"So help me God, if you don't tell us what we need to know I will find a way to get that child out of your womb, and I will tear you to pieces. You'll live long enough to regret having ever met any of us."
Hayley said nothing, silence reigning over the room for a few terse moments until the sound of the door opening tore into it.
"I'm tired of these games, Hayley," Elijah said, his voice quiet but his tone harsh as he took off his suit jacket, laying it on the back of the chair in front of Hayley, "you will answer our questions, now, or I will tear your heart from your chest."
Hayley scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You won't do that, Elijah, I'm pregnant, with your brother's baby, remember?"
He let out a soft breath, unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt sleeves and slowly rolling them up, left and then right. Remaining silent until he'd finished, he was more than aware of Hayley's eyes darting to his siblings behind him.
Sitting on the chair opposite her, he leant forward, bracing his elbows on the tops of his thighs. "Do I look like I'm joking?"
Swallowing thickly, her gaze flited between Elijah and Klaus, allowing a sudden bout of fear to show on her face before she shifted and sat up right, letting out a harsh exhale.
"Family means everything to you," she muttered eventually, "you won't harm this baby."
Elijah nodded, pursing his lips and sitting upright, folding his arms over his chest. "You're right, of course family is everything to me. Yet you do not seem to realise just how serious that makes me right now."
Holding Hayley's gaze, he loosened the tie around his neck, undoing it and letting the fabric hang there. "Elena is my family, Hayley, not you. She is my soulmate, we are bound forever in a way that is impossible for you to ever comprehend. There is one thing I need you to understand, Hayley, one very simple thing."
"What's that?" She snarked, rolling her eyes slightly and shaking her head.
Moving forward in a flash and taking hold of her chin, Elijah forced her gaze back to his piercing eyes. "I will not hesitate to tear you apart, and burn this city to the ground if it means saving her, regardless of that child in your womb."
"Elijah." Klaus warned, intercepted from stepping closer to his brother by Rebekah, a soft hand on his chest as she whispered rushed words.
"You're bluffing." Hayley muttered, wrenching her chin from Elijah's grasp as he released her.
"Am I?"
Looking again towards the other Originals in the room, Hayley found herself struggling to read their expressions. Was Rebekah's hand an assurance that Elijah was bluffing? Or was she trying to stop the brother's tearing each other apart? Was Klaus really worried? Or did he know this was all a ploy?
"Ask yourself this, Hayley, just how sure are you? Enough to risk the life of that child? Enough to risk your own life?"
"She's still hallucinating?"
Caroline let out a soft breath, nodding as she dipped the cloth she held in the basin of cold water by her side, gently wringing it out before placing it over Elena's forehead again. "She think's I'm Miranda most of the time. I don't know what to say to her."
"She's very lucky to have you." Elijah said softly, leaning against the doorway, both of them holding their breath as Elena let out a soft noise of discontent, rolling her head from side to side before rolling over and settling again.
"How do we stop this, Elijah?" Caroline sighed, retrieving the cloth gently from under Elena and laying it across the back of her neck instead. "I know you said the lethal part of the venom was cured by Klaus's blood, but she's still hallucinating; she's still unwell, surely that's not a good sign?"
Letting out a soft breath, Elijah pushed himself away from the wall, walking to the opposite side of the bed from where Caroline sat and gently taking hold of Elena's wrist, closing his eyes as he counted the slow beats.
"I don't know." He said eventually, letting go of Elena's wrist and running a hand through his hair. "I really don't know. But, Caroline, Hayley finally told us who she reached out to for the spell," he paused, waiting until Caroline looked up at him, "we are just waiting for Davina and Marcel to arrive, hopefully Davina can figure something out, now that we know what we're up against."
"How bad is it?" Caroline whispered, turning her attention back to Elena; eventually taking Elijah's silence as her answer.
"Davina," Elijah nodded, offering a soft smile in her direction, "Marcel. Who might this be?"
"Elijah, this is Vincent Griffith." Davina introduced. "He was the only person willing to talk to us."
"Hell, he seems to be the only person in the whole damn city who even knows what we're talking about." Marcel added, not all that surprised when Bonnie appeared behind Elijah, regarding the trio curiously. "So? Can we come in, or what?"
"I've spent years researching this entity, any and all records I can find, and I still don't know exactly what this thing is capable of. Hayley Marshall has unleashed a plague on this city that no living being can truly understand."
"We get it," Rebekah sniped, "you're very good at the dramatics, but that tells us nothing. What is so terrifying about this damn witch?"
"Inadu is more than just a witch." Vincent replied quickly, turning to look at Davina and Bonnie, sat together with a book between them. "She was born to a tribe of Native American witches, stronger and more powerful than the New Orleans Ancestors. The elders of their tribe imbued her mother with a great power while she was pregnant with Inadu; they had hoped that she would become a symbol of prosperity. They were wrong.
"The child held only darkness in it's heart. She craved power and slaughtered members of her own to tribe to gain it. Four of the elders imbued a part of their magic into an axe, eventually wielded by her own mother to kill her."
A scoff from Caroline caught the attention of the room, the blonde shrinking under the scrutiny of the others around her. "I just find it ironic that we yet again get caught up with someone so evil that their own mother tried to kill them and clearly failed."
Vincent let out a low breath, shaking his head slightly. "That doesn't even begin to cover just how dangerous she is. In her final moments Inadu created the werewolf curse; she bound everyone present to the cycle of the moon, forcing them to change into the very beasts they used to hunt her down."
"She created the entire werewolf species?" Rebekah breathed, turning to pour herself a shot of whiskey.
"She did." Vincent confirmed softly. "I am very sorry, but if Inadu has come for your family; there's nothing you can do to stop her."
"We're all already dead…" Elijah muttered bitterly, recalling Elena's fevered words. "That's what Elena said after she encountered Inadu." He explained at confused looks.
Silence hovered over the room like a thick blanket for several long minutes before Elijah stood from his armchair with some force. "I thank you for the information you have brought to us, Vincent, but I refuse to believe that there is nothing to be done." He said firmly, turning and striding from the room, pausing in the doorway as Vincent called after him.
"She has another name. She murdered so many people, just because she thought it fun, one person survived her long enough to speak of what they saw, and they could only describe her in one way. Hollow."
"I wish you could tell me what to do; you always know the right thing to do, or to say." Elijah whispered, brushing the hair from Elena's face and taking hold of her hand as he sat beside her bed. Bowing his forehead to meet her hand he let out a soft exhale, squeezing his eyes shut. "I feel as though I have let you down again."
What force had decided that Elena be bound to him for eternity? What sort of sick and twisted sense of humor did they carry for their actions to lead them here? All they had ever done was look out for their families, and now they were family to each other the universe was determined that all they could do was hurt each other.
Would they ever get a break?
"I would have killed her." He admitted, swallowing thickly as he finally allowed himself to speak out loud the thoughts that had been following him since that morning. "I would have killed Hayley, and the baby, because of what she's done to you."
Letting out a shuddering breath, he brought his other hand to wrap around hers, holding it as tightly as he dared try without waking her.
"I would have killed an innocent child, Elena." He whispered, forcing himself to say the words out loud. "I don't think I would have even hesitated…all I feel is this burning, intense rage and hatred when I think about what she's done. I-I can barely keep myself from tearing her heart out."
He sighed, lifting his head slightly to place a light kiss on her hand as he debated what to say next.
"You're the only thing that stops me, your voice, what I think you would say to me if you were really aware of what was happening. Your compassion bleeds into my subconscious even when you're unable to voice your thoughts. But, Elena, if you were to die..." He paused, the mere thought making his breath hitch in his throat. "I don't think I would be able to hear you over the grief and anger I would feel. I fear nothing would quell this burning desire I have to slaughter anyone who may wish you harm."
Taking one hand away to wipe the tear that rolled down his cheek he turned his soft sob into a choked laugh. "So, you had better not die on me anytime soon, eh?"
"You're going out again?" Elijah leant against the doorframe, watching as Elena parted her hair, tying back the section of hair that she had separated from the rest of the curls on her head.
Pulling forward to pieces of hair to frame her face, Elena pursed her lips, tilting her head to the side. "Do we seriously have to keep having this conversation?" She sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder and picking up her mascara from the table in front of her. "I don't need your permission, Elijah."
"Suggesting that wasn't my intention." He said quickly, noting how his words gave her some pause before she continued in her path to applying her mascara.
"If you're not here to judge my life choices, then what do you want?"
Stepping away from the doorframe, Elijah straightened his tie, clearing his throat slightly in such a way that made Elena narrow her eyes as she turned to look at him.
"I was hoping we could talk?" He said softly. "Somewhere more private." He continued when she raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting him to continue.
Holding his gaze evenly for a few moments, Elena nodded slightly, turning to finish applying her mascara before standing from her vanity and walking in Elijah's direction.
"Just so we're clear," she murmured, stopping just in front of him, their chests touching, "if this is some ploy to mess with my humanity…"
Raising any eyebrow, Elijah looked down to meet her gaze, some look hidden behind his eyes that she couldn't quite name. "I told you I wouldn't force you, and yet you still doubt me?"
She shrugged slightly, brushing past him to his office, refusing the urge to pause when he didn't follow her immediately.
By the time he entered the office behind her, she'd disappeared from sight, perusing his bookshelves with vague curiosity. Running her fingers across book spines with no really intention, she didn't bother turning to face him when he appeared at the end of the shelf she was browsing.
"Well? If it's not about my humanity, what's so important that we need to hide away in your soundproofed office?" She quipped, pausing with a soft gasp and turning to face him. "Should I be scandalised by your intentions, Mr Mikaelson?"
He raised an eyebrow as she fluttered her eyelashes, giving up the act a moment later with a scoff and roll of her eyes.
"You're no fun." She pouted, turning back to the books in front of her. "If you don't plan on screwing me on your desk then what do you want?"
"The spell," he muttered eventually, watching as Elena straightened, her form stiffening, "it made me realise-"
"I told you I wasn't talking about this." Elena interrupted, turning swiftly on her heel and going to storm out of Elijah's office, caught off guard when he caught her upper arm as she brushed past him, pulling her to an abrupt stop; her chest brushing his as she huffed an infuriated breath. "I'm serious, Elijah, talking about that is off the cards."
"The information the spell provided is not what I want to talk about, Elena." He murmured, his lips brushing against her ear as he spoke, eliciting a soft shiver from her.
"Then what?" She muttered, turning her head to face him, becoming frustratingly aware of just how close their lips were. He'd made it abundantly clear that emotions were involved on his side, and with their newfound knowledge of their bond she no longer desired to push his emotions, worried about aggravating her own.
Belatedly, she realised his attention was focused lower than her lips, his dark eyes transfixed on her throat.
"Ohh…" She breathed, her tongue darting out to lick her lips unbidden. "You don't want to screw me on your desk, you want to drain me dry."
"I wouldn't go quite that far." Elijah muttered, barely managing to tear his gaze from her pulsing artery, meeting her gaze once more. "Regardless, this was a bad idea." He sighed, letting go of her arm and walking past her to lean against the front of his desk.
Elena considered his back with a tilted head, only weighing up her options for a few brief moments before she appeared behind him, baring her fangs and sinking them into her own wrist; the stiffening of his shoulders her first indication that he had caught the scent of her blood.
"What are you doing?" He said, his voice taut and strained as his grasp on his desk tightened.
"What you brought me here for." Elena quipped, watching as the cuts on her wrist healed before her eyes. "Unless you've changed your mind."
She let out a long, overly dramatic breath as she walked around to perch on the desk beside Elijah's hands, lifting her wrist to examine the slowly drying blood, perfectly aware of how close it wound up to Elijah's face.
"Do you even realise how much danger you put yourself acting like this?" He bit out, turning his gaze to look at her, passing over her bloody wrist quickly.
"I feel like you're going to tell me…" She rolled her eyes, reaching past him to straighten his collar, her wrist brushing against his lips lightly, enough to leave a soft smear of blood and make his breath catch in his throat; his movements so quick that he had both of her wrists firmly in his grasp in an instant, not leaving her any room to get away.
"I could kill you before you had a chance to blink, Elena, I could tear your heart from your chest or rip your head from your body before you even knew I was there. I could drain you dry and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it, so I would think twice before winding up a starving vampire."
"You wouldn't." Elena denied, admittedly enjoying having him between her legs. "You don't even have the balls to bite me, let alone hurt me."
Eyes darkening, Elijah allowed the veins under them to come out, writhing into life as he turned his face to Elena's wrist, licking the blood from around her long since healed wound.
Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the sensation of his lips on her skin, eyes snapping open in search of him when she felt his lips leave her wrist. He was watching her curiously, his hands still holding her wrists in a vice grip.
"I don't think that proved as much as you think." Elena grinned, her breathlessness limiting the bravado she exhibited. "We both know you wouldn't hurt me."
Dropping his forehead to hers, Elijah took in a deep breath. "Why….why do you enjoy pushing my limits so?"
"I like watching you lose control." She murmured, watching his eyes close as he took in another breath, the veins under his eyes slowly fading. "Don't stop now."
His fangs sank into her throat in an instant, his hands releasing her wrists as they wrapped around her body, one tangling in her hair as he pulled her head to the side, exposing her throat. Holding her closely, Elijah continued drinking, wondering if it was possible to get drunk off of another vampire's blood.
A soft whimper escaped Elena's throat as he pulled her against him, holding her so tightly she had no hope of moving. Never before had she thought it would be pleasurable to have a vampire drink from her, not until she'd provoked him into taking her blood the first time. Arms loosely wrapping around his waist, she helped tilt her head to the side, eyes fluttering shut in bliss.
Wrenching his fangs from her throat, Elijah found his chest heaving for breath as he took in the sight of Elena before him, her eyes were closed and her head tilted back, a calm, ecstatic expression written on her face.
As she opened her eyes, she found Elijah staring back at her, his eyes had returned to normal, and his lips were no longer stained with the blood she had wiped there. Turning her head she found their lips only a hairsbreadth away, a bizarre disappointment overcoming her when he didn't kiss her, instead releasing her to walk away.
"Careful, Elena." He whispered, pausing at his office door and turning to face her. "Your emotions are showing."
myticgguk: She must be slipping back into hallucinations, she hasn't been well for a while, poor Elena. I do enjoy a bit of suspense!
HisSecretLover18: Awh thanks! Now that we know just who she's involved with, we might get some answers about what role she plays in The Hollow's plans... Thank you so much!
wazman: The Hollow is definitely loitering, its just a case of waiting to see what she wants... Exploring Elijah's feelings, especially about losing Elena, is really fun, I just hope I do him some justice! Hopefully it won't get to the point where he actually has to survive without her... Thank you so much!
Guest: Yeah, I do feel a bit bad for torturing Elena, but I also realllyyyy like some angst. Figuring out what to do with Hayley is pretty tough, I just hope they can come up with some way to punish her.
lauramorgenstern: I'm so relieved you thought so! Ooh, I suppose Inadu counts as a witch's ghost! I'm glad you like what I'm doing with Elijah, he's so much fun to explore; there's so much depth and experience to use! Me too! Hopefully it's around to stay for a while, touch wood and all that! You're so welcome!
94HarleyQuinn25: I do enjoy a bit of heartbreak, I can be a bit vindictive like that. Don't we all? Here it is!
Well, this chapter just flew out of me, especially the flashback at the end, God I miss writing that dynamic between Elena and Elijah, so frustrated that I didn't leave myself any windows to add more scenes.
Anyways, let me know what you all think! I can't wait to hear from all of you!
Until next time
~ I x