Chapter 13- Darkest Heart of Men
" 'C'mon, Elijah, you have to chase me' Said Rebekah.
Elijah was chasing his sister through the woods, almost at nightfall, when the sun was just setting. He could feel the wind in his long hair, and the braids in front of his face that his sister made that morning. They were still grieving the death of their brother, Henrik, who was mauled by the werewolves when he and Niklaus went to watch them a few weeks prior during the full moon.
His father, Mikael, was taking the hardest. He was always hard and severe on all of them, but Niklaus took a lot more punishment than the rest of them. Whenever Rebekah would do something that would make their father mad, Niklaus would take the fall for it. He would never let his little sister take that type of beating, even though at this point the poor man had several scars across his back from his father's belt. Their mother would never do anything to stop it, so it was up to Rebekah and Elijah to nurse Niklaus back to his health. At this point, Elijah had learned some magic both from his mother and the witch Ayana to make Niklaus' punishment hurt less and make him heal faster, to which his father was less than pleased, saying that 'real man' needed to feel pain.
Later that night, was the night that everything changed.
Elijah couldn't sleep. Being an older sibling, he had a room to himself, and he had brought Tatia there many times, and would only touch her if she let him. He would immediately stop if she said so, he wouldn't take what wasn't his, like many men in his position would do. It wasn't right and for the life of him, Elijah couldn't phantom how that was still normal.
His father barged in unannounced, bringing a cup, and an unknown woman with him, being followed by Rebekah and Niklaus.
'Good, you're awake boy.' His father said. Elijah sat down. His sibling's clothes were stained with blood and they looked sick.
'Father, what happened? What is this?' He asked.
'Drink this, now boy!' Said Mikael, demanding, forcing the cup into Elijah's mouth, making him drink whatever was on the cup. It tasted so bittersweet, almost unbearable at first. But he drank all of it. As soon as he was done, Mikael put the cup beside him and stabbed Elijah in the chest, right in his heart.
When Elijah woke up, Mikael grabbed the woman, and took out a knife from his belt, cutting her arm. Niklaus and Rebekah's eyes turned black, and their veins popped up and they had fangs now.
'Stay back!' He hissed at them. 'Drink boy, drink now!' Mikael almost pushed Elijah's head to the woman's arm.
As soon as the exotic, sweet flavor of the woman's vein hit him Elijah felt the change. His head hung back and he groaned, his eyes turned black, his veins popped up and his fangs came down. It was a moment of pure, unparalleled sensation for Elijah, and it marked the beginning of a journey that would forever define him as a vampire. He leaned back down and drank all of the woman's blood, and it gave it so much power, he felt he could do anything."
"Elijah, Elijah, wake up." Said Elena, trying to wake him up from the dream he was having, or nightmare. "Elijah, wake up!"
He opened his eyes, scared. He never thought of that night fondly.
"Elena!"He said, pulling her close to him. "Oh my love, you're here."
"Yes, I am," She said, a bit coldly. "Who's Tatia?" She asked.
Elijah sat down, resting against the headboard. He knew this was coming. While Elena knew the spell of vampirism had been made by Esther using Tatia's blood, she really had no idea the story behind the meaning of it. He brought her closer to him. If there was one thing that he found out about himself in his relationship with Elena is that he needed to have physical contact with her at all times. He made her sit on top of him, and she let him. She also felt like she needed him touching her at all times.
"Tatia is part of your bloodline." He started, putting a loose strand of hair behind her ear as an excuse to caress her face. "Her blood was used to make the vampirism spell but also, me and Niklaus were fighting over her. Killing her to create vampires was just Mother's way of punishing me and him. Father also didn't like that I wouldn't just take her, as he had done with Mother. I could never do that, it isn't right."
"You loved her."
"Yes, I did."
"Did you want to turn her into a vampire?"
"Yes, but I found out she was gone. I thought she had left the village until Rebekah told me the blood we had drank to turn into vampires was hers."
"So falling in love with me… had nothing to do with her?" Elena asked, looking anywhere but him.
He gently lifted her face and brought her back to him.
"Elena, falling in love with you had nothing to do with her. I mourned her death, and I loved her, but what I feel for you, I haven't felt for anyone else until I met you."
She gave him a small smile.
He wasn't convinced that she was convinced, so he put his hand on her back and turned her around. They weren't wearing any clothes after Elijah had made her his the night before. Elena could see their reflection in the full-length mirror on the wall.
Elijah put her hair to the side and started kissing her neck, his hands holding hers.
"Can I touch you, my love?" He asked, whispering in her ear.
She nodded.
"Use your words, Elena."
"Yes… yes please, Elijah." Elena said, breathless.
Elijah held Elena's gaze as his hands moved to her chest. He cupped her breasts and began a gentle massage. His fingertips circled around her nipples, teasing them into taut little peaks. Elena felt her pulse pounding in her ears and her breath coming in gasps. The heated sensation left her weak in the knees and her heat was becoming wildly aroused. Elena moaned softly as Elijah's skilled touch continued.
His caress was gentle and caring, each move sending flutters of pleasure through her body. Her breathing deepened and she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of his hands on her body.
When he moved further down, Elena gasped as she felt him between her legs. He started by lightly caressing her around her most sensitive area, eliciting a moan of delight from her.
He continued to tease her with swirling circles and tantalizing strokes, and she began to arch her back in arousal. He then began exploring her further by playing with her sex, and she let out a mixture of pleasure and pain. He knew he had her in the palm of his hand now and he kept intensifying the sensations until her body was shaking uncontrollably.
His fingers stroked her clit, sending waves of pleasure throughout her body. His touch was gentle yet insistent, and soon the heat between her legs was almost too much to bear. As he continued to massage her warmth, she could feel her desire building, and before she knew it, she was shaking with ecstasy.
As she began to reach her peak of pleasure, she let out a scream as she suddenly released her essence all over his fingers. He kept playing with her until every last drop of her was on his fingers.
"I love you." He said in her ear, while she was coming down from her high.
Elena had her eyes fixed on her reflection as she slid her body onto Elijah's arousal. She notices him squirm slightly as she slides herself onto his shaft, feeling it all the way through. She has never been so aroused — every single inch of his thick member is inside her and she can feel every nuance of his movements. She moves lower and lower until she feels fulfilled, her body radiating pleasure. Elijah's eyes are wide with desire as he looks between Elena and the mirror, his hands gripping her hips tightly.
She moves her body in a circular motion, pushing her hips back and forth and rotating them around. Elijah groans with pleasure, his thrusts becoming more and more urgent. Elena knows he is getting close and she starts to move faster, feeling her own pleasure reaching a peak. Elijah's grip on her hips tightens and with one last thrust, his essence explodes inside her as she reaches her peak all over him.
She fell forward with the intensity of her orgasm, Elijah holding her back. They stayed entwined in their moment for a few seconds, savoring the pleasure they had just shared, before collapsing in exhaustion against each other in the bed.
Elena rolled herself away from him, feeling all shorts of sensitivity.
He pulls her face towards him.
"I love you, Elena."
"I know, and I love you too." She said, smiling, pecking him on the lips. "It seemed like you were having a nightmare."
"Yes, about the night I was turned into a vampire. Mikael forced all of us to turn."
"I'm sorry honey."
"It's okay, at least now I've got you." He said, bringing her closer to him.
They'd stayed like this the entire day, had they not heard Klaus screaming.
They quickly put their clothes back on, Elena stealing Elijah's button-on, making him choose another one. They were coming down the stairs when Elena thought she saw something. Not something, someone. Katherine.
"Stealing my man, are you?" She said, before disappearing. Elijah called to her and she followed.
"Oh brother, Elena, thank you for finally joining us today," Klaus said, in the living room. "Now Elijah, am I going mad or is dear old Dad back to haunt us?"
"Wait Niklaus, you had a nightmare with him?" Asked Elijah.
"Uh, I just saw Katherine when I came down." Said Elena.
"Really? What did she say?" Asked Caroline.
"She said I was stealing Elijah from her," Elena said.
"You're not going mad." Said Bonnie, coming into the room with Davina. "The other side is falling apart. All the souls that had unresolved issues are coming over to deal with them."
"Didn't Monique say Katerina went to hell?" Asked Elijah.
"She had unresolved issues with Elena." Replied Bonnie.
"How do we make it stop?" Asked Klaus.
"We can't. There's nothing we can do." Bonnie replied.
"Thanks for absolutely nothing. Bonnie." Said Klaus, leaving the room.
"Don't take it personally." Said Caroline. "He's afraid he'll be a bad father like his father. I'm trying to convince him he won't, but he is not listening."
"Caroline, he is." Said Elijah. "I've seen everything Niklaus went through, I know he won't be like our father, he'll die before letting anything happen to his daughter."
Later that day, Elena was in the living room, waiting for Elijah so they could meet with Klaus, Caroline, Hayley, Bonnie, and Davina to go to Father Kieran's procession when she saw her again.
"I understood why you dated Stefan, because of the doppelganger course, but did you steal my original?" Said Katherine, standing in front of her.
"Don't you have someone else to haunt, like Damon? Wasn't he the one who killed you?" Asked Elena, sitting down on the couch.
"I could haunt Damon, but it's so much more fun to haunt you." Said Katherine, smiling. "Does he touch you like he touched me? Or like he touched Tatia?"
"Elijah loves me for me, Katherine. I'm not using him to get forgiveness from his brother for running away for 500 years like you have."
"But you seemed to have so much fun pretending to be me!" Exclaimed Katherine. "Did you ever wonder why you had to pretend to be me, and you couldn't be you?"
Elena was speechless. She actually didn't know.
"Oh, they didn't tell you?!" Katherine laughed. "Guess Elijah hasn't been so noble and honest with you after all, and may I point out something? He was always honest with me."
"Elena?" Said Elijah, getting to the living room, ready to go. Everyone else had left while Elena was talking to Katherine. "She's here, isn't she?" He asked, sitting beside her. Elena turned to face him.
"Yes, she is. And she said you and your siblings weren't honest with me when you told me to pretend to be her. It wasn't just because the vampires of New Orleans thought you and her were together, was it?"
Elijah touched her face. She leaned into his touch. It was like magnetic, she couldn't pull herself away even if she wanted to.
"Rebekah brought you here, not only because the vampires of New Orleans thought me and her were together, but also because… Katerina and I used to reign over this city in the past. For a while, when Niklaus was away shorting some curse business, he'd be away for a decade, a decade and a half. I found her, brought her here. and made her my queen. We used to rule over the quarter, and she was revered. That's why Marcel had so much affection for her. When my brother came back, he daggered me for months for it. It wasn't until a few months before Mikael found us that we left the city for good."
Elena knew Elijah had other women before her, she knew he'd probably dated all of the supernatural before her, she had been with two vampires before him, but to know he had been with two women who looked exactly like her was something else.
She didn't know she had been in silence for a while until Elijah called her again.
"Please say something, my love." He pulled her against his body, making her sit on his lap. She put her arms on his chest, not knowing if it was to keep some distance from him or to ground herself.
"You… you fell in love with Tatia and Katherine, and now with me, and the three of us look exactly alike." She tried to move, but he held her down. He was not letting her get away until they sort this out. If he could see Katherine, he'd kill her with his bare hands for doing this.
"I thought that what I had with Tatia and Katherine," He said the last name the way she said it, knowing that if he said Katerina would be worse. "was love. I was trying to find something, some light that I couldn't find until you. I was looking for you, all along. You were the one that I wanted. I fell in love with you for you my love. Not because you look like Tatia or Katherine. I've never touched either of them like I touch you, I've never made love to either one of them like I make love to you. I choose you Elena, and I'll always choose you. You said you found something worth living for here, I found it all the way back in Mystic Falls when I first laid my eyes on you. I would never give you to Klaus. You already had me wrapped around your heart when I saw you. I loved you then, and I love you now, and I'll never stop loving you." And to seal his words, he kissed her.
He kissed her as if he never wanted to let her go, pouring all his love and adoration into that single kiss.
Elijah was in love with Elena and it felt as if time had frozen as they embraced each other in that passionate kiss. He wanted her to know just how much he loved her with this one single moment. His lips eagerly tasted hers as if it was his first time, and still, his heart was pounding faster than ever before.
His arms moved around her waist, pulling her closer to him as they explored new depths of passion together. He felt like he was in another world, and he never wanted the moment to end.
In this single moment, his only goal was to love her unconditionally. With each passing second, he was more certain of his feelings and knew that she was the one for him. He could feel it in his heart and soul, and with each kiss, he was overcome with emotions of joy, love, and adoration. The kiss was unlike any other he had experienced with her, the connection they had going beyond anything he was ever able to imagine.
When they parted, Elijah kissed down her neck and smelled her scent, the most exquisite he had ever felt. Leaning his head back, he let his eyes turn black, his veins popped up and his fangs came down. Looking at him, wanting to taste him, knowing Katherine was watching Elena had an idea.
"He is mine, Katherine." She said, letting her eyes turn black, her veins pop up and her fangs come down. Simultaneously, both of them bit each other's neck, drinking blood from each other. It was true, Elijah had drunk vampire blood before, but never from Katherine. He felt Elena's blood coming down his throat, the most delicious blood he ever tasted and couldn't live without.
Elena felt Elijah's blood inside of her and felt powerful. Not only did she feel that, but she felt loved and all the admiration he had over her. She knew he'd never let her go, like he had promised before, no matter what happened.
When they were done, both took great pride in the marks they left on each other's necks.
Elena caressed Elijah's face.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"What for, my love?"
"For being so insecure, and letting her get between us."
"It's not your fault. You were not being insecure, honey. You just wanted to know what happened in the past, and that's okay. I don't blame you for wanting to know, I understand. And I love you."
"Thank you, for not letting me go."
"I keep my promises." He said, smiling.
She smiled, and gently kissed him.
Sometime later, Klaus and Caroline showed up in the compound with Hayley, who had passed out, Genevieve following them.
"What is she doing here? What happened?" Asked Elijah, moving to stand in front of Elena, while Klaus put Hayley on top of the dinner table.
"Bonnie and Davina were kidnapped, and Hayley passed out in the middle of the funeral." Replied Caroline. "We need a witch, and Genevieve was the one who helped us."
"Not out of the goodness of her heart." Said Elena, holding Elijah's hand.
"Don't worry Elena, she knows if something happens to my heir, she dies." Said Klaus in a threatening tone.
Genevieve started to recite an incantation over Hayley, who after a few minutes, woke up sweating in fear.
"Klaus, Klaus, he tried to kill me!" She said. "He said he wouldn't let any 'spawns from the bastard' walk the earth"
"Now Mikael wants to kill my daughter? Not even dead he'll leave me alone!" Shouted Klaus, punching the wall. Caroline trembled and let out a gasp in surprise. That immediately disarmed Klaus.
"Oh love, I'm so sorry."He said, calming down, and going to her. He held her face between his hands. "I'm not that monster anymore, love."
"You never were." She assured him, giving him a weak smile, and kissing him lightly. "You're not the villain, Klaus."
He smiled, turning to Genevieve, holding Caroline close to him.
"Genevieve, I need you to make me moonlight rings. If you do, I won't kill you. If you don't, I'll have my day walkers kill you and your coven"
Genevieve agreed to make the rings, while the stones were provided by Francesca on short notice. But that didn't work as well as they expected. Genevieve gave Francesca the stones, which in turn killed her security guard, her action being repeated by all of her family. They were werewolves. Elijah had Elena hide in the crypt since the venom couldn't kill him and he'd kill every last one of the wolves. That was the night Marcel decided to attack the Mikaelsons. Since the moonlight rings took its energy from Klaus, he was significantly weaker but still put on a hell of a fight. The wolves killed all of Marcel's nightwalkers, while Elijah killed all of the wolves.
Caroline was locked inside of Klaus's office until she heard him cry out in pain.
She broke through the window and ran to him, only to find him beaten up and weak inside Sophie's bar.
"Klaus!" She screamed, running to him.
"Caroline, love." He said. "We were doublecrossed."
"This is war Klaus, what did you think?" She said, sitting down on the floor, and dragging him to her lap. "You need your strength. We need you Klaus, your family needs you, your daughter needs you."
"There's no blood around here love." He said, closing his eyes.
Caroline bit on her left arm and offered it to him.
"It's okay." She said. "I want you to drink from me, love," She said. He looked at her, and her wrist. Not wasting his chance, he brought her wrist to his mouth and started to drink her life force, not only feeling their bond going stronger but also his own life returning to him. The possibility of being a better father, a better partner for Caroline, perhaps one day take her as his wife.
He drank until he was satisfied, and Caroline wasn't stopping him.
When he was done, he kissed the wound on her wrist, feeling himself getting healed. He stood up with her help and hugged her.
"I love you, Caroline." He said, and kissed her forehead.
"I love you too." She said smiling.
He held her hand and they walked out of the bar, at the same time as Elijah was getting Elena out of the crypt. That's when they heard it. Hayley screamed.
