Hello, my lovely readers. There are only two more chapters after this one. They will posted on Saturday and Halloween Monday. Also this in part of my 32 updates until my birthday November 27th. On with the show…
Chapter 11: Not a Treat
Six hours till Halloween:
Elijah Miakelson stood inside the Mikaelson family kitchen. He had been enjoying a cup of warm cider that his mother prepared for the family. His siblings were all over the house preparing the party for that evening while his parents were in the living room, trying to ignore them. This left Elijah to brood on the warnings that so many seemed to think were harmless pranks. Many a time had people found themselves dead at the hand of a "harmless prankster."
"Come on, Hayley!" his youngest sibling called from the hallway. Elijah glanced through the open doorway to see Hayley's long waves go bouncing after his sister's blonde curls. His lips curled into a smile before he glanced back out into the backyard and Elijah felt his heart stop.
"Kol!" Elijah shouted. His adrenaline skipped and his feet propelled him toward the back door of their home. "Father! Mother!" Elijah shouted on his way into the yard. His youngest brother, Kol, the prankster of the family, swung back and forth from a tree limb, his head dangling at an odd angle. "Dear God! No!" Elijah cried. He grabbed Kol's legs which dangled lifelessly and Elijah felt tears pricking at the backs of his eyelids. He still remembered a tiny infant grasping his finger. Not Kol. No!
"Elijah? What's going on?" Esther called and then shrieked at the sight of her Kol hanging from the tree limb. "No! Mikael! Oh, God! Oh, no!"
"Kol!" Mikael shouted, coming running out to help Elijah.
Klaus and Rebekah came out with Hayley trailing behind them. "Shit!" Hayley said loudly before she came to stand beside Elijah. She pulled out a switchblade, popping a tiny button and holding it out to Elijah who cut through the rope, freeing his brother's body.
Klaus and Rebekah knelt down beside Kol's lifeless form while Mikael began to do chest compressions. "Bloody hell," Rebekah muttered, moving to press her mouth to Kol's when he sat bolt upright.
"Ha! Had you lot fooled. And, thanks Bex, but I don't want the kind of therapy I'll need if we ever exchange spit," Kol began to laugh and Klaus had to hold their father back.
"I'm going to murder you, Kol!" Mikael roared while Esther placed herself between her son and her enraged husband.
"Mikael, no. It is Halloween. You know that Kol loves this holiday and, yes, he acted rashly but many children are doing so today." Esther turned and gave Kol a wary look. "Do not frighten us like this again," she warned him. "Or I will not stand between you and your father's fury."
"Yes, mother," Kol said, bowing his head.
Esther took Mikael's hand and they returned to the house.
"You little wanker!" Rebekah hauled off and smacked Kol on the arm.
"Ouch!" Kol complained, rubbing his arm and then letting out another laugh. "Wait till next year."
"I will kill you myself if you try something like that again," Elijah snapped before turning and walking away.
11:30 p.m. Day before Halloween:
Elijah stood, watching the partygoers: his friend, Elena Gilbert, her boyfriend, Damon Salvatore, his siblings and their friends and Hayley and the men she thought of as her family. Feeling his heart quicken at the sight of the tall brunette, Elijah's gaze moved away. He would not tell her how he felt. He couldn't. The last time he had fallen for a girl, she had been trying to use him to escape a mental facility. He would not allow himself to be vulnerable again. At least that's what he thought he would do. But this night would be full of surprises.
The party dragged on while people began to disappear. They probably intended to find some alone time with their paramours. Elijah chuckled to himself, sipping his beer until a scream ripped through the air. He would know her voice anywhere. And when did she leave?
"Hayley!" Elijah shouted but she didn't reply. He dropped his cup and began running. His feet collided with rocks and strewn tree limbs but none of it would keep him from her if someone was hurting her.
Finding her beside a body came as a relief. She wasn't hurt. Not physically speaking. Grabbing her, he pulled her to him, pressing her close, looking for danger, taking in their friends, ever alert to a threat.
Caroline Forbes startled him out of his survey of their surroundings. "Elijah!" the blonde called. Her eyes were frantic and he almost knew what she would say before she said it as he got to his feet, tugging Hayley with him.
"Klaus. He's missing…" Caroline's words came out and Elijah could only watch her mouth move. He knew. He knew his family was in danger tonight. Why hadn't he tried harder to stop them? Caroline stopped talking and Elijah began to work.
"Jackson, take Hayley. Go somewhere safe," Elijah snapped at Jackson. Never his favorite person, Jackson Kenner could be rather pig-headed at times. As promised, Jackson began to argue but Elijah ignored his words. His actions were what counted right at that moment.
Caroline broke his concentration on the remaining male in the Kenner family. "I'll stay with Hayley," she told him and Elijah looked up at Caroline. He knew there had been bad blood between the two girls in the recent past but this was not the time to worry about petty rivalries.
Taking Hayley's face between his hands, Elijah tried to make eye contact with her, she was clearly in shock. "Hayley, Caroline will watch you until I get back. I will be back soon," he promised her but she did not seem to hear him.
Elijah moved into the woods. He had no idea what kind of people or monsters he might be facing out here but he knew he could not leave his siblings out, lost and vulnerable to whatever threat they were facing.
His feet moved him closer to where the party had been. Beer cans, cups, and other debris littered the ground. It seemed that people had fled in terror.
"Hello there," a voice called from behind him. "Lost?"
Turning on his heel, Elijah looked into the dark blue eyes of a hooded figure. He couldn't make out anything about the person. He thought they might be female but did not want to make an assumption based on body size. Being female did not preclude the person from being deranged if the knife in her hand was any clue.
"Hello," Elijah answered her.
"I know some people who have been looking for you," the figure replied with a quiet laugh.
"Yes. And who might they be? Why don't you come with me and find out?" the figure asked before launching herself at him.
Elijah ducked down into a crouch and rolled away. Stopping mere feet away, he watched the woman, her long black hair falling out and streaming down the sides of her face, grinned at him and then moved toward him again.
"Don't you want to know why we're doing this?" the woman asked, making her way toward Elijah.
"Does it matter?" Elijah retorted. "Everyone has a motive. No matter how absurd others might find it. No one acts with some desire to gain an effect."
"Oh, what a lovely way of looking at life. Here's a clue: not everything has a reason for being. Some things just are." The black haired woman ran at him again and Elijah moved at the last second, watching her knife become stuck in the tree behind him. "I'm going to enjoy watching them kill you," she snarled at Elijah.
"You know, I do not like to hit women and I despise men who do but there are exceptions to every rule." Elijah lifted his elbow and knocked the woman out with a swift blow before heading away. He still needed to find Niklaus, Kol and Rebekah.
His body moved quickly through the woods. His siblings were nowhere in sight. "Damn it," he growled under his breath when he heard a branch snap behind him and it occurred to him that staying in the woods might not be the best idea. Moving quickly, Elijah exited the The Falls and headed toward the parking lot, looking for one car with keys in the ignition.
No one seemed to be overly trusting tonight. Sighing, Elijah was about to give up when a loud thump startled him. He spun around on his heel to find a car stopped mere feet away and someone shouting his name. That was impossible. Surely Caroline and the others would be gone by now along with Hayley. But there she was, fear in her eyes, her arms extended toward him like she could pull him to her.
Two things happened at the same time. Elijah saw the hooded figure who had stalked him back to the parking lot get to his/her feet and moved toward the open car door where Hayley sat. The second thing that happened was that Elijah finally noticed an open car door. Something metal gleamed from within. Without thinking about what he did or what the metal thing might be, Elijah grabbed it and turned toward his would-be assailant.
On an adrenaline high, Elijah smacked the hooded figure on the shoulder with the tire iron. This person might be a murderer but Elijah Mikaelson was not and did not intend to become one unless forced to be. Diving into the car, Elijah found himself sprawled across Hayley and a startled Jackson. "Drive!" he bellowed at Caroline who seemed frozen in the driver's seat.
Elijah took a moment to settle between Hayley and Jackson. Hayley's hand moved across the seat and took his; he would have smiled under other, more pleasant circumstances. Caroline gained his attention. "Did you find Klaus?" Her voice rose several octaves higher than it usually sounded. Her skin looked bloodless, lacking the usual warm pink tinge.
"No," Elijah's one word ricocheted around the car in the silence before disappearing, followed by more words that sounded more like excuses to Elijah. A denial of failure but surely it was a failure and still the words came out. "I tried to, but he…I hope he went home." Then more dreadful silence as Caroline's ghostly fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
No one spoke until Elijah saw something familiar up ahead in the road. Father's car. Perhaps he had a flat. "That's my father's!" Elijah cried out to gain Caroline's attention. His brother's girlfriend pulled over and he got out to go find and talk to his father, feeling relieved.
Approaching the car, Elijah thought there was something wrong and then he saw his father's head. The world lurched to the side and his stomach heaved. Suddenly the little bit of beer wanted to make another appearance, coming out rather than going in. "No!" Elijah yelled, falling to his knees.
Caroline said something but Elijah had no idea what. Hayley began to yank on him. His first instinct was to pull away. He had to stay. He had to stay there and talk to the sheriff. Someone had to tell Mother and Niklaus, Rebekah and Kol. To call Finn. To…to…to… "Father!" Elijah cried out seeing the man who had carried him on his shoulders, who helped them make a treehouse, who pushed him on the swing set.
Hayley, Elena and Caroline forced Elijah to his feet and shoved him back into the car. Caroline began to drive again and Elijah tried to think of what to tell his family. Father…is gone. Father's head was sliced off. Father will not be joining us for breakfast. Nothing seemed right. And there would be funeral arrangements. What did they do when the body came in two parts? It would not be an open casket ceremony. Perhaps cremation would be best. He, Finn and Mother would have to choose, later, not now.
They entered the emergency room and Elena asked about Stefan before they headed for the bank of the elevators. Elijah mumbled to himself, trying to remember if Father had ever said anything about provisions for the family. What if there were no living will? What if he had hidden debt? What if he hated flowers and would have preferred candles at the funeral?
"My father was decapitated," he said by way of greeting to Damon Salvatore who blinked back at him.
"What?" Damon looked confused and shocked before Elena distracted him with questions about his brother.
"Elijah, why don't you sit down?" Caroline called, waving toward a row of seats. "Why don't all of you sit down?" Her words now included Hayley and Jackson. Kenner lost his brother, Elijah remembered, glancing at the other man who slumped down beside Hayley who took his hand and then took Elijah's with her free one.
Something Damon said startled Elijah. "When did you see Niklaus?" he demanded.
"Like an hour ago… Wait. What time is it?" Damon did not seem certain.
"Two o'clock," Hayley offered, staring at the bright screen of her phone. Elijah glanced away. The light hurt his sore eyes.
Damon's answer did not help. Elijah already knew these things happened. He had seen Klaus looking for Caroline. What he wanted was for someone to tell him that Niklaus was somewhere safe. "I'm sure he's fine," Elena told him and Caroline. Elijah felt less than certain. He knew she meant to be kind.
Elijah heard Caroline mention coffee and Hayley got up. For a moment he thought Hayley intended to go with Caroline when she took another path. Caroline followed her. Elena and Damon were talking again. To him, to someone else or to each other, Elijah did not feel sure.
After what felt like an eternity in hell, he got to his feet. "The girls have been gone for too long. I'm going to try to find them." Elijah could not just sit there, waiting for what bad news would come to greet them next.
"Be careful," Elena said and hugged him. Her friendship meant more than Elijah believed he had told her. If they survived this night, he would write her a letter, thanking her.
"I will," Elijah promised them with a solemn look. "Text me if you get news," he ordered Damon before leaving the couple. He knew from viewing Kol's favorite horror movies that splitting up usually ended badly for whoever did so. However, he would not allow Hayley and Caroline to run around by themselves. Who knew for sure if it would be only males who fell victim to this group's madness?
Elijah began on the floor they were on. He peered into rooms until a young blonde doctor came toward him. "I'm sorry, can I help you find someone?" she asked him with a sweet smile.
"Oh. I'm not sure. I came in with my friends. But I was hoping that maybe my brother might have been brought in. Well. No. No one hopes that their sibling is brought in… Rather, we can't find him. And I was hoping…if he were hurt…that he would be here," Elijah finished feeling uncertain about his choice of words.
"Okay. Well, why don't you tell me what your brother's name is?" the doctor asked.
"Klaus. Niklaus Mikaelson."
"Oh. Yes. He's here. Did you want me to take you to him?" She smiled and Elijah felt relief course through his body.
"Very much so." Elijah followed the woman down the hall and into a room. He moved cautiously toward the person lying on the bed. "Niklaus?" he called quietly.
When Klaus did not respond, Elijah moved closer and peered down. The room's only source of light came from the moon through the window. Elijah's back stiffened when he realized that man in the bed was not his brother. "Who is this? This is not my brother," he snapped, turning to find the doctor trying to shove a hypodermic into his arm. "What are you doing?" he demanded, smacking the needle away from her.
"You couldn't do it the easy way?" the blonde doctor snarled. Now, he saw a gleam of insanity in her eyes as she moved to kick him between the legs but he leapt back before giving her a healthy push backwards. She cursed as he moved past her, toward the door.
Elijah yelped when he felt something stab him in the ankle. The doctor or escapee from the mental facility had cut him in the ankle with a scalpel. He leant over, grabbed the scalpel and wrenched it free while she looked for her needle full of who-knew-what.
His feet could not carry him fast enough out of the room. The stairwell was not that far away and so Elijah made a run for it. Coming through the door, he slammed his shoulder into it, feeling the impact and groaning in pain.
Go up? Go down? Elijah decided to go up for some reason. Going up turned out to be the right decision when he found Hayley. Grabbing her elbow, he could not contain the relief he felt when he found her unharmed. "Hayley, you're safe," he was saying. "You're safe."
"Elijah, there's something wrong with this place. I don't know what's going on. Klaus. We found Klaus. And Caroline was with me. They were right behind me," Hayley's eyes moved to look for the missing members of her band of three.
"There is a fake doctor here. We need to go as soon as possible," Elijah explained when the fake doctor appeared as if summoned.
Caroline appeared with a fire extinguisher, held high. When Elijah realized that Caroline intended to smash his brains in, he would have been dead if not for Niklaus. "Caroline!" his brother shouted, stopping Caroline.
"Caroline, if you must kill someone, make sure you're killing the right person," Elijah said with his usual calm demeanor, feeling more like himself, if only for a moment.
"There you are. I've been looking all over for you. You really shouldn't have tried to leave the ward," the fake doctor was saying as she moved down the stairs. "I'll have to have you restrained once we get back," she was telling Niklaus.
Elijah stood, listening to Caroline and the doctor speak, feeling like he had had entered into a surreal dream and only wished to wake up. Then Hayley shoved a needle into the fake doctor's arm and they were free to run for their lives. Plus one sibling. Minus two. If only finding Bekah and Kol could be this easy.
Elijah led the way back to the door of the fourth floor, shoving it open and felt happy that Elena and Damon were still there. "We have to leave," he announced.
Of course Damon argued. He would, too, if the roles were reversed but Damon had yet to encounter the crazy doctor. "Where's Jackson?" Hayley questioned Damon and Elena.
Elena explained that Jackson was gone. Hayley began to cry. Elijah felt that they would all be crying before this night ended. Klaus suggested that they spring Stefan which Elijah thought was an excellent idea with an inmate running about. Elena came up with a plan and they moved to execute it.
The plan might have worked if the fake doctor hadn't stopped them with—possibly—fake security guards. Soon his brother, Caroline and Stefan were taken from them. "Hey, where are you taking them?" he shouted but, of course, they did not bother to answer. He had just gotten his brother back, only to lose him, again.
A car from a Sherriff's station waited outside for them to be loaded inside. Elena and Damon were forced inside first. Then Hayley and Elijah. They were all crowded into the back. All four of the young people began to speak at once while the deputies ignored them.
Arriving at the Sherriff's station someone deigned to speak to them: Sherriff Elizabeth Forbes. Only she did want to hear what they had to say. Elijah believed that this followed a typical horror movie sequence: scared teens try to talk to parents/authority figures, are ignored and almost everyone dies, including the ignorant figures in charge.
Sherriff Forbes finally mentioned something that gave Elijah any opening. A report of a body on a road leading away from The Falls. "You mean my father, yes, I saw his body, he had his head cut off," Elijah told the Sheriff before he stopped talking and stared at the ceiling.
Elijah decided to tune out the rest of the conversation until Liz left and Elena began to try to reason with her. Matt Donavon had always been a little slower to pick up on things in Elijah's opinion but he was not without some sense. If only he could make the younger man see reason.
"What are you on?" Matt asked them like this was some kind of joke.
"Nothing!" Elijah yelled, feeling his frustration mounting.
A commotion from the front of the station forced Elijah's attention away from the former jock. Elijah felt his stomach lurch when Katherine came into view. He never thought or wished to see her again.
When he had first met her, her resemblance to his friend had struck him. He had been working on a project for college, intending to study psychology and had even been given permission to speak with Katherine on occasion. At first she seemed sweet, innocent. She could not be the girl who had burned down her family home at the age of five while her family slept peacefully. She could not have tied her twin to her bed and placed a plastic bag over her head. Nor could she be the girl who cut off her Uncle John's fingers with a butcher knife at the tender age of six just to see if they could really be sewn back on.
No, Elijah fell into Katherine's trap. And she almost convinced him to free her from the mental facility that she lived in until he asked her about Elena one day.
"Bitch," Katherine muttered into her unruly locks.
"What?" Elijah had replied, feeling startled.
"Bitch, took my life. Everything! She took them all. Everyone! Everyone loved precious Elena. Elena's so sweet. Elena's so pretty. Elena. Elena. Elena. Wonder how much they'll like her when I cut her in two!" Katherine grinned and Elijah stumbled to his feet before calling for a guard.
"No! No, Elijah! Elijah, I'm sorry! Please! Please, don't leave! No one else comes to see me! Please! I won't! I won't hurt anyone! Just don't go! Please! I can't! I can't be all alone! Please! Elijah, I'll be good! PLEASE!" Katherine wailed even as a guard sedated her and her eyes went glassy. "Please," came out weakly and then she went limp.
"Who found her?" Elijah asked but no one answered him.
Jeremy Gilbert's voice rang through as he tried to get to them. "Is there anyone else with you? Is Kol with you?" Elijah called to his brother's friend.
When the word hospital in connection with his brother's whereabouts came out of Jeremy's mouth, Elijah felt his stomach drop. "No!" he cried.
"Hello, Elijah. Funny meeting you here. I've been looking for you all night. Why don't you give me a kiss, lover?" the girl said, pushing her body toward Elijah, causing Jeremy to lose his footing for a second. She took the advantage, yanking out of his grip. Lunging forward, the girl threw herself onto Elijah, knocking his chair over and wrapping her hands around his throat. "You said that you wouldn't leave me alone in there. You said you'd write and call and visit. You're a liar, like all the other boys."
Matt dragged Katherine off him and cuffed her while she continued to taunt Elijah. "Oh, I missed you. I hope we get the same cell. I think we need some alone time."
"Katherine, I did not mean to lead you on," Elijah began, feeling like he might throw up when she began to laugh at him.
"You're such an idiot, Elijah. You're just like all the other boys. They all say they'll remember you. But then they find someone else who comes along," Katherine sneered at Hayley. "Don't worry, he'll find a replacement for you, too."
Elijah wondered how Katherine could possibly know about his feelings for Hayley. Unless she had been watching him, them. For long? Or was it just tonight? Or had someone else been doing the watching for her? How many of these people were there?
"You're really crazy, you know that, right? I'm not with Elijah!" Hayley snapped and Elijah tried not to let his disappoint at the intensity of her words show.
"Aren't you? My bad. Oh, well. Then I guess I shouldn't have told my friends to kill your friend," Katherine shrugged before grinning.
"You had them kill Oliver!" Hayley shouted, Elijah could feel her grief and anger. Wanting to comfort her but knowing that would only encourage Katherine's jealousy.
"No, I was talking about the other one," Katherine replied slowly as she leaned forward and stared at Hayley who looked like she was going to break her chair trying to get to Katherine. "Didn't you know? So sad. He was kind of hot."
Katherine's attention moved back to Elena and Damon for a long time. Elijah became lost in memories of talking to her when she snapped him back into focus. "Time's up," she announced with glee, looking at the clock which read: 2:35 a.m.
Wanting to ask her what she meant, Elijah's question was answered when people began to shout from the front of the Sherriff's station. Katherine moved to get her hands in front of her, revealing Matt's gun as two other hooded figures came to join her. One of the two women focused on Elijah. There you are, little brother. I've been looking forward to this meeting for a long time," she told him with a wide smile.
"Who are you?" Elijah asked the woman. But he thought he knew. Somewhere, deep down. Finn would know for sure. However, Finn was not there.
"Don't you recognize the family resemblance?" Katherine taunted him and Elijah shook his head.
"No," he said flatly.
"It's been a long time. You were still growing inside our mother's womb. Another little gift from the Gods," the woman who claimed to be his sister intoned as she smiled down at him.
Damon being Damon made a comment that pissed Elijah's "sister" off. Her attention focused on Damon and then Elena. His "sister" and the other woman began to argue about who got to kill Elena while Katherine returned her attention to Elijah, climbing in his lap and straddling him, running her fingers through his hair.
His "sister" told them they were leaving. "I can sit on someone's lap," Katherine said, focused on Elijah who turned away until she placed Matt's gun under his chin. He would be no use to his siblings with his brains splattered across the ceiling.
Katherine grabbed the link to his handcuffs and the one who was not his "sister" cut him loose. Waiting for Katherine to get up, he rubbed his wrists as they made their way, single-file, out of the Sherriff's station and toward Matt's deputy car. The minute he sat down, Katherine moved to straddle him. Hayley sat down beside them and he noticed the look of disgust on her face before she turned away.
"I really did miss you, Elijah," Katherine said sincerely, pushing their bodies together.
"I'm sure you did," Elijah snapped, he couldn't keep the sarcasm at bay.
Damon decided to enter the conversation. "How do you two know each other?" he inquired.
Katherine gave her side of the story which made Elijah wonder if he really had used her. It did sound pretty terrible from her end. But hearing her threaten to kill her sister upon release sounded much worse.
"Katherine," Elijah did not know what he could say to her and stopped. "Its okay, Elijah. I understand. We all have needs, wants, desires. Maybe you'll get everything you want from her before I shoot her."
Watching in horror, Elijah felt helpless when Katherine placed the gun she had taken from Matt under Hayley's chin…and pulled the trigger… Nothing. Hayley was safe. Alive.
"Sorry. Need to reload," Katherine told them. She tossed the gun into the lap of the other killer who was not his "sister." Elijah's eyes moved to Katherine's hand moving under her shirt and pulling out a switchblade which she placed under Hayley's chin. When she began to kiss Hayley, Elijah felt the same amount of anger as if another man were violating the girl he—he—he refused to put words to this feeling until tomorrow morning.
Elijah's felt his stomach roll again when Katherine caused Hayley's lower lip to bleed. Biting? Really? "Maybe we'll have a threesome. It's on my bucket list," Katherine remarked. So she did not mean to make it out alive. How splendid and how many of them did she intend on taking with her?
When Katherine began to grind against him again, Elijah wished for death. It would be a mercy killing so he did have to deal with his insanity anymore. Hayley began to speak. Her words sounded persuasive to Elijah's ears and he believed that Katherine felt so, too. He decided to join in on the act.
"Katherine, Hayley is right. I could never forget the limited time that we spent together. I've waited for you for so long. Why do you think that I kept those letters for so long? Because I could not bear to part with your memory."
"Oh, Elijah, that would be so sweet if were true. But I'm not an idiot. And by the end of the day you're going to watch me kill your new girlfriend," Katherine said, grabbing Hayley by the hair and back handing her.
"Hey!" Elijah yelled but he stopped when his "sister" turned around and pointed her weapon at his head.
"See! You're just too easy, Elijah. You always show how you feel in the end." Katherine shook her head with a fake frown.
Donavon parked the car in the Grille's parking lot, ending the conversation and refocusing the group's attention on the Grille. Donavon opened the back door and let them in. The killers decided that singing would kill some time and Katherine was first up to the mic with her sister and Hayley in tow. Elijah could not stop staring at Hayley. He felt terrified about what Katherine might do to her.
Then Katherine said the thing that he dreaded but expected her to say. "I'm going to make an exception to our only killing boys this holiday and start with you." She aimed her reloaded gun at Hayley's head.
"Stop!" Elijah yelled at her.
"Why?" Katherine demanded. "What can you do for me that will make me stop?"
"I'll…" Elijah felt at a loss for what to offer to the demented girl.
"Bet she hasn't had sex in a really long time," Damon inserted and Elijah wanted to bludgeon him.
"No. I haven't," Katherine smiled. Looking down at Elijah, "How about you and I change that? Right here and right now?"
Elijah couldn't help but look to Hayley to see what she thought. She nodded and he forced himself to say. "Yes. Of course." He supposed this was what people called "taking one for the team." Most men would not shy from the task of making love to a beautiful woman, even if she was deranged and threatened to kill him and people he cared for mere minutes ago. Katherine took his hand and led him into the office.
Elijah had fantasized about what it would be like to be with Katherine. She made him feel things he had not felt previously at the time they met. Too much schoolwork, not enough socialization left him feeling lonely. And the way she pouted her lips as they spoke or tossed her hair, exposing her long neck.
"Don't get any funny ideas," Katherine said as she set the gun down on the desk. "If I cry out, they'll come in here."
"Really? What if it's not a cry of pain?" Elijah quipped as she moved toward him. Grabbing her, he thrust their bodies together and then lowered her onto the floor.
"So, I'm not the only one who wanted this, I see," Katherine teased, eagerly yanking at his belt. He didn't tell her he wasn't thinking of how she was, really was, but of the girl he had met years ago. He carefully tugged her hoodie off and then her tank top, revealing her new lace bra. She wriggled out of her pants and grinned up at him as he pulled his own shirt off.
"I missed you, Katherine. I am truly sorry for how I treated you," Elijah lied smoothly, watching Katherine's eyes begin to shine with joy. He hated himself for what he planned to do but he had to try. He could not just allow this to go on. Closing his eyes, Elijah pressed his mouth to Katherine's. She opened her mouth for him but he did not press his tongue against hers as she moved hers into his mouth with urgency.
Elijah moved his hands up her slim shoulders, stroking her skin, keeping her calm as his hands moved upward 'til they wrapped around her neck and tried to jerk away but he held her still. Pulling away, Elijah felt bitter tears fill his eyes as Katherine gurgled. "I'm so, so sorry, Katherine," he muttered as he took the hoodie, pressing it down over her face, stopping her from being able to breathe or make a sound as he pressed the fabric into her mouth and nose. He bore down on her slim body while tears ran down his cheek. "I'm sorry. Sorry. Oh, Katherine. So sorry," he groaned when she stopped moving.
For a long moment, Elijah could not move as he continued to cry. Then he heard the sounds of a fight from the main room. Moving to check what was going on, Elijah moved back to the desk and grabbed the gun. On his way to the door, he found the knob to the door twisting and he held up the gun, ready to shoot when Rebekah came in, her face smeared with blood. "You got one, too." She smiled but it wasn't really a smile. More of a knee-jerk reaction. "Glad you're still alive, 'Lijah."
"Let's get out of here," Elijah replied. He came out of the office to find Damon and Donavon tying his "sister" up. The other girl lie on the floor. Well, part of her body lay there. Part lay elsewhere. Elijah felt sick again.
Elena stood with the axe in hand, her face smeared with blood and a swollen black eye on her face told the story. She dropped the axe and hugged Damon, telling him how much she loved him. Elijah's eyes searched for Hayley who stood off to the side, holding her side.
"Hayley? Are you alright?" Elijah called.
Hayley's head snapped up and she ran the length of the room, throwing her arms and legs around Elijah. "You're alive," she said, cupping his face. "You're alive. And you didn't…you know…with you know…to you know?"
"I know. And, no, I didn't," Elijah told her and she grinned before looking in the office. "Don't look," he whispered, turning her away from the sight of Katherine's body. If he had known that Rebekah was coming…but Katherine might have gotten to the gun and killed them both… He would never know.
"You're alive," Hayley said again, burying her face into his shoulder. He nodded, watching Damon kiss his blood covered girlfriend.
"Hayley, there's something I need to tell you," Elijah said.
"Tell me after. We still have over half a day to get through," Hayley said, looking at the clock.
The clock read: 6:47 a.m. "It's almost dawn," Rebekah remarked. "You think they go away during the day?"
"There's no telling," Elijah said, glancing at their other sister who grinned back at him.
Elijah set Hayley on her feet and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She grinned, turning and kissing him on the lips. "Let's get this chick back to the Sherriff's department," Damon called to them, hauling the remaining killer to her feet.
Damon led the way out to Matt's car which was no longer there. "What is going on?"
Sister let out a loud laugh and Elijah gave her a long look. "They always come back," Hayley muttered under her breath. This made Elijah pause.
"I left something. I'll be back," Elijah told the group and went back inside The Grille. Hayley grabbed his hand before he had walked two feet inside.
"You can't go walking around in a horror movie by yourself," Hayley admonished him with a tender look.
"She's right about that," Katherine called out and Elijah felt his heart constrict. "Time in a psych ward teaches you how to fake all kinds of things," she said with a grin before she pulled out a gun. "By the way, I always keep a spare weapon, just in case and then she shot him, twice before fleeing as Donavon came running back in with Rebekah, both ready to fight back. Rebekah shot at Katherine but they couldn't tell if she hit her.
"Let's go. Bekah, you've got a car right?" Hayley shouted, holding Elijah up as best she could. "Elijah, you're going to be fine. Okay? You're not leaving me. Okay? Stay with me! Okay? Okay? Elijah?!"
"Hayley," Elijah began, feeling heady. "I lo—"
Hayley placed two fingers to his lips. "No, you don't get to tell me until tomorrow. Okay? So you're going to stay with me and you're going to tell me tomorrow. Okay!"
Elijah nodded as Donavon and Damon came forward to help him to the car that Rebekah had "confiscated." At some point Elijah lost consciousness. When he awoke, they were back at the hospital. They entered the emergency room to find Liv Parker. Damon went with Liv while Hayley left to find some bandages to cover Elijah's wounds until they could find a "real" doctor although Elijah thought there might not be such a thing.
As he sat in the emergency room, Elijah felt like laughing when Kol, Niklaus, Caroline, Bonnie and Stefan Salvatore entered the ER. Stefan did not seem to be breathing. And Elijah hoped that Damon did not come back to see his brother like that. "Nik!" Rebekah cried. "Oh, God, Stefan! Is he dead?"
"Yes," Kol answered.
"No," Klaus and Caroline snapped at the same time.
"Maybe," Bonnie muttered.
"Elijah," Klaus called.
"Brother," Kol nodded at Elijah with a wide smile. "Nice to see that we Mikaelsons do not seem to have an expiration date."
"Where is Damon?" Elena grumbled.
"Let's go find him," Donavon suggested. "Elijah's family is back. They can look out for him."
"Okay," Elena gave Elijah a look before leaving him with his family who had passed Stefan off to ER workers. Bonnie went to keep an eye on him.
Rebekah sat down and pulled out her phone which had begun to rung. "No, Marcel. Please, don't come. No, everything is fine. I just…No, I don't want to talk today. Just stay out of Mystic Falls. Just trust me. Bloody fool!" She glared at her phone.
"Problems, sister?" Kol inquired with a grin.
"Marcel is coming. I told him not to. But you know him, he'll come because I told him not to and then he'll be just another person to worry about," Rebekah sighed unhappily.
"Hayley's not back yet," Elijah said, gaining his family's attention.
"And? The killer wants to kill boys," Rebekah pointed out.
"Maybe they're going to change their M.O. in the 11th hour," Kol argued.
"Shut up," Rebekah snapped at Kol and then she got up. "I'll just go look for her. Do not come after me. Elijah needs you."
"Oh, goody. Yes, please, do leave all of us boys alone, like sitting ducks," Kol shouted after Rebekah who waved good-bye with her back turned to them.
"I wouldn't worry about it." Klaus looked calm until the doors on the emergency room exploded, glass spewing everywhere as a car rammed through them and Katherine got out.
"Miss me?" Katherine asked them, moving toward them with a machete and who knew or cared where she got it from as Kol and Klaus grabbed Elijah between them and ran for their lives.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Peace,
Jessica