Chapter 6

Nightmares

"It's alright, Cate," a calming male voice said. "You're doing great."

"It hurts," Cate sobbed.

The whole room was white. She was lying on the bed, her legs spread wide open. There were people around her, doctors and nurses. They were all smiling at her.

"You're doing great," one of the nurses said. "Just push."

"I can't," Cate whined. "It hurts too much."

"Yes you can, honey," Elijah's voice suddenly said.

Cate frowned when she saw him standing next to the bed, he was smiling at her.

"No… No, I don't want him here."

"Why not?" one of the nurses asked smiling. "He would never hurt you."

"No…" Cate murmured. "No, I don't want…"

"Yes, you do, love," Klaus' voice purred.

He was standing on the other side of the bed, Cate gasped when he suddenly grabbed her chin.

"You will do whatever we want you to do," he hummed.

Cate opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She was trapped.

"There, that's better," Klaus chuckled. "Isn't it, Elijah?"

"Yes, it is," Elijah replied and kissed Cate's cheek while taking her hand. Klaus kissed her too and took her other hand. Cate tried desperately to look at the doctors and nurses, but none of them did anything. They just stood there smiling.

"Now push, honey," Elijah said. "Don't you want to see our baby?"

No. No. No. The pain was horrible. Every second was torture. Tears were coursing down Cate's cheeks, but she couldn't make a sound. The pain lasted forever.

"This is so much fun!" Klaus chuckled. "I want to put my child into her next."

"Sure," Elijah replied. "You can borrow her after I get bored."

Cate felt that she couldn't take any more, she was praying for death.

"Oh dear," one of the nurses said. "She's bleeding a lot; I don't think that we can get the baby out."

"I can help!" Klaus cheered. "Give me a knife."

Cate looked at Elijah with her tearful eyes, silently begging him to help her. He smiled and caressed her cheek before kissing her forehead.

"Don't worry, honey. I would never hurt you."

Cate tried to scream when his face changed and he grinned at her, revealing his fangs. All the doctors and nurses were vampires as well, they all grinned at her.

"You didn't really believe that, did you?" Elijah laughed and sank his fangs into her throat.

Cate's eyes flew open and she gasped for air. No, no, no… Quickly she touched her throat, but there was no wound. It had been a nightmare. Everything was fine. She was fine and…

"Miss?"

A scream escaped her throat when a strange woman was suddenly hovering over her. She got into a sitting position and backed away as quickly as she could.

"I'm sorry, miss, I didn't mean…" the woman started when the door flew open and Elijah stormed into the room.

"Cate!"

He stopped when he saw the woman.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mikaelson, I was just dusting…"

"I told you to skip this room," Elijah cut in harshly.

"I'm really sorry, I forgot…"

"Just tell everyone not to come into this room before I say so."

"Yes, sir," the woman said quickly and glanced at Cate. "I'm really sorry, miss, I didn't mean to scare you."

Cate was still too upset to reply, she was desperately trying to remember everything that had happened yesterday. Had it all been a bad dream? Unfortunately not.

"Cate?" Elijah said after the woman had left. "Are you alright?"

"No," she murmured.

"Are you hurting?" he asked quickly.

She didn't know what to say, her nightmare still made her shiver.

"Cate?"

She backed away when he tried to approach her.

"Don't," she murmured. "Please."

"Alright," he said and raised his hands up. "Alright. I'll stay right here, but please, tell me are you hurting."

"No. Yes. I don't know."

He looked startled when she suddenly burst into tears. Normally she would have been embarrassed, but right now she didn't care. She had every right to be upset.

"Please, I beg you, tell me what's wrong," he pleaded.

Despite her tears, she broke into a hysterical giggle.

"Are you serious? Are you honestly asking me what's wrong?"

"My apologies," he said after a brief moment of silence. "I suppose that was a foolish question."

"You could say that," she murmured and buried her face in her hands. "Shit!"

Thankfully he was smart enough to stay quiet until she had managed to somehow pull herself together.

"I'm trying to wake up, but I can't," she murmured. "This is real, isn't it?"

"Yes," he replied gently.

"That's what I thought," she sighed. "Great, just perfect. Like my life wasn't messy enough already…" She paused and took a deep breath before looking at Elijah. "I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure if I can do this."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"This! All of this. Vampires, witches, babies… This is just… too much."

He nodded sympathetically.

"I understand and I'm so sorry that I got you into this. I… I wasn't supposed to be able to have children."

"How is this possible then?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out, I promise you."

Cate stood up and crossed her arms. She hesitated for a moment before looking at Elijah.

"Why should I trust you?"

"I'm not asking you to trust me yet, but I'm asking you to give me a chance to earn your trust," he replied. "Do you think you could do that?"

"Do I have a choice?" she asked quietly. "You're not going to let me leave, are you?"

"I can't," he sighed. "There are things, many things, you don't know."

She took a deep breath and sat down.

"Fine. Tell me about those things."

He nodded.

"Of course, but perhaps you would like to have something to eat first?"

She couldn't deny that she was hungry.

"You have food?"

He smiled.

"Yes, one of the maids filled the fridge and the freezer."

"Maids?"

"This place needed to be cleaned; I want you to be comfortable here."

"Okay, thanks." She hesitated before continuing. "Those maids… Are they here…willingly?"

"Yes, they are," Elijah assured. "I hired them; they get paid for their work."

Cate nodded.

"I didn't mean to offend you, I just…"

"I understand. You can ask anything you want, I promise to answer truthfully."

"I appreciate that," she murmured. "And yes, I could eat something."

"Of course. After that we have a lot to talk about."