The next chapter, enjoy! And as always, I'm happy about comments.
Thank you to Senema for her beta. She found a few plot holes, I hadn't noticed, it is much more logical now. All remaining errors are my own.
Chapter 7
Before the police officers could leave the room, Chloe remembered something. "Oh yes, and make sure that he is placed in a solitary cell so that he can sleep."
"Sure, detective", said one of the police officers and grabbed Elijah's arm firmly. "Let's find you a nice cell with a comfortable bunk."
Lucifer watched amused as the police officers led Elijah, who made a glum impression in his handcuffs, out of the interrogation room. It was such a convincing performance, even Lucifer was firstly impressed and secondly, even though he knew better, found it quite difficult to believe that this was only a show for the humans.
Lucifer wondered how many vampires would have the patience or be willing to play along this far; he didn't think there would be many.
Chloe yawned. "I'm going home so I can make breakfast for Trixie and take her to school. And after that I will come back here. God, I will need a big pot of coffee to get through this day." She also left the interrogation room, leaving only Lucifer and his mother behind.
Lucifer closed the door and eyed Charlotte suspiciously. "How is it that you are defending Elijah?"
"His brother is an old acquaintance of my boss. He woke him up and scared him until my boss promised to send his best lawyer, whereupon my boss got me out of bed at 4 o'clock." Charlotte sat at the table and Lucifer followed suit.
"And what did Elijah tell you about the murder?" Lucifer asked curiously.
"Sorry, Lucifer but this falls clearly under the lawyer-client confidentiality", Charlotte replied, grinning at her son.
Lucifer hesitated. Did his mother know that Elijah was a vampire? He struggled with himself but he didn't want her to be unprepared either. "You know he's not human?"
"Yes, he's a vampire", Charlotte replied. "Why didn't you tell me these creatures existed?"
Lucifer shrugged. "The topic didn't arise, and vampires tend to stay apart from the mortal world. Ordinarily they only have contact or interact with humans when they are hungry, few of them are interested in making friends with humans. And usually I ignore them too, because they never end up in my realm to face punishment."
"Then why Elijah?" Charlotte looked inquiringly at her son.
Lucifer told her how he had met Elijah and why he had been to LUX in the first place.
"You feel guilty, don't you?" Charlotte looked strangely knowing.
"I don't know that feeling", Lucifer contradicted arrogantly. "But I know that Elijah is innocent in this case as no vampire would attack a human with a knife."
Charlotte snorted at his first assertion but asked instead another question. "What else besides vampires would not end up in your hell?"
"Werewolves and witches." Lucifer shrugged. "These three groups have a complicated and mostly antagonistic relationship with each other."
"In any case, Elijah doesn't seem to like witches very much, at least some of them." Charlotte looked thoughtful. "What do you think about them?"
"Backstabbing, arrogant and hypocritical." Lucifer snorted contemptuously. "I by far prefer dealing with vampires and werewolves, they are more honest. Funnily enough, I think if the members of the three groups would come into my realm, the number of witches would considerably exceed those of the werewolves and vampires." Lucifer chuckled. "Which is kind of ironic, when you consider that werewolves have to kill to activate their curse and vampires live of human blood."
"So you don't like witches either", summarized Charlotte.
"No, I really don't", Lucifer agreed before giving her a meaningful look. "But I like Elijah!"
"I like him too, Lucifer", Charlotte said softly. "I promise you I will try everything to help him. Is that satisfying enough for you?"
Lucifer looked inquiringly at her as he assessed her sincerity. "Yes, I believe you!"
Delighted and relieved by Lucifer's answer Charlotte got up. "Excuse me, Lucifer, but I have to go now. There is much to do for me in the next few hours."
"Can I help you with anything?" Lucifer asked calmly. He was serious about his offer.
Charlotte thought for a moment. "Do you have contacts at a hospital or a blood bank?"
Lucifer frowned at first in confusion but then his face lit up. "Do you need blood bags for Elijah?"
"Exactly. I promised him, I'd bring him something to eat before he has to deal with the human police", Charlotte explained.
Lucifer chuckled. "This is not a problem for me. To where should I deliver it?"
"To my office", replied Charlotte.
"When are you going to leave your office to go to the police station?"
"Around two o'clock", Charlotte replied.
"It'll be there fifteen minutes before." Lucifer grinned. "With a cooler. But how you smuggle the blood bags into the police station is your business."
"I'll think of something", said Charlotte dryly.
"I'm sure of that, mother", said Lucifer just as dryly.
Mother and son separated. When he saw his mother walking up the stairs, Lucifer suddenly noticed that in their entire conversation neither had uttered a single bad word or accusation.
Lucifer smiled thoughtfully; he could get used to that. With a clear goal in mind, he too left the police station.
xxxxx
As the two police officers led Elijah deeper and deeper into the bowels of the police station, he continued to look observantly around. Elijah allowed himself a slight smile, in the end his patience and tolerance only went so far.
The security and surveillance measures became sharper and more obvious; they were undoubtedly approaching the prison section of the police station.
Finally, they stopped in front of a steel door, the guard at a desk pressed a button and the door opened. The two police officers led Elijah through it and they ended in another room. Steel bars separated the room from a wide, brightly lit hallway with several doors. Elijah didn't have to use his imagination to know that there were cells behind these doors.
There were also four police officers in the room with guns and batons, who had previously been sitting at their desks and who were now getting up.
"Who is he?" asked a grey-haired police officer, who was the most senior by badge.
"Elijah Mikaelson, murder suspect", replied one of the police officers, who had accompanied Elijah. "He's supposed to get a solitary cell, Sergeant Daviss."
Daviss snorted in amusement. "In this case he is out of luck because these are already all occupied. You know how it always is so shortly before the full moon. All the lunatics are coming out to play."
Elijah did the math when he heard these words. Indeed, tomorrow was full moon! He grimaced slightly.
The police officer hesitated. "Is there a cell where the other inmates will leave him alone and he can sleep undisturbed? Decker is working the case, and you know how she gets."
Elijah watched with interest as an ugly expression crossed the sergeant's face.
"I know the perfect cell for him, don't worry. You can go; we'll take care of the rest. Has he been searched?"
"Yes, he is clean, no guns, no knifes", replied the police officer. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. "For the handcuffs." With a final nod, he said goodbye and left the cell block.
The youngest police officer approached Elijah and grabbed his upper arm. "Which cell, sergeant?"
Sergeant Daviss grinned wickedly. "Cell 12."
The young police officer gave him a startled look. "But Sergeant, the three thugs from the Russian Mafia are in there."
"Yes, what a shame", said Daviss sarcastically and grinned at Elijah. "I just hope, they don't do you permanent harm."
"I am convinced I can come to an amicable agreement with the gentlemen." Elijah smiled thinly. "And your concern is touching, Sergeant, I will remember it." The young police officer was still visibly hesitating and Elijah smiled at him. "Don't worry, young man, I have a very charming personality. I am sure I will get along extremely well with my cellmates."
Sergeant Daviss pressed a button and the door to the cell corridor swung open. "You heard him, rookie."
The young police officer took Elijah to the named cell, followed by the sergeant, who gave him the key to the handcuffs. He unlocked the handcuffs, his expression deeply troubled.
"If you would be so kind to open the door, Sergeant Daviss. I would like to get to know my companions for the night." Elijah smiled smugly at the sergeant, who flushed with anger. At his command, the observing guards in the control room opened the cell and Elijah entered it without hesitation. The door slammed shut behind him.
Elijah let his gaze wander around the cell. There was a toilet with a sink in one corner and two bunk beds, firmly attached to the floor, took up the rest of the room. Otherwise, the cell was empty of anything to use as a weapon.
In the time Elijah had looked around the room, the men who had previously been lying on three of the bunks had sat up and stared at him in bewilderment.
"Who the hell came up with the brilliant idea of sending you into our cell?" said the man, who seemed to be the leader.
"I think that was a Sergeant Daviss", Elijah replied. "I am Elijah. Which is my bunk?"
The leader stood up, his arms and upper body packed with muscles, and almost a head taller as Elijah; he loomed threateningly over him. "I think the floor is good enough for you."
"I've slept under worse conditions but since there is still a bunk available, I'll sleep on it and not the floor." Elijah put his head back to look the leader in the eyes and smiled mildly.
"Well, at least you have courage, kid." The man laughed roaring. "Reason enough for me not to beat you up as badly as I could."
"Very generous of you, but unnecessary." Elijah stepped a step closer to the leader. The other two men, who were similar in stature as their leader, now stood up too but their leader waved a hand to stop them from coming closer.
Elijah had no intention to start a fight with humans, so he stared the leader in the eye. "Shut up, lie back on your bunk and go back to sleep. While I am in this cell, you will leave me in peace and you will not approach me in any way. The only thing you'll remember is that you liked me and for this reason didn't want to harm me."
Elijah saw the familiar confusion that always stood in the eyes of humans he compelled. Without any hesitation, the leader went back to his bunk and carried out Elijah's instructions.
Before the other two men could recover from their surprise at the strange behaviour of their leader, Elijah stepped up to them and dealt with them in the same way.
As soon as the two men had lain down again, Elijah went to the free bunk, lay down himself, closed his eyes and was peacefully asleep within minutes.
xxxxx
After Freya and Keelin got back, Freya quickly packed enough clothes for a couple of nights. Klaus went up to his room to pack as well for a few days while Keelin took care of Nik.
When he came back down, Freya stared seriously at him. "Your phone rang and I answered it. There is a problem with the plane and the airline is unable to get a replacement machine. Our flight is cancelled."
Freya saw Klaus's eyes narrow. She had seen her younger brother angry often enough to recognise the signs. "We have to go to Los Angeles. Are there alternatives?"
"We can charter a Gulfstream but that will be expensive", answered Freya and already knew Klaus's answer.
"I don't care how expensive it is." Klaus glared at his sister. "Elijah needs our help."
"It's good that you say that." Freya smiled slightly. "Because I already got us a machine. Even better, they already approved the flight plan; the plane will take off at 8:00 a.m. It will be a longer flight time than with a large machine but we save time with all the check-in and security procedures too."
Klaus smiled at his older sister. "Very good, Freya. It also has the advantage that I don't have to waste my time and patience with humans."
"Well, it's definitely better and more life-extending for humans to not be in your presence", Freya replied dryly. "Take enough blood bags with you."
Klaus smirked. "I'll pack my lunch right away."
The two siblings went into the kitchen. While Klaus was getting blood bags from the refrigerator, Freya put on coffee and prepared a couple of sandwiches for herself. She knew drinks were available on the flight but wasn't sure about the food.
Klaus looked at his watch; it was shortly before six o'clock. "We have just enough time to drink our coffee before we have to leave."
Less than a quarter of an hour later, Freya and Klaus were drinking their coffee, as a woman's voice called out Klaus' name loudly.
Klaus frowned as he recognized the voice. "What is Rebekah doing in New Orleans? Shouldn't she be in New York with Marcel?"
"We are in here, Rebekah", Freya called back without answering Klaus' question; she didn't know the answer anyway. She didn't shout loudly, after all, Rebekah had the hearing of a vampire.
A few seconds later, Rebekah stormed into the kitchen. "I need your help, Nik." She looked over at Freya. "And yours too!"
"Well, it just shouldn't take too much time, because we're driving to the airport in 15 minutes at the latest", Freya said brusquely. On such occasions, she always admired Elijah's patience, who has endured without complaint such demands and assaults by his siblings for a thousand years.
"To the airport? Why?" Rebekah asked distracted by this statement.
"Why are you here, Rebekah?" Klaus rolled his eyes as he reminded her of her reason for being here.
"Marcel has disappeared", Rebekah burst out. "You have to help me find him."
"Why didn't you call us first?" asked Freya frowning.
Rebekah shrugged. "I found it better to be in New Orleans. You know our brother, Freya, he never has much patience and depending on the difficulties Marcel got himself into, he wouldn't wait for me if he needs my help."
"How long ago has he disappeared?" Klaus asked suspiciously. Was Marcel behind Elijah's difficulties? "And where?"
"I don't know exactly when he disappeared", Rebekah admitted. "I last spoke to him three days ago, he's on a business trip. He said it would be a few days before he would call me but when he didn't, I called him. It didn't even go to voicemail. I then tried to locate his smartphone using an app but his phone is dead, which it never is."
"Where did his business trip take him?" Freya now interrupted Rebekah's rambling.
"California, that's all I know." Rebekah frowned.
"Interesting", said Klaus, looking at Freya, who was by now just as suspicious as Klaus.
"Well, you're lucky because we're flying to Los Angeles", Freya explained. "However, even when we are in Los Angeles, Marcel will have to wait until I have time." If she had to choose between Elijah and Marcel, it would always be Elijah.
"Besides, Marcel always claims that nothing can harm him because he is superior to anyone else." She shrugged disinterested and grinned a little maliciously. "He will keep."
Klaus chuckled. He knew of course what Freya was thinking, she had never been a big fan of Marcel. Moreover, he also suspected, she had, just in case, developed a plan for how she could render Marcel harmless if the need arose.
"Okay, but why are you flying to Los Angeles?" Rebekah asked confused.
"Elijah has been arrested for murder", Freya explained seriously.
Rebekah gasped, frightened. "Is he alright?"
"We think so", replied Klaus calmly. "I already got him a good lawyer."
"And now you two want to fly to Los Angeles to find out who really committed the murder", Rebekah said pensively.
"Exactly", confirmed Freya.
"I will of course come with you and if the plane is fully booked, I will compel me a seat." Rebekah grinned. She would be on that plane even if another passenger had an unfortunate accident.
"That will not be necessary, we are flying with a private plane", replied Freya.
Klaus picked up the cooler. "And I've already packed my lunch but it is enough for the two of us."
"Then what are we waiting for? Elijah needs our help." Rebekah looked determinedly at her siblings. "Let's get him out of jail before he decides he no longer likes this place and kills half the police station on his way out. And on the way to the airport, you can tell me, how Elijah got himself into this mess!"
Klaus and Freya grabbed their suitcases; Rebekah's was still in the courtyard where she had dropped it and they were on their way.
