Chapter six - Where to go from here
A/N I'm so so sorry that I haven't updated in like 5 months but the worst writer's block I've ever had is over so let's get on with the story! Thanks for being so patient and let me know what you think :)
When Gwen finally reopened her eyes in the morning, the light pouring in from the open window made her groan and recoil deeper into the covers, trying to force herself back to sleep. Lately the dream world had become more bearable than reality and ever since Elijah left, Gwen had trouble letting go of the world she left behind when waking up.
As she had been doing for the past few months, she dreamt of Elijah but there was something different about last night's dream; Niklaus was a special feature in last night's dream but so were his ... hybrids?
Gwen grimaced and hoped that if she did actually come face to face with Klaus she wouldn't have to deal with vampire-werewolf crossovers. But other than that the dream was tragically ordinary; Elijah made it back to her again and all was well - until Gwen woke up and realized that the spot beside her on the bed was cold and Elijah was still gone.
The redhead sighed and decided the best way to make it through the day would be just reach over and acknowledge the fact that once again her bed was empty.
Hoping would just result in further heartache.
So, with a weary hand, Gwen stretched her fingers out her fingers. Expecting to find nothing but blankets, she braced herself against the ache that would soon fill her chest but instead of reaching sheets, her fingers met with flesh.
Gwen's green eyes widened and her actions were based completely on instinct; within an instant she was out of bed, fangs bared and prepared to attack. It took a moment for her to snap out her paranoia-induced haze and realize it wasn't a stranger sitting in the bed.
It was Elijah.
"You know that wasn't really the reaction I was expecting." Her lover teased, rising from the bed to stand in front of her. Elijah cradled Gwen's face in his hands, rubbing her cheeks until her fangs and veins disappeared.
He smiled at her rather calmly for a person who just got snarled at but then again it WAS Elijah. He was hardly ever fazed by anything. "It really is me, love."
"Oh." She blinked up at him, feeling a bit foolish and rather embarrassed by her overreaction, "So last night, wasn't a dream?"
Elijah chuckled at her, "Do you normally have dreams like that?"
Gwen sighed and wrapped her hands around his larger ones, "For the past couple of months yes." She paused and offered him a half-hearted smirk, "Although the hybrids were new."
A look of disgust passed over Elijah's face at the mention of the hybrids. " I can't begin to understand what goes through my brother's head."
"Ah well you can't change your family darling." Gwen shrugged and gently lowered his hands from her face. "Now speaking of family what happened with yours last night?"
"Finn left." Elijah said shortly, dropping her hands and taking Gwen by surprise. "Kol too, to who knows where." He turned away from her then, picking up his jacket from where he had dropped it the night before.
"And Rebekah?" Gwen prompted, taking a seat on the edge of the creaky hotel bed.
"My sister decided to stay with Klaus."
Gwen frowned, utterly lost. "Why would she do that? He staked her and she's not exactly the most forgiving person in the world."
Elijah's jaw tightened, "Unfortunately, Klaus knows exactly how to get people to do his bidding without even using compulsion."
Gwen chewed her lip thoughtfully, she had first hand knowledge of how Klaus was able to find a person's weakness then exploit it. Her canine teeth throbbed, aching to rip into Klaus for daring to bait her with Elijah, but, revenge would have to come later, she needed to focus on Elijah.
So the redhead nodded her agreement and approached her lover cautiously, resting her cheek against his arm in a manner she hopped was comforting. "But it doesn't matter now." She murmured, grasping his left hand tightly with both of hers. "We can leave, get out of here, no looking back!" Her eyes lit up, shining like emeralds with all the new possibilities.
Elijah frowned but the other vampire was too absorbed in her own excitement to notice. She was already zipping around the hotel room, shoving discarded things into her bags.
"I can book a flight and we'll be out of here in a few hours! We could go to our château in France or maybe the Bahamas, you know we haven't been to Spain in a while... We could go to Alaska for all I care, just as long as we get out of here!" Gwen let out an excited sigh and glanced over her shoulder expecting to see Elijah smiling indulgently back at her but he remained as sombre as ever.
"Elijah?" Her smile faded rapidly as she dropped her bag to the ground and walked over to him. "What's wrong?"
Elijah winced slightly and grabbed her hands which she assumed was meant to comfort her but she was unsettled by the pained look that appeared on his face.
" I can't." He bit out, his brown eyes staring imploringly into her own green orbs, begging her to understand something he hadn't even explained yet.
"You can't what?" Gwen snapped, more harshly than she intended but she was too frazzled to take back the words.
"I can't leave, Gwen." Elijah told her warily, "Klaus made me an offer- one I couldn't refuse."
Gwen stiffened and practically recoiled from his grasp. "You're kidding me," she snarled, "You've got to be kidding me. I thought we were talking about Rebeckah before with all that Klaus is persuasive crap, not YOU!"
Elijah reached for her but she slipped away, backing up until she hit the wall.
"We were, just LISTEN to me -"
"No! You're choosing your psychopath of a brother over me!" Every single part of her body was trembling, even her red curls were shaking and Gwen felt like she could explode at any moment. Common sense abandonned her at the thought of Elijah being taken away from her just as she finally got him BACK! She tried taking deep breathes but they did nothing to calm her body, since she really didn't need to breathe. It was a vampire equivalent to a panic attack.
Gwen let out a low moan and Elijah rushed over to her. He wrapped his arms around her, practically smothering her until the shaking subsided.
"I won't lose you again." She whispered, clutching him desperately as if she could physically keep him away from Klaus.
" You won't. " Elijah stroked her curls softly, pressing soothing kisses to the top of her head. "I promise you won't." She raised her head and attempted to untangle herself from his arms but he held firm and Gwen gave up, falling back into his arms.
"Will you please just listen to me?" Elijah asked quietly making Gwen give him a glare.
"You'd better have a damn good reason as to why we aren't on our way out of this town immediately."
Elijah interpreted that as a yes.
"Klaus needs help, and in exchange he offered us freedom." The Original tilted Gwen's face up towards his to gauge her reaction.
Her green eyes narrowed and she asked skeptically, "Freedom from what?"
"Him." Elijah answered, his brown eyes radiating the way Gwen's had at the prospect of leaving Mystic Falls. "If we help him we won't have to keep looking over our shoulders for eternity, we'll have true peace after all these years."
Gwen ducked her chin, refusing to meet his pleading gaze. "I don't like it." She mumbled and instantly hated herself for sounding like a petulant child.
"I know love, neither do I but what other choice do we have?" Elijah whispered and she met his stare fiercely.
"We could RUN," she told him, wanting to shake him until he understood. "Run and never look back, we could go anywhere in the world. Elijah, it would be so easy..." Gwen's voice trailed off imploringly but Elijah just shook his head.
"You'd regret it later on Gwen, you know you would." He brushed an errant curl behind her ear and she sighed irritably.
"So what is so important to Klaus that he's willing to renounce his claim on his family?"
"I've told you about Tatia before haven't I?" Elijah asked but it was a rhetorical question, he knew he had.
"Years ago, yes." As a vampire Gwen could recall, with perfect detail, the day she had summoned the courage to ask Elijah about his past. She knew it was a sensitive subject but he told her anyway, taking his time in explaining how the Original family was created. He'd told her about how Tatia was the woman whose blood made it possible for Elijah and his family to complete the transition and become vampires. Katerina Petrova and Elena Gilbert were her current doppelgängers.
"What about her?"
Elijah released her and Gwen quickly righted herself before she could tumble onto the ground. She glared over at Elijah but he wasn't looking her way; he was focused on a spot on the wall, eyes glazed over as he remembered people and places he'd seen centuries ago.
Gwen nudged his shoulder and he snapped out of his trance, continuing to speak with a bitter voice, "According to my brother, Tatia isn't dead as I'd believed."
"So what happened to her then?" Curiosity swiftly replaced Gwen's anger and she moved to stand by Elijah's side.
"Before she could die, Klaus convinced my mother to place a spell on Tatia, keeping her alive until he decided it was safe enough to bring her back. Then, like the rest of us, he locked her away in a coffin."
Gwen frowned, trying to sort out this new information. "But why would he-"
Elijah cut her off with a sigh. "Because he loves her."
"Oh." Gwen blinked, she hadn't imagined Klaus even capable of loving someone and Elijah certainly hadn't told her that part of the story. Despite her anger at the whole situation, she felt a new wave of pity for this Tatia girl because Niklaus had a way of hurting the people he loved the most.
"So what's the problem, what's he need us for?"
Elijah's gaze locked on hers and she almost shivered from the intensity.
"When Stephen Salvatore stole the coffins containing me and my siblings, Klaus did get them back, but the Salvatores apparently had enough time to hide one coffin and they chose the one with the most enchantments protecting it."
Gwen's eyes widened, a low breath escaping her. "They took the one with Tatia inside."
Elijah nodded grimly, "And now Klaus wants us to get her back."