Chapter 91: House of the Rising Sun
September 10, 2011
Ellie woke up feeling like she was drowning. Her whole body was in pain, like she'd been swimming for hours without ever escaping ice cold water. It was in her lungs, her throat, spilling out of her mouth as she gasped for breath. It felt like she couldn't see, drowning in the black of the deep waters around her. A voice was there. So familiar… so close to her, begging for help. Who was calling to her? She wanted to help, could feel it in her gut, but she couldn't get to them. Couldn't set them free. Was it her begging for help or someone else? Was she crying? Her cheeks were wet from the tears as she shook.
Her chest was heavy and her palms were sweating as she moved to sit up in the bed. Katherine and Hayley, who had been asleep on either side of her, jolted awake at her frenzied movements "You ok?" Hayley asked tiredly as she wiped her eyes clean from her sleep. The trio had fallen asleep watching an episode of True Blood on Ellie's laptop. It seemed that Katherine got a kick out of supernatural type shows and Ellie and Hayley both thought that Eric was just really hot.
Now, her laptop had fallen on the floor as she kicked off the covers that had been placed over her. "Ellie?" Katherine asked gently as she placed a hand on Ellie's arm. "Hey, Ellie?" The witch had a far away look in her eye as she clawed idly at her throat. "Ellie, hey, where are you?" Both Hayley and Katherine watched with concern as they waited for her to respond to them. She looked pale, almost concerningly so.
Elijah had been gone for a few days, with Klaus dismissively saying that he was off being of use to their plan. Katherine and Ellie hadn't bought it in the slightest, but without Ellie unable to do magic, Katherine had been reluctant to leave Ellie and Hayley unprotected. Other than Klaus and Elijah, it was more than likely that Katherine was the oldest vampire in New Orleans, which meant she was the best protection they had. Despite Ellie's protests, Katherine hadn't budged in leaving them as little as possible. Katherine was only ever gone when Klaus was present, which was not often at all.
Now, she and the little wolf watched Ellie with worry. She'd been having nightmares lately. Sometimes she'd confess what they were, other times she seemed reluctant. The times that Ellie confessed what was going through her mind, it was her fear that something had happened to Elijah. There was something else that she wasn't telling them though. Something was scaring her. Katherine rested her chin on the shoulder of her double, waiting. Enough of a touch to remind her that they were there for her, but not so much to overwhelm her.
At the moment, they really only had each other. The three of them worked diligently as they tried to make the ancient house something like a home. Ellie hadn't been able to build the courage to tell anyone back home about what was happening. Which meant none of them knew about her… current situation. As for Jenna and Jeremy, they knew that Katherine had her and that she was safe, but Katherine had not told them the truth. That was something that Ellie would have to do on her own time when she was ready.
She flinched suddenly, surprising the other two girls as she came back into reality. "You back with us?" Hayley asked curiously, though neither girl moved to touch Ellie.
"Yeah… yeah, I'm here." Ellie said softly as she pushed her hand into her own chest as she tried to soothe her frantic heart.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Katherine asked.
"No." Ellie said quickly. "I don't."
"Ok. We don't have to." Hayley agreed with ease. "Do you want to go back to watching True Blood or something?"
Ellie nodded her head as she tried to keep herself from slipping back into her own mind and getting lost there. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Katherine moved to grab the laptop and set it back up before Ellie settled into her. She practically curled into Katherine's side like a child as Hayley moved close on her other side.
As Katherine turned the show back on, she watched the two girls to her left. Since Elijah's disappearance, the trio had ended up sharing a bed most nights. It seemed to be comforting for the two girls to be close to one another. If Katherine had to guess, she would have assumed that they found comfort in being around each other when the other girl was the only person in the world that really knew what it felt like to be in their position.
They'd been watching True Blood for all of ten minutes when Katherine jolted up, head tilting as she listened to something carefully. "Katherine? What is it?" Ellie asked as she paused their show.
Hayley also seemed to be on edge. "Someone's coming." Hayley told her.
"Stay here." Katherine instructed.
"That is what they say in every horror movie ever before someone dies." Ellie shot back. "Absolutely not. If we go, we go together."
Katherine looked like she wanted to protest, but at Ellie's glare, she huffed and said, "Fine, but grab something in case you need to attack." She instructed. They crept out of the hallway together when Katherine paused and rolled her eyes as Ellie and Hayley looked carefully over the banister.
"Elijah, if not answering your phone is part of your clever plan to get me back to this godforsaken city, then well done. I'm here and I'm worried. Now pick up before I kick in your bloody door."
Katherine relaxed at the sound of the other girl's voice. She might have annoyed the hell out of Katherine, but she was no threat to Ellie. When the door opened, Hayley asked, "Who the hell are you?"
Ellie, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "Bekah!" She practically flew down the stairs, hugging the blonde tightly.
Rebekah was grinning slightly as she hugged Ellie back with just as much strength. "Hello, love!"
"So… I'm guessing not a threat?" Hayley asked.
"Only to your sanity." Katherine sassed.
Rebekah rolled her eyes. "You're still alive?" She shot back. "How unfortunate. I figured Klaus would have put your head on a stick by now."
"Well unlike someone that decided to go fuck Matty Blue Eyes all across Europe for the summer and couldn't be bothered to show up when Ellie went missing, I was here helping find her." Katherine retorted.
"As soon as Elijah told me that Ellie couldn't be found I was arranging methods to come here, so mind your tone. When he told me that she had been found and was unharmed, he told me that there was not a rush. I came when he stopped responding to my messages. Speaking of, Ellie why have you not responded to anything I've sent you in days?"
"The witches fried my phone when I was trying to call Katherine." Ellie explained.
Rebekah hummed in response. "Anyways, why on earth are you lot still here? This is Klaus' mess, not yours? Surely Elijah hasn't convinced you to stay here while he tries to fix Klaus once again." Rebekah asked. "And who the bloody hell is this?"
Ellie froze. Had Elijah not told her? "Do you… do you not know?" She asked carefully.
"Not know what? About the wolf girl?" Rebekah glanced over to Hayley. "I'm assuming that that would be you, yes?" She didn't wait for Hayley's response. "Yes, I'm well aware that the wolf girl has somehow gotten herself knocked up. If I'm quite honest, I think I was expecting to see some kind of supernatural miracle baby bump. But I guess she isn't showing yet."
"You have your brother's manners." Hayley said as she made a slight face.
"And his temper, too. So watch it." Rebekah warned the wolf before looking back to Ellie. "Anyways, like I was asking, what does any of this have to do with you?"
"You don't know." Katherine said in surprise. Honestly, if he were to tell anyone, she would have expected that he would have told his sister.
"Know what?" Rebekah asked in exasperation. "If there's something I'm supposed to know then it might be best for you lot to just be out with it."
"I'm pregnant."
It seemed like the whole world stopped as the words tumbled out of Ellie's mouth. Was that the first time she'd said those words out loud? Rebekah's eyes widened in surprise. "I'm sorry. What?" Her eyes dropped down to Ellie's still flat stomach. "That's not possible."
Katherine was a bit impressed with Rebekah not even thinking about accusing Ellie of cheating. "I don't know." Ellie confessed. "I don't know."
"We're still trying to figure that bit out." Katherine replied as she wrapped an arm around Ellie's shoulder in comfort. "But she and the wolf are pregnant with Elijah and Klaus' children respectively and we're in the middle of a war zone and the witches are a pain in the ass."
"They're always a pain in the ass. What do they want?"
Ellie shrugged slightly. "That's still something we're trying to figure out. All we know is that Marcel has something that they want, so we can't just kill him to get it and we can't just kill the witches and leave."
"And why not?"
"Because they put some stupid hex on me and Ellie where it was pretty heavily implied that if we leave, we die." Hayley explained.
Rebekah looked at the three of them like they'd all grown another head. "You do realize that Ellie is a witch, right? Just break the blood hex, kill the lot, and then go home."
"We can't do that either." Katherine replied.
"Once again, why not?"
"Because the witches needed Klaus' help with Marcel because he has somehow developed a way of knowing if any magic is cast in the Quarter. If you use magic, you die. If I die, both my baby, Hayley, and her baby will die too because one of the witches in that coven linked us to one another. What happens to one, happens to all."
Rebekah swore under her breath. "And where is Elijah in all of this? I've been trying to reach him but he's not answering."
"Klaus said that Elijah was doing something to make himself of use to the plan." Katherine replied. "He's said nothing more than that and given that Ellie can't use magic to protect herself and Klaus is very rarely here, I didn't really think it was the best idea to leave them defenseless."
The blonde sighed heavily. "So, of course, Niklaus has done something dastardly and Klaus-like. Klaus! Get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!"
"Enough with all the shouting." Klaus groaned as he opened a set of double doors.
"You're home?" Ellie asked in surprise. "When the hell did you come home?"
He looked over to her and said, "When you three were looking quite comfy and cozy snuggled up in the bed." Glancing back over at Rebekah, he continued, "Little sister. I should have known. I assume the six dead vampires were your doing."
With a smirk, she replied, "They were very rude, trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way to the Quarter. So sorry. Were they friends of yours? Oh that's right. You don't have any friends."
"I do have friends. I have Marcel. You remember him, don't you? Yes, of course you do. He fancies himself the king of the Quarter now, and he has these rules about killing vampires. It will be fun to see what sort of punishment he comes up with for you. And not to mention I have Ellie."
"You mean Ellie who only grew to tolerate you because you kidnapped her for an entire summer?"
"Can I not be brought into this?" Ellie asked curiously.
Both siblings sent her a halfway apologetic look. "I also don't care about Marcel or his rules. Elijah doesn't welsh on deals and we both know he would have promised to protect Ellie and Hayley. What did you do to him? And don't you dare give me the half assed answer that you gave Ellie and the lot."
Klaus grinned wickedly as he propped against a table. "Perhaps he's on holiday before he's thrust into daddy-hood or taking a long autumn nap upstairs."
The young witch immediately whipped to face him. "Klaus so help me god tell me you have not daggered Elijah." She warned.
"Have you so little faith in me, little witch?" He questioned.
"Elijah would not leave me. He hasn't been home in days and with the way you just made that little remark about him taking an autumn nap, now you're just suspicious." Ellie replied bluntly. "What the hell have you done?"
"If you're so suspicious, go look for him yourself. Well, go on, take a look around." Both Ellie and Rebekah moved immediately to try and find him "Yes, you should help, Rebekah. You remember this house as well as I."
"I remember everything. I remember the drunken fool of a governor hid away all of our vampire sins in exchange for gold. I remember the lavish parties the governor threw as if to impress you. I remember finding a moment of affection with the governor's son, Emil. And I remember that even Elijah was happy. Of course that was until you decided to go and ruin it by killing Emil when I asked for you to let me turn him." Rebekah said as she stalked out into the hallway.
The group followed her out as Klaus dropped onto an old bench. "Well, he wasn't good enough for you."
"No one was ever good enough for me, Nik. You made sure of that. Now, where's Elijah?" His phone started buzzing and he stood to leave. "Where are you going?"
"It appears the night is not quite over yet. I'm off for another drink with Marcel."
"Elijah told me your plan to take apart Marcel's empire piece by piece. I don't remember it involving you two drinking New Orleans dry together." Rebekah replied.
"I know you don't have many friends, Rebekah, but what some friends do when they get together is they drink, and when they drink, they tell secrets. Marcel has somehow found a way to control the entirety of witches in the Quarter, as far as we know Ellie included, and I am to uncover the how so I might take it for myself. Finding Elijah didn't make my to-do list today." Klaus turned to leave them before stopping as he opened the front door. "Oh, and welcome home, little sister."
After he was gone, Rebekah sighed heavily and turned to face Hayley and Katherine as they sat on the stairs. "You, wolf girl and annoying brat." Katherine rolled her eyes at the name but stood with Hayley. "Ellie and I are gonna search this house inch by inch until I find what my evil brother has done to my good one. You're both helping."
"We've already searched the house." Ellie explained gently. "Multiple times actually."
"Trust me, you haven't searched everything." Rebekah told her as the four made their way down a spiral staircase. "The governor had lots of secret rooms. I'll show you his favorite. It's more than likely that Klaus has decided to stash things away there."
They grabbed a few flashlights before Rebekah led them to a room that they hadn't previously known about. Ellie was immediately greeted by the sight of a familiar coffin. "You think Klaus killed him." Hayley said in shock.
"We can't be killed, silly girl, but that doesn't stop Klaus from finding ways to torture us. He has a set of mystical silver daggers. One in the heart sends us into a deep slumber. Klaus gets his jollies from keeping us in a box until he decides to pull the dagger out. That must be what he's done to Elijah." Rebekah explained to the wolf. "This one is mine."
"He keeps your coffin on standby." Hayley said in horror.
Rebekah wasn't shocked in the slightest. "He likes to be prepared for when his family members inevitably disappoint him. Elijah's isn't here. He must have stashed him elsewhere."
"I'm gonna kill him." Ellie said in frustration as her nails dug into her palm.
"I feel sick."
"Welcome to the family, love. You should have run the second you realized Elijah was gone."
Hayley glanced over to Ellie, who also looked sick, before reminding Rebekah, "I can't. We can't. The hex, remember?"
"Yes, well, knowing Klaus, he's planning a box for you the second you give birth to whatever's cooking in your tum. I'm leaving as soon as I find Elijah. Being daggered in a box for decades sucks. Trust me. If Ellie can't break it, you best find some other way and run."
When the morning came around and Ellie and Hayley had gotten up, Rebekah was nowhere to be found and neither was Katherine. At the very least, Katherine had left a note saying that she had gone to get food for the house. Whenever Rebekah left, it must have been after Katherine was already gone. She wouldn't have left them alone otherwise.
It was not going to be a good morning it seemed. Hayley woke up on the verge of a panic attack and Ellie followed the wolf as she paced down the hall. "Hayley…"
"I can't do this." Hayley replied as she looked over to Ellie with wide eyes. "Did you know about that? About the coffins? About what he does to his family?"
She nodded. "Yes." She told her truthfully. "I've had to deal with those stupid daggers more times that I would like to admit, but yes, I've seen them be used on his siblings. I watched Klaus shove one of those stupid daggers in Elijah's chest. It's never pleasant. I've had him all but lie to my face about undaggering Elijah too. It sucks."
"Then why the hell are you even friends with Klaus?"
"Because there is something in him that is good." Ellie said tiredly. "Ok, I know he can be an ass, be a monster, whatever it is that you want to call him, there is good in him. And he's incredibly complicated, I know that too, but you don't understand the trauma that his parents put him through. The abuse. They punished him for things that were never at any point his fault. His whole human life he was punished for what his father deemed as him being weak. So when he turned, he became violent and terrifying because he never wanted to be seen as weak again. I don't think he can even ease up enough to let himself be weak even when he's alone."
Hayley ran a hand through her hair. "Look, I get being fucked up by your family, but that's insane. If that Rebekah chick is right, the moment this baby is born, if it's even born, Klaus will kill me and quite frankly I'd rather not die."
"He's not going to kill you. I won't let him."
"You can't even use your magic, Ellie!" Hayley shouted. "I am going to die." Her chest began to rise and fall rapidly as she scratched at the skin of her palm. "I'm going to die. I can't die. I have to do something."
"Do what?"
"Klaus can't kill me if I kill it first."
Ellie froze. Surely she didn't mean that? "Hayley…"
"I have to get out of here. If I'm not pregnant I can get the hell out of New Orleans and run from Klaus. Katherine did it for like ever, right? I could do it." Hayley looked like she was gonna pass out.
Not knowing what else to do, Ellie just moved forward and pulled the girl in tightly. "Just breathe, Hayley." She ran through the options in her head on what she could do. She could tell Hayley that she couldn't do that, but Hayley was already scared and feeling alone and that would only isolate her further. She could encourage Hayley to do it and run, because she probably was in danger, but that made Ellie's heart twist in her chest in a funny way. With no real other options, she pulled away and asked, "What exactly is it that you plan to do?"
"When we were wandering around the Quarter, I heard one of those tourist leader chicks talking about this shop and they were listing off some of the stuff sold there. I heard her say aconite." Hayley said softly.
"Wolfsbane?" Ellie was looking at the pained expression on Hayley's face. "You want to poison the baby?"
"Please don't say it like that." Hayley pulled away. "Look, Klaus is like a million years old with about a billion enemies. I'd be doing the baby a favor by getting it as far away from him as possible before it's ever even born. If the baby is born, everyone that wants to hurt Klaus will come for it to hurt it instead."
There was some logic to it. "How long have you been thinking about it?"
"Since they took us and told us we were pregnant." Hayley confessed. "But after what Rebekah said…"
"You're scared."
"You should be too. Whether he loves you or not, Elijah isn't here to protect you and without your magic you're seriously in danger." Hayley reminded her. "I can't put this baby through that."
Ellie didn't respond for a moment. "If that's what you want, then I'm coming with you." She finally decided. It wasn't her choice to decide what Hayley could or should do.
The tension drained from Hayley's body. "You'll come with me?"
"We've stuck together through this so far. I'm not leaving you to do this alone now." Ellie replied simply. "If you want to go that route, we need to leave before the others come home."
Hayley hugged her again, lingering for a long moment before she said, "Thank you for not making this worse."
After she let Ellie go, the duo were quick to get dressed and head out. Unfortunately for them, they didn't have a car to use since Ellie's had gotten attacked. By the time they'd made it to the Quarter, Ellie honestly just wanted to rip her legs off because she was tired of walking. But it still beat trekking endlessly through the mountains looking for potential werewolf packs in the hottest part of summer. "Is that the place you were talking about?" Ellie questioned as she pointed to a shop where a young woman looked to be closing up shop.
"Shit, yeah, come on." Hayley said as she started walking faster. "Oh, hey, hey, wait!"
"We're closed, sorry." The girl said dismissively, not even looking at them.
Not wanting to give up after they'd walked so far to get to the shop, Hayley said, "I just need one teeny tiny little herb. Please."
The girl seemed to give in slightly and gave her a small smile. "Which herb?"
"Crushed aconite flower."
"Wolfsbane?" The girl was immediately concerned, looking over at Hayley with more intent. "That's a poison. Looking to kill a wolf?"
"Just a little one."
Ellie felt anxious as the girl's eye's dropped down to Hayley's stomach. "Give me a minute."
As the girl disappeared back inside, Ellie confessed quietly, "I have a bad feeling."
"About this?" Hayley asked.
"I don't know. It's just a bad feeling."
The girl returned with two vials. "Cut it with jimson weed, a few drops in some hot tea. That should do it."
Hayley held out some cash for her to take. "Here."
"It's an ugly town for wolves. You're doing the right thing." She said as she refused to take Hayley's money.
Ellie looped arms with Hayley as the two left the shop. "Do you want to stay out for a while? I'm kind of tired of all the walking." She didn't mention that she might not get to go out again for a while after this.
"Yeah." Hayley agreed as she stashed the vials away in her pocket.
Despite the tension of what Hayley was planning to do, and the stress over being exposed for the first time in days. They didn't do much shopping. There was no point in buying a lot of things when they didn't have a car to put it in and they didn't want to carry it back home. Sooner than Ellie had realized, night had fallen and she felt a little less at ease. The night meant that any vampire could be out and about, not just the ones that Marcel had graciously given daylight rings too. But, as far as they knew, none of the vampires knew who they were.
After a while, Hayley stopped at a small restaurant and ordered a large hot tea. The duo were sitting on a bench as Hayley watched the steam rise from her drink. "Come on, Hayley." She muttered softly to herself as added the drops of jimson weed and aconite. "One upset stomach, and all this stupid drama is ancient history."
Ellie's heart was pounding as she watched Hayley contemplate if she was gonna go through it. She brought the cup up to her mouth and closed her eyes before she froze. Hayley reached out for Ellie, taking a tight hold of the witch's hand. "Hayley."
"Am I doing the right thing?" Hayley whispered.
Her grip was nearly crushing in Ellie's hand, but Ellie didn't dare let go. "I can't tell you that Hayley. It's not fair for me to use my opinion to dictate what you should do."
Hayley looked painfully conflicted and Ellie would have hugged the girl had it not been for the suspicious rustling that came from somewhere around them "What was that?" Hayley asked as her voice dropped low.
They both stood as they looked around and Ellie longed for her magic. With the threat of Marcel and whatever his weapon was, she was fairly certain that Klaus was spiking her drink to ensure she didn't risk doing something stupid. She was going to kill him for that. They were about to get the hell out of there when a vampire appeared before them. "Dumb move, coming into the quarter. You're coming with me, wolf."
"I have had it up to here with vampires telling me what to do!" Hayley shouted before she threw the still steaming tea in the vampire's face.
Panic shot through Ellie's chest as she turned to face two other vampires standing before them. She reacted on instinct, launching forward toward one of them as she pulled out the pencil that she'd been using to keep her hair off of her neck. With one shot, it had plunged into one of the vampire's hearts as he widened his eyes in shock. "You bitch!" The other one hissed at her as their friend went gray.
"You fuckers need a better insult." Ellie shot right back. She ducked under his swing as he moved to backhand her. She managed to get to his side and kicked as hard as she could into the side of his knee and the vampire screeched in pain. "Hayley, grab wood!"
The werewolf didn't need to be told twice as she moved to the tree nearby, breaking off branches to use as weapons. All Ellie could think about was the baby in her stomach. Hayley might have thought that putting her baby out of its misery before it was born was the best option, but Ellie felt incredibly protective. She couldn't let anything happen to it.
The vampire that Hayley had thrown the scalding tea at had recovered, lunging at her in retaliation. "Hayley, behind you!"
She threw her elbow back as hard as she could, causing him to cry out in pain as she broke his nose. Hayley tossed one of the branches to Ellie, and the witch swung back, hitting the vampire hard as the branch sliced a cut open in his cheek. As the cut startled him, Ellie plunged the branch into his heart, taking him out as well.
All that was left was the one that had initially approached them. Ellie yanked Hayley back, putting space between them and the man. They could take him, like they'd taken the others. Clearly, they hadn't been expecting there to be any kind of fight. In the blink of an eye, the other's neck had been snapped as a familiar blonde and brunette appeared. "Now that is no way to treat a couple of pregnant ladies." Rebekah scolded as the body dropped. "I do hate bad manners."
"What were the two of you thinking?" Katherine asked. "That was stupidly unsafe."
"It doesn't matter. We should just go home." Ellie said dismissively. She wasn't going to mention Hayley's plan if the other girl didn't want to talk about it.
"Well, we can't just leave the prats here. We'll have to take them home with us and then dispose of the bodies." Rebekah told them, looking more inconvenienced than anything. "Katherine, you stay with them while I get the car." She looked over to Hayley and Ellie with intent. "Do not go anywhere. Do you hear me?"
Ellie just nodded quietly. "Yeah, we hear you."
Katherine was watching them with interest. Something had clearly happened in the small amount of time that she had been away from the house. Both Ellie and Hayley looked upset and she didn't have a clue as to why. "Are either of you going to tell me what the hell happened?" Katherine questioned as she crossed her arms.
Hayley mirrored her action though she looked away uncomfortably. "Not here, Kat." Ellie said as she shot her double a meaningful look. "Not here."
So there was something that had happened that Katherine hadn't been told about. But with ears potentially everywhere, she understood why right now and right here wouldn't be the place for it. "Are you two ok?" She opted to ask instead.
Still, Hayley said nothing and just held her arms tightly around herself. "Physically we're fine enough." Ellie replied for both of them. Katherine watched as Ellie stepped closer to Hayley and rested her chin on the werewolf's shoulder as they waited for Rebekah to come back around.
When the blonde did, she looked at the bodies with disgust before beginning to pile them into the trunk. "Katherine, make yourself useful and lift." Rebekah sassed. The Petrova rolled her eyes at Rebekah, but did as told. The sooner they could get Hayley and Ellie out of there, the better. They had already been attacked once tonight and they had the bodies to prove it. The last thing they needed was an even bigger mess. Once the bodies were stashed away, Ellie immediately crawled into the backseat to sit with Hayley. The duo sat close to one another, shoulders touching, and it wasn't long before Hayley's head dropped down onto Ellie's shoulder in exhaustion. "What's wrong with the mumsy?" Rebekah asked curiously.
"It's just been a long day." Ellie said dismissively. She doubted that Hayley would be comfortable with her telling Rebekah about what was going on. Katherine was another story, given how much time they'd spent cooped up in the house, just the three of them.
The four rode in silence, with Ellie and Hayley practically passed out in the backseat. The silence was disrupted, however, when they arrived home to find Klaus waiting angrily. "Where the bloody hell have you lot been?"
"What the hell?" Hayley groaned as she rubbed her eyes from sleep.
"Quit your bloody shouting." Rebekah shot back.
Katherine snorted. "Ah, yes, tell him to stop shouting by shouting at him. That makes so much sense."
"We're home." Ellie said softly to Hayley as the other girl sat up fully in her seat. "Klaus is home too."
As the four girls got out of the car, Klaus looked furious. "Where the hell were you?" He demanded as he glared at Hayley and Ellie. "Ah, yes! I know! The bloody Quarter! Marcel's lackeys brought him word of a werewolf in the Quarter. He sent out a bloody hunting party for you."
"No shit, Sherlock." Ellie sassed. "We didn't run into them in the slightest."
Rebekah popped the trunk at the same time and Klaus looked even more flabbergasted as Rebekah and Katherine began dragging the bodies out and dumping them on the ground. "Damn. I'm going to have to get this car cleaned out. I won't have it stuck with the absolute stench of pathetic losers." She groaned. "Be useful, Nik. Make a pile for them. We need to dispose of them."
"Dispose of them." He laughed in shock. He turned on Hayley and Ellie with intent. "This is why I told you two to never leave the house. Werewolves are banned in the Quarter. I had a plan and your little nighttime stroll put it all in peril. So I hope you're quite pleased with yourselves."
"Yes, because it's so good for our sanity to be locked up in the old ass house, nice as it may be, with nothing to do. No internet, no cable, no games. All we have are things that Katherine goes to get us because you can't be bothered." Ellie retorted. "You seem to be so focused on whatever the plan is that you can't be bothered to take care of the mother of your child. Not to mention I'm also pissed because you've done something to Elijah and we all know it."
"You should have never allowed her to go into the Quarter. It's far too dangerous." Klaus said, entirely dismissing her comment about Elijah.
"She's an adult, Klaus. And given that I'm fairly sure that you're giving me those stupid drugs that the witches gave me to keep me from using my magic, there's only so much that I could have done to stop her."
His eyes went wide. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you don't. You don't even know if those drugs are safe for the baby. So I'd really suggest you fuck off when it comes to that. Elijah is going to be pissed when I get him back anyways. You think he'll take to it well knowing that you're risking the safety of his child too?" The threat was clear, and Klaus made no comment on it.
One of the vampires, most likely the one that Hayley had thrown scalding tea on, was groaning in pain. As Rebekah started toward him, Klaus shouted, turning his anger onto his sister. "Leave him! You've done enough, don't you think? Leaving a trail of bodies like a roadmap to my door?"
"If Katherine and I hadn't overheard this lot bragging about werewolf heads, everyone here would be screwed." Rebekah shot back. For the sake of the argument, neither Ellie nor Hayley made a comment that they'd been able to kill more than one of those vampires on their own. "And don't give that crap about having a plan. You've had all the time in the world to execute a plan, and no one's seen you do a damn thing! Elijah made a deal to protect your child so that he could save you from your selfish, rotten self. Not to mention him making a promise to Ellie about protecting their child. Everyone here knows that he would never leave her, Nik. Which can only mean you've done something to him whether you admit it or not. But you obviously don't give a damn about the child or Elijah, because what have you done to honor it? Hell, I thought if anything you'd give a damn about Ellie and her child but once again you've gone and proved me wrong."
She seemed to have struck a chord in Klaus. "I have done everything." Klaus spoke low, like he was trying to not snap at her. "Let me spell it out for you, shall I? From the day I arrived, Marcel hasn't trusted me. From day one, he's had his vampires ingest toxic vervain which as you know, little sister, protects them from my mind control. I needed a spy, someone on the inside with me who Marcel would never suspect, so I created a Day Zero and got there first. Marcel had just lost six vampires thanks to your little murder spree, and he needed new recruits. So I made the new one mine before he'd had even a drop of vervain. But we all know the real way to a man is through his heart, so I compelled the pretty young bartender from Rousseau's to give him a chance."
"Wait, Cami?" Ellie asked in alarm. The last thing she and Hayley wanted was for someone as kind as Cami to get dragged into this.
Klaus ignored her and continued his angered speech. He walked over to the groaning vampire and went on, "And this one, I'm gonna drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah so that he can explain to Marcel why he lost three more vampires tonight." Klaus had dragged the body inside, releasing his hold of the vampire just inside the doorway. "Does anyone have any more questions?" When the four girls remained silent he asked, "No? Good. Because I have a question for the two of you." He zeroed in on Hayley. "What were you doing in the bloody French Quarter in the first place?" She stared at him silently, holding tightly onto Ellie's hand, hidden carefully behind the two of them where the others couldn't see. "Answer me!" He shouted.
"Leave her be." Rebekah insisted.
Ellie could have sworn as Hayley released her hand. Klaus was not the only one with a temper, and Hayley didn't like being talked at like she was nothing. "You want to know what I was doing?" She shot back. "I was buying poison so I could put your little baby out of its misery."
Klaus reacted in an instant, slamming Hayley up against the wall, choking her in anger. The effects took place quickly as Ellie felt her windpipe closing on her. "Nik!" Rebekah shouted. Ellie had wanted to fight back against him, but she couldn't breathe. Katherine managed to catch her as she lost her balance from the lack of air. "Nik!"
"Klaus please!" Ellie begged.
The moment Rebekah saw both Hayley and Ellie struggling, she lunged at Klaus slamming him against the opposite wall. "Keep your hands off her! She is pregnant, for god's sake!" She screamed in his face. "And you were hurting Ellie too, you absolute idiot! All of this bluster about not wanting the child, and then the second she tells you she's ready to get rid of it…" Klaus glanced back at where Ellie and Hayley were side by side. Ellie was pushing past her own discomfort to try and make sure that Hayley was alright. "It's ok to care. It's ok to want something. That's all Elijah was trying to do, all he's ever wanted for you, all we've ever wanted."
Klaus was in tears again as he slid down to sit on the floor. "I gave Elijah to Marcel." He confessed quietly.
The betrayal cut deep in Ellie's chest as her heart twisted in panic. "What?" She asked.
He couldn't even meet her eyes as he explained, "Marcel was nervous. It was bad enough one Original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so I gave him a peace offering."
"You bartered our brother."
"I have a plan." Klaus told her. "Gain Marcel's trust. Dismantle his empire, honor Elijah's wish that the babies be born. I am executing that plan the only way I know how. If you don't like it, there's the door. See if I care." He was practically whispering before he stood up and walked away.
Rebekah was the first to move, heading outside but Ellie didn't hear the sound of the car, so she doubted that the Original had left. Ellie wanted to cry, whether it was from anger or fear she didn't know. Marcel had Elijah, and she had no way of getting him back. Outside, Rebekah sat on one of the multiple rocking chairs that lined the porch. Ellie, somehow, was pregnant along with the wolf.
She'd heard the tiny, rapid heartbeats and it struck a chord inside of her. As a young girl, despite her rebellious streak, having a family is one of the things that she had always wanted. Rebekah loved her family, more than anything, and wanted one of her own. She'd dreamt of teaching her daughters how to fight with swords and teaching her sons how to cook. She'd wanted to teach them everything that she and her brothers had been denied. As a human, she'd dreamt of Klaus teaching her sons to paint, while Kol taught them magic. She'd never been one for her mother's magic lessons, but she would not deny her kids that right should they want it.
Now, both Klaus and Elijah got to have what she'd always wanted. Part of her, the young part, was angry. It wasn't fair. Why did they get it but not her? Did she not deserve her own children? But she was happy for her brothers, if only Klaus would get his head out of his ass. She would be there for Ellie though. Ellie was the best friend that Rebekah had, she would not abandon her.
When Hayley turned to also go outside, Katherine and Ellie followed. The four took seats in the rocking chairs lined side by side, a piece that Katherine had picked out only a few days ago. Hayley was the one to break the silence. "I know you don't know me very well, but thanks. I appreciate what you did in there."
"Us girls have got to look out for each other." Rebekah said simply.
"What is it with you two?" Hayley continued. "You say you hate him, but the way you deal with him, it's so clear. Even when you hate him, you still love him."
"I guess when you spend a thousand years with someone, deciding to quit them is like losing a part of yourself. But sometimes, the hate is just so powerful. Emil wasn't the only boyfriend of mine that Klaus killed. He did it again and again every time I found someone to care about. He just kept doing it until finally I stopped falling in love. He said he was protecting me from my mistakes, that no one was ever good enough for his little sister… until one day someone was."
Katherine, to her immense surprise, felt quite bad for the blonde Mikaelson. She'd always hated the other girl, but then again Rebekah had always hated her too. But to know that Klaus had subjected her to the same kind of suffering of killing loved ones endlessly, it made her feel for Rebekah. "And who was that?" Ellie asked gently.
"Marcel." Rebekah confessed quietly. "Klaus raised him, loved him, protected him from the very first day they met. I'd fallen in love with Marcel and Klaus hated me for it. He daggered me as punishment for trying to take something he'd deemed as his away from him."
"If you know Marcel has Elijah, why don't you just get him back yourself?" Hayley questioned.
"Because if I cross my brother, then there's still a coffin downstairs with my name on it." Hayley, Katherine, and Ellie shared a look with one another. With a nod, Hayley offered up the nifty little things that they'd found. When Rebekah caught sight of the bundle of daggers she gasped slightly. "Oh my god."
"We found them under your coffin when we'd gone looking around again." Katherine told Rebekah with a grin.
"So if a couple of antique steak knives were the only thing stopping you from getting Elijah back, then here you go." Hayley said as she passed them over.
"Because those coffins pose a non-existent threat when he doesn't have the tools to utilize them." Ellie added. "He took Elijah from me for the sake of some plan he refuses to talk to any of us about. He's not taking you too. Like you said, us girls have got to look out for each other."
Rebekah began to grin. "You never fail to make the best out of the worst, Ellie." She stood with a grin. "I suppose I have to go have a chat with Marcel."
"Do you want me to go with you?" Katherine asked.
"Thank you, but no. If Klaus loses his temper again, they need someone here to protect them. Plus, Marcel will more than likely respond better if it's just me." Rebekah told her. "Keep them safe."
"I will." Katherine promised.
Rebekah looked down at the daggers she held in her hand with a small smile. "Thank you for this." She was gone before any of them could reply.
Not knowing what else to do, and not knowing how to handle any more outbursts from Klaus, the trio ended up piled in the bed and fell asleep. When the morning sun woke them, Katherine could sense Klaus in the room, gently grabbing the open vial of poison that Hayley had bought. He'd dug in her bag to get the vial of aconite. "I didn't use it." Hayley told him gently.
"You all are awake." Klaus said as he put the vial down.
"We could barely sleep all night." Hayley huffed. "This house is like a freaking swamp sauna."
"You should have seen the shit he had me trekking through last summer. It was horrible." Ellie replied as the three moved to sit up.
Klaus ignored them as he looked out the window. Without meeting Hayley's eye, he asked, "What stopped you? You could have been free of all of this, of me."
"Yeah, well, when Ellie and I were fighting off those vampires, I realized I wasn't just protecting myself. Maybe it has to do with the fact that my birth parents gave me up and my adoptive parents kicked me out. All I know is push came to shove, and I realized that I wouldn't let anyone hurt it." Hayley explained.
Ellie rested her head on Hayley's shoulder, a silent comfort in the moment between her and Klaus. As she'd spoken, he'd turned to face her fully. "I'm beginning to think we're a lot alike, you and I. We're both castoffs who've learnt to fight when we're backed into a corner."
"Well, we're backed into a corner now." She replied.
"That we are." He confirmed, almost smiling at her. "It's time to fight, little wolf." He almost sounded fond of her.
He'd started to walk away when Hayley called him back. "This whole thing with Marcel. The deal you have with the witches, trying to take him down, take what's his, Rebekah told us that you two once loved each other like family. What happened?"
"I made Marcel everything that he is, I treated him like a son, and when my father chased me and my family from New Orleans a hundred years ago, we believed Marcel was killed. We each mourned him in our own way. Yet when I returned, I found not only had he survived, he had thrived. Instead of seeking us out, instead of sticking together as one, he made a choice to take everything my family had built and make it his own. Now, he is living in our home. He is sleeping in our beds. That letter M he stamps everywhere, is not for Marcel, it's for Mikaelson. I want it all back, and if I have to push him out to get it, then that's exactly what I'll do." As he ended his speech, he added, "I'll have somebody see to the air conditioning."
After he walked out, Katherine asked, "Was there something that you didn't tell him?"
Hayley shrugged initially before saying. "I don't know, I was just thinking about it last night. What if I'd drank the poison and it killed Ellie's baby too. I mean, I didn't know that it was what happened to me or Ellie that affected one another. I thought it was just what happened to Sophie. But then, Ellie was choking too. I was just… scared."
"Thanks." Ellie replied. "I don't think I knew that either. But it's a weird spell, the only linking spell I've seen link multiple people is Esther's when she was trying to kill them all, but Sophie didn't do the same type of spell." A small wave of panic rushed over Ellie. She hadn't even thought about it like that. Had she nearly killed her baby?
She didn't have time to linger on her panic as a door slammed downstairs. "Rebekah." Katherine told them.
"You're right. The girl Cami, she's the key. Marcel likes her, and because of that, I got to see the secret weapon of his that you've been going on about."
"She found the weapon that Marcel is using." Katherine said as the three rushed to the stairs.
"Well, don't stand on ceremony. What is it?"
"It's not a what. It's a who, a girl, Davina. She can't be more than sixteen, and I have never felt power like that." Rebekah explained.
"A witch."
"She's not just any witch. She's something I've never seen before, something beyond powerful, and now, because of you, she has Elijah. Who knows what she could do to him." Rebekah explained.
"Where is she?" Ellie asked.
Rebekah opened her mouth to respond, before she froze. "That clever bitch. I don't know."
"What's wrong?" Klaus questioned.
"She wiped my memory of the location." Her panic seemed to set in. "Marcel possesses a weapon bigger and more powerful than an Original, and you handed our brother to him! How many times will Elijah forgive you? How many times will Ellie? How long until Elijah's hope for your redemption finally dies?"
"I did what I had to do!" Klaus shouted at her. "Marcel took our home!"
"And our home is worthless without family. I am finding Elijah, whatever it takes. Are you going to help me?"
It seemed that Klaus had finally realized how badly he had messed up. "Whatever it takes." He'd turned to see Ellie's eyes watering. "Ellie…"
Despite her teary expression, she was trembling in anger. "Do not ever act like a fucking building is worth more than Elijah, do you understand me?" Her voice was shaking as she spoke. "Ever."
"Ellie…" He tried, uncomfortable with her tears. She didn't turn back as she headed upstairs, leaving Klaus to try and push away the regret he was feeling. How many times would she forgive him?
Author's Note:
Enter Rebekah! Oh my gosh I've missed her. We also got a little bit of insight to what she's feeling when it comes to the whole pregnancy thing for Ellie and Hayley. Now we know that Elijah is daggered, but fear not, it's really only a few more episodes until he returns.
To BecomingFearless1F: We always love the sister vibes between Ellie and Kat. And yeah, I think a lot of Katherine's determination to do what's best for Ellie and the baby come not only from her just loving Ellie, but from being unable to protect her own daughter and that regret. I don't know if I'd call Hayley skanky, because I think that would have to involve her sleeping around, and in TVD I think she only slept with Klaus. But to be fair to Hayley, it's not a crime for her to have had some crush on Tyler because she never acted on it. She respected the boundaries except when they were tricking Klaus. But I'm very glad you're already liking my version of her and I hope you continue to like her. 1) Katherine will be in NOLA and Mystic Falls depending on what's happening. 2) Stefan will make his way to NOLA at some point. 3) I do want Caroline to be able to join them in NOLA but there's still stuff that she needs to be in Mystic Falls for.
To SupremeRuler17: I wouldn't be opposed to it. I think at the very least, he and Ellie will probably meet. He definitely deserved a lot better for sure, I would just have to really think about where exactly he would fit into the story.
To Aryabloodlust: That is a very interesting theory on how she could have ended up pregnant! She's definitely an outlier for sure. Like that's actually fascinating to be like, there had to be a loophole for the doppelgangers to continue on. But I won't say anything just yet on if you're close or not.
To Guest: More than likely, but at this point, they didn't even know it was Davina until the very end, and even still they don't anything about why she's as strong as she is or about her connection to the ancestral magic. And until they know for a fact, they wouldn't risk it.
To ArtemisLuna85: Love the Tuxedo Mask profile pic! I love Sailor Moon lol. Ellie definitely does not like it, that's for sure. Currently, Klaus is using the magic suppression herbs on her so that she can't use magic even if she tried, but they also don't know if Davina would be able to sense her if she did. She will tell the people in Mystic Falls, but not right away because she's under a LOT of stress.
To Karen Killa: You're not the first person to point this out, but here's the thing, they don't know anything about Davina, or the Harvest, and have no clue what she's capable of. They aren't going to risk Ellie's safety to try and have her use magic when they don't know what they're dealing with because if she were to get caught, she'd die.
To Superwholockedin221b: Thank you so much, I love my Katherine lol. I'm very flattered for it to be considered like crack. I hope you enjoyed this update!
To kash509: Thank you so much! Ellie and Elijah are just top tier honestly. I don't know if Hayley and Klaus would get together, because there's still Jackson and Caroline. But either way, I'd want Hope to have a healthy family dynamic.
To Charlie0925: I could definitely see Elijah reading parenting manuals lol. Kat is definitely going to stick around, though she'll have times where she needs to go back to Mystic Falls. I know, I can't wait to see everyone's reactions to the baby news as well.
To Blu3b3rryT3a: No literally though, someone needed to get them to get it together. Klaus is perhaps a bit of a moron though. I hope I can make Hayley enjoyable for you, but she will still make mistakes.
To Jehovelb: I also don't want her to lose her ability to do magic, trust me.
To emilyljohnson1989: Jenna and Vincent is actually something that I could see. It would kind of give him a family to actually bond with and a healthy relationship.
To Guest(2): For real though. Ellie and Kat would do anything for each other. Katherine is just a baddie.
-Madame Magic
Posted: 5/7/22
