The vessel of your body can consign
Your soul to the fires of love divine
From which fires all wisdom can disperse
Essences beyond all insights of verse.
- Rumi, Love Divine
"You seriously want me to believe he is your husband?" Jenna raised her brow, looking between the two.
"I am," Elijah gestured towards his wife.
"He is," Adelia shrugged.
"Oh please!" The human made a face. "I have heard better excuses. Like my wife is dead or like she never died, but sorry, I had no idea she pretty much existed." Adelia opened her mouth when Jenna interrupted her again. "Or is there some weird relationship between you two? Like maybe your husband," she pointed at the witch, "is your niece's stepfather."
"I will clearly remember a niece in our family," Adelia laughed, but pursed her mouth when Jenna glared at her, "... or I might not remember. I have a poor memory."
"Tell me the truth! I am tired of lies. Don't you dare lie to me, Lia," the Sommers woman hardened her glare.
"Elijah is my husband," Adelia answered with a sigh.
"He is not."
"I certainly am," the Original smirked.
"No, you are not," Jenna turned to him.
"He absolutely is," the witch bit her lip in contemplation.
"Of course, I am," Elijah rolled his eyes. "Why don't you take a seat, Miss Sommers?"
"I came here for solitude and that she would understand me and I find this! What is wrong with you people? First Alaric's not-so-dead wife arrives and now you are saying that Lia is married to you and has been your wife all along?"
"Yes?" Adelia offered, taking a seat next to her as Elijah got up to walk in the kitchen space.
Jenna turned to her. "You seriously slept with him and he is seriously–"
"–my husband indeed."
"Why did you lie to us?"
"We never did. Nobody ever enquired about our respective spouses," the witch fidgeted with a lock of hair, "and maybe our intentions were more nefarious than we cared to admit."
"Nefarious intentions. What do you mean? Elijah's not a writer?"
"If by a writer, you mean procrastinating in journals, sure," she replied.
"I am offended, Adelia," Elijah's voice echoed from the kitchen.
"You are not Damon's friend?" Jenna frowned.
"Oh, he and I are anything but friends. I thought we shared a mutual interest, but he is not a person I'd favour."
Jenna processed the words in silence for a minute or two. "I think I would like to sleep it off. Where's the room?"
"I shall get your bags into your room," Adelia smiled and disappeared inside.
"Tea?" Elijah held out a cup for her. She took it hesitantly as the Original sat across her, clearly awkward. He glanced at Jenna, who was looking at him intently.
"What is the history of the Fell property, Miss Sommers?" Jenna mimicked his words and the Original sighed.
"Will it assuage you to know I was genuinely curious about that?" Elijah offered an explanation.
"Oh no. How will we survive without your curiosity?" The Sommers woman narrowed her eyes.
Adelia cleared her throat. "Enough discussion. We'll talk in the morning. Why don't you get some rest? I promise to answer each of your questions."
Jenna didn't say a word and shut the door with a loud bang as Elijah and Adelia looked at each other.
January 1860
Cloverville Louisiana
Elijah was on his way to his room when a set of giggles reached his ear and curiously he followed the noise, stopping in front of the music room. He watched Adelia and a young figure waltzing to inaudible music as the five-year-old boy clung around her waist, following her around.
Her conservative style of full sleeves and high necks were replaced today with a freer one and Elijah thought she looked even more beautiful if that were possible.
"I don't understand a thing, Miss," the little boy whined.
"You don't need to when you are a mere five," she replied, moving their interlinked hands around.
The little boy from the neighbourhood followed her actions with a pout before he saw her footwork, tried to copy them and failed miserably. "It is very complicated."
"Hmm. You are learning big words," she complimented, twirling him around to make him giggle again.
Elijah leaned against the doorway watching the two as a smile crept over his face.
"Rafael is a better teacher," the boy mumbled, but Adelia managed to hear it and stopped immediately.
"Why don't you ask him to teach you then?" She drawled, making a big show of untangling her hands from the boy, feigning hurt and betrayal.
The boy sat down on the floor crossing his arms looking up at the witch who was glaring back at him.
"I could help," Elijah offered from the doorway and the occupants immediately turned towards him.
"I do not think you could be of any help, Mr. Mikaelson," she answered.
"I could be," he said and picked up her hands from beside her and put them over his shoulder, earning a look of surprise from Adelia.
"This is inappropriate," she squeaked in a low voice, trying to provide an excuse to deflect the situation indefinitely, how absurd it might be.
"I thought you were brave, Miss Laurentis," he whispered into her ear and purposefully intertwined their fingers, making her shiver.
"You are not nice," she said with a pout as an unamused look appeared across her features.
He smiled and glided his palm across her lower back, "Who said I ever was?"
"What is that supposed to imply?" Adelia asked and he looked at her intently.
"Nothing that should concern you," the Original said, confusing her as his arms tightened around her.
"Mr. Mikaelson," she squirmed in his arms.
"Elijah," he stated.
She clearly felt his fingers on her hips, tracing back and forth that made her skin tingle and breath ragged. "Elija–"
He dipped her low, surprising her as the words got stuck in her throat. She stiffened as they locked eyes and his fingers inconspicuously dropped her hairpin as her tresses escaped its confines and before she could register, she was standing upright getting twirled around.
Elijah pulled her closer and she placed her hands on her shoulders, avoiding his intense gaze. Adelia now noticing the empty room, tried to disentangle from him. The man in question moved the witch's hair from her shoulder, tracing her bare collarbones as she clenched his coat between her fingers.
The young witch looked down, unable to meet his eyes and felt a light caress on her cheek, his knuckles slowly trailing down her jaw.
A giggling boy entered the room with a pie in his hands, his clothes and face all messy as Adelia immediately pulled apart from the Original.
The little boy stopped seeing the two elders in the room and ran towards the frozen girl who picked him up immediately.
"Why don't we get you all tidied up?" The witch suggested hurriedly in a low voice, unable to look anywhere else.
"Will I get one more pie?"
"Of course," Adelia glanced at the Original and fled the room.
"Still not speaking to me?" Klaus said and looked at his new body, one Alaric Saltzman.
"Was your own body too macabre?" Adelia gave him a sarcastic smile, "and keep your voice down. Jenna is asleep. I don't want to explain what her boyfriend is doing in our living room."
"You want the old body back, love? Miss it too much?" He smirked as she rolled her eyes in frustration.
"Fortunately, your possessed body is the only thing stopping me from impaling you on a tree stump."
"Such a fascinating sight it would be," Elijah voiced from beside his wife, keeping down the newspaper.
"Elijah agrees too. Maybe he would like to improvise. What do you say, dear?" She asked her husband.
"My suggestion is to replace the stump with a maturity, rationality and much more," the elder Original quirked, looking at Klaus or rather the body he was possessing, avoiding Adelia's glare. She was quite put off with him for hiding the plan.
"Devotion exudes the two of you. How noble," Klaus clenched his jaw.
"Pity, it cannot kill you," contemplated Elijah, receiving a nudge from the woman sitting beside him.
"My stump idea remains open for thought," Adelia looked at Klaus with a smile.
Jenna woke up in the middle of the afternoon and groaned into the pillow as sleep evaded her senses for the millionth time. Coming out of the room, she found no presence in the house and plucked a note stuck to the door, stating Elijah and Adelia were out for business.
The woman went into the kitchen for some coffee and later made herself comfortable in the couch, overlooking the forest visible from the glass panes. She wondered if Elijah and Adelia were really spouses or were just trying to fool her, something Alaric was doing since the beginning.
Grabbing a crinkled gift paper from the floor, she read over the card and slumped down in relief as it read 'Elijah and Adelia M.' Certainly someone had been practicing too much calligraphy to write everything in capitals. She rolled her eyes at the person named Klaus.
Looking over the coffee table, she found some really old books over the table. She grabbed one out of curiosity as her fingers hovered over the old yellowed pages.
Jenna flipped open the book and found Adelia's name written in a cursive beautifully with initials S.B. at the bottom right corner. She opened the first page and immediately frowned when all that was decipherable was the ink blotches over the thick page.
Seeing the handwriting, she concluded Adelia must have written it when she was little and who even used ink pens anymore. Must have been a childhood phase, she thought.
What confused her most were the things that were written which made no sense. Uses of herbs she never even heard of to the combinations whose uses made her head hurt. She went to the end pages of the book and found lines in languages that needed an efficient translator.
She stumbled across a photo tucked in between the pages and saw Adelia, Elijah with another blond woman. Elijah was looking at the two women laughing. She flipped it over to find 'New Orleans, 1887' written across the back. Everything was so confusing. A theme party?
The human found a sheet pinned over the laptop with various points jotted down under a Lumiere Foundation. She ran inside her room and returned before booting up her own laptop and googled it. There was not much except it was founded in 1867 in Seattle by a resident of Louisiana, most notably Sharel Beauchêne and Jasper Reynolds.
She picked up another book which belonged to Alessandra Fleureau. Jenna googled the name and came up with no results except a dilapidated private property of the Fleureaus in New Orleans.
She went for another book and was stunned to see Sharel Beauchêne written across it. Hesitantly, she looked at Adelia's book and matched the initials S.B. with the name. The letters and the style were same and the Sommers woman stiffened.
Jenna googled Adelia's name that gave no results, but links to various thesis papers appeared. An hour of going through it and her mind was boggled. She only thought the woman was interested in science but her history and philosophy papers said otherwise. The dates of publication were spread throughout the decades from the 1930s to the recent being two years back.
How was this even possible when Adelia was 23-24? It was astounding. Jenna couldn't believe anything unless Adelia was named after her ancestor of the same name.
She typed Laurentis in the search box and it led her to a search for Cloverville to its founders Raymond Laurentis and then once again his wife, Sharel Beauchêne.
The Laurentis woman should have been born in the 1980s and Sharel existed a century earlier. What was the relationship between Sharel and Adelia?
How was Adelia present in all those years when she wasn't even born? And how did Sharel Beauchêne write her initials in Adelia's diary or was it really hers?
Were the couple lying again? Identity theft? Impersonation?
It's the sixties in the school," Klaus said over the phone as the couple listened to him.
"Where were you doing in the sixties?" Adelia asked curiously, her feet dangling off the hood of the car.
"South Asia if I recall," he answered.
"Of course you'd be in a war zone. Did you start anything while you were there?" Elijah rolled his eyes, leaning against the front.
"You wish Elijah, but no, I did not," the younger Original gritted his teeth.
"The sun has to have risen from the east if you were thoughtful enough to not start anything," the witch humoured.
"Your trust in me is very enlightening, Maeve."
"Were you expecting a Hawaiian welcome?"
"Only if the exotic flowers were poisonous," Elijah fixed his cufflinks before staring at the phone kept atop the windshield.
"You two are degrading my self-worth. It already lacks in this body," Klaus retorted and the Original and his wife grinned at each other before a dial tone indicated the end of the call.
"Heartfelt really," the Original's mouth tugged up while his hand ran over her ankle that was enclosing his hip.
"I suppose I won't have the pleasure of seeing him combust anytime soon," she leaned over the car surface as her hair spread across the glass with a flourish.
"Do tone down your apparent fascination with his death visions," he quipped.
"Why? Is it motivating you to implement some of your own?" She laughed innocently and Elijah suddenly pulled at her ankle as she slid down to lean over her.
Adelia's leg involuntarily wrapped around his hips as he blew in her ear and her eyes shut in anticipation. He stared at her pleasure filled features while his finger traced her lace covered mound making her squirm, her back arching expectantly.
"On the contrary, it is giving me infinite ideas to assuage my curiosity," he whispered, tugging her bottom lip in between his.
"May I ask about what?" Adelia opened her eyes, taking a deep breath and hurriedly started unbuckling his belt when he pulled her hands over her head.
Elijah hummed and placed a chaste kiss on her lips, "About the curse. Come, we must continue the research. Wouldn't want him dead now, do we?" He got up slyly and fleeted deep into the forest.
Dumbfounded, his disheveled wife glared at his retreating back. The witch fixed her dress before walking in the opposite direction, huffing all the way.
"Ah, you're right. This witch is all normal normal without the extra dead-witch powers. An everyday occurrence. So much for a Bennett," Klaus said.
"That's terrible," Katherine commented from the chair, a knife in hand.
"We've nothing to do, Maddox. I am bored," he drawled, opening a drawer. "Do you think this Alaric guy has anything vintage?" He pulls up a secret compartment and continued, "Crossbows, wooden bullets, and automatics? Who is this guy, again?"
"He's the local vampire hunter," the doppelgänger answered.
"Ahh. Well, that explains the clothing," he replied, seeing the glass of bourbon held out by the warlock Maddox.
"All I could find. Guy likes his bourbon," Maddox handed him the glass.
"I knew there was something about him I liked. There's a high school dance and I'm gonna need some entertainment."
"What are you going to do?" The warlock asked.
"In this body? I'm a haggard history teacher," Klaus answered.
"You can always get a rise out of them," he suggested.
"You mean like surprising them to death?" The Original replied, liking the idea.
"Yeah."
"Nice. Just ensure dear sister-in-law doesn't know of the plans," he looked at Katherine who immediately lowered her head.
Jenna didn't even realise when the sun set down and the light slowly disappeared from the room.
The door to the apartment opened and Elijah came inside. He stopped in his tracks, seeing her there and approached the human, draping his coat over the sofa chair.
"Good evening. It seems like you didn't get any sleep," Elijah said, noticing her droopy eyes.
"I had every plan to but some astonishing facts came to my notice," Jenna looked at him as he nodded for her to go on. "Who is Adelia?" Her brows furrowed in confusion mirrored by the Original.
"I do not understand," Elijah sat down in the chair.
"Yeah, like how your wife is all over the place in years at different times. It is beyond my imagination. How is this possible?"
"Everything is possible, Miss Sommers," Elijah replied.
"How much do you believe in mythical creatures, Jenna?" Adelia sat down beside her, making her shout in fright.
"Mythical creatures?" The human calmed down looked between the couple.
"You know Twilight styles?"
Jenna laughed aloud, "Zero. Those things are absurd," she punctuated the surname with a glare towards her the woman.
Adelia shrugged her shoulder, giving her a mug of coffee. The human, though hesitant, went to take the cup when the witch left her hold on it and the mug stayed afloat in the air.
Jenna scrambled backward into the couch in fear as the coffee spilled onto the marble flooring, but the mug remained unmoving, floating.
The witch moved her fingers and the coffee onto the floor separated into drops and slowly began rising in the air. Jenna appeared horrified at the action. Adelia waved her hand and collected the coffee back inside the mug before keeping it back on the table as it settled with a clink over the glass surface.
Her eyes glistened with tears as she looked towards Adelia. Jenna glanced at Elijah, who was sipping his own coffee without any care.
"What are you? A magician?" Jenna's eye spoke of fright.
"I am what people call a witch," Adelia said and glanced at vase on the table and Jenna saw the roses flourish back to life, the brown petals turning red again.
"Is it a prank show? Are there hidden cameras?" The human asked in a croaky voice when she recalled Elijah's words about the Salem witches and the discussion at the dinner party.
Realisation set in. Damon, Andie, John, Alaric—they all knew, only she was the oblivious one. The jabs, the constant remarks, their deliberate silence, it all made sense.
She stared at Adelia in fear as her throat clogged up. "What do you mean people like you? Is Elijah not the thing you are? How many are there?" Jenna asked, mustering up courage. She had to protect Elena and Jeremy.
Adelia and Elijah shared a look before she took a deep breath. "Remember Edward Cullen?"
"Elena!" Alaric ran up to the Bennett and the doppelganger while they were out looking for Klaus.
"What is it?" Elena asked.
"He has Jeremy," he told them.
"What?" Bonnie and Elena exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah, Klaus has Jeremy. Come on," he led them into a hallway as the girls followed him.
"Okay, so where are you taking us?" The doppelgänger questioned.
"Just a little further," he replied.
"Wait... something's not right," a suspicious Elena stopped in her tracks.
"Where's Jeremy?" Bonnie followed her friend's action when the teacher stopped walking and laughed.
"I just had to get away from that dance. The sixties, ugh. Not my decade," he laughed, "I mean, whose call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz."
"Alaric. Are you on vervain?" Elena furrowed her brows.
"Now why would you ask me that question, Elena?"
"He's being compelled."
"Nope. Try again."
"What's going on?" A confused doppelgänger tried.
"Okay, I'll give you a hint. I am not Alaric," Klaus humoured.
"Klaus!" Elena realised, making him smile.
"Surprise!"
"Oh, no. No, it's not possible," she denied.
"Just relax, Elena. I'm not here to hurt you. You're not on my hit list tonight. Nobody is. I was bored," he clarified with a smile and flinched when Bonnie started giving him an aneurysm.
Klaus threw her against the display case as she fell to the ground, smashing the glass. "By all means... fire away!" He smirked, "This body is getting old, I'll just get a new one. Maybe Jeremy."
"Go. Run. Run!" The witch ordered and they started running, closing the doors with her powers to trap him inside when Damon ran through another pair of doors to join them.
"What happened?" He asked the panicked girls.
"Klaus is in Alaric's body," Elena informed him.
"What?"
"He's possessing it or something," Bonnie answered.
"Go find Stefan. Now," he told them.
"Okay," Elena hesitated.
"Now," he affirmed as she and Bonnie leave, when Stefan joined him sometime later.
"Can we kill him?" The elder Salvatore asked his brother.
"He's possessing Alaric. He'll just take up another body," Stefan replied just as Alaric arrived.
"The Salvatore brothers," he started and turned towards the younger one, "Oh hello old friend."
"Why don't you show your real face and then talk to us?" An angry Damon confronted.
"I was having a bit of fun lads. You have no weapon. You cannot defeat me. You cannot kill me. How extraordinary this situation is."
"We will find a way to kill you," Stefan blurted, getting out of the confused haze.
"How touching. I am almost intimidated," Klaus said.
"You will not get anywhere near Elena," threatened Damon as the smile disappeared from the hunter's face.
"We will see," he mused and both the brothers rushed towards him, but their necks were quickly snapped by Greta appearing behind him, making the Original sigh.
Elena and Bonnie instead of going back to Salvatore house went to the only people who will be able to help them. As they got out of the elevator designated to their floor, they heard a piano being played. They looked at each other, contemplating their actions. Hesitantly, they knocked at the door and the tune immediately stopped.
After a few seconds which seemed like hours, they heard footsteps approaching the door before it was yanked open. Standing there was Elijah.
"Hello, Miss Gilbert and Miss Bennett," he greeted them impassively when the music on the piano started again and the girls concluded it was Adelia who was playing it.
"We need your help. Please. Klaus is in town and he attacked us," Elena blurted out when the Original's gaze fell onto Bonnie's injuries and he nodded hesitantly, opening the door wider.
He guided them to take a seat on the couch before looking at his wife. "Bonnie's injuries need to be tended to," he said before leaving the room.
Adelia stood up from the stool and walked towards the witch in confusion, noticing her injuries. The Original arrived with a first-aid kit, handing it to her before taking the stool she just vacated. "Klaus did this?" She guessed, kneeling down to get a better look, surprising the girls to see such a prideful woman on her knees. Getting a nod in confirmation from the Bennett, she opened the kit and started cleaning the wound. "What is your purpose to visit us?"
"Can we trust you?" Elena questioned and Adelia raised her brows in surprise, discarding the soiled cotton.
"Can we trust you?" Elijah asked instead of answering.
"We don't know what to do. Please save her life," Bonnie said in between bouts of pain from the antiseptic.
"We were doing exactly that, weren't we?" Adelia hummed.
"I apologise for that again. Please help us," the doppelgänger requested.
"Why should we?" Adelia tied the ends of the bandage before starting on another one.
"You are killing her for selfish reasons," Bonnie replied and the heretic's hand immediately stilled.
The room fell into silence as nobody spoke for a minute when a sound of scissor clattering to the bottom of the first aid box resounded through the living room.
"I am selfish when it comes to things that are acutely mine and what I want to acquire is deeply personal," the Original broke the silence while watching his beloved put ointment on the small nicks.
"What?" Elena sounded confused as Elijah left his place by the piano to sit across the girls.
"We are the Originals, Miss Gilbert. If you're willing to indulge in a game of cat and mouse, do remember we are the highest predator out there," Elijah mused with a smirk.
"Salvatore Boarding house. Tomorrow at 10. We will fulfill our end of the bargain because you'll be doing us a favour and we will repay it," Adelia said and shared a look with Elijah, "and moreover Klaus needs you."
"Thank you. Thank you so much," Elena prodded in happiness and Bonnie smiled.
"Get tetanus and some prescribed painkillers and you will be fine," Adelia announced getting up. "If you'd allow, Elijah's men will escort you home."
"No, we'll be fine," Bonnie said gratefully as they made their way out.
"Have a good night, Miss Gilbert. Miss Bennett," Elijah said.
"Take care," Adelia reassured the girls as the elevator closed shut.
Jenna came out of the room as her eyes filled with tears. "Elena knew."
"We are not the right people to inform you of such things, Jenna. We are in this town for a reason and our perspectives are very much biased to favour our needs," Elijah informed the human as Adelia closed the door behind her.
"Please tell me everything," Jenna's quivering voice requested and the witch nodded.
Stefan, Damon, Jeremy and Caroline were pacing the boarding house in worry when Elena and Bonnie entered in a lighter demeanour.
"Where were you two?" Stefan immediately asked, hugging his girlfriend.
"We took a detour," answered Bonnie.
"Have you lost it!? Klaus is out there," Damon thundered, cursing their stupidity.
"We went to ask for help from the people who were willing to give it to us," Elena said when John entered, looking grim with a large package in his hand. "What are you doing here?" She asked, stunned at his arrival.
"Shouldn't you be anywhere else but here?" Jeremy said, remembering his disappearance just days before.
"What is that?" The newbie vampire pointed at the package.
"Isobel's parcel. Came this morning," he replied.
"But what is it?" The doppelgänger got curious.
"Look for yourself," John gestured and Stefan approached the painting.
Damon followed his brother, watching him remove the styrofoam covering from the canvas. As the portrait slowly started revealing a set of eyes, he joined Stefan and hastily tore open the remaining polystyrene and stepped back to see the full canvas. Their eyes widened in shock and confusion as a familiar pair of coffee brown orbs stared back at them.
"What is this?" Damon muttered.
"Adelia?" frowned Elena.
"I am confused, really," Caroline wondered.
"She is Maeve. Klaus' Maeve," John said aloud.
"You mean Adelia is Maeve?" Bonnie laughed. No way the vampire-witch who was kind enough to dress up her wounds tonight was the elusive Maeve. Klaus' Maeve.
"Of course. Because if you are too slow to process, Judgy, then look at the bottom right corner, 'For Maeve. With love, Klaus-1864'," Damon read the script, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, watch it!" Jeremy snapped at the vampire on behalf of the Bennett witch.
"Klaus painted this?" Elena was dumbstruck.
"Mm-hmm," the elder Salvatore murmured as he observed the portrait.
Even the fraying canvas couldn't hide the beauty it exhibited, perfectly displaying the radiant glow and Adelia's beautiful smile as her eyes conveyed innocence in its vast depth. With the acute detailing, they knew Klaus had spent months to capture her into this canvas. As her brown curls coalesced with the pastel yellow background illuminating her emerald gown, it showed a hint of optimism to her demeanour that had all of them in awe.
"We looked for a girl who was right in front of us the entire time. No wonder Elijah wasn't happy with us going after her since it turned out to be his wife," said Stefan.
"Is it just me who noticed her bare fingers? I have seen her rings, she has two," informed Caroline as a matter of fact. Simultaneously, all occupants turned to look at the portrait and indeed there were no rings gracing her fingers.
"That means Adelia knew Klaus before she married Elijah. She wasn't lying," Stefan deduced, looking at the painted face. The sides of the portrait were burnt and had splotches of blood which had darkened over time.
Bonnie curiously came forward and touched the portrait carefully and instantly saw flashes of images as they merged together, addling her mind.
April 1864
Adelia was in the same gown as her portrait, sitting in a chair with a book in hand. She turned to look at Bonnie and smiled. "Niklaus, my spine yearns for rest. Kindly free me of these confines so I can savour a bit of sunlight," she said, and Bonnie realized that Adelia wasn't talking to her but to Klaus who was currently painting her. The vision had her glued that she couldn't move to look behind her.
"A bit of suffering is to be expected for a masterpiece. People will look at this and wonder who managed to defer to this beauty," an accented voice replied with a chuckle.
"Chef-d'oeuvre of the almighty Klaus, is it?" She spoke with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Don't let your grandmother hear you. She already despises me doing this, irrelevant of the heartfelt gesture."
"Oh lord, I was unaware of the ancient soul being scared of Sharel Beauchene," she mocked at his retort and was rewarded by Klaus joining her with his own peals of laughter.
The world blurred around Bonnie so quickly that she couldn't decipher anything happening. She just heard voices playing in the background straining her ears, combined with a ringing sound. Amidst all, her own nose started bleeding as she put her hands to her ears and kneeled down to stop the noises when a sudden silence ensued with a sharp crack.
She opened her eyes and found herself in front of Adelia who dropped down with a thud on the floor just a meter away, her face turned towards her. She looked worse for wear in a black nightgown with blood all over her, but still very beautiful but then Bonnie noticed the unnatural sheen in the witch's eyes; they were lifeless. Adelia was dead.
Horrified, Bonnie scrambled backward, but her hand touched something sticky. She raised it and saw blood and looked around to see blood everywhere. Then a chandelier dropped down on the floor right beside her and listening to the sound, she realized all the chandeliers had crashed together.
Bonnie was scared, the candles went out and left the room in darkness. The windows exploded, showering her in glass when the blood caught fire, illuminating the room. She looked beside the broken window and found the same portrait hanging on the wall, fresh blood across it as the fire started its way onto it.
Too shocked with the happenings, she stood up and turned around just as the surroundings blurred and she found herself in the Boarding house, falling on the floor.
Stefan rushed towards the witch and caught her. The witch touched her nose to see it was bleeding and looked around, scared. She stepped away from the painting, cradling her hand as tears dribbled down her cheeks. She stared at the woman in the portrait with blatant sadness and terror written all over her face for the things she witnessed.
"What happened?" Elena asked as she rubbed Bonnie's back.
"The painting was imbued with residual magic," the witch replied, trying to compose herself.
"Residual magic?" Stefan questioned.
"Essence left after death. Like the magic left by the hundred witches. The portrait was painted by Klaus. I heard his voice. She called him Niklaus."
"And?" Damon curiously stated.
"I saw her die. I saw Adelia die."
A knock echoed in the apartment and Adelia snapped her book shut, clenching her jaw. She looked at Elijah, who seemed to be fast asleep and stepped down the bed. Making sure Jenna was inside her room, the witch moved towards the front door and opened it to the sight of a quirky Alaric, raising her brow at his wolfish grin.
"I saw my dear ol' friend Stefan Salvatore, Maeve," he started but saw the look she gave him. He went to enter the apartment, but she barred his entry and realization hit him. "You know about the dance escapade. But fret not love, I had a protection spell done on me."
"Oh, did you?" Adelia replied and stepped forward.
"Adelia?" The elder Original queried.
"Isn't breaking the curse enough for you that you have to draw blood from the bystanders? Was it necessary?" Adelia shouted.
Alaric stood up glaring at her, "You do not command my actions, Maeve."
"Oh please, Nik. You very well know I am not under any delusion that I anyhow command whatever you choose to do."
"This isn't about me! Again, this is about Elijah and yourself. Why bother with me when you can wander the world on your mighty horse," retorted Klaus looking between the couple.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I do not pity you! We wouldn't have returned if we didn't care about you," she broke down as tears brimmed in her eyes. "I would have been planning your bloody murder if we limited our lives to just ourselves. We care, Nik."
The man in question looked away.
Elijah wrapped an arm around her waist, intending to get her inside.
"You always do this," Adelia said and disappeared inside without giving them a glance as Klaus stared at his brother before moving towards the elevator.
"Niklaus," Elijah called making him stop in his tracks, "good night." He said and Klaus watched him close the door behind him.
1880
New Orleans
The Abattoir
"Maeve, how was your journey to Austin?" Klaus asked as soon as they entered the compound. Elijah moved towards the stairs without sparing them a glance and shut the bedroom door with a loud bang.
The witch diverted her gaze from the door to the younger Original.
"The roads did not fare well and the weather was disastrous. The carriage broke down twice," she answered while removing her gloves and Klaus noted a quiver in her voice.
"And?"
"I lost my hairpin. It was very inconvenient," Adelia finished and the Original saw the same hairpin adorning her hair making him sigh.
"Elijah?"
"He will be fine tomorrow," she informed, opening her case. With a smile on her face, Adelia retrieved a pouch and gave it to him. "I found some paints for you."
The Original took the pouch from her with a hesitant smile and grabbed her wrist when she tried stepping back. He looked at her brimming eyes and pulled her into his arms as Adelia's shoulders suddenly heaved with sobs. She wrapped her arms around his neck as tears slid down her chin without her permission. He caressed her back for a minute when she pulled away and grabbed his fingers.
"I do not know what to do," the witch sobbed out. "I have tried everything and it doesn't work!"
"It will be fine," Klaus cupped her cheek, trying to calm her down.
"They do not have answers. I tried to give them everything but they still refused to help us," Adelia's voice stuttered with every word when a door abruptly opened and Elijah came out. She quickly wiped away her tears and averted his gaze when the Original fleeted downstairs.
"I have misplaced my watch. Have you seen it?" He asked her with a reluctant smile.
"Oh. You did not find it?" Adelia questioned and Elijah nodded in negative. "I shall find it for you," she answered and rushed off to their room.
The elder Original watched her leave and took her case before climbing up the stairs.
"Brother, ho-"
"We shall talk tomorrow. Forgive me," Elijah interrupted him without a thought.
A minute later, the door once again closed when the Original stared at his wife's tired form on their bed and joined her under the sheets. Running his fingers through her hair, Elijah lulled her to sleep as he watched the starry night give way to the sun rising from its horizon. He took a deep breath and turned to stare at her, his thumb unconsciously gliding across the ruby anklet clutched within Adelia's palm.
A/N: A very long chapter with certain inconvenient revelations. Jenna might lend you her detective hat. *very evil smirk*