A/N: Sorry I've been away for a while, busy with uni applications and school YAY ME! Anyway I finally found some time to write and I've missed it so much, weekly chapters should be back now!

Chapter 38: Confrontation

Elijah stood halted in a deserted street of New Orleans; its buildings drooped by thick shadows shrinking away from the dim glowing streetlamps. The city was falling asleep for the night and only the titter of birds and occasional rustle of the wind now sang in the place of the joyous brass band of jazz.

Sabine was speaking, her tone dreary. It was clear that the speech she was spitting had escaped her sharp mouth countless times before.

"So this next part of town is one of the few areas where any of the original French architecture remains. The most of the buildings were destroyed in the seventeen hundreds when the city burned for the first time. " She finished pausing to glimpse at Elijah who seemed to be in a thought of some sort.

Her words were not what Elijah was listening to; he was too focussed on his theory, the tour being merely a tool. He knew this city. This was their home.

"Am I putting you to sleep?" Sabine asked coming across as slightly offended and as she observed Elijah more closely, her own suspicious nature began to seep through.

Elijah's eyes flickered towards the tarmac as he formed conclusion inside of him. A confession was what he had been hoping for but it was clear now that this was not about to occur.

It was time for Plan B, confrontation.

The pieces already fit together, her aura, her way of speech, the familiar glint in her unfamiliar eyes. He wasn't sure, no. Not sure, but his suspicions were enough. He needed to get to the bottom of this. Now.

Elijah did not look up, he spoke at the tarmac his tone and expression both stern.

"As surprising as you might find this, it's not every day that someone asks you to betray your own brother... "He uttered as he gradually turned around to face her.

"Celeste..." He then added in a hissing tone after pausing shortly. His face expressed his inner disgust, his teeth tightly shut, his eyes narrowed, piercing.

Sabine did not move. There was no sign of a reaction and for a second Elijah began to doubt.

However seconds after the crimson lips before him curved malignantly into a smirking smile. The glint in her eyes had never been brighter.

"How did you know?" she asked bluntly.

Inside Elijah's blood boiled, he had been hoping he was wrong. That his thoughts had only been stupid inklings in the back of his mind formed from years of paranoia. That this issue would be eradicated and that Hayley...

"Hayley." He suddenly thought and his blood simmered down, his love for her an antidote, but he recalled their recent fallout and that so that familiar ache for her formed within him.

All this flooded through him within seconds but being the marble symbol of composure he was, not one bubble of feeling escaped his form.

"As Davina was drawing your likeness, I dared to imagine that your presence was near. And when Sophie discovered that there was no magic in your remains, I wondered...Could you have possibly cheated death by using your power to place your essence into the body of another? And if so, then who? And then I recalled the no other than of course, you. The lovely Sabine." Elijah replied, pacing around the place in which he stood.

Celeste watched intently, her smile still stinging upon Sabine's face. She looked at her former lover with almost a sense of pride as he continued his explanation, the pieces of his puzzle locking together even tighter in that vast vast mind.

"Your visions of my brother's child precipitated the death of the last elder within your coven... Ensuring that the Harvest ritual could not be completed...unless you were to control it. You have been playing a very long game indeed." He hissed stopping to flash a glare towards her.

"But to what end?" he spoke slowly nearing her, his eyes darkened but confused.

Celeste drew closer looking more malevolent by the second. She shook her head sardonically at Elijah's questioning look.

"Oh Elijah..." She cooed looming more forwards every fraction of a second.

Elijah's eyebrows rose anticipating her behaviour, his nose wrinkling at her fake endearment.

"My long lost love..." she continued drunkenly, everything about her only growing more sinister.

Elijah's eyes narrowed to an even deeper sign of disgust. He sensed foul play through every part of her and it sickened him to remember that this was the woman he once loved unconditionally.

His thoughts diverted as he recalled his argument with Hayley in the cabin...

"What she means to me..." he thought and his heart clenched at picturing the effect those meaningless words had had on Hayley. He felt pathetic and his eyes screwed shut for second as he noted inside to find a suitable punishment for his pathetic behaviour.

He didn't even notice Celeste...

When his eyes flashed open her sick shade of lipstick was smudged onto his lips and her hands were gripping his shoulders. He hadn't even feel the insensitive act, it hadn't even registered but now it did. His lips curled.

Anger exploded inside him. He shoved her off, roughly throwing her back onto the road, a look of utter aversion plastered onto his face. He raised his hand wiping his lips with forefinger and thumb and rubbed the colour between them.

"What on earth was she thinking?"

He flashed a snarl towards her finding a whole new definition of confrontation but was surprised to see her expression.

Celeste tapped her foot impatiently smiling a casual smile as if nothing had occurred.

"After all this time, don't you understand? " She spoke patronisingly, folding her arms and rolling her eyes.

"I died because of Klaus. And even after all his vindictive lies about witches led to my death, you stood by him. All because of your vow, always and forever." Celeste began to rant as Elijah looked on in bafflement.

Suddenly his head panged and he clasped his forehead in agony. He ground his teeth, scrunching up his eyes and then opened them once again, his jaw line distinct. He shook off the remnants of pain alerting himself. Something was wrong, something was very wrong.

Just as he began to feel as if he was recovering from the initial shooting pain, a sense of dizziness engulfed him like a gust of wind. His vision double and he groaned in annoyance and then pain.

"What have you done to me?" he roared through the anguish fighting to defeat whatever it was that was infiltrating his immortal form.

"Oh, it's a simple enchantment. You needn't worry. I'm not here to kill you, Elijah; I'm here to teach you the error of your ways. "Always and forever" was the biggest mistake of your life." She spoke first chipper and then incredibly blunt.

"You poisoned me with a kiss." Elijah spat realising her weapon of choice as he struggled to regulate his breathing.

"At least you haven't lost your sense of irony." he muttered.

He then recalled Celeste's intentions regarding his family.

"Your anger is with me. Now if you have come here seeking revenge..." he began but Celeste soon cut him short.

"Oh, I'll have my revenge. Starting with Klaus. He is gonna know pain and torment like he's never felt before. Unless you choose to save him, of course..." she smiled.

But then that leaves Rebekah, your pathetic little sister. She's about to find herself in quite the predicament. You could save her...But then that leaves Hayley in jeopardy. "She spoke incredibly pleased with every word that was escaping her mouth.

Elijah's heart began to patter, his eyes doubled in size.

"No." He spoke sharply.

"No." He repeated several time clutching his heart where the pain seemed to focus now.

Elijah fell to his knees; just the thought of Hayley in harm was enough to drive him into a chamber of throbbing agony.

Celeste watched him, a spread of fake empathy upon her face.

"Poor poor girl. She has no idea how dangerous it is to be loved by you. Oh well. With you disarmed by my spell, you won't be able to save all of you precious family. You'll recover with just enough time to choose one. Who will it be? I can't wait to find out. " she spoke excitedly before turning around to walk away.

Her voice thundered inside Elijah's head and he cupped his ears and groaned. He then struggled to find his phone terrified that it was already too late. He speed dialled Hayley feeling like he was living a perpetual hell waiting for her to answer.

The call was cut.

He cursed internally.

She was avoiding him.

He redialled the number feeling blood clotting towards his heart.

Still no answer. The fear inside him was reaching a peak.

He switched now to call his sister but even that was no use.

Rebekah's phone rang and rang vibrating on top of a keg of beer while Rebekah entered the forest with her new werewolf friend. He led her against a tree now and leaned down to kiss her deeply. Rebekah hummed.

"I'm sorry, I really do like you but this is the deal." Oliver spoke to a perplexed Rebekah.

"What deal, with whom?" Rebekah asked but she received no reply. As Oliver backed away into the depth of the dark forest she was met by a semi circle of wolves.

They growled teeth bared and hungry.

Rebekah's face flashed with fear.

Before Elijah could even try Klaus, the phone slid from his fingers. Elijah felt himself weaken drastically and his body feeling lighter fell, his control slipping away from his fingers as he drowned deeper in thin air...