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atiredgentlewoman
Chapter Fifteen
Elijah stared after the witch, his mind replaying her words over and over in his head.
"You're right, by the way. I won't ever know how you felt. But I will always know how he did."
He shouldn't let her words get to him. She was playing mind tricks on him. Using his dormant guilt for Henrik's death against him. But could you call it death if his corpse had never been laid in the ground? Could he really mourn a passing that had not passed?
He had mourned plenty in his life.
The loss of his humanity.
The days of old when they would all play in the forests.
The simpler times when all they wanted to be learn the magic their mother wielded.
He mourned for the loves he had lost: Tatia, Katerina, Celeste, and Gia. He even mourned the love he could have had with Hayley from the beginning. Instead, his honor had him pleading for her to marry Jackson.
But nothing would haunt him for centuries like the sight of his youngest brother; bloodied and mangled from the wolves. How Niklaus wept for the boy, how his mother sobbed that day. They had each gone off to find something to bury with their brother and when they returned, his body was gone. They had searched the forest that night, as much as they could before the threat of the wolves got too close.
They dug an empty grave under the white oak tree and grieved.
If only they had thought to look further. They could have found him. They could have saved him. Elijah could have had one less weight upon his shoulders if they had just kept looking.
Elijah shook his head. He didn't have time to dwell on what-ifs. He had spent enough of his life thinking of those. They got him nowhere.
He had to focus on the now. The now where an aunt he never knew was after his nieces and the sister he never knew.
Straightening his tie, he squared his shoulders and walked out the door, heading back down to join the others. They had a plan to formulate.
Henrik had dropped Nik onto the couch and headed for the kitchen. Davina was already in the kitchen, making peanut butter, banana, and marshmallow sandwiches for Hope and herself. Davina was the one talking but he smiled when Hope gave her a timid smile.
When he had heard the whispers of Klaus conceiving a child, Henrik had almost come out of the shadows just so he could witness it.
He had wanted to come back into their lives many times before that; when news had reached him about them settling into New Orleans, he had still been in Europe with Tessa. They had been in Greece, searching for reasons why Bonnie had not come back yet.
He had been in California when he heard about Hope's conception. He had been there when he felt Davina's death during the Harvest. He had been so close to running to his daughter's aid.
Tessa had placed him in a temporary coma.
"Not yet," she had told him, hunched over a grimoire.
It was always not yet. But now? Now he was stuck.
Tessa had no idea how to stop Dahlia. Freya was clammed up from fear and Bonnie was too new into her third cycle of life for them to even consider asking her.
Henrik paused in his trek to the cabinet for a glass when Hope's eyes landed on him. They were almost green and shaped like Hayley's. But he could see the gears turning behind them, she was a Mikaelson after all.
He gave her a smile. Her response was to turn back to Davina, cheeks flushed. Davina snickered at her father before she set the plate of sandwiches down.
"How is it, Hope?" asked the older witch, watching the little girl chomp into her meal.
Her reaction was adorable. Hope chewed her food, swallowed, and then her brows knitted together. She then took another bite and her blue eyes widened and she hummed. Her head bobbed from side to side, soft brown curls bouncing.
"Gu..." Hope paused. Davina smiled and helped her sound out the word. After a few times, the little girl beamed up at her cousin. "Good!"
Davina cooed in response. "I'm glad you like it, Hope."
Henrik caught movement out the corner of his eye. Hayley was lingering in the doorway, unsure if she wanted to come in. Henrik nodded to her and then turned to Davina.
"Davina," he called.
She looked up and then noticed Hayley and pushed off the counter, her sandwich in hand. Turning to the seven-year-old, Davina placed a kiss on her forehead and let Hope follow her gaze towards Hayley. The child hopped off the stool she had been on and rushed to her mother, wrapping her arms around her.
"Mama!" she cried, looking into her eyes. "Sorry,"
Hayley shook her head and bent down to Hope's level. "Mama's sorry, sweetie. And Daddy is too," she assured the little girl. Klaus may be unconscious, but he could be beating himself up for how he acted towards Hope's transformation.
Hayley cleared her throat, trying to keep the emotion from her voice. She cupped Hope's face in her hands. "You just got so big, we were worried,"
Hope nodded. She moved back and held out her half-eaten sandwich for Hayley to take. Hayley smiled and took a bite.
"Yum," she beamed.
Davina and Henrik snuck out, allowing the mother and daughter a moment alone. Davina shot a glare at Elijah as he started for the kitchen. The Original paused and then set his sights on Henrik.
She also caught Mikael's gaze on the three of them.
The younger witch shuddered but she turned to her father. "I'm gonna go talk to mom," she said, leaving in search of her mother. Henrik watched her go and turned towards his brother. He said nothing when Elijah stopped in front of him.
"Henrik," Elijah began but stopped when Henrik shook his head.
"Follow me," he said and turned to head towards the basement. He turned to Mikael, "You too, father. It's time we had a chat."
Dahlia tapped her finger against the diner top table.
The human sitting across from her chewed at her bottom lip. After a few moments, she huffed and leaned forwards, resting her arms on the table, almost knocking over the coffee she had ordered.
They were a town over from Mystic Falls. It was safer for the human in question, this woman by the name of Kathrine. Apparently, she had pissed off her nephew Niklaus centuries ago. She had been running all her life and she had to stop due to a hindrance.
That hindrance happened to be some kind of cure turning her human. It meant nothing to Dahlia, and she could honestly care less for the woman's woes.
What she needed from the doppelganger was information, the names of her sister's children. Her sister had given birth to more children after Freya.
There the eldest, Finn, followed by Elijah, Niklaus, Kol, her only niece Rebekah and the youngest Henrik. From what Elijah had told Katherine, Henrik's death was the reason for their transformation into vampires.
"Look I've told you everything I know," Katherine spoke, looking around in case any of Klaus's spies were around. She had no idea why he was in Mystic Falls, or why the entire Mikaelson clan was. Knowing the paranoid bastard, he was looking for some protection from the enemies he had made. He was going to have to keep searching though. From what she had heard from Silas, Bonnie was on the Other Side.
It brought a small smile to her face that Klaus was going to be sorely disappointed at that.
Dahlia stared at the woman. She had told her all she knew. Their deal had been that Katherine told Dahlia everything she could. Their transaction, at least on Katherine's end, had been processed.
"Thank you, Katerina," she said, taking note of the flinch Katherine gave. "This has been most helpful. You'll be receiving your end of the bargain soon,"
"When?" Katherine asked, impatient. She didn't want to be caught by Klaus while human. She was afraid of how long his torment would last.
Dahlia reached into her pocket, rested her hand out into the middle of the table, and opened it palm up. A vial of blood rested there, and Katherine moved to grab it. Dahlia snatched her hand back before she could.
"One more thing," Dahlia said, an air of amusement in her tone. She found the glare the child was giving her - and that was what she was, a child compared to Dahlia. The witch picked up the coffee mug in front of Katherine and emptied the blood into the cup, mixing it with a spoon. She tapped the utensil against the rim and then set it down. "You drink this, you have one more thing for me. I have a friend who needs help,"
"A friend?" Katherine asked, her eyes on the mug, "and just how can I help you there?"
"He needs some ingredients in order to come back to this side," Dahlia said offhandedly.
Brown eyes stared up into another pair, one filled with annoyance and the other amused. Dahlia leaned over, placing the mug in front of Dahlia. "I need a message delivered, and a vial of this person's blood as well."
Katherine arched an eyebrow, "To who?"
"A woman named Bonnie,"
Katherine snorted, and it soon turned into a laugh. "You'll have better luck looking for her grave," Katherine's fingers wrapped around the mug and then yanked it from Dahlia's hands, "She's a rotting corpse."
Dahlia hummed, "Are you so sure about that? My friend says that she isn't on the Other Side,"
"Pretty sure," Katherine muttered. "I got word of mouth that she croaked trying to save my doppelganger's little brother."
Bonnie the hero, always looking out for everyone but herself. Now she was worm food and her soul on the other side.
Dahlia blinked, "You should look into that," she said. She nodded to the mug. "Either way, you owe me one more favor. If she lives, deliver the message. If not, report back anyway and I shall make it so Niklaus can never find you,"
Katherine thought it over. The woman was telling the truth and it looked like she didn't want anything else except this one thing. And once it was over, she could continue on, living her life free of Klaus Mikaelson. She could drink to that.
So she did. The blood and coffee were disgusting to her tastebuds, but she let it slide down her throat. Once it settled, she looked into Dahlia's eyes and held out her hand.
"You have a deal," she said letting the witch's hand slide into hers. They shook once and Katherine arose from the booth. "So, if the little witch is alive, what's my plan of action, and this message?"
"I want you to give me a vial of her blood. As for her message," Dahlia smirked, as the words were spoken into her ear but an unseen voice. "Tell her that the hunt for her resumes. Markos wants his prize."
