Why couldn't she move?
Groggily tugging her arm, Elena gradually grew more frustrated when she found herself unable to move it.
Letting out a huff of breath, she finally opened her eyes, looking in the direction of her immovable hand, her frustration seeping away when she saw Elijah sat beside the bed she was in. He held her hand between both of his, and his head was resting on her forearm; his chest barely moved, indicating his state of sleep.
Startling as the door to the bedroom opened, Elena let out a soft gasp, feeling all the more guilty when it roused Elijah from his sleep.
Stepping into the room, Klaus barely reacted at the sight of Elijah still half asleep by Elena's side, only exchanging a short nod with his older brother.
How long had Elijah been sat with her? She wondered, her brow furrowing as she thought to herself, glancing between Klaus and Elijah, who now sat up fully, releasing Elena's hand to run his through his hair.
"What happened?" Elena croaked, slowly pushing herself into a sitting position as the two Originals exchanged looks.
"What do you remember?" Elijah broached softly, a firm look making it's way to Klaus in warning as Elena frowned.
"Uhm, Katherine was here…at least, I thought she was, I-I don't know what is and isn't real."
Gently taking hold of Elena's hand, Elijah smiled reassuringly. "This is real, Elena, I swear to you. Niklaus gave you his blood."
Flashes of tearing at a bloody wrist flew through Elena's mind, her face falling in horror as she realised it had been Klaus she'd torn at with her fangs. "So, what?" She asked, swallowing thickly and trying to dismiss the memories. "It was werewolf venom? I'm okay now?"
"We're not exactly sure, love." Klaus replied, sarcasm biting at his tone as he folded his arms over his chest and stepped into the room, ignoring Elijah's mutter of his name in warning. "This is the first time you've moved in almost three days; the only thing that had us half convinced you were alive was the colour of your skin."
Elena's eyes darted down to her hands, pale, but not grey, a welcome change from what she'd seen in Elijah's dreamscape. "I attacked Hayley, didn't I?" She muttered after a few moments of silence, not needing to look up to see the looks on their faces, all too aware of what she'd done. "I didn't mean to."
"We know, Elena." Elijah assured her quickly, again holding her hand in both of his. "No one holds any of your actions against you, we know the effect werewolf venom can have on a person."
"And," Klaus interrupted, stepping further into the room, "considering my blood seems to have had quite the positive effect on you, I think we're all quite comfortable with the conclusion that you were dosed with wolf venom."
Elena shook her head slightly, looking between the two men in front of her. "I don't understand." She sighed, rubbing her brow with her free hand. "Why would someone in New Orleans want me dead? I don't even know anyone here aside from Marcel and Davina."
The resounding silence made it clear that Elena had broached the very question they'd been asking themselves, after all, why would a stranger want to dose Elena?
"We were hoping you might have an answer to that." Klaus sighed, rubbing his jaw in frustration before sighing again. "You should get yourself cleaned up and fed, we need to figure out who did this and why."
"Why do you care?" Elena scoffed, shaking her head. "I'm not really your problem."
Klaus lifted a shoulder in agreement, dropping it again in a soft shrug. "We take family very seriously, Elena, and through Elijah, you are that now."
Gaping, Elena struggled to find the words to return to Klaus, frowning when he turned to leave without waiting for an answer.
"Oh, and, Elijah," Klaus grinned, turning back to look at his older brother for a moment, mischief lighting his eyes, "I'm glad you finally got some sleep, I was starting to worry I might have to dagger you to get you to rest."
"You look much better." Elijah smiled, leaning against the doorway of Elena's former bedroom in the plantation house, tilting his head as he met her eyes in the mirror.
Letting out a soft breath, Elena returned the smile weakly, setting aside the brush she'd been running through her hair. "I feel better."
Elijah's smile faded at Elena's poor attempt at a smile and he raised an eyebrow at her, making his disbelief obvious.
"I hurt people, Elijah." She muttered, dropping her eyes to stare at the table in front of her. "That random guy in the street, Hayley, Klaus…"
Elijah snorted. "Niklaus is fine, maybe a slightly bruised ego, but, if it's any consolation, Rebekah found it thoroughly entertaining."
Caught off guard, Elena let out a soft laugh at that, shaking her head slightly. "Of course she did." She sighed, parting her hair at the back so it fell equally over the fronts of her shoulders. "I shouldn't be surprised."
"Hayley understands." Elijah said softly, watching as Elena took a deep breath. "She's also fine, completely healed, and more aware she should have given a sick vampire some space. Miss Forbes took care of the other man you injured, he's none the wiser, and the vampire blood has passed from his system without incident."
"None of that undoes my actions." Elena whispered, shaking her head again in a small movement.
Elijah let out a soft sigh, stepping further into the room. "No one holds you to blame, Elena. You just need to forgive yourself."
Pursing her lips, Elena let out a breath, turning on the chair to look at Elijah. "What was Klaus talking about?" She asked, raising an eyebrow when a muscle in Elijah's jaw ticked. "You weren't sleeping?"
Sitting on the edge of the bed opposite Elena, Elijah let out an uncharacteristic huff, forever irritated by his younger brother. "Niklaus loves the dramatics." He dismissed, unbuttoning his suit jacket as Elena narrowed her eyes at him, clearing not impressed with his deflection. "It really is nothing, Elena."
"I don't believe you." Elena murmured, no malice in her tone, and yet both of them knew her words were a blow all the same; the truth was what held them to each other; what they valued most in each other.
Judging by the look on Elijah's face, Elena had hit exactly where she meant to. Vaguely, Elena found herself wondering when Elijah had become so easy for her to read. Had he opened himself up to her? Or had Elena learnt his language at long last?
"What would you have me do?" Elijah muttered, looking Elena in the eye to stop her from breaking away from the conversation. "Just lay down and sleep while someone I-" He paused, pursing his lips and taking a breath to collect himself. "While someone I care about lays dying?"
"You're supposed to look after yourself, Elijah!" Elena huffed, frustrated with the Original in front of her, how could he be so old and yet so stupid? "I told you I was dying, and you needed to take care of yourself for once, and you still couldn't listen to me? To my dying wish?"
"You are not dead, Elena, and you were not going to die!" Elijah argued, suddenly finding himself in a standing position, towering over Elena who remained sat in her chair for a few moments, standing slowly and finding herself chest to chest with him. "How could I leave you here alone? What if…" Elijah trailed off, his voice softening and shaking his head.
"What if what?" Elena probed, refusing to let Elijah step back from the conversation now.
"What was I supposed to do if you did die? If I wasn't with you?" Elijah whispered, his hand finding its way to Elena's cheek. "We haven't talked about this, Elena, I'm willing to give you your space, but I cannot lose you." He confessed softly. "I cannot live in a world without you, Elena."
Elena let out a soft gasp, surprised with how blunt Elijah was being. "I'm not as untouchable as you, Elijah, so many things can kill me, pretending like I'm invincible isn't healthy."
"I'm not pretending." Elijah denied swiftly, bringing both hands up to hold her face. "I'm all too aware of your mortality in comparison to me, why do you think I'm so intent on doing everything I can to keep you alive?"
Elena shook her head slightly, bringing her hands up to grasp his. "You can't do that at the expense of yourself, Elijah, I can't lose you either." She admitted, her gaze falling from his eyes to his chest, unable to keep their eye contact.
"You won't." Elijah promised, carefully tilting Elena's face up to look at him again, forever amazed by the woman in front of him. Cautiously, he assessed her face, looking for any sort of protest or uncertainty; satisfied enough that there was none to move his face closer to hers, pausing with his lips a hairsbreadth away from hers, leaving the decision, as always, in Elena's hands.
Elena's eyes had fallen closed of their own accord, confusion clouding her when the action she'd been expecting never happened. Realising that Elijah, always the gentleman, had left the choice to Elena, she took a breath, closing the final distance between their lips swiftly.
Davina Claire was…frustrated. Although, that may have been putting it lightly.
Letting out a huff of breath, she threw her charcoal down in irritation. Ever since she'd been told that the immediate danger to Elena's life had passed, she'd devoted her time to trying to figure out who had dosed Elena with werewolf venom in the first place. Three days had passed, and she was none the wiser to their hidden foe.
No number of spells had yielded any information she could use, and being unable to talk to Elena, she had nothing. She really hated having nothing.
Brow drawing down in confusion, Davina watched as her piece of charcoal lifted itself from the floor and began to write by its self, scrawling out a name in beautiful cursive.
Céleste Dubois.
Tilting her head at her easel, Davina folded her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
Slow down, love. The charcoal scrawled. I'm here to help.
"Help who?" Davina frowned, pursing her lips slightly. She wasn't fond of people in her space, and that was when she could see them and knew who they were, let alone whoever this was.
Elena.
Short and to the point. Davina frowned again, this all seemed much too convenient for her liking. "I'm just supposed to believe that?" She rolled her eyes slightly. "Someone just tried to kill her, and now an invisible force is in my bedroom giving me all the answers?" She scoffed. "Yeah, right."
*Ghost, not invisible force. The cursive corrected easily, sarcasm dripping even from the written word. Sketch me if you don't believe me, there's plenty of people in this godforsaken city who can tell you who I am.
Davina found her eyes narrowing again. "Have you been watching me?"
*Observing. They corrected again. There's been a lot of talk about you over here, suffice it to say I was curious.
"You're a ghost sneaking into the bedroom of a sixteen-year-old girl because you were curious?" Davina snarked, her hands moving to her hips as she glared at the easel, the only place to focus her irritation.
Well, when you put it like that it sounds creepy. Rest assured, that has not been my intention.
"What is your intention?" Davina asked, letting out a huff.
To protect my family. They said quickly, waiting for a beat before they continued writing. I wanted to know if you were someone I could count on.
"Well?" Davina prodded, not too happy with the idea of being assessed without her knowledge.
I think we're going to get along wonderfully, Davina Claire.
HisSecretLover18: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed!
midnight-writer97: Thank you so much! Trust me, it's not getting any less intense from here, so hopefully I can keep you just as captivated! I'm on chapter 25 now and...phew! It's crazy up in here! Ughhh, I know right, they did everyone so dirty by playing Damon off like that! You're so welcome, and thank you so much ;)
lauramorgenstern: Thank you!
Guest: She's so frustrating! A lot of my own dislike for her is bleeding through into this story, so I definitely don't feel sorry for her at the moment! I think the only one who does is Elena ironically!
bayruna: You're so welcome! Glad you enjoyed!
This chapter is crazy short compared to the rest, but I really felt like there was nothing else to add in this chapter for now, but trust me, there's plenty more to come! Oh, and, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Klaus going AWOL, all will be explained...
Until next time,
~ I x