Chapter Nine

DAVINA

"I…"

He carefully pulled me to my feet. The room was unfamiliar to me, but at least I was no longer stuck in hell.

Am I really back? Has she really gone?

"Davina, is that you?"

Confusion painted Elijah's face with worry as I struggled to get a grip on reality.

"I think… I'm back," I managed to say, fearing that I'd jinx myself if I actually said it.

My head was pounding. My body ached and I had no idea why. Before I could think of anything to say, Elijah pulled out his phone and made a call.

"She's back… Davina, yes… I'm not sure… It's possible… See you then."

It was a short conversation and I didn't know if Klaus had been on the other end, but it was one of his siblings for sure.

Elijah's dark brown eyes met mine and did something to me I never expected. I wanted to hold him. I wanted to hide myself in his arms and cry.

Oh God. I'm not alone.

She hadn't left me. She was still there, hiding in my head, safely protected by my shield of sanity. I could feel her. Tatia was the one who wanted to be held, not me.

What the hell happened?

I needed to sit down, otherwise I was sure to collapse. Elijah noticed my weakened state and helped me onto a chair.

He sat across from me, leaning in.

"Tell me everything you remember."

Where was I supposed to start? I was staring into the eyes of a reformed sadist. I should have felt the fear and terror that Tatia felt, but I didn't. It was gone. My mind was fully aware of all the horrible things he had done, but my emotional well had not been poisoned by this knowledge.

What have you done, Tatia?

We seemed to have swapped places. I wasn't sure if this was a last resort coping mechanism of hers, or if it was the consequence of walking through that door. Had she placed that door there for me deliberately?

I would've drowned in her dementia if she continued to subject me to those horrifying memories.

"Davina."

No. Don't look at him, I told myself, averting my gaze and fixating on the window.

For some reason, I just couldn't look him in the eye. He made me feel things I didn't want to feel.

These emotions don't belong to me. They belong to you, Tatia.

There was nothing but somber silence in my mind, but I knew she was there. I felt her haunting presence.

"She showed you," he said. "Didn't she?"

I swallowed hard and tried to fight back my tears. "Yes."

"How much?"

"Does it matter?" I finally met his gaze.

Elijah lowered his head. I guess he was ashamed.

Good. He should've been ashamed.

"I can't take it back. I can't turn back time. I needed her to know—to understand that I was sorry… so very, very sorry." Pain and agony had thickened his tone.

I noticed something drip onto his trousers.

"I needed her to know that I had changed." He wiped his eyes. "The least I could have given her was peace before she left me for good."

"She hasn't left you," I blurted out, much quicker than I would've liked.

Elijah raised his head, staring in what seemed like disbelief.

"She's still here—in my mind," I reiterated. "I can feel her."

He looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks. I'd never seen him look so gaunt and tired. An unforgiving sadness seemed to have claimed his soul. All the mystery had faded. He was no longer an enigma to me. I'd seen the monster he hid behind the man.

His flawless suits, his charisma, his charming personality: it was all a costume; a costume he wore to cloak the demon within.

"Can you reach her?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought I'd have some sort of telepathic link to her, but she doesn't respond. I just… I feel her in there, lingering in my mind."

He stood up and started to pace, assumingly sorting out his own racing thoughts.

I wasn't expecting this to happen. I still didn't understand exactly what had happened.

You let me steer, didn't you?

Still no response.

"You need to eat," Elijah said. "Come. We can discuss things afterward."

~oOo~

I sat, perched on a stool near an island in the checkered floor kitchen of his mansion. A chubby looking woman with red hair, in a maid's outfit had prepared lunch for me. Apparently, hiring a full staff of employees to look after me and the household was the first thing Elijah did in the morning.

I wonder if he compelled them.

I chewed the last morsels of my turkey sandwich and took a sip of freshly squeezed orange juice. I was starving. I couldn't remember the last time I ate. I felt like I was knocked out most of the time.

Was Freya the one to bathe me?

I hoped to God it wasn't Klaus or Elijah.

"Would you like another sandwich, sweetie?"

"No," I lied. "Thank you, Mrs.…"

"Jones, dear. Mrs. Jones." She beamed. "But feel free to call me Kora. The master of the house just hired us today."

She spoke with an English accent, but it wasn't the same sort of accent that Rebekah and Klaus had. I guess it didn't sound as… posh?

"Mrs. Jones, you may address me as Elijah. No need for formalities, please." He turned away from the window and offered a friendly smile.

"Thank you, Elijah."

Funny, coming from a man who loved that word. Tatia practically worshipped him and that was all she ever called him. Master this, and Master that. How could she have ever fallen in love with a monster?

"I'd like to take a shower and freshen up, if you don't mind," I said to him.

"Not at all." He regarded Mrs. Jones and said, "Kora, will you please escort my guest to the available bedrooms on the East wing?"

"Of course, Sir."

She took my empty dish away from me and placed it in the sink before she walked around the dark granite island.

"Follow me, dear."