A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful, encouraging comments, I really appreciate them! Here's the second chapter where Elijah not only hears about the tragic accident but where you'll also get a first insight into his past - and his relationships with the other Petrova women, Tatia and Katerina. I'd be interested in your thoughts about that special aspect as it's a key element of this story. So, feel free to write down your own opinion in the comments - if you like my point of view, if yours is different... :-) This chapter will also feature Rebekah, Kol and finally Meredith. So you can imagine where the story may lead... ;-)

Part II. A Light Fades away

Sometimes life changes in the blink of an eye,

Leaving you helpless like a little child.

Watching an angel by your side,

See the pain in his eyes.

And the world with all its sins,

Without mercy breaks his wings.

Deep down the lights of the ever restless city glistened – golden, burning red, a flickering cocoon covering everything.

Elijah stood at the wide window front of the spacious living room in his New Yorker penthouse loft, on the 54th floor of an exclusive apartment tower in upper Eastside Manhattan, looking with unseeing eyes at the panorama outside. He had always been a brain-driven man, the strategist of his crazy, unsettled family, the real one holding them all together, something which Klaus had never managed, not without the only means he'd known – threat and violence. But this night it felt hard for him to collect his thoughts. The shadows of three Petrova women – they were his own personal curse, haunting him for a thousand years, the only thing really staying with him for eternity. Tatia, Katerina, Elena… His greatest joy, his biggest pain but they've never been more than just a dream – the dream of what could have been.

He looked at his watch – 4:30 AM, he had to call Laurence. Hopefully the warlock would be in a somewhat receptive state, given the fact that he probably got stuck at his Mac half the night. Laurence reminded him a lot of Slater, the young vampire geek he'd killed some months ago. A collateral damage, necessary at that moment – but something he regretted by now, if he was honest to himself.

He was some kind of other man at that time, or maybe not even a man but a thing, slowly turning into a stone. But then something had happened – she… She came into his existence which he had stopped to signify as "life" a long, long time ago. And somehow she'd managed to crawl under that already stone like face, reaching for the man whom she obviously – much to his wonder – still could see behind. She certainly was an enchantress of her own kind.

He sighed, trying hard to push away those thoughts. He had some serious things to deal with. One step after the other – first he had to call Kol to make sure that he took his flight to London he must have arrived an hour ago. And Rebekah must be on her own flight to Sydney right now – so at least his remaining siblings would hopefully be out of immediate danger when he started to investigate the circumstances of Klaus's death. An enterprise which he knew could likely bring himself to a not so pleasant encounter with Alaric.

The phone rang and rang it took nearly ten seconds until Kol answered it finally.

"Yeah…?"

Elijah furrowed his brow as he heard the distinctive sounds of a bar in the background – people laughing, chattering, loud music, a band playing Cajun. Hold it! Cajun? His face froze.

"Kol…? Where the hell are you?"

"Eli… Elijah…, dear bro'…" Kol's voice sounded muffled, definitely boozed.

Elijah cursed under his breath. "Damn, Kol… Stupid fool! Don't tell me you're still in New Orleans!"

"Yep, I am, bro'…" he hiccupped, obviously very content with himself and the world around.

Elijah took a deep breath, bringing his brother to burst out giggling.

"Oh Eli…, relax… you really should get yourself a drink. You're always so incredibly stiff and restraint! That can't be healthy…"

"Shall I tell you what's not healthy?" Elijah answered very steady, his voice turning some degrees colder. "It's not at all healthy to make yourself the prime target for Esther's new killer machine!"

Kol only burst out laughing more, as if he amused himself over a strange joke.

"Oh, away with all the dagger and death threats - let's drink to life and a new beginning! We've survived, Elijah – and we're free, totally free! No more Mikael, no more Niklaus, no Esther, no Alaric – and no more doppelgangers… Jeez, I already love this day most of all the days I've ever spent on that damn earth – the future shines bright!"

Elijah tried hard to remain patient. "Kol… You'll go back to your hotel immediately, I'll send you someone. You're drunk and you're in a bad state – certainly not a good combination."

"Oh, come on, Elijah! Don't be such a killjoy! Today's a day to celebrate! And that I'll do! You should rather join us – a toast to the victory of our dear little sis' over that damn doppelganger wench!"

Elijah could hear a muted but audible "Shoo!" in the background – and his heart suddenly skipped a beat, a diffuse foreshadowing enwrapping it.

"Kol…" he tried to concentrate, to listen. "Is that Rebekah next to you? I can hear her breathing." His voice sounded cool and steady, his heart raced. "I want to talk to her!"

"What's up, Elijah?" Rebekah's nonchalant, defiant voice – too nonchalant, too defiant to his taste, he knew her too well. Something in her behavior seemed strange, he began to feel queasy.

"Rebekah, tell me what happened…" He clenched his jaw. "What did you do?"

"I did what you should have done, Elijah. You're the oldest brother – it was your duty to protect us." Her voice went bitter, louder. "But instead you've chosen her over us – you let your own family down, after all what she and her wonderful friends have done to Finn, to Niklaus, to all of us! You let us down – in favor of that damn girl that has bewitched you – like Tatia, like Katerina! It has always been the same, hasn't it? History's repeating itself!"

Elijah gritted his teeth. "Rebekah, let Tatia and Katerina out of this…" His voice was nearly a growl. "I'll only ask you another time… WHAT. DID. YOU. DO. TO. ELENA?"

Rebekah's voice was completely drained of any emotions. "She's dead, Elijah… finally. Their car went down Wickery Bridge after I positioned myself on the road." She snuffled disdainfully. "Dear Matty Blue Eyes…I knew he wouldn't have the guts to drive straight into me."

Elijah felt every milliliter of blood leaving his face, his legs nearly knuckled under him. He had to prop himself on the backrest of the sofa next to him.

"No…" His voice was nearly audible, cracking. No, no, no… That couldn't be true. His mind raced, setting pieces together.

oOo

"Once he's been disarmed, the weapon's in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the earth… and Alaric will follow us."

"And you'll just… run?"

"We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father… What's another half century while Elena's able to live out the rest of her natural life? I give you my word, Elena I will not revive Klaus within yours, not even in your children's lifetimes…"

"Why should she trust you? All you've done is screw her over!"

"And for that I'm deeply ashamed… But know this – she could have been dead the instance I walked through that door tonight… So Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not…"

"Hello… his lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get!"

"Rebekah and Kol honor the terms – if you return Klaus's body to us, Elena will come to no harm."

oOo

He'd given her the world – if she'd asked him for it. He'd shown her the beauty and calmness some places even could offer a tormented, conflicted soul – but she'd never had an interest in all of that, he knew it too well, not with him as the one to show her all those things anyway. So instead he had given her what he'd realized she'd craved for most – the promise of a life in peace, the highest possible normality, a family, children – given the fact that nothing about her entire existence had been ordinary.

And now she was dead, killed by his own sister… He closed his eyes, his brain still refused to believe, to acknowledge it.

"Rebekah", he said very slowly. "I gave her my word that no harm would come to her from us anymore, I've promised her that our family will go out of town and leave her alone. Do you know what that means?" His voice went more fervent. "I gave her my word and she trusted me – despite everything you've done to her in that cave! She trusted me… she trusted us… And what did you do? You've disgraced me, our whole family, everything we hold dear for over centuries!"

Rebekah's voice went sharp. "You're talking of disgrace? You? Who's been the one who's disgraced us? You'd have gladly sacrificed us for her!"

A nearly animalistic growl escaped his throat, his breath went harsh he could feel the veins emerging under his eyes. "Rebekah, hold your tongue! You damn stupid girl – what do you know about the world? I swear to God – may he forgive you one day but I certainly won't – never, do hear me? Never!"

And with an uncontrolled movement he crushed the mobile phone in his right hand, throwing the pieces against the next wall.

He stood there in the middle of the room, seconds, minutes passing by, with clenched fists and burning red eyes, panting. Elena…

oOo

Their first encounter... Her dark brown eyes, challenging him - what a strong contrast to her racing pulse, her shaking.

He couldn't choke his amusement. The lamb and the lion…

"Are you challenging me?"

oOo

Oh yes, she'd challenged him like no one ever before…

oOo

"I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelganger bleeds to death…"

She, stabbing herself with the knife, his panic-fueled cry…

"Nooooooo!"

oOo

It felt like an echo of his current inner cry. He stumbled into the bathroom, to the sink. Leaning over it, he shoveled with both hands cold water into his face.

oOo

The rain trickled down his face, intermingling with his tears.

"Nooooo! Tatia…"

Her lifeless body in his arms, her broken eyes that couldn't see him anymore…

oOo

Elena's sweet, soft voice… "Elijah…?"

"Yes?"

"Take care…"

"You too, Elena… Farewell."

oOo

In an impulse he crushed his fists down the sink, causing the grey marble to splinter into hundreds of pieces. Broken fragments… They were everything that ever remained for him.

He sank down on his knees in the middle of them, his head buried in his hands, as irrepressible sobs agitated him.

The woman at the counter of United Airlines shook apologetically her head.

"I'm deeply sorry, Sir, but the next flight to Atlanta is already fully booked. You know, it's the first flight in the morning the demand is always very large for that one. There's nothing I can do for you."

Elijah threw a casual glance over his left shoulder at the line of people behind him, to make sure that no one actually paid attention to their conversation. Then he leaned a little forward, his gaze sweeping from the name tag on her blazer to her eyes, locking his into hers.

"Please, could you do me a favor, Miss… ehmm, Reed and could you possibly check again? Maybe a passenger cancelled last minute so I could get his seat…"

He hated the use of compulsion in general and in public in particular but he felt he had no other choice. He had to go back to Mystic Falls for reasons he wasn't able to explain, to no one. Because he knew – they wouldn't understand him.

He had to see her, one last time… To silently beg for forgiveness at her dead body – a blessing, he knew very well that would never be granted him. How much pain, how much guilt could one single person bear? He had lost the third Petrova woman too, despite all his efforts to prevent it – bringing this endless story to its final conclusion. He couldn't help but muse sarcastically about the cynicism of that fate – the last chapter of the drama, very Shakespearean. With one significant difference – the male protagonist would continue to suffer for eternity, haunted by his memories. For him there was no death that could finally grant him his peace.

"Oh, you're lucky, Sir!" The voice of the woman at the counter startled him out of his thoughts.

"There's indeed one last seat… First Class, would that be suitable for you?"

He smiled his casual suave smile, never reaching his eyes. "Thanks Miss, that's perfect!"

The plane took off at 7:15 AM when the sun rose slowly at the eastern horizon, coloring the sky in different shades of soft red. Sitting in his window seat, he gazed blandly outside.

oOo

"There's darkness around you…" The frail voice of the old Indian woman, her wise, misty dark brown eyes that were resting on him...

He shifted uneasily.

"I know my granddaughter loves you… and that you aren't able to return her feelings in kind. But I won't talk about that to anyone – neither of your feelings nor your secrets. I think you're punished enough."

To his surprise she laid her wrinkled hand on his, her gaze locking into his.

"I've had a vision of you last night… I've seen it, all of it. Three women of the same bloodline will decide your fate… The first one was your pain the second one will be your disappointment. But the third one will be your light. I hope you'll find your peace someday. You have a good, kind heart… Hold on to it."

oOo

His first time staying with the Indians, one hundred years after his turning – it had been his first escape from his family, right after Niklaus had daggered Finn.

Eight months of apparent peace with people who didn't ask any questions. Until Kol came back and searched for him – and eventually found him, in the process killing the entire village in one of his feared bloodlusts in just one night. That's when he had learned that he had to distance himself from the humanity he'd craved for – to protect the people from his family. And so he went back to Niklaus, to Rebekah and Kol – a life in ordinary and in duty of his deranged family - and he slowly began to change.

Katerina… Her angelic face, her sweet and tender voice, her idealistic speaking of true love… That picture of youthful innocence that brought back bittersweet memories of his own past and a lost love at a time where the centuries and the fights in his family had already left their mark. He realized – a lot later – that he fell rather for that picture of her, not for the reality.

Katerina, in all her coquetry and her refinement, she was not kittenishly yet lovely like Tatia but a she-wolf in sheep's clothing. She was manipulative where Tatia had been naturally sweet and playful, egoistic and destructive where the other one had been selfless and caring. That was when he'd realized that Tatia would have never hurt someone she'd loved intentionally – and oh God, she'd loved with all her heart – but Katerina would always use love as a weapon, and that could be the deadliest weapon of all. It had been the first time a woman had played with his emotions – and made a fool of him – a lesson he would never forget.

And then the third Petrova woman came into his life – Elena… And after some time that he'd spent with her, he knew that the vision of the old Indian woman eventually came true. Yes, she had been his light – with all her courage, her morals, her strength… Making him actually remember how beautiful it could be to be human. He never said it to her, never admitted what she gave back to him – but he hoped she'd realized it herself. For oh, how well she knew him, corresponded with him just through gazes – as if she'd been some kind of soul mate. She'd slowly broken the ice around him and his heart – he'd been fascinated by her, he'd admired her, he'd cared for her to the point where he'd started himself to ask the big question – what kind of feelings did he really have for her?

oOo

"Always and forever, Elijah…"

oOo

He closed his eyes, the pain burning in his chest as if it was the fatal White Oak Stake. That was when the plane hit the ground at the Atlanta airport. It was 9:05 AM.

The smell of food waved through the lobby of the hospital, intermingling with the always so characteristic ones of disinfectants and human exhalations. It was lunchtime and the lobby was even more busy than usual.

A young woman doctor, her dark hair tied together in a pigtail, emerged from the cafeteria on the left side, hastily biting into a sandwich. Her gaze wandered casually across the lobby as she suddenly met his, making her stop abruptly. She threw a short glance back over her shoulder then walked with a surprising determination in his direction. She stopped right before him, her glistening dark eyes burned into his.

"Mister… Mikaelson?"

He tried hard to suppress his surprise, put his business mask back on. "Yes…?"

Her eyes glistened even more her voice was low but very sharp. "I can't believe it…" she hissed. "How dare you display such insolence?"

He was completely taken aback by her attack but tried his best not to show it. "Excuse me… but I think we've never been introduced to each other. And as it seems you already know me I think it would only be polite if I had the pleasure in return too."

She raised her chin, her eyes still glistening. "Dr. Meredith Fell… I've been the one in charge as Elena has been hospitalized that night." Her voice slightly cracked. "I've been the one who had to testify her death…"

Elijah swallowed he had a lump in his throat. "I'm sorry, deeply sorry… I wish I could turn back the time and prevent it." He was aware that his voice revealed his inner turmoil to some degree, he caught her slightly surprised gaze but it didn't bother him.

"I didn't realize that Rebekah would be capable of such a tremendous act. It's entirely my fault that I didn't stop her – and with that guilt I'll have to live forever."

"As will Elena with the consequences…" she commented bitterly.

He blinked, utterly confused. "What… what do you mean?"

She sighed, resigned. At a moment's notice the expression on her face changed, suddenly she seemed very tired, at the brink of deepest exhaustion.

"Very well then… I think we should take a little walk in the park…"

He followed her like a robot, his mind completely blank.