Chapter 87: No More Chances
July 27, 2011
When Ellie woke once more, the sickness that had left her so miserable was gone and had only left discomfort in its place. She groaned low in her throat as she moved to sit up in the bed. "My love, how are you feeling?" He asked gently as he looked over at her. He was still undressed and in bed with her and was in the process of marking his place in the book he was reading before setting it to the side.
"Better." Ellie replied as she moved to curl up by his side. "Where are we?" She asked curiously as she tried to reorient herself with their surroundings.
"We're home." He replied. "Niklaus had called in some men to repair the damages done to the house. I didn't want the noise to disturb you. I figured you could benefit from the rest."
She hummed gently as he ran his hands through her hair. "Well, I guess that's fair. But hey, I'm sure the construction and repair people are making a crap ton of money with the way you and Klaus tend to behave." After a moment of her tracing patterns on his arm, she added, "You could have killed Stefan."
"I know."
"It would have upset me." She continued. "He didn't deserve it."
He gave her a fond look. "The only reason Stefan Salvatore is still alive is because I knew it would upset you."
Now that she was much more in her right mind, she knew that this was one of the ways he expressed his love for her. The act of being overwhelmingly overprotective seemed to be the way he showed that he cared the best. "I know." She confessed. "I suppose I should know better. You have never seemed to do well when my safety ends up threatened."
He hummed in acknowledgement. "Perhaps you're right." He tilted her head up toward him gently. "Surely by now you must know that I would do anything for you. I'd burn the whole world to the ground if someone tried to take you from me." It was awfully romantic, but it was also a dangerous thing when he had the capability to be as dangerous as he was. She kissed his hand sweetly and watched as his eyes darkened slightly. It was a look that sent her heart racing every time and he knew it.
She watched as he grinned slightly as his thumb traced her lower lip and she watched his eyes dart down as she licked her lips and his thumb. It always thrilled her to watch him fall into something she could only describe as a trance when she did things like this. Sometimes she'd have him so wound up he'd even forget to breathe.
It was in those moments that she felt like she was the most powerful being in the world.
She repeated the motion slowly and watched as he froze. "Something the matter, my love?" She questioned innocently.
His hum was low in his throat. "You're acting quite naughty little witch." He warned as he pushed his thumb against her mouth.
"Am I?" She kissed his thumb before opening her mouth just enough for it to slip in. She was trying hard to not grin as he watched her mouth as her tongue worked around his thumb. His other hand made its way to her thigh. After a moment, he pulled his thumb from her mouth and trailed it down the center of her throat. She leaned up to kiss him and as he gave into it she shifted without hesitation to straddle him.
Elijah groaned as his head fell back at her new position and she wasted no time before going for his throat. She kissed and sucked and licked at the skin there as she alternated between gentleness and a more forceful touch. Elijah's hands were digging into her thighs and she could feel his pulse under her tongue and she delighted in the feel of it racing as her teeth scraped his skin. "You are playing a very, very dangerous game my love."
"God, I hope so." Ellie replied. She could feel him shifting underneath her as he tried to adjust to get more comfortable. Without a second thought she pushed her hips down to meet him as she pulled at the hem of his shirt. She broke the contact with his neck only long enough to take the offending shirt off before she threw it to the side. She kissed lower, just below his collarbone as his hips seemed to move on his own as he moved up to meet her.
"Eleanor."
"Elijah." She murmured. "You were the one that I was something to be worshipped, Elijah."
His breath caught as her hands wandered. "Yes, I did." He groaned. She nipped at his skin and his hand shot to her hair, pulling her up to his eye level. "My love, please."
Her hips rolled at his plea. Having a man with so much power like Elijah fall apart at the gentlest of touches left her feeling like she didn't know what to do. "I want you to, Elijah."
"You want me to do what?" He questioned.
"I want you to take a bite, my love." She said in encouragement. "I want to know what it feels like."
"Fuck." He hissed before he pulled her forward and kissed her hard. His hands slipped under her top and pulled it over her head. One of his hands caressed the underside of her breast, tracing the line where her bra might have ended had she been wearing one. "Eleanor, that's not something to say lightly."
She kissed his neck again before replying, "It's not something I'm saying lightly, Elijah. The mere idea sends my thoughts racing." She was kissing down his chest as she spoke. "I never thought I'd want something like that as much as I do." Her hands were moving even lower than her mouth and the more she traveled down, the shakier Elijah's breath became. Oh how far she'd come since the first time. His attentiveness toward her had done wonders for her confidence.
Her hands found the band of his pants and she looked up at him with wide eyes, waiting for permission. "Fuck me." He huffed as he lifted up his hips to allow her to pull his pants down. Ellie did so eagerly and just as she'd gotten his pants off, he flipped them, pinning her to the bed beneath him and pinning her hands above her head. "You seem to be having a good time, darling."
"The best time." He followed a similar path that she had taken and her skin felt like fire wherever he touched. "Oh my god." Her back arched as he hooked his fingers into either side of her underwear and pulled them down to discard them. Their clothes were scattered around the room carelessly as he kissed his way back up her body. "Elijah please."
"I need you to tell me what you want, love." He always did like making her use her words, but she could hardly think at the moment.
Her nails were digging into the backs of his hands where he had her pinned down. "Elijah please."
"You need to use your words, darling." He pulled back from the kisses he'd been trailing along her body to hover just above her. She let her nails dig in deeper in retaliation as she whined slightly. "That's not going to get you anywhere love. I can stay here like this with you all day."
She bucked up her hips to meet his and he sucked in a sharp breath at the action. "Fuck, Elijah please. God, Elijah, I want you to bite me."
He grinned at her. "Good girl." He praised as he lowered himself toward her. He kissed her neck delicately as her pulse raced under her skin. "Good girl."
"Elijah, please." She groaned as she tried to free her hands. "Please."
"Are you sure?" Elijah questioned. She hummed as she nodded her head. "Use your words, darling."
"Yes, yes I'm sure." He didn't make her wait any longer. He sunk his teeth into her throat and Ellie gasped at the pressure there. It didn't hurt, not in the slightest, but she didn't know how to describe the feeling that overwhelmed her. "Oh my god…" She started breathing heavier, nearly panting as he drank. "Elijah."
He pulled back from her throat and she watched him with dark eyes. She watched him for a second and found herself entranced by the blood smeared across his mouth. Ellie pulled one of her hands free to cup the back of his neck and pulled him forward, kissing him hard and not caring in the slightest about the blood. Why would she care when it was her own? When the kiss broke and he saw the blood covering her own mouth, his own blood shot straight down his body.
"Elijah, more." She begged.
He kissed her again before hovering above her. "I was right." He whispered. "You are the most delicious creature to ever exist. I think you've sparked an addiction in me, my love."
"Good." She said without a thought. "More."
"Your wish is my command." He trailed kisses down her chest once more and grinned as she writhed beneath him. He moved past her center, kissing her thighs. The sounds she was making were heavenly. Her hands made their way into his hair, holding tight.
When his teeth sunk into her thigh, so close to where she really wanted him, her back arched sharply as she threw her head back. "Oh my fucking god, why have you never done that before?" She was panting as Elijah shifted her so that her legs were propped over his shoulders to give him better access to what he wanted. He started to pull back to respond, but she was practically whimpering as she begged, "No, please don't stop." And of course, he was nothing if not one to please her, so he did exactly as told.
They'd lasted a while before he'd fed her some of his blood to heal her wounds. When he'd fed her his blood, he'd offered up his wrist while his head was still buried between her thighs and drinking deep. Ellie was in a euphoric bliss at the sensation. She sighed happily after the bath he'd drawn for her in the fresh sheets he'd put on the bed. He was always such a gentleman toward her. He kissed her fondly as he lifted her off the bed. "Elijah!" She yelped excitedly as he lifted her.
"Come now, darling. We should get you dressed." He told her as he moved to sit her on the edge of the dresser. She allowed him to dress her and grinned as he kissed her between each item he gave her. It was intimate and it made her feel special and she loved him even more.
After they'd dressed, she moved to check her phone, only to find a series of calls and texts from Klaus. "Has Klaus been calling you?" She asked curiously.
"He has not." Elijah replied. "What has he been trying to reach you for?"
Ellie shrugged. "I have no clue. I should probably call him back." Her phone rang a few times before it connected.
"Klaus? What's up?"
"Well, I guess it's good the world wasn't on fire otherwise we would have all been fucked." Klaus sassed.
"Is the world on fire, Klaus?" She shot back.
"No. However, I do require your assistance if you could be bothered to drag yourself out of the bed and away from my brother for all of five minutes."
Elijah rolled his eyes at his brother's dramatics. "What do you need, Niklaus?"
"I need the little witch to come to the house. I have a little wolf that requires some assistance." Klaus explained
"Wait, what? What wolf?"
"You'll see." He hung up abruptly, much to Ellie's annoyance.
"Jerk." She huffed to her phone before putting it down. "Playtime is over I guess."
"Playtime?"
She gave him a soft little grin before kissing his cheek. "I said what I said." She confirmed.
Elijah had a hand in her hair, pulling her toward him before she could even register that he'd moved. "Do I need to prove to you that it wasn't playtime?"
"Oh absolutely." She said as she craned her neck back slightly. She watched as her silent offer tempted him before she ducked down out of his hold. "But it seems your brother requests my presence."
"He can wait."
"So can you." Elijah gave her a look of warning at her wittiness. "I love you." She reminded him before kissing him gently.
To her amusement, Elijah took a moment to collect himself before he replied, "I love you too." As he straightened out his jacket he asked, "Would you like for me to accompany you?"
"No, I'm sure it's something that Klaus deems an inconvenience. Hell, who knows maybe Tyler came back into town and he's regretting his decision. I'm sure it's nothing."
"Be safe."
"Of course." She headed out and part of her thrived in the summer sun. Her skin was always great at tanning without burning and she hated the cold, so the summer sun was a sweet relief after the winters that sucked as much as they did. Honestly, the only thing she could really focus on was how bad she felt for getting so drunk the other day. She knew it had to have scared the shit out of Elijah. He wouldn't have been so violent with Stefan had he not been scared for her safety. It was a slightly outdated way to handle things for the most part, going after the man that was supposed to be her "protector" for the outing, but then again what could she expect when Elijah was over a thousand years old.
When she arrived she found Klaus looking somewhere between amused and annoyed. "Love! Glad you could join us!"
"And who exactly is us?" She asked skeptically as she walked inside.
"Oh that's not a good idea." Ellie immediately turned toward the sound of the other voice.
"Hayley?" Ellie asked in surprise. Out of all the things that she expected, the young werewolf that had apparently betrayed all of Klaus' hybrids was not one of them.
The werewolf was looking at Klaus in panic. "She's one of Tyler's best friends."
"Don't worry, little wolf. She also told me of Tyler's failed attempt at a coup." Klaus gave her an amused grin.
Hayley, on the other hand, looked incredibly confused. "I'm sorry, you what?"
Ellie glared at Klaus before she confessed, "Tyler is one of my best friends and I love him, but had he been successful in his attack on Klaus, Klaus would have inevitably escaped and then tortured and killed every last person that had been involved in it but before that he would have tortured and killed every single one of their loved ones. I weighed the pros and cons. Klaus won."
Klaus was absolutely beaming as he slung his arm over Ellie's shoulder. "But then again, who could have expected anything else. Save for maybe Tyler, but I had doubted his capacity for intelligence long before he had made his foolish attempt to betray me."
"Why exactly am I here, Klaus?" Ellie asked curiously.
He popped into action, removing his arm from her shoulder and gesturing her along. "Of course you'd want to get right down to business. I would expect nothing less. You see, before Tyler found Hayley, someone else did. They were an old acquaintance of mine."
"By acquaintance do you mean yet another person that kind of wants you dead?" When Klaus just gave her a grin, she groaned. "Who are they and what the hell did you do to them?"
"Well, you see, when Hayley first came to me, revealing her secrets, my obvious suspicion was Katherine but given her odd ties to you, I figured that she wasn't the one using Hayley. So I did some digging, of course with the very useful information that Hayley provided me."
Hayley took over as they made their way into the living room. "Not long before I ran into Tyler for the first time, this woman named Victoria approached me. She said she needed my help, and in turn she'd help me get the one thing that I'd been wanting my entire life."
"Which is?"
"My parents." Ellie turned to her in surprise. "To make a long story short, I was given up as a baby and kicked to the curb by my adoptive parents the moment I turned into a wolf for the first time. It's enough to give a girl trauma for a lifetime I'm sure." Hayley took a shot of whiskey, or maybe it was something else. "Anyways, Victoria came to me and said she had some connections that could get me information about my birth parents, only if I could help her out."
Ellie felt bad for her. She knew that exact type of longing. "What did she want you to do?"
"She told me about this man, Klaus, that had killed her entire family when her dad made him mad and she'd been running from him ever since while also trying to get her revenge. She needed to get some information on Klaus, but when Shane died I lost my contact with her." Hayley explained.
"So now what? Why are you back here?"
"Well, you see, love, after Victoria managed to make her escape from me and got herself turned into a vampire she developed a bit of a reputation. Vicious Victoria. She turned ruthless, though it wasn't really a shock. She was an odd little thing when she was human. Knew the little brat for years. She never seemed quite right in the head. She left enough bodies to make a river of blood. Had the little brat not been so annoying, I would have been impressed. Might have even offered her an opportunity in my circle." Klaus explained.
She rolled her eyes. "Great, so she's insane. Shocker."
"And now she wants me dead." Hayley explained.
"Like our dear friend Katherine, little Vicious Victoria loathes loose ends. But, she's provided me useful information in knowing who is plotting against me and I offered my protection to show my gratitude. I need you to help me get rid of my little problem. Her lackey failed in his attempt on Hayley's life. She'll come to finish the job herself if need be. Your presence is required to get rid of her."
Ellie gave him an unimpressed look. "I'm so not surprised. But, out of curiosity, how the hell am I supposed to do that?" Klaus pulled out a small painting and handed it over to her. "What's this?"
"A painting."
"Hilarious."
Klaus handed Hayley another drink as he explained, "That is a painting little Victoria did when her family was graciously hosting my own. She said it was what she saw when she looked at me. If I'm honest, I think she might have had a little crush on me."
She observed the painting carefully. It was a somewhat crudely painted forest with a man in shadow front and center. There were brighter colors surrounding the man in shadows, like sparkling lights. "It's pretty. But are you sure that this is going to be enough for me to do a locator spell on her."
"Without a doubt. When she was a child, she nicked her finger to sign her initials on the bottom. She'd seen me use my blood on a piece to sign mine. She said she'd taken inspiration."
"Gross… and creepy, but whatever. Get me some candles, I'll do the spell." She headed for the table without thinking twice. Really, out of all the things Klaus could request for her to do, this wasn't that bad. Once she had the needed materials, she started the chant, "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem. Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."
Her surroundings shifted as her gaze focused in on this Vicious Victoria. The woman had long blonde hair with a delicate braided crown. Ellie flinched back as she realized that the bottom of Victoria's hair was red, not from old dye, but from being soaked in blood. Her looks alone make it a guarantee that she would be the type to in fact live up to her name.
She held something firmly in her grasp, and Ellie looked closer to see what it was. To her horror, she discovered a heart there. "You useless bastard." The woman swore in an accented voice. Ellie couldn't place it. It was too old for her to instinctively know. "That werewolf bitch is going to get me killed." Victoria threw her heart to the side. "I should have just killed her when Shane died. But here I was, giving her half a chance to be useful."
"Where is she?" Klaus' voice felt like it was drifting through her head in a gentle breeze, like a leaf might.
"It looks familiar… a hospital, but not Mystic Falls. A parking lot, there's a body there. She's yelling at him. Well, his heartless body." Ellie's own voice sounded distorted to herself. She moved away from Victoria and the body, looking for something to point her in the right direction. It was an ambulance that caught her attention. "She's in Grove Hill, at the hospital parking lot."
Ellie pulled out of the vision to look at the two of them. Hayley looked like she was trying hard to not act scared. "She's coming for me." Hayley warned.
"Don't worry, I'm taking a page out of my brother's book. A promise is a promise, and I promised to protect you from her." Klaus assured her. "Honestly, I let her little games go on for far too long. I knew she was obsessed with me, I knew she was often there in the shadows watching, but I suppose she wasn't smart enough to realize that coming for me is a death sentence. At least Katherine never tried to retaliate, it's one of the smarter things any of you ever did."
"So what, you're going to let her come to Mystic Falls and then kill her?" Ellie questioned.
"Well, not as simple as that, love. If she knows I'm anywhere near here, she won't make a move. Instead, she will linger around just long enough until our dear little wolf is alone and then strike. Victoria is almost as old as Katherine, Hayley won't stand a chance."
"Thanks." Hayley scoffed as she downed another drink.
Ellie gave her a reassuring smile before asking, "So if you're going to be out of sight, then what exactly is the plan?"
"You." She made a face in confusion before he elaborated. "Ellie, you're one of the strongest witches I've ever met. You two will go out and about, spend the day together to let her think she's getting the jump on the two of you, and when she attacks, and she will, you hold her off and Hayley will send a text. If you can't kill her, I'll finish the job."
"Wonderful job you're doing in asking for my help." Ellie sassed.
"Will you please help me keep the bloody wolf alive, little witch?" He asked sarcastically.
She grinned with just as much sass. "Of course! I would just love to be of service."
"Perfect! Chop, chop, off you go. Channel your inner Petrova, you can do this." Klaus praised.
Her eyes shot wide in surprise. "Was that… a compliment toward Katherine?"
"Do not tell her I said anything of the sort."
"I am absolutely going to tell her you said everything of the sort." Ellie shot back. Klaus looked thoroughly unimpressed with her. "If you didn't want me to tell her, you shouldn't have said anything."
"Get going." He instructed them. "I am just a text away."
Hayley had apparently grown tired of their chatter. "God you two sound like an old married couple squabbling at one another. Can we just go?"
Ellie sent a pillow to the back of Klaus' head childishly. "Yeah, let's go."
As they left, Hayley asked, "So what is there to even do in this small ass town?"
"Not much." Ellie admitted. "Really the main thing that there is to do is going to The Grill. We can drink, play darts or play pool. If you want we can grab a stack of cards and play. Grove Hill isn't that far away. If she's already there, and she knew that Shane and Klaus were here, she should be here soon enough."
"Joy, I only have a little while to stress over my potential doom." Hayley said as they walked toward Ellie's car. "Listen, Victoria is no joke. If she finds me and you try to stop her and fail she will rip us apart in ways that will make Klaus' methods seem boring. She warned me once, about what would happen if I betrayed her. If I'm entirely honest, I had nightmares for like a week because of it."
"Great." Ellie huffed. "But, I think I should have a stack of cards in my middle console thing."
The duo had made themselves comfortable in one of the booths next to the window and closer to the side exit than Ellie would normally be comfortable with. But the whole point of this event was to be exposed and seemingly vulnerable to Victoria. They couldn't seem like they were ready for her. As far as Victoria would know, they were stupid teenaged girls. "So, did Shane ever give you any kind of information that was useful?" Ellie inquired as she shuffled the deck of cards.
"Yeah, not much, but it's a lead." Hayley confessed. "From the information he had on me, though I have no idea how or why he had access to that type of stuff just being a regular professor, even if he happened to be obsessed with the supernatural and raising Silas in an attempt to bring back his dead wife and child. Honestly, I think I've been kind of scared to go after that lead."
"Why?" Ellie was watching Hayley's expression, trying to gauge where she stood on the whole birth parent thing.
"It's complicated."
"Try me."
"You wouldn't understand what it's like."
Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, I would." At Hayley's skepticism, Ellie continued, "Elena and I, we're adopted. I didn't know until Elena dropped that bomb in Jenna's face to get Jenna to stop giving her grief for skipping school, lying, and fucking off to who knew where when we'd found her car flipped in the middle of the road. And if that wasn't bad enough, it turns out that our dad was our Uncle John that we had never really liked and our mom was our Aunt Jenna's boyfriend's dead wife, mind you he was also our history teacher at the time. Elena knew all of this and I didn't find out about any of it until John dropped that bomb on me and Jenna. But hey, I guess like father like daughter since they both enjoyed using incredibly important information against us both."
"Holy shit." Hayley said in shock.
"Oh trust me, it only got worse. I watched my mom burn to death in front of me because she took off her daylight necklace thanks to Klaus' compulsion, but she was only ever a vampire in the first because Damon, my sister's boyfriend, fucked and then turned our mom. To make things even worse, my dad died because Klaus had to sacrifice Elena and our dad gave up his life to bring her back so that she wouldn't be a vampire because Damon had fed her his blood right before the stupid thing. So I found my birth parents, only to just about immediately lose them."
The werewolf sat there for a moment in shock before she confessed, "Ok, that's a lot more than what I was expecting." Ellie nodded in agreement. "Ok, fuck it. Ever since I was a kid, I've sat here wondering what the hell I could have done as a baby to make my birth parents hate me so much to get rid of me. Then I was like, what if they're dead and I'm too late and I'll never know why. But the other part of me is like, it would be so much worse if they weren't dead and they had just never looked for me because they just didn't want me. Maybe it would be better if they were dead because at least then I wouldn't have to deal with the feeling of being so unwanted that they could go my entire life and never try to find me."
Ellie was repeatedly shuffling the deck of cards in her hands idly. "Why do I feel like there's more to it?"
"Because I mean, come on, they must have just fucking hated me right? Why else would you abandon your child at however fucking young I was when you knew that I could turn into a murderous psycho wolf if I ever fucked up and killed somebody? I scared the hell out of my adoptive parents and they put my ass on the street the moment they realized I was a freak. I can't say I really blame them though, I wouldn't know how to handle it either."
"You're not a freak." Ellie said insistently. "You aren't. If you're a freak then literally just about everyone I know and love is a freak. Ok, well maybe they're kind of freaks, but they're my freaks and that doesn't stop me from loving them."
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you're just like some otherworldly saint anyways. I remember the stories Tyler used to tell about you. And given that you have literally no reason to be here with me right now but you are anyways, it says a lot about how good of a person you are."
Something in the air shifted around them. She could feel it, feel her. "I don't know, I feel like I don't live up to people's expectations of me. But you know, we should go shopping. There's nothing more therapeutic than spending money you didn't have to earn and we have had a lot of trauma dumping today, it'll be good for us."
Hayley, bless her, went along with it flawlessly. "Are we spending boyfriend's money?" She asked, careful to not say his name.
"Even better, his brother's." Ellie encouraged. The duo headed outside where it was surprisingly dark. She honestly hadn't realized how much time had passed. They headed for her car, chatting easily as Ellie tried to not react to the energy watching them carefully. She nodded in confirmation as they took off. She took a hold of Hayley's hand and wrote out the letters to spell 'boarding house Klaus'.
"I should probably turn on the radio, I hate driving in silence." Hayley said before she showed the message that Ellie wanted her to text to Klaus.
"Yeah, that's exactly what we should do. Music in the car is always the best." Ellie replied. Hayley sent the text and Ellie could feel the energy closing in. It wasn't until Ellie could see the light of the boarding house in the distance that something obscured her vision. "Fuck!" The seatbelt choked her as it dug into her skin on impact. The car spun out before the back slammed into a tree.
Hayley shouted in pain. "Oh my fucking god. Ellie, are you ok?" She asked worriedly.
She ignored the werewolf and opted to focus on the smoking engine. "Hayley, get out of the car." She panted. "Get out of the car, I think the engine is on fire."
"What the hell did we hit?" Even disoriented, the duo were playing their parts well.
"A deer maybe? It moved so fast I couldn't see it." Ellie replied. She tried to assess the damage done by the wreck. She thought her right shoulder might have popped out of place. It hurt like a bitch.
Something hit Ellie from behind, sending her flying forward. Luckily she hit the ground before she reached the tree and the roll eased her blow. "Hayley Marshall. You have been a pain in the ass to find." Victoria drawled. "Sorry, other girl. What was your name? Ellie? It's awfully unfortunate that you got caught up in Hayley's mess. I just have to tie up some loose ends to tie up and Hayley here has made you one."
"Ellie, run…" Hayley groaned as she tried to push herself to her feet.
A swift kick to Hayley's face had her flailing back down. "Getting up is a very bad idea. It'll make this worse for you."
"Leave her alone." Ellie groaned.
"Sorry pet, I can't do that." Victoria replied calmly. "Don't worry, you're next." Hayley cried out sharply in pain as Victoria's hand plunged in her chest. "The temptation to make you suffer is strong, but Klaus is a little too close for comfort and I don't want to deal with that. That will be a battle for another day."
Hayley's scream pierced the night and Ellie could feel the panic in the werewolf. "Fuck it." Ellie swore. She took control of Victoria's hand, making sure that she couldn't hurt Hayley any worse as she ripped her hand out of her chest.
"What the hell?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you kill my friend." Ellie replied as she pushed herself to her feet. She cried out in pain as she forcibly reset her shoulder with her magic.
Victoria didn't seem bothered as she wiped her blood soaked hand across her cheek. "You cheeky little bitch. I'm gonna rip your intestines out and then eat them."
Hayley was still trying to pick herself off the ground. Ellie swore under her breath. Hayley couldn't heal like Klaus could. "Ellie…" Hayley was choking from the blood in her lungs.
The vampire rushed forward, wrapping her bloody hand around Ellie's throat. "You little bitch. Who the fuck do you think you are?"
Something snapped in her. Something that had been begging for violence, itching for a release. "Elijah Mikaelson's girlfriend." Ellie snapped. She flung Victoria off of her ruthlessly as she rolled her neck. "God, Klaus was right. Everything about you is like a knock of Katherine Pierce." Victoria flashed her fangs. She tried to lunge, but Ellie took her down with a flick of her wrist.
Pain exploded in Victoria's head, causing her to scream out as Ellie used her free hand to heal Hayley from a distance. She'd never tried that before. She could feel Hayley's pulse begin to steady as the wound stitched itself back together. "Elijah's girlfriend? Please." Victoria scoffed. "He would never be interested in the likes of you."
"Did you have a crush on him too?" Ellie hummed. Once Hayley was healed, Ellie redirected her attention back to Victoria, slinging her back once more, closer to the boarding house. "See, there's something else that I forgot to tell you."
"And what's that?" Victoria huffed.
"I'm a Petrova witch." Ellie hissed. Victoria's eyes widened. "That name rings a bell does it? I suppose you might actually know a thing or two about Katerina Petrova since you clearly want to be her so badly. She's my ancestor and my friend. And, you know, she's always been pretty insistent that I have the same Petrova fire that she does. I'm starting to think she's right." Sparks jumped to life around Victoria violently.
"You're insane."
"That's a fucking joke coming from the likes of you." Ellie shot back as she forced Victoria back again. "You know, I think I can see it now. The ruthlessness. It's easy isn't it? Especially when you're so tired, and quite frankly you've rubbed me in just the right way that I now understand Klaus' desire to remove heads from bodies."
Victoria snarled as she tried to stand. "You're a child. You can't kill me."
"If I was a child and I was so incapable, Klaus himself wouldn't have called me to help get rid of you because quite frankly I don't think he even considers you to be worth his time. And shockingly enough, he actually likes me. So you might want to rethink that stance." Ellie warned. "Quite frankly, I don't even know what I'm capable of. Especially if pushed. I take issue with you using Hayley's longing for family to make her vulnerable. Family is just one of those things that I take quite seriously."
The vampire pushed past the pain, tackling Ellie as the duo rolled across the ground. "Overconfident bitch."
"Get a better insult." Ellie elbowed Victoria in the jaw.
Hayley appeared out of nowhere and shoved a broken branch into Victoria's back. Victoria screeched and swung back, hitting Hayley as hard as she could manage with the branch still embedded in her. Ellie forced herself to her feet and her magic felt like it was thrumming around her. She felt enraged, and she could feel Klaus' energy closing in. Not far behind, she could feel Elijah. She just had to hold on long enough for them to get here and to deal with the bitch. Fake it till you make it seemed to be the theme of the evening. If she could keep Victoria focused on her and her insanely cocky attitude, the vampire wouldn't be paying attention to her surroundings to know that Klaus was coming. Victoria laughed madly, seemingly amused by their efforts. "It's cute, really, that you think that you stand a chance. You've spent too much time with the Mikaelsons I suppose."
Taking a trick from Klaus' book, she set off a ring of fire around Victoria, trapping her there and raising the flames as Victoria contemplated her escape. "Little Victoria, it seems in our time apart that your head has grown too big for your body." Klaus said casually as he strolled into the light of the fire. "And mind you, I've grown quite fond of the little witch that you're threatening. Though her flair for dramatics, yes I would like to claim responsibility for all of that. I wasn't sure she had it in her, but here she is, proving me wrong."
"Niklaus." Victoria said softly, scrambling as far away from him as she could get without pushing herself into the fire. In an instant, all her malice was gone. She looked childlike suddenly and Ellie wondered at what age she'd been turned.
Elijah appeared in the light of the fire at Ellie's side and Victoria, somehow, got even paler. "You always did struggle to listen to the warning given to you." Elijah drawled as he wrapped an arm around Ellie's waist. Hayley walked over to stand on Ellie's other side, and when Ellie took the werewolf's hand in hers, healing her silently.
It seemed that Victoria was catching on to the things that were about to happen, she began to beg. "No. No, Klaus please. Please, I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Klaus repeated. "Whatever for?" Victoria looked like a fish out of water. "I was the one who brutally murdered your entire family. I was the one who gave you nightmares that most likely lasted for decades. Whatever have you done?" As always, with his dramatic flair, his eyes widened as he said, "Oh, yes! You've spent all this time trying to plot my demise. You really should have taken the opportunity I gave you and made sure that I never saw you again. Yet, here you stand."
"Klaus, please."
"Ellie, remove the fire would you?" She didn't hesitate to do as told. "Goodbye, Victoria, it was a misfortune to know you."
He didn't hesitate to plunge his hand in her chest like she had to Hayley. "Please!" Victoria sobbed.
Klaus tilted his head, contemplating her plea. "Sorry, love. I don't spare those that decide that they want to kill me." Klaus said coldly. Victoria's scream echoed as he ripped her heart out of her chest. Ellie watched as Victoria began to gray before she finally dropped to the ground.
He allowed her heart to fall from his hand, dropping beside her body as Hayley replied, "Well, that was anticlimactic. Am I the only one that wasn't expecting it to go that smoothly."
"It would have been Niklaus' head had that been the case." Elijah said calmly before turning to Ellie. "Why didn't you tell me that Niklaus had lured you into one of his ridiculous plans?"
She sighed slightly before confessing, "I'd meant to, but I'd already worried you so much from the other day. I didn't think you'd be ok with this."
"I will always prefer to know of the plan so that I can protect you should something go wrong, rather than you keeping me in the dark for fear of my reaction." He corrected. "You're right, I do not like this plan, nor would I have approved of it. But we both know you make your own decisions, even if they don't always align with my own." Ellie's guilt chewed at her. He pressed a firm kiss to her forehead. "My love, I'm not angry. I just want to be able to keep you safe."
Ellie nodded in understanding. "I should have told you."
The moment was interrupted by none other than Elena. "What the hell is going on?"
Hayley immediately looked unimpressed. "Just your standard vampire killing." She shrugged.
But it was Ellie that Elena zeroed in on. "What the fuck were you thinking? Jeremy's here!"
"I was thinking about the fact that she body slammed my car and was trying to kill us!" Ellie shot back. "What the hell is your problem, Elena?"
Jenna and Jeremy made their way out of the house with Stefan and Damon following them. "You!" Elena screeched. "You are my problem!"
"How the hell am I your problem?" Ellie scoffed as she headed toward Elena.
Her twin looked livid. "Because you do nothing but cause problems!"
"I cause problems? That is fucking ironic coming from you."
"You befriend Klaus and Katherine of all fucking people despite all the horrible things they've done to us. You're fucking Elijah after he tried kidnapping us. You're best friends with Rebekah who is an all around bitch and you just never fucking stop!" Elena screeched. "You ruined my entire plan to get rid of Katherine once and for all and she's still walking around like an arrogant bitch!" Ellie, if it weren't for the rage that threatened to overtake her, would have been amused. "You act like you're better than me, like you're some kind of saint."
"Mind your tone, Elena." Klaus warned.
"You turned me back into some fucking blood bag that Klaus could use. Were you always jealous of me Ellie, is that it? Did you want Stefan and you couldn't have him so fucked Elijah instead? A bit pathetic if you ask me." Where in the actual fuck was that accusation coming from?
"Elena Gilbert, this is your last warning to mind your tone." Elijah hissed.
"This is none of your business!"
"You wanted to be human!" Ellie screamed back. "You killed Kol god damn it! You have killed so many people whether it was you that drove the stake in or not. It's not me that pretends to be a saint, Elena. It's you! After everything everyone did to get that stupid fucking cure you were going to throw it away on pathetic rage. Jeremy died for it! You are out of your mind if you think that I'm going to let you waste it!"
This was the thing that none of the Mikaelsons had seen since Elena had been cured of her vampirism and returned to being a regular human. This… rage that she had inside of her, the fury. It seemed that she had shifted her focus from Katherine or even Stefan to putting it all on Ellie. Both Elijah and Klaus were on edge. Human or not, this was not the Elena they remembered from when they first met her. Or had she been this way all along? Had her violence simply been hidden carefully under an easy smile?
Elena got in Ellie's face, the both of them seething in rage. "You know what I wish, Ellie?"
"What?"
"That you would get the fuck out of my life and stay out."
"Then maybe you should just drop dead." Ellie hissed. The words were out of her mouth before she could think and Elena reacted more violently than anyone had prepared for.
She shoved Ellie as hard as she could with enough force to knock Ellie off her balance. The training with Alaric must have actually paid off. Ellie's foot caught on a thick tree root sticking out of the ground and it sent her to the ground. "Eleanor!" Elijah's shout was not enough to overpower Ellie's agonized scream as the branch pierced through her shoulder. It was the one that had been embedded in Victoria's back that she'd thrown away violently. It must have lodged itself in the ground pointing up, making it so easy to stab Ellie through the back.
The Mikaelsons immediately jumped into action. Elijah was at Ellie's side while Klaus had Elena's throat in his hand. "Who exactly do you think you are, Elena Gilbert? Do you think you are immune to my wrath because I have spared you before?"
"Klaus!" Stefan called, though he didn't really seem to know what to do.
"Silence." Elijah snapped. Jenna and Jeremy had rushed to Ellie's side as well. "My love, I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt." He pulled her off the branch. She cried out as she was freed from it and Elijah had no hesitation into practically ripping into his wrist to get his blood to her. "Drink."
Hayley was watching the scene in shock. She'd always figured Elena was a bit of a bitch from what she'd seen and from what she'd heard from Tyler, but she was so much worse. Elena was clawing at Klaus' hand desperately trying to breathe. "Klaus…" Ellie whispered. "Don't."
"You baffle me, little witch. Your heart is far too pure for the likes of her." Klaus told her. He yanked Elena close to him and whispered. "The breath you take, every single one from this moment forth is because Ellie allows it to be so. One more wrong move and I will not heed her plea again." He flung her to the ground before going to Ellie's side. They all helped Ellie stand, despite the blood having healed her wound. He looked back at Elena who remained in shock on the ground. "No more chances." His threat was clear. If she made one more mistake, she was dead.
Author's Note:
So… we had a bit of a steamy moment at the beginning there and I've never really done or written anything like that I'm very curious to see how you guys felt about that scene! Also what did we think of Ellie taking a vampire head on that's almost as old as Katherine. We got to see a side of her that was closer to Klaus, who she was taking inspiration in from with the way she was taunting Victoria. But I needed someone to take the place of Katherine who had originally used Hayley for information and then tried to kill her since she stayed in Mystic Falls. As always, I hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!
To xenocanaan: I'm so glad that you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoyed this one as well.
To whataboringlife: Not for a while, at least. I haven't decided if I want her to be a vampire since being a witch is such a large part of who she is. However, I do plan for her to have a good amount of time of getting to be with Elijah without having to worry about her dying. And yes, perhaps her powers and capabilities may play a part in what she's capable of and if there's a loophole that she could use.
To Shodai01: Oh yes, Elijah and Klaus were furious. To be fair, we also don't know what was happening from Stefan's perspective, because I think that we can all agree that under normal circumstances, Stefan would have never let her leave alone like that. And I can't say if it's Stefan or Silas, we'll just have to wait and see. But don't worry, we will be getting our lovely Hope Mikaelson, she's one of my favorites after all. But, that story is not nearly as far away as you think. We'll be in NOLA soon enough. Also yes, we will absolutely be getting interactions with Ellie and Freya so we'll definitely get a chance to see how they work together.
To Guest(1): It was very sketchy for Stefan to have not stopped her from leaving, however, we don't know what was happening from his perspective. I will assure you though that Ellie was not roofied and sexually assualted.
To Guest(2): We love protective Mikaelson boys. And it's very fair to be suspicious and yeah Stefan definitely has some stuff he'd probably benefit from doing on his own, but Ellie's a bleeding heart. So sorry, but I think Hope is essential for Klaus' character development because she does change him for the better, so Hayley will be a continuing part of this story. However, I hope that without her kind of stringing Elijah along and me making changes to her personality, that you'll be able to enjoy my version of her.
To JFR123: Thank you!
To Blu3b3rryT3a: Yeah, but who knows what was happening on Stefan's end when she left, maybe he wasn't even aware until it was too late. Now that I'm thinking about it, it would probably do Jeremy a lot of good to leave as well. Elena just needs to shut up. I know! I really enjoyed changing up their dynamics and kind of showing that Klaus can absolutely take a step back and switch roles with Elijah when needed. Love him and Elijah!
To IrisTurner: I know! It's kind of satisfying to see.
To Daddy'sLiLHeartBreaker: Exactly, like I'd initially wanted her to leave right after graduation, but I couldn't imagine her leaving him behind. Lol, don't worry, everyone is trying to figure out if it's Stefan or Silas, but I'm not telling. Oh yes, the rage behind was exactly how I wanted to portray him. He can switch up his emotions on a dime when needed. But yes, letting Klaus fall into a different role for a bit was also fantastic. And yes, I wanted it to be like Elijah keeps his cool over everything, except for the thought of losing her. I kind of took inspiration from when Hayley almost died at the end of season one and him being on the edge of losing it. It won't ruin her and Stefan's relationship, don't worry. It will still be a similar reason for going to NOLA, just with some minor tweaks.
To Guest(3): Who do you think it was?
To NaRuKo-InuTaiSHo-XD: Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed!
-Madame Magic
Posted: 4/9/22
