"Elena!" Caroline called, her words effectively dragging her friend to a halt; the brunette leading the way despite her lack of sight. "We need to stop and figure out what to do!"
Elena turned in the direction of Caroline's voice, wet hair flying around as she shook her head. "We can't just stop, Caroline! They're in trouble; we can't just leave them!"
Grabbing Elena's arm as she went to keep moving, Caroline held her still, blinking rainwater from her lashes. "We need a plan! We're not going to leave them, but Bonnie can't keep doing this and we're just going round in circles!"
The reminder of her human, and very much prone to sickness, friend leached the fury from Elena, her chest visibly deflating as she let out a long huff of breath.
"I don't know what to do, Caroline." Elena admitted, the blonde struggling to hear her over the sound of the rain lashing down, even with her advanced hearing. "I'm trying to follow this pull I feel, but its just not getting us anywhere. He's out here all alone, and something's wrong!"
Grasping Elena's shoulders, Caroline tried her best to channel all of her sincerity into her words, lacking the ability to show any emotion on her face. "I know you're scared, but we're doing all we can, Elena. Elijah is an Original. There's barely anything that can kill him or even seriously hurt him; he'll be okay. It's just time to pause and regroup, we need to find a new starting point, because this isn't helping right now."
"Bonnie," Elena breathed, "what else can we do?" She implored, taking a deep breath. "There has to be something crazy we haven't thought of yet."
"I don't know, Elena." Bonnie shook her head, pulling her hair to one side and wringing some of the rainwater from it. "You can see who you think is Elijah, but you don't know where he is or where we are. It just feels useless right now. If we could somehow figure out where Elijah is then we could at least figure out where to start, but none of the locator spells will work."
Chewing on her bottom lip, Elena let out an unsteady breath, her worry for Elijah desperately trying to override the sense that Bonnie and Caroline were trying to instil in her. "We have nothing. Celeste has us beat. We can't find Elijah, we have no idea where to start with Klaus, Rebekah or Marcel, and I'm running out of time."
It's funny how the world runs in circles.
Days before, Elena had been the one wandering around, lost and confused in New Orleans, and now it was Elijah's turn.
Only, he had the decidedly marked disadvantage of it being Elena who was searching for him. She was still without her sight and she could feel whatever sickness she'd been infected with creeping in again. Without Elijah to anchor her, or Klaus's blood to heal her, she was soon going to be useless.
Well, more useless than she already was.
All she'd managed to do was run Caroline and Bonnie in circles, getting all three of them drenched to the bone and lost. Despite not voicing it, the girls were growing more and more deflated with the situation, unable to find Elijah or think of any new ideas for how to find him or any of the other missing vampires.
Hearing a phone begin to ring, Elena suddenly paused, instinctively catching Bonnie as the witch stumbled into her back, nearly falling over.
"What is it?" Bonnie asked, confused and out of breath. "What have I missed?" She breathed, looking between the two vampires, used to them being able to decipher things she couldn't.
"It's just a phone." Caroline frowned, shaking her head slightly, equally as confused as to Elena's sudden change in behaviour.
"It's Elijah's." Elena whispered, her hand coming up to grip the still glowing pendant around her neck. "I know its his."
In the short time it took Caroline and Bonnie to share a bewildered look, Elena had disappeared, shooting off in the direction of the ringing phone.
Calling after her friend, Caroline was loath to sprint after her, not wanting to leave Bonnie alone in New Orleans, but very aware that Elena was equally as vulnerable without her sight. Making a quick decision, Caroline grabbed Bonnie, hoisting her into her arms and taking off after Elena.
Struggling to track Elena in the rain, Caroline faltered for a moment, the torrential weather obscuring anything that the blonde could follow, at least until a soft trail of golden light appeared, conjured, she was sure, by Bonnie.
Chasing after her friend, Caroline rounded a corner, relief sinking into her when she was greeted by the sight of Elena clinging to Elijah. Legs wrapped around his waist, the Original was holding the pair of them up despite his unsteadiness, one of his hands was wound in Elena's hair, holding her as tightly to him as was possible.
Gently letting Bonnie to the floor, Caroline saw as Elijah became aware of their presence, his eyes snapping open to assess the potential threat, relaxing when he saw only Bonnie and Caroline staring back at him.
"How did you find us?" Caroline asked, thrown by his ability to track them down even when Celeste had done something to weaken him. "This rain has made tracking nearly impossible."
Elijah let out a soft laugh, shaking his head as much as he could with Elena clinging to him. "I'm a special sort of vampire, Miss Forbes, a little rain is simply an inconvenience. Although, I do believe Miss Bennett may disagree."
"Very much so." Bonnie muttered, rubbing her arms to try and warm herself at least a little.
Elijah turned his head to whisper something to Elena, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead as she released her iron grip on him and slid to the floor, grasping her hand in place of releasing him completely.
Having changed into dry clothes and indulged in several blood bags each, Elena had tried her best to explain the situation with her bouts of vision to Elijah, leaving both of them more confused than anything.
Hayley had remained largely silent on the matter, shooting blistering glares at Elena whenever she thought no one was looking. They didn't go unnoticed by Caroline, but a subtle shake of Elijah's head had kept the blonde quiet, and Elena unaware of the situation.
Davina and Bonnie had been trying to bat around ideas about the dual visions; the witches largely hampered by their inability to identify the other person attached to the other scenes behind her eyes.
"We tapped into your soul connection, there shouldn't be any reason for you to be able to track more than one person." Davina sighed, chewing her lip. "It doesn't make any sense. Has anything changed?"
"I still see them both." Elena sighed. "The other isn't stationary anymore, they've just started moving, but the building's completely decrepit; it's really old…"
"Is there anything defining?" Elijah asked softly, turning to look at Elena. "If it's an old building there's a chance I knew it during my family's time here."
"I can see beds…" She murmured, shaking her head in frustration, old, metal bed frames…"
"How many?"
"Dozens," she breathed, "dozens of beds in dozens of rooms."
"Like a hospital?" Caroline blurted, her brow furrowed similar to everyone else around the table.
Judging by the drop of Elijah's face, something had just clicked and began to make sense. "Of course, the Sanatorium. Rebekah worked as a nurse there during the influenza pandemic."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Bonnie asked, the words leaving her mouth before she could really register their intention.
"While there, Rebekah befriended a witch; a lover of Niklaus's. Soon after, Mikael found us and we had to flee the city."
"That was when you left Marcel behind." Davina filled in, her face taut.
"I had always harboured a suspicion that Rebekah had something to do with Mikael finding us; Niklaus never did approve of their relationship." Elijah let out a soft breath. "If she did, and Celeste found out…"
"She's pitting them against each other." Elena murmured, her hand unconsciously squeezing Elijah's
"Potentially." He agreed, nodding as he returned Elena's soft squeeze.
She shook her head. "No, Elijah, she is. I think this is Klaus I'm seeing, and Rebekah's there with him; she looks terrified."
"You're still sick, Elena, you can't come in here!"
"You're sick too, Elijah!" She retorted, well aware of Bonnie and Caroline watching them argue.
"I'm an Original," Elijah argued softly, shaking his head, "despite their best attempts, my siblings cannot kill me."
Elena scoffed. "They won't kill me! Their anger is with each other, not me."
"Celeste could have done anything to them." Elijah denied. "She could have done anything to Rebekah and Niklaus; they could easily not be themselves."
"Neither are you!" Elena snapped, folding her arms over her chest with a huff.
"Elena," he sighed, dropping his voice to a whisper and stepping closer to her, "I cannot see you hurt."
"I won't be." She denied, as firmly as she could in a whisper. "Klaus has helped me so much, I can't just stay out here, Elijah."
Gritting his teeth, Elijah let out a long breath, closing his eyes as he did so. Grasping either side of Elena's face, he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. "Stay with someone at all times, please." The plea was added softly as he began to sense Elena's defiance.
Letting out a soft breath, Elena nodded, accepting his plea; more than aware of how much it took for Elijah to plead for something. "I will, I promise." She whispered, watching herself through Elijah's eyes. "We need to go, Elijah, he's after her."
Taking hold of Elena's hand, Bonnie muttered a soft incantation, giving Elena at least a vague sense of direction as they moved about the abandoned sanatorium. It was quickly agreed that Bonnie was to stick to Elena; deciding that they needed magic on the blind doppelganger's side.
Swiftly moving into the weathered bricks, Caroline and Elijah split from Elena and Bonnie, the less vulnerable vampires splitting up slightly while still keeping in hearing distance of each other.
"I need to follow Klaus, Bon." Elena whispered as soon as she knew Elijah was distracted. "I can see his movements; we have to find him through that."
"We don't even know if its Klaus you're seeing, Elena." Bonnie argued, keeping her voice at a level to match Elena's as they walked. "It could be yet another trap."
"What would be the point?" Elena shrugged, letting out a breathy laugh as she spoke. "Whatever this is has led us to Klaus and Rebekah, maybe even Marcel, why would Celeste do that? I think there's something else at play here, Bon." Stumbling suddenly, Elena felt Bonnie reach to catch her, missing her by inches as Elena fell against the wall, coughing and spluttering.
"Elena?" Bonnie panicked, grabbing her friend's hand to try and ease her sudden bout of sickness. "Are you okay?"
Breathing her way through the coughing fit, Elena nodded, waving Bonnie's hands away. "It's Klaus, I need his blood; it's fine, I'll be fine. We just need to find him, B."
Frowning at Elena, Bonnie helped her away from the wall, allowing her to lead the way, confused by the sudden change in Elena.
She quickly shrugged off the wave of illness, determined to carry on and find Klaus and Rebekah as quickly as possible. Not sure how she'd managed to go so long without the illness that had been plaguing her rearing it's head, all Elena knew was that she needed to find Klaus; she needed his blood to fix her; and she didn't think she had much time to find him. Especially not if the speed at which the illness had just overtaken her was any indication.
Something was pulling Elena along, directing and prompting her to turn this corner and walk that direction; she didn't know what it was, but she could feel Bonnie following behind her, unsure of her direction, but not willing to let Elena wander off by herself.
A shout of Rebekah's name echoed through the halls, finally giving the girls a concrete direction to follow, allowing them to pick up the pace a bit. Using her advanced hearing, Elena dragged Bonnie along, following the sounds of Klaus calling out for Rebekah.
Stumbling again, Elena squealed when she found herself secured in a pair of arms that absolutely were not Bonnies. Her brain didn't register what had happened for a few moments until she realised she was staring at herself.
"What are you both doing here?" Klaus asked, the frown clear in his voice as he righted Elena, his hands still on her shoulders to keep her steady.
"Celeste is trying to turn us all against each other," Elena explained softly, "we came to help you." She cringed as she felt her breath catch in her throat, turning her face away from Klaus as she began coughing.
Instinctively, Klaus bit into his wrist, offering the blood to Elena as had become too normal since she'd been infected.
"Don't drink." Bonnie blurted quickly, startling Elena away from the hybrid's blood as his wrist healed. "It's just a hunch," she murmured softly at Klaus's confused look, "I don't think you should keep giving Elena your blood for a while."
"Bon?"
"Trust me, Elena, please."
Letting out a soft sigh, she nodded, turning her head towards soft footfalls as the three other vampires entered the hallway, Elijah supporting his sister; her skin clammy and pale.
"I believe it is time we all leave this place," Elijah said firmly, clearly having overheard Bonnie's words, "it appears there's much to discuss."
lauramorgenstern: Yes! Take-charge Elena is awesome! I'm glad you liked the necklace, it was a bit of a last minute addition!
Guest: Does this count as her rescuing him?!
Guest: Ughhh, I love hearing all of the reactions! And of course I love getting my chefs kisses!
Guest: Tell me about it!
bayruna: You're so welcome, sorry it's been so long this time round!
Idshipus007: Awwhh yay I love that! I'm such a fan of reading a good slowburn, I thought I'd give it a good go! Sorry it's been so long!
midnight-writer97: Thank you so much! I'm sorry it's been so long, but I hope you enjoy!
Syren14: Oh wow that's a lot in one go! Awh thank you so much! That's such an incredible review to read! I hope you enjoy this update!
Hi everyone! I am so, so sorry it's been so long since I updated! I just fell totally out of step with writing and I've just gotten back from holiday so I've just had no time to try and get back to it!
I really hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think!
Until next time
~ I x