only for a few hours, then as soon as the meeting is over you just take off the necklace, then you're you again" she patted him on the shoulder. At that exact moment Peter came down the stairs wearing smart trousers and a shirt, with a black leather jacket on top. He then walked into the room seeing a stranger in front of him, "Who are you?" the Peterson siblings smiled, "That is brilliant!". Peter then realised it was Elijah, "Son, what have they done to you?" he questioned touching his face, "Don't worry. It's a spell, it's not permanent". Elijah realising the time was running late and he went to leave, "Remember to try and loose the accent" Serena called just as he left, "Okay!" he shouted back as they watched him dash away into the distance. About 20 minutes later Alpha Peter left anxiously awaiting meeting other werewolves for the first time. Ash then came in to tell him he looked nice, and Peter said his goodbyes before heading off to the meeting, hoping that it went well for the sake of the pack.

An anxious Peter arrived outside the restaurant, taking a deep breath before entering. The restaurant emanated with a classic feel. Fancy tablecloths spread out amongst the tables ahead and had a beautiful crystal chandelier as its centrepiece. He walked in and immediately saw a large table with seven people sitting down talking amongst themselves. But they fell silent hearing Peters approach. The seven alpha's were a large mix of sex, race and nationality which Peter was pleased to see, he then gulped, "Hi, I am Peter, Alpha of the new moon pack" he said as confidently as he could. The other pack Alphas raised from their seats walking over to Peter, shaking his hand, "Nice to meet you" they all told him in different variations, last to do so was Freya's wife who kindly smiled at him. They then all sat down and introduced themselves, Peter could tell from the reactions of the Alpha's that Keegan was the Alpha to look out for. He was tall and strong, if he challenged him Peter knew he probably wouldn't come out alive. They then began talking about what had happened to the original pack when a disguised Elijah emerged from the kitchen carrying a bottle of red wine slowly serving it to the wolves, when the Keegan grabbed him by the wrist, which caused Peter to become tense gripping a knife in his hand, his paternal instincts kicking in, "Don't you have anything stronger?" he asked him. This relieved Peters tension, and his grip on the knife. Elijah looked at him and bit his lip doing his best attempt at mimicking Ash's voice, "We have some Whiskey that may be to your liking" with him coming so close to Ash's voice making him feel proud of himself, "That will do" the Alpha replied as Elijah went to retrieve it from the kitchen with one of the female Alpha's staring at his ass as he did. "Anyway, enough chit chat. Let's discuss why were hear the unification of our eight great packs" Keegan began with Elijah walking back Into the room with the bottle of whiskey and stayed there back against the wall as Peter commanded him to. "Yes, our pack has been prisoners our whole lives, the unification of the packs would provide us with much needed protection" Peter agreed. "We want to go forward with it, but we all have one request that needs to happen before our packs are unified" Keegan paused looking at the other Alphas and with their approval he continued, "We need you to remove the hybrids from the pack". Peter wore a look of disgust as he stared down at the other Alphas in the room. But before, he could say anything there was a gust of wind followed by an icy chill as the door burst open with Klaus following in behind it, "Why didn't anyone tell me there was a party?" he came in with a gleaming smile on his face. "You weren't invited" Keegan scowled. "Well I'm here now" he said looking around for a chair finding one and dragging it across the floor the scrapping creating a horrible ear piercing sound. Only stopping when he saw Elijah, looking like he knew him but couldn't figure out where from, then he continued to drag the chair next to Freya's wife and his sister-in law. He then sat down in the chair, "Please continue" he said with a menacing smile on his face placing his legs on the table. Elijah removed himself from the room and went into the kitchen seeing the back door open, and bloody corpses scattered across the floor, the Klaus Mikaelson effect. Back in the hall there was a moment of awkward silence before the Alpha's turned to Peter, "No. The hybrids are family. I already lost them once, I will not lose them again," Peter shut them down. "Our packs have not been unified for over 300 years and you would throw that away because of some artificial hybrids?" Keegan questioned him. Peter not backing down proving his superiority as Alpha of the original wolf pack turned to him, "No hybrids, no unification. I would rather have my son and the other hybrids in the pack over a bunch of pathetic wolves who can't even stand up to an original, no offense" Peter roared at them turning to Klaus. Klaus who was enjoying every moment just turned to Peter, "No worries" with a gleaming smile on his face, feeling glad that he had crashed the meeting. "Then this meeting is over. I hope for your sake the hybrids are worth the trouble" Keegan said getting up and leaving the restaurant the remaining alphas slowly doing the same. Leaving behind an ongoing silence with Klaus and Peter embezzled within. "I don't believe we've met; I'm-" Klaus began but was cut off by Peter, I know who you are, your brother has told me all about you". Klaus was surprised, "funny, he hasn't mentioned you" Klaus dwelled on this for a short moment before turning curiously back to him, "How do you have hybrids in your pack? Only me and my daughter can make them." Peter turned to him and sighed, "My pack was experimented on," The room felt silence once more, Klaus feeling guilty that he asked, "Listen, why don't you and your son come round for dinner. I could use some decent company". Peter feeling trapped knew he didn't have a choice and reluctantly agreed, ready to meet the rest of the infamous Mikaelson siblings. "A change of scenery may be nice" Peter confirmed the invitation. "Great, tell Elijah to be there at 6, I'm sure you'll see him before me." He said as both men got up and shook hands before leaving the restaurant. Peter waited outside, watching Klaus run off before Elijah emerged from the alleyway still in disguise. "What took you so long?" Elijah asked him removing the necklace from around his neck and in turn his masked façade, the only part of his disguise left being his drawn on freckles, "Your brother invited the three of us for dinner tomorrow". Elijah looked at his confused, "the three of us?" "Me, you and Ash" Peter informed him witnessing Elijah's face turn deathly pale, "You could have said no". "Son, I may be old but I'm not stupid. I wasn't going to deny an invitation from your brother when he could of killed me right then and there," . Elijah sighed, "I haven't told them about me and Ash yet" shock resonated on Peters face "You haven't told them yet?" Elijah shook his head "Raven!" Peter scolded. "I've been busy" Elijah defended himself with Peter shaking his head disapprovingly at him. The pair then went home to the pack to tell Ash about the dinner reservation and unlike Elijah, Ash was excited at the prospect of meeting the rest of the Mikaelson family.

Chapter 23: Seeing double

The following day Peter had gotten a phone call from Kora requesting a large order of healing potions. Elijah had started making them in the morning but in-between teaching the wolves, Magic lessons with the Peterson's and spending quality time with Sarah and Nathan the bright morning had evolved into warm early evening and the orders were not yet finished with a few potions left to make before the dinner in under an hour. With time creeping up on them Peter instructed Ash to go to the house and wait for them outside, passing him directions that Elijah was written down for him. Ash then darted off to find the house with Peter trying to help Elijah the best he could in fulfilling the orders quickly. Ash following the instruction his father had given him made it outside the house with ease. He then stood outside double checking the instructions, as he fiddled around his suit jacket as he was wearing one of Elijah's suits minus the tie to find his phone which he had stashed in one of the pockets. When the front door of the house swung open with a blonde woman peeping out, "Elijah, what are you doing outside. Come in there going to be here soon" Ash figured it was Elijah's sister Rebecca and he ignored her looking around to see if the others were on their way. Without warning, Rebecca grabbed hold of him and dragged him inside the house, not even giving Ash a chance to speak. She then dragged him through to another room which lead underground, "Go pick the wine you want" Rebecca told him as she pushed him through the door leaving him to his own devices. Ash made his decent down the stairs to the wine cellar. Then he looked around taking in the volumes of wine bottles and cases he had to choose from, "What am I going to do?" he mumbled to himself as he began sifting through the bottles to see which one seemed more appealing, but he could feel his chest starting to tighten more and more with each passing moment he spent down in the cellar felling a familiar cold chill, the walls towering over him as memories of the Pits began to flood back to him. He tried to ignore it by breathing slowly and picking a bottle of wine but was ultimately unsuccessful reliving the memories of his time at the pits the sound of cries echoing throughout his mind. He closed his eyes trying to cancel it out, blindly grabbing a bottle and feeling around for the exit stairs. When he found them rushed back upstairs to escaping his memories of incarceration.

Meanwhile, after about 10 minutes after Ash left, the order was complete and the two quickly said their goodbyes to the pack and made their way over to the house, arriving at 6pm exactly. Elijah then rang the doorbell, and Rebecca answered but upon seeing Elijah she looked at him like she has seen a ghost, looking behind her shoulder in confusion. She didn't say a word as the pair entered the house, Peter passing her a bottle of champagne that Kora had sent them for their successful business partnership. They then entered the dining room which Elijah could tell had been cleaned from head to toe had with the rest of the Mikaelson's waiting for them there. Peter looked around the table not seeing Ash amongst the many new faces in front of him. Klaus who was sitting next to Kol got up from his chair, "Peter, you made it" he exclaimed but Peter was more concerned that he didn't see Ash, "Is Ash not here yet?". The siblings looked confused, "Ash?". Without warning they heard a loud thundering coming up from downstairs. But before they could investigate the noise Ash rushed in, Peter grabbing his shoulder before he face planted into the dining room table. Ash then opened his eyes, leaving the room in shock. "Ash, I thought I told you to wait for us outside?" Peter questioned him, whilst Elijah took the wine out of his hand admiring his choice. "I know but…" he began in an American accent but was cut off by a "What the fuck!" from the others in the room catching Peter and Ash's attention. "This is my son, Ash" Peter told them gesturing to Ash, Elijah's family standing open-mouthed staring at both Ash and Elijah. Elijah rolled his eyes, "come off it, you're acting like you've never seen a doppelganger before". "So you're how they made the hybrids in your pack," Klaus inferred, Ash looked down at the floor feeling uncomfortable. Kol laughed, "I think it's ironic" with the rest of his family giving him a death stare, "No one asked for you opinion Kol" Klaus scowled. The family and guest then sat down full of questions, "Why didn't you tell us about this Elijah?" Rebecca asked him and he truthfully answered, "I didn't know until recently" with Ash nodding with him, "yeah we only found out the day we fought…" he was cut off by Elijah shaking his head at him. Next to him Peter had laid eyes on Dahlia and his heart skipped a beat as he felt moved by her beauty. He played it smooth "Hello, I'm Peter I don't believe we've met" Peter extended his hand to her, she smiled extending her own hand but instead of shaking Peter took her hand and gently kissed it, causing Dahlia to blush. "I'm Dahlia," she replied with a flirtatious smile on her face. "Dahlia, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman" he replied with Elijah and Ash face palming themselves, from Peters pathetic attempt at a pickup line. Dahlia seemed to of liked it though, leaning in closer to him, "you know that's the nicest thing a man has ever said to me" she told him. "I wonder why" Klaus mumbled under his breath, before he tried to change the subject, "So Ash, any hobbies?". As dinner began to be served for Freya, Dahlia, Ester and Peter whilst the others had blood. Ash picked up his cup drinking some blood before he titled his head in confusion, "Hobbies?" and Elijah had to help him, "You know, things you like to do" to which Ash thought about for a second before turning back to Klaus, "I like crushing people's skulls" to which the whole room fell deathly silent, Rebecca spitting out her wine onto the table. "Was I not supposed to say that?" Ash asked Elijah who shook his head in response. Ash looked down at the table, "When you crush someone's skull do the brains go everywhere?" Kol asked intrigued which caused Ash to perk up, "It depends on how much force you use, sometimes it can go everywhere but sometimes you can contain it". "Okay, let's stop talking about that now. You're putting me off my dinner" Freya instructed the thought of it making her feel nauseous. Both men felt disappointed about stopping their current line of conversation. Elijah then faced forward and was met with Klaus' death glare staring at him, Klaus then turned to Peter interrupting his flirting session with Dahlia, "How do you know which one is which?". Peter then stopped and turned at the two, "There are a few differences between them" Klaus struggling to find any, accept that Ash wasn't wearing a tie with his suit like Elijah was, "like what?" he questioned. Ash and Elijah looked curiously at him, wondering what he was going to say, "Elijah has a crooked smile for one,". Elijah felt offended, "I do not" he protested. His siblings then all turned to the pair staring intensely, "Smile then" Klaus commanded and as requested both Ash and Elijah smiled and Elijah's siblings got up from their chairs looking at them, "He's right, he does" Kol chuckled surprised that he had no idea about it until today. There were far more noticeable differences between the two, but Peter knew that Elijah wanted to have all information from the pits a secret so choose not to mention the different neck scars on the pairs necks. Then the one question they didn't want to answer popped up, "How did they make the hybrids anyway?". Peter gritted his teeth not sure on what to say. "I think it's time for them to head home, we've kept them here long enough,". For the first time in a long time, Elijah agreed with his sister "I agree with Freya," and Ash and Peter nodded along, with them not sure how they would explain it without implementing Elijah's involvement. The three then went to get up but Klaus turned to Ash mistaking him for Elijah, "Where do you think you're going?". Ash looked back at him, "I'm Ash" Klaus acknowledging his mistake turned to Elijah, "You're staying, we need to talk" with Elijah, quietly sighing knowing he was going to get an earful from his family about the whole ordeal. Glued to his chair he watched as Ash and Peter were shown out by everyone except Klaus who also remained in his seat watching him. Meanwhile, Peter and Dahlia were still flirting at the door, "Will I be seeing you again?" Peter asked her, Dahlia with a huge smile on her face, "I would like that very much.". Peter then went over to Ash grabbing his handkerchief from his suit pocket retrieving a pen from his own pocket writing his number on the handkerchief passing it to Dahlia, "What's this?" she asked showing her age. "My number. You enter them into your ph-eone, and someone answers. Raven always answers when I call him". Ash was getting irritated waiting for his father to stop flirting, "Dad!". "I'm free Wednesday, you could pick me up at 5 and we can have dinner" Dahlia told him, he looked back with a giant smile on his face, "Its a date". Then before they could talk anymore Kol slammed the door in Peters face telling him "Goodbye" as he did. Peter and Ash then slowly began to make their way home, leaving Peter feeling excited, an emotion he hadn't felt too often, but was a welcomed surprise.

Back inside, Elijah sat in the dining room chair still being intensely watched by Klaus as the others returned from the door, "Aunt Dahlia's gone and got herself a date" Rebecca filled Klaus in as she came into the room sitting in her chair, the others following her lead. "I like your hybrid twin. He's blatantly the one that killed those witches, but I like him" Kol commented finishing his cup of blood. "They were made to kill those witches, they had no say in it" Elijah defended them with Kol but more noticeably Freya chuckling back at him. "So, why didn't you tell us about Ash?" Klaus got straight to the point. "I already told you I had no idea until a matter of weeks ago-" "WEEKS?" Klaus shouted over him, his anger rising. Elijah nodded, "I've been busy" But Klaus wasn't taking his excuses, "busy? busy doing what?" Klaus snapped. "I have been setting up a steady revenue stream for the pack" Klaus grew furious, "What's with these wolves. We hardly see you anymore because your always over there with them. What about us? Were your family, your blood. We should come first!". Elijah took all of this in, remaining calm, "They need me more than you do. They have been imprisoned their entire lives so the Bloods could make replicas of you. The wolves had nothing, I'm trying to give them something to live for" shutting Klaus down. "What I think Klaus means is why are you so invested with this pack? Like helping them if fine but you seem to be going a bit overboard" Kol chimed in taking a smoother approach then his older brother. Elijah was caught off guard he couldn't say about his time in the pits because of Freya's blood pact but decided to tell them a half truth, "The hybrids are part of my line. They used my blood to make them" He confessed. Everyone stared at him, "So Ash is not only your doppelganger but is a hybrid from your sire line?" Kol questioned him with Elijah nodding in response, "That's funny". Klaus punched Kol in the shoulder with Kol frowning back at him, "Next time, I will punch you in the face" Kol just rolling his eyes. "Son, you don't owe them anything. Isn't that right Dahlia?" Ester took over but Dahlia was too busy daydreaming about Peter to answer back. "It's not about owing them anything. It's about what I conceive to be the right thing to do" Elijah told his mother but before the conversation could continue any further all their phones beeped in sync, retrieving their phones from their pockets they looked at the message from their family therapist instructing them all to go to an art exhibition on Wednesday. This created a gloomy mood, as they all huffed and complained about the extra ag family therapy had cost them, Elijah just hopped there would be some form of cake served.

Later that night Elijah snuck back to the pack to check on Sarah and Nathan but instead found Ash sat on the pack house porch staring into the distance looking like something was on his mind. Elijah sat next to his twin, causing him to startle. "I didn't see you their brother" Ash turned to him looking down. "Are you okay?" Elijah asked him. In return Ash smiled, "yeah, just thinking about earlier…" he paused taking a big deep breath before telling Elijah, "There was an orb in the centre of the room, they cut my hand and they put my blood onto the orb and then the blood just disappeared. Then during the spell, the orb lit up like it was giving their magic extra power or something. Then after that all I felt was pain, like my insides where being torn apart. That's how they turned us, I thought you should know" he told him sadly. "And that's how they made more hybrids, your doppelganger blood was absorbed by the orb" Elijah concluded with Ash slowly nodding in agreement his eyes beginning to water. Elijah turned to Ash a scheming looks on his face "We need to get that orb". The pair then watched the sunrise into the early morning as they wondered what the future had in store but more specifically whether or not Ash should ask Alex on a date.

Chapter 24: A touch of Art

It wasn't long until Wednesday came to pass. Elijah wasn't happy about being forced to go to an art exhibition, when he could of been at the pack with his children. Although he wasn't too fond of art, being more of a musician, watching Klaus paint throughout the years allowed him to appreciate the craft. He just hoped he wouldn't be bored. He heard a huge rumbling from upstairs from the girls getting ready, when he heard Peter approaching the front door. Elijah then went to the door opening it for him seeing Peter in a smart shirt and trousers accompanied by his leather jacket, his cologne was a little overwhelming for Elijah's nose, sneezing as he came in. Elijah then went to the staircase, "Dahlia, Peters here!' where the thundering upstairs came to a sudden halt. He then turned back to Peter who had a bunch of half dead flowers in his hand and looked at him with disbelief, "I picked them myself". Elijah then took the pathetic bunch of flowers whispering a spell, his eyes flashing white, bringing them back to life, the flowers were now vibrant looking worthy to be part of a bouquet, but his soul felt the effects with his nose bleeding and him feeling lightheaded. He then passed the flowers back to Peter who was extremely grateful, "This is what you've been learning?" Peter asked with Elijah nodding his head and wiping his nose on a tissue. "I'm planning a party in a few weeks to celebrate the packs freedom now that we've settled in, you coming?" Peter asked as Dahlia appeared from the top of the stairs. She was wearing a lilac purple knee length dress and Peter was taken aback by her beauty. Elijah confirmed his invite to the freedom party as Dahlia came downstairs where Peter gave her the bouquet, which she loved. Afterwards, the pair left for their date and following their lead the rest of them left about 5 minutes later heading for the exhibition.

Upon arriving to the exhibition, they saw it was thriving with life people were everywhere looking at the vast array of paintings for sale. Going against the point of family therapy they all seemed to go their separate ways looking at the paintings that caught their eye. Elijah however found the refreshment table and feeling the need to satisfy his demon sweet tooth headed over to get a slice of cake. When he arrived, he saw one last piece of Victoria sponge cake but before he could take it a woman hand reached in taking it. He was prepared to fight for it, but when he looked up it was Serena, "Did you want it?" she said sensing his displeasure, "No, No I'll have something else" he said looking down at the other cakes, picking a slice of chocolate fudge cake instead. "What are you doing here..." he began to ask her but answered his own question mid-sentence, "family therapy" Serena smiled nodding back at him. The pair then talked at the table for a while before seeing Melanie coming towards them. Like children they scurried away before they got caught taking their cakes with them as they started to make their way around the exhibit. They slowly made their way around, listening in to people's different takes on each piece. Then they walked over to the next piece and were frozen with shock. The painting in front of them depicted a family of four a showing the backs of a man, woman and two young children all holding hands walking into the green forest exterior. What struck them was that they knew it was a picture of them with Nathan and Sarah. It was evident from Serena's blonde hair and burgundy coat, which she was wearing right now as well as Sarah's purple coat which the painter had included the bow embellishment at the back. "That's us," Serena whispered gobsmacked. Then a gallery assistant appeared placing a red dot next to the paintings card which showed the painting was labelled 'New beginnings' but the painters name was anonymous. "Don't worry, I bought it. It's perfect representation of family wouldn't you say" James smiled as he appeared from behind them passing Elijah a piece of cheesecake, "I got this for you". Elijah accepted the cake offering, "Is this a threat?" he pondered as he took a bite of the cake, the cheesecake making his mouth water. They three of them studied the painting but a reasonable explanation eluded them. "Maybe its just a coincidence?" Serena shrugged "Or maybe it is something else entirely," Elijah wondered his finger on his chin holding the fork. "Like what? A warning or something?" James asked and Elijah ate a bite of the cake, "Perhaps". "There you all are, I've been looking for you forever." Alex called walking up to her siblings passing Elijah another piece of cake, this time it was carrot cake. With some manoeuvring he managed to accept the cake. "Where's my cake?" Serena asked envious of Elijah's special treatment. "Well, he's the one that's transforming. I remember having an insane sweet tooth when I first turned." She quietly told her so no one could hear her. Serena rolled her eyes, but Elijah handed her the carrot cake, "I don't want it" he assured her but he was lying. Then Alex looked at the painting perplexed, "that's you two with Nathan and Sarah, isn't it?". The three of them nodded and as the four of them continued to come up with ideas on what this could mean they heard voice the overly optimistic voice of Melanie growing louder accompanied but the voice of Kora, the Peterson's got Elijah to duck in front of them, as they acted as a human shield trying to hide him from her gaze. "Mr Mikaelson, I can see you" she told him, Elijah pooped up feeling defeated. "This was meant to be a way I could see your family dynamic in a public setting. How can I do that if you're not with your family?" she scowled, Elijah's hatred for this woman growing fierce. He then followed Melanie to his family in one of the other rooms. With Kora following excitedly behind them with a notebook ready to observe Elijah.

Meanwhile an overdressed Millicent who was wearing a bronze dress that showed way too much cleavage, had been watching the four of them across the room as they stared intensely at this one particular painting. She watched Serena's boy toy go off somewhere then approached the trio "Serena, fancy seeing you here." The free of them all scowled at her, "What do you want Millicent?" James barked, "James, baby have you been working out? You look good" she asked him ignoring his question, "You didn't answer his question," Serena pointed out wanting her gone. "I just wanted to know if your friend was available" Millicent assured her, "available?" Alex questioned, Millicent smiled back, "Yeah, like free to date?". Serena felt her a surge of anger pulse through her body at the thought of Millicent going anywhere near him, snapping back with "No, he's not". Millicent wasn't convinced by Serena's response feeling like she was hiding something, "You're lying. I can feel it". Serena stepped forward, "Maybe, maybe not. But I'm telling you now, stay away from him". Millicent smirked "make me" and she turned around to go find him where Serena mumbled "Whore" under her breath causing Millicent to turn back towards her, "What did you say?" getting right up in Serena's face. "I said you are a manipulative whore" Serena barked not backing down a gleaming smile on her face. "Serena, stop" James pulled her back the commotion drawing the attention of the others at the exhibition, including the Mikaelson's. Millicent bore her fangs at Serena, "I dare you to say that again" Serena just laughed trying to step forward but was held back by James, "You're a manipulative whore. Who's only satisfaction is to ruin the lives of the people around you to make up for your own, sad miserable life" She smirked. Millicent's anger grew as she went to hit Serena, but Elijah caught her fist mid-punch standing in front of Serena, "enough" he told her squeezing her fist tighter and tighter as he waited for her to calm down before releasing it from his grasp. When he did Millicent snatched back her arm but to make sure she didn't attack anyone else he compelled her to leave. On her way out she whispered, "This isn't over Serena," and left. Shortly after, the Petersons and Elijah were kicked out of the exhibition, much to their delight, giving Elijah the chance to wipe away the blood from his eyes and nose. They then headed back to the pack eager to know how Peters date with Dahlia went. On the way back, the four of them were all laughing and joking around when Serena remembered something important, "Its Nathans birthday next week!".

The following day after being kicked out of the exhibition, Elijah was back at Klaus' deep in thought about what to get a six-year-old for a birthday present. Serena had already dibbed a violin after Elijah had told her he was teaching him and was lost on what else to get him as even though he was turning 6 he was very mature for his age. His siblings going about their daily lives watched Elijah daydreaming in the living room, staring at his motionless body. Before they could ask him what was troubling him, they heard the front door bell ring where they were surprised it was one of the high council representatives, Freya was gleaming with excitement, "I'm going to get promoted!" she squealed with joy. The representative came into the living room where the rest of the family were, "I have been asked by lead councilwoman Valerie to retrieve Elijah Mikaelson for a private meeting". Freya's smiled dropped when she heard her brother's name instead of hers, the rest of the family looking confused. Elijah who was lost in thought perked up upon hearing his name. Freya turned to the representative, "there must be some sort of mistake, I'm the witch in the family, not him". The representative remained emotionless, "With respect ma'am I'm only following orders. High witch councilwoman Valerie herself, told me to retrieve Mr Elijah Mikaelson to discuss a matter of upmost importance. Now if you would like to come with me sir" Elijah looked up from the chair confused, "Now?" with the representative nodding. Elijah saw his siblings' confused looks, their mouth wide open as he got up from the chair and left the house. Following the representative into the city but to his surprise they didn't go all the way to the council hall, stopping outside a small tearoom. "Mr Mikaelson, thank you for coming" he heard a woman's voice from the right side of him, he turned around seeing the leader of the high witch council eating a scone, he recognised her from the witch meeting. "Please sit, we have urgent matters to attend to" she told him gesturing to the empty seat opposite her, Elijah looking around uneasy before sitting down In the chair. "Thank you, Simon you may go" Valerie told the man that brought Elijah to her. She then turned her attention to Elijah, "Now Mr Mikaelson-" "Elijah is fine-" Elijah interrupted her "Elijah, I asked you here to discuss some important matters. The first being your business arrangement with Kora" this caused Elijah to become tense, "That's with the pack, I acted as the middleman in regards to that,". Valerie looked at him with disbelief, "Who the agreement is with is not my concern, what is my concern is my witches not having the resources to perform the necessary spells to protect themselves. I would like to start negotiations with the pack to purchase these plants from them, putting an end to this price hike." She finished with Elijah nodding, "I'll see what I can do". Valerie smiled warmly, "One more thing I brought you here to discuss, the pits. I gathered from our initial meeting that you are close with the wolves, Are the rumours true? Where they held captive by Bloods and turned into hybrids?" she asked inquisitively. Elijah sighed nodding, "They were held captive in the Bloods cellar for over 300 years in attempt to create hybrids of their own.". Valerie looked at him shocked, "To which they eventually succeed.". There was a moment of silence between in which Elijah grew curious on why she cared so much, "Why do you care?". Valerie looked up, "A friend a few years ago tipped me off, I sent some of my most trusted witches to investigate the claim. They never returned." She paused. This made Elijah sit back in his chair flabbergasted, "When I first took oath as the leader of the high witch council, I vowed to make the city safe for all species. Now I know I failed before I even began. The Blood Order have eyes everywhere and their numbers grow every day. These hybrids are a real threat attacking-" "Not anymore" he interrupted with Valerie looking at him confused, "What do you mean?". "The hybrids aren't under the Blood Orders control anymore, their home with the pack.". This surprised Valerie but it made sense, she had not received a report on any hybrid attacks for almost a month, "Are they safe?" she asked. "No, but they aren't mindless killing machines anymore" he assured her. "The Bloods need to be stopped. Every day they gain support both in and out of the council, I'm stuck in between. But they must be held accountable for what they've done" Valerie said confidently thinking about how they could expose them, "But they have eyes everywhere, what can we do?" she mumbled her thoughts trailing off, the waitress coming over to them with Elijah ordering a double chocolate fudge cake slice. "I can't do anything about the Blood Order without any physical evidence. I want witness statements from the pack" she turned towards Elijah coming back to reality as Elijah was eating the cake causing Valerie to be confused. Elijah finished the bite of the cake, "I can do that". Valerie smiled, "I would appreciate that. If the Bloods gain any more support within the council, they could challenge my leadership and the wolves and the witches the Bloods killed will never get the justice they deserve" She informed him with Elijah acknowledging the seriousness of the task at hand. Valerie then saw Simon approaching her for her next appointment, "So does the Alpha have a phone number so we can work out this deal or are you continuing to be the middleman?". They exchanged numbers with Elijah giving his own and Alpha Peters, "Thank you for meeting me, I hope to hear from you soon." She said getting up from the chair putting a $50 on the table. Elijah stopped her, "Can I ask you a question before you go?" Valerie turned around, "Of course, as long as your quick" smiling at him putting her jacket on. Elijah nervously shuffled in his chair with him finally asking "What do you get a 6-year-old boy for their birthday?"

At the same time back at Klaus's Freya remained speechless staring into space in the living room. Kol. Klaus and Rebecca had shot off out, leaving Freya to her own devices. When she heard the front door open and a muffled voice, "Elijah? Are you here". The strange voice catching her attention, Freya turned towards the door seeing Serena at the doorway and the two of them huffed at one another, "Oh it's you, is Elijah here? I need to speak to him" Serena asked trying to hold back her hatred for her. "you just missed him" Freya smirked. "Okay, thank you" Serena gritted her teeth as she went to leave. "Stay away from Elijah" Freya shouted at her as she did and Serena couldn't help herself but turn back around, "Oh, sure your worried about him now but not when you left him to rot in the pits with the wolves". Serena watched Freya's face drop, turning deathly pale. Serena enjoying relishing in her shock, "I know all about what you did and unlike Elijah I'm not sworn to secrecy about it. So, I would be careful if I was you.". Freya was visibly shaking, "Are you threatening me?". Serena smirked, "Of course not, but I have been known for my tongue to occasionally slip. I wouldn't want to be responsible for a Mikaelson family feud" Serena replied sarcastically. Freya remained silent and Serena seizing her victory went to leave again turning around a huge smile on her face, to tell her, "Don't worry, I'll be gentle with him." and then she left the house leaving Freya alone in thought once more, and Serena got out her phone and left a message for Elijah saying that Nathan had asked her for a violin for his birthday and she was out getting one for him.

Chapter 25: Birthday Blues

The morning rose on Nathans 6th birthday, Elijah, Serena and the pack had decorated the pack with banners and balloons for his big day. They had barely anytime to rest before they heard a thundering coming from the stairs, where Nathan ran down them a gleaming smile on his face, full of excitement "It's my Birth-aversary!" he shouted. "Birthday" both his parents corrected him. They then waited for Sarah to get up before leading Nathan to the dining room to open a handful of presents, but Nathan's face lit up and was grateful for all the gifts. He opened his presents with him getting a violin from his mother, a few toys from the pack and some ancient spell books from his aunt and uncle. He then opened Elijah's present which was a proper bow and arrow set, which he had crafted himself reigniting his passion for blacksmithing, and he had accompanied it with a burgundy leather holster. Nathan was over the moon, hugging his father and everyone else in the room. "A bow? It's not the dark ages anymore, Elijah" Serena scowled at his choice of gift, with him ignoring her focusing on Nathan. "Nathan honey, you have one more" Alex told her nephew, finding it difficult to contain her excitement. Nathan then wondered back to the table moving the box that contained the bow picking up an envelope he opened it taking out the old piece of paper concealed inside. He looked at it recognising it to be the spell for necromancy he turned to the adults confused, Serena helped him, "Were going to perform the spell, so the wolves can get closure, and you can meet your father" she explained with a smile. Nathans smile suddenly faded, his mood drastically changing looking like he was about to cry sniffling a "thank you" as he passed them and ran upstairs slamming the door behind him. Leaving the adults in the room in shock, "What did I say?" Serena asked them to feel that she had ruined Nathan first ever birthday. Sarah went to get up "It's okay, Sarah I'll check on him. You stay and get the cake ready" Elijah told her getting up to go check on Nathan. Elijah walked up the stairs to the children's room knocking on the door. "Go away, mum!" he sniffled back. "Its me, son" Elijah shouted and not hearing a response from him he opened the door finding Nathan looking out the window tears running down his face, "Nathan, what's wrong?". Elijah entered the room, sitting on Nathans bed waiting for him to respond. He then turned back from the window hugging Elijah, "I don't want to meet my dad. You're my dad" he sniffled crying in his arms. Elijah embraced him hugging him back, "Your mother didn't mean anything by it. She thought you would want to meet him" Elijah told him stroking Nathans black hair. "Well, I don't!" he pressed back, "If you're worried about what I think, don't be. He's your father I don't want you to regret not seeing him when your older" Elijah assured him releasing from the hug. "I won't dad." He sniffled Elijah passing him his handkerchief where he blew his nose "but I want to still do the spell, for the pack" Nathan told him. "Okay if you're sure. We won't make you if you don't want to" Elijah said patting him on the pack, Nathan nodding. They then heard a knock at the door, It was Peter "You okay, Nate?" Nathan nodded wiping away the last of his tears. Peter smiled, "You ready to come downstairs? We have one last surprise for your birth-aversary" he told them, and Nathan nodded taking Elijah's hand as they slowly made their way downstairs hearing a familiar chant as they did. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Nathan! Happy birthday to you!" the family sang presenting Nathan with a triple chocolate cake with a number 6 candle on top. Nathan blew out the candle a huge smile on his face, he was back to himself again. They dished out the cake having a small slice each, "delicious!" Nathan exclaimed digging in. Serena retrieved hers and sat next to Elijah whispering, "Is he okay?" with Elijah turning to her "yeah, I think he was a bit overwhelmed about meeting his real father, he was really upset about it." Serena was shocked but understood, "I shouldn't have pushed him, I know he sees you as his dad. I didn't mean to upset him". Elijah smiled back eating his own slice of cake, Nathan unintentionally hearing her went up and hugged his mother, causing her heart to melt.

After they had finished their cake, they prepared the necromancy spell. Taking a drop of blood from everyone who wanted to partake in the spell placing the drops collectively in a bowl. Katrina and Sarah being one of the first to offer up their hands. As the Petersons were gathering the last of the blood, Elijah turned to Nathan asking, "Are you sure you don't want to do it?" with Nathan firmly nodding back. After all the blood was collected, they headed to the centre of the pack where Claire and George had set up a campfire for the spell. The whole pack gathered around eagerly awaiting the spell. Serena then lit the fire pouring the blood into the fire as the five of them chanted the spell, their eyes changing colour Serena and her siblings to grey and Elijah and Nathan's white. The fire almost mimicking them turned white, the smoke from the fire submerging the pack in the smoke where it settled for a few seconds. Then the smoke began to mould into the shape of people and as the spell progressed the smoke revealed the souls of the deceased wolves, taking their physical shape. With the smoke gone the spell was completed and the fire went out and the five spell casters were freed from the chant. As they recovered the Peterson siblings looked up and started to cry as stood in front of them was Noah smiling up at them. He looked a year or two older than Nathan but the resemblance between the two were uncanny. The only real difference between them being Nathan's hair and eye colour, which were blonde and green opposed to Nathan's dark hair and brown eyes. Elijah looked around the pack hearing an ensemble of joyful cries coming from all around him. At the corner of his eye he saw Alpha Peter calling him over to meet his Luna and Ash's mother. Elijah then approached them seeing a beautiful woman with long dark hair and brown eyes hugging and kissing Ash, "Raven, this is my mate, Ash's mother, Victoria." Peter told him as she freed Ash from her grasp. "I don't remember having two," she told Peter her voice soft as honey. But, without giving Peter a chance to explain she grabbed Elijah pulling him in squeezing him tightly "Welcome to the family, son" she whispered. When she finally let go of him the three of them told her how they escaped the pits and how they managed to be united once more. Whilst Ash was talking Elijah saw Katrina and Sarah sitting gloomily on the pack house porch, they were alone despite putting their blood in the bowl. He could see they were struggling to control their tears as they watched the others in the pack laughing with their deceased family members, when they had no one. He went to go over to them but saw that Claire and George had beaten him to it. He listened to the conversation, "Aunt Claire, they didn't come. Don't they love us?" Katrina sobbed leaning into Claire with her accepting her embrace, "Of course they do" Claire comforted her. Sarah then started to cry her eyes glowing red, George taking her in his arms. "But there not here. What have we done for them to hate us so much?" Katrina told them her tone changing to anger. Elijah watching as both Claire and George looked at each other with sadness in their eyes and looks of defeat on their faces, their posture changing as the pair comforted the girls. "Look at me, you have done nothing wrong. Okay? Maybe they felt embarrassed or something?" Claire told them, George nodded, "yeah. Maybe something happened to them in the Pits, and they don't want you to be scared of them.". The girls seemed to think about that for a second, "So they hurt them, and they don't want us to see them all scared up and stuff?" Sarah whimpered from Georges arms, "Exactly" both Claire and George said in sync. "But listen girls, just because there not hear doesn't mean they don't love you, okay?" Claire told them hugging Kat. "Sarah!!" Nathans voice echoed through the pack as he ran up to her, "You have to meet my uncle Noah!" he told her pulling her away from George. Then Sarah and Nathan ran off and the three of them made their way to see their Luna. Elijah asked Claire if she was okay and she just weakly nodded in response, but he could tell she was upset. But before, he could question her about it he felt Nathan trying to pull him back to the Petersons, "Come on dad! Move!" he cried as he tried pushing him. "Okay son, I get the message" and he took Nathans hand and walked back with him. They then spent the rest of the day talking to each other, telling stories but getting the closure the wolves desperately needed and deserved. Then as the moon began to rise, they slowly began to drift away again, "it's almost time" Noah told them. "What already? You can't" Serena told him. "We can't stay." Noah said as he began to slowly dissipate into smoke once more. The cries beginning to sing around them, "I've missed you all, soo much" Noah wept as he hugged his family one last time, "You too, Serena's boyfriend" he said dragging Elijah in for the hug, "He's not my boyfriend" Serena told her little brother. Then they let go seeing that he was almost gone, "happy birthday, Nathan. Be good for my sister." He told Nathan before quickly turning to his siblings once more, "James, Serena don't fight anymore. What happened wasn't because of you." he nodded as his body transformed back to smoke with his final words "I love you" echoing into the distance. The white smoke disappearing from the pack with the pack all chanting "Until the next life" as they watched the last remaining remnants of the smoke dissolve into the sky. Then an encore of mournful cries transcended through the pack, they had lost their families again. Although their hearts had been shattered the pack couldn't hide their relief that they were finally able to say goodbye to the family they had lost in the pits and knowing their souls were at peace provided them with some much-needed comfort. The cries soon turned to smiles as the pack celebrated their lives and everything, they had sacrificed for them to finally be free. After a day full of emotions, the wolves turned in for the night telling Nathan happy birthday and thanking him for allowing them to finally say goodbye to the family they had to leave behind.

Chapter 26: A heist of Three

2 weeks later

Elijah had been using his newly acquired skills of demon communication to locate the orb, which the Bloods had tried to hide after they found out the hybrids were no longer in their control. Together with the demon ancestors had managed to locate it and he knew it had to steal it. Elijah had gathered the Petersons in the pack house living room," I know where the orb is, I'm going to steal it" Elijah exclaimed. The Peterson's siblings looked at him in disbelief, "where is it?". Elijah turned to them mumbling, "Raymond and sons storage facility" to which the Petersons gasped almost in sync with James shaking his head "that place is like a bank. You'll never get through, even with your vampire powers.". "That's not true, there is an underground tunnel that leads directly inside avoiding the security outside" they all turned around seeing Ash in the doorway, he then came in sitting next to Alex. "No thank you, you weren't in the last tunnel" Elijah huffed, with Ash looking at him laughing. "But surely its worth the risk if we get the orb?" Serena reasoned to which Elijah hesitated for a moment, "I can't navigate the tunnels on my own". Serena then turned to Ash, "But you can, Ash" Ash fell silent looking at Alex where Ash turned back to the group and sighed, "But me and Alex were meant to be going on a date later". Serena's eyes lit up with joy and she felt the overarching feeling of being right whispering to her sister, "called it" to which Alex raised her eyebrows done with Serena, "Never mind, I'll go with you. I love a good heist" as she smiled flirtatiously at Ash. "Okay its settled then, you three will get the orb and me and Serena will help with the preparations for the freedom party" James affirmed as the two groups sprang into action.

The trio left the pack finding the nearest underground tunnel making sure they took actual torches this time as Ash lead the way to the storage facility. After about 10 minutes Ash came to an abrupt stop as be began to feel around the tunnel finding a ill-placed wall mounted candle on the side, "were here" he told them as he pulled down on the candle piece and the a doorway opened to the left of him that lead to a small stone staircase full of cobwebs, spiders and dust. They followed the staircase up trying to avoid any spiders getting cobwebs draped across their clothes in the process. They reached the top of the staircase where they felt a breeze, the faintest glimmer of light coming from the other side of the wall. Ash pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear anyone coming using the torch to find a lever. When he pulled it the door opened and the trio appeared from the catacombs from which they had arrived and found themselves in a closets. They brushed the cobwebs from them as they went out of the closet finding themselves outside the reception for the rarer equites. They approached the marbled desk with the receptionist looking like they were all beneath him. "Hi, we need to get access to our storage box-" Alex started in her poshest possible voice but was rudely cut off, "Do you have an appointment?". The trio looked at each other confused, "Do we need one?" Ash asked. "To enter this section of the facility you need an appointment, yes" the receptionist snapped back. "We don't have one, but we urgently need to see our storage box, can't you help me out?" Alex pleaded trying to appeal to his better side, but he just looked at her and spat, "Sorry madam I cannot permit you entry without an appointment it's protocol.". Ash then bent down to his eye level trying to compel him, "Let us in please". The man looked lifeless for a moment before he turned towards Ash, "No. Vampires aren't allowed in the premises". Elijah fed up with waiting and seeing the receptionist go to call security he grabbed hold of his neck slamming his head against the marble desk knocking him out cold, "That's better". He then jumped over the counter to the back where the keys to the storage boxes were kept and found the one for the Bloods. Whilst he was searching for the keys Alex also shuffled over the counter taking the access card from the receptionist's pocket. The two then joined Ash on the other side and they transcended into the next room which was a huge room with a marble finish full of storage boxes. The trio looked around astonished, "How do we know which one is the right one?" Ash asked bewildered. Elijah looked at the key seeing a tag looped around the end of it with 'L17' engraved on it, "We need to find the L's". The trio then began to frantically look at the boxes trying to find the L's, Alex and Ash were enjoying every second of their adventure causing Elijah to feel like a third wheel, "This is so thrilling" Alex whispered into Ash's ear. "J, k, l… I found the L's!" Ash exclaimed drawing Elijah's attention. Then then regrouped by the L's looking for the number 17. The Numbers in ascending order meant that L17 was towering above them they would need a ladder. Elijah went off to find the ladder that he had seen by the D's and rolled it back towards Ash and Alex. He then began to climb up the ladder slowly making his way to the desired box. Without warning the lights went out and a siren began to wail, engulfing them in darkness, the only light being from red flashes from the wailing siren above them. "Oh dear" Alex muttered. They then heard the sound of footsteps approaching alarming Ash, "don't worry, we've got this" she winked at him, "Elijah get that box, me and Ash will take care of our guests". Elijah grabbed a torch from his pocket turning it on and placing it in his mouth whilst he climbed up the ladder. Ash and Alex were ready for a fight with Ash extending his fangs and Alex had a spell ready. "you ready?" Alex asked winking at Ash, "yep" as the first assailant came into the room. Ash used the darkness against him but grabbing the unsuspecting intruder and tearing out his heart feeling a weird satisfaction as he did. Ash then heard multiple gulps form the side of him and saw Alex was using her magic to burst the guards' hearts with one fatal swoop, their chests forced open by the explosion leaving thick puddles of blood staining the floor. Ash turned on by her lust for violence and how graceful she was doing it. So, in awe by her relentless massacre that he failed to notice one of the guards approaching him. At the last second Elijah grabbed the man pulling him to the floor before he got to Ash squishing his skull underneath his shoe, although he couldn't see he could feel by the squelch that brains were scattered all over the floor most of them probably on his foot, although he couldn't hide it was rather satisfying. With the danger gone for now, Ash rushed up to Alex kissing her on the lips with her embracing his affections kissing him back, Elijah coughing bringing them back to reality. The two then unwillingly let go as they went to finish the task at hand, "did you get the orb?". Elijah took out a velvet bag form his pocket removing the orb from its case showing it to Ash for confirmation, "That's it" he gulped. Elijah then put the orb back into the bag and in his pocket and the three of them stepped over the bodies pilled over the floor and made their way back to the closet from once they came. Avoiding a second wave of guards as they slowly retreated back through the staircase to the underground tunnel where they returned to the surface. When they emerged the went straight home to the pack, with Elijah noticing the three of them were all covered in blood, which Alpha Peter wasn't happy about.

Elijah made sure Alex and Ash were okay before quickly heading back at Klaus as he didn't have a spare change of clothes at the pack. Upon arriving noticing no one was home he deposited the orb in a secret compartment underneath he floorboards before having a shower, washing the blood off him and got dressed admiring how his back scars had temporarily stopped bleeding due to the healing potions and cream. From the shower he heard two people enter the house, not sure on who it was but he finished up in the shower and got dressed heading downstairs to see who it was. He saw Klaus and Rebecca sitting in the living room, examining Elijah's brain decorated shoe unsure what it was. "Elijah what's this on your shoe?" Rebecca asked seeing him descend down the stairs, but before he could answer his phone started to ring and picking it up it was Serena, "Elijah, Ash got in a bit of a situation he can't retract his fangs" she said with an awkward tone in her voice, "He can't what?" Elijah rhetorically asked with Rebecca and Klaus looking at each other concerned, "Okay I'll be right there" he said hanging up the phone. "Nicklaus where's the Vodka?" Elijah asked his brother "Why do you need it?" Elijah rolled his eyes, "To drown my sorrows" Elijah glared at him for a brief second before he sighed "I need it for something important". Klaus then got up and went into his study and came back in with a bottle of vodka, Elijah nodded taking the bottle and found a new pair of shoes and bolted off back to the pack once more unsure what waited for him there. When he arrived back at the pack Serena led his upstairs to one of the pack house guest rooms and saw a half-naked Alex with her shirt dangling off her shoulders leaving her bra exposed and Ash with his fangs deep in her neck. Elijah shook his disapprovingly as he headed over to Ash opening the bottle and pouring it close to his mouth where he immediately retracted his fangs letting go of Alex. "You are the first ever vampire I've met that's had trouble retracting their fangs" Elijah scolded. "I got a bit caught up in the moment" Ash confessed. "I can see that" Elijah replied sarcastically. "Well, I was enjoying it" Alex confessed "Of course you were" Serena mumbled under her breath. Serena and Elijah looked disgusted knowing they weren't finished, and they left the room with Elijah leaving the bottle of vodka on the side just in case, shutting the door firmly behind them. The two then left the pack house not thinking what they were getting up to. The pair then headed outside as Elijah filled in Serena on everything that happened whilst retrieving the orb and in return, she told him the plans for the freedom party. But Elijah couldn't help feeling good knowing that the Bloods could no longer make hybrids even if they wanted to as the orb now belonged to the pack.

Chapter 27 The freedom party

A few days later, 2 months after the wolves escaped the pits, the morning son trickled through the Mikaelson household. The siblings where lounging around reading and talking about Freya's old friend, who was coming round to see her the following day, to which Elijah has phased out from reading a book about modern magic loopholes. Ding-Dong! Ding-Dong! The bell rang awakening Elijah from his reading hypnosis. Seeing that his siblings had ignored the bell still talking about Freya's friend, he got up from the chair and headed to the door and opened it revealing a excited Ash and a smiling Claire looking back at him. The pair looked him joyfully, "We came to pick you up for the freedom party!" Ash exclaimed. "Now? but the party isn't until later tonight," Elijah questioned stepping outside closing the door slightly so the others wouldn't hear them. "Alpha Peter has planned something for the day, he wouldn't tell us what only that we needed to get you," Claire replied. Elijah was intrigued and without hesitation he shut the door and followed them back home to the pits the thought of staying at Klaus' seemed a bit tedious. "Race you!" Ash said Challenging Elijah and Claire. Elijah knew he wouldn't win but would give it his best shot, Claire on the other hand was pumped and ready for the challenge, "You're on!" She roared back smiling cockily. "Okay in 1,2,3 go!" Ash shouted and the three of them whizzed off to the pack for the long-awaited surprise. Meanwhile, back at the house the siblings had finally finished talking about the plans for tomorrow and noticed that Elijah hadn't returned from answering the door yet, "Elijah, who's at the door?" Rebecca asked but was met with a bitter silence. The others looked confused, "Elijah?" they shouted again with no response. The siblings all looked confused and irritated that he wasn't there, "Where the hell as he gone off too now!".

The trio arrived at the pack, Elijah arriving last as he knew he would be due to his transformation wiping the blood from his nose but, it was a tight call between Ash and Claire. Claire had arrived a smidgen before Ash, "I win!" she called laughing at Ash. "Whatever, you had a head start," Ash joked, and Claire shook her head in disbelief smiling at Ash. The trio then went to join the gathering in front of the tree that had all their old collars on seeing Alpha Peter standing in front of it, he was standing next to a few wooden boxes. Elijah saw Nathan, Sarah and Katrina all together and next to Nathan was Serena, James and Alex. He slowly made his way over to them standing behind the children. Once Nathan and Sarah saw him, they turned around and gave him a hug, holding his hand before turning their attention back to the Alpha. Once he saw all the pack where together Alpha Peter began talking, "Our pack have overcome so many challenges these last few months. But we have overcome them together not just as a pack but as a family. So, to celebrate this every year we will have a party just like today to not only celebrate our freedom but to remember the family we lost on the way." he began to well up with tears, turning his head to the boxes, "As well as the party, I want to start up a few old pack traditions. The first one, when a new wolf is born, they will be initiated into the pack and always have the packs protection. Secondly, when a child turns 16 they will officially join the ranks of the pack. They are old traditions, but I like them. That leads me to these boxes behind me, most of you are over 16 so are already eligible," he started opening one of the boxes taking out a black leather jacket with the number 3732 engraved on the sleeve as well as the wolf pack emblem. "Each adult member of the pack will receive one of these, it has our numbers to remember our heritage and how far we have come, and when a child reaches the age of 16, they get one and so on, So Lily this one is yours." Alpha Peter bellowed across the pack to find Lily. "Mum that's you," Caleb whispered to his mum as she went over to retrieve her jacket with everyone in the pack cheering and clapping. This continued with Alpha Peter handing out each adult member of the pack their own jacket followed by eruption of joy from the rest of the pack. Once he had handed out all the jackets to the wolves he turned to another box which was slightly smaller than the previous boxes he then pulled out a mainly black leather jacket but the number and wolf emblem where in red, symbolising the wolf and vampire mix in the hybrids. "These are for our late arrivals, who made it home eventually" Peter joked as he handed out the jackets to the 17 hybrids with Claire and George comparing theirs. Ash looked confused at Elijah who had yet to receive his jacket and looked back at his father who seemed to be finished, "What about Raven? He's family" Ash interjected. Peter smiled back at him reaching into the box retrieving one more jacket, "Of course he is,". The jacket he pulled out was burgundy and the number and wolf emblem where in white which stood out against the red. "This one is yours, son" Peter said giving the jacket to Elijah. He then turned around grabbing a bowl behind him, "But, we need to initiate you and Nathan first as you weren't born into the pack," Peter told them. Nathan stepped forward joining Elijah, where Alpha Peter then took a pinch of blood from each of their fingers placing the blood into the bowl, he then went over to the candle holding the bowl over it, "We call to our Ancestors to join two new brothers to the pack: Raven and Nathan. Ancestors hear our plea" Peter chanted, they then watched the drops of blood slowly turn into something else, the drops began to transform into two red stones. Peter then took them out of the bowl giving one to Elijah and one to Nathan, they looked at the stones confused. "Welcome to the pack, officially, Raven and Nathan!" he finished, smiling at the boys and the pack all cheered. "Now we've done that, who wants to have some fun before the party tonight!" Peter laughed. The pack erupted, "Okay follow me!" he commanded as he began to walk away with the pack following behind like lemmings. They arrived at a field at little way off pack territory that looked like it had been dowsed with water, there was mud everywhere. There was a sensation of squelching as they treaded through the field to get to the center where there was a small group of equipment. There were some different balls, One larger rope, a bunch of smaller ropes and a few Frisbees. What shocked Elijah the most was Dahlia standing amongst it looking like she was ready to go. The pack looked curiously excited at the equipment wondering what was going on. "We are going to play some games!" Alpha Perter exclaimed as he explained the different activities to the group, all which involved getting dirty. "I'm not wearing the right kind of shoes for this," Elijah mumbled. They listened to Alpha Peter as the first event was three-legged race for the parents and children. "Dad will you be my partner?" Nathan asked Elijah, Elijah sighed but before he could answer, "please!" Nathan begged and Elijah couldn't refuse his pleading face as they made their way up to the event. Serena and Sarah where also there as a team, "fancy seeing you here," Serena joked smirking at Elijah. "Yeah! you boys are going down!" Sarah screamed and Nathan smiled cockily back, "Bring it!". Whilst they were facing off Elijah was thinking about how he didn't want to face plant in the mud but saw that as an inevitability. They approached the starting line with Katrina and Claire also getting involved with Ash, George and the rest of the pack cheering from the sides. "On your marks get set go!" Dahlia's voice called from the other side of the track. The race began and Elijah and Nathan were working well together, but ultimately their choice of shoe betrayed them, as Elijah thought it would, and Nathan fell face first into the mud causing Elijah to fall off balance but managed to catch himself before he fell. He then helped Nathan up and they continued to waddle to the finish line but they both continued to slip on the mud in the process. Serena and Sarah were having similar issues as they were wearing ballerina shoes. Although, both teams made valiant efforts to win but were bested by Katrina and Claire who not only had appropriate footwear but also took it steady not slipping in the mud as much. The losing teams congratulated each other, and they moved on to the next event, which was football. They started with a children's game with them splitting into two teams, Nathan made sure that him, Sarah and Katrina where all in the same team and they came up with a plan to destroy their opposition, "I've got an idea…." Nathan whispered to his team. Whilst Elijah, Serena and Claire joined the others and watched the Children from the sides. The children came out of their huddle and where ready to play. Alpha Peter explained the rules and the match began. The other team grabbed the ball but Nathans team just smirked as the other team and the ball ran past them. The adults looked confused on what the children were doing. But, before the other team scored a point Nathan performed a spell which made the opposing team start to sink into the ground like it was quicksand only stopping when it got to their mid-section. Nathan then bent down and pulled the ball out of Kassie hands and gave the ball to Sarah, "There you go, sister" and she took the ball walked to the other end of the pitch and scored a point. Serena looked at Elijah shocked, "Did you teach him how to do that?" She asked with Elijah shaking his head, "No, but I wish I did,". "I don't know if I should be worried or impressed," Serena questioned and Elijah shrugged meanwhile, Alex and James where cheering on their nephew's creativity. As a result of Nathans antics, the children's game was cut short declaring Nathans team the winners. It was then the adult turn to play, Serena and Alex where straight on the field on separate teams to amp up their competitiveness, and the adults decided their teams. Claire joining Alex's team and Ash joining Serena's. "Aren't you going to play dad?" Nathan asked cutely. "Me? No," he replied but Nathan and Sarah gave Elijah the look causing what remained of his heart to melt and he reluctantly joined the game taking up the last remaining spot on Alex's team. "That's going to be confusing," George commented. Elijah turned to him, "Don't worry I won't be standing for long," already feeling his feet slipping in the mud. Unlike, the children the adults went full throttle and as soon as the game began Ash tackled Elijah to the floor with the pair rolling around in the mud, anytime one of them tried to get up the other pulled them down, "I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure this isn't how you play football," Elijah said with Ash pinning him to the floor. "Break it off you two," Alex said trying to pull them apart instead she slipped on the mud falling face first into Ash's chest, "Why hello," he said causing Alex to blush, "easy boy, children are watching," she said flirting quickly getting off him then helping him get up. Alex saw Serena's gleaming smile from a mile away, "don't you start Serena," she warned. They continued to play, much to the audiences delights as a simple game of football turned more into a wrestling match the longer it went on for. Siblings were tackling siblings regardless of whether they had the ball or if it effected the game, it was complete chaos, with everyone ending up covered head to toe in mud. When the game was finally over, they went to the last large event tug of war. As if it couldn't get any muddier there was a pit of mud in-between the teams so the losers would be pulled into the huge mud puddle. Not giving way to their sibling rivalry Serena and Alex insisted on being on separate teams with Elijah, James and Nathan joining Alex's team and Ash, Claire and Sarah on the other. "You ready to get a face full of mud, little sister?" Alex questioned with a huge smile on her face. "In your dreams," She fired back getting ready. There was a brutal stare off between the sisters as the teams got ready. "3, 2, 1, pull!" The teams pulled back as hard as they could neither team gaining much ground over the other. Elijah pulled as hard as he could but could feel his hands burning from the rope. Nathan and Sarah where both heavily panting giving it there all for their teams, Elijah knew that if one of the children went off balance that the other team would win, it was just the question of it being Sarah or Nathan. But, he guessed Nathan as having two hybrids on the opposing team gave them the advantage. Both teams stalled for a good few minutes before Nathan eventually let go giving Serena's team the opening they needed to put them in the mud, which is exactly what happened as the four of them face planting in the mud. When they were able to stand, they all hugged it out and Serena and Alex hugged relinquishing their rivalry. Elijah looked around not seeing Katrina in the crowd. He went up to George who told him she wasn't feeling well and went to bed but before he could get any further his phone started ringing and George walked away to join the others who were playing Frisbee. Elijah got his phone out of his suit jacket and walked by the edge of the lake. He looked who was calling him and to his surprise was Kol, "Hello?" Elijah answered. Kol responded, "where are you? You disappeared this morning,". Before Elijah could reply some of wolves watching the others play Frisbee started to scream in the background. "Why is there screaming?" Kol questioned. Elijah tried to walk a bit further down the bank putting a finger in his ear to try and block out the noise, but it wasn't working and the screams became infuriatingly louder. "I can't hear you, Kol" he replied. "GET BACK HERE NOW," Klaus' voice bellowed through the phone from where he had taken it from Kol. "I… " Elijah was cut short as Ash going after a Frisbee had misjudged his vampire abilities and had overshot his run causing him to trip over bumping into Elijah knocking him into the lake. Elijah tried to see if the phone was still working but the fuse had cut out. "I'm so sorry brother. I didn't mean to do that it was an accident," he apologized extending his hand to help Elijah out of the lake. Instead, Elijah smirked and pulled him in as well. This in turn started a chain reaction with all the muddy wolves jumping in the lake splashing each other with water and getting the mud off at the same time. The wolves played in the lake for about an hour before they were called out as the sun was going to set soon. They all got out and had to change their clothes quickly, Elijah had to borrow some clothes from Ash as he didn't have anything else to wear. He then came out of the packhouse with his borrowed shirt and jeans, carrying his suit jacket that he had put up before he was pushed in the lake, Ash was waiting for him inside the house seeing them twining, "Look at us! We look like mirror images of each other! We need to do this more often, like make a day out of it or something". Elijah looked at him like he was crazy, "I've got it! We could do it every Wednesday. One Wednesday we dress like me and then on the next week as you, it would be so fun!" Ash exclaimed ecstatic with this idea. Elijah shook his head with protest, "were not doing that". Ash looked at him with pleading eyes, "Please?". "No" Elijah protested. Then Alpha Peter and Dahlia emerged from behind him, "That sounds like a nice idea, Ash. Elijah just do it, it would be nice to see you in something other than a suit" Dahlia told him with Peter nodding in agreement "Your aunts right". Feeling the effects of peer pressure Elijah caved in shaking his head, "okay". Ash lit up with glee, "We will call it doppelganger Wednesday!". Trying to avoid any further conversations with Ash, Elijah headed towards the wolves who were gathered at the center of the packs territory to watch the sun set. The fairy lights around the homes provided a warm atmosphere and Elijah went to sit with Serena who had left a space on the blanket for him next to her and Nathan. When Ash stopped him, "You look different," Serena said noticing his outfit change, "good or bad different?" He asked. "Jury's still out," she started "your shoulders don't look as good though," she mumbled. "wh-" He started. "Shush!" interrupted Nathan.

The wolves watched as the sky began to bleed red as the sun began to set on the beautiful day. They watched in awe as a purple hue followed behind aiding the sun to sleep. Whilst looking up at the sunset Elijah felt something on his hand, when he looked down, he saw that Serena had unconsciously placed her hand on top of his. He moved his hand up causing her to look back and rearranged it so they were holding hands and the pair exchanged a quick smile before watching the sky turn from purple to an early nights sky the stars begging to shimmer down on them. Elijah also felt a sudden pressure on the right side of his body accompanied by little snores from where Nathan had chosen to sleep on him, again. "Again? You really are his favorite pillow," Serena joked. "Poor boys going to miss the party," Elijah sighed. "It's been a long day for everyone, especially for our chief mischief maker!" they both laughed softly. Elijah then proceeded to take Nathan to bed and was followed by Claire with a half-asleep Sarah. Once they were both sound asleep, they headed downstairs for the real party to begin as the rest of the children went to sleep. Ash and George rolled out two barrels of pre-prepared punch and they poured some for everyone into disposable cups. Whilst they were doing this Dahlia and Peter sorted out the music and disappeared into the atmosphere of the party. Elijah watched as everyone around him seemed to down the punch in one go, he followed, swishing the liquid in the cup before he took one large mouthful and straight away he began to feel light headed. His vision became blurry and seemed to be followed by a light hue making everyone look brighter. He heard echoes of laughing and playful screams as the wolves had begun to feel the effects too. "What was in that punch?" he mumbled under his breath but before he could receive any answers his intuition faded into the night leaving behind a fun-loving Elijah who wanted to sing, dance and climb trees.

As the night went on, most the wolves had tired themselves out and had passed out on the floor, snoring away into the night. Whilst a small group remained consisting of Elijah, Serena, Alex, Claire, Charlie, Ace, George and a half-asleep James sitting together next to a small fire that Serena had started. All of them still suffering from the drug's effects. "Let's play truth or dare!" Alex suggested grabbing a glass bottle from her left side. Everyone agreed and Alex placed the bottle in the middle of the group and spun it around watching intrigued to where it would land. The bottle landed on George, the groups visions being distorted as they had bend down to be level with the bottle to see for sure, "Truth or dare?" Alex asked George. "Truth?" he said dazzed, Alex's face lit up but before she could say anything Ace asked, "Do you have a crush?". George looked surprised by this but answered with a quick "Yes,". Everyone wanted to know more but he had answered the question so Alex span the bottle again, this time landing on Serena, "truth or dare?" Charlie asked joining in with the fun. "Dare," Serena replied as even though she was out of it she still didn't want people to know anything about her personal life. Before anyone else could interrupt Alex blurted out, "I dare you to Kiss Elijah," and the others looked around confused, "Who's Elijah?" they whispered, "Is there an Elijah in the pack?" they whispered amongst themselves. Meanwhile Alex was grinning at her sister, knowing what she had just done. Serena looked over at Elijah who was sitting next to her, and she took a firm grip of his neck and pressed her lips against his, kissing him but not coming up for air as they shared a long passionate kiss. Serena having no inhibition wasn't satisfied with just a kiss, she desired something more and tonight with nothing stopping her she would get her fill. She pulled Elijah away from the group and the two sped off into the ebony night. Serena pinned Elijah to a tree just inside the pack's borders, so not to draw attention to themselves. Feeling an animal raging inside her she bit down on the left side of his neck and was met with no resistance from Elijah, that was the moment she knew he was hers. Seizing control, she removed her trousers and underwear and swiftly did the same to Elijah, throwing his borrowed outfit onto a nearby bush. Then like a jaguar she pounced locking her prey to the tree as they forcefully embraced each other passionately kissing and having sex until the early hours of the next morning.

Chapter 28: A crude Awakening

RING RING a phone rang. A started Elijah awoke with a raging headache as he tried to find the origins of the noise, not noticing that he was partially naked as he crawled across the woodland floor to find the ringing coming from a pair of jeans on top of a bush. He tried to find the pocket with the phone inside but was having trouble until he reached the back pocket. He then picked up the phone and remembering that it got fried yesterday held it out just in case it electrocuted him, he looked at the caller ID and it was Klaus. Elijah answered the phone whilst putting the jeans back on and was met with a angry Klaus shouting back at him, "Where are you? You were meant to be here hours ago!". Elijah had no memory of yesterday's events so didn't have any idea what Klaus was on about. His phone also was cutting out so he was only part of the intended message, "I'll be there as soon as I can," he assured him as he got up and began to walk back through the pack. Not noticing a sleeping Serena under the tree covered by his suit jacket. Elijah then walked through the pack where the wolves where awake and smirking at him as he walked past. "You have fun last night Raven?" One wolf chuckled. Elijah had no recollection of what had happened last night, but the overwhelming feeling of joy suggested that whatever it was he enjoyed it. He then ignored the rest of the wolves trying to pick up the pace and went to the pack house to retrieve his jacket unaware it was keeping Serena warm, and he accidently grabbed Ash's initiation jacket his brain too fuzzy to tell them apart. He fixed his glasses and ran off to see what the commotion was about. When he arrived and when he entered, he overheard a familiar voice and the end of the conversation, "The Petersons are dangerous. You need to keep him on a shorter leash,". "Who I choose to spend my time with is none of your business. So I suggest you take you concerns elsewhere" Elijah said emerging from the shadows jumping to the defense of the Petersons. His siblings looked surprised about his outfit. As well as his response to the Bloods. "But the Petersons are our enemy, we need to be united to stop them," Freya tried to assure him. "Stop them? Sorry, who are you?" Elijah questioned still feeling the aftermath of the drugged punch not recongising his older sister straight away, with Freya looking like she wanted to explode. "She really has done a number on you hasn't she?" A voice cackled from the dining room chair next to Freya. Elijah looked over and saw Millicent smirking at him. "Where are the mini-mes' today?" she asked cockily, referring to their first meeting at the park with Nathan and Sarah. "There back at the pack with their mother." He fired back trying to get off the subject. "That's a shame, the boy looked adorable in his little suit," Millicent replied looking at him with hungry eyes and Elijah not wanting to get involved went off to make coffee and to find the source of the sweet aroma coming from the Kitchen. Whilst he tried to remember who Freya was. A few moments later the doorbell rang, and it was the Petersons, the three siblings looking dazed and groggy with their parents smiling gleefully behind them. Serena wearing Elijah's suit jacket, refusing to take it off. They entered and sat on the vacant seats on the outside of the table sitting oppositely from Freya and Millicent. "Serena, James." Millicent said menacingly as they sat down. By the time Elijah arrived back with coffee and a muffin the only available seat was next to Millicent. There was an awkward silence between the enemies as the Petersons, like Elijah, where still suffering from the drug's effects not being themselves. Freya acknowledging the silence began to speak, "I invited everyone here to try and make peace,". "Were not the ones who need to make peace," Alex interrupted giving Freya evil eyes. Millicent placed her hand on Elijah thigh catching his attention he looked at her trying to signal her to remove it. Serena saw something was wrong from the other side of the table but didn't call her out straight away as he wasn't her boyfriend. Freya had continued talking to which most the table weren't listening. Elijah tried to politely shuffle his chair away from Millicent, but she still wasn't getting the message when Alastair started rumbling on about how dangerous the hybrids where. Elijah still feeling the effects of the drugs was phasing in and out of the conversation trying not to get in an argument which was harder than it looked. "Have you heard the rumors about a demon-wolf hybrid? The regular hybrids are already a huge problem, A new hybrid is just an accident waiting to happen. We already don't know how many regular hybrids there are, if the rumors are true, we could be in serious trouble" Alastair said, causing the Petersons to stare menacingly at them angered by the nonsense that came out of his mouth. "You think this new hybrid will try to challenge me?" Klaus questioned. Before they could comment Elijah having caught the tail-end of the conversation laughed, "If I was a new hybrid the last thing, I would do Is go challenge the old one. And regarding the packs hybrids you made them, surely you know how many there are?". Alastair's face dropped like a pile of bricks, trying his best to remain calm but his demeanor changing now facing Elijah glaring at him, "Say that again," With no filter holding Elijah back and a severe hatred for the Blood family and everything they stood for he fired back, "I don't take orders from child rapists and their accessories,". The whole table erupted with various reactions. The Petersons were trying to hide their smirks, His siblings especially Freya where furious and Millicent was curious on what would happen next. Alastair laughed nervously, "You don't believe those horrible rumors, do you?" he questioned nervously caught off guard, his younger brother being the perpetrator was sweating porously. "There not rumors if it's true," Elijah replied coldly not backing down. "You don't know what you're talking about," Alastair said trying to brush of the accusations, but was met with a huge grin running across Elijah's face. "I believe I do. You're a good liar, but there are somethings you cannot hide," Elijah began with both Alastair and Dick looking uneasy, "Like what?" Alastair questioned. Elijah smiled evilly, "Your heartbeats increased substantially and have yet to return to normal. This accompanied by your dilated pupils and your excessive body sweat would imply that my inquisition was correct. So, I guess we can add child rapists to the family repertoire," Elijah finished with a proud smile stamped on his face. Everyone was stunned with shock on what had happened, The Petersons loving every moment. "Now get out! Whilst you still have your hearts," Elijah said calmly but sternly for them to understand this was a threat. Fearing for their lives the two older brothers gathered their coats and bolted out of the house but not before whispering to Freya Elijah was out of control. Lobo was slower to leave relishing the fear on his elder brothers faces, smiling that someone had finally called them out for what they were: monsters.

Elijah watched them scurry off, proud of himself but he now had a raging headache from finally recovering from the effects of the drugs. Serena looked at him full of lust wanting to lean over the table and kiss him passionately and not let go, his display of masculinity in defending the pack had turned her on, fueling her desire for him. But she was not the only one, "Could you please remove your hand from my thigh," Elijah asked Millicent nicely. She had her right hand on his thigh and Serena witnessed her move it closer to the top of his thigh despite Elijah telling her to remove it. Serena partly due to the drugs but mainly her jealousy roared, "Are you deaf!? He said for you to stop!". Millicent smirked back at her, "I'm sorry I didn't realise he belonged to you,". Serena glared back at her, "He doesn't it's just I-" she started but was interrupted by Millie, "don't tell me you like him?" she laughed. Serena was caught of guard trying not to blush, "You do! You have feelings for your dead husband's doppelganger, oh my that's rough," she cackled. Serena started to feel an anger rising from her stomach, "Don't you dare talk about my husband" she threatened her. There was an unsettling tension in the room, The Mikaelsons were all looking confused at Elijah who had neglected to tell them this information. "Does he even know or are you pretending in your tiny broken mind that he's Gabriel so you can fuck him and relive the happy days before he and your demon spawn where killed?" She screamed. Serena felt a fire erupt from her heart her eyes turning gray as she slowly reached for a steak knife on the table wanting to throw it at her head, but Alex softly grabbed her shoulder shaking her head for Serena not to act on her impulse. "Enough. Serena has come a long way from the person she once was, Elijah is our friend nothing more. But that doesn't mean we have to sit here and watch you sexually assault him!" James said sternly coming to the defence of his sister. Millicent chuckled, Elijah seeing Serena upset tried to diffuse the situation and confirmed "I do know, she told me when we first met. Besides I'm not into blondes,". But Millicent wasn't finished riling up Serena, she was enjoying herself too much and she wanted her prize "Do you want to know his final words?" she smiled from ear to ear. They all looked at her confused, "What do you mean?" Alex asked perplexed with Millicent laughing. "I was there that night as they tore his horns from his skull, as they took a carving knife and sawed them right off-" "STOP!" Serena screamed heavily breathing with the ground around them shaking from Serena's magic, but she continued "I still remember his cries. Not from the agony of his magic being ripped off, but from the fact he would never see the face of his unborn child." Serena began to weep and only seeing red plunged the steak knife into Millicent's right hand attaching her to the table, "You Bitch!" Millicent cried whilst her hand was bleeding over the table. Elijah's family looked shocked on what happened and had blank looks plastered all over their faces. Elijah and the Petersons were not surprised, and he loved how she defended the people that she loved. Serena got up from her chair her eyes still a hypnotizing grey looking furious, "Never talk about my son like that again!" she roared, and she went to walk away leaving the table, when she heard, "your devil baby is probably rotting in hell with him, after all the Blood's killed it the moment it was born" she spat. Serena was triggered fueled with rage; she could have used her magic to curse her but that wasn't as nearly as satisfying as what she did next. She turned back around and flipped the table over with Millicent's hand still attached causing her to fall with it breaking her hand, Serena hearing a satisfying crunch of her enemy writhing in pain. She then went over to Millicent and bent down next to her, "I don't want to hear another word about my husband or my baby coming from your rotten mouth, if I do It will be the last day you have a tongue. That's not a threat, it's a promise," She warned when she got up, she smiled and looked at Elijah who was smiling back at her then she and the Peterson's left the house feeling that the whole meeting was a waste of time, but at least Serena got to put Millicent in her place.

With the Petersons gone the chaos of the morning's events seemed to fizzle over now leaving Elijah, Freya, Rebecca, Kol and Klaus in the house confused on what had happened. They helped free Millicent's hand and she left in a hurry furious at what Serena had done. When she was gone everyone let out a huge sigh of relief, "That went well I thought," Elijah commented with his siblings looking back at him with disbelief. "What the Bloody hell was that?" Klaus screamed at Elijah, who looked back at him confused, "What do you mean? Everything I said was the truth,". "You had no real evidence that they did any of it! You threatened the only allies we have against the Petersons!" Freya screamed back. Elijah looked sternly at them, "When have we ever needed allies?" he questioned. "Did you not see what she did?!" Freya shouted back at him. "Did you not hear what she said to her?" He replied sternly his voice starting to rise. "No, Serena told her to back off and then they started arguing in another language that we couldn't understand." Kol started, "Yeah the only thing we could understand was they were arguing about someone called Gabriel?" Rebecca added. "The Petersons are stronger now they have ever been before, we have to act now before they try and hurt the family, we need the Blood's." Freya said trying to convince Elijah that the Peterson's where the actual enemy. Elijah looked sternly back at her disappointed in her, "You're a fool if you think you are anything more than a tool to the Bloods. They will use your fear of the Petersons to get you to do their bidding and by the time you realise what they've done, it will be too late." Elijah said confidently. Freya looked at him mixed with disbelief and anger, "Your wrong they see me as an equal," She snapped back. Elijah slowly shook his head, "Then our family is truly lost," he sighed. For the first time since being alone Klaus spoke trying to stop Elijah and Freya fighting any further, "I trust Freya, if she says the Petersons are our enemy then they our enemy," He asserted. Elijah felt that his heart had been snapped in two, "After everything the Bloods did?" he questioned disheartened that Klaus had chosen Freya. "Freya had a stronger argument," Klaus interjected. "A better argument? The Bloods held a whole pack of wolves hostage for over 300 years just to make their own hybrids and yet the Petersons are the bad ones for wanting to avenge the death of their brother?" Elijah snapped back questioning Klaus' logic. "I will not have you belittle my decision in my own home brother. Now get out and don't come back until you decide what side your on," Klaus roared. Elijah just smiled as he got up from the chair and went to leave before he did, he turned to his family, "Fine, I don't want to see her drag the Mikaelson name through the mud," He sniggered and he walked out the door leaving a foreboding silence behind him. Elijah then raced off to the pack, arriving at the pack house and sitting just outside seeing the children and waving at them watching them play. Hearing thundering footsteps behind him, Elijah turned around seeing Alpha Peter and Dahlia standing behind him holding two cups of coffee. He gave one to Elijah and he sat down next to him. "You alright sweetie?" Dahlia sked once she had found a comfortable position to sit in. Elijah looked towards his aunt and smiled softly, "Klaus kicked me out, he chose Freya over me,". Dahlia sighed taking a large mouthful of coffee, "Oh I am so sorry, I know you and your brother are close, how are you feeling?" he said trying his best to comfort Elijah. Elijah looked back at him with a huge smile on his face and he laughed, "Free".

Chapter 29 Vampire Fight Club

Two weeks flew past with Elijah being doted the position of pack Beta, despite his constant protests of him not deserving such a high rank as he wasn't even a wolf. The pack believing it was his purpose after being kicked out by his family, which the whole pack unanimously agreed to despite Aries dismay. Even after being given his new title, he continued to teach the pack in the mornings with the generous assistance of the Petersons, then they would go do their magic lessons which both him and Nathan where both excelling at. He would then make sure that all the plants where of satisfactory quality before delivering them to both the witch council and Kora. For Kora to sell at her shop and in exchange she would give him another order to fill of his healing elixirs, which were extremely popular and in constant demand. Where he had recruited Katrina to learn the recipe to help get orders done. Any spare time he would spend with the children playing and making memories with them, whilst avoiding any interaction with his family, which he felt sorry for at least for Rebecca and Kol, as he didn't have any quarrel with them. But avoiding his family had proven a difficult task as when Kol had spotted him taking the elixirs to Koras, he tried to follow him inside but was stopped as he hadn't been invited, Elijah had no such problems. One thing that he knew for certain is that he felt lighter from not carrying all of his families' problems on his shoulders. Although, he could not avoid them completely as one morning Claire burst into the pack house, "There's an event today! I want to check it out". Elijah was drinking coffee looking back confused "event?". "A bunch of vampires in town told me about it, they said it was a test of strength, it sounded exciting, George says he'll only go if you go. So please come with us" she begged her blinking wildly at him. Elijah didn't have anything to do as Serena, Alex and James had taken Nathan and Sarah to the park leaving Elijah childless, with him feeling an empty void in their absence. "Okay, I'll come." He told her and Claire erupted with excitement. They then got ready to go with Claire and George pulling thick framed glasses out of their bags, the same frames James had given to Elijah and put them on masking their red eyes into a deep blue. "Did James make those for you?" Elijah asked with the twins nodding as they left to go to this event with the three of them wearing identical glasses. "There to hide our albinism" Claire told them causing Elijah to frown, "You know there's nothing wrong with that right?" George smiled back, "We know, it's just to stop people staring". They trio then headed to the event, which turned out to be at Marcels, which Elijah hadn't even thought about. After inviting Claire in they went through to the hall, which was already buzzing with vampires wanting to prove their strength in the ring, everyone focusing on the large boxing ring in the center of the room. Amongst the rabble of vampires, he heard Marcel's voice announcing the start of the event "Welcome everyone to my home. We will begin in one moment, but the winner is who can beat their opponent by them tapping out or them not being able to reasonably fight any longer. So, place your bets and let the strongest vampire win!". The whole roomed erupted with cheer as the first vampires took to the ring, Claires eyes glued to the ring. She seemed captivated by the fights, enjoying very second, a burning passion rising inside her as she couldn't look away. Marcel took down each and every vampire one by one with ease Elijah personally thought this was cheating because he was already so much stronger than they were. This was soon rectified when Klaus enter the hall challenging Marcel. The room falling silent as he entered the ring as the spectators grew in both fear and excitement. Meanwhile Elijah was just trying not to be seen. Klaus and Marcel then began to fight, with the two being closely matched but Klaus being the true hybrid out matched him. Using his speed to block Marcels blows and hitting back twice as hard. Serena watched Klaus' movement intensely with a lustful look in her eyes, she could feel a huge smile on her face and that her checks were burning red. She was feeling something that had eluded her for her whole life, desire. She wanted a piece of him, to kiss him, but most importantly she wanted to make him hers. Then there was a sound of bell signaling Klaus' victory as Marcel plummeted to the floor.

After Klaus had beaten Marcel, he looked around waiting for someone else to challenge him. Amongst the crowd Claire smiled, "He's mine" and she lifted her arm up, "I'll give you a go" she said knowing that sounded weird. The whole room erupting with laughter, "He's an original" "She's a goner" were some of the comments emanating from the crowd. Elijah on the other hand, knew she was a forced to be reckoned with it and knew it was both a close match up between the two. "How much money do you have" He turned to George and George handed him a shriveled up 5 dollars Elijah only had 10 on him but he bet against Klaus. Claire then walked up to the ring putting her leg over it to get inside. "Are you sure you want to do this, love. I'm an original" Klaus warned her and Claire just smiled taking off her glasses throwing them at George in the crowd, revealing her blazing red eyes "I'm sure". Everyone fell silent as they realised, she was an albino. Then the fight began, and Klaus made the first move reaching out to punch her, but Claire dodged the attack. Surprised he tried again adding more force, but Claire dodged again with it narrowly missing her, "What's wrong cutie? Never hit a girl before?" she teased, enjoying the fight too much. The whole room gobsmacked. As the fight continued it seemed to become more of a dance with Klaus trying to hit her, whilst she elegantly dodged and taunted him causing his anger to rise, which is exactly what she wanted. Using that against him when he lunged at her once more, he made the mistake of not retreating straight away, Claire taking advantage by dodging to the left, grabbed his right arm snapping it in to two with her bare hands. Klaus then looked at his floppy arm in shock whilst, Claire had a gleaming smile on her face. He then tried to regain momentum by punching her with his left hand but without the same brute strength as his other hand Claire easily dodged and decided to end it by punching him repeatedly in the face and in the ribs. His face now all bloodied and bruised and his ribs aching he tapped out. The whole room fell deathly silent, as the match was over, and Claire was declared the winner. She then went over and extending her hand to help her opponent up, which he accepted giving her his left hand. "How?" he questioned. Claire just smirked, "Your predictable. All I had to do is wait for an opening" pulling him up with him gritting his teeth from the pain of his broken ribs. She then went to get out of the ring to meet up with George and Elijah, "Better luck next time cutie". Claire then climbed over seeing her brother amongst the crowd leaving Klaus alone in the ring. In the crowd Elijah was collecting his winnings form Marcel, "So that's $46,000. You bet against Klaus?" surprise ridden on his face as he gave Elijah the last of the notes, with Elijah just nodding in response. As the vampires began to disperse Elijah caught up with Claire and George before they headed out of the hall, Elijah giving back George his $5 bill. Claire ran and hugged her brothers "That was so much fun!" as they then went to go outside when they heard a "Elijah!?" coming from behind them. Elijah ignored it trying to push them outside but before they could Klaus rushed over pulling on his shoulder, "don't ignore me." He snapped. "What is it?" Elijah barked back, "I didn't know you were coming" "I didn't know myself until this morning. Claire begged me to come" Elijah gesturing to Claire. "Claire and…" Klaus began turning to George, "George, he's a wolf" Elijah told him. "So, you're an albino hybrid?" Klaus turned to Claire who nodded with a bashful smile on her face. "Anything else Nicklaus or can we go?" Elijah told him sarcastically. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come home, I shouldn't have dismissed you like that" Klaus told him, Elijah was not convinced, "Did Ester tell you to say that?" "No, it was Rebecca, actually" he snapped back, "We'll you can tell her I'll consider it". They then went to leave once more with Claire seizing the moment, "I want you phone number. I liked beating you, I would like to do it again sometime" she said with a huge flirtatious smile on her face. Elijah was half-expecting Klaus to turn her down. But instead, he watched as he got out his phone and gave her his number, "Next time, you will be the one tapping out early" they both chuckled, "We'll see" Clare winked. The sexual chemistry between them strangling both George and Elijah. When they finally made it outside it was just after midday the sun roaring up ahead. The trio slowly made their way back to the pack with their winnings. Upon arrival they welcomed the children back from the park and Elijah deposited the money he earned to Alpha Peter, "what did you do, rob a bank?". Elijah told him what happened, and Serena told him off for gambling. As they day rolled by Claire had been on her phone non-stop texting Klaus. "Dad! Aunt Claire keeps ignoring us, she won't tell us how she won" Sarah tattle tailed Elijah looked at her engrossed in her phone "She'll get over it... hopefully" he told the children. "Over what?" the children looked up at him confused "Is aunt Claire in love?" they questioned putting two and two together making disgusted faces, their reaction making Elijah chuckle. "Come on, let's play outside" he led the children to play outside so Claire could be left alone, he didn't want her to miss anything. Thankfully, this played out and soon enough Claire was back to her normal self, but she seemed to have a skip in her step. Elijah just hopped that Klaus wouldn't drop her as soon as he beat her in a fight, Claire was like a sister to him and he wouldn't see her getting taken advantage of, even by his own brother.

Chapter 30: A Girls First Kill

After a few long days Elijah was back at the pack, enjoying another beautiful evening under the slowly forming stars up above the children were playing knights and vampires, which had somehow turned into their favorite game to play. He emerged from the packhouse exhausted from a long afternoon of working out the conditions of a new contract with the council and to update High councilwoman Valerie on any evidence they had against the Bloods. Taking in the fresh air outside he noticed Katrina sitting to the side, looking exhausted looking like she had been crying her face was a burning red, he knew something was wrong and had been for a while but didn't know what. He went over to Katrina to see if he could help her, "Katrina sweetheart are you feeling, okay?" he asked her trying to coax her to say what was wrong. "I'm okay." She replied meekly. Elijah sighed, "You don't have to tell me if its about girl things, but you know you can talk to your aunt Claire or Serena about that, right? You're not alone" Elijah said trying to comfort her. She smiled which was more emotion than he had seen from her since escaping the pits. Katrina looked at him opening her mouth like she was going to say something but was cruelly interrupted by Nathan, "DAD! ARE YOU PLAYING OR NOT!!". "One moment, Nate" Elijah called back but Nathan and the others weren't happy, so Elijah had to go, "Just make sure you tell someone Katrina, doesn't have to be me," he winked at her before joining the game leaving Kat alone to ponder on what he had said. He walked over to fulfill his role as evil vampire mastermind as the Knights hunted him and his Wolf/hybrid army which consisted of George, Ash and Claire. The Four of them battled the child knights but were ultimately bested by the brave knights. Nathan dealt the final 'blow' to Elijah but instead of dying he was staring ominously into the distance. He held his gaze towards the entrance of the pack, feeling that something was coming, something big. A treacherous silence lingered in the air. "Dad what is it?" Nathan asked worriedly. Elijah broke his gaze to turn to Nathan, "You and the other children need to go and hide, now!" he commanded the adults of the pack feeling something was wrong were gathering weapons. "What why? Can't you come with us?" Nathan questioned frightened on what was going on. Suddenly they heard the sound of footsteps approaching the pack. One of the wolves prepared their bow and arrow ready to shoot whatever was coming towards them. Out of the shadows came Tray, a pack scout, out of breath and limping, "THE WITCHES ARE COMING!" he screamed before then there was a large bang that shook the ground around them. He then plummeted to the floor lifeless, blood pouring form a bullet wound in his head. There was a brief silence as everyone stood in shock, then the pack went to action getting organised gathering weapons and preparing for battle. They tried to lead the children to safety but there were a few stragglers. "Anyone who doesn't want to activate their curse, go for arm and legs. Everyone else, shoot to kill. Raven, George you stay here just in case some come from the river" Alpha Peter roared leading the charge. They split up to try and catch the invaders of guard with their being at least on hybrid in every group. Fear trickled through Elijah's body for what would happen to the children if they were to fail. For a few moments all they heard was a deathly silence waiting for the war to begin. Then BANG! BANG! They heard multiple gunshots coming from the forests followed by screeches of pain. Then at the corner of the forest before reaching the pack, coming up from the river was a large group of witches. "George, go to the children and protect them with your life, promise me you will" Elijah pleaded, and George promised as he went off to protect the children. Elijah then disappeared into the forest to take on the group of witches before they got onto the pack territory. Nathan and Sarah then emerged from their hiding spot behind the water barrel scared, "Nathan what are you doing?" Sarah questioned frightened. "I'm going to help," he asserted slowly walking to the old bonfire he then used his magic to light it and he performed a dark magic spell causing his eyes to turn white, the spell crafted the fire into the shape of men then they dispersed into the forest to help the pack defeat the witches. Nathans eyes remaining white fully focused on the spell leaving him vulnerable, leaving Sarah to protect him. Meanwhile, Elijah was closing in on the witches there were 13, 3 with guns laced with silver bullets. He then made his move breaking two of their necks one after the after. Before they had a chance to react, he bore his fangs biting the guys closest to him neck ripping out his artery. The remaining witches faces where riddled with fear as they slowly started to retreat. The witches then began to disperse in a panic running away knocking each other over trying to get away. Feeling his neck aching Elijah finishing them off using the spell which Nathan had used at the party, but he didn't stop at their midsection, he watched the witches be swallowed by the ground until they were completely submerged and dead. Then at the corner of his eye he saw something unforgivable, Freya was leading the attack, the pair locked eyes neither one believing what they were seeing. But before he could confront her about it, he saw a man approaching Nathan and Sarah, Nathan unconscious on the floor. Without hesitation he ran over there not hearing a shot in the near distance. But before he could reach the children, Sarah had seen the strange man approach had picked up a dagger and trembling with fear warned, "Stay back!" waving the dagger around her eyes turning blood red her standing in front of unconscious Nathan, "An albino? Maybe I'll take you back to the Order" the man said trying to grab her, instead with all her might she plunged the dagger into his heart killing him instantly. She then felt a sharp pain as her eyes glowed a darker red and she felt a sharp pain form where she had activated her curse. Sarah in pain and with the dead body in front of her, became frozen with fear. Elijah then ran over seeing what she had done. "Are you okay?" he said hugging her and she eventually nodded. The rest of the pack started to return after the witches retreated. Elijah then let go of Sarah and noticed some blood on her. "Sarah did he hurt you?" he asked pointing to the blood and Sarah shook her head and looked worriedly at Elijah. Matching her gaze, he looked down seeing a splurge of red from his shirt that he hadn't noticed before, he had been shot. the adrenaline meant that he hadn't noticed amongst the commotion and now it was over he began to feel it, the raging pain right above his abdomen and was met with panicked faces from the rest of the pack. Knowing that unless he stopped the bleeding and feed, he would end up frenzying he shouted "I need to get to the Petersons, I can't stay here" feeling faint. "I'll take him," Ash volunteered. "What about us?" Nathan asked. "You two can stay with your deer old grandpa while your dads getting better," Peter insisted. Ash then darted off with Elijah and they arrived at the Peterson house shortly afterwards.

As soon as they arrived the Peterson's let them in, the Alpha calling them as soon as they left, and they all helped him onto the dining room table. To combat his loss of blood James provided a blood transfusion to make sure Elijah didn't frenzy and they placed a plank of wood in his mouth so he could bite down on the wood rather than them. Whilst, Serena and Alex worked on getting the bullet out. Thankfully, it was more of a flesh wound with Serena finding the bullet relatively easily removing it in one try. The next part was the most painful as she got a needle and thread from her suture kit and stitched his wound after disinfecting the area, Elijah couldn't be given normal anesthetics because they would be ineffective, and he didn't want to frenzy and with the absence of numbing cream or pain killers he was awake feeling every move Serena made. Every caress of the needle breaking skin every tug of the thread pulling his skin together, but Serena made quick work of it and was finished quickly. They then bandaged the wound to prevent infection and finished the transfusion before planting Elijah on the sofa to rest. Ash then told them the whole story with Elijah trying to help but being shushed by Serena. "The witches attacked the pack? That's horrible," Alex said sadly. "Sarah activated her curse," Elijah interrupted. "What? But she's 6 she won't survive the transformation on the full moon" Serena gulped. "New moon, our pack turns at the new moon," Ash interrupted. The Petersons looked confused at one another on why these wolves would turn on the new moon but didn't question it "New moon, but that's 12 days away" James replied. "Why the new moon?" Alex asked. "We don't know. But I think it's because we never saw a full moon as we were in the pits," Ash shrugged. "I can't let my daughter die, we have to find a cure," Serena said. "Your daughter?" Elijah gleamed cheekily happy that Serena saw Sarah as her own like he does. "Shush you," she silenced him softly pushing his head back onto the sofa. "Ash call your dad, tell him that everything's fine-" Alex began interrupted by Elijah, "Tell him not to tell Sarah about the curse until I'm there tomorrow morning!" He exclaimed, before Ash went out the room to call Peter. "Tomorrow morning? Are you forgetting you just got shot?" Serena said concerned. "The children need me more, Sarah needs to know what's going to happen, she needs me" He asserted. "Fine. But you're resting here tonight and I'm coming with you," Serena she commanded "Of course," He smiled back at her. They stared into each other's eyes longingly. They then stopped and Serena got up and went and retrieved something from the cupboard. It was a small clear vile she then walked over to Elijah and gave it to him. "Drink this it will knock you out for a few hours. Maybe you'll heal a bit better if you stop talking and rest," Serena suggested. "That eager to get rid of me already?" Elijah joked and Serena shook her head smirking. "Let me say goodnight to Nathan and Sarah then I'll take your sleeping potion,". Using the candle already on the table he used his magic to contact the children to make sure they weren't scared and to tell them he would be there in the morning, then as promised after he was finished took the potion and quickly fell asleep, snoring. James wasn't far behind him as he too gave into sleep, leaving the girls to listen to the encore of snoring.

The sun rose the next morning, the Peterson household was quiet and still. Elijah was still curled up on the sofa enjoying his slumber. A door suddenly opened revealing the Petersons siblings' parents they walked into the living room seeing Elijah asleep and poked him gently with the poker from the fireplace with Elijah squatting it away from his face and rolling off the sofa onto the floor making a huge thumping noise, which the parents though was hilarious. Hearing the noise Serena rushed in the room with a baseball bat in her hand but let go Immediately when she saw her parents "Mum leave him alone,". The parents looked back at Serena, her mother studying her intensely, "There's something different about you," she told Serena as she inspected her. Hearing the commotion Alex came down the stairs in a pink silk dressing gown followed by Ash who came from behind her zipping up his jeans. Seeing this they looked down at Elijah then back at Ash, "you didn't tell us Elijah was a twin," Serena and Alex rolled their eyes, "They're not twins Dad," they snapped back. "Is that my dressing gown, Alexandra?" their mother asked recognizing the pink silk dressing gown a her own, Alex looked back nervously blushing, "Maybe? But it's not what it looks like" she replied nervously. Elijah on the floor slowly began to wake up, "Take it off right now!" their mother bellowed to Alex. Alex gripped the material close to her breasts, "I can't". This infuriated her mother, "Why not!?". Alex looked back at Ash and her mother got why she couldn't, she was naked underneath, "You better of not had your sexy time in my bed!" her mother roared at her with the siblings erupting in disgust, "Mum! Don't ever say that again!" James begged and Alex rushed upstairs embarrassed and to get dressed. Elijah now groggy but awake rose from the floor sitting himself on the sofa revealing his bandage which had been covered by the cover before, the attention was then reverted back to him, "What's up with him?" the parents asked. "The pack was attacked last night, and he got shot." Serena said bluntly, the parents looked concerned and went over to him, but Serena quickly intervened picking the blanket off the floor and wrapping it around his back to cover his back. They hugged him which came as a surprise to Elijah, but he accepted the affection. Meanwhile, Ash tried to sneak out the house "Where do you think you're going? We need to talk about you and Alex" Alex's dad said sternly with Ash gulping not sure what to expect but knowing it wasn't good. Everyone who wasn't Ash went into the Kitchen to have a coffee and eat some cake before returning to the pack to tell Sarah the news. Whilst they were drinking their coffee, they heard their father giving Ash an earful about dating Alex, all of them glad their names weren't Ash. After they finished their coffee, they decided to make their decent to the pack. Alex coming down the stairs threw the dressing gown at her mother and the sibling made their escape Serena pulling Elijah along. Then interrupting the talk with Ash and her father Alex kissed Ash passionately on the lips and the five of them went outside the house disappearing as quickly as they could. The parents were left behind stunned, "Did Serena seem different to you?" Serena's mother asked her husband, "You mean she was actually happy for once?" he retorted with his wife hitting him on the back of the head with a wooden spoon, with him giving her the side eye, "What are those boys doing to our daughters?" she sighed as wondered into the distance as her husband was rubbing his head.

Chapter 31: The Price of Secrets and Lies

The five of them arrived at the pack where a gloomy atmosphere awaited them. The pack was preparing the funerals for the four family members they lost in the attack last night including, 9-year-old Kassie, her mother weeping over her body. Everything had happened so quickly after Elijah had been shot that he hadn't had time to see if everyone except for Nathan and Sarah and Nathan were okay. The grey atmosphere was lifted when he heard the familiar voices of Nathan and Sarah coming from the pack house running up to their parents with glee, "Dad!" Nathan called as he ran up to him almost tackling him to the ground, "You're alive!" he laughed. Elijah smiled and messed up his hair, "You trying to get rid of me?" he joked Nathan laughing back at him. He then turned to Sarah happy to see her but not ready for the talk they were about to have. He then saw Claire come out of the Pack house and they exchanged a nod, taking the children the pack house with Serena and Elijah and Claire going inside. Inside the packhouse was George and Alpha Peter waiting for them with a slice of chocolate sponge cake. They sat Sarah down on the sofa in the living room, everyone looking concerned, "Am I in trouble?" Sarah asked reading the room Elijah then bent down to each level with her, "No, you're not sweetheart. It's about your curse," he told her she looked at him confused Claire then took over, "Sarah, when wolves first kill someone it activates their wolf curse, meaning they will transform on the next new moon," she began not wanting to tell her what happens next but seeing she had no choice, "The transformation is incredibly painful, no one has activated their curse as young as you before-" she paused starting to cry trying to wipe her tears from her cheeks, "you might not live through the transformation," she started to bawl with tears George trying to comfort her. Sarah began to cry wrapping her arms around Elijah her eyes burning red, Nathan too began to cry and Elijah gave them both a huge hug. Serena then took Claire out the room followed by James, "were going to do everything we can to find a cure for her curse," Serena said to Claire as they hugged. "What about finding a spell for our other problem? His mark is getting worse each day" James asked reminding his sister that they still had yet to find a way to remove the rest of Elijah's soul and time was running out. "Sarah will die if we don't help her, I can't let that happen," she reasoned with him, "Nathan could die, Elijah too if we don't get this sorted," he fired back, "More reason for you to help us, the quicker we find a solution for Sarah the quicker we can help the boys," Reluctantly James agreed and after Claire had stopped crying they went back into the room.

After the children had calmed down and went to play, Elijah took Claire outside wanting to ask her something rather personal. The pair walked past the pack house until they sure they couldn't be heard by prying ears. "Claire, I need to ask you something," he began with Claire looking back at him confused, "Go on," she said pretty sure on what he was going to ask, "The girls are yours and George's aren't they," Claire looked at him sadly and nodded, "We had no choice. There had only been one albino wolf born every century until me and George were born. We were they side project, to create a stronger albino line of wolves. They must have given up when Katrina and Sarah came out normal," she sighed, "Only they aren't normal, they are recessive albino's" Elijah told her thinking about Sarah's change in eye color, Claire looked at him confused. "Both you and George being albinos cancelled out the gene in the girls, meaning they are albinos but have no physical tells. The only give away being their red eyes when there upset or scared." Claire looked back at Elijah, "We were so ashamed, not of them, but of us. What we did, was wrong we knew that, but we didn't have a choice," Claire started to cry, "I know, I'm not blaming you," Elijah comforted her, Claire sniffling "They forced us to, threatening George that if he didn't they would make him watch as they forced themselves on me," Elijah was heartbroken by this and held her In his arms, "I rejected the girls when they were born, the biggest mistake I've ever made. Watching from the sidelines as they grew up without a mother and father broke me and George, but we knew it was for the best. But now with Sarah activating her curse I don't know what to think," Claire sobbed. "Sarah's needs support from the people who love her, it's up to you whether you give that support as her mother or her aunt," Elijah told her trying not to force a decision on Claire. "How did you find out anyway," Claire sniffed curious on how he had reached that conclusion, Elijah smiled back at her "I had my suspicions like in the pits you favored Sarah and Kat over the other children. Or your reaction after seeing Sarah when we met at the cemetery. Also, when Katrina and Sarah were upset that their parents didn't show for the necromancy ceremony you and George was the first ones to comfort them and finally, their red eyes." Claire laughed "that obvious huh," she sighed. "They're children, they won't judge you for what happened," he assured her "Says the guy all the kids adore," she joked as the two began to make a return to the packhouse. "They know what I'm capable of, and that it's not always good," Elijah told her assuring her that she was not alone.

They arrived back intime for the funerals to commence, the whole pack gathered by the river as they were getting ready to burn the bodies of the four lost family members. Nathan and Sarah found Elijah amongst the crowd, and they held his hands tightly as they watched the bodies be carried gently into the river. The pack wept, grieving for the family they had lost but none more prominent than Kassie's mother who was sobbing uncontrollably at the loss of her daughter. Seeing this the parents of the other children held ever more tightly. Then Peter took to the front of the pack, "Today we have lost four family members, taken from us well before their time. They died free, they will be welcomed by our ancestors free. They will never be forgotten, Until the next life," They watched as the four bodies were lit alight the wolves singing to same song from the pits so the wolves' souls would be collected by their ancestors. Nathan and Sarah hugged Elijah tightly as they watched the bodies burn hearing the wailing from Kassie's mother as she watched her daughter body burn. This turned out to be too much for Sarah who buried her face in Elijah's jacket. Soon the funeral was over and the pack slowly dispersed leaving the gloomy atmosphere in the mist. Elijah took the children inside where he made them some lunch with the Peterson's, Ash and Peter coming in behind them. "Do you think the pack ancestors heard you?" Alex asked Peter holding Ash's hand. "I hope so, it's a good comfort with grief knowing that the people we love who are no longer with us are not alone in death," he said sadly. "Elijah, you died right?-" Serena started but was interrupted by Aries who burst into the room, "Alpha, Meryl's missing. She took off 5 minutes ago and no one can find her. She said she wanted to avenge her daughter's death,". Peter looked at him confused but Elijah knew exactly where she was going he wasn't the only one who had seen Freya at the pack last night. "She's going after Freya." He told them with the others in the room looking perplexed, "Freya was leading the witch attack last night, Meryl must have seen her too. Serena, you look after the children I got to go," Serena wasn't happy being left with the kids but Elijah was gone before she could retaliate. Peter then turned to Ash, "You better go too son," and Ash nodded darting off after Elijah.

Back in the city the air was quite as Freya sat reading on the porch watching the world go by with not a care in the world. Meryl then came round the corner full of rage, holding a dagger in her hand prepared to do whatever needed to be done to avenge her daughter's death, her inhibition escaping her. She then emerged in front of the house, "You killed my daughter!" she shouted her anger echoing through the street, causing Freya to look up from her book, "I what?". This infuriated Meryl even more her approaching the porch, Klaus, Rebecca, Kol and Dahlia came out from the house to hear what the commotion was about. "Listen here you witch bitch, you killed my daughter!" she cried her eyes started to weep and she waved the dagger around. "Put that away, I didn't kill anyone," Freya said. "Maybe not, but you where there. I saw you last night giving orders, your just as guilty for my daughter death!" she roared. "Enough" a voice shouted from behind her, she looked back seeing Elijah, "It's not worth it,". He then slowly moved in front of Meryl sandwiching himself between her and Freya, Meryl then began to speak in wolf dialect, "She killed Kassie! She needs to pay for what she did!" she wept. "This isn't what she would want," Elijah replied, "I just want her dead! I want my baby back". "Killing her won't bring her back or make you feel better. Give me the dagger" Elijah told her, her face was red as she was crying uncontrollably. She then walked towards Elijah dagger in hand, his family looking onward in shock as she approached Elijah not sure what she was going to do. Meryl then gave the dagger to Elijah who dropped it on the floor and kicked it as far away as possible. Ash arriving shortly afterwards taking the dagger from the floor watching as the two hugged with Meryl crying in Elijah's arms, "I just want her back," she sniffled as Elijah embraced her in his arms. The Mikaelson's looked puzzled on what was happening, Dahlia on the other hand knew what Freya had done. Ash took Meryl home when she calmed down leaving an furious Elijah.

They all entered the house once more with everyone wondering what just happened. But before anyone could say anything Dahlia rushed to Freya slapping her in the face causing her to fall backwards, "YOU STUPID, STUPID GIRL! Why were you there?!". Freya was left speechless as she rubbed her check, and Dahlia not impressed just shook her head, "you disappoint me, Freya. A child was killed because of your actions, your brother was shot and you're standing there as if it doesn't matter. I thought I raised you better than that" She roared at with Freya noticeably shaking. Upon hearing this the rest of the family turned to Elijah, "You got shot?". Elijah had no idea how Dahlia knew but he guessed that Alpha Peter had told her as they seemed to tell each other everything. Elijah then self-consciously touched his wound as he took a deep breath, "Yes, but I'm fine". His siblings shared a look of concern as they stared intensely at him, "How did you know what she was saying outside?" Klaus asked intrigued that Elijah could not only understand what the woman was saying but could talk to her back. "It's a form of wolf dialect, I've been spending a lot of time with the pack, and they taught me how to understand it" Elijah answered honestly. His family wasn't satisfied with his answer but knew it was the truth. As time went on the tension began to fizzle down, but it didn't disappear completely with their being a clear divide in the family with Elijah and Dahlia on one side and everyone else on the other. Both sides believing they were right, but they all continued going about their daily routines, not addressing the elephant in the room.

After the dust had settled Elijah wanted to enlist in his mother's help for Sarah's curse. The whole family were sitting in the living room listening to Freya's retelling of the story the night of the pack with her trying to get sympathy from her family. "Ester" Elijah began, but was cut off by his mother shushing him, "Mother please-" again he was cut off by a stern, "I said not now Elijah,". Elijah had forgotten that his mother practically ignored him if it was him who solely needed her attention. He then went into the other room and came back in doing his best interpretation of Finn, "Mother Elijah punched me" which was clearly not good enough, "Elijah stop pretending to be your brother just to get my attention,". Elijah then left the room and went to retrieve a dagger, "Son, what are you doing with that?" he turned around seeing Dahlia standing behind him, he immediately put the dagger back down and turned towards her, "I'm trying to get Ester to help me with something," he replied trying not to give much away, "Sarah's curse by any chance?" she smiled at him Elijah looked surprised back at her, "Peter called this morning saying pack was attacked, I've been looking at some old spell books seeing if there was a way to reverse Sarah's wolf curse but have had no luck so far, maybe the two of us will have better luck," Elijah nodded and the two of them went into Klaus study and tried to see if they could find any clues to reverse the curse to save Sarah's life but was having no luck. "Nothing" Elijah sighed slamming the final book shut, having read what seemed like complete biopic of werewolves. "When is the next full moon? We should have-" Dahlia started "11 days, the pack turns on the new moon, we have less than 11 days," he said sharply. "We'll figure something out," Dahlia comforted him seeing he was agitated. Then her phone beeped n her pocket, she took out her phone and read the message looking surprised, "What is it?" Elijah asked her not wanting to be left in the dark, Dahlia paused before turning back to him, "The Bloods are setting up a poker tournament the winner gets the book of Blood,". "But that's supposed to be a spell book filled with dark magic spells, why would the Bloods willingly give it away?" Elijah questioned knowing that there must be some ulterior motive behind it, but what. "I don't know, but there might be chance that original wolf curse would be in that book, if you got your hands on it I may be able to use it to reverse the curse," Elijah's face lit up, this was the first bit of good news he had heard all day. Overwhelmed he hugged Dahlia not hearing Ester coming up the stairs, "Elijah what did you want-"she stopped seeing them hug, she couldn't hide the jealousy written on her face. Elijah then rushed off downstairs and out the house to get the Petersons opinion on the matter leaving his aunt and mother alone in bitter silence.

After returning to the pack once more, Elijah joined the Peterson's at the pack house who were all reading trying to find a way to help Sarah but to no avail. Elijah burst in telling them about the book and they agreed that it would be the best chance to help Sarah. "They're giving a priceless book of dark magic to a winner of a poker game? Seems a bit suspicious," James told the crowd with them all agreeing. "I know, that's why we're going to steal it," Elijah said with confidence. "Were what?" Serena questioned. It was then Elijah outlined a brief plan on what they were going to do to steal and replace it with a fake, so that If the Bloods were panning something they wouldn't be suspects. Over the next few days, they got more information on the event and came up with a plan whilst they continued to look frantically look in all the ancient spell books in the city.

Chapter 32: Demons Four

The day of the poker game arrived the next day after wasting 3 days of Sarah's pivotal life searching for a cure, they knew that they had to make sure everything went smoothly. Elijah and the Petersons had a plan to win the book leaving the stealing and replacing to the wolves. Elijah had learnt from multiple sources that the game would consist of eight tables the two winners of each table would move on to the next table and so on until only one table of player remained, Elijah needed to be one of those players with the more sitting with him at the final table the better. The four of them would all sit at different tables trying not to play against each other until later in the competition. Knowing that his family also wanted the book before the game started he tried to get his siblings to listen to his plan, "I have a plan to win if we-" he started before being interrupted by Klaus, "That's sweet Elijah, but we all know that you can't play poker to save your life,". Elijah knew this wasn't true, he had been banned from casinos in Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, he had purposely never played with his siblings because he wasn't an advocate for gambling, and it wouldn't be any fun if he won all the time. He couldn't wait to prove him wrong. They then headed to the event which was an open town hall with eight poker tables spread on the floor. He then saw Serena and went to tell to start the plan, she was wearing a red top which plunged in the checks of her breasts exposing her cleavage which he found rather distracting. "How did it go?" she asked Elijah as he stood next to her watching as other competitors started to arrive, "he said that I couldn't play poker to save my life," in return Serena snickered, "you better prove him wrong then," and the pair exchanged a flirty smile then Elijah walked off to a table at the back Serena couldn't help herself catching herself looking at his ass as he walked away. Serena then went to the first table on the right with the Alex and James following the plan and playing on different tables. Once all the tables were filled the two blood brothers emerged from the shadows carrying a glass case with the 'book' inside, unknown to them that the book inside was a fake, Elijah's plan already off to a great start, now he just had to seal the deal. The first few games sailed by with Elijah and the Petersons proving to be the ones to beat being the winners at their tables as they tried to play strategically trying to get rid of the stronger players.

It was only when the competition was halfway through that they received opposition from the Mikaelson's, them to wanting the book. Serena had Klaus on her table, he was an easy read, got cocky when he had been dealt a good hand, deathly silent when he had a bad one. She used this to her advantage guaranteeing her a place on the next table but keeping Klaus in second place so someone could easily get him out in the next round. James had both Rebecca and Freya at his table, the two were working together to force him to play his hand. He struggled to contain his animosity for Freya, and this was ultimately his down full as he was outplayed by the sister but not before taking Rebecca down with him a random witch taking the second-place spot. Alex followed a similar strategy to Serena seeing Kol was a weak player using it to her advantage. As the competition began to stiffen Elijah made sure to manipulate his opponents by using seemingly obvious tells to distract from his real one, changing it every game he played to keep his opponents guessing. This made him see easy to read when in reality he was the one playing them. Using this strategy, he was able to sail his way through his way into earning a place in the semi-final. Shortly afterwards he was paced at one of the two semi-finals tables. On the table with him was Kol, Alex and another man as they battled it out for a place in the finals. The cards were dealt and Elijah straight away knew he had a good hand as he had a full house already off the bounce, his face riddled with nerves, not for him, but for which one he would want to illuminate for the final game, Kol or Alex. Kol believing that Elijah wasn't much of a player saw his nervous face as a sign that he had received a bad draw. They four of them continued to play as each of them took turns drawing more cards to add to their deck. Elijah's position improving when he received one more ace, giving him a four of a kind. The stranger folding leaving the three of them left. Elijah studied Kol and could tell by him tapping on the table that he had a good hand. Alex on the other hand wasn't giving in so easily. Ultimately, Elijah decided that Kol as the weaker player would be easier to beat in the final and opted to try and puh Alex out for the last few rounds. They could feel the tension as the three of them were ready to show their hands. Kol was on the left side so showed his hand first which was a straight with his card number in a row but not in the same suit. All attention turned to Alex who sighed disappointedly revealing her hand to be a three of a kind. Everyone then turned to Elijah who pulled out his four of a kind hand, claiming his long-awaited victory, meaning Alex was out of the running for the book. Both him and Kol through to final.

The four of them prepared for the final game. The tension was cold as Elijah, Serena, Kol and a random witch began to sit down for the final game, them being hungry for the win. Serena looking sitting opposite Elijah on the table smiled at him, "How about you be a gentleman and let me win?" she flirted twisting her blonde stands of her hair with her hands. Elijah let out a small smile, "Nice try but my family wants that book as much as yours," and the pair exchanged longing looks at one another, playing with each other. Then the real game began as the cards were dealt and the final game began. The room fell silent as the game commenced with Elijah not being gifted with a great hand at first, but as the game progressed, he started to become more confident. Serena like her older sister was hard to read, the only thing Elijah getting from was her natural ooze of confidence, which he usually enjoyed, but given the circumstances was not ideal. He then turned on his fake tell, twitching his nose in an attempt to deceive his opponents. Serena and Elijah teamed up to get rid of the stranger making their mission complete regardless of who won the game as one of their families would be guaranteed to get the book. Using Kol's tell against him, he had no choice but to fold leaving Elijah and Serena to battle it out for the book. "Now that the children are gone why don't we mix this up a bit? How about strip poker?" Serena suggested looking into Elijah's deep brown eyes with a smile on her face, Elijah bit his lip, "Okay. If you win, I'll give you my tie, and if I win, I'll still give you my tie," he told her "Have you played strip poker before?" she asked cheekily. "On the contrary, I just don't think it's appropriate for a lady to strip in public," he said with a cheeky smile on his face. Serena shook her head in disbelief smiling as her competitiveness shined through "Such confidence. I just hope you have the balls to follow it through," She smiled playfully as Elijah sat back in his chair and chuckled to himself, "wouldn't you like to know" the pair not breaking from each other's gaze, Serena blushing slightly, "I would… and a little more,". The pair shared a flirtatious smile, "Let's see then. I'm ready to win" Serena smiled placing her straight flush onto the table, "I'll be taking that book and your tie, sweet fang". Elijah's cheeks went red as a huge smile appeared on his face as he leant forwards, "I don't think you will" as he placed his royal flush on the table, winking at Serena. The whole ordeal causing the whole room to gasp. Serena and Elijah shared a lustful smile as she got up from the other side of the table walking up to Elijah telling him "Congratulations" whilst reaching out her right hand. Elijah shook her hand and nodded, "Well played you almost had me,". Serena chuckled leaning in close to Elijah, "I still have you, and your tie" she joked as Elijah loosened the tie around his neck and gave it to Serena. She took it placing around her neck winking at him before dispersing to find her siblings awaiting the big finale. Then the Mikaelson siblings all towered around Elijah congratulating him on winning. "Why didn't you tell us you could play poker?' Rebecca smiled, his siblings looking surprised, "Poker is a game of deception. It's not about the hand your delt, but how you play the game," he riddled. Then the bloods came forward with the book which looked thousands of pages thick, identical to the real one, and it had a leather cover, it was the perfect fake. Alastair then shakily placed the book in Elijah's hands and regretfully said, "Congratulations for winning the tournament here is your prize,". He then stepped back looking at him with a menacing glare as Elijah opened the book. His siblings gathering excitedly around him as he did so, but before he could read the first spell the book burst into flames, in response he dropped the book as it hit the floor with a huge thump, the book turning into ashes in front of them. The hall was deathly quiet as they witnessed the horror, everyone frozen in shock having no idea what happened. RING! RING! The fire alarm started going off due to the fire and everyone slowly shuffled outside. Before doing so Elijah and Serena exchanged a cheeky smile to one another, everything had gone as they planned.

Chapter 33: Sweet Confessions

After Elijah managed to sneak away from the crowd, he sped off to the pack hoping that their efforts would be rewarded. When he arrived at the packhouse the Peterson siblings were all hunched over James, who was sitting down at the dining room table the book outstretched in front of him, them skimming through the book's contents. Elijah then approached sitting in an empty chair next to James. Serena acknowledging his presence looked up from the book for a brief moment and smiled before turning her attention back to the book. They then turned the last page of the book, looking gloomy and disappointed. "There's nothing there," Alex said defeated, "We did all of that for nothing!" Serena stood up straight looking angry rubbing her hand across her face. "I wouldn't say nothing, I think with a little bit of tweaking we can use one of the spells in there to remove Elijah's soul- "James stopped looking up at his sisters glaring evilly down at him, Alex hitting him on the back of the head. "But were no closer to helping Sarah and time is running out," Elijah sighed sitting back in his chair, Alex then looked hesitantly at him, "have you thought about the other option?" The rest of them looked at her confused, "other option?" they questioned not sure what she was on about. Alex bit her lip, "The hybrid option," she cleared up the confusion. They all looked at her shocked not sure what to say, "We have the orb, I'm sure Ash and the others would remember what spell they used. It may be the best chance to save Sarah," Alex suggested. Elijah sighed knowing that Alex was right, "She's a child, I couldn't do that to her. She has her whole life ahead of her,". "But she doesn't, she has 8 days," Alex unintentionally snapped back, the room falling deathly silent. Elijah didn't want to be in this situation he didn't want to be the one to make that decision, he wasn't ready to let Sarah go but he didn't know if he wanted to subject a little girl to the eternal damnation that being a hybrid would provide. "Elijah, I know it's not an easy decision, but it may be her only hope," Serena tried to comfort him seeing he was troubled. Elijah shook his head immersed in thought, "I'll talk to Claire about it, speaking of where is everyone?" he said realizing that he hadn't been bombarded by the children or Claire and George. "Claire's on a date with Klaus and George took the kids to get ice cream," Ash's voice echoed from the doorway. Elijah then rushed off to Klaus' home hoping that Claire would be there. When he arrived, the house was quiet and empty. He wondered around to seeing if anyone was home and he saw in the living room Ester and Freya reading books, not being the people, he wanted to see. He tried to leave the room quietly but one of the floorboards squeaked causing Ester to look up, "Elijah, congratulations on your win, even if the book burnt into flames," she said. Elijah grinned back not really wanting to speak to them, "Have you seen-" he began but was interrupted by the front door swinging open Klaus had Claire pinned to landing wall with his hands around her face the pair kissing passionately. Elijah walked up to the pair, "Claire, I need to talk to you," Klaus let Claires lips free, "Elijah piss off," he told him going back to kiss Claires neck. "It's about Sarah, it's important," Claire then gently pushed Klaus off her knowing that he had bad news. Claire then headed back outside for her and Elijah to talk. "You're such a cock block Elijah" Klaus hissed at him as Elijah followed Claire outside. They began to talk in wolf dialect just in case they were listening, Claire looking gloomy, "There was no spell in the book that could help Sarah." Elijah regretfully told her his heart breaking into as he did. Claire tilted her head back, sighed and took of her glasses revealing her glowing red eyes dripping with tears. "There's nothing that we can do?" she sobbed. Elijah sighed, "There is one thing, but it's morally wrong" Claire looked up intrigued, "What is it?" sniffling on her sleeve Elijah handing her a handkerchief, "We could turn her into a hybrid" he remarked almost under his breath. Claires jaw dropped not believing that was their only option, "I don't want that for her,". "Me either, but it may be the only hope we have of saving her life" Claire now bawling with tears knowing he was right. Elijah then went to hug her where Claire pulled him in for a huge hug. In amongst the chaos Kol and Rebecca were coming back from where they had been looking at Elijah weirdly as they walked past him and Claire to get inside the house, Elijah trying to shew them in faster. After Claire calmed down, she let him go, "We should go ask Sarah, she needs to know everything" Claire decided getting up "Everything?" Elijah questioned not knowing if she meant telling her if she was her daughter as well, "Everything, Everything. If these really are her lasts days in this world, I want her to know the truth" Claire confirmed as they started to head back to the pack leaving the Mikaelson's watching them from inside confused, "I thought she was your girlfriend Nicklaus?" Rebecca joked as they watched them disappear off into the distance.

Returning to the pack once more Elijah heard the cries of Nathan and Sarah from the packhouse, they looked over at the window and saw them both waving at them. They had returned from their outing with George. Elijah waved back as they made their way back to the pack house where he was almost tackled to the floor by the two children. After they had greeted their father, they gave Claire a big hug. Claire then took George outside to tell him of her plans whilst Peter dished out the Victoria sponge cake for all his sweet, toothed demon guests. "What did she say?" a curious James asked from the same seat he was sitting earlier. Not trying to give too much away before Sarah knew the truth, "She was reluctant, but she agreed it would be the best course of action," the Peterson's nodded in agreement. Shortly afterwards, Claire and George came back looking like they were dragging their tails between their legs. "Do you want to get Kat, we'll tell them in the living room," Claire asked her brother who then left the room to find Kat. Elijah then gathered Sarah, who refused to go without Nathan and led the two into the living room followed by Claire. They waited another minute or two before being joined by George and Katrina. Once they were all gathered an awkward silence loomed over them. George and Claire both looking down at the floor, then Claire got a burst of courage, "Girls, we need to tell you something. Something that we should have told you a long, long time ago-" She paused her eyes watering placing leaning down to the girls putting her hands on top of theirs looking back for encouragement from Elijah, who nodded. She then took one big breath, "The reason your parents didn't show up for the necromancy ceremony is because they never left." Claire told them looking at their confused faces, "What do you mean?" Sarah asked cutely. "Yeah, our parents are dead" Katrina added. Claire and George shared a sigh before George got straight to the point, "What she means is that were your parents.". There was a moment of confusion on the children's faces but when Sarah finally caught up, she gave her mother a welcoming hug. Katrina had a completely different reaction, she quickly angered pushing Claires hand away, "Why didn't you tell us? We spent our whole lives thinking our parents were dead, when you were right there all along!" she got up from the chair, George trying to diffuse the angered Katrina "Katrina it wasn't a choice we took lightly, we love both you and your sister with all our hearts but-" "you were ashamed of what you created. Your still brother and sister, right?" Katrina said abruptly interrupting her father. "Kat it's not like that, we were forced to," Claire defended their actions, "Save it mother" Katrina retorted as she stomped out the room not walking in a straight line as she did. Claire and George looked at her leaving feeling like a part of their hearts had been ripped out by Katrina's rejection. They soon turned their attention back to Sarah, "Sarah that's not the only thing we need to talk to you about," Claire began as she sat in the empty space next to her, Sarah looked intrigued. "Honey, we haven't been able to find a cure for your curse." She said sadly, Sarah's face slowly turned from one of intrigue to one of fear. "Am I going to die?" She looked up at the adults in the room with Nathan looking shocked, Elijah bent down to her, "No sweetheart, we won't let the happen." Sarah then got up from the chair and hugged him, "You need to be a big girl and listen to this next part, okay?" Claire said with Sarah nodding, "You have a big decision to make, we might not be able to stop your transformation, but we could make it easier, we could get Serena and her family to help turn you into a hybrid like me and Uncle Ash," Claire told her trying to be as clear as possible. "Will it still hurt?" Sarah asked. Claire nodded, "yes but you will survive, and we can give you a ring so you will never have to turn ever again. It will save your life" Claire replied trying to hold back her tears. Sarah looked at Nathan who just smiled at her, "Okay, I'll be a hybrid-thingy" Sarah firmly decided. For the rest of the day and into the early night Sarah was glued to Elijah's hip not letting him out of her sight, until she eventually fell asleep leaning on him. She then took her upstairs with Nathan not far behind them, Elijah havening to leave his suit jacket with her as she wouldn't let go of it. He then headed downstairs to help the Peterson's, Ash, George and Claire to see if they could remember the spell the Blood Order used to turn them.

Chapter: 34 Extended Family

After days of agony of trying to get the hybrids to remember the spell, they were met with an incomplete spell, the wolves only being able to recall the spells beginning before they were writhing in pain. Any memory spell was pointless as they would only see what the wolves remembered, everything seemed bleak. They had all used their magic to delicately enter the hybrids minds causing Elijah's mark on his neck to elongate further up his neck now starting to cover the bottom of his face, what was left of his soul was slowly decaying. Elijah came out of a memory spell with Ash, feeling tired and drained from this tension, "I'm sorry brother I tried," Ash said apologetically knowing the strain it was putting on his original counterpart. Elijah shook his head, "It's not your fault…." He said shakily as he suddenly fell unconscious falling backwards on to his back. "DAD!!" Ash shouted panicked as he grabbed hold of him moving him on to the sofa, Elijah's body feeling limp as he did.

Elijah woke up in a room that wasn't in the packhouse, it looked like Klaus' living room. He could hear Ash's muffled voice echoing through the house. He was in a mind trap. He then got up from where he was sitting ignoring the painting of him, Serena and the children that was at the exhibition, and went to see if anyone was stuck with him. In doing so he found the rest of his family in the dining room. "Who's doing this?" he said as he approached his siblings. They all looked up acknowledging Elijah's presence not noticing his mark being significantly bigger from when they had last seen it. "Where the bloody hell have you been?" Klaus asked him, Elijah looked back at him, "I just got here,". There was a moment of silence before they started shifting through boxes and other items around the house, "Were looking for keys, one for each of us with our initials on it," Rebecca filled him in, with them all looking back at Freya, "What? I promise it's not me this time,". Elijah found the whole arrangement rather odd but began to look for keys straight away he went back into the living room where he first awakened from the mind trap. Klaus then came in behind him and they began to shuffle items around checking for keys. "What happened with you can Claire the other day?" Klaus asked from the other side of the room, "What do you mean?" Elijah said inquisitively. Klaus stopped looking through the bookshelves and turned to face Elijah looking like he had just stabbed him in the heart, "I saw she was crying and you were comforting her,". Elijah looked back his back against a mirror, "That? She is going through some things with her daughters" he explained. Klaus then turned his back to Elijah going back to the bookshelf, contemplating whether he believed him or not. Just as he was turning around, he saw two hands grab hold of Elijah and pull him through the mirror. "Elijah!" he screamed rushing over to the mirror tapping on it, but it had reverted back to its normal function. He removed the mirror from the wall but was face to face with bricks. The others rushed in behind him after hearing all the commotion, "What happened?" Rebecca asked, Klaus turned to them, "The mirrors eaten Elijah,". They all looked panickily at each other and rushed over to see what they could do.

Meanwhile inside the mirror Elijah was in identical room to the house except everything was flipped the other way like a real mirror. He saw a two people standing in front of him which he recognized, Lobo Blood and the Bloods pet she-demon. "What are you doing here?" Elijah asked them trying to reach for a silver candle holder on the nearby table. Lobo then stepped forward, "Not a step closer!" Elijah roared holding the candle holder up above his head. "I want to help you save the kid," Lobo told him, Elijah looked surprised, "Why do you care about Sarah?" Elijah questioned him, Lobo let out a small smile, "Sarah? So, the rumors where true?" Lobo asked pleased with this information. "You didn't answer my question. Why do you care about Sarah? Aren't you Bloods satisfied with the hybrids you've already created?" Elijah asserted trying to work him out. Lobo and the demon pet looked shared a smile before turning back to Elijah, Lobo then lifted his sleeve revealing the number 3735 on his wrist, showing it to Elijah, "She's my niece,". Elijah's jaw dropped, looking down at his own number, "I had no idea of what my brothers were doing to the wolves in the pits, you have to believe me about that,". Elijah looked at him full of questions, "How did you find out about Sarah?". "I found a book in Alastair's study it had a family tree with all the wolves numbers inside, when I found my number, I found my other family as well. Then when my brother ordered the attack on the wolves one of branches on the tree went grey, I heard rumors that a little girl had activated her wolf curse and I knew it was her.-" he paused trying to catch his breath, "What I'm trying to say is, I have the hybrid spell to save her life. I wanted to give it to you in person, but my brothers have been watching me, hence the mind trap. Also, I had to do your whole family because it was the only way to get you here" he told him he then stepped towards Elijah placing the piece of paper with the spell in his hand he then used a spell casing the paper to dissolve in his hand imprinting the spell onto Elijah's hand, "It will be their when you wake up, but don't worry it's not permanent," he assured him. "Thank you," Elijah nodded, then from behind him he heard his siblings still trying to figure out what happened to him, "There going to break the mirror the way their going," The Demon Pet spoke her voice soft and warm, "Do you want to meet them?" Elijah asked Lobo, who looked back at him longingly, "Definitely but not yet. My brothers are hiding more than they are letting on,". "We have to go now, before were discovered," The Demon pet told Lobo who nodded in agreement, "Take care of them for me," Lobo told Elijah before he faded away leaving 2 keys on the floor in his place, but the Bloods demon pet remained. "Why hasn't the prince taken your soul yet?" she asked him studying the mark on his neck that had more than tripled in size from when she last saw it. "Prince?" he asked her. "Serena didn't tell you? I guess she may not know what happened. 2,000 years ago, witches hunted demon kind, cutting off our horns under the false assumption that our magic was stored within them. Our numbers dwindled, with demons almost going extinct all together. Our leader, your son's grandfather, and our king, lead what was left of us to safety where we remained hidden for centuries. But me and my friends thought we knew better and about 20 years ago left our home." She recalled he eyes slowly filling with tears, "What happened?" Elijah asked her wanting to know the full story, "Everything was good until about 8 years ago when the Bloods found us. They trapped us and cut off all our horns, I watched my family as they slowly descended to madness and died. All except me, who they decided to keep as a pet,". Elijah didn't know what to say but before he could he heard, "Dad! Where are you!" in the distance but it was louder than Ash's voice from when he first woke up in the trap, it sounded closer. Nathan was stuck in the trap too. Elijah then felt faint sitting down on a chair, his nose started to bleed black blood dripping from his nostrils, "This is putting too much strain on your soul, you need to get out of here. But listen, the Bloods aren't finished with the pack, they have made rabid hybrids, mindless killing machines that they intend to use to kill the pack," she told him, Elijah was shocked at this news but he felt distant like he was in between places. "They also have a plans for a prototype that prevent vampires from using their abilities," the demon said looking at Elijah who was listening but was fighting for his attention. "Be careful, they suspect your involvement with the new hybrid, see to it for your own sake that they don't find out it's you" she said as she slowly began to disappear leaving him alone in the mirror, leaving behind four keys behind. He wiped his nose before picking up the keys, turning towards the mirror. He then placed the keys around his neck before putting his hand through the mirror where he felt someone grab hold of his hand from the other side and pull him out, like a tunnel he was pulled landscape from the mirror finding himself on the floor. He looked at his siblings who looked blankly back at him, "What the hell was that?! You can't go disappearing into mirrors!" Rebecca shouted at him. Without saying anything back he removed the keys from around his neck, "The keys?" Kol questioned excitedly, Elijah nodding in response. He then passed the keys to his siblings keeping his and Nathans, with them not noticing the extra key. They then rushed over to the lock in the hallway where they all inserted their keys, Elijah slyly putting Nathans in its place. Once all six keys where in the lock the lock opened, revealing their freedom from the mind trap. Elijah waking up on the packhouse sofa with Ash, Peter, James and Alex looming over him. Still a bit disorientated he heard Alex call, "He's awake!" and Serena's response, "Nathan is too!". Once he could think straight, he sat up, the pain along his neck was tormenting him. He looked down at his hand and saw the spell branded into his skin he then showed the others, "I have the spell". Alex quickly looked at his hand, writing the spell down on a piece of paper as she knew the brand was only temporary. "Don't do that again, you scared the shit out of me and your brother," Alpha Peter said hitting him on the back of the head, James chucked to himself, "It was a mind trap, he didn't have a choice," Peter looked at him blankly, "you know I don't understand your witch jargon". Serena then came downstairs with a groggy Nathan, who sat on the sofa leaning into Elijah and in a matter of seconds was fast asleep. Elijah then filled them in on what happened and how he got the spell, "So Claire and George have an older brother?" they asked, with Elijah nodding "do they know?" Alex questioned. "I don't know" Elijah replied. "Should we tell them?" "I think we should be more worried about the rabid hybrids," James intervened, and they all went quiet knowing he was right. "I thought we brought all the hybrids back?" Alex questioned, everyone looked at Ash who shrugged, he hadn't noticed anyone missing. "Maybe they are wolves not originally part of the pack?" Serena suggested feeling this was the only option. But before long Elijah got a call from Rebecca calling him to see If he was okay, as Elijah was stuck the others went into the Kitchen to give him some privacy and to eat some cake. Night soon approached everyone being in high spirits for finding a solution in time to save Sarah.

The moonlight danced in the sky above the pack after an eventful day. Elijah saw Claire outside watching the stars outside on the pack house porch. He went outside sitting down next to her, "We need to talk". Claire turned towards him, "Why do I get chills whenever you say that?". They both chuckled, "It's nothing bad" Elijah assured her, and Claire frowned at him. "I just wanted you to know that it was Sarah's uncle who gave me the spell. Your older brother" Elijah told her unsure what her reaction would be. Claire fell silent in shock but soon after a small smile crept onto her face as she whispered, "he's alive?". "He also told me that he would like to meet you and George at some point" he told her, and her small smile evolved into a huge grin, "When me and George were younger, our mum told us that we had an older brother who was ripped from her arms as newborn baby. Then after my mum and my dad fell in love and had us, the whole pack wrote off our brother as dead. But my mum always hoped that he was alive. Her dying wish was for the three of us to be reunited" Claire began to cry with joy remembering her late mother. Then at the corner of their eyes they saw George walking across the pack grounds. Claire called him over and told him the news, which he was also pleased about, "If we can't meet him, can you at least tell us his name?" George pleaded desperately wanting all the information Elijah was willing to give. Elijah gulped not sure how they would react from him being a Blood, "His name is Lobo Blood.". The twins looked shocked, "Lobo Blood? As in the witches that kept us in the pits?" and Elijah nodded. He watched their faces as looked like their hearts had been broken in two. "He assured me he had no idea about it" Elijah told them. "That's why they took him, isn't it? So, he could be a part of the Bloods family legacy" George guessed. "I don't know. But I do know is that he does care about your family. He went out of his way to perform a mind trap just to give me the spell to save Sarah's life" Elijah reminded them. The twins nodded in agreement, accepting the harsh reality that their older half-brother was part Blood, not wanting to think about what their mother went through in order to conceive him. "Blood or not he's family, he will forever have a place at the pack" Claire asserted with the boys smiling and agreeing with her. The cold chill of the night began beating against them the warmth from the house luring them inside. They then heard Alpha Peter from inside commanding them to get inside so they wouldn't get frost lice and as their alpha the trio gladly followed his orders running inside.

Chapter 35: A Close call

The following day, the pack awoke to a looming mist which had engulfed the pack. The mist caused ignited the curiosity of the pack as they emerged from their homes in the early morning. Elijah had his mind on something far more important, Sarah's hybrid transformation. Only two days before the new moon their plan was to do the spell today to give her time to adjust before he wolf transformation. Nathan and Sarah were playing hide and seek in the ongoing mist whilst the adults prepared everything, making sure everything was perfect. Elijah had retrieved the orb from its hiding place earlier that morning, they had the spell, blood for Sarah to feed on once she turned all they needed now was Sarah. Around mid-day they headed to a small area in the woods so the witches would be less likely to detect a magic serge and blame it on the wolves. Sarah was excited but deep down she was trembling with fear, firmly holding Elijah and Nathans hands through the woods, Claire and George watching them from behind. After they had set up, Serena went over to Elijah using a knife to make a small cut on his hand putting his blood in a cup. It was then when Sarah began to panic this all beginning to overwhelm her. Elijah in return hugged her telling her it was going to be okay, "You're going to be here, right?" she sniffled looking up at him. Elijah winked at her, "Of course, what's with you children trying to get rid of me?" he joked with Sarah and Nathan joining him. Serena then came back over with the same knife and the orb using the edge of the knife to prick her finger placing her bleeding finger on the orb, where it absorbed the blood and started to glow black. James then approached with the cup of Elijah's blood which she drank, Elijah gave her one last huge hug, "Everything is going to be okay," he comforted her as him and Nathan stepped back with the Petersons. Sarah stood there nervous but ready for what was about to happen. Before starting the spell Claire told Sarah, "Honey, be brave. I love you" as Sarah nodded and Elijah, Serena, James and Alex all started chanting the spell, their eyes turning grey whilst Elijah's white the ground around them shaking. The orb started to levitate and glow a fierce white as the four of then continued to chant the spell. Sarah began writhe in pain slowly collapsing to the floor, Claire tried to go help her but was pulled back by George, "Not yet," he whispered with tears running down his checks. All they could do was watch as they completed the spell, Sarah slowly began to stop crying as the spell was working and was numbing the pain. Even so, Elijah, let out a single tear not wanting to hear her cries anymore. Soon enough he got his wish as the orbs glow started to dim and within a few moments it plummeted to the ground, releasing Sarah from the spell and their eyes going back to normal. But as soon as the spell was over Elijah felt weightless, his whole buddy feeling numb feeling only the ravenous pain reaching up from his neck to his cheeks. His vision became blurry and narrow as he faded into the darkness of his sub consciousness seeing Nathan collapse in front of him, he then became completely submerged by the darkness as he fell to the ground, the final thing he heard being Serena shouting their names before being completely unconscious.

When he awoke, he was looking up at a beige ceiling, he tried to turn his head to the right but in doing so caused a huge amount of pain to pulse down his neck. Deciding to sit up instead he realized he was in the guest room in the pack house with no recollection of how he got there. He could hear the children joyfully playing outside by the window on the right wall. Hoping to see Sarah and Nathan he went to get up from the bed but before he could he Heard a squeak on the floor boards outside the room. He followed the noise seeing Ash smiling back at him as Ash shouted, "HE'S AWAKE!" which seemed to echo through the whole pack. Like a roll call he heard what sounded like a group of elephants rush upstairs with the Petersons, Claire, George and Alpha Peter embracing him with their presence, the children not amongst them. "How long was I out?" Elijah asked still groggy. Serena looked hesitantly at him, taking a deep breath, "3 DAYS?! Is Sarah, okay?" He panicked knowing that Sarah's transformation would have been last night. They all smiled at him, Claire stepping forward to tell him, "Everything went fine, the spell worked brilliantly, and she lived through the transformation." "We gave her the daylight ring straight away like you said," Serena added. Elijah was ecstatic that Sarah was okay then his memory drifted to Nathan, where he remembered seeing Nathan collapse just as he did, "What about Nathan?" he said rubbing his throbbing neck and his head. "Nathan woke up a few hours ago, a bit shaky but he's okay" Alex informed him. Then as if they knew that they were talking about them Nathan and Sarah ran upstairs into the room cookies in hand. The pair then jumped onto the bed sandwiching Elijah in the middle, Nate presenting a double chocolate cookie to his father, which Elijah gratefully accepted. Elijah then turned to Sarah, "How you feeling sweetheart?" he asked her taking a bite from the cookie, "I'm good, it hurt for a while but mum was there to help me," Sarah told him, Elijah wrapped his arm around her and kissed her softly on the head, "Sorry, I wasn't there to help". "It's okay," Sarah smiled hugging him back. Elijah then turned to Nathan who was devouring his cookie, "You okay Nathan?". Nathan looked at his father a bit down, "I am now, but I feel sick, but not like sick, sick you know?". Elijah chuckled shaking his head. They slowly began to disperse leaving only the Petersons, Elijah and the children in the room, Serena looked at him sadly, "We need to talk about what happened,". She told them that the reason they had fainted was because time was quickly running out for them to remove Elijah's soul, "Doing the spell put pressure on your half of your soul causing it to defend itself causing both of you to faint," Serena explained, "We need to find a way to remove it sooner rather than later," James muffled under his breath with Alex hitting him on the head giving him an evil glare. "Nathan why don't you and Sarah go play we'll be down in a minute," Serena told him, with Nathan huffing leaving the room, his family watching him leave. When they were sure he had gone outside they turned to Elijah, "Nathan stopped breathing when you both collapsed," Serena sniffled with Elijah looking terrified. "Thankfully we eventually got a response from both of you. But that was too close for comfort." Serena continued her eyes starting to water. "We need to find a way to remove the rest of your soul as soon as possible," Alex told him Elijah nodded, "But what are we going to do in the meantime?". "For the time being no using magic or your vampire abilities, that should put less strain on your soul. Also, you and Nathan should be in close proximity of each other at all times, that should hopefully buy us some time," James guessed not sure if any of it would affect the rate his soul was decaying. They all then headed downstairs to see the others, Ash was on the phone in the other room, talking like Elijah. "What's he doing?" Elijah asked not sure if he should be concerned of identity theft. Alpha Peter emerged from the Kitchen handing Elijah a coffee, "he's being acting as you since you passed out, he seems to get along with your brother," Peter told him. "Which one?" Elijah questioned taking a swig if the coffee "Err- the littler one, Kol I think?". Elijah let out a small laugh, "don't ever say that in front of him, he will kill you," half joking half warning him. Shortly after Ash came into the room he was full of smiles as he handed Elijah back his phone, "That was Kol, he said that there is a family gathering on Wednesday and Klaus said and I quote, 'I will drag him here by his teeth if he doesn't show up' him meaning you. Also he wasn't happy you didn't go to family therapy on Friday" Ash told him. "Obviously. Wednesday, that's 3 days from now. Serena would that be, okay?" Elijah asked her. "Of course, but no magic or powers" she told him. Elijah had no idea what this meeting was about but for the sake of keeping up appearances he needed to go see his family. Claire then burst excitedly into the dining room, "Guess who invited me to meet his family! Elijah, you don't count".

Chapter 36: Surprise

The morning after, the birds were singing in the horizon of the neighboring forest as the sun begun to rose on the new day. Sarah was still getting used to being a hybrid and was up early with her fangs accidently on show when she awoke. Elijah was sitting in the living room when she came in, "Sarah sweetheart, your fangs" He reminded her seeing them out, she rubbed her finger against her mouth and noticed she had them out, she then with a tiny bit of effort retracted them, "Your already better at doing that than your uncle," he laughed with Ash looking up from the chair opposite him to acknowledge the comment, "What?". Elijah smirked, "you heard,". Just then Peter comes into the room looking confused, "Did you find anything dad?" Ash asked his father. "No, I couldn't find any leaks in the reserves, are you sure you smelt something weird?" he replied. Ash nodded, "Can you smell it, brother?" Ash asked Elijah. Elijah tried to smell the air around him and was met with a faint pungent smell of iron. "What is that?" he questioned. Dahlia then came down the stairs wearing nothing, but Peters checkered dressing gown leaving Ash and Elijah repulsed, "Morning honey," Peter greeted her passing her a coffee and kissing her on the cheek, with Dahlia embracing him. "Dahlia, the kids are up, they don't want to see… that" Ash pleaded gesturing to her body trying to get her to go away and put some clothes on. Dahlia looked offended and in retaliation she slapped Elijah on the back of the head, "I didn't say anything!" he shouted, "No, but you were thinking it!" she roared. "Well, I'm going to find the source of the smell before I get abused any further," he said half-jokingly and got up from his seat and went outside to see if he had any luck locating the smell.

Elijah then aimlessly wondered through the pack following wherever the smell led him. Until it came to a stop, leaving him confused. Before he could turn back, he heard crying coming from an old outhouse that the previous wolves had modified so it was a regular bathroom, just outside. Elijah went over to the outhouse and knocked on the door. "Who's in there are you okay?" he asked trying to find out who was crying. "It hurts!" a voice whimpered back to him, Elijah identifying the voice as Katrina's, "Katrina, I'm going to bust open the door, okay?" he replied. Without a second thought he kicked the door open and was horrified by what he saw waiting for him. When he busted down the door, he saw a trail of blood on the floor leading him to Katrina who was hunched over the toilet grasping at her stomach, her face plastered with tears and her eyes glowing red. He looked at her for a moment not knowing what to do, but after that moment passed, he went over to her, "Kat listen I'm going to pick you up, and were going to go see someone who can help," he explained to her with Katrina nodding. He carefully scooped her up and took her out of the bathroom, Katrina nesting in his chest, approaching the front of the pack hoping that Serena had arrived and driven her car. it was like an angel had heard his plea as he saw Serena's car turn round the corner and he went up to the car after it was stopped. Seeing this Claire came over concerned about her secret daughter, "what's going on?" she asked whilst Serena got out and helped Kat into the car. Elijah turned towards Claire, "Honestly, I don't know. I found her in the bathroom like that, were taking her to the doctor," Elijah replied trying to remain calm. Claire looked worriedly at Katrina, and then she got in the other side of the car and sat next to Kat how was crying because of the pain. "Nice timing," Elijah said to Serena as they both got in the front of the car. Once they were all buckled in Serena speed off to Holly's clinic to find out what was wrong with Katrina.

They waited in a cold dark room waiting for Holly to come and see Katrina. She still hurting was sniffling on the bed holding her stomach, whilst she squeezed Claire's hand with her free hand. "It will be okay, Kat," they all assured her, Katrina breathing heavily. Then Holly came through the door, "Sorry about that, just had to finish with the patient I had before, what seems to be the problem, little lady?" she said welcomely. Katrina looked over to Holly and whimpered, "My stomach hurts," but did not give any further information. Holly then walked over to her and got her to lift her shirt revealing a little belly so she could feel it and for Katrina to tell her where it hurts. Elijah wanting to get Katrina their best help added, "I found her in the bathroom, she was bleeding in er… that area and she was saying her stomach hurt" trying not to embarrass himself. Getting what he was saying she noted the blood on her underwear. "Katrina, have you been under any stress lately?" Holly asked with Katrina not sure on what to say. Claire filled in the blanks, "The pack was attacked two weeks ago,". This seemed to confirm Holly's suspicion "What is it?" Serena inquired. "I need to get something, I have a hunch, but I really hope I'm wrong," she then left the room leaving the three adults confused. "What does that mean?" Claire asked. Serena shrugged her shoulders unsure herself. Holly then came back with an ultrasound machine, and they watched as she put a gel on Katrina stomach and turn the machine placing the scanner on her belly and watched as an image came up. She moved it around to try and get a clearer image, until her face dropped and the three of them locked at the screen seeing something that resembled an alien staring back at them. She then continued to look around and take measurements of the being before removing the scanner and wiped away the excess gel and told her to go to the bathroom next door to clen herself out which she gladly obliged. She then turned towards them looking like she had been beaten, "She's pregnant,". The three of them erupted with shock. "What? She can't be she's a baby!" Claire cried. "I believe with twins, but she miscarried one, that's the pain she's experiencing and explains the excessive bleeding," Holly explained softy. "But how is this possible?" Serena asked confused on who would do this to a little girl. Elijah sat thinking about it and came to a revelation, "When the pack escaped the pits, we were meant to go at night. Our collars put the whole pack asleep, but before I fell unconscious, I saw someone come in. What if they took Katrina?" He suggested. "But that was over 3 months ago," Serena reminded them. "Why does that matter?" Claire asked. "She has to carry to term; she can't have an abortion" Holly sighed. Silence echoed throughout the room with the three of them lost in thought. "If I find out who did this to her I will kill them," Elijah declared. "She's my daughter if anyone is going to kill the guy who did this to her it's going to be me!" Claire thundered. Before they could argue any further Katrina slowly walked in and sat on the bed, where Holly told her that she was pregnant and the reason that she was hurting was because she miscarried one of the babies. Katrina began to cry embracing the comfort from her mother which she would have denied in any other circumstance. Holly then addressed all of them, "I want to see her every month for a follow up scan and checks. She can have some paracetamol to help with the pain but only the prescribed dosage,". They all agreed and went to leave but when Serena got up from the chair she almost fainted only being caught at the last minute by Elijah. Elijah then placed her back on the chair, Holly back in doctor mode curiously asked, "Is this your first time feeling faint?". Serena took a mouthful of water from Claire and shook her head, "No, I've been feeling lightheaded for about a week with a little bit of nausea too,". Hearing this Holly got out a blood test kit and used it to get some of Serena's blood. "I'm going to test your blood. We have a new machine, and I haven't had the chance to use it! I'll be back in about 10 minutes max," she said happily as she left the room. They all turned to Katrina, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, but do you remember anything about what happened?" Serena asked sadly. Claire sat on the bed holding her, "I just remember waking up the day we escaped with everything feeling like it was on fire, and I saw that I had a tiny bit of blood on my clothes," she recalled. Claire hearing this started to weep squeezing her tightly. This started a chain reaction as Katrina started to burst out into full on tears, "It my fault, I should have listened to you, you told me to tell someone," she wept jumping off the bed into Elijah's arms. "Don't say that it's not your fault," he said embracing the hug letting Katrina cry to her hearts content. "I should have seen something was wrong," he said regrettably "We all should have," Claire sobbed. KNOCK. They heard before Holly came in the room again with Kats prescription and the results from the blood test. Holly passed the prescription to Claire, and she took Kat outside to get some fresh air. Afterwards, Holly sat down in her doctor's chair. "The reason you have been feeling faint is because you have extreme iron deficiency. Resulting from your abnormal pregnancy, your around 4 weeks" Holy smiled passing the results to Serena. "Abnormal pregnancy? I'm pregnant?" Serena questioned thoroughly looking at the results over and over to make sure. "But how?" she said aloud. "Well, there's a little birdy" Holly began. "Not like that! I haven't had sex in a long time, I don't even know-" she stopped, looking at Elijah knowing that she had wanted to but wasn't sure if she had actually acted on her impulse "We didn't? did we?" she questioned him with him looking back blankly at her. "Did anything happen around a month ago?" Holly asked intrigued. Both Serena and Elijah's faces lit up, "The freedom party!" Serena recalled. "The punch was drugged, and I woke up half naked under a tree the following morning," Elijah realised "So did I, and I was wearing your jacket," the pieces began to fall into place as they came to realise that not only had they had sex but were expecting a child. "Congratulations! Remember to eat healthily, take these iron pills and ill see you for your scan in 2 months to see how the little ones progressing," Holly said as she gave Serena a prescription for iron capsules hurried the two out of the room to join Katrina and Claire before meeting them Elijah whispered "I'm going to be a father!".

The proud feeling soon dissolved into the shadows as he remembered that he couldn't tell anyone in his family, as they would ask too many questions. The four of them arrived back at the pack feeling disheartened. Whilst Claire informed the pack about Katrina. Serena gathered Nathan and the rest of the Petersons and made sure they were alone before telling them, "I'm pregnant!". The two siblings were overrun with joy. "You're going to be a big brother!" Elijah chimed in to keep Nathan up to speed. He took a moment but when he realised, he lit up with glee, "Really?!" He shouted. "But listen, you can't tell anyone unless we say it's okay. Promise?" Serena told him. "Promise. What about Sarah?" He questioned. "We'll tell Sarah together," Serena replied. "Your transformation must nearly be complete if your vampire abilities have supressed so far as to make you fertile," James thought aloud. Alex hit him on the shoulder, "It's true his neck has been getting worse we've only been ignoring it because of the pack being attacked. We need to continue to work on the spell so that the baby actually has a father and brother when its born," James said. The others knew that although it was rather on the nose what James was saying was the truth. "Let's celebrate today and start working on the spell tomorrow." Alex suggested with them all nodding in agreement. They then filled in the others about poor Katrina. Later that night, the pack was fast asleep, and all was quiet the stars shimmering in the ebony sky. Elijah was sat outside the porch of the packhouse watching the moonlight glisten on the lake, when he heard steps coming up from behind him, looking back he saw Serena standing there with two cups of coffee handing one to Elijah before sitting down next to him asking, "What's up sour puss?". Elijah looked back at her not knowing what that meant, but Serena could tell he was upset about Katrina, "It's not your fault you know. Everyone in the pack has gained weight after escaping the pits, there was no way you would have known," Serena told him, Elijah looked at her defeated, "I should of know something was wrong," he assured her feeling overrun with guilt. "Don't be stupid, I remember you asking Kat if she was okay multiple times. Besides you're a man," Serena said cheekily awaiting Elijah's reaction. Elijah turned at her with a small smile on his face looking offended, "So?". "Men don't notice anything do they?" Elijah looked at her in disbelief and the pair laughed. Then Elijah sighed as he regained his seriousness as he asked, "are you going to keep the baby?". Serena looked shocked at this question not replying straight away, "Because I am pro-choice but I really want this baby-" he was interrupted by Serena putting her finger on his lips, "Were keeping the baby. You think after telling Nathan and the others I would get rid of it?" she assured him confidently removing her finger from his lips, Elijah letting out a sigh of relief "I always wanted to have more than one child, not a crazy amount like your family. But I hated the idea of my child growing up alone. At least with siblings you always have someone to confide in, whether they like you or not" they smiled both knowing this to be true. "Yet there are some trials we must face alone," he sighed looking into the distance thinking about how he couldn't tell his family about anything. Serena put her hand on top of his trying to comfort him, he pulled away. "I want you to know that I will always be there for both you and the children. But I don't know if I'm ready to be there for you in a romantic capacity just yet." He told her honestly and Serena was a little disappointed but ultimately felt the same way still working out her own feelings towards him, "I understand. And listen if you want to tell your family about the baby we can, we can make something up, screw what Freya has to say." She suggested. Elijah admired her enthusiasm "I'll think about it, but it has to remain a secret for now," they both nodded as they sat on the porch talking and listening to vast array of night sounds, despite acknowledging their relationship was a marriage of convenience for their children, they unknowingly ended up holding each other's hands as they watched the stars dim making way for the warm morning sun.

Chapter 37: The Rabid Hybrids

The sun had risen making way for a glorious morning. Then they heard Claire shout, "It's today!" her voice echoing throughout the whole pack. Serena and Elijah looked back seeing if they could see her but she beat them to it appearing in front of them. Claire ripping Elijah and Serena apart pulling Elijah up, "Claire trust me meeting my family doesn't deserve this much excitement," he assured her. "This is the first time someone has invited me to something it's a HUGE deal!" she exclaimed, Elijah couldn't share in her excitement and instead let her dart across the pack in a frenzy. "What is she doing?" Serena asked clueless as she watched flitters of Claire move around, Elijah shrugged in response, "She's really excited to meet my family." Elijah told her, "I can see that" Serena joked, "She's going to be so disappointed," Elijah sighed they both laughed. "Ash told me, him and George were going to take the kids to the park later on, I said it was okay," Elijah looked back at Serena, "You don't need my permission you're Nathan's mother," He assured her, "I know but, I thought you would like to know," she smiled back at him and the pair headed Inside the packhouse to satisfy Elijah's sweet tooth and to try and calm Claire down, being only successful with one. The hours ticked by, and Ash and George left with Nathan and Sarah whilst Elijah but mostly Claire got ready. Despite her vampire abilities she still took over two hours to pick an outfit and they were officially late, Elijah saw the hand go by 5pm and awaited a call from Klaus right then and there but didn't receive anything. When they were finally ready, they rushed over to the house Elijah passing Claire a bottle of wine before they entered. Afterwards they entered the house being received with a wildly atmosphere as they approached the dining room table. Klaus was sitting at the head of the table his lip was clipped, his face was swollen. Then to the right of him he saw a pissed off Ash chained to a dining room chair giving Klaus a death stare. The whole room went silent as his family saw Elijah and Claire in the doorway and the realisation hit them, it was Wednesday "Doppelganger Wednesday," Klaus sighed. Ash huffed, "I told you I wasn't Elijah, but did you believe me? No." Ash scolded as Klaus released him from the chains and Ash jumped up going to Elijah and Claire. "what happened Ash?" Elijah asked him curious on how Klaus managed to drag him from the park to the house, Ash speaking wolf dialect, "I was walking with George and the kids when he blindsided me. I fought back but him and his lackey knocked me out and I woke up here chained to a chair," Elijah looked surprised at his brothers' actions and shook his disapprovingly at Klaus. Klaus on the other hand didn't care and moved on to introducing Claire to his family and as Elijah had suspected she found it increasingly underwhelming. Once Claire had been introduced, they sat down, Ash deciding to stay to enjoy the free drinks. Ash sat next to Kol and Elijah next to him whilst Claire sat where Ash was previously chained down. They then endured painful and boring conversations, except for Ash and Kol who were in a world of their own genuinely enjoying each other's company, Elijah couldn't help feeling a tiny bit envious. Then Freya demanded the room stopping the only enjoyment in the gathering, to talk about her wife's improved condition. Of course, Elijah was happy with this news just not the way Freya went about it and as a result he lost all interest. Just then the candle in front of him alit with green flames, he leaned in closer and heard the candle scream "HELP!" before blowing out. Elijah sprang into action getting up from his chair, Claire seeing him do this knew there was something wrong, "The kids?" she asked in wolf dialect, Elijah nodded and Claire went to get up to help him, "What are you doing?" He asked her, she looked at him sternly, "I'm coming with you" Elijah looked at her determination, and sighed, "No your not, it's too dangerous," and he turned his back to her, not taking no for an answer she pulled him back, "To dangerous for you, you mean. What about your soul? She's my daughter I'm going!" Claire snapped back and Elijah seeing no other option agreed and two ran off leaving his family perplexed on what just happened, "I'm with them" Ash insisted as he awkwardly rushed out the house trying to follow them but by then they had rushed off to find their children.

They went their separate ways going to the park. Elijah followed the directions of the voices the lime green flames on old lanterns hanging around the city guiding him to his children. They lead him across the city to a secluded part of town everything looked untouched and empty until he saw something dart into a nearby alleyway followed by something resembling a smudge. He followed them down the alleyway seeing Nathan stranded cornered by four men. Trying not to do too much damage to his soul he pushed the men out the way with as little force as possible, enough to give them a chance to escape but not enough to cause his soul to go crazy. He then grabbed Sarah and Nathan from the alleyway leading them away as quickly as possible, his neck already throbbing. The children were overjoyed to see their father, but little did they know the chase had just begun. The men quickly recovered chasing after the trio, their mouths foaming and their veins popped, the hunt had begun. Elijah could sense they were being followed and not knowing the area very well didn't know where they could hide from what he expected was the rabid hybrids that Lobo had told him about. Hearing their fast approach Elijah saw no other but to hide in an old, condemned house. He rushed the children inside hiding in one of empty rooms. They were back to back with the wall not being seen through the window. Sarah and Nathan tightly gripped Elijah's hand as they felt someone looking through the window. They remained incredibly silent, not wanting to draw attention to their positions. Elijah looked around for an escape route, but found they only had access to the stairs as the back door was blocked by large amounts of construction material that locked old and rusted. The children closed their eyes as the person looking through the window smashed it the pieces scattering all over the floor, Elijah had protected the children by putting his arm over the top of their heads trying to get as little glass on them as possible. But this did not stop his arm from receiving multiple cuts form the glass the rabid hybrid smelling blood entered the house causing the children to begin to hyperventilate. "Your fear betrays you, I can smell it from a mile away," a malevolent voice echoed through the constructs of the house. "I'm in generous mood, hand over the girl and I might let you and the boy live," the voice offered. Sarah's eyes glowed bright red as she squeezed Elijah's hand tightly almost cutting off his circulation. Elijah wasn't going to give in to their demands but knew they were sitting ducks If they remained in the room. Sweet drizzled down his head as he heard the thunder of footsteps from the rabid hybrids draw ever closer to them. They were running out of time Elijah not fearing for his own life but the two young children beside him, who were shaking in fear riddled with panic as they heard the roars of the hybrids. Elijah searched the floor trying not to cut his hand from the glass, finding an old rusty screw imbedded on the floor. Taking the screw, the trio slowly moved to the front of the doorway the staircase right in front of them but the rabids where in the way. He then turned to the children whispering, "When I tell you to run, you run," and they nodded back feeling the pressure. Elijah then threw the screw into one of the rooms opposite them which managed to knock down an old vase, giving them the distraction, they needed, "Run,' he told them as he and the children ran up the staircase with Elijah at the rear. One of the rabids turned back for a split second seeing them rush up the stairs. He then alerted the others as he darted after them coming up behind Elijah. His fangs where bare, foam dribbling from his mouth as tried to bite Elijah's neck. Elijah sensing this grabbed him by the throat pushing against his jugular vein. Once he was completely subdued, he threw him off the top of the top of the staircase his body impaled by metal construction material underneath as his body slowly evaporated into dust. Seeing this, the other three rabid hybrids stormed upstairs cornering Elijah and the children in one of the empty rooms, Elijah shielding the two children. The hybrids entered the room, the leader being the one that threatened Sarah. Panicking, Elijah knew there was only one way out so as the hybrids drew nearer, he too bore his fangs moving forward from the kids, "Stop right there!" He warned the sound of crackling wood echoing beneath him. The hybrids laughed, "Or what? We've all got fangs and if you ask me yours aren't all that impressive," Elijah was slightly offended by this statement, the rabids slowly creeping closer towards them the floorboards creaking louder as they did. Nathan noticing the noise, "what's that noise?" but was ignored by the looming tension from the situation at hand. As the rabid hybrids lurked closer the noise became more prominent, just as one of the hybrids was about to attack

The floorboards tore away from underneath them causing Elijah and the children to plummet through the whole to the floor underneath. Once they had recovered from the fall, they hurriedly hid behind what appeared to be a bookshelf as they heard the rabids jump through the hole. Elijah looked around noticing they were in an old library full of bookshelves carrying new editions of dust on every shelf. "One final chance, vampire! Hand over the girl and I promise I will grant you and the boy a quick death! I'll give you until the count of 10 to hand her over" His ominous voice thundered through the layers of dust as he got the two other rabid to silently locate the trio. "10,9,8,7,6-" The rabids had located them signalling their leader, Elijah seeing the rabid to his left rushed over to him sneaking up behind him breaking his neck. The children remained in the middle isle of the bookshelves keeping cover. The leader still counting went up to the middle bookshelf closest to him pushing it over, which in turn caused a domino effect the bookshelves all being knocked over. Sarah hearing the sudden mysterious rumble moved away from the falling bookshelf whilst Nathan was completely absorbed in squeezing the heart of the other rabid hybrid using his magic not noticing the loud noise approaching. By the time he heard the oncoming bookcase it was too late, he saw the one before it slams into it and stood frozen as he saw the bookcase in front of him begin to fall towards him. He then felt a force push him out the way just before he was devoured by the bookcase, when he looked back, he saw Elijah had been crushed by the bookcase instead of him, "Dad!". The two children tried to lift the bookcase but even with Sarah's superhuman strength they had no luck. Across the room the leader of the hybrids found a pair of crossed swords on the wall of the library removing one from its resting place dragging it dramatically across the floor, as he made his way to Elijah. The children were trying with all their might to lift the bookcase but with the added weight of the others were failing miserably as the children became frantically stressed. Elijah seeing his approaching doom ignored the raging pain of his crushed ribs, "You two run, now," he commanded the pain echoing in his voice. The pair looked defeated like they were going to burst into tears, but they didn't budge. The hybrid reached them with Sarah and Nathan fighting back but were viciously thrown against a wall, "Don't worry you'll get your turn soon enough" he growled at them as he focused his attention on Elijah, who could only watch and struggle from beneath the bookcase. "Any last words?" he asked cockily placing the sword at Elijah's throat, Elijah didn't say a word choosing to look at the children slowly recovering, following Elijah's gaze to the children the rabid whispered, "Don't worry. They'll be joining you soon enough" as he lifted the sword like he was an executioner and plunging it down towards Elijah, Elijah closing his eyes bracing for impact, an impact that never came. Instead, it was replaced with a crack followed by a loud clank of metal then finally a huge thump. When Elijah opened his eyes, Claire was stood looming over him, "you were meant to call me when you found them,". Elijah let out a small chuckle, but his crushed ribs prevented him from doing much more. The children seeing the danger was over rushed over to their aunt Claire as they tried to free Elijah from the bookshelf. They heard loud bashing from behind the door that would have been where the debris was blocking it before. Claire remained calm, giving the others the idea, she knew what it was. Sure, enough the door swung open with one final bang revealing Ash, George and Serena covered in dust "Mum! Uncle Ash! Uncle George!" the children screamed excitedly running up to them. "Took you long enough," Claire teased and with their joint effort they managed to relinquish Elijah from the bookshelf. Once he was free the children ran up Elijah squeezing him tightly as his ribs slowly healed. "Sorry Claire it took a while to get through the blockade. Serena had to use her magic to get us through" George told her as she looked behind the door seeing piles of rubbish and construction. Sarah then withdrew her feeling a sharp pain in her wrist. Upon looking down she saw a small piece of glass imbedded in her skin blood slowly leaking out, but the pain wasn't from the injury itself but that it had healed over the glass, "Dad! It hurts!" Sarah cried her wrist outstretched showing him what was wrong. Elijah looked down at her wrist seeing the glass imbedded in her skin and drew her in close for a hug to calm her down. "We can fix it back home," Claire suggested, "Klaus' is closer," Elijah told her picking up Sarah, "Okay, I'll go with you and Serena. Ash, George you take Nathan back home- " Nathan went into a state of protest, "I'm not going without Sarah!" He interrupted. "Nate can come with us," Elijah told Claire and the seven of them slowly made their way out of the house before it fell down on top of them. They went their separate ways Ash and George heading back to the pack and Elijah, Serena, Claire, Sarah and Nathan taking a detour back to Klaus's to remove the glass from Sarah's wrist and give her a blood top up.

They arrived outside the house, before entering Elijah turned to the children, "When we go inside were not your parents, you cannot mention anything about the pits or anything about me and your mother," He told them the children looking confused, Serena seeing the children's faces riddled with a mix of confusion and disappointment, "just try not to say anything, okay kids?" Serena told them. "Okay mum" Nathan exclaimed; Serena raised her left eyebrow looking disapprovingly at her son. Acknowledging his mistake, "Okay..." he paused realising he didn't know his mother's name, "Serena. And Elijah," she told them pointing behind her to Elijah. Once the children understood they went inside the house and if nothing had happened his family were still gathered at the dining room table. Klaus hearing them enter turned around seeing Elijah and Claire had returned with guests. "She cut herself," Elijah informed him as he took Sarah into the living room with Serena and Claire following behind leaving Nathan behind. Nathan not saying anything sat in an empty chair in the dining room next to Klaus, staring at him intensely. Klaus waited to see if he would stop but after a while became irritating, "can I help you?" He muttered under his breath. "My dad says I'm not allowed to talk to strangers" there was a brief intermission of silence before Nathan turned back, "You're the original hybrid, right?" Nathan asked curiously after hearing Elijah telling stories about his family in the pits. Klaus nodded back to Nathan proudly. "Can I ask you a question?" Nathan asked curiously, Klaus having no idea who this well-dressed child belonged to agreed, "Go on,". "Is it true your dad hurt you and that he didn't love you?" Klaus' face dropped like a pile of bricks, not answering Nathans question "who told you that?" He asked prepared to kill whoever it was. But before he could say anything Elijah came into the room to retrieve Nate having noticed him being absent. "There you are, come on" he told him and lead him back to the living room where Sarah healed, glass removed as she replenished her blood supply. After she had finished the five of them went to leave, before successfully making it out Sarah turned to Claire, "Are we going home now, mum?" the room went silent, and Klaus turned around in shock only now seeing the similarities between mother and daughter, "She's your daughter?". Claire couldn't hide her frustration she wasn't planning to introduce them this soon, gulping she turned to him, "This Is my youngest, Sarah" as she pulled her out from behind Elijah. "Are you my mums' boyfriend? Because I've already got a dad" Sarah asked glancing back at Elijah, Claire started to blush as an awkward silence lingered between her and Klaus. Kol and Rebecca couldn't help themselves laughing hysterically. Avoiding the question Klaus changed the subject pointing to Nathan, "how about him?". The three adults exchanged worried looks not knowing what to say. "My parents died when I was a baby." Nathan responded and the whole room fell deathly silent. Seizing the opportunity, they tried to leave again but Klaus caught a glimpse of Sarah's number on her wrist as she walked past him. Knowing they were treading in dangerous territory Claire made sure she was the one to tell him so before Sarah could say anything Claire intervened, "It's her number, all wolves born in the Pits get one. It's a curse and how the Bloods kept track of us," she then rolled her sleeve showing him her number and Nathan did the same. Nathan looked back at his father wondering why he wasn't showing his, until he remembered they didn't know anything about what happened, "That's horrible" Rebecca mumbled from across the room, "The Blood Order did this to you?" Kol asked and received nods from Claire and the children, whilst Freya remained silent. "We should be going it's been a long day," Serena pushed signalling Elijah to leave, "Do you want me to take you back to the pack?" Klaus asked Claire, "It's okay, we'll manage," she smiled and lead the two children outside followed by Serena and Elijah. Once outside let out a sigh of relief not revealing to much, they then made their way to the pack to tell everyone what happened and to warn the hybrids of the new lingering threat of the rabids.

A few hours later back in the carcass of the condemned building the three rabid hybrids began to wake up, their necks snapping back in place. The three of them dreading on reporting their failure to the Bloods. They picked themselves up returning to the Blood mansion to report their failure. "YOU WHAT!! HOW HARD IS IT TO KILL 17 HYBRIDS!" Alastair's voice echoed through the house. Lobo was outside the door listening to every word. "18, sir." The of the hybrids commented. "18? I think I remember how many hybrids we've made, That Mikaelson bastard even pulled me up on it" Alastair snapped back, "We found a little hybrid girl, that makes 18, sir" the rabid corrected him. Alastair thought about how it was possible, then it clicked that the storage facility was broken into not long ago, "They've made another one. That bastard Mikaelson stole my orb and made another hybrid with it!". He then commanded the rabid's to leave which they did, then Alastair called, "Lobo! I know your listening!". Lobo then emerged from behind the door trying to be remain inconspicuous, "yes brother?". "What did I say about calling me that!?" Alastair questioned with Lobo shrugging his shoulders, Alastair shook his disapprovingly, "Listen closely Mongrel, If I find out that you were anyway involved in this, I will kill you myself. You're a Blood, not a wolf, you'd be wise to remember that.". The two half-brothers shared a menacing glare as an awkward silence lingered between them. Then Lobo simply turned around and walked out the room a small smirk on his face.

Chapter 38: A Closer Call

Feeling exhausted from the ongoing pain of his transformation into a demon Elijah was sitting in an armchair at Klaus', his head throbbing from where his horns were forming and an unexplainable pain from just behind his heart had clouded his mind. His transformation was almost complete, but still having his soul preventing the pain from ending. His neck had gotten worse with the black veins making their way up to his ear and infecting his right hand, he could feel that they were almost out of time. Luckily, with help from the book of Blood they had almost finished creating a spell to manually remove Elijah's soul, as Nathan struggled to remove it himself. James had told Elijah that he would need to hang on for a few more days. "Elijah?" Kol whispered in his ear causing Elijah to drift back to reality turning towards him, "She'll be here soon". Elijah would have gotten Ash to take his place so he could have stayed with Nathan, but Hope was coming over, the first time he would of seen her after she brought them back to life, not only did he want to see her but he knew she could tell that he was acting strange. Hearing that his niece was almost here he got up trying to hide his pale complexion and neck scars, but it had spread so far that there wasn't much that could hide it. Not long afterwards, they heard a car pull up, Hope and Klaus came rushing in the house. Everyone welcoming her home with open arms, then she got to Elijah and noticed his pale complexion and scar even looking at an old, framed picture of him as a reference, "What happened to you? You look dead". Everyone but Elijah laughed at the irony of her statement, Elijah didn't answer but he hugged her and when he let go, she asked "It's not contagious is it?" which Elijah shook his head trying to smile. They then all sat down where they began quickly got drinks and began to catch up. But shortly after Elijah began to feel lightheaded, his fingers tingling as he felt blood run from his nose. The fireplace behind them lighting up a fierce lime green as the numbness began to extend from his finger to the rest of his body. His vision become narrow and hazy as the pain behind his heart grew like he had been stabbed and at the same time he felt his horns trying to pierce through his skull. A wave of death flying through the house causing the flowers to decay and Freya to cough. He sent a message to Petersons unsure on what he actually sent them, the pain becoming more overwhelming with each passing moment. To top it all off he felt blood trickling down his checks where his eyes had started to bleed. Hearing a message in the fire that James was almost at the house, he used the last of his strength to get up covering his face with his hands as he slowly made his way outside with the limited vision and feeling he had in his body. "I have to go" he shouted at loud as he could hearing a car pull up, but he only managed a whisper. His family thought it was odd but paid him no notice as they were focusing on Hope. When Elijah got outside, he felt his vision leave him. Leaving him blind, feeling that his body was about to collapse from under him. But before he could he felt someone pull him inside a car, "I've got you brother it's okay" the familiar voice of James assured him. As they drove off, to the pack he began to regain consciousness and feeling of his body feeling someone else sitting in the back of the car beside him. He turned his head seeing Nathan sitting next to him, his body limp and unresponsive, but as he did the unconscious Nathan reached out his hand, Elijah took hold of it treasuring it, he was alive. As Elijah, regained full control of his body, Nathan too became more responsive, "He was playing with Sarah when out of nowhere he started to scream and then he collapsed. His eyes and nose were bleeding like yours. We thought it was your souls, so we put him in the car and rushed over to you. We were already on the way when we got your message." James told him. In response Elijah pulled Nathan closer to him, where he nestled himself into his father. James smiled weakly "Thank god, we caught you in time". Soon after they arrived at the pack, "Dad? What happened" Nathan asked his father being startled awake by the car jolting forward when James was parking. As the car stopped Serena opened the door scooping up Nathan in her arms, holding him close to her chest as she cried. Meanwhile, James and Alex helped Elijah get out of the car and they took them both inside where Ash made them hot drinks. "Where's Alpha Peter?" Elijah asked him taking a sip of coffee, "entertaining Dahlia" Ash informed him with Elijah nodded taking the information in. "That was too close. We need to do the spell now. We can't wait any longer" Serena asserted. "Serena's right, we can't wait any longer. We almost lost them this time, next time-" he covered Nathans ears "they might not make it back alive". Nathan groggily swatted his uncle's hands away. "Okay it's settled then, we will gather everything we need and do the spell first thing tomorrow" Alex told them, but Serena looked lost, "But we don't know if the spell will work". James took her shoulder, "No one has ever done a spell like this before, there is no way to know if it will work. But we have to take the risk" the siblings agreed. After they made sure Nathan was fully recovered Alex and James started to collect ingredients in preparation for the spell tomorrow whilst Serena watched over Elijah and Nathan like a hawk. Elijah could tell she was physically shaking from the whole experience, "are you okay?" he then watched as Serena started to burst into tears, "Not really no. I felt so helpless not being able to do anything, seeing my babies body drop to the floor, It really scared me" Nathan was asleep on him, so he couldn't get up to hug her but he reached out to her and she sat next to him and he wrapped her free arm around her comforting her. Elijah couldn't wait to put her mind at ease and end this nightmare tomorrow, for him to be finally free from his constant agonising pain.

Chapter 39: Two Fangs, Two Horns

The following morning carried a blanket of mist that covered the pack grounds. The atmosphere was gloomy unsure if this would be the last day the pack saw Raven and Nathan alive after what occurred yesterday. Making sure that Elijah and Nathan where fed before they went through the spell Peter had brough a triple chocolate cake for them to eat for breakfast, "So you have enough energy". Elijah couldn't help but feel this was a goodbye meal, but he accepted it gratefully eating a slice of cake, Nathan doing the same. Afterwards they headed out to go perform the spell Peter stopping them at the door, "I want you to come home, son" he told them, and Elijah smiled back at him where Peter grabbed hold of him squeezing him tightly. Afterwards he headed off following the Peterson siblings to the car, Ash then rushed up behind Elijah hugging him before he got in the car, "please don't die, I don't want to be you forever" he told him half-jokingly as he would be playing Elijah for his family, "I won't". Ash then turned to Nathan, "You better come back, I don't know what I would do without you". "Okay uncle Ash!" he called from the back of the car. They then drove off to the cemetery and headed to the underground compartment. In the middle of the room was a spiral which was mixed with salt and other rare ingredient thy needed for the spell, "okay you two will drink these potions, they will knock you out for the spell but the main purpose of it is to relax your body so it would be easier to for the soul to transition" James told them passing them a vile each. "we'll take care of the rest" Alex assured them. Elijah and Nathan sat down in the spiral and drank the potion knocking them out almost instantly James then repositioned them making sure they were comfortable and placed a pendant Elijah had given him in between them to catch a slither of his soul so that he would still pop up on locater spells. Then the three of them got out the spell which they had created, starting to chant in sync, their eyes turning a hypnotising grey. At first nothing happened but then the spiral started to burn white flames coming from Elijah. The flames slowly began to make their way to Nathan following the spirals outline until it met Nathan where the flames seemed to grow bigger, and Nathan veins themselves began to turn white, the spell was working. This continued for about 5 minutes before the flames by Elijah slowly burnt out, this slowly making it way to Nathan. When they completely disappeared Nathan's veins slowly returned to normal and the whole spiral lit up in white flame once more for a brief second lighting up the locket in the centre and went out again, signifying the spells completion. The Petersons freed from the chant recovered from the spell and their eyes stopped glowing grey as they rested from performing such a dark magic spell. When they caught their breath James made sure Serena was sitting comfortable on a pillow before making his way over to Nathan and Elijah. He checked Nathan first, touching his face which initially burnt his finger with Nathan unconsciously responding by turning around. He then went over to Elijah and was completely astonished, "You need to see this…."

Elijah began to open his eyes, straightaway feeling much lighter than before. As he looked up, he noticed the familiar beige ceiling of the pack house guest room, he then set up confirming he was back at the pack house. Then he heard someone coming up the stairs and a loud knocking on the door which caused him some discomfort but that soon disappeared seeing Serena at the door. She then entered the room holding a handheld mirror sitting down on the bed handing it to him. As if Serena had sent a psychic link he heard more thundering from the stairs as more members of the pack showed up at the door. Nathan and Sarah sitting down with Serena on the bed. "Nathan, how are you feeling?" Elijah asked but got giggles in response, "I'm good dad" whilst laughing with Sarah causing him to be concerned, "what's wrong with me?" he then picked up the mirror seeing nothing out of the ordinary as he saw his complexion had returned to normal and his neck no longer was stained with Nathan's demon bite, it was completely clear up. Nathan and Sarah continued to giggle "Look at your head" the pair giggled. Elijah looked at others who all had gleaming smiles on their faces waiting for him to realise something. He then picked up the mirror again looking at his head seeing 2 rings of red on his hair, which looked like blood. Inside the rings were two tiny little horns, the same colour as his hair, sticking out from his head, "My horns". He placed the mirror nearer his head trying to get a better look at them which proved difficult as they were barely over 1 inch long. "They are so ickle and cute" Serena taunted him touching them and shaking his head, "it's still sore" he told her as he felt the tension in his skull. "I'm sorry". "They really were ready to come out, as soon we finished the spell they were there." James told him, "How do you feel? You certainly look like your better" Alex asked him. Elijah took a moment to think, "I feel good. Was the spell hard?". The siblings shook their heads, "surprisingly no. Everything went perfectly, and we even saved a slither of your soul and put it into the locket." Serena passed him the locket, "You will still show up on witch locator spells now, but it won't last forever". Elijah placed the locket around his neck, "it doesn't need to last forever". She then gave him his daylight ring, but Serena had modified it, "This will hide your horns" she placed the ring in the palm of his hand, the stones in it form his initiation. Elijah grasped hold of it placing it on his finger his horns becoming invisible to the naked eye. Then Peter and Ash appeared in the room with coffee and cake for everyone. "Hiding your horns already son? They were so adorable" Peter exclaimed passing him a coffee and a slice of cake. Elijah eat the cake straight away, his pain may have gone but his sweet tooth was as fierce as ever. "How long was I out for?" he asked finishing the cake. Serena looked at the clock on the wall, "about 20 hours. You and Nathan recovered quicker than expected" Serena said hugging Nathan sipping her coffee. After they had all finished their tea and cake, they all headed downstairs for Elijah to move his legs and to get some fresh air. Elijah then made his way outside where the early morning sun filled his lungs. He then challenged Claire and Ash to a race, "You ready for a rematch?". Both Ash and Claire smiling as they headed for the field where the three of them raced to the other end and although it was a close call between the three of them Elijah was the clear winner, he felt good to be back. He then shook Ash and Claires hand as they were drawn back by the sound of a violin. On their return they saw Nathan playing the violin on the pack house porch with a small group of admires listening to him play. Elijah sat next to Serena who was amongst them, with her smiling as he did. 'Are you sure you're, okay?" she whispered placing her hand just above his knee, "Yes, thanks to you and your family" he smiled back at her. "Hopefully now we can return to some sort of normality," "Would be nice" They both chuckled. "Speaking of normality, I've been thinking you should tell your brother about the baby. I know you two are close and if it makes our family safer, I'm all for it" Serena told him. Elijah looked at her surprised, "You honestly think I should tell Klaus about the baby?". Serena nodded, "I just want you to be happy with our family" Elijah sighed upon hearing this, "I already am. Of course, with my family knowing it would be easier. But, I don't need them to appreciate our family". Serena smiled kissing him on the cheek, "where have you been all my life?" she teased a huge smile on her face. Then she remembered something with her popping back up "Oh the babies 3-month scan is next week are you coming?" Elijah felt that he already had something planned, "What day is it?". Serena checked her phone, "Tuesday at 2". He then checked his reminders where he had family therapy for Tuesday afternoon, "I can't Freya booked us in for a family therapy afternoon" he told her disappointed that he couldn't attend, "I could not go and go with you instead?". Serena smiled and shook her head, "You need to keep up family appearances, you've already skipped 2-" "3" he interrupted "forgive me 3 therapy sessions. If we're going to keep the baby a secret, you need your family to trust you. I'm sure Alex will go with me for this one. But you will he coming to the 6-month scan, you got that?" Elijah nodded annoyed that he had to miss it but knew Serena was right, "I'll tell Klaus about the baby. I need to tell someone I can trust". Elijah then phoned him to ask him to come out for a drink as he needed to tell him something important, but Klaus having to take Hope back promised to meet him the following night.

The following night Elijah waited at the bar eagerly awaiting Klaus' arrival, although they hadn't really spoken since the argument but had been trying to make amends to protect the baby. He was excited that Serena had convinced him to tell Klaus about the baby, the rabid hybrids had put him on edge, and it would be nice to get the extra support. He ordered an orange juice and waited patiently at the bar for Klaus. The hours flew by as he ordered orange juice, after orange juice waiting for Klaus. He phoned multiple times, but he didn't pick up. He waited a total of four long hours before accepting that he wasn't coming, paying his tab, he left the bar to start the lonely journey back home, a trail of death following behind him. Arriving at the pack just after 1am he sat on a patch of grass outside the pack house hearing the owls hoot in the distant forest. He then heard the approach of footsteps coming towards him from the house, "What are you doing out here son, it's freezing, you'll catch a cold," Alpha Peter said trying to coax him into the warmth of the house. "I'm dead, the cold doesn't bother me," he replied softly. "Whatever Elsa" Peter said walking towards Elijah with an old blanket in his hands. "What?" Elijah questioned not getting the reference, "Oh never mind. Can I enter your death circle, or will it kill me?" He questioned pointing to the patch of grass Elijah was sitting it had all decayed forming a circle of death with Elijah in the centre. "You can sit there, it's not you I have the quarrel with," he replied with Alpha Peter sitting next to him sneakily putting the blanket over him. "The meeting with your brother didn't go well then I take it," he commented. Elijah shook his head and let out a chuckle, "didn't even show up,". "I'm sorry son," he said apologetically. "I just want my children to be safe, to have a family that loves them. And the one person who I thought would understand that couldn't be bothered to show." He sighed take a moment to pause, "I'm just a number, nothing more," he finished. "What?" Peter questioned in disbelief, "doesn't matter if it's third born or 3794. I'm nothing more than a pawn to my family, a body to strengthen the numbers. The worst part is that I don't know if I genuinely feel like this or if it's because I'm adjusting to having no soul". "That ridiculous! You are worth so much more, you're our Beta for a reason. I'm going to tell you something, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone in the pack, including Ash, okay?" Peter explained and Elijah nodded, and Peter sighed, "I know how you feel, useless and alone. In the pits when they took Ash away, I felt my whole world round crashing down, I lost who I was because I felt that I had nothing left to give. The only thing keeping me going was the pack. Then you showed up full of spirt and made me want to fight another day and changed my life for the better." He stopped and smiled at Elijah. "So let me assure you, your more than a number to me and the rest of the pack. You're our son, brother, father you name it, but never a number. If your family can't see that then they don't deserve you," They both smiled at each other, "But everything I have ever done has been to protect my family," Elijah commented. "You have a new family that needs your protection." Peter said getting up from where he was sitting, "and I don't mean the pack." He joked. Elijah got up and Peter went in for a hug which Elijah embraced getting used to the affection, "Now get inside, I don't want you getting frost lice" he commanded, "Frost bite?" Elijah corrected following Peter inside, "That's what I said," Peter snapped back confidently. The two warmed up by the fire drinking hot chocolate and talked until Peter succumbed to his old age and feel asleep on the sofa, leaving Elijah to think about what Alpha Peter had said unsure on what to do next.

Chapter 40: A waste of a good therapist

Despite last night's disappointment, Elijah still had to go to another round of family therapy instead of going to Serena's 3-month scan, which was really where he wanted to be, to keep up the façade for his family. He had spent the early morning in the pack trying to make as many healing potions as possible to meet the quota. Then he left the children in Peters care dreading the hours ahead having no idea what therapy had instore for him as he bunked the last session with the Petersons. When he arrived at the house the atmosphere was quiet and dire like all the life had been sucked out of the house and the therapist wasn't even there yet. Without saying a word Elijah just sat on an empty dining room chair next to Rebecca, him still being annoyed that Klaus didn't show last night. Ignoring his sibling's conversations, he texted Serena about the scan but before she could reply he heard the bell, hell had arrived. The woman entered with a bag full of mysteries as she came into the dining room placing her bag on the table, everyone's faces full of dread except for Esters whose idea this was in the first place. "Everyone here?" Melanie the therapist asked counting the 5 siblings and their mother who joined them at the table. Melanie then reached into her bag receiving a little black cauldron placing it on the table and passed out a few cards of paper, "We'll start with a little game. Each one of you has at least one sheet of paper you will write a statement about a member of your family and put them in the cauldron so their anonymous. Then we'll read them out and discuss them as a group," she finished as she passed out pens. The siblings all looked like they wanted to kill themselves already, but with some pressure from ester they did what she said feeling the whole process was a bit redundant. Melanie then mixed the papers up and she passed the cauldron to Klaus who picked one and opened the paper and read, "momma's boy," although Elijah didn't write it, he couldn't stop himself from laughing and guessed that it was Rebecca as she too was chuckling. Kol and Klaus looked at each other not sure which one of them it was referring to. "It's not me I killed her," Klaus defended himself and Kol similarly, "She never paid me any attention". Elijah scoffed knowing that to be false, "That's not true, when we children mother always put you first". Everyone looked at him like this was news to them until Rebecca backed him up, "He's right. You and Nic always came first and if it wasn't you, it was Finn". Elijah sat back not believing this therapy was very good just causing arguments. "Ester what do you say to these accusations?" Melanie turned to their mother who was just sat their listening, "I'm sorry for putting some of you ahead of others. But there was 5 of you all wanting my attention, there's only so many hours in the day,". The siblings all rolled their eyes in unison done with Ester excuses. "Okay pass the cauldron along," Melanie said with Klaus passing the cauldron to Freya. She picked one up a parchment reading out "Traitor" her smile immediately dropped knowing who wrote it but remained silent. The others looked around wondering who wrote it but more importantly who was it about, creating a mist of suspicion amongst the siblings. Although Elijah would never admit it seeing Freya's panicked face had been worth it. "Any comments on that?" the therapist said breaking the thin ice of suspicion. They all replied with a mix of shaking heads and the shrugs of shoulders, "The point of this exercise is to be able to talk openly about these comments all we've got so far is that your mother had favourites and one of you thinks the others a traitor. Let's move on to the next one," Melanie said Freya passing the cauldron along to Kol, "Untrustworthy, doesn't show up," once Kol read it out Elijah knew he went a little to on the nose with that one. Elijah sat back awaiting Klaus' response, but he just looked clueless still having no idea he was meant to meet him last night. Elijah stared at him trying to prompt a response from him but was met with nothing but silence. Elijah coughed trying to jog Klaus' memory but again was met with silence, with no response the therapist decided to move along to the next activity retrieving the cauldron from across the table. She then took whiteboards and pens and passed them along, "I'm going to tell you a bunch of scenarios and statements and each one of you I'll write an answer on your board. This is to allow you all to have a better insight into each other" she instructed them pulling out a small bunch of cards. "Are you even qualified to be psychiatrist?" Elijah asked thinking this was a waste of time that he could have been spent elsewhere. Ignoring him the therapist moved onto the first card, "I like making trouble" which everyone started to scribble on their white boards, when they revealed their answers everyone had written Kol, "I'll take that" he grinned. 'I have the most secrets' was the next scenario which had everyone stumped. Unlike the previous one they all thought about it heavily. Elijah knew it was him but couldn't admit it so decided to write Freya. When they all had an answer, they revealed their whiteboards to which they all said Elijah except for Elijah's board saying Freya. He looked disappointed but understood why his siblings would say him with everything that had been going on lately. "You have been acting strange, Elijah" Kol reasoned. "Well, I would have one less secret if someone bothered to show last night, like they were supposed to" Elijah replied sarcastically looking directly at Klaus. Elijah then watched as Klaus faces drop as he remembered about meeting Elijah to all about something important. "I completely forgot about that, Marcel came over and we spent the evening drinking," he told him, Elijah growing furious that he had chosen to spend the night drinking with Marcel instead of going to the bar him. Klaus looked at Elijah's face which was a mixed up of anger and disappointment "Bloody hell, Elijah. It was only a drink". "But it wasn't just a drink, I was going to tell you something important to me. But here you were all night making googly eyes at Marcel" he calmly spat back at Klaus, "go on then, what was so important that's gotten you to act like this?" Klaus asked, "It's too late now, the moment has passed." Elijah replied sitting back in his chair with a scornful look on his face. "Elijah don't be like that" Rebecca told him trying to fizzle down the situation. "Like what? If Nicklaus can't be trusted to even show up, how can he be trusted with something as important as what I wanted to tell him." Elijah informed her and Rebecca couldn't argue with his logic. The therapist seeing the growing tension in the room changed the subject, "how about we move on to something else". The something else resulted in a half hour pity party from Freya, which they all had to sit through. After that the two-hour session was over freeing them all of their torment. Wasting no time Elijah rushed off before anyone caught him and went straight to the pack. Arriving at the pack house he went into the living room seeing a group crowded around a chair in the living room. In the centre was Serena showing passing around that looked like a parchment of paper. Nathan noticing that someone entered the room looked up seeing Elijah, "Dad! Come see this!" he exclaimed as he made his way from the group pulling his father's hand. He dragged him to the front of the group, where Serena passed him a ultrasound picture, "That's our baby" she glistened with joy as Elijah looked down at the ultrasound picture studying it thoroughly and smiling pulling Nathan in close to him. "Holly said the baby is developing well," Serena told him, "That's good" Elijah smiled at Serena, "How was the family therapy?". "Terrible. I wish you didn't make me go," she laughed at him, "We both agreed that if we were going to keep the baby a secret you would need to keep up appearances with your family," she reminded him, "I know. I just didn't expect it to be so taxing". "I love it when you talk like that," Serena flirted pulling Elijah tie drawing him closer to her but was stopped by Nathan, "Eww mum, stop!" Serena released Elijah not satisfied but embarrassed from Nathans response. Moving on Elijah saw Claire, George, Ash and Peter all looking at another ultrasound picture, "Is that Katrina's? She had her appointment today, didn't she?" He turned to them, Claire passed him the picture, "Yeah, it a little boy!" she shrieked full of smiles. "You're going to have a grandson?" Elijah said calmly, in hearing this news Claire and George went pale, "We're old!" Claire said horrified. Elijah and Serena shook their heads in disbelief and laughed, "No you're not". The joyful atmosphere continued into the early night with only the cold autumn chill to dampen the mood. Nathan had grown bored with the constant conversations about the babies and was beginning to feel left out, feeling like no one was listening to him he put himself to bed. Seeing Nathan drag himself upstairs looking like he was crying, Elijah followed him to see if he was okay. He found him lying on his bed his face towards the wall. He knocked on the door startling Nathan, "Go away," Nathan sniffled barely audible from him facing the wall. "Not until you tell me why your upset," Elijah replied, "Then I don't invite you in" he mumbled, Elijah looked down at the skirting board seeing he was technically already in the room, "You know it doesn't work like that" he said as he sat next to Nathan on his bed, "I know," Nathan whispered sitting up his face red, tears cascading down his face, "are you going to forget me when the baby arrives?" he cried trying to wipe his tears away but failing miserably. Elijah looked surprised by his question not sure where this was coming from, "Of course not. Why would you ask that?". Nathan seemed relived with this answer, "you and mum have only been talking about the baby. I thought maybe you didn't like me anymore" he told Elijah failing to hold back his tears. Elijah pulled him in for a hug, "I would never forget you. Me and your mother are just excited about the baby, but in no way did we mean to make you feel left out," Elijah said comforting Nathan. "I know one thing" Elijah continued with Nathan coming up for air, "what is it?". "I know you're going to be an amazing big brother" and Nathan smiled up at him as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, "Really?" he asked. "Of course." Elijah said winking back at him. Nathan had now stopped crying completely and was his usual happy self. "Listen, babies can take up a lot of attention. Promise me that if you feel like we're not listening to you, or you feel left out you'll tell me. I know what it feels like to be ignored by your parents," Nathan nodded, "I promise". The pair hugged and they shared a smile. "What are you two doing up here?" Serena appeared from the doorway, Nathan looked up to his mum, "Nothing, dad helped me" he said. "Are you two coming downstairs then?" she replied. Nathan then got up from the bed as he went to walk out the room but before he did, he ever so casually called, "love you dad" and walked out the room to go downstairs leaving Elijah in a state of shock. After hitting him a few times Serena finally manged to get him back to reality, "Is Nathan, okay? You were up here a while" she asked seeing him back to normal, "He was just feeling left out," he told her, and she immediately empathised with Nathan's feelings "It's not easy when there's a new baby" she sighed "Indeed" Elijah replied. The pair pondered their own experiences being the older siblings for a moment before Serena interrupted, "You coming downstairs? I was so excited earlier I forgot to tell you that the wolves got invited to the witch's anniversary ball. The only problem is it's being held at the Blood mansion." Elijah's faced dropped, knowing this wasn't going to be an easy decision to make. The pair then headed downstairs to unite with the rest of the wolves Serena handing Elijah the scan picture and he put it into his inside jacket pocket for safe keeping.

Chapter 41: Ball Preparations

A large chaotic mechanical sound echoed through the Mikaelson household in the early autumn morning, as Elijah was using his old but efficient sewing machine to make formal attire for the witches' anniversary ball. Klaus, Kol and where watching him with their ears cupped and Klaus seriously regretted telling him that he could screaming from the top of his lungs, "DOES IT HAVE TO BE THAT LOUD?! I CAN'T THINK!". Elijah not being able to hear him continued to sew. Infuriated by the constant racket Klaus went over to Elijah pushing his hand against the table and holding it down, the interruption causing Elijah and in turn the machine to stop. Elijah looked up at him disapprovingly, "Are you almost finished? I feel like my heads going to explode!" Klaus asked slowly removing his hand from Elijah's. "Unfortunately, not. I'm on the 5th one I've got... 43 more to go" Elijah replied looking back seeing the mountains of empty coat hangers behind him. Kol following his gaze knew he would not be finished any time soon, "I'm gonna pop out.". Klaus catching Kols drift, "Ill come with you," and the pair left Elijah alone. Before they left Elijah shouted, "Remember I told you the Peterson's are coming later," and was met with "yeah yeah. Drinks are in the fridge" then all he heard was the door slam behind him. Elijah went to get a drink of water before be continued to sew and heard the front door swing open, "Back so soon?" He shouted from the kitchen, but to his surprise Claire walked through the door, "Did I go anywhere?". Elijah laughed, "Klaus just left,". "I know I saw him. But I'm actually here to ask you something" Claire told him. "What have I done now?" he laughed "Klaus invited me the ball and I was hoping you would teach me to dance so I don't make myself look like a fool," She asked quickly. "Of course, I would be honoured," Elijah replied seeing how much it meant to her. But this seemed to open the floodgates as most of the pack going to the ball seemed to appear as if out of thin air wanting Elijah to teach them to dance as well as Kora who had come observation notebook In hand for both Ash and Elijah. By the time the Peterson's arrived an hour later the house was swamped with members of the pack and Kora had filled her notebook with more differences and similarities between the two doppelgangers leaving shortly afterwards. "Dad! Where are you!" Nathan called making his way through the crowd, Sarah following behind him. They found him in the dining room trying to teach his visitors to dance. The children ran straight up to him, and the Petersons appeared behind them. "You having a party?" James joked. Elijah shook his head as Alex went over to Ash. "I wasn't expecting all of them, I'm trying to teach the wolves to dance for the ball" Elijah replied. The Petersons looked at chaotic crowd, "If we're going to get anything done, we need to divide and conquer. James you'll take the wolves. The three of us will handle the outfits," Serena took charge, Elijah loving her confidence and drive. "Why me?" James moaned Alex raising her eyebrow, "Because dear brother, you're the only one out of us who can't sew. Plus, you're an amazing dancer, plenty of women over the years have told me about how you stole their hearts with a single dance". This seemed to give James the ego boost he needed, "Really?" he asked with Alex nodding, he then led the pack into the garden to start the lesson. "Is that really true?" Serena asked, "Yep. Trust me you don't want to know what they said he's like in bed," She warned her little sister with Serena somehow looking impressed and disgusted at the same time. Nathan and Sarah deciding to stay with them moved into the living room to start making outfits but mainly dresses for the ball. With the help from the Peterson sisters, the children and some magic they were making significant progress with the mammoth task presented to them. "For Claire I was think off this red silk with a body form shape to show her curves. What do you think about a high leg slit?" Alex put the question out there showing them a beautiful red silk and they dwindled on it. "Mid leg slit. We need something that she feels comfortable in to let her confidence take hold" Elijah informed them and surprisingly they agreed, 'Besides with Nicklaus it's better to keep him guessing,". Serena then started to sew the dress for Claire as Elijah continued to make suits whilst Serena got anxious to ask him his opinion about her choice of dresses as she needed a dress that hid her growing baby bump. Alex looked at her little sister's hesitation and was disappointed, she decided to take matters into her own hands, "Elijah what colour dress do you think Serena should wear to the ball?" picking up a choice of a dazzling emerald green material or a rich plum. Elijah looked up from the machine studying the two materials. He then got up from his chair placing it in front of Serena looking intensively into her ocean blue eyes causing her to blush and the children to leave the room. "I think you would look beautiful in both. But the green compliments your eyes," Elijah said moving the chair back to its original place by the sewing machine, Serena was left speechless as she smiled restlessly, her heart pounding through her chest, "Do you always know the right thing to say?" She joked trying to regain her focus. "No, I'm just telling you what I think. You are beautiful regardless of what you wear" he smiled back at her as she bit her lip and her mind filled with pleasurable desires, "If I wasn't already pregnant with your child I would take you right here, right now. Probably on the dining room table" Serena told him whilst directly looking into his eyes making sure he knew she wasn't kidding, as he showed a cheeky smile in response. "SERIOUSLY SERENA?! I'm right here!" Alex protested not wanting to hear about her little sister's sex life. "Come off its Alex, I'm over 1,000 years old. Plus, you cant say anything I know what you and Ash get up to" Serena told off her sister and in response Alex rolled her eyes. Thankfully, she was saved by James coming back inside with the rest of the pack he was mentally exhausted from teaching the cumbersome wolves. The children came in behind their uncle struggling to contain their laughter as they rushed up to their parents, "Aunt Claire tripped uncle James over, it was kinda funny!" They whispered excitedly to them both. The family shared a grin before Elijah got up to check on James and as the host serve his guests with refreshments as everyone decided to have a quick break. The wolves ended up ordering Pizza which extended the break further. Serena had a sudden craving for blood, not just any blood, she wanted Elijah's. She sat there looking at him from across the room looking at the veins on his neck feeling the desire to go over there and bite down on his delicious neck. Serena then turned to Alex who was sat next to her, "I think I'm experiencing my first pregnancy cravings,". Alex face lit up with joy excited to help, "Really? What is?". Serena looked at her sister's excitement not sure whether to be concerned or not, "I really want some of Elijah's blood and some mint chocolate ice cream," she told her sister with her salivating at the mouth. Alex laughed, "Makes sense the baby is a vampire after all,". The sisters shared laughter, "I'm glad your here" Serena told Alex, "Me too, I missed this," they admitted to each other sharing a warm smile as they watched Nathan make his way through the crowd of wolves carrying two tubs of caramel ice cream and three spoons. Sarah was manoeuvring behind him, when they reached their mum and aunt, Nathan giving Alex one of the tubs and a spoon. He then opened the other tub sharing it between him and Sarah. Serena ice cream-less looked upset feeling disappointed and left out by her own son. "Serena" a familiar voice called from the side of her, when she turned around to see Elijah, he passed her a large bowl of mint chocolate ice cream with a thick red sauce on the top. She took the bowl from his hand seeing a large cut on his right hand that was almost finished healing, her heart melted when she realised that the sauce was in fact his blood. "How did you know?" she asked gleefully, "I have my ways," He replied, "I know you do," Serena flirted back leaning into him softly kissing his cheek. In reality Nathan had been behind her when she expressed her desires for Elijah's blood and ice cream, and he had relayed this information on to his father. Serena took a large mouthful of ice-cream drizzled with blood and was in heaven. The creamy texture of the ice cream running down her throat satisfied her sweet tooth with the blood freeing her from her crazy pregnancy cravings. She loved every mouthful as liked the bowl clean of both ice cream and blood, "That was just what I needed, thank you sweet fang". Elijah smiled almost finished with his own bowl of ice cream. After they all had their break Elijah decided to take over the dance lesson as they had almost finished making the packs outfits. As some pf the wolves were still finishing their food, he took mainly the hybrids and a few wolf stragglers to begin the lesson with the others joining when they were ready. Nathan and Sarah went to follow him but got distracted by the grand piano in another room and started playing flawlessly as if from memory. The Petersons stayed inside to make any last-minute alterations.

Outside he was using Claire as his partner as they drifted across the garden hand in hand, Elijah counting the steps aloud for the hybrids to follow along. Them doing so intensively watching their every footstep, trying to memorise each one. Ash trying to dance with himself. Once Elijah was confident, they had gotten the steps down he got the hybrids to pick a partner to practise with. When they were all paired up they all danced and performed the steps together, "Remember you don't need to be perfect. Dance is about confidence, something which you all have" he complimented the hybrids as the group ran through the dance again, with them starting to improve dramatically, so much so that Elijah stopped saying the steps aloud. They were starting to enjoy themselves dancing their way into the early afternoon, which was full of laughter and smiles. But doom loomed in the distance, "What's going on here then?" Klaus bellowed from the back door seeing Elijah and Claire dancing together, his face plastered with anger. Elijah seeing him immediately let go of Claire, "It's not what it looks like" He assured him as Klaus went back outside Elijah following behind him. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! ALL OF YOU!" he roared his voice shaking through the house. The room fell silent as the wolves hesitated at first but with some encouragement from Elijah started to disperse. Klaus not breaking his gaze from Elijah as they did, Claire came in from the garden with the other hybrids. Ash leading Nathan and Sarah out much to their dismay, the pack saying their goodbyes one by one, "Until the next life".

The wolves left the silence echoing throughout the house leaving only Elijah, Claire, Klaus and the Petersons inside. Klaus was full of rage, "What was that! I said you could have the Petersons over not the whole bloody pack!" He screamed breaking the silence, Elijah looked back sternly. But before he could reply, "It was my fault they were here. I came over to ask Elijah to teach me to dance and I told some of the pack, then they showed up" Claire confessed, Klaus looked surprised, "Why didn't you ask me?". Claire looked down at the floor embarrassed, "I wanted it to be a surprise. I didn't want you to think I was an idiot for not knowing how to waltz". Klaus looked disappointed in himself, "so you two aren't screwing each other on the side?" he questioned her clearing up any confusion, Claire just chuckled in response, "God no. He's like a little brother to me". Klaus smiled believing her, whilst Elijah looked on slightly offended "Little brother?". "Yeah, I met you last, hence little brother," she told him, Elijah shook his head. Then Serena and the others came out of the room having finished making the outfits, "Where did everyone go?" Alex asked looking around, the trio being so absorbed in finishing they had not heard the commotion. "Clean up this wolf filth," Klaus commanded looking at the messy floor full of pizza boxes and dirt that they had dragged in from outside. Elijah told Serena to sit down whilst the others cleaned up, she wasn't happy about It but obliged. Elijah and Claire then used their vampire speed to pick up the pizza boxes and put them outside to be disposed of whilst, Alex and James effortlessly used their magic to clean up the dirt dumping back outside. Within a matter of minutes, the house looked spotlessly clean as if the wolves were never there. The four cleaners looked proudly at their work. Elijah then looked at the Petersons, "I fancy some cake," with the Petersons seemingly in agreement and the five of them left the house on the pursuit of cake leaving Klaus alone and confused on what the hell just happened.

Chapter 42: The Ball

The night of the ball had arrived, the pack was chirping with excitement as they got ready into their dresses and suits. Alpha Peter was not so keen on the idea of going back to the blood mansion as he didn't want to relive the memories of being stuck in the cellar for his whole life, but Dahlia was there to comfort him wearing a flowy blue velvet dress, "It will be okay honey, I'll be right there with you," she whispered into his ear with him smiling and kissing her on the cheek. The pack was almost ready, the ladies just finishing off the last of their makeup and fixing their hair with them still having plenty of time before the ball started. But as Alpha Peter watched the pack get ready, he realised he hadn't seen Elijah for about an hour since he went upstairs, "Ash, have you seen Raven?" he called to Ash who was sitting in a chair in the living room in a black suit, "No, not for a while," he replied thinking that to be a little odd. Serena who had just finished her hair got up, wearing an emerald, green dress he breasts bulging slightly outwards from where her breasts had gotten bigger from the time she was measured due to the pregnancy, but her stomach was covered nicely by the material of the dress, she looked into the mirror checking her stomach was covered but her exposed bosoms made her feel a little self-conscious, "I look like a harlot,". Alex looked at her, "You look lovely, what are you on about" Serena just plainly turned towards her sister gesturing to her breasts, "Your pregnant, their allowed to get bigger" Alex told her. Just then they heard a rumbling of footsteps come down the stairs when they looked at what it was, Elijah emerged looking panicked, "I have a problem". Everyone stopped chattering instantly as they looked at Elijah who hadn't even started to get ready yet. "What is it son?" Peter asked seeing him distressed, "I don't have a suit for the ball," he exclaimed, and everyone just looked confused, "You don't have a suit?" Peter questioned not sure if he heard him right and Elijah in return gave him a disapproving look, "No I don't" he replied in a huff. "Don't you wear suits all the time? Can't you just wear one if those?" Claire suggested. "I don't have any that don't reck of blood or aren't torn. I have checked multiple times," Elijah replied. "Why didn't you make yourself one the other day?" Peter asked him. "I forgot," Elijah gulped the pack fumbling around to find a solution to the problem with the time slowly escaping them. "You can have mine, we have the same measurements" Ash suggested going to remove his jacket, "No, Ash, you have been looking forward to it, I've been to thousands of balls. I will stay". Serena wasn't happy with the prospect of getting dressed up for her man to stay at home, "Your coming, I didn't put on this stupid dress for you not to come". She then picked up the invitation from the side reading it thoroughly, "nowhere here does it say anything about 'having' to wear a suit. Put on your pack jacket, if anyone questions it, they will have to answer to me,". "Oh really would will you do?" Elijah asked flirtatiously, "Burn them alive" she said coldly fully meaning it. Elijah nodding went upstairs once more to put a clean shirt on and his burgundy pack jacket and tie. He then came downstairs ready, "I'm underdressed," he moaned to Serena, who in turn went over to him removing the tie and undoing the top button of his shirt, "much better" she said placing his tie on the table. Everyone said goodbye to the children and with what time they had spare Alpha Peter insisted on taking photos of the pack before heading to the ball, them all standing in small groups while their pictures where taken. After a few minutes of pain, the pack was off to the ball full of excitement, not wanting to wait another moment to experience the thrill of the ball.

The pack arrived at the Blood mansion, the outside had been decorated with dozens of fairy lights that lead all the way to the front door of the mansion. They headed to the front door with Serena and the rest of her family slightly in front, so it looked like they weren't entering together. They passed their invitations to the man at the door and then entered the mansion, where they began to feel uneasy, little over 6 months ago they had lived in the cellar bellow them. But they tried to look past it with the pack following the Petersons through to the huge ball room. Elijah was in the middle of the pack with the bouncer looking at him up and down when he passed, but nevertheless was let through. When he entered, he saw the same white hallway from when he was here the first time still feeling the same eerie atmosphere as before, but he now knew all the evils the Bloods had contained within the walls. Seeing Elijah dawdling behind, Dahlia grabbed his arm pulling him into the ballroom. The room itself was nicely decorated with tables decorated with delicate cloth with a mix of candle and flower centrepieces. Strings of fairy lights were placed on to the wall providing a warm atmosphere and on the ceiling was a large crystal chandelier. The only real thing they would have added would have been the stage which was plastered with musical instruments for the band. Overall, he was underwhelmed and finding Serena across the room her face was saying the same thing. Then he laid eyes on the dessert table, and he went straight over his sweet tooth proving too hard to resist.

Soon the ballroom was packed with everyone slowly making their way to their seats and the ball became underway. The rest of Elijah's family amongst them, Klaus finding Claire amongst the crowd looking at her in awe at her red silk dress that made her red eyes pop and her pulled back white hair seemed to mesmerise him, "you look beautiful" he told her with Claire blushing in response, "you don't look to bad yourself" admiring him in his grey suit but it wasn't doing much for her, "But you look better in leather," she smiled flirtatiously with a huge smile appearing on his face. The pair then went to dance on the ball room floor, Klaus gently taking her hand in his using the other to hold her waist as the pair glided across the ballroom floor taking it as their own. Elijah was watching them as he and Serena shared a chocolate fudge cake from the desert table trying to keep their distance at the same time, the cake was the only thing keeping them sane. Serena fluttered her eyes at him looking at his neck, Elijah knowing what she wanted took a small glass, extending his fangs and biting his hand placing the blood in the cup, where he then subtly gave it to Serena who poured it over her cake mouthing a 'thank you' as she ate the cake fulfilling her cravings. It pained them both having to keep their relationship a secret whilst openly seeing love all around them, but they knew it was for the best, "You going to ask me to dance later?" Serena asked him, "If you want to dance with an old vampire like me, then of course" they both smiled as they watched as Claire and Klaus become more intimate as their dance progressed, his hand slowly sinking form Claire's waist and Claire leaning into his chest, not wanting to see anymore Elijah looked away and instead saw a bunch of witches looking at him with disgust. Elijah picked up his plate with his cake on and headed to the vacant seat next to Ash and sat down, "Not dancing with Alex?" he asked him, Ash shook his head, "We were but she had to take a call. Oh, and on my way back some red head gave me this, I think he thought I was you" he said passing Elijah a red USB stick, Elijah studied it knowing what it was but having no idea how to use it. "Who gave it to you?" Elijah asked curiously. Ash sat forward on his chair scanning the room, until he found the man who gave him the USB, "that one," he said pointing across the left side of the room to a table full of red heads, but more specifically at Lobo who was sitting at edge of the table next to his young-adult nephew. He must have felt that he was being watched as Lobo looked up from his conversation with his nephew meeting Elijah's gaze and simply nodded before turning back to his nephew continuing their conversation. Seeing Dahlia and Peter coming back to the table from the dance floor, Elijah stashed the USB in his jacket as Peter sat next to him causing Elijah to be sandwiched between Ash and Peter. As Elijah looked back at the dance floor, he saw Claire and Klaus sharing an intimate moment on the dance floor before rushing off somewhere out the house, Elijah could only presume what they were up to, but was sure they wouldn't be returning to the ball. From the corner of his eye, he saw Millicent in a Sunkissed lowcut dress pass a folder to Alastair Blood who was across the room surrounded by his witch followers. Elijah watched nervously as Alastair looked inside the folder looking surprised, but what worried Elijah the most was his huge smile afterwards. He then passed the folder to his wife and brother who had similar reactions. Then the two brothers slowly made their way to the stage to make an announcement with huge smug smiles on their faces. Elijah didn't know what to expect. Just before they made their announcement Alex came rushing in breathing heavily as she ran up to the table, "They know!" she worriedly told them getting her breath back. Ash and Elijah sharing a look of shook, "Holly's office was ransacked" Elijah tried to call Serena who was still at the desert table, but it was too late, "Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming to the witches anniversary ball this evening I hope you have all been enjoying yourselves and have been taking full advantage of the free wine! But, in other news, congratulations to Serena Peterson on her new demon spawn, too bad she won't be able to keep the bastard thing. But at least this one can join its brother in hell where they truly belong" Alastair laughed with everyone turning to look at Serena. She could feel the amounting pressure as the witches glared at her making her feel sick. She looked back towards Elijah for support but knew he couldn't help her, but instead she could sense his magic growing. Elijah having not mastered his magic completely made all the candles turn from orange to a lime green and the flowers in the room began to decay as an icy chill ran through the ballroom. Coughs echoed throughout the room like an infectious disease. Elijah went to get up from his chair wanting to silence Alastair's running mouth but was pushed down by Ash and Peter, "Stop it son, you will ruin everything you've worked so hard to preserve" Peter warned him. Not satisfied Alastair continued to humiliate Serena "Tell us who the father is, you might as well mourn the loss of your demon lover and your abomination of a child at the same time," he threatened and Serena was fearing for the life of her unborn baby, James then stood in front of Serena with Alex coming in behind him holding Serena's hand, "Don't you dare say another word! I won't have you threaten my sister!" James roared wanting to rip their throats out, him not being the only one. "What are you going to do about it half-breed?" Alastair asked cockily not expecting James to respond, whilst a white projector screen slowly unravelled from behind the Bloods on the stage, "grant you a slow and painful death," James replied sarcastically with a huge smile on his face his eyes turning grey. Before the argument continued the projector turned on showing a woman in her mid-40's with a head of ebony black hair, chained to a pole, struggling for her freedom. Then there was the familiar voice of Alastair Blood in the background "This is experiment 236 of the hybrid projects. Subject is ready for testing, preparing spell now". Everyone was hypnotised by the screen, horrified looks plastered on all their faces, as they watched the woman scream as she struggled against the chains, "Victoria?" Peters jaw dropped and he started to cry realising that the woman in the video was his mate and Ash's mother, Victoria. The Bloods tried to get the projector to stop but to no avail. Lobo who was sitting on a table next to the stage was secretly enjoying his brothers fumbling about, everything going as he had planned, finally exposing his brother. Peter heard his wife try and fight back, "I need to get back to my husband and my son! Let me go, I want to see Ash!" she screamed as they began the spell, Ash hearing his name also came to the realisation that she was his mother, not recognising her before as he didn't remember what she looked like as she was taken when he was a child and the video quality was terrible, "Mum!?". They looked horrified as the video showed the witches complete the spell, her body becoming limp and lifeless, they had killed her. One of the Bloods subordinates inspected her body determining that she was dead. The last thing they heard before the video cut off was "Experiment 236- Failure". The whole ballroom was silent, after witnessing what was effectively a murder. Ash was full of rage, only seeing red. His eyes turning a glowing orange with the rest of the hybrids following his lead as an orange hue ran through the ballroom surrounding the witches. The rest of the wolves on standby ready to avenge their fallen Luna, "You killed my mum you witch bastard!" Ash got up from the chair, Elijah who was still being held down by Peter didn't catch him immediately. The Bloods looked at Ash seeing his glowing orange eyes and watched him as he retracted his fangs and went to use his strength to crush skull, not thinking about the consequences for the pack if he did. "I thought you were the other one," Alastair told him with the smallest hint of fear in is voice. Elijah could see he was irritated and preparing for an attack, so he stood in the way, "Out of my way brother!" Ash commanded in wolf dialect, trying to manoeuvre himself around Elijah, "I can't let you kill him, If you do it will destroy everything we've worked so hard for. You would just prove them right that the hybrids are vicious monsters, nothing more" Elijah tried to convince him knowing the fate of the pack hung in the balance. Ash's gaze held, his eyes still a fiery orange as time itself seemed in suspense. After a few long critical moments Ash retracted his fangs, and his eyes returned to their normal brown. Ash wasn't happy but knew as the future Alpha, the packs needs came before his own. Now that the crisis was over the rest of the hybrid's eyes returned to normal, but the pack decided to make an early leave before anything else happened. Before Ash left, he turned to the Bloods and sadistically shouted, "Everyone knows what you did to us now. You're a dead man walking." The witches, including council woman Valerie, stared at the Bloods in shock not sure why they would so something like that. Following the rest of the pack outside, the Peterson's immersed themselves into the leaving pack. Once outside, the pack let out a breath of relief, knowing that could of ended in a blood bath. Elijah finding Serena amongst the wolves hugged her tightly, "Are you okay?" seeing her crying, "Yeah, just a bit shaken up" she sniffled, they then made it home to the pack where the emotions truly began to unfold.

The pack grounds were still and silent as the children were fast asleep in bed, their exhaustion betraying them as they wanted to stay up to see their parent return from the ball. George, who had stayed behind to babysit, was reading a book inside the pack house when he heard footsteps approaching outside. He looked at the clock hung up on the wall, "It's not even been 3 hours" he mumbled to himself as he headed outside seeing the pack drooping sadly towards him, "What happened? The kids have only been asleep for an hour." he asked and Alpha Peter filled him on the all the details of the ball as the pack slowly made their way to their homes exhausted by the night's events. George who was now fully caught up, looked around for his sister, "Where's Claire?" not seeing her anywhere. Elijah turned nervously towards George, not sure what his reaction was going to be to Claire and Klaus ditching the ball early, "She left the ball early with Klaus," he informed him. George's face screamed overprotective brother, but he remained calm, "She's an adult she can do what she likes," he then turned away and went into the house with Peter and Dahlia following behind him leaving Elijah and the Petersons alone on the porch. Serena sat down and started to breakdown in tears after holding them in for so long. Elijah then sat down putting his arm around her where she buried her face into his chest. Whilst Alex and James stood there outraged, "who does he think he is threatening her like that?!" Alex roared, "I should have killed him" James said looking down at his little sister broken down in front of him. "Millicent was the one that ransacked Holly's office, I saw her giving the Bloods a file just before you came in" Elijah informed her and the two siblings became infuriated, "That bitch!" Alex screamed with James giving her a disapproving look, "What? Ever since Serena slaughtered her cult and you broke up with her, she's been doing everything she can to spite us. Clearly, ratting us out and watching the Bloods kill Gabriel wasn't enough for her" Alex commented defending herself. "You stopped a cult?" Elijah whispered to Serena impressed causing Serena to chuckle and lift her head from Elijah's chest, 'Yeah. She promised her members immortality, basically turning them into vampires. But to prove their loyalty to her all-new members had to sacrifice a loved one, which was usually their favourite child.". The Petersons collectively sighed as Elijah looked horrified but was intrigued, then Serena continued, "We were friends at the time but when I found out what she was doing I was devastated, I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen, so I lured the cult in its entirety to a green house where I used my magic to break their daylight rings killing them instantly. Let's just say she wasn't happy" Serena recalled wiping the tears of her face. They all took a moment of silence before Serena turned to James, "Thank you for what you did in there". James smiled gently at her, "Don't mention it, you're my sister I will always be there for you, not matter what." Serena then got up from the porch giving her brother a huge hug, "I should have told you this centuries ago, but I'm sorry for blaming you for Noah's death, it wasn't your fault" James smiled, "It's not yours either". They then let go of each other, "Okay but what are we going to do about the baby, you know the Bloods won't stop until its dead and if they find out Nathan's alive, I dread to think what they would do to him." Alex interrupted bringing them back to reality, "Not to mention what they will do if they find out Elijah is not only the father but a demon-vampire hybrid," James sighed. "Then they can't know. We'll work something out," Serena old them and they all agreed. The early morning sun was beginning to rise in the horizon its golden hues absorbing the dark nights sky making way for a fresh new day, "It truly was a disaster," Elijah sighed watching the sun rise. Serena turned looking down at Elijah who was still sitting down on the porch "You still owe me that dance". Elijah smiled getting up from the floor of the porch taking Serena's hand in his holding her waist as they danced their problems swiftly away, living in the moment, loving every second of it. Even seeing Claire return home doing the walk of shame, her white hair frantically frizzy and the top of her dress not zipped up all the way.

Chapter 43: The aftermath

In the late morning the pack had slept and recovered from the events of last night. Elijah could tell that Peter was up to something last night with Dahlia as he came downstairs looking like a zombie but was in high spirits, an enormous smile plastered on his face. Ash was sitting on the sofa feeling down, but Alex was there comforting him. Elijah then went to take of his jacket, as he did, he remembered the USB in his pocket. Now not under any social constraints he went into the study next to the living room picking up a laptop bag from the floor by the study desk. He removed the laptop turned it on and spent about 5 minutes trying to fit the USB stick in the right hole having to get Caleb to help him. Caleb helped him access the files on the USB, where there were two main folders and one smaller one, one folder was labelled Project Whiteside whilst the other was Project Hybrid. After getting a taste of project Hybrid at the ball last night he clicked on the first folder, labelled project Whiteside. Its contents conceived of five separate videos; Elijah curiously clicked on the first one with Caleb watching him curiously. Upon opening the video, he straight away heard sounds of loud moaning and quickly shut the laptop lid shut, trying to preserve Caleb's innocence, "Thank you Caleb you can go now,". Caleb a little disappointed went outside Elijah watching him leave. Once he was sure he opened the laptop again, turning the volume down, as he watched the video. He remembered the room from when he was tortured and watched in horror as he saw the 15-year-old twin siblings being forced to have sex with one another on that dirty mattress, they had recorded them for proof. Elijah shut the laptop lid once more devastated by what he had just witnessed, the looks on their faces alone showed they didn't want to do it. He then called George and Claire and got them to sit down, "I got a USB from Lobo last night, it has videos of the hybrids creation, but it has something else." He paused not sure if he was ready to tell them but knew he had no choice, "It has you two on there as well," he finished turning the laptop around showing them a paused screen from the video of them. They sat frozen with shock, "They recorded us?" Claire whimpered, "I think this may be the Bloods next move to turn the witches against the pack," Elijah told them, but the pair still remained in shock, "They recorded us?" Claire repeated and Elijah sighed, getting up to comfort them. Seeing this Ash and Peter came into the room wondering what was wrong and with the twins permission he told them and showed them the screen, Alpha Peter being disgusted by the Bloods making them do this. After, a while they all calmed down and went outside to get some fresh air leaving. Leaving Elijah alone with Alpha Peter, "Do you really think the Bloods will use it?" he asked, Elijah sighed wanting to be wrong, "I wouldn't put it past them. But there were other folders as well…" he said going back to the main folders on the laptop, "What's that one?" Peter asked pointing to the other folder which wasn't labelled. Similarly, to the previous folder it contained videos, "Click on one then, it can't be much worse than George and Claire's" but the Alpha was wrong what the folder contained was far worse. They only managed to watch 30 seconds of the video before they had to turn it off but that was enough to make their stomachs turn and their faces go deathly pale, "Who would do that? Who would rape a little girl?" Peter screamed, them both feeling dirty and disgusted, "Dick Blood. His life of privilege has caused him to think this perversion of his is justified, I won't stand for it." Elijah exclaimed "what are we going to do?" Peter asked determined to bring the Bloods atrocities to light, "I'll make a copy of the files somehow, then ill give this one to Valerie, the high council will sort it out." Elijah said thinking this was the best cause of action rather then ripping his heart out. Elijah seeing the children playing outside came out of the house and went up to Sarah giving her a huge hug almost crying, he was glad that she wouldn't have to go through anything like he had just witnessed. Although Sarah was confused by the hug she embraced it and hugged him back making Nathan feel jealous, "What about me?" and Sarah held out her hand and dragged Nathan in the hug. Afterwards, Elijah played with them for a bit before Serena came back and when he departed from his role as Evil Vampire boss-man to talk to Serena about what he had discovered on the USB, and as soon as he did she was onboard for outing the Bloods.

Chapter 44: Suspicion

Alastair woke up next to his wife after a long night of hosting. He enjoyed tearing the Petersons apart but his family being humiliated had left them stuck, there stake for council leadership had become under threat. He went downstairs to make him and wife some tea when he noticed the back door was open. Still groggy he didn't think much of it, continuing to make the tea then he passed study where he noticed that the safe door had been melted off. He rushed over seeing if anything was stolen and was horrified to find out that his secret plans and prototype of a collar that prohibits vampires using their abilities was missing. He began to panic he was already in over his head with the hybrids, what would the witch council think about him messing around trying to numb the ongoing vampire threat. He then looked across the room seeing his laptop closed but still on, the lights flashing. He went over to the lid and opened it and saw 'file transfer successful to USB' on the home screen and when he looked what had been transferred it had been all their private files and documents regarding the hybrid experiments amongst other sensitive information. He then heard his wife coming down the stairs and appearing at the door, "Honey, there's been a break in. The plans have been stolen and someone accessed our computer" he said calmly as he could. Mary was furious, "We need to find the plans and that USB!" she roared he voice filling the house. They could only think of a few people that would be brave enough to steal from them, but they knew one vampire who already had, Elijah Mikaelson. Believing it to be him they rushed upstairs to call the rabid hybrids, with Lobo lingering in the dark hallway with their demon captive listening to Alastair call, "See to it that Elijah Mikaelson doesn't make it to the witch council, If he does were finished….. I don't care bring him back here!" they heard him slam down the phone. Lobo and the demon shared worried looks as they tried to remain silent, Lobo turning to the demon whispering, "You better make sure they don't go overboard." With the she-demon nodding slowly and quietly fading away outside without being spotted. Lobo then went to sneak away but his nephew stopped him, "Good morning, uncle" which caused Alastair to come out of the room, seeing Lobo snooping around, he grabbed him throwing him into a closet in the hallway locking the door behind him, "Son, make sure he doesn't leave that cupboard!" he turned running around rushing down the stairs. "Dad?!" he questioned but it was too late as his father gone.

Chapter 46: Rabids round 2

Elijah and Serena were trying to copy the files to another USB stick to have a spare copy just in case, but with little success. Every time they tried the files became encrypted and unwatchable on the other stick, making it useless. Serena was more technologically savvy then Elijah, but she had no idea what to do. "WHY WONT YOU WORK!" she screamed frustrated at the laptops inability to copy files. They heard both their phones go off simultaneously but were too busy raging at the computer to look at their phones straight away. Ash came in behind them, "How's it going?" he asked, "not great, every time we try and copy the files, they become encrypted" Serena replied defeated. "Maybe we should give it to Valerie, she'll know what to do" Elijah suggested and not seeing any other options Serena agreed. "Can we come dad?" Nathan pleaded having sneaked in behind Ash with Sarah waiting outside. Elijah turned to Serena who shrugged her shoulders, "Okay, you can come but you must behave" he told them in between their shrieks of excitement. The trio then headed to the high witch council to give Valerie the USB, they were just outside of town when Elijah felt like they were being watched. He grabbed hold of Nathans and Sarah's hands scouting around to see if he could locate whoever it was. Then amongst the crowd he saw the rabid hybrids staring directly at them. "What is it dad?" Nathan turned around seeing the familiar faces of the rabid hybrids, there appearance scaring him. But before he could react, he realised there were only two, coming towards them, when he knew there were three. Slowly moving the children along he tried to find the third one but had no luck, the noise from the crowd messing up his judgement. Then there was a blood curdling scream from Sarah the third rabid hybrid appeared behind them foam forming around his mouth and his fangs exposed. The animal then leant forward reaching for Elijah, but he and the children managed to duck, and they escaped as fast as they could whilst still being pursued by the hybrids. They ran through the city feeling them slowly closing inn behind them. The children running ahead of his Elijah looked back to see if the rabids were still following him, but this meant he wasn't looking where he was going causing him to collide with someone in front of him, the momentum knocking both on the floor. Elijah quickly got back on his feet, noticing he had bumped into Kol who was also speeding through town. "Sorry…" he began but was grabbed by the throat by the leader of the rabid hybrids who threw him to floor, holding him down as he injected him with something knocking him out instantly, "What are you doing to him?" Kol protested but before he got an answer one of the rabid's came up behind him going to break his neck but was stopped by the she-demon who knocked him out with her magic instead, his body plummeting to the ground. Nathan and Sarah watching from the distance as saw the hybrids searching their dads' pockets finding the USB, then as the two of them where dragged into a van which drove off, leaving them alone, "Dads been kidnapped!" as they went to try and find help.

Drip. Drip. The sound echoed in the distance, as Elijah began to open his eyes "Elijah?" a voice whispered in his ear, with Elijah slowly blinking regaining consciousness, "Elijah?" the voice echoed again. He quickly shot up, "Nathan! Sarah! Where are they!" he spat at Kol who was chained up next to him "Who?" Kol replied confused. "The two children I was with, where are they?" Elijah snapped back with Kol looking around, "There are no children here". Elijah didn't even have a chance to express his relief as they then heard the approach of footsteps and remained deathly quiet. Then appearing from the shadows emerged the leader of the rabid hybrids, "Ahh your awake, about time.". Elijah didn't answer instead reflecting a piercing gaze back at him. The leader then retrieved the USB out of his pocket, "All that trouble just for this? How sad". Elijah felt around his pockets noticing that the USB was no longer there, he then rushed up to the bars his chains restricting him from making all the way to grab it, with the hybrid just laughing as he threw the USB stick to the ground and stepping on it breaking it and Elijah's heart into pieces. "Now, are you going to tell us about what you did with the protype or am I going to have to torture it out of you?" he said with a gleaming smile upon his face, "It doesn't matter to me". "He doesn't know anything about a protype. Now let us out and as a reward I might not kill you!" Kol commanded, "No one asked you junior" the rabid snapped back leaving Kol flabbergasted. "I know nothing of this protype" Elijah confirmed and the hybrid grinned, "I don't believe you. I guess we'll find out when I cut your fingers off". He then looked behind him feeling the presents of another person, which Elijah and Kol couldn't see because of their chains restricting them, "What do you want? Why do they keep sending you to watch us?". Then they watched as the man suddenly burst into flames with him screaming in agony as he fell back writhing in pain. The brothers looked at each other confused as the she-demon appeared from the side of the cage, waving the keys to the chains in her hands. She then stepped over the burning man, opening the cage and freeing the brothers from their chains. They then rushed outside Elijah nodding in gratitude and Kol followed him out not knowing what the hell was going on. "Elijah, are you going to tell me what's happening!?" Kol asked him but hearing the other two rabid hybrids approaching Elijah looked at him, "no" and they ran off following the tunnel, hearing a siren wail in the background, "Where are we?" he whispered to himself looking around the place feeling familiar even though he knew he had never been there. Then they heard the other two rabid hybrids coming up behind them, Kol seeing them properly for the first time as he saw the dribble dangle down their mouths, "What are they?" Kol roared as the pair ran through the underground tunnel seeing the doors starting to close 'Underground facility lookdown commenced' an automated voice announced from the speakers. The brothers managing to slip through the door escaping the hybrids giving them a moment to breathe. But this was short lived as they heard a pounding on the steel metal door as the hybrids began punching through it. Kol and Elijah were left surprised, "what are they made of!". As the hybrids began to pull the door open, the brothers began to open the door in front of them using their combined strength to pull the door apart just as the others manged to get through. They then ran as fast as they could, stopping at a familiar cross section Kol bumping into Elijah due to the sudden halt. "I know where we are" Elijah saw the thick metal door that once contained him and the wolves to the left of him and looking further along seeing the room he was tortured in. Although it brought back painful memories at least he knew how to get out. They then heard the hybrids creep closer making their way through the thick metal doors. "Are you sure? Because I don't one of those things biting me" Elijah rolled his eyes, "follow me". The pair then ran through the tunnel Elijah seeing the same candle as before as they reached the labyrinth of staircase and Elijah telling Kol which one was the way to freedom letting him go first as Elijah used the candle and his magic to create a barrier of fire, hopefully buying him and Kol some time to escape. He then ran after Kol and the pair ran up the staircase bursting through the door. Quickly barricading the door with anything around them. Once the door was secure, they both caught their breath and started to manically laugh. "What where those things anyway?" Kol asked as his breath returned to normal, Elijah smiled at his brother, "rabid hybrids, another one of the Blood Orders creations" Kol looked at him bewildered but believed him and they slowly started to make their way home. But before they could, they turned the corner into town and saw the rest of their family as well as Claire and the children scouring the streets for them. The children were first to see them with their faces lighting up in excitement, but Elijah had trained them well and instead of running up to him they pulled Claires sleeve causing her to notice them. She then alerted the others in the search party who ran up to them hugging them tightly. The reunion was a bit of a blur with everyone bombarding them with questions, which went in one ear and out the other. But as his family was talking to Kol, Elijah snuck to the side with Claire and the children, with the two children squeezing him tightly not wanting to lose him again. "They were so good, me and Klaus were on a date when they found me and told us what happened, we started searching straight away. Everyone was so worried, that reminds me I got to tell the Petersons and the pack you're okay" She quickly got out her phone calling the pack as Elijah turned to the children, "Are you okay?" to which they both smiled "Yeah we stayed hidden while they kidnapped you" "Then we found aunt Claire" the pair informed him Elijah smiling proud of the children's productivity "You want some ice cream when we get home?" the children's faces lighting up full of joy. After about 10 minutes everyone had calmed down from the commotion and they all decided to make their way homes, "I'm going with Claire to take the children home" he told his family as the four of them headed home where he would have to tell the pack the bad news that he had lost the USB. When they arrived back at the pack, they all towered around him asking if he was okay and what happened, but Elijah didn't answer as he gloomily made his way to the pack house to speak to Alpha Peter. He found him in the living room with Dahlia making tea and cake for him with them both noticing something was wrong with him straight away, "what is it son?". Elijah turned towards him as he heartbrokenly told him, "They crushed the USB. All the evidence is gone all because of me" as he turned around placing his head in his hands. Peter sighed sitting down on the sofa, "Son, the only thing that matters is that you are okay. The stick thing is replaceable, you're not". "He's right Elijah, there will be other chances" Dahlia agreed passing him his cup of coffee, which he graciously accepted. Elijah couldn't help but wonder if she was right, the pack were so close to their retribution, and he had failed them at the very end. Only time would tell if he could make things right.

Chapter 47: The wrath of Alexandra Peterson

An autumn glow filled the Peterson household as Serena was home alone doing some light chores around the house with the assistance of her magic, trying not to overdo it knowing her back would pay the price later. She was now 20 weeks pregnant, and she was beginning to feel it, she could barely see her toes. Just as she had just finished dusting she stopped feeling a sudden kick from her stomach, the baby was kicking. Serena was buzzing with excitement as she went to grab her phone to tell Elijah and her siblings, she heard then heard the front door swing open as they still hadn't fixed the front door. She paid no notice thinking it was her siblings or Elijah coming in, "You're never guess what happened!" she said excitedly turning around but when she did her excitement escaped her as she saw Millicent standing in front of her, "What do you want?" she bellowed. Millicent smiled, "I just came to say hi." She said suspiciously, Serena wasn't buying it returning a menacing look, "Get out my house!". "Okay you got me, I came to offer my condolences for the baby. Because trust me if the Bloods allow me the honour of carving your little bastard out of you, I will do it, no questions asked," Millicent smiling whilst she said it. Serena was trying her best to hold back her buckets of tears, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking. "I thought I would give you a heads up for old times' sake," she laughed before leaving just as quickly as she appeared, Serena now alone started to let her emotions flow, tears cascading down her face. She was barely able to hold her phone her hands were shaking so much from the shock, she then managed to call Elijah, hoping that he could understand what she was saying as she was struggling to get any audible words out. Afterwards, she collapsed to the floor, feeling vulnerable and alone.

At Klaus' Elijah was sitting in the living room with his siblings talking about their troubled childhoods much to their mother's dismay. Elijah was half listening to Kol babbling on and was also talking to Nathan through a candle on the coffee table next to him, when he got a call from Serena, cutting Nathan off. He got up from the chair and left the room where he picked up the phone to a distressed Serena not being able to hear anything she was saying. Without a second thought he put on his coat and rushed over to the Peterson's, leaving his family wondering where he was disappearing to again. He darted to the house and saw Serena crying hunched over on the Living room floor. He rushed over to her helping her get up and lead her gently to the sofa where they hugged with Serena burying her face into his chest. He then heard Alex and James enter the house having received a message about it through their ancestors, "What happened?" they both asked curiously Serena not answering straight away. Once she had calmed down she told them that Millicent had come in threatening the baby, this infuriated them but no one more than Alex. She went to leave the house but was stopped by James, "Where are you going?". Alex smiled, "I'm fed up with her threatening our family. I'm going to teach her a lesson," she then left the house determination in her eyes as she headed to the Marcels house where she knew Millicent had been staying with the other vampires there. When she arrived outside, she could feel her presence inside, Alex dawned a menacing smile as her eyes turned grey and blasted the door open with her magic. Upon entering she saw dozens of scared vampire faces staring at her, as her eyes returned to green. "I'm looking for Millicent" she said confidently flicking her blonde hair out of her face, she was met with silence from the vampires, until Millicent herself came down from upstairs a small smile appearing on Alex's face, "We haven't officially met I'm" she was rudely cut off by Millicent, "I know who you are, you're the other Peterson sister, Alex, right?". Alex couldn't hide her disgust for her, "It's Alexandra to you" she snapped back. "You threatened to kill my sister's unborn child" Alex got straight to the point. Millicent looked at her like it was a joke, shrugging her shoulders, "So?". Alex grew in anger feeling it rising within her, "So, this will be the last time you mess with my family," Alex threatened "Calm down Alex, the Bloods told me to do it," Millicent defended herself belittling Alex in the process. "I didn't take you for a Blood lackey, I've heard you don't usually play well with others" Alex said menacingly, leaving Millicent speechless. The vampires watching intrigued by the argument trying not to blink and miss a second of it, Marcel was even watching the commotion from upstairs. "No one threatens my family and lives. But for you, I'll make an exception, for old times' sake" Alex said with a huge smile on her face her eyes turning grey. She clicked her fingers and at first nothing seemed to happen, Millicent grinning at Alex's apparent failure. Then Millicent's eyes started to sting, black blood dribbling from her eye sockets. She started to writhe in pain with Millicent panicking clawing at her eyes, "MAKE IT STOP!" she pleaded screaming at the top her lungs, Alex paid no notice enjoying the show. Millicent then collapsed to the ground the pain overwhelming her, her body shaking uncontrollably as she continued to scream in pain. The other vampires around them frozen with fear as they watched. POP! A large popping sound came from Millicent who still had her hands covering her eyes, and she stopped screaming. Silence loomed as they stared at Millicent who was still cramped over on the floor waiting for her to say something. They watched as she slowly removed her hands from her eyes. They whole room gasped in shock when they saw black blood running down her face from her now empty eye sockets, the spell had caused her eyes balls to pop rendering her blind. "I can't see! What have you done to me?!" Millicent screamed feeling her face finding empty spaces where her eyes would have been, not being able to cry. Alex looked proudly at her work, as she walked over to Millicent grabbing her brown hair pulling her head back, "Next time you threaten my family I will have your tongue. Wink if you understand." Alex threatened her laughing as she let go of her and left the room leaving the vampires with a newly found fear of Alexandra Peterson. Marcel having witnessed the whole event went to call Klaus to tell him what happened.

Meanwhile, back at the house Serena had fully recovered and was sitting on the sofa with Elijah and James drinking coffee, assuring her she was okay. Shortly after Alex returned full of pride, her siblings be none the wiser to what she just done. "What did you do?" James asked wondering why she was so happy, "I told you, I taught her a lesson" she smirked James let it go so Serena could deliver the news, "The baby started kicking!". This caused the atmosphere to change completely and Alex to go into aunt mode, "Is it kicking now? Why didn't you tell me?!" she screamed excitedly. Serena was worried that the baby wouldn't kick again because of the stress she put on herself with Millicent bit was proved wrong when the baby started kicking again as soon as she had calmed down, "the baby's not kicking now, but it was kicking up a storm about 10 minutes ago," Serena informed her, Alex looked disappointed missing it. "Have you guys thought of a name yet?" James asked realising that Serena was 5 months pregnant, and the subject hadn't been brought up yet. Elijah and Serena looked at each other being caught off guard. "We haven't even thought about it" Elijah admitted feeling a tiny bit guilty they hadn't even discussed it until now. "I've always loved Ameri for a little girl." Serena told them, Elijah wasn't instantly sold on the name but thought it was a nice name, nonetheless. "And if the baby's a boy?" James asked with Serena looking at her brother deep in thought for a boy's name "Azrael" she finally come up with. "No." Elijah protested; Serena looked at him confused "why not?". "A biblical name for a demon-vampire hybrid is not a good idea" he told her. Serena clearly not agreeing started to anger from Elijah's protest, "he would be my son, I can call him what I want!" she told him "And he wouldn't be mine?" Elijah snapped back "Come on you two, you have plenty of time to think of a name" James tried to diffuse the situation, the parents clearly not done arguing glared silently at each other. But before the argument could progress Elijah received a phone call from Klaus telling him he was needed back at the house. He then left with them both deciding to sleep on it whilst he went to see what was wrong and probably check up on Nathan at the pack.

Elijah arrived at the house not sure what was so important that he needed to return so soon. When he arrived, he went into the living room where his siblings and Ester were waiting for him, looking at him nervously as he entered. He then sat down waiting for someone to say something. There was a lingering silence before Ester finally spoke, "Son, I don't want you being friends with the Petersons anymore," she told him with his siblings nodding in agreement. Elijah looked confused on why they were choosing to bring this up now. "Might ask why you are bringing this up now?" he asked his arms crossed. They all looked at Klaus who huffed and told Elijah, "Marcel called me, Alexandra Peterson broke the door to where he keeps his vampire lackeys and burst the eyes of Freya' friend. Apparently, it was pretty horrific, blood everywhere. Then she made a blink joke, which even for me is extreme". Elijah was shocked to the length she went to teach her lesson but otherwise felt indifferent, she had gotten what she deserved for threatening his child and coldly replied "oh dear" with a small shrug of his shoulders. His siblings looked at him confused by his calm attitude, "She's dangerous Elijah, they all are" Freya piped up, Elijah just rolled his eyes in response. "She threatened Serena's baby, I think Alex's actions are more than justified," Elijah told them with his family looking back at him with disapprovingly. "Justified? Elijah, she popped Millicent's eyes like they were grapes, over a baby that shouldn't even exist," Klaus's words infuriated Elijah but he tried to remain calm, "Don't be a hypocrite Nicklaus, We all have all committed far more heinous acts of violence then what Alex did today." This caused the rest of his family to fall deathly silent knowing he was right. "So mother, No. I will not be ceasing my friendship with the Petersons. Because I know if someone had threatened Hayley whilst she was pregnant, I would have killed them, regardless of any excuses they had" he said sealing the deal. "Then there this…" Rebecca retrieving an envelope from the table passing it to him. Elijah opened the envelope and took out a picture of Serena and Gabriel at their wedding, "Serena's ex-husband is your doppelganger.". Elijah looked at the picture and smiled at seeing Serena so happy then he placed the photo on the table, "I know. She told me the first time we met" he informed them, which seemed to shut them up. "I assume Millicent gave this to you Freya?" with her guiltily nodding back at him. "I don't know how many times I need to tell you, were friends and we will continue to remain just friends" He then got up and left the house heading for the pack leaving his family alone in thought, feeling proud that he gave them a piece of his mind.

After arguing with his family about his safety around the Peterson's, because of Alex's actions, he finally arrived at the pack feeling both physically and mentally drained from the interrogation from his family. He saw Nathan and Sarah playing with the other children and sat down just outside the pack house watching them play. Serena then emerged from the packhouse behind him sitting beside him, there was a moment of awkward silence between the two. Each one glancing at the other waiting for the other to talk, "I didn't mean to belittle you earlier, I just don't want our baby, if it is a boy, to be laughed at because of his name being an oxymoron for his demon heritage" Elijah told her sincerely. Serena took his hand, "And I'm sorry about what I said, the baby is ours, you should have a say in the name to. Besides I thought about what you said and you're right. I don't want our baby to be ridiculed because of their name and it being a demon". Elijah smiled looking at her, "I'm what?" and Serena rolled her eyes and laughed, "I'm not saying it again,". They both shared a smile as Elijah wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "We could have it as a middle name perhaps?" he suggested, Serena seemed to like that idea, "A compromise, I like it.". "Then it shall be done," the pair laughed, "Now were back where we started, we need a first name" Serena chuckled but before they could ponder possible first names James and Alex emerged from the packhouse with Ash tidying up in the house darting around. "You two are speaking again!" they exclaimed seeing Elijah and Serena huddled on the porch. "Yeah we sorted it," Serena smiled. "Alex, I got an earful from siblings because of you," Elijah informed her. "What why?" Serena asked her sister knowing it had to be serious if it made it back to Elijah's siblings. Alex hesitated for a moment biting down on her lip, "I may have used my magic to blind Millicent". Elijah looked at her disapprovingly, "That's putting it lightly" Serena and James turned to her looking intrigued, "What do you mean?". Alex then sighed, "Fine, I used my magic to burst her eyeballs. She deserved it and I have no regrets" Alex spat, confidently defending her actions "And..." Elijah smiled, Serena and James turning their heads back towards Alex, "and I made a horrible blind joke afterwards,". Her siblings looked at her their expressions stuck between shocked and impressed, "She has been a continuous stain on our family for centuries. Threatening you was the last straw, no one messes with my family," Alex told them the siblings all nodding in agreement. James then turned to Elijah curious on how he knew what happened, "how do you know what happened?". Elijah shook his head, "Marcel was there, he saw the whole thing and he told Klaus. That's why they called me to tell me what Alex did and to say I shouldn't be anywhere near you" this seemed to infuriate them more than Alex's actions, "I'm not sure I should feel offended or proud that your family sees us as worthy adversaries" Serena pondered and they all chuckled, "What did you say to them?" James continued, "I said no." he replied to the Peterson's erupting with cheer, this was enough to alert Nathan and Sarah that they were home and caused them to run up to their parents welcoming them back, where the baby started to kick again, "Do you want to feel the baby kick?" Serena asked Nathan who nodded, placing his hand on her stomach feeling the baby kick against it and giggled the look of his face was one of amazement as his eyes lit up with joy. The family spent the rest of the day together playing and laughing like a normal family, which was exactly what they all needed in light of earlier events, they were home.

Chapter 48: Blood Slave

The Bloods had heard of the horrible incident that occurred disfiguring their vampire informant and were furious. Millicent had been a reliable source of intel being both Freya's friend and being a vampire, but her being blind changed everything. They had called both Freya and Millicent to their mansion to talk to them about their next steps serving the Blood Order. The two elder Blood brothers were waiting for them to arrive along with Alastair's wife Mary. They waited about 20 minutes for the girls to arrive and when they did Freya was pulling Millicent along their arms interlinked leading her into the room. Millicent had a pair of dark shaded sunglasses to hide her eyeless sockets. The Blood brothers were thankful she was wearing them they wanted to be able to sleep that night. "Ladies, thank you for coming in such short notice. We have something important matters we need to discuss. We all know the new hybrids are dangerous creatures, uncontrollable, unrelenting. They must be taken care of. We will be rounding them up as soon as possible and killing them like the animals they are, all evidence of their creation destroyed. But that's not why you're here, Freya you will be assisting us in another matter," Alastair told her placing a USB stick in her hand, Freya wasn't impressed with being their tool asking, "And if I refuse?" the Blood brothers looked at each other and laughed, "You're in no position to refuse, You belong to the Order now, Unless you want to end up like your friend here" he said manipulatively and Freya remained quiet nodding her head. "What?" Millicent said facing the left wall. Alastair then turned to Millicent a huge smile on his face as he walked up in front of her "Oh, you didn't know? With your disability your usefulness to us has expired. So, I'll be taking your ring," he sniggered removing her daylight ring from her hand, Millicent trying to protest but failing miserably. "Harrison, make sure she gets some sun" he laughed with one of his subordinates grabbed hold of her dragging her off outside in the roaring sun over-head "No! Please No!!" She screamed struggling with all her might her cries being heard echoing throughout the mansion. Then there was an eerie silence as the screams came to an abrupt end. "Now where were we? Oh yes, so you don't have to worry about the hybrids, all you must do is leak the information on this USB by tomorrow night, or there will be severe consequences" he said whilst giving her an awkward hug. "What's on it?" she asked curiously. "That's none of your concern" Alastair spat back smiling at her. Seeing no choice, she agreed being allowed to leave the mansion, when she arrived outside, she saw a pile of Ashes lying on the floor, her heart sank realising that was what of left of Millicent and she began to panic mumbling under her breath, "What have a gotten myself into,". Back in the house the Bloods watched her quickly speed away from the window, "Was that necessary brother, we don't even need her for the plan," Dick told his brother, "I know, but sometimes you need fear to secure loyalty. She's imperative for our future plans, we need to have her absolute loyalty" They smiled beginning to get their plan in order.

Chapter 49: The beginning of the end for evil

Elijah was back at Klaus' sitting on a chair in the living room pretending to read a book but was secretly looking at his baby's ultrasound picture, with him unknowingly smiling as he did. Kol, who was also in the room, had been watching him do this for about 10 minutes, not seeing him turn the page even once. "Good book?" he asked curiously and this catching Elijah off guard made him slam the book shut, "Great book" he replied jumpily getting up from the chair putting the book back in its position in the bookcase, "Really because I haven't seen you turn the page once in the last 10 minutes at least" Kol confronted him. Before Elijah could come up with an excuse, he saw the fireplace quickly change to lime green before turning back again, he was receiving a message. "Your right I wasn't reading the book, now if you excuse me" Elijah said leaving the room grabbing a candle and going into the dining room to hear the message, the message itself was brief saying the hybrid were in danger in response he called Ash to move the hybrids into hiding, "We will hide in the house we first met, we'll take some blood with us-" Elijah interrupted, "Go to the cemetery there is a secret room which should be able to fit all 18 of you for a while, Claire knows where I mean" He then hung up the phone blowing out the candle and getting ready when his phone started to ring it was George, "Raven! There after Sarah, we were coming home from the park where some witches jumped us wanting to hurt Sarah, the kids ran off and now I can't find them" he shouted panicked down the phone. Elijah ran out the house as fast as he could leaving an eavesdropping Kol extremely confused on what was going on.

Nathan and Sarah were running panicky through the city together from a witch assassin who wanted Sarah dead. They had lost their uncle George in all the commotion and had no idea where they were going. When they finally stopped, they were lost, having no idea where they were or how to get back. They studied the buildings, but nothing seemed to stand out to them, "I wish dad was here" Nathan sobbed getting air back into his lungs, "Me too," then they heard the sound of approaching footsteps, they had nowhere left to run. Out of the shadows came the witch that had attacked them before, he was tall wearing a beige trench coat, but his face resembled that of a slug, then four more appeared behind him outnumbering Sarah and Nate. "Stay away from us!" Nathan shouted but the man didn't reply pulling out a pistol with a silencer on it. Nathan being brave stood in front of Sarah blocking the shot of the gun and repeated, "Stay away!" but with a shakiness in his voice, "Oh look at him in his little baby suit, aren't you just adorable." The man joked to his friends before turning back to speak to Nathan. "Look Kid, this gun is loaded with silver bullets. No one is going to be here quick enough to help you and that suits looks expensive you wouldn't want to get blood on it would you?" Nathan didn't even flinch as remaining silent as the man placed the gun at Nathans head, "Move kid, we only want the girl" but Nathan refused to move remaining firm, "No" he gulped scared. "Fine" the man went to pull the trigger back when there was a huge of gust of wind causing Nathan to shut his eyes as he felt a shadow looming over him, when he opened his eyes, he saw his father standing in front of him. "If you value your lives, you will leave now" Elijah thundered at them, but the witches not recognising Elijah laughed and moved the gun to his head level. He then went to pull the trigger and Elijah just smiled as he began to pull back the trigger but within a matter of seconds his heart was in Elijah's hand and the gun along with the man collapsed on the floor dead. This left the witches in shock, as they began to run away from the scene, the trio watching them leave, "how I missed doing that" Elijah mumbled to himself before checking if the children were okay, "That was awesome dad! You got to teach me how to do that!" Sarah said excitedly. "Maybe when you are older, we need to get you to safe first" Elijah said wiping his bloody hand on the dead witches coat. "Stop I know you from the pits, you're the one that took out a huge chunk of my friends' neck!" the trio then turned around to see the other part of the duo that had tortured him in the pits and almost whipped Nathan. Nathan also remembering him hid behind his father, and Elijah's eyes flashed white as crows began to gather all around them cawing at the sight of the man. The man looked terrified as he saw the birds circling around him, Elijah could hear his heart thumping through his chest as the crows cawing grew louder, disorientating the Blood Stooge with him trying to block out the deafening cries. Then the crows fell silent, as if they were waiting for a command and Elijah simply clicked his fingers and they began to swarm over the man as they began scratching him with their razor-sharp talons, ripping off bits of his skin and pecking out his eyes as he fell to the floor scrunched up in fear, writhing in agony, his screams becoming lifeless as the swarm of death began to overwhelm him, subjecting him to his dark fate.

Elijah smiled watching his work, feeling satisfied about getting revenge for what they did to him in the pits. But before the children got too scared by the horror playing out in front of them, he picked up Nathan and held Serena's hand as they rushed over to the cemetery using a magic fog to mask their appearance and to hide the code where the secret door opened. They went into the secret room seeing that all the hybrids were in there and safe, overjoyed by Sarah's safe arrival. "What's happened why are we hiding?" Ash asked. Elijah took a deep breath, "I got a message saying that the Bloods wanted to kill the hybrids" he told them, the whole room filled with silence, "Why now, we've been free for months" Orion asked from the corner of the room, "I don't know. Which is why it is imperative that you stay here where its safe," They all looked scared but knew it was for the best, He then bent down to talk to Sarah, "That means you too, you have to promise to be good for your mother" Sarah smiled softly, "I promise" and Elijah winked at her giving her a huge hug before standing back up, "Nathan do you want to stay here?" he asked and Nathan nodded back "Okay, I'll be back as soon. There are a few daggers under the furniture in the back if they find you before then" Elijah told them before going to leave where he heard an choir of 'until the next life' echo behind him. He then went outside where he was suddenly stopped by Ash running up behind him, "Brother wait..."

Chapter 50: The Showdown

He headed back to Klaus' where he knew the Bloods would be waiting for him and they would want to know where the hybrids disappeared to. He stood outside fixing his tie and glasses in place before taking a big breath and entering the house not sure on what to expect. As soon as he entered, he could feel an ominous silence lingering as he came into the living room seeing a crowd of piercing eyes glaring at him all around the room, "There you are just the vampire we wanted to see" He heard the voice of Alastair blood amongst the crowd, his brother sitting next to him. The pair getting up grabbing him by the back of the neck dragging him through to the dining room pushing him down into the chair. Then they sat on the chairs opposite him, staring him down. He could see them sweating furiously, their hearts racing through their chests, something was wrong, and he knew exactly what. "I'm only going to ask you this once. Where are the hybrids?" They asked, not giving them the satisfaction, he remained quiet and emotionless, enjoying seeing them flustered. Alastair demanding a response leaned in closer, "I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. Despite what you yourself believe, the hybrids are dangerous, mindless creatures that need to be stopped. We know you tipped them off, where did you hide them?". Alastair was met with a smirk, "Mindless? Says the people who used them as contact killers," he retorted. This infuriated Alastair, Alastair reached across the table and grabbed his head smashing it against the dining room table causing his prisoners nose to bleed. But he remained unphased, he just chuckled wiping the blood from his nose and cockily said, "Is that all?" with a smile on his face. The two brothers looked at each other nervously knowing that he was the only one who could tell them what they needed to know, "Fine. If you won't tell us on your own accord, we'll have to try something else" Alastair told him retrieving a small vile of a turquoise looking liquid, placing it on the table, seeing his prey not even breaking a sweat, "This is your final warning, tell us where they are, or we'll inject you with this. It's a magically constructed drug which temporarily renders vampires to be compellable and I'm just dying to test it on an original," Alastair said cockily but was met with a blank and emotionless stare. With no response from his prisoner Alastair signalled his brother who in return retrieved a small leather case opening it revealing a syringe nestled inside. Dick then took the vile from the table putting its contents in the syringe. The brothers shared a smile before Alastair turned to his prisoner grabbing him pushing his face against the table whilst Dick injected the substance into his exposed neck. Alastair released him watching him sit back up straight, his hand drawn to his neck to where he had been injected. The brothers watched his pupils fluctuate between dilated and constricted a sign that the drug starting to take effect. The brothers waited a few minutes before asking him again, they frustration growing with every passing moment. "Now, let's try this again. Tell us where you're hiding the hybrids" they said looking whilst directly looking into his eyes. The pair leaned in closer awaiting his answer as they watched him try and fight against the drug. He was noticeably shaking; biting down on his lip trying to prevent himself from speaking. Klaus, Rebecca and Kol listened to Elijah seemingly submit to the effects of the drug, bending forward and opening his mouth to say, "Is this the right time to say I took a load of wolfspaine before coming here?" with a huge smile on his face. This pushed Alastair over the edge, full of anger grabbed a metal candle holder and hit him on the head, hard, causing his victim to fall out the chair. Hearing a huge thud in the dining room Elijah's family started to become concerned and began to silently appear around the dining room door with the Blood brothers too focused on their interrogation to notice them. Alastair placing the candle holder laced with blood back on the table, "We asked you nicely remember that" he shouted getting up from his chair performing a spell and watched the fear on his victims face as he clawed at the pain coming from his chest, Alastair was using his magic to slowly pull out his heart. He tried to protest but was breathless, the pain overwhelming him, his whole body going numb. His nose and eyes starting to dribble thick red blood, feeling his chest starting to open as the spell began to draw to an end. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!" Rebecca shouted pushing Alastair on the floor stopping his from finishing the spell and releasing his prisoner from the spell. He took a huge breath his face buried under the table as he recovered, coughing with all his might. "We told you could talk to him not torture him!" Kol bellowed going over to Elijah to see if he was okay. Klaus stood in the doorway his eyes glowing yellow as he shook his head disapprovingly at the brothers only being held back by Dahlia's magic which was holding him in place, "You went to rip out my brothers' heart!" he shouted. The Blood brothers couldn't hide the fear, but they wore it well, standing up straight turning to Klaus, "He didn't cooperate. If he wants to protect the hybrids he might as well die for them" Alastair said confidently not taking his eyes of Klaus. Klaus tried to break free from Dahlia's magic but failed miserably his fangs exposed ready to kill them. But before Klaus got a chance Alastair's phone rang and when he answered it his face was riddled with confusion, "They want us there now?" and then hung up the phone, "What is it?" Dick asked his brother, "Were needed for an emergency Witch council meeting immediately". "Took them long enough," a muffled voice in an American accent coughed from under the table, causing everyone to look where it came from. Then from beneath the table emerged a pair of blazing orange eyes, eyes that belonged to Ash. The room fell silent as they all came to this realisation, Ash had a gleaming smile on his face using his handkerchief to wipe the blood from his eyes and nose. Alastair was furious, breathing heavily his whole face resembling that of a tomato, "YOU BASTARD! YOU HAVE RUINED EVERYTHING HALF BREED!" he shouted. Ash glared back at him, "It's Doppelganger Wednesday." He paused before finishing with "Whatever happens at that meeting, you brought it upon yourself" his eyes fading from orange back to brown, his injuries beginning to heal. The Bloods looked around the room full of proven killers, scared and intimidated. Klaus still struggling against Dahlia's magic his eyes had returned to normal, "Get out, now! Before, I'm free to break your necks" he threatened them, and the Bloods left accordingly to go to the witch council meeting leaving them alone in silence. Ash watched them leave with a proud grin, the nightmare was over.

Soon after the Bloods arrived at the witch council meeting with no idea what was waiting for them there. There entered the hall where all the high council members were standing up glaring at them when they came in and in the centre was High witch councilwoman Valerie with the real Elijah Mikaelson and the Petersons standing next to her. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the High Witch council, thank you for all gathering in such short notice. A severe complaint had been made against the Blood family, a claim of 17 separate allegations. Such allegations that jeopardise their position on the council. We will only be discussing ones where actual evidence has been provided and validated by the council. But for the reference of the council these would be: the unlawful experimentation of werewolves, Multiple Murders, Rape, Sexual molestation of minors, enslavement and Kidnapping. What do have to say for yourself?" Valerie asked glaring down at the Bloods. The whole council following suit peering down at the Bloods disgusted by their heinous crimes. "What evidence?" Dick asked curiously. Valerie then got one of her subordinates to plug in the USB where a video appeared on the projector screen of them turning Ash into a hybrid and switched to one of their failed attempts as well as showing them the mountains of witness statements they had collected. "Your family had a whole pack of werewolves stowed away in your cellar for over 300 years, treating them a lab rats, to make hybrids" Valerie's strong voice echoed throughout the room. "I don't regret it. For too long us witches have fallen lower and lower down the food chain. First the wolves then the vampires. All my family did was level the playing field!" he roared. "By forcibly creating your own line of hybrids and using them to kill witches in lower-level families in an attempt to gain support and become the leader of the High Witch council? Yes, I am aware of that as well." Valerie told him. The brothers looked shocked that she knew about this, "When I accepted the post of leader of the High Witch council, I vowed to try and make New Orleans a safe place for all species alike. So, imagine my surprise when I found out the thing threatening that vow, has been right under my nose all along,". This rendered both brother speechless, "But High witch councilwoman-" Alastair tried to talk but was cut off by Valerie, "Did I give you permission to speak?" her voice bellowed. Elijah and the Peterson's couldn't stop the huge smiles on their faces, this had been a long time coming. "In light of your actions, your status on the council will be revoked indefinitely, you will not be permitted to any council benefits including access to the reserves, and finally, you will pay the pack compensation for their troubles." Valerie finished the brothers faces dropped like a pile of bricks at their punishment, "We have to pay those rats compensation?" Dick asked his voice angered, "Are you questioning my judgement? Paying compensation for the lives you've taken from those wolves is barely scraping the barrel. Now get out of my sight and go home the police are probably already there waiting for you," Valerie bellowed, and they scurried away out of the room "This isn't over Mikaelson!" Alistair roared as they left the room, the whole council watching them with scornful looks. All except for Elijah and the Petersons who had gleaming smiles all along their faces. Valerie then turned to Elijah before looking back up to address the council, "One final order of business before we part, I'm afraid, the hybrids will receive a pardon, I have been assured by members of the pack and external sources that a system is in place for the hybrids to receive blood on a regular basis so they wouldn't be danger to anyone. And before anyone moans about the hybrid killings 8 months ago, the Bloods were also responsible for those, they used the hybrids as puppets to push their own twisted agenda. Hence why the killings stopped as soon as the wolves and hybrids were reunited." She paused waiting for any protest but received none and continued, "As you know I take my position extremely seriously, your safety even more so. As such, anyone who is found to be a part of the so called, "Blood Order' will also have their position on the council revoked. There is no room for their ideals on this council. That will be all thank you," Valerie finished dismissing her follow council members. Elijah and the Petersons watched as they slowly began to leave, Elijah seeing Freya amongst them guiltily avoiding eye contact with her brother. She then headed outside where she took out her phone which had a threatening text message from the Bloods demanding she leaks the video and seeing no choice as she didn't want her council position revoked, sent the video to everyone in her contact list. Back inside Elijah and the Petersons were celebrating their victory, "We did it! They finally got what they deserve!" They all shouted as they hugged and high fived each other. "Did you see their pouty faces; I wish I had taken a picture!" James laughed. Valerie then came down from her podium, "Thank you for setting up a meeting so quickly," Elijah thanked her and was met with a warm smile, "I meant what I said, I wanted New Orleans to be a safe haven for everyone vampires and demons included. What they did jeopardised that and hurt soo many people in the process. I should be the one thanking you for bringing this to light, I dread to think how long they've been doing this" She responded. "We should go get the hybrids" James suggested and the four of them walked out of the building seeing Ash waiting for them outside, his shirt stained with blood, but his injuries fully healed. Alex rushed over to him kissing him, checking if he was okay the others close behind her, "They tried to rip out my heart" he said coldly, Alex kissing him even more passionately on the lips hearing this, but his pain was more than worth the price of his packs freedom and to end the Bloods Tyranny. In retrospect their plan had worked perfectly, Ash had posed as Elijah to distract the Bloods so Lobo could copy another USB for them which was collected by George. Whilst the Petersons grabbed any physical evidence at the pack and Elijah called Valerie for an emergency meeting where he met up with George got the USB and him and the Petersons presented Valerie with their evidence against the Bloods, trying not to implement Lobo in the process.

They rushed over to the cemetery to tell the hybrids the good news. The cemetery was grey and lifeless as a blanket of fog covered the ground. They then turned the tombstone opening the secret passage, where at first there was a eerie silence until Ash screamed down the passage, "You can come out now, it's all sorted. It's me Ash!". Elijah rolled his eyes, "I think they know it's you," Ash looked back at him not convinced, "I don't know they might have thought I was you" he joked as the hybrids and Nathan slowly emerged from the passage. "Did it work?" Claire asked holding Sarah and Nathans hands, the children running up to Elijah as soon as they saw him, "Dad!" they screamed excitedly as they jumped at him almost knocking him over. Ash seeing his brother pre-occupied took control, "Yep, the Bloods are not a problem anymore" He informed them. They all erupted with cheer embracing the news and the 23 of them slowly headed home to tell the rest of the pack that they were finally truly free from the tyranny of the Blood Order.

Chapter 51: Free at last

The pack were desperately awaiting the news of their families return, Alpha Peter and Dahlia listening to the clock in the living room slowly ticking away, with them growing more and more anxious with each passing moment. Then came the long-awaited relief as they heard approaching laughter. Peter rushed outside welcoming the hybrids back home, hugging his sons. "Dahlia told me what they did to you, are you okay?" he asked seeing the blood on his shirt, Ash smiled nodding, "I'm fine dad. Besides, it was worth it, the Bloods won't be bothering us anymore" The whole pack cheered. "Then its time to celebrate!" Peter cheered the whole pack erupting with joy, Peter kissing Dahlia on the lips. The pack partied the night away, eating pizza and dancing finally being able to breathe, it was over. The Peterson's, Ash and Elijah where all huddled around the porch, laughing and joking with each other, Elijah had spelled Nathan and Sarah to sleep as they were experiencing a sugar rush and they were now out cold on the porch leaning up against Elijah. Alex turned to Ash who was still wearing his bloody clothes, with a seductive look on her face and whispered in his ear, "Ash, it's been a long day. Why don't I help you take off those bloody clothes,". Ash didn't understand what she meant at first, "I can take off my own clothes" Alex giving him a look, that showed him her true intentions. Now on the same page the two disappeared upstairs leaving the others on the porch. "I should put the children in bed," Elijah told them, trying to move but Serena stopped him grabbing his hand shaking her head, "Trust me she gets loud". This made him freeze a disgusted look on his face as he glanced behind him, "What about these two?" he gestured to the sleeping children. As if Alpha Peter had read his mind, he came out of the house with a bundle of thick blankets which he passed to everyone on the porch. Peter putting one around Dahlia who kissed him and took the blanket off her and wrapping both of them up in it instead. They then heard a loud banging coming from upstairs accompanied by moaning. They all looked at each other knowing exactly what it was, Elijah glad the children were asleep. Peter then went into the living room turning the stereo on in an attempt to block out the noise, that as Ash's father he wished he never had to hear. Peter re-joining Dahlia under the blanket, watched the approaching sunrise in the distance as they watched the nights sky slowly dissolve into a warm honey dew as the sun rose, the sounds of birds chirping in the distance. Elijah was holding Serenas hand with the children leaning on him, when his phone started to buzz in his pocket. He couldn't reach in his pocket straight away, not wanting to wake the children. As the full force of the morning sun blazed down upon them the pack slowly started to wake up, Ash and Alex came outside on the porch hand in hand, "Have you guys been out here all night?" Alex asked surprised to see them all still bundled on the porch, and they looked at her in disbelief. But before they could continue to talk about their activities last night Nathan and Sarah woke up, finally giving Elijah access to his pocket to retrieve his phone. He saw that Freya had sent him a text message with a video attached. Clicking on the video he saw pure horror, as straight away he recognised it as one of the videos from project Whiteside, one of Claire and Georges tapes. He clicked out of the video as quickly as he could, but he saw that Freya had sent him this as chain mail, he wasn't the only who would have received it. At the corner of his eye, he saw Claire racing towards them her face full of tears, Serena having also received the message got up with the help of James and embraced a broken Claire into her arms. "He broke up with me over text. Didn't even tell me why" Claire sobbed hugging Serena tightly. Serena and Elijah exchanged worried looks knowing the reason why. With some encouragement from Serena, Elijah got out his phone clicking on the video, "I think this is why" he nervously gave her the phone and watched Claires face turn from upset to angry in a matter of seconds, her eyes glowing a fierce red, she then threw the phone back at Elijah before rushing away into the distance. "Where is she going? To confront Klaus?" Serena asked. Elijah knew what she was going to do, "No, she's going to kill Freya.". Claire had clicked off the video seeing that Freya had sent the message, he then rushed after her, determined to stop her before she got to Freya, knowing that if she did Freya wouldn't live to see another day.

Meanwhile across town, Freya unaware of the wraith of Claire on the way, was sitting in a armchair in the living room reading a spell book feeling a bit guilty about showing the video to everyone. She had mainly gotten over it excusing her actions as saving Klaus from a relationship with an incestuous whore, who had no place in their family. Klaus was dropping around in the Kitchen with mixed feelings about it, he was full of questions that he was unsure if he wanted the answers to. Then they felt a huge gust of wind come through the house and with it came Claire, her eyes raging red armoured with furry as she charged at Freya grabbing her by the neck throwing her across the room, causing her body to slam against the wall, and Freya to cry out in pain. Claire not satisfied walked over to her grabbing her by her hair, "Why did you do it?" she asked. Freya didn't answer spitting in her face instead, Claire wiped the spit of her face and smiled, taking her head and smashing it multiple times against the wall. She then bent down to Freya who's face was covered in blood, Claire could smell her fear, "Why did you leak the video of me and George" she screamed. She then heard a noise coming up from behind her, turning around seeing Klaus standing in the doorway, "Claire let her go, don't make me hurt you" he said sternly Claire frowned at him stepping forward throwing a steak knife at his hand. The knife going through his hand pinning him to the wall, "I like you, Klaus. But don't mistake that for loyalty. My loyalty is to my pack and my sire which you are neither," Claire then turned around turning her attention back to Freya lifting her high up against the wall by her neck, her feet dangling in the air, Freya began gasping for air as Claire began to squeeze her throat "But I am" Elijah's voice echoed from the doorway "let her go now". Claire looked at Freya trying to resist the command but the more she fought, the more the agonising pain ran through her body, causing her to let go giving her instant relief. Freya fell to the floor gasping for air. Claire turned towards Elijah a look of distain on planted on her face, "You protect her, even after everything she's done?". Elijah hesitated knowing deep down Claire had a point but he shook his head softly, "none of that matters now" he told her. Claire looked disappointed in his answer but began to calm down starting to cry, "What about the girls, they're the ones who have to live with this, do they matter?" Claire sobbed questioning Elijah, who sighed, "Of course, but we can't change what happened. The pack knows the truth, that's all that matters," he told her this seemed to comfort Claire as she began to wipe away her tears and smile weakly. Klaus freeing his hand with from the knife was left confused, "What truth? Did you sleep with him too?" he gestured to Elijah with him and Claire both rolling their eyes at him, "It was called project Whiteside. Usually, only one Albino wolf is born per generation, me and George being the first pair of compatible albinos, they didn't care that we were twins. They used us an experiment to see if we would make more albino wolves, but it failed. You have to understand I never had any romantic feelings towards George," Claire explained to Klaus, "And Elijah?" Claire looked at Klaus confused, "What about him?" she questioned, Elijah unsure where this was going, "Did you sleep with him?", Claire and Elijah stood open mouthed perplexed by what he just asked, "Are you really that shallow? I've already told you he's like a little brother to me," she roared beginning to get frustrated. Klaus just turned to her, "No offence love, but that's not really reassuring" and Claire just shook her head and smiled, "Well you don't have to worry about it anymore, do you? But just to ease your fragile mind, no I did not have sex with Elijah" Claire snapped back. She then went to leave the room but before she did, she turned back to Freya, a menacing smile on her face, "If I see you anywhere near the pack or my daughters, I will kill you. Not even your little brothers will stop me from crushing your skull". She then barged past Klaus leaving the house in silence, Elijah tried to sneak out "you knew, didn't you?" Klaus asked stopping his swift escape. "I figured it out, yes" Elijah replied honestly. "Why didn't you tell me?" Klaus asked waiting for Elijah's response, "It wasn't my place to" he paused "And now thanks to Freya, Claires daughters will never have a normal life again" he said calmly leaving the house, leaving behind a bitter silence. Klaus and Freya lost in thought, wondering if Claire was telling the truth coming to terms with the fact that they may never know for certain.

Elijah arrived back at the pack, straight away he saw Claire outside the pack house hugging Sarah and Katrina tightly. He saw floods of tears trickle down her face as she hugged her babies, he found this behaviour a little odd as Claire wasn't usually this expressive but given the circumstances, he paid it little notice. George then walked up to him, a weak smile on his face, "Thank you for stopping her". Elijah smiled back, "Don't mention it, she's family. I couldn't watch her do something that she would've regretted later," he said waving at Nathan and the Peterson's who were watching Claire from the porch of the packhouse. The two of them joined the others on the porch and they filled everyone in on what happened. Claire brushed the whole ordeal off moving forward to focusing on Katrina's pregnancy drawing to a close and Claire being a grandmother, "None of that matters now, like you said Raven, we can't change what happened. I need to be there for the girls and my grandson" she smiled. "Have you thought of a name for him yet Kat?" Serena asked her with Katrina shaking her head in response. The group spent the rest of the day suggesting names and making lists of what they still needed for the new babies. Nathan and Sarah who were bored talking about the babies tried to pull Elijah up, "Dad can you play with us?". Elijah looked at Serena who shrugged her shoulders, "go on, sweet fang" she couldn't hide how much she loved watching him play with the kids. He got up and played chase with the children with Nathan getting caught over and over again, much to Nathans dismay. Night soon fell on the pack and with still no name for the baby they called it a night, the pack ready to finally start to experience some sort of normality.

Chapter 52: Hurricane Baby

3 weeks later, the pack had finally settled into their newly found freedom away from the pressure of the Blood Order and their strict hold upon them. They had been accepted by all species in New Orleans and they began to feel that they were part of the community instead of outcasts. The packs trading with the Council and Kora had put them in a good financial position and things were looking bright for the future of the new moon pack. Part of this bright future was Elijah, Serena and Nathan who were sat in the waiting room of the clinic buzzing with excitement as they awaited their appointment for Serena's 6-month scan where they would find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. Nathan was especially excited having not slept at all last night, but his parents struggled to conceal their excitement, having arrived at the appointment 2 hours early even with dropping off the latest order of healing potions to Kora. Time was moving as slow as a snail as they listened to the clocks loud rhythmic tics, "I'm so excited!" Nathan screamed, Elijah and Serena smiling at one another, "What do you think the baby's going to be?" Serena asked him, Nathan looked confused, "A vampire?" they laughed, "No Nate, do you think the baby is a boy or girl?" Elijah laughed clearing up the question for him. Nathan pondered his question for a moment, "I think a boy" he said confidently. "I would love a little girl" Serena interjected smiling to herself at the bond they would share as mother and daughter. "I would love either," Elijah joined in just happy to be where there. Then the moment came where they finally were called in for their appointment for what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Holly came out to retrieve them. Once in the doctors' room Serena sat on the bed and the boys sat on two vacant seats next to it. Holly then prepared the ultrasound machine and placed the gel on Serena's stomach and then placed the probe on her the baby lighting up the ultrasound screen. As Holly took measurements of the baby to see if it was healthy, she asked Nathan, "You excited about finding out if you have a little brother or sister Nathan?". Nathan nodded his face full of smiles, "What are you hoping for?" Nathan full of confidence, "A little brother, I already have a big sister,". Holly smiled back at him, "what about your mum and dad?" Holly asked intrigued looking at Elijah and Serena, "I would love a daughter," they then all turned to Elijah, "I'm just happy to be here,". Serena shook her head and joked, "Cop-out" and Elijah gave her a disapproving look. "Well, your baby is developing wonderfully. His measurements are right where they should be at this stage of his development. He is a healthy baby boy," Holly smiled. Nathan was first to catch on, "So it's a baby brother!" Nathan exclaimed. Serena and Elijah eventually realised what she had said, Serena was a little disappointed, but this was short lived happy with a healthy baby despite her continuous struggles with iron deficiency. Elijah just sat in the chair astounded that he was going to have a son to add to his newly formed family. Once he broke free from his astonishment, he got up from the chair squeezing Nathan, who embraced him hugging him back. Holly cleaned the gel of Serena and once she pulled her shirt down joined the boys for the hug with then missing Sarah Holly watched them with a huge smile on her face. BEEP! BEEP! Holly got her phone from her pocket and looking at the notification on her phone, her face riddled with worry, "You should probably go home, there's a hurricane warning for tonight" she said showing them the alert on her phone. The three of them were shocked, "We need to tell the pack," the trio went to leave but were stopped by Holly "Quickly whilst you're here tell your father that there is a blood drive in 3 days at 11am, we have a deal where the wolves give blood and in return they get the Blood from the other donners for the hybrids, it's a monthly arrangement, keeps the hybrids fed." Elijah nodded and the trio left the clinic thanking Holly before going home to the pack to tell them about the baby being a boy and the hurricane.

The news of the hurricane coming that night had appeared out of nowhere leaving the pack in a panicked frenzy, not sure on what to do after Serena and Elijah told them about the baby and the hurricane. Elijah had taken charge telling the pack to try and tie valuable assets down with rope. The did this quickly as they didn't have any many. Leading by example. He scrambled gathering emergency supplies for the wolves who would be staying in their basements and the homes that didn't have basements would be joining Ash and Peter in the pack house basement. They wolves helped gather large bags of food, water and medical supplies making sure everyone household had one. RING! RING! Elijah heard his phone ringing from his pocket. He took his phone and saw Klaus was calling him he accepted the call hearing a bellowing, "Where are you?". Elijah waited for him to stop shouting, "I'm helping the wolves get ready for the hurricane," he replied. Klaus seemed irritated by this, "Are you kidding me? Can't they do that themselves?" he questioned. Elijah replied, "No. They've never experienced a hurricane because-" "because they've been underground their whole lives, yeah, yeah I know. Just hurry up I want you back home before the hurricane hits," Klaus interrupted concerned. Elijah felt touched that Klaus was worried about his safety, "Were almost done, I should be back in time," he reassured him. "You better be," Klaus remarked hanging up the phone. Elijah looked around the pack seeing the grounds bare of belongings looking like it hadn't been touched by humans. Wolves where dispersing to their basements whether it be their own or the pack house but in the far distance he saw Claire, George, Nathan and Sarah walking aimlessly around. He sped over to them, Claire was crying, "We can't find Katrina anywhere!" she sobbed. "Where did you see her last?" Elijah asked. "I saw her just before you came back, and then we started preparing for the hurricane. I don't remember seeing her after that" Claire told Elijah. Then George looked at her like he had seen a ghost, "she asked you for something though, didn't she?" George asked. Claire stepped back, "she asked to get some Berries for the healing potions, I think I told her she could," she said horrified. "Berries, so at the other end of the woods?" Elijah recalled and Claire and George both nodded. "I know the woods better than you. I'll find her and try and bring her home before the storm hits. You go take cover in the pack house," Elijah commanded, and they nodded and headed to the pack house. Elijah sped off to find Katrina, hoping that he would find her before the storm did. "Be careful" Serena whispered kissing him on the cheek, "I will" he responded as he darted off into the forest to find Katrina. Serena joining the pack underground in the packhouse basement hoping they would be back before the hurricane hit.

He scoured the woods finding the wild berry bushes and using that as a pointer. "Katrina!" echoed through the forest as Elijah slowly looked around listening for a response. "I'm over here!" a meek voice shouted from the left of him. He followed the voice and found her siting under a tree, berries scattered everywhere. She was sat in tears, "I think the baby's coming" she said weakly. Elijah rushed over and saw that she was right, as he saw the head was crowning. He was unphased after seeing helping his mother give birth to his younger siblings when his father was away crusading. He took off his jacket and placed it on the floor to use to the keep the baby warm and to keep him as clean as possible. "Katrina, you have done so well getting this far on your own. When you feel the next contraction, you need to push as hard as you can," He reassured. Katrina face was riddled with pain as she was taking big breaths in and out. Then with one huge push she managed to push the baby out in it's entirety, Elijah wrapping him up in his jacket to keep him warm. The baby started to wail at the commotion, opening his eyes revealing a mesmerising pair of blue eyes stealing what was left of his heart, he then past the baby to Katrina to hold and he somehow managed to shriek even louder, whist Elijah waited for the Placenta to pass, which like the birth happened rather quickly. Taking the baby back seeing Katrina was tired he placed the placenta in the jacket for Holly to cut later as he couldn't do safety in the forest. They heard the rumbling of the hurricane approaching. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to outrun the hurricane they moved to a larger tree which had strong roots, the base of the tree was risen to give them cover form the harsh winds. The three took refuge under the tree keeping one another warm. Elijah had purposely placed himself on the outside so he would get the most wind bashing. Katrina closed her eyes as the babies loud screams where cut off by the raging wind devouring the forest showing no mercy ripping the smaller trees from the ground leaving an icy chill. Elijah felt the tree they were hiding under vibrate from the immense strength of the wind, holding on to the raised part of the tree wrapping his other arm around Katrina and the baby. The storm moved on as quickly as it appeared as it travelled past them through it's path of destruction. They waited under the tree for a good half an hour to make sure it was truly over, and they weren't in the eye of the storm. Once they were certain, they slowly made their way to the pack, Elijah carrying both Katrina and the baby who was now asleep.

They arrived back at the pack as the saw the others slowly emerging from their homes now the storm was over. Seeing Elijah carrying Katrina, Claire and George rushed over, Claire inevitably getting to them first. Her face was plastered with worry but changed instantly after seeing why he was holding her. "She's just tired," Elijah assured her placing Katrina down on the floor where she gave him the baby. Claire looked at what Elijah was holding seeing the baby. "Oh my" she smiled at the sleeping baby. George arrived hugging Katrina and seeing the baby. Then the rest of the pack started to gather around them to look at the baby, which was the first baby in the pack to be born free. Whilst George took Karina to get some rest, Elijah cradled the baby looking at Claire, "You want to hold your grandson?" and Claire nodded with Elijah passing him over to her. "Be careful the placenta Is still attached." He told her but that was only a precaution as Claire's maternal instincts seemed to kick in with her supporting his head. As soon as he past him over the baby began shrieking again, his cries echoing through the pack. Elijah quickly called Holly so she could come over and help with the Placenta before taking him back. But the crying stopped at soon as he did, "Lets get you some food little man, you must be hungry." As if Ash read his mind he came out with a bottle, and they went inside where Elijah sat on the sofa and gave him some milk. Then Nathan and Sarah saw and came in the room curious about the noise. Claire smiled as she watched the two curiously approach the new-born trying to see his face. Elijah flicked away the jacket sleeve obstructing their view, where Sarah looked hypnotised by him, "Sarah, this is your nephew," Claire told her as Nathan gently touched the baby's fingers. "Does he have a name?" Nathan asked. "Not yet," Elijah replied. "He should be called Nate or Nathan Jr" Nathan suggested excitedly. Elijah shook his head and laughed. The doorbell suddenly rang and Holly came in the door just as Elijah burped him. "This must be the new family member," she said coming over to Elijah and the baby. She proceeded to cut the cord and checking him over. She then helped give the baby a bath to get him completely clean before putting a diaper on him and his first outfit, a blue playsuit whilst the baby was crying all the way through, with Nathan and Sarah covering their ears. "He looks healthy, a good weight, he's eating well already. How's Kat?" She asked. "She's sleeping at the moment, but considering she has just given birth she's doing exceptionally well," Alpha Peter said. "What about a name for the little one?" Holly asked. "Doesn't have one as yet," Elijah responded. "That's all right, I'm sure your think of a good name for him," Holly smiled getting ready to go. "I'll come back in a few days to check on him and Katrina, until then try and get Kat to bond with him, I've heard that albino's have a higher rejection rate for their young. Also, did Elijah tell you about the blood drive in 3 days?" she warned them leaving them feeling down "I'll be there. Thank you for coming so quickly" Alpha Peter said as Holly left the room leaving them alone.

A few hours later Katrina woke up from her sleep feeling refreshed and came down into the packhouse to see the baby. Claire got her to sit next to Elijah on the sofa and they slowly handed the baby over making sure Katrina was supporting his neck, but her face when she saw him was not encouraging. She already looked disinterested as soon as the baby started crying. "Do you want to feed him?" Elijah asked getting up from the chair waking his legs up which had long fallen asleep. Ash the bottle man came in with a perfect bottle and handed it to Katrina who gave it to the baby where they finally had silence. "Have you thought of a name yet Kat?" Ash asked her. "A name?" Katrina speculated. "Yeah, the baby needs a name kid," George interjected. Kat paused in thought, "Uncle Raven what's your real name?" she asked. Elijah looked confused before realising that all he wolves only knew him as Raven, "My name is Elijah,". "That's the babies name," She decided. "Elijah? That a bit boring isn't it" Ash cried. Elijah glared evilly at him, and Dahlia hit Ash on the back of the head with a rolled-up newspaper. "Ouch," he whimpered. "If Katrina wants to call her baby Elijah she will," Dahlia said sternly. Elijah now free from the grasps of the chair went to get coffee and call Klaus to tell him that he survived the hurricane. When he phoned him back he tried to tell him that he was okay but the deafening cries in the background made the exchange extremely difficult, "I COULDN'T MAKE IT BACK BUT I AM OKAY!" Elijah shouted down the phone with Klaus shouting, "WHAT IS THAT NOISE? IS THAT A BABY CRYING?" with Elijah barely able to hear his response despite the shouting. Elijah eventually decided to give up and Claire came in with baby placing him in Elijah's arms. As soon as she did the baby whimpered for a moment then stopped crying falling asleep in Elijah's arms. "You have been chosen," Claire whispered slowly creeping backwards away from them. "What about my coffee?" he asked and Claire crept back in retrieving a straw from the cupboard placing it in his cup and retreated out of the room.

Chapter 53: The Troubles of Youth

The following few weeks were long and tedious, Elijah had been stuck looking after the new born Elijah as the baby would wail if anyone else tried to pick him up, the baby had even begun to learn the difference between Elijah and Ash. He was exhausted feeling pulled between looking after the baby, trying to help Kat form a bond with her son and his own family. He was looking forward to sitting on the sofa watching the world go by as Freya talked aimlessly at him, it was the rest he needed. When he arrived, there was a cold icy chill ravaging outside and when he entered the house, he saw everyone was in the living room playing charades, Elijah sat next to Kol on the sofa and spaced out embracing the few moments he was childless. Soon this feeling of freedom overwhelmed him, he grew to hate the torturous silence as he missed his children. As if God had heard his prayers his phone rang, Claire was calling him. He picked up the phone to a panicked Claire, "Elijah! You have to help Kat's done something with the baby!". Elijah's face dropped and without hesitation he got up from the sofa and assured her that he was coming to help grabbing his coat on the way out. He got to the pack in a matter of minutes, Claire was panicking trying to get Kat to tell her what she did with the baby, but her face was plain and lifeless as she remained deathly silent. Elijah knew she had shown signs of rejecting her baby but didn't think she would pull something like this. Claire seeing Elijah's arrival went over to him, "she won't say anything!" she wept. "It's getting colder, if we're going to find him alive, we need to find him now" George commented looking at the temperature on his phone. "The Petersons are on their way," Alpha Peter told him but Elijah knew they couldn't wait that long. Instead of waiting he hurriedly made his way into the pack house finding a map, acquiring some of Claire's blood to do a makeshift locater spell. In doing so he managed to pin-point the baby's location to a more secluded part of the city. "Me, Ash and Orion will go find him. You stay here with Kat." Elijah commanded, the three men heading out to the spot on the map, hoping they weren't too late. They felt the cold press against their faces as they quickly arrived at the spot, the area was desolate and empty with no immediate signs of a baby, Ash turned towards them, "leave no stone unturned" as the three of them split up and explored their surroundings. Elijah headed to the right where a footbridge waited for him hearing something like a muffled cry. He stopped moving trying to listen to see if he could hear the noise again. But there was a looming silence, making him feel like he had made it up. Ash and Orion having no luck in their sections grouped back together and tried to call Elijah over. Elijah remained still holding onto the hope that he heard baby Elijah. His persistence paid off as he heard a mini cry from under the bridge. He rushed over to the source of the noise, finding a freezing baby staring back him in a box underneath the bridge. His parental instincts kicking in Elijah removed his coat wrapping the baby up inside to keep him warm and held him in his arms. "I've got him!" he cried cradling him in his arms as he re-joined the group. They were all excited to of found him, "he's freezing we got to get him back to the pack" Orion told them as he felt the baby's forehead. Elijah could feel the babies heartbeat slowly fading, "The packs too far. He won't make it." Elijah panicked. He then had an idea, "Orion go back to the pack and tell them to call Holly tell her were at my brothers," he commanded Ash knowing where they were going nodded in agreement as they rushed off to Klaus' home to save the baby.

Elijah burst through the doors of the house baby in hand, as he headed to the living room using his magic to turn the fire on, not caring if anyone saw. Ash ran upstairs to get some towels whilst Elijah sat by the fire holding the baby trying to gently warm him up. The Mikaelsons entered the living room confused looks plastered all over their faces as they saw their brother holding a random baby, "What the hell is going on? Its family night!" Freya spat at him. Elijah turned towards Freya full of anger and panic, "Not now Freya" he told her as Ash returned with a choice of towels with her looking at him disbelief. Elijah paying no attention to the spectators wrapped the towel around the baby rubbing his back waiting for a response from the child. It was a long few minutes before baby Elijah's heartbeat started to regulate again and right on cue the baby started to cry. Elijah let out a sigh of relief and laughed as he looked into little Elijah's bright blue eyes. Ash patted Elijah on the back and whispered, "well done brother" with a huge smile on his face. Then just like that the panic was over and Elijah remained holding the baby by the fireplace holding him close to his chest which the baby seemingly enjoyed falling fast asleep. Soon afterwards Holly knocked at the door and once inside confirmed that the baby was okay waking him up in the process, Holly instructed the doppelgangers to keep an eye on him to watch for any unexpected changes just in case. She then turned to Elijah, "What happened?" curious to why the baby was left out in the cold in the first place, "Katrina rejected him," Elijah sighed looking into baby Elijah's eyes. Holly's heart sank, "Thank god you found him, a few more minutes and he wouldn't of made it.", Elijah smiled weakly back at her. She then left knowing that the baby was in safe hands and Ash rushed back to the pack to get food and supplies for the little one, leaving Elijah and the baby alone with his family. His family who had remained silent throughout the whole event continued to stare at him blankly waiting for an explanation to what they had just witnessed but received nothing as Elijah held the baby in his arms. "You going to tell us what that was?" Klaus roared from across the room. "I thought it was rather obvious," Elijah replied rocking the baby. "You just busted in here with a baby, how is that obvious?" Kol retorted, Elijah glared at him before sighing turning to his family, "Not that it matters, but he was abandoned by his mother. We found him under a bridge barely breathing and here was closer than going back to the pack,". This revelation seemed to silence his siblings as they all looked at each other shock. Rebecca came over to look at the baby captivated by his big blue eyes, she couldn't help smiling, "Can I hold him?" she asked, Elijah looked at the baby hesitantly dreading the wailing echoing throughout the house "If you want," he then placed baby Elijah in Rebecca's arms. Elijah squinted pulling away awaiting the inevitable cries. As if the baby was taunting him, he remained silent for a brief moment before his screeching echoed throughout the house once more. Rebecca tried to soothe him but had had no luck as the child continued to cry. The brothers holding their hands over their ears. Rebecca then handed him back to Elijah where he immediately stopped crying freeing everyone from the torment, Rebecca looked like she had been stabbed in the heart, "Babies usually like me,". They heard the front door open once more and from it emerged Ash, Dahlia and Ester. Ash had a medium sized bag full of baby supplies putting the bag down he opened it grabbing a travel container that contained a prepared bottle, he then passed this to Elijah who checked that it wasn't too hot before giving it to the baby. "Dad said this should be enough for tonight then we'll take him back home tomorrow," Ash told him Elijah nodded feeding baby Elijah, Dahlia went over to them whilst Ester went to get the context from the others. After the baby was fed, burped and changed the baby drifted to sleep in Elijah's arms still wrapped up in his coat. Dahlia knowing that Elijah had been looking after baby Elijah all day offered to look after him whilst the baby slept. Agreeing once the baby was fully asleep, he passed the baby to Dahlia and went to have a shower. This gave him a chance to think about the day's events. He had not been surprised by Katrina's rejection of her son. However, he was surprised that she had gone out of her way to physically remove him from the pack and her life. In no way did he blame her for what happened, but he knew that the baby would not be safe around her. He tried to lie to himself that he didn't want to take care of baby Elijah but couldn't the baby had earned himself a place in what was left of his heart. He knew that he wanted to care for the baby, he deserved to be loved and with his own son on the way he liked the idea of the two boys being brought up as family, but more importantly as brothers. Just after he got out the shower, he heard a deafening cry coming from downstairs followed by, "ELIJAH!!". Elijah shook his head and smiled quickly getting dressed and heading downstairs to try and get baby Elijah into a deep sleep, freeing his family from the babies' desperate cries for affection.

Chapter 54: Families Greatest Betrayal

Almost a week later there was a looming chill in the air, as a worried Freya headed to the Blood mansion dreading what waited for her there. Her past failures subduing the pack resonating underneath her skin, although she refused to admit it to herself, she was the Blood's lackey following their every order as payment for use of the diamond which may have saved her wife's life but cost her so much more. She was brought to the Bloods study where she was met by Alastair, his wife and Dick who were towering over her. They stood tall and fierce as they approached Freya fearing what they would ask her to do next. After a few moments they relived her from there torturous silence, "Your past failures have disappointed us. A witch of your calibre being outwitted by children and wolves, how pathetic. But despite this, we're willing to let it all go if-" Alastair began a huge smile written on his face as he looked back at Freya, Dick then went into one of the locked desk compartments and took out an old wooden box, he opened it in front of Freya revealing a dagger, it was fully black with a topaz gem glittering at the hilt. Freya knew what it was instantly, it was a blade that was made to kill demons, "If?" she said shakily feeling the dread build up in her stomach, Alastair took advantage of her fear, "If you kill Serena Petersons half-breed un-born demon baby" Alastair said calmly as if child murder was the norm. "I could never do that," Freya told him, he chuckled back at her, "are you sure? Because the word around town is you killed your own un-born child. What Is so different about Serena's?" Freya's face dropped as she went deathly pale, she began to feel her eyes water as she stood their shaking, "How do you know that?" she mumbled. "I have my ways," he cackled. "I can't and I won't! You can't do anything to change my mind" she told them getting up storming to the doors, "Leave and your wife will die," he told her, Freya turned towards him looking confused, "You didn't think I gave you a real Blood diamond did you? If you leave now your wife will succumb to her horrible disease and die because of you. All you must do to prevent that from happening is to do what I've asked," Alastair replied cockily seeing her was getting under Freya's skin. She was hyperventilating the Bloods backing her into a corner she didn't want to be in, she didn't want to do it but deep down she knew she had no other options. "The way I see it you have two options. Option one: you do the world a service of ridding it of any more psychotic half-breed demon's and save your wife's life or you don't do it and your wife dies plunging you into centuries of crippling depression," Alastair snickered with his wife and brother smiling behind him. "The first one sounds better to me, brother," Dick laughed joining his brother in Freya's torment. Freya didn't know what to do, the peer pressure had slowly begun to break her, making her think that it was for the greater good and that Serena deserved it as she was her enemy anyway. Freya reluctantly agreed telling herself that it was the only way to save her wife, she took the dagger from the box, "It must be done tomorrow. You will call us when its it done," the bloods commanded and Freya nodded as she pushed open the door, but before she did Alastair told her, "Do not fail us again Mikaelson, there will be consequences," this sent chills down her spine remembering what they did to Millicent, as she left the Bloods mansion her mind focused on the task at hand, the task itself making her feel uneasy but she was compelled to complete it, not wanting to know the consequences of her failure. Her actions sealing her family's dark fate.

Chapter 55: Family blues

Elijah arrived back at Klaus house after a long and tireless night taking care of baby Elijah. He had been up and down all-night crying whenever Elijah wasn't holding him only breaking his ear crushing squeals for sleep and for a moment when Ash took over. But even that was short lived as if it was if the baby knew they had swapped and in a matter of minutes the baby would be crying again. He sat down on one of the dining rooms chairs both physically and mentally exhausted. Then Klaus, Kol and Rebecca came in and sat down on the other chairs. "What is that smell? That smell of sick" Rebecca said aloud, and Elijah noticed he had baby sick on his shoulder, "That's me, I didn't notice but the baby must have got a little bit of sick on me," Elijah acknowledged. Quickly zooming upstairs to change his jacket and coming back down sitting in the same place. Sitting down again he realised that Freya was not with them, "where is Freya?" Elijah asked with the others all shrugging.

At the same time Serena was out with Nathan walking to the park. Serena being 26 weeks pregnant meant that she lagged behind the energetic Nathan who was charging ahead of her not considering that Serena may be bit slower than Elijah would be. "Nathan honey wait!" she called as someone bashed up against her not even stopping to apologise. All of a sudden, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, she placed her right hand to where the pain was and when she lifted it back up, she saw her hand covered in blood. She began to tremble from the loss of blood her vision became hazy as she began to feel a blanket of darkness fall over her eyes, her life fading, giving into the immense pain collapsing sideways on the floor. The last thing she saw before falling unconscious was Nathan running towards her, his face covered in fear. Nathan seeing this ran over to his mother, bumping into the perpetrator. He saw the bloody knife in her hand and glanced up for a split second seeing a familiar mob of blonde hair and blue eyes but couldn't quite place it. Afterwards, he ran towards his mum and ripped off his suit jacket putting pressure on the wound, "MUM! No!" he yelled weeping over his mother's unconscious body, "Somebody help!" he screamed barely being able to see his eyes full of tears, not daring to remove the pressure from his mother's wound. A crowd of people then noticed the commotion hearing Nathan's cries for help. An ambulance quickly arrived, the paramedics having to forcefully remove Nathan from Serena's unconscious body him being in shock refusing to leave his mother's side. The medics quickly got both Serena and Nathan into the ambulance and darted off the hospital. Nathan frozen in fear looking at his hands covered in his mother's blood, his vision blurry, his ears ringing. He just wanted his mum to be okay, he wanted his dad to tell him to wake him up from this nightmare, he wanted his dad to tell him they were going to be okay.

Elijah was enjoying a cup of coffee talking to his family when he got a call from an unknown number. He answered curious on how was calling him. He picked up, "Hello?" he said starting a seemingly normal conversation. But he soon found it was anything but. His face turned deathly pale, his hands trembling dropping the phone on the floor. Seeing this Rebecca asked if he was alright to which he didn't reply. Instead getting up to grab his coat from the coat rack and sped off to the hospital unsure of what horrors to expect when he got there, a trail of death following behind him. Soon after he left Freya arrived back home wearing a black hoody, her hands carrying the guilt of what she had just done, convincing herself that it was to protect her family and her wife. The irony being that she did the one thing to tear it apart.

Chapter 56: Limbo

When he arrived the smell of death residing in the hospital overwhelmed him. Ignoring it he made his way to A and saw Nathan sitting with a doctor in the waiting room. His shirt covered in blood, Nathan was paralysed like a statue his face motionless, his body only moving in time with his sniffles. When he saw Elijah, he started to cry again running up to his dad the two hugging and Nathan not letting him go, squeezing him tightly. "I tried to stop it, it wouldn't stop," Nathan sobbed, Elijah tried to crouch down to Nathans level to comfort him but Nathans grip around him was too tight. Instead, he picked him up, "It's not your fault son, they will be okay" he reassured him as Nathan bent his head into Elijah's neck. Elijah then turned to the doctor who was with Nathan when he arrived and asked her if she knew anything about Serena, and the doctor replied that she was still in surgery and left after her page beeped. Elijah and Nathan then sat in the waiting area, with them both comforting one another, Nathan leaning on Elijah. Before long they were reunited with Alex and James who had rushed over from hearing the news. Not seeing them straight away they went up to the receptionist, "Serena Peterson? Is she okay?" James said panicked. The receptions informing them they were still in surgery and to wait in the waiting room, where they saw Elijah and Nathan. Seeing them they rushed over squeezing their nephew tightly, "You're okay! Thank God!" Alex cried trying to hold back her tears. "What happened, Nate?" James asked softly. Nathan turned towards Elijah and gulped, "A blonde lady hurt mum, she looked like someone in one of dads pictures,". This made Elijah think as the only pictures he had on his phone was of the pack and a few family pictures Rebecca had sent him to coax him back home. Nathan would of recognised the assailant if they were from the pack, narrowing the list of possible perpetrators to Rebecca or Freya. He felt his heart sink as he concluded that it was Freya who had stabbed Serena, an order no doubt from the Bloods themselves. Elijah contemplated on why she would do this and if the Bloods were solely to blame or if it was it her hatred for the Petersons that had driven her to kill an innocent child, either way her action were inexcusable.

The hours ticked buy, each second pure agony, every passing minute seemingly longer than the last as they waited for news on Serena and the baby. The four of them sat waited nervously cuddled together. Their worry eating away at them, slowly consuming them the greatest torture being not knowing. The waiting was become too much to bear as they watched people come and go, like they were frozen in time, unable to escape back to reality. Then he saw Ash and Claire come through to the waiting room, Ash holding some extra clothes for both Nathan and Elijah, handing Elijah his phone which he had collected from Klaus'. Their arrival seemed to ease the tension with them hugging the others except for Alex who he kissed. "I called him," Alex confessed with a small smile, "Dad wanted to come too but he's keeping Dahlia busy. Told me to tell you to hang in there and that there be okay,". Elijah nodded with a small smile and took Nathan to the bathroom in the back of the waiting room to change his suit, which he did relatively quickly. The group remained silent but were fully supporting each other, their worry beginning to overwhelm them. Nathan was growing tired, struggling to keep himself awake, pinching himself when he felt his eyes droop. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long as about 20 minutes later one of the surgeons came out, the 6 of them looked at him like puppies begging for a treat as he told them, "We had to perform an emergency c-section as the baby was in distress. But both the mother and baby are in stable condition in the ICU.". they all let out a huge sigh of relief, "Thank god" James mumbled. Nathan started to cry overwhelmed with emotion and lack of sleep, Elijah grabbed him and hugged him, "There okay, Nate" he reassured him. "Can we go see them?" Alex asked. The doctor then proceeded to tell them which room they were both in as the baby was in the paediatric ward of the ICU. Elijah, Nathan, Alex and James stayed with Serena whilst Ash and Claire went to watch over the baby. The four of them entered Serena's room, she was still unconscious lying on the bed attached to a monitor. Elijah could see that Nathan was overwhelmed with all the medical equipment. Nathan went up to the bed and held her hand holding it firmly, starting to cry again, "This is all my fault, I shouldn't have gone so far," he wept. Elijah bent down grabbing hold of Nathans shoulders, "what did I tell you before, none of this is your fault. Are you listening? You didn't hurt her, from what the doctor told me on the phone she may have died if you weren't there. Or even worse you could have been hurt instead," Elijah told him not wanting to think of what might have happened if Freya didn't think Serena was alone. Elijah then placed Nathan on the bed where he cuddled up to his mother, Elijah reaching over to Nathan on the bed rubbing his head smiling weakly at him. Within a matter of minutes Nathan was asleep, curled up against Serena holding her tightly. Elijah then got up from the chair, going to see the baby. "If he wakes up tell him I'm just going to see the baby," with the siblings nodding back at him. Elijah quietly walked out the room and headed to the Paediatric ward where the plain white hospital walls turned into an array of colour filled with hopes and dreams. He then turned the corner seeing Ash standing by the window where the babies were kept under observation, "He's a fighter just like his father," Ash said turning around smiling softly at Elijah, "I'm not sure about that" Elijah replied. "don't be so modest, dad told me what they did to you in the pits," Ash remarked, Elijah had tried to forget about him being whipped in the pits. "How is he?" Elijah asked. Ash sighed, "They said that considering he's only 26 weeks he has developed well and has a high chance of survival, but not to get our hopes up just yet." Ash recalled what the doctor had told him. Elijah then walked up to the window seeing a tiny baby the size of his hand inside a see-through cot-box attached to a heart monitor and multiple machines that he didn't know what they were for. In the middle of the cot-box was a white board and written on it Baby Mikaelson. "They asked if he had a name, and I told them not yet, so they asked for yours, is that okay?" Ash questioned and Elijah nodded. He looked at the baby and saw that he had a bandage on his lower abdomen that he hadn't noticed before because his diaper was eating him up. "The doctor said that the knife must have grazed him, but they fixed it and he will just have a little scar there when he's older," Ash reassured him as Elijah looked worried after seeing the bandage. Then Claire came back into the room carrying two bottles of water, "You see him, he such a cutie," she chuckled passing one of the bottles to Ash, Elijah smiling in return. "Congratulations brother!" Ash celebrated. "Thank you for watching him," Elijah said softly. "He's my nephew I wouldn't trust anyone else with him…. Who's not in the pack," Ash said remembering Claire was in the room with him, "Nice save," she joked nudging him on the shoulder. "Who's looking after Elijah?" Elijah asked noticing the only two people that could stop him from crying where in the room, "George but mostly Sarah, she has really taken to being a 'big sister'" Claire laughed. Just then Alex came into the room, "Hey honey" Ash said, and she blew a kiss back at him, "Elijah, Serena's waking up" she said softly. Elijah then followed her out and back to Serena's room where she was starting to come to. She woke up seeing Nathan asleep next to her on the bed and stroked his hair. Then she remembered what happened and felt her belly with her other hand feeling that it had deflated, "Where's my baby!" she cried as she began to hyperventilate. Elijah took her hand and Alex told her, "You had a c-section but he's fine, he's in the paediatric ward being watched by Ash and Claire,". Serena seemed to calm down, Elijah smiling meekly at her, "I want to see him, now!" Serena roared. "Sis, you need to rest, you just had surgery" James told her sternly. Serena sat back not happy but knew James was right. "Do you guys have a name for him yet?" Alex asked trying to get Serena to rest. "Not yet, we thought we would have more time to think of one," Serena told them thinking about it. "But his middle name is Azrael, that is decided at least," Elijah interjected honouring the promise they made, winking at Serena. They pondered on it for a few minutes thinking of possible names but either coming up short or it didn't fit. Serena looked at her family and thought about how 9 months ago they weren't even talking, how much they've changed how much Nathan had linked them together once more. She had a lightbulb moment, "What about Link?" she questioned. The others thought about it and seemed to like it, "Link Azrael Peterson," "Link Azrael Mikaelson," the chatted amongst themselves. "I like it," Elijah said. "Link, it's decided," Serena chuckled but hurt herself in doing so.

The next two weeks Elijah barely left the hospital. He stood frozen in time watching the baby as the whole world continued to go around. He saw other families leave the ward some happy some without a child to go home with. He just wanted to be able to hold his son. But knew he had a big decision to make, one that would change all of their lives for good when Link got the all clear. He knew that the children would never be safe in New Orleans, it broke his heart, but he knew they wouldn't be safe even from his own family. Serena had made a quick recovery, and the next day after the attack she went with her family to see Link, being instantly smitten as soon as she laid eyes on their baby. Nathan on the other hand was frightened of the countless machines attached to his little brother, but after some encouragement from his father Nathan went to the side of cot bed looking at his baby brother and smiled, "he's soo small". The family shared a chuckle, "I promise I will keep you safe. No one will hurt you again," Nathan proclaimed determined to stick by his statement. As the weeks pressed on Serena fully recovered from surgery and didn't leave her sons side coming into the room putting her hand through the cot-box hole touching Link's tiny hand and smiling his eyes opening revealing a pair of brown eyes, "He's perfect, just like his father," she joked as Elijah came into the room behind her. "Listen, we need to talk," Elijah started gingerly, "about what?" she said gently waving Links hand around. "He'll never be truly safe from the witches or my family. Once they find out he's still alive they won't stop until he's dead. It will only get worse if they find out what he is, and that he's mine" Elijah said dryly. "Witches fear what they cannot control," Serena sighed using her own words against her with Elijah nodding, in agreement, "exactly,". "Then we'll just leave town, go where they can't find us," Serena suggested confidently. Elijah looked at her sadly, "They have eyes on you everywhere, we won't even get out the hospital before word of Links survival gets back to the Bloods,". "What are you suggesting?" she prompted him dreading where the conversation was going, "That I take the children and raise them until the Bloods no longer consider you a person of interest," Elijah replied. Serena looked at him in shock, her eyes beginning to water knowing that they had no choice if their family was to remain safe. "but how would you get out the hospital without them seeing?" she asked not wanting to lose her boys. "James will cast a spell where it will appear the baby had died and I'll take him out the hospital to the pack where we will say our goodbyes," he said. Serena looked down at Link and started to fully cry, "But, I don't want you to go, I want to be they're with you, with our family" she sobbed. "I know, I want you there too, but there is no other way to keep them safe,". Reluctantly Serena agreed knowing he was right, they would never be safe, both Link and Nathan would be hunted, they would never have a normal childhood if she went with them. They then told the rest of the family the plan, Nathan not happy to be leaving the only family he has ever known but after some reassurance from Elijah knew it was for the best.

Elijah had called Peter telling him that he would be leaving New Orleans and the pack and could tell down the phone that he was upset stuttering "I'll tell the pack". Then he headed back into Links room and was surprised to see Claire, Sarah and George holding baby Elijah watching over link. Nathan and Sarah using their fingers to touch Links tiny hands, "He's soo cute and tiny!" Sarah laughed as she gently touched Links hand. Elijah seeing baby Elijah stirring in Georges arms took him off him, "Look how big you've gotten" he said cradling him in his arms noticing the faintest tint of red hair on his head. After the adults had sat down Elijah began to tell them he would be leaving the city, "I'm leaving with Nathan and Link, but I wanted to ask if I could take Elijah as well," as he knew the pack couldn't handle his constant cries. Claire and George looked at each other seeing if they both agreed, with them both nodding replying, "You practically adopted him already, just make sure you call us every day. We know he's in good hands with you,". This meaning that baby Elijah would be joining them in their new home. "Can I go too?" Sarah asked out of the blue, not wanting to be left behind, "I'm the only one who knows how Elijah likes his bottle! Family stays together, their my brothers" Sarah insisted pleading for Claire and George to let her go. They looked at each other not knowing what to say but ultimately decided to leave the choice to Sarah, "If that's what you want Sarah," George told her, "But I don't think you will be coming back anytime soon," Claire warned her with Sarah remaining unphased lighting up with glee. That meant Elijah was now responsible for 4 children.

Chapter 57: Goodbyes aren't for the faint hearted

When Link was given the clear a day later the plan sprang into action. James used his superior spells of illusion to convince the doctor that the baby was dead by using an illusion to make it look like Link had stopped breathing. When in reality Elijah had carefully placed him in a car seat and made his way outside the hospital disguising himself with the necklace that Serena had given him so anyone watching wouldn't pay him any notice. He then went to the pack who had prepared a car and filled it with the baby essentials he needed for the boys. After about an hour the Petersons came back from the hospital, their plan being a success. Before they said their goodbyes, Alpha Peter called them inside to the pack house, "We need to initiate Link into the pack before you go," he reminded Elijah. Inside small fairy lights were hung up as Elijah brought the carrier through to the living room with Link asleep. Alpha Peter grabbed a bowl from the counter that he had cleaned earlier and lit a candle he then got a dot of blood from Links finger using a pinprick waking him up. He then took the bowl with the drop of links blood to the candle, holding the bowl over the candle, "We call to our ancestors to accept this child, Link Azrael Mikaelson, into the new moon pack where he will be watched over by the pack, always," he roared. They watched as the blood disappeared from the bowl, and the candle blew out. Leaving behind a glowing red stone in place of the blood. They pack all rejoiced and smiled. "Welcome to the pack little one," Peter smiled. Then the whole room went silent as they knew the goodbyes came next. They went back outside and the whole pack started to cry as Elijah went around receiving hugs from all the members of the pack. Nathan and Sarah doing the same. Receiving love from everyone. He then got to Ash who eyes where watering, "I'm going to miss you little brother" he sobbed whilst hugging him, Elijah embracing the hug looked at him, "I'm older than you!" he joked. Shedding a tear Ash fired back, "They knew me first," and they shared laughter, feeling that it was going to be a while before doing it again. He then moved onto Alpha Peter who was crying and passed him a phone, "You better call us as soon as you get there, I won't hear any of your excuses, It has all our numbers on it" he sniffled. "I promise," Elijah replied, Peter handed him both baby Elijah's moonstone and Links red stone and nodded at him hugging him one last time. After saying his goodbyes to the pack, only the Peterson's remained he started with James, "Who's going to keep Serena under control if you're not here?" he joked, "You don't need me for that," he smiled hugging him "look after my nephews or I will end you, you got that?" he warned winking at him trying to act hard in front of his sisters. "We saw you hug him, James." Alex commented James brushing her off, Elijah turned to her, "Can you do me a favour?" he asked her. "What is it?" she replied. He removed the necklace with the last remaining slither of his blood line inside and gave it to Alex, "Could you plant this at Klaus' home, I can't go back there to do It myself," Elijah asked, and Alex gladly accepted hugging him. "Why me?" she whined as she released him from the hug, "Because I know I can trust you not to kill Freya," he told her confidently, with Alex rolling her eyes and agreeing to do it for him. Serena was helping Nathan into the car, her eyes bawling with tears. After she shut the door she and Elijah shared a sad look, she walked over to him wiping the tears from her eyes, "I know you need to go, but I don't want you to," She cried to Elijah who In response said nothing instead softy grabbing her neck kissing her firmly on the lips making her smile, "This isn't goodbye," he told her wiping the a tear from her cheek. "But I don't want to lose you, not again" she wept wiping her tears on her sleeve. "You're not losing anyone, we'll call you every day make sure you don't miss anything," He assured her. "Video chat?" she questioned, "Of course," Elijah replied and the two shared a smile. Elijah then walked to the front of the car to the driver's seat and opened the door he was about to get in when Serena's shouted "Wait!". "For the road," she said grabbing hold of his neck and kissing him passionately for a good 30 seconds before letting go, "Eww mum!" Nathan shouted from inside the car. Elijah then got into the car making sure all the children were buckled in properly and noticed that Elijah wasn't crying after his baby chair was put next to Links. Sarah sat at the front with Elijah. Once they were safe and ready, they drove out of the pack hearing the wolves shouting in the distance, "Until the next life,". Hearing this warmed Elijah's heart knowing that he had made such an impact on the wolves lives. He watched as Nathan and Sarah started to cry telling them that it's okay and they will call them as soon as they get to their new home. Their new home being the same house his family had used for Hope all those years ago, After Elijah had burnt it down in his showdown with Finn he got it renovated as a side project never thinking he would use it again, he was wrong. The last act that he did before leaving New Orleans was getting out his old phone and throwing it over the bridge so his family couldn't find him that way. Then he continued his journey taking the children to their new home, not even thinking of the impact that his disappearance would have on his family as he pursued his lifelong desire of becoming a father, keeping his family safe.

Chapter 58: The missing Link

Honouring the wishes of their beta, the next day that had a fake funeral for the baby to make outsiders believe that the equilibrium hybrid, which they knew as Link, was truly dead. They planned it to look like an actual funeral, with them burning a doll, making sure the funeral was public knowledge to further cement the fact he had passed. The icing on the cake being a plaque with the name Azrael Peterson with the message off, "An angel who touched many hearts before his final accent,". They sprinkled the ashes by the plaque where an upset Serena started to cry as she missed the boys so much already. All these factors proving to all the prying eyes outside the pack that they had suffered a loss, but in reality, they had suffered five.

After the funeral, Alex thought this would be the perfect time to plant Elijah's bloodline necklace at his brother's house. She just hoped she could hold back from killing Freya. She went to the door feeling confident, but that changed as soon as she saw Freya at the door, "What are you doing here?" She asked as if Alex was a bit of shit on her shoe. "Can I come in?". "Are you alone?" Freya asked with Alex nodding she didn't want to tell her about knowing she was the one who attacked Serena before she was in the house. Freya then let her in, offering her a tea. "I heard about your nephew I'm so sorry" Freya said. Alex was already angry before, but it was getting harder to conceal her rage. "You know I thought we were over our family's petty hatred for one another," She paused waiting to see how Freya would play it. Freya's face turning deathly pale, pouring tea for them both into antique china cups, her hands shaking. "I don't know what you mean," Freya replied dryly. Alex shook her head in disbelief using a teaspoon to stir the beverage. "How does it feel? Murdering an innocent baby, the same as killing Noah?" She snapped back with Alex not holding back. Freya's jaw dropped, her face turning red with the rest of the family coming in to see the commotion. "I didn't-" Freya started with Alex interrupting her voice raging, "Don't lie to me. You are the one that stabbed Serena. You're the one who murdered my nephew. Don't even try to deny it.". Freya was left speechless, and Alex was angry that she was denying all responsibility. "Elijah was right you really are just the Bloods stooge." She spat at her. "Anyway, this is your only warning hurt my family again, and I will kill you and the rest of your family without even a moment's hesitation," Alex roared at Freya getting up from the chair seeing the siblings looking menacingly at her, "we won't let happen" Klaus told her. Alex laughed and just before leaving the room, not being able to hold back her anger she snickered, "Oh really, spoken to your brother lately?" and exited the room but before leaving the house she placed the necklace containing a tiny piece of Elijah's soul on the counter, like she had promised. She then left with a smile on her face but knew she had gone too far bringing up Elijah's disappearance but the worried looks on their faces had been worth it. She then walked back to the pack not to miss the video call.

Back inside the house the Mikaelson's were fumbling around not sure what Alex had meant. "When was the last time you saw him Nic?" Rebecca asked knowing that if he told anyone about anything Elijah would have told Klaus. Meanwhile, Kol was trying to call him but was receiving a dead tone at the other end. Klaus pondered Rebecca's question and thought about when he saw him last, "About 2 weeks ago," he recalled. "When he got a phone call and left without saying a word," Rebecca completed the story getting worried about her brother. "He's not picking up, it keeps ringing out," Kol informed them. The three of them overrun with panic on where Elijah was turned to Freya who was dealing with her own guilt, "Do the spell," Klaus said the three of them offering up their blood to find him. Freya gathered everything she needed for the spell and used her own blood to use as an anchor. To their surprise all but one blood dot was in the house, the other being Hope in mystic falls. "He's in the house?" Kol said confused. "Elijah?!" Klaus panickly bellowed his voice echoing throughout the house but was met silence. They all then started to widely look around the house Rebecca checking upstairs Kol downstairs while Klaus questioned Freya with the accuracy of the spell. "Can the spell be wrong? Are you doing it wrong?" He questioned her sporadically. "No, I've done the spell a million times before!" she snapped back offended that he was questioning her magic ability. "Where is he then?" He roared back at her stressing out. But before she called Rebecca called from upstairs, "You better come up here and look at this!". The three of them then went upstairs following Rebecca's voice into one of the guest bedrooms. When they entered, they were overrun with a putrid smell of iron, "look at this," Rebecca said throwing a white shirt at Klaus. He looked at recognising it as Elijah's and noticed the back was covered in dried blood that looked like slashes as the blood was in multiple diagonal lines. "That's not the only one," Rebecca said pulling several others from under the bed placing them on top of the mattress. "What the fuck" Klaus mumbled under his breath studying the shirt in his hands, Kol examined the other shirts noticing the exactly the same blood stains on all of them. Everyone was left speechless that Elijah had not told them whilst Freya remained quiet having a good idea of where he got them from. "Why wouldn't he tell us about this?" Kol questioned. The room remained silent as no one had an answer.

Freya then thought that something may be prohibiting the effectiveness of the locator spell and went to use a stronger spell, "I want to try a stronger spell," she told her siblings, placing a large piece of paper on the wall and gathered a bowls worth of everyone's blood to use for the spell. She then started a spell, and they watched as 5 drops of blood suddenly appeared on the top of the paper right next to each other. The blood slowly began to trickle down the page with each patch of blood creating a seemingly identical image of their family crest. The only difference between the 5 crests was the numbers underneath 1,3,4,5,6, representing the siblings order of birth. The idea was that the after each crest had formed the blood would reveal the exact coordinates of the family revealing Elijah's location. The blood slowly disappearing from the bowl. They saw the 3rd crest start, representing Klaus, started to dribble down to create a crest for Hope but before it could the 2nd crest changed with the number 3794 appearing on top of the it, as if it was branding the page. Without warning the number lit on fire devouring the whole page into flame. They were all frozen in shock, not sure what it meant. "What does that mean?" Kol questioned Freya wanting a answer. "It means we can't find Elijah with magic," she sadly told them with the room erupting with anger. "What!? How is that possible," Rebecca questioned. "Who would do this?" Kol commented. Freya shrugged and mumbled, "I don't know, this kind of magic is exceptionally rare,". Meanwhile Klaus was sat on the armchair outraged taking in all the information, piecing two and two together and guessed the culprits for Elijah's disappearance were the Petersons. "I think we all know who this did," Klaus inferred pausing for a second for his siblings to catch up. "The Petersons" They all said together. But with no definite proof of the Peterson's involvement, they were stuck not being able confront them about Elijah's disappearance without resistance from the pack. The four of them wallowed in self-pity after not even noticing their brother had gone missing for over 2 weeks, wondering what happened to him and if they would ever see him again. The only thing they knew for sure is that they would do everything they could to get him back, to end this nightmare. What they didn't realise was their nightmare had only just begun, seeing Elijah anytime soon being a pipe dream.

The End