Chapter 92: Tangled Up in Blue
September 12, 2011
Katherine had followed Ellie back up the stairs as into the room that Elijah's things were in. He didn't have much, but she bit back a scream of her frustration. Ellie was pacing angrily around the large room. For one moment, she was grateful that Klaus had suppressed her magic. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to prevent an outburst. "Ellie." She said gently.
"He's acting like some stupid fucking building is worth more than Elijah!" Ellie cried out as the tears escaped.
Despite her annoyance and dislike of Klaus, even she knew that that wasn't what he meant. "Klaus is an idiot, but I don't think that's what he meant." Katherine assured her as she closed the door to give them the smallest amount of privacy. Klaus and Rebekah would most likely still be able to hear the conversation, but it was mostly just for Ellie's peace of mind.
"I want Elijah back."
"I know." Katherine told her gently as she approached the other girl. "But the last thing that you need to do right now is throw yourself into a panic attack." She doubted that it was pregnancy hormones making Ellie freak out like this. She was more than likely too early into the pregnancy for that to be the root of the problem. But given the fact that she'd been lied to, kidnapped, drugged, and bartered before she'd lost Elijah to top it off, it wasn't that surprising.
"I need him back, Katherine. He talked about honoring Elijah's wish that the babies be born like he didn't even plan on Elijah being there. I can't do this without him, Kat." Ellie said frantically. "I can't do this alone."
Katherine cupped Ellie's face gently. "You're not alone. You have me and Rebekah and Hayley, Klaus too even though he's an idiot. I can get Jenna and Jeremy here if it'll help."
"No, no I can't bring them into the middle of another stupid war. I can't lose Jeremy again." Ellie said shakily. "And I know I have you guys but…"
"But Elijah's the father and you love him and he's who you want with you." Katherine said gently. The duo moved to sit on the floor as Katherine held her close. "I know exactly what that feels like, Ellie."
"You do?" Logically, Ellie might have known that of course Katherine knew what she felt like. But right now she felt small and alone despite having people around her. All she wanted was Elijah.
Katherine hummed in acknowledgement as she ran her fingers delicately through Ellie's hair. "When I got pregnant and found out, I'd turned to my lover, Anton."
"You've never said his name before." Ellie said gently.
She swallowed hard before confessing, "It was hard to say his name for a long time. I didn't even allow myself to think it for years. When I first told him of the news, he was ecstatic." She gave a soft grin at the memory of his beaming face. Even now, she'd stored him so carefully in her memory that his face was still as clear as day. "I'd never seen him look so beautiful than he did that night. He'd asked me to marry him then and there."
"Did you want to marry him?" Ellie asked.
"More than anything in the world." Katherine confessed. "I was so close to my happy ending. We'd planned on marrying, having our baby, and Malina coming with us. I would have never dared to leave her at the abusive hands of our father without my protection. I'd often take the lashes meant for her to protect her for a while longer. She'd learned a touch of magic in secret, though mostly through the use of herbs for her to heal my wounds. We were a team, Malina and I."
Ellie was crying gently, but she was listening intently to Katherine. "That would have been nice." She glanced up to the other girl, and to her surprise, Katherine was on the verge of tears as well. "What happened?"
Katherine let her head drop back onto the edge of the bed to keep from crying. "There was a… conflict near our little village. His father was one of the leaders in the village, and a hell of a fighter. As was Anton. He was strong and wonderful and took his role very seriously in the village. So he went to fight. He'd promised that the moment he returned, once we were safe once more, we would marry. He made plans on the cottage he would build for us."
"But?"
It took a long moment for Katherine to find her voice again. "But… there had been a traitor among the soldiers. One that had been bought off by those that had attacked. They'd promised him gold as a reward for one small task. Get rid of the strongest soldier. If they could rid themselves of him, they could discourage the others and win."
Ellie sat up slightly to look at Katherine clearly. "And Anton was the strongest."
"And Anton was the strongest." Katherine confirmed. "It didn't work the way they'd hoped. It had only enraged the others. But when his body was brought back…" She shuddered slightly. Her own scream rang in her ears as her mother had held her. "After that, I felt so alone despite Malina's best efforts. All I wanted was Anton. So I know what it feels like with you wanting Elijah."
"What a pair we are." Ellie said softly, though it was something close to a whine.
Katherine rested her head on Ellie's as she held the other girl close. "We will get Elijah back, I promise."
They rested together on the floor of the bedroom for a while before they were disturbed by a knock on the door. "Hey." Hayley said as she opened it softly. "You ok, Ellie?"
"I'm fine." Ellie replied. "Just got a little overwhelmed and angry. I needed a break."
Hayley nodded as she held a book close to her chest. "I get it, so I went ahead and asked Klaus and Rebekah what exactly the plan was for getting Elijah back. The idiot's main plan is just to ask for him back."
"What?" Katherine asked, dumbfounded. "Surely that's not his only plan. It isn't his only plan right?"
"He said it was plan a."
"What's plan b?" Ellie asked worriedly.
"War, apparently." Hayley said with a roll of her eyes.
Ellie groaned before catching sight of the large book in Hayley's hands. "What is that?"
Hayley looked a bit awkward suddenly. "Oh… this is um, I think it's one of Elijah's old journals or something."
The young witch frowned as she stood to walk over to her. "Elijah has journals here?" She took it from Hayley's hands. "Where did you find it?" She allowed Hayley to lead her to the room where the journals were and she felt her chest twist with longing for Elijah once more. "We probably shouldn't be reading these." She said gently. "I wouldn't want anyone to read my journal, so we should probably just leave his alone."
"Sorry. You're right." Hayley apologized. "I didn't know it was his when I first started reading it. I didn't read much." Ellie just nodded as she scanned over the large books that looked so similar to the one in her hands. His collection might even surpass Stefan's. Hayley and Katherine shared a look of worry. Ellie was not doing well with Elijah being gone, and her nightmares had only gotten worse. She woke up screaming more nights than not. "You know, I'm starving." Hayley told her. "We should make something to eat."
"That's a good plan." Katherine agreed. "Oh! And I forgot that I had something for the both of you." She produced two phones out of her pocket. "I'd meant to give them to you guys early but Klaus was being well… Klaus."
"You got us phones?" Hayley said in relief, snatching up one of the ones in Katherine's hand. "This has everything on it."
"I worked a little magic of my own." Katherine said with an easy shrug.
Ellie pressed a firm kiss to Katherine's cheek. "God, I love you."
"Love you too, gorgeous." Katherine replied easily. "Now come on, it's not just the two of you we need to feed." She shot a quick glance to both of their stomachs before leading them away from the room of journals and into the kitchen. "What are we making?"
"Given that it's closer to lunch, maybe pasta?" Ellie suggested.
"Ooh, you can make those garlic knot twisty things that you're so good at." Katherine said enthusiastically as she quickly raided the cabinets for the right supplies.
Hayley watched them with interest as they worked together like a well oiled machine. They slipped past one another like they were two halves of a whole. If she'd never met Elena, she would have insisted that it was Katherine and Ellie that were twins. Hell, even with meeting Elena, Katherine and Ellie seemed more like twins. After a few minutes watching them, Hayley broke the silence. "So, I've been thinking."
"Sounds like that was a difficult thing for you to do." Katherine quipped, but there was no malice to her words as she shot a grin at Hayley.
Ellie bumped hips with her double. "About what?" She asked curiously.
"How exactly you and Elena exist when Katherine doesn't look any older than you." Hayley confessed. She probably could have said it more delicately, but before her adoptive parents had kicked her to the curb, they'd always said that she didn't have a filter.
Ellie had immediately turned to Katherine to see how the vampire would react. Katherine, to her own benefit, recovered quickly. "Obviously I got knocked up before I died." She said in a tone that gave nothing away.
"What happened to the baby?"
"My father took her from me." Katherine confessed after a very pregnant pause. "He didn't even let me hold her before he took her away. I never saw her again. And given that when I had managed to get back to Bulgaria, my father had been impaled on his own sword to the wall, I couldn't exactly compel the information of what he'd done with her." Katherine had taken to dicing an onion into very small pieces. "I mean, obviously I know that she grew up and had a child of her own at some point, because here Ellie is, but I could never find her." When she'd nearly cut herself with the knife, she took a deep breath to look at Hayley. "Why are you even asking?"
"I'm sorry." Hayley apologized. She didn't think Katherine was going to have such a strong reaction. Why had she even asked? "I guess… you're the only one of us that's ever given birth, ever known what it was like to be a mom. My parents gave me up, that's why Ellie and I were here in the first place. I guess I wanted to know what could have been going through their heads when they did it."
When she made eye contact with Katherine, she'd looked far more fierce than Hayley had ever seen her. "I am a lot of things, Hayley. I am a liar, a murderer, a manipulator. You can call me a lot of things. But I never willingly gave my daughter up. She was stolen from me. I loved her. I wanted her. My father was a cruel bastard of a man. He didn't even let my mother bring her close to me. I searched for her. I tried so hard to find my baby. I looked everywhere. Call me whatever else you want, but I would have never abandoned my child. Never."
Dark veins danced around the corners of Katherine's eyes as Ellie reached out a soothing hand. To Hayley's immense surprise, Ellie muttered something in a language that she didn't understand. She continued speaking, soft and slow in that unfamiliar language and Hayley watched as Katherine's eyes went back to normal. What language had that been? "I'm sorry." Hayley said sincerely. "I didn't mean to upset you." Katherine had gone back to cutting up the onion. "You would have been an amazing mother. I'm glad my kid and Ellie's are going to have you in their lives."
Ellie shot a grin of confirmation to Hayley. That had definitely been the correct thing to say to remedy the situation. Katherine's cutting slowed once more, but not out of anger, but surprise. "Why would you say that?" She asked carefully.
"I mean, you risked your life by going to Klaus right? But you did it for Ellie. So clearly you love her a lot. You've stayed with us since finding out we were pregnant. You've done everything to make this place as much of a home as possible. You're incredibly protective over Ellie, who is a very capable witch. I can only imagine how protective you'll be over them when they get here." Hayley explained. "Quite frankly, I think I'd trust you with the kid more than anyone else in this house. Except maybe Ellie."
Katherine, donning an expression that was much softer than the one a few moments ago, nodded softly with a small smile. She looked so much younger then. Hayley was curious as to what she'd looked like as a human, how different she'd been. Ellie muttered something in that same unfamiliar language that made Katherine snort. "Beautifully put, gorgeous." Katherine told her before she'd finished with the onion. "Hayley, come help me with the pasta while Ellie does the garlic knot things."
They'd brought Hayley into their rhythm, and she fit into it well. It wasn't long before the three were moving around the kitchen like they'd done it for years. Ellie had just turned the oven on to preheat when the front door swung wide open. Katherine was in front of Ellie immediately at the sight of an unfamiliar vampire. "Who's that?" Hayley asked bluntly.
Klaus grinned as he clapped a hand onto the young man's shoulder. "This is young Joshua. He's a part of the plan and is under my compulsion. I've got some work for him to do with our… guest in the basement." He looked nearly gleeful while Josh looked entirely uncomfortable.
But, he put on a small smile as he greeted the three girls. "Hi, I'm Josh."
Ellie immediately grinned back at him. Something about him seemed very kind to her. Maybe a bit of her magic was coming back to her. "Hi Josh. I'm Ellie." She nodded toward the werewolf and said, "This is my friend, Hayley." After a quick pause she added, "And this is my sister, Katherine."
Katherine looked thoroughly pleased at her introduction. "Nice to meet you guys." He said politely.
"Well, if we're done with all the jibber jabber, we have business to attend to." Klaus said as he cut their conversation short.
They'd left Klaus and Josh to do whatever they were doing for a while as they cooked, but Katherine was making an unpleasant face as she scooped out some of the pasta into her bowl. "What is it?" Ellie asked as she passed the plate of garlic knots to the other girl.
"Klaus has Josh pathetically draining Marcel's vampire downstairs. The noise is not the best and quite frankly, he's doing a shit job of it." Katherine groaned. "It's not exactly good background noise for eating."
Hayley scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Ew."
"Imagine how I feel." Katherine said. Ellie watched in interest as Katherine groaned. "Oh for fuck's sake."
Ellie and Hayley both followed as Katherine moved to go downstairs. "Katerina. Can I help you?" Klaus asked casually as he hung up his phone.
"If you're gonna make him drain him, at least make it effective for fuck's sake." She retorted as she moved smoothly past Josh. Katherine picked up a knife that was laying on a box and didn't hesitate before cutting deeply through the chained up vampire's throat.
"Oh my god!" Josh said in horror as he stumbled back slightly, directly into Ellie who moved to steady him. "I'm so sorry." He apologized immediately.
"It's ok." She assured him, but her face had also twisted in disgust at Katherine's actions.
Klaus was glaring at her. "If I wanted it done that way, I would have done it."
"If you're going to do it, do it properly." Katherine snapped back. "We are trying to eat up there."
She pushed the vampire's head back, deepening the wound and Josh looked like he was going to vomit. To be fair, Hayley and Ellie weren't doing much better. "I think I'm gonna throw up." Josh said as his face lost color.
"Watch the way you speak to me, Katerina." Klaus warned as he advanced toward her.
"Klaus." Ellie snapped. Her voice was colder than Hayley had heard it before. She really was pissed off at Klaus. "You're not going to put a hand on her." He paused and both Josh and Hayley watched with wide eyes as Ellie leveled Klaus with a glare that could have turned any other man to dust. Klaus seemed to be calculating something in his head as no one spoke, no one moved. It was Ellie that finally broke the silence, turning to Josh with a warm smile. "Are you hungry? We just made pasta and you're welcome to have some if you'd like. I'd take a guess that you're done down here for a bit."
Josh wasn't sure who to be more intimidated by, the Original dude that killed him, or the young girl that seemed to intimidate said Original dude. He shot Klaus a glance, but Klaus was still looking at her. "Um… sure?"
Ellie beamed at him, bright eyed and innocent and he wouldn't have believed her to be capable of the threat she'd just issued against Klaus had he not watched her do it. "Perfect! Come on, Kat. I'm starving."
Josh allowed the girls to lead him back up the stairs, leaving Klaus alone in the basement. "Is he gonna kill me for coming up here?" He asked softly.
Ellie had gone to make him a plate while Katherine grinned as she and Hayley sat back down at the table. "With that little stunt of Ellie's, I think she might have just put you under the group of people she likes that Klaus would be very stupid to hurt."
"I did." Ellie replied easily. "Do you want like a coke or a water or something, Josh?"
"Um, a coke is fine." He replied.
She brought him his food and drink with an easy smile before sitting across from him. "Klaus turned you so that he could spy on Marcel, which is only necessary because Hayley and I are stuck here for the moment. Plus, you seem very sweet. The least I can do is make it a little less miserable." She told him.
That was kind of her. Josh looked down at his food in confusion. "But wait, how am I supposed to eat this? I'm dead."
"So am I." Katherine retorted. "As long as you're getting some blood, you can still eat and drink everything else like normal."
Suddenly, Josh looked very excited as he helped himself to the pasta. "This is so good." He said gratefully. "I didn't know I could still eat."
"Has anyone shown you the ropes of the whole vampire stuff?" Ellie questioned.
"Not really." He confessed. "Marcel ran me through the basics. Sunlight kills me without one of those ring things. So do stakes, fire, beheading, heart getting ripped out. Need human blood to survive and I have all these new tricks I can do, but other than that, not really."
Ellie nodded as she chewed her food. "Don't worry, we'll make sure you're fine."
"Thanks." He said gratefully. He wasn't used to this much kindness. It wasn't long before Josh had gotten comfortable with the three girls as they ate. He was also quick to realize how much he'd missed human food. At some point, there had been a bit of a bang as Rebekah came home to which Katherine had supplied that she'd brought Sophie along.
"What's going on in there?" Hayley asked curiously as she put her plate in the sink.
"I am not repeating what they're all saying word for word." Katherine said bluntly.
Ellie, unfazed by Katherine's reply, grabbed Hayley's wrist as they moved to listen just outside the door. As they approached, they heard Sophie asking, "Are you out of your mind? No way."
"It's very simple. We need you to perform a teeny, tiny locator spell to help us find our brother." Rebekah reminded her.
"Which, of course, you wouldn't need if Klaus hadn't stabbed him in the back." Ellie said as she swung the doors open, uncaring for the secrets. She shot Klaus a pointed look, but he didn't meet her eye as he sighed heavily.
Sophie paid no mind to her comment as she replied, "Witches who practice magic in this town get caught, and they get killed. And unless you've forgotten, if I get caught, and I die, so do Hayley and Ellie and their babies."
Klaus snapped back into the conversation as he said, "Yes. About that, it seems you left out a crucial detail when we made our deal. Marcel's secret weapon, the way he knows when a witch is using magic."
"Girl about yay high, cute as a button, anger issues." Rebekah continued as the four filed in from the hall.
Sophie's expression morphed into one of shock as Ellie sunk down into one of the armchairs. The three others flanked around her as if they didn't quite trust going further into the room without her. "Davina?" She asked softly. "Where have you seen her?"
"I don't know." Rebekah said tiredly. "The little brat erased my memory right after she threw me out of a window with her bloody mind."
"Let me cut to the chase. Davina has Elijah. You witches, I assume, want to get Davina away from Marcel. We don't know where she is. Ergo, we need magic."
"Davina would sense it." Sophie retorted.
"Unless, of course, another witch, say, a traitor to the cause, Katie, for example, was to perform much more powerful magic at the same time." Rebekah replied.
Ellie, feeling out of the loop and vaguely annoyed by it, asked, "Who's Katie and why is she a traitor to the cause?"
Rebekah turned her attention to the quartet in the room. "When you and Hayley went on your trip to the quarter for some wolfsbane, Katie was the girl that sold it to you. She then turned around and ratted you out to her little vampire boyfriend." She explained simply. "So, while you might not approve of us harming someone for the sake of getting Elijah back, I simply don't care for her much."
To Rebekah's surprise, Ellie replied, "She could have gotten Hayley and I killed. I want Elijah back. If she's the way to it then so be it."
Even Klaus turned to look at her then. She was not normally the one to be so unconcerned. Had he gone too far? She didn't meet his eye as Katherine rested a hand on her shoulder, a small comfort. Rebekah, who had recovered quickly, turned back to Sophie. "Katie's use of magic would create a smokescreen concealing your very small spell from Davina."
"Katie doesn't deserve to die." Sophie said as she looked toward Ellie, as if pleading for the other witch to change her mind.
Klaus seemed to have had enough as he slammed his hands on the table in front of him as he stood. Rebekah and Ellie were the only ones that didn't flinch. "Sophie Deveraux, you're in no position to be so principled."
"Especially not when you had no issue threatening to kill Hayley and I, along with our children, for the sake of your little plan. Did we deserve to die?" Ellie asked coolly, leveling her gaze onto Sophie. She was beginning to like her a bit less with her insane double standards. It was perfectly fine to threaten the lives of two girls who had done absolutely nothing to anyone in this town, but someone who had nearly gotten them all killed deserved to live? How was that fair?
"Ellie right." Klaus added. "Besides, you can't win a war without a few strategic losses, no matter how regrettable they may be. How many times have the vampires been one step ahead? Known something that they shouldn't? Your sister, executed in the public square for practicing magic, who knew she'd be caught. Did she even attempt to flee?"
Sophie swallowed hard before answering. "She was caught hiding in a cargo hold of a freighter before it set sail down the Mississippi."
"And who, pray tell, of Marcel's valued inner circle manages his business at the docks?" Klaus continued.
Ellie watched as the realization sunk into the other girl. "Katie's boyfriend, Thierry."
"Exactly." Klaus said knowingly. "So, are you going to continue to protect the woman that got your sister killed?" The group worked out the plan. Sophie would use the cemetery as protected bounds for her to cast her spell, while Klaus seemed to have something up his sleeves, a part of the plan that he had yet to share before Sophie and Rebekah had left to prepare, and he'd left to speak with Marcel.
When Klaus had returned, Hayley asked, "And what exactly are we going to be doing?"
"You and Ellie will be here, protected by Katherine. Young Joshua, on the other hand, will be there making sure that everything goes according to plan." Klaus said.
"There's part of the plan that you haven't told us, and I'm not in the mood for any more secrets." Ellie replied. "Talk."
Her tone made it clear that it was not a request. Had it been anyone else, even his siblings, there would have been consequences for that tone. But if he pushed her any further, he was almost certain that she'd never forgive him. "Rebekah and I will be making a very public appearance at Marcel's event tonight. I have gotten Marcel to agree that the witches need a rousting. I've also made plans for the rousting to go, very, very wrong. Katie needs motivation to perform such a spell."
"And that motivation will be?"
"Thierry in danger of course. If he breaks a rule that Marcel can't forgive, she'll do anything to keep him safe. Josh will be there, making sure everything goes to plan. Our central figure of this plan, of course, is still in the basement. We should fetch him now."
As Klaus went to the basement, Ellie gave Josh a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine. Don't worry."
"I hope you're right." Josh agreed nervously.
The three girls were alone once more after everyone had set off for their parts of the mission. It had become familiar and comfortable to do so, like a little hideaway just for them. Ellie for a brief moment felt a rush of guilt for the girl, Katie. Sophie was right, if everything went the way that Klaus wanted, Katie was absolutely going to die. Truth be told, Ellie didn't want the guilt of Katie's murder on her conscious, but then she brushed a hand over her stomach and the guilt faded into resolve.
Katie's actions had led the vampires to them. Katie had nearly gotten them killed for the sake of Thierry, who was already Marcel's right hand man, so that he could get bonus points. Katie, who had more than likely outed the location of Jane Anne and gotten her killed. Despite Jane Anne's betrayal, she didn't deserve to be slaughtered in the street. She was only trying to help her coven, trying to protect them. Neither Katie nor Thierry had been in any danger, but Katie had betrayed her coven anyways.
As time went on, and her pregnancy continued, Ellie was beginning to realize that she was willing to do more than what she'd thought herself capable of if that's what it took to keep her child safe. Her stomach was still flat, but on the nights were her nightmares were unable to consume her, she dreamt of a near idyllic life with Elijah. She dreamt of him holding her very round, pregnant belly as she laid back against him, humming the tune that Katherine had taught her. She dreamt of him peppering kisses along her stomach, his love for her and for their child.
It was probably unrealistic to dream of such things. They probably did their own damage in a way, taunting her with things she might never have. Perhaps that was another reason for her dedication to whatever it took to get Elijah back. He had to be there to raise their child with her. It would have been a vicious kind of cruelty to take that from him. It was why she was so insanely angry with Klaus. She knew that there was part of him that absolutely hated Esther and Mikael for taking away his chance at having a relationship with his birth father, and yet here he stood, attempting to do the same with her unborn child.
She rubbed her stomach to calm back down, a small habit she had formed after waking from so many nightmares. Even now, she sat in the backyard staring into the lit up water of the pool. Who had been taking care of it? Because it was incredibly clean. Despite not even touching the pool, the water seemed to drag her under, threatening her with her own nightmares. There was a banging in her head, a muffled scream, panic as her lungs seemed to tighten. "You ok?"
Ellie flinched back almost violently, only relaxing when she saw Hayley crouched next to her with wide eyes. "Hayley?"
The werewolf nodded slowly. "You with me?" She kept a firm grip on Ellie's shoulder. It was a helpful trick to help ground Ellie back to reality.
"I'm with you. Sorry, I just got lost in my thoughts."
"Thoughts or nightmares?" Hayley pried as she moved to sit down next to Ellie. The witch laughed lightly and that seemed to be enough of a response for Hayley. "Your nightmares have been getting worse. Any idea what they're actually about?"
"Different things. Sometimes it's about Elijah or me giving birth and he's still not home, but a lot of the time it's…" Ellie paused, watching a small leaf that was swirling around the pool. "A lot of the time, it's about my friend, Stefan." It was the first time she'd said anything about her nightmares to anyone.
"Stefan was one of those vampire dudes in Mystic Falls, right?" Hayley asked.
Ellie hummed in confirmation. "And he's one of my best friends. I talked to him before I left, we left on ok terms and I'd been talking to him while we were here before our phones got fried, but even before that I was having these nightmares."
"What happens in them?"
"At first I wasn't sure, it was just like something was wrong with him. I think that's why I was so worried about him. But I'd see him and he was fine, but now I don't know it's like it's a little clearer and he's just-" She paused to find the right words. "He's drowning and I can hear screaming and I don't know what it means. It's the same thing, over and over and over again. And when I wake up, it feels like I'm drowning too."
Hayley was resting her head on Ellie's shoulder now, listening carefully. She had a gentle hold of Ellie's hand, rubbing soothing circles into the skin. She and Katherine had discovered it to be the best way to bring her back to reality. "Maybe you should call him? Or have him come visit?"
"Ah yes, so Caroline can murder me for her not being the first to find out that I'm pregnant?" Ellie joked lightly. "God, I haven't even told Jenna and Jeremy yet."
"Why not?"
"How would I even explain it to them when I don't know?" Ellie asked quietly. "I'm just… I don't know. Not ready? I know it's not really fair that I haven't reached out to them and that I've kind of let Kat do the talking to let them know I'm ok but-"
"You don't owe anyone anything, not even your family." Hayley told her. "Not when you aren't ready. I know I don't really know your family, but I know they'll understand if they love you." That seemed to give Ellie a bit of comfort, and the two girls just sat for a while, watching the water, before the snap of a twig caught their attention. They were both on their feet in an instant, looking toward the sound. It was a wolf, standing there and watching them quietly. Hayley stood in front of Ellie, watching the wolf. She didn't seem to be afraid, but then again, Ellie didn't feel unsafe either.
A cold chill rushed across the back of Ellie's neck like a warning, which left her confused because the wolf felt safe. "You two aren't supposed to be out here." They both turned on their heels to see a woman standing before them.
"And you aren't supposed to be here at all." Ellie shot back.
"Who are you?" Hayley questioned.
The woman shot them an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Sabine. We met. I'm one of Sophie's friends."
"Well, Sophie needs to teach her friends some manners, because I definitely didn't let you inside of the house." Katherine said in a warning tone as she made her appearance in the backyard.
"Sophie just asked me to come keep you guys company while everyone is out." Sabine replied. Katherine shot Ellie a look. Clearly, she didn't trust Sabine either. "You know, it's drawn to you." She told Hayley as she nodded her head to where the wolf still stood. "The child you're carrying is part vampire, part werewolf. You and Klaus made something special."
Hayley scoffed slightly. "It's funny that you say that. Like that wolf knows something about the baby when I don't even know what it is."
"You know, I can do something about that if you want. I mean, find out if it's a boy or a girl." Sabine offered.
"I thought you couldn't do witchy stuff around here."
Sabine chuckled lightly. "It's not magic, just an old trick my grandmother taught me. Come on. You have to be a little curious."
Ellie was quite frankly more curious as to why the hell she was so focused on Hayley. "What exactly is this trick?" Katherine asked as she stepped closer to Hayley and Ellie.
"Oh, you know, just the little thing with a necklace, holding it over a pregnant woman. The way that it swings tells you the gender. It's harmless, I promise." Sabine assured.
Hayley had a tight grip on Ellie's hand, asking silently for her opinion. In turn, Ellie turned to Katherine. The vampire in mention was thinking of Malina, who had secretly done the exact same thing for her when she was pregnant. Malina had been right when she'd done it. She'd said her baby would be a girl. At Katherine's subtle nod, Hayley agreed, "I am a little curious."
Sabine beamed at her. "Great, let's go."
Hayley moved first, but Katherine shot Ellie a look. "Keep an eye on Hayley and Sabine, I don't trust the witches here." Ellie said quietly. "I'll be right there."
Katherine shot her a look of curiosity, but didn't question her. "Ok." She'd said simply before turning and going after them. Once they were gone, Ellie turned back to see the wolf still standing there, watching intently. She walked toward it slowly, before crouching down to its level. To her immense surprise, the wolf met her gaze evenly. She didn't know why she did it, but she held her hand out to it. The wolf glanced down at her hand, before carefully putting its paw in her hand.
She laughed in fascination. "Hello." She whispered quietly. "It's nice to meet you." The wolf pushed her hand down in a move that mimicked a handshake before putting its paw back down. "If Sabine's right, and you are keeping a check on Hayley, do me a favor and stick around, yeah? To be honest, I trust you more than I trust her. The witches here seem dangerous in a way I don't like." The wolf had maintained eye contact the entire time, leaving her slightly baffled. "You'll stay, right?"
Just before she'd felt ridiculous for thinking this wolf might be able to understand her, it nodded. Her eyes shot wide as surprise rushed through her. Somehow, the wolf understood what she was saying and it felt oddly comforting.
"I'm going to go inside with them now, but I'll see you later." She told the wolf gently. It nodded again and moved to lay down in its spot as if it were watching over the house. She stood and headed inside. "Kat?"
"Kitchen!" Katherine called back.
When Ellie reached them, Hayley was moving to lay down on the kitchen counter. "Hey, we were waiting for you." Hayley told her with a smile, but Ellie noticed the way the werewolf was digging her nails into her palm.
"Sorry, I needed to go to the bathroom." Ellie replied. She wasn't going to say anything about talking to the wolf that could apparently understand her while Sabine was present. Hayley's hand sought out Ellie's, and she held on with a death grip.
Sabine had pulled off the necklace she wore. If Ellie was right, the crystal inside was a clear quartz. It was quite pretty. "Are you ready?" Sabine asked.
"I'm ready." Hayley confirmed, despite her shaking hands. They kept quiet as the necklace began to swing and after a moment, it began to move in a circular motion, making circles above Hayley's stomach.
"I think it's a girl." Sabine replied. Hayley grinned at Ellie. "No. Wait."
"Wait what?" Hayley asked. "Please tell me I'm not having a mini Klaus."
Ellie snorted, but squeezed Hayley's hand in reassurance. Sabine looked lost in the crystal before her, before gasping violently. "Hoc est infantima malon. Nos omnia perdetu el eam. Hoc est infantima malon. Nos omnia perdetu el eam." Ellie all but dragged Hayley off the counter, away from Sabine.
When Sabina came back to herself, she was looking at them with wide eyes. "Get out of my house." Ellie said in warning. Whatever the hell had just happened, she didn't trust it. The language she used was not the one Ellie was familiar with when it came to casting spells.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." Sabine apologized.
"I don't care and I won't repeat myself." Ellie snapped. "Get out of my house. If I have to say it again, I'll drag you out myself."
Katherine moved first, practically shoving Sabine out of the kitchen. "I'll show you the door."
When they were gone, Ellie turned to look over Hayley. "Are you alright?" Hayley was just staring at the door. "Hayley?"
"What did she say? What just happened?" Hayley asked in a near panic, holding her stomach tightly.
"I don't know. I don't know, it's not a language I normally use in my spells. Hayley, breathe." She took a hold of Hayley's face, forcing the other girl to make eye contact with her. "Go take a bath." She said gently. "Light some candles, use some bubble bath and soak. It will help you calm down and you need to calm down. We will figure out what the hell it was that she said, but you need to calm down before we can do anything."
Hayley nodded carefully before turning to head upstairs. Once she was gone, Katherine returned. "Is she ok? I got rid of Sabine."
"She's freaked out, understandably so. I'm gonna do some digging, try and find out what Sabine said. Keep an eye on Hayley. Or maybe keeping an ear out would work better. I told her to go soak in the bath." Ellie told her before going up to Elijah's room to get the grimoires he kept there. She made her way back outside where she found the wolf. It was no longer laying down. In fact, it looked a bit on edge. "It's just me." She reassured it. "Sabine is gone."
It relaxed then, settled back into its spot. She moved to sit beside it, just on the edge of the concrete lining the pool. She in the wolf sat in silence as she researched with the light from the pool. The wolf stood, practically reading over her shoulder as if the words made any sense to it. They were together in silence for a while before its head shot up, looking toward the house as it scratched at the ground. The wolf gave her a strange sort of snort in warning.
"What is it? Klaus?" She questioned. She looked up to see Klaus strolling toward her, but when she looked back, the wolf had vanished.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" Klaus questioned.
"I just felt like being outside." Ellie replied smoothly, not particularly meeting his eye.
"We're getting Elijah back."
Her head shot up in an instant, looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes. "What?" She asked cautiously. "Sophie's spell? It worked?"
"Not quite." Klaus replied. "I killed the witch, Katie, and as a favor Marcel has agreed to return Elijah to us." She couldn't even be bothered to make a comment about him killing Katie when that was never in the plan. To her surprise, Klaus crouched before her, taking a hold of her hand. "I'm sorry."
She still refused to meet his eye. "For what?"
"For daggering Elijah, for lying to you, for putting those witch herbs in your drinks, among other things."
"Now you admit that you were drugging me?"
"To protect you!" Klaus insisted. "Even at your best, you are not above accidental magic in your rage. If Davina were to sense you… Elijah would kill me if I let something happen to you in his absence."
"We don't even know if she could sense my magic."
"We don't know that she can't." Klaus argued back. "Love, I'm sorry for my behavior. This is unfamiliar territory and I'm out of my league here. I… I'm sorry."
"We're all out of our league here." Ellie shot back as she finally looked at him. "Hayley and I are pregnant, Klaus. Literal children are growing inside of us when they should have been impossible. I'm scared, Klaus. And all I've wanted from Elijah and you took him from me when I've never needed him more."
Regret danced across his features. "So am I." He admitted quietly as he moved to sit beside her properly. "I'm sorry, Ellie. We both know I'm not the best in terms of working in a team, but I should have taken the way you feel into account. But I am trying to make amends, I swear to you, I just want our family to be happy and safe."
Klaus never admitted that he was scared, not even for Esther and Mikael. She felt her heart twist slightly despite still being angry with him, and feeling betrayed, she told him softly,. "We can survive this, Klaus, we can do this, but not if we don't stick together."
She didn't realize that she was shivering slightly until she was washed over with the heat that was radiating from him. "I'll do better." Klaus told her. "I'll try. For the sake of our family."
"So is this your confession that you want your baby?" She asked gently.
"I don't know how to be a father."
"And Hayley doesn't know how to be a mother. Neither do Elijah and I, but we're here. We're together, and we'll keep our kids safe. It takes a village to raise a kid does it not?" She questioned. "We'll have each other, and that will be enough. You just have to let yourself want it."
"Hayley said she thought the baby was a girl."
Ellie nodded with a slight hum. "You just have to let yourself want her." She corrected. "It's ok to want her, even when you're scared."
Klaus paused for a long moment, seemingly allowing himself to give in to the brief reprieve from the fight between them that he'd caused before standing and pulling her up with him. "Come along now, little witch. Elijah is already going to have my head for having him daggered. I don't need to make it worse by allowing you and your little one to freeze to death out here."
"It's September."
"And you're shaking." Klaus shot back. "Come along. It's late anyways." With that they headed back inside. She shot one last glance over her shoulder, and there it was, the wolf back in its spot, watching carefully over the house.
Author's Notes:
For the record, she is still mad at Klaus, but even when you're mad at someone you can still have a moment. And sorry, but you guys don't get a gender reveal for Ellie's baby quite yet, though I'd love to know what you guys think it is. Also, while it might seem a little insane of Ellie to chat up the wolf do keep in mind that she befriended a literal ghost that she couldn't even see. We're not far from getting Elijah back either, so I hope you guys can hold out a little while longer. We also got a bit more insight to human Katherine and what she went through with losing Nadia! And we got our first introduction to Josh! As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll leave a review and let me know your thoughts!
To Superwholockedin221b: Oh literally same, I'm having so much fun creating the dynamics of the group. We're only like two chapters away from his return, so it won't be much longer don't worry. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
To Kalynnblack: Do you think that will happen? I can't say whether it does or doesn't! But I have seen a few people questioning if she'd end up a heretic.
To Blu3b3rryT3a: Lol, I don't think she'd resort to poison, mostly I think she'd let Elijah take the lead on revenge, at least at first. Well, the difference between now and when Stefan did it was that Klaus thought he was in control of the situation. He also didn't realize the weapon was a witch. I could also see Kat being a buffer for sure. We love Ellie and Hayley!
To Charlie0925: Thank you so much! I'm also loving it. Just imagine what kind of danger Klaus will be in when Ellie's also at full power.
To smilin steph: I don't know but I find it very flattering lol.
To kash509: Oh, if anything they'll still live at the end. They definitely deserve a happy ending. And agree, as much as I love Caroline, the dynamics forming between Kat, Ellie, Bekah, and Hayley might be even more protective than anything she'd had before and I love it. There will be some bits where she's out of town, for reasons important to the plot, but yes in the long run she's sticking around. And thank you so much! That's an honor.
To jehovelb: Thank you so much!
To Guest: I don't know what you remember about Oliver, but if you're talking about who I think you are, he got several members of his pack murdered and then riled them up for a war in a power grab and betrayed the dude that trusted him the most... so I wouldn't say he's really better than Stefan. And I'd disagree about Kat not caring for anyone, even in canon she did love Stefan in her own way, and she loved Nadia. This Kat is just someone that's been given a chance. And for the pregnancy, that bit won't be revealed just yet.
To NaRuKo-InuTaiSHo: Thank you!
-Madame Magic
Posted: 5/14/22
