Red Door

Elijah felt himself going further and further out of consciousness. Between the visions and dreams and torture in the present world, he didn't know what to believe anymore. He had lost all feeling in his hands and arms at this point as he kneeled at the mercy of his deranged mother. Images of Tatia and Hayley danced through his head, both a blessing and a curse. He longed to see Hayley once more, but not this way. Not running, covered in blood, terrified of him. He couldn't bear it.

"No more," Elijah moaned.

"I'm afraid we've just begun. You will hang here, remembering. Every atrocity you've hid behind that door will emerge to haunt you. And, as you grow weaker, you will be ripped of your strength, your will, your hope. And, as you rot here, alone, you will reconsider my offer. A new life. A way to be freed of your demons. A chance at peace-" Esther said before she was suddenly cut off.

Hayley's brown head of hair covered his view of Esther, but he knew what had happened. She had come to save him. Esther's body fell to the floor as Hayley whipped her head up, mouth still covered in blood. She flipped her hair back and placed a hand on her hip.

"Huh! That's about enough of that, don't you think? I would have ripped her heart out, but she would have just body jumped," Hayley said casually before walking over towards Elijah. He slumped over in relief and let out a small laugh. Hayley tried to rip out the chain holding his right arm up, but her attempts were no use.

"How do I get these off?" Hayley asked.

"The doll, up there. Break it. She's using it to bind me," Elijah managed to say. He looked up weakly as Hayley reached up towards the doll and tore it in half. She then jumped down from the stool and proceeded to rip the chains holding him out of the wall. Elijah collapsed to the floor, barely holding himself up and let out several heavy breaths. He found Hayley kneeling in front of him with worried hazel eyes gazing up at him.

"You need to feed," Hayley said, obviously implying that he should feed on her.

"I can't..." Elijah choked as he turned away from her. He couldn't. She was the one person that could make him lose control, the one person he was afraid of losing the most.

"You're weak," Hayley said as she bit her wrist. She held it up to him and Elijah did his best not to breathe in her intoxicating scent, but failed miserably.

"I can't… I crave you. My hunger… it could overwhelm me," Elijah weakly tried to explain. He looked down once more, remembering all of the images he had seen. Hayley… covered in blood… screaming…

Elijah tightly shut his eyes trying with all of his might to propel the images out of his head. A warm, familiar hand found its way to his cheek, and Elijah opened his eyes. Hayley tilted his face up towards hers and he found himself staring into those damn hypnotizing hazel eyes again.

"Look at me. I'm not afraid," Hayley whispered. He tried to believe her, he tried to believe that he wouldn't hurt her, but he couldn't…

Hayley's face inched closer to his, and in that split second, he knew what he craved. He needed her. Their lips met with such ferocity that Elijah thought he was going to collapse. Lucky for him, Hayley grasped the back of his head and held him upright against her. He felt such relief after the pain he had just gone through and after the many months they had spent in a Cold War standoff. She kissed him fiercely and he soon felt his hunger kick into overdrive. His fangs brushed Haley's lip, and she pulled away from him.

Elijah looked at her with longing and fear. He wanted her, he needed her, but he was afraid. But Hayley wasn't having any of that. She slowly swept her brown locks away from the right side of her neck and exposed the smooth skin to him. She leaned slightly forward and closed her eyes, waiting for him. Elijah felt his fangs grow longer and simply could not control himself any longer as her carotid artery pulsed in front of him. He lunged at her and let his teeth sink into her neck.

Hayley's blood flowed freely down his throat and he drank greedily. He could hear Hayley softly panting, a sound that did not exactly help him control himself, but after a few moments, he reluctantly pulled away out of fear. Hayley leaned towards him, panting heavily and looked back up at him. Still, he wanted her. He felt the veins beneath his eyes grow dark once again and she nodded at him, urging him to continue. Elijah dove right back towards her neck and held her to him, letting his hunger overwhelm him.

Elijah lost himself in her. Her scent, her taste… everything was like a drug to him. He heard her whisper his name in his ear which only urged him on. The blood was flowing faster now and he drank greedily. He felt himself begin to go to that place… the red door called to him and he was answering. The hunger was overwhelming him and Elijah could not stop.

Soon enough, he felt satisfied enough to break away, but when he did, what he saw broke him. Hayley laid lifeless in front of him, covered in her own blood.

"NO! No, no, no… Hayley…" Elijah whimpered as he fell to the ground beside her cold body. It was happening again. He had seen Hayley dead once, and this time, it was his fault. He gathered her in his arms and willed her back to life with his cries, but she did not move.

Elijah had been broken, and when he awoke in the morning, chained up like an animal again, both he and Esther knew that there was no coming back from the dark hole she had forced his mind into.