The door to basement looked tempting, too tempting.
He had to be down there.
Her emotions were off.
On.
Off. They had to stay off.
They were off.
So why did she feel so compelled to open the door?
To go and see him?
"Please, I'm pregnant."
Dropping the handle, Elena resisted the urge to flinch, narrowing her eyes at the piece of wood in front of her. She'd murdered Hayley, she didn't care about Hayley; she'd never liked the werewolf, but…the baby.
The baby was a different story.
"What are you doing over here?"
Elena turned to face the voice behind her, discarding the thoughts creeping into her mind. "He's down there, isn't he?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde. "I know you know, Caroline."
Caroline sighed, nodding slightly. "Klaus and Rebekah put him in his coffin." She said, her voice soft, tinged with pity. "They don't know what to do with him, Finn and Kol, they didn't have bodies. They've never had to do this before."
She nodded, glancing over her shoulder at the door to the basement for a brief moment, before looking back at Caroline.
The blonde tilted her head at her friend, a soft frown furrowing her brow. "Rebekah was right, wasn't she? You've turned it off again?"
"I don't know why you're all so surprised." She rolled her eyes, stepping around Caroline and walking away from the basement.
"I'm just disappointed." Caroline murmured softly, the words following Elena as she flew from the house.
"I haven't seen you around here for a while." Maria offered Elena a smile as she placed a cup of coffee and a beignet on the table in front of her.
Elena returned the smile, none of the warmth reaching her dead eyes. "I've been busy." She shrugged, thanking the waitress with another fake smile as she walked away.
Absent-mindedly stirring sugar into her coffee, she looked around her, her gaze momentarily fixating on a businessman waiting in line for his drink. He adjusted his cufflinks as he waited, stepping forward and taking a drink and a pastry bag with a smile when he was called.
Elena was snapped from her reverie by the chair opposite her being pulled out form the table. Turning her gaze, she raised an eyebrow as an unfamiliar brunette sat opposite her.
"I must confess, I am rather surprised to see you alive and well."
Elena narrowed her eyes at the other woman, straightening in her seat. "Can I help you?" She bit out eventually,
"Poor Elena Gilbert, so angry at the world, so scared of becoming just like the people she despises." She tilted her head at her, a soft smirk lining her lips. "You're oh so afraid of the realizations you had while your emotions were off, and yet here you are, running from your emotions again."
"Who, exactly, are you?" Elena snapped, her face contorting into a full glare. "What do you want?"
"You know who I am, Elena. About as intimately as I know who you are." She smiled, her eyes flashing blue for a brief second, just long enough for Elena to see.
"Inadu." The name left her mouth in a low growl, the veins under her eyes writhing. "You have some damn nerve showing up here."
She laughed, lounging in her seat; arms folded over her chest loosely. "Oh, please, we both know I'm much more powerful than you, and even with your emotions off you don't really want me to kill everyone in here."
"Are you really, really sure about that?" Elena returned, leaning forward. "I want nothing more than to tear you apart for what you've done, being in the same city as me is not safe for you."
"You're cute." Inadu laughed again, shaking her head. "We both know you're powerless to do anything against me, Elena."
Drawing in a deep breath, Elena smiled at the woman, witch, murderer, opposite her, contempt seeping from her every pore. "I will find a way. I'm not delusional; I'm very aware you're much more powerful than me, but I have been inside your head, just as you've been in mine. I know what you're afraid of, I know your weaknesses and I will find a way to destroy you."
Inadu tilted her head at Elena, the smile on her face dampening slightly. "It was nice to meet you in person, Elena. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around."
Peeking out from where she was hiding, Elena listened to the sounds of receding footsteps, slipping out when she heard the doors to the church close.
Pausing outside the right door, she took a breath, steeling herself for a moment before she pushed open the attic door. Looking around the room, she wandered over to Davina's easel, tilting her head at the vague sketch for a few moments before gently moving it, placing it on the floor beside the easel and placing a blank piece of paper up instead.
"I need your help." She said eventually, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a sigh. Bringing her hand up to play with the charm around her neck she tilted her head as a shiver overcame her. "I know I killed you, and you hate me, but this isn't about me."
You've abandoned your emotions again. The spiky cursive bloomed into life on the easel, Elena's only reaction being a raise of her eyebrow. You shouldn't have.
"You sound like your brother." She quipped, rolling her eyes. "I said I wasn't here about me, my emotions or lack of aren't up for debate."
You're here about Elijah, whose memory and wishes you've dishonoured only days after his death.
Elena scoffed, dragging the pendant back and forth across it's leather chain. "I'll consider his wishes when I've killed the psychopath who used my body to murder him."
You can't kill the Hollow. It's not possible.
"Of course it is. I've been inside her head. I know all of her weaknesses." She allowed her gaze to wander around the room. "I just need some help finding the things I need, and you're in a much better position to do that than I am."
"You should be careful out there." Klaus suggested, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. "We have no idea where the Hollow is, or what she looks like, and you're probably a pretty likely target for her."
"Let her try." Elena returned, meeting his eyes in the mirror. "I'm not afraid of her."
"Turning off your emotions doesn't make you any harder to kill. You're still only a baby vampire."
She turned to face him, meeting his eye directly. "You misunderstand me. I'm not afraid of her killing me at all, Klaus. If I die, I die."
"If Elijah had a grave, he'd be turning in it." Klaus sighed, shaking his head slightly.
"Is that where Rebekah's gone? To find a grave for him?"
Klaus rolled his eyes, pushing away from the doorframe slightly. "She's gone out of town for the foreseeable future."
Elena scoffed. "Guess we know who's really afraid of the Hollow."
A soft noise escaped her as she found herself pressed against the wall, Klaus glaring at her with his hand at the base of his throat.
"I'm not a patient man, Elena, but I am attempting to be sensitive to the fact that you have experienced Elijah's death in a manner that none of us can understand, but it would do you well to remember that he was our brother for over a millennia. We are grieving him too."
She swallowed, nodding in a small, jerky movement. "I hear you." She whispered after a moment, holding eye contact as he dropped his hand from her throat.
Her fingers twitched briefly, a rogue impulse overcoming her as she wrapped her arms around Klaus's neck. "I'm sorry." She murmured, tightening her arms around him when she felt his hesitantly wrap around her waist. "Not just about Elijah; you lost Hayley, and, and the baby too, I'm sorry."
"You're being rather soft for someone without emotions." Klaus returned, a soft haze of confusion clouding his voice.
"He told me…he said that baby was your family's last hope." She sighed, ignoring him completely. "I'm sorry you lost that."
"So am I." Klaus whispered eventually, glancing at Elena's throat as she pulled away. "You're still wearing his necklace." He lifted the pendant in question, staring at it for a moment before dropping it back against her chest.
Elena looked down at the necklace for a few long moments, not bothering to look up when she started talking to him again. "I don't know why." Picking up the pendant herself, she held it in both hands, examining it closely. "There's just…something."
"I've never heard of people turning their switch off twice before." He tilted his head at her, raising a curious eyebrow. "It's like the effects are dampened."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't have to sound so amused by it."
Klaus shrugged, quirking his lips slightly. "Why not?" Half-smile falling from his lips, he stepped back, regarding her with a curious look and a soft frown. "I'd be careful though if I were you, this might not be all you were hoping for."
"As long as it stops me from reliving their deaths by my hands every hour of everyday, its fine by me."
He tilted his head at her, watching as her gaze drifted, her attention eventually leaving the room completely. "You really did see everything, didn't you?"
Her gaze snapped back into the room, her eyes darting to him, still blank for a brief second before they really registered him.
"Yes." She said. "I saw everything, I heard her every thought, I felt every movement. I heard every plea, and beg, and scream. I felt their skin tear under me; I felt her heart stop beating in my hand; I watched the life drain from their eyes. I felt the glee she took in all of it, and I felt it like it was my own."
"Elena, I-"
"What? What on Earth could you possibly say, Klaus?" She rebutted quickly, her gaze snapping back to him, not that she realised it had wandered. "Could you really tell me that if you were in my position you wouldn't do the same as me? Can you stand there and pretend that, even with everything you've done in your life, killing a mother and her unborn baby, and your soulmate wouldn't haunt your every moment? Whether it be awake or asleep?"
godric777: Thank you!
HisSecretLover18: It really is, and this is such a unique situation to try and deal with that it's something even more complex to convey. I'm glad you enjoyed! I hope you enjoy this too!
Juti91: It was a tough chapter to get through so it was a little on the short side, sorry! I decided not to go through with Hayley transitioning, essentially because tearing a heart out is a way to kill a hybrid, sharing blood with hope is a moot point and doesn't result in her transition in this story. Elena has turned her emotions off, I hope that was made a bit clearer in this chapter.
lauramorgenstern: I'm so glad you thought so! Thank you so much!
Guest: I suppose we'll just have to wait and see!
yellowbessie: Ooh yay! I'm so glad you enjoy it so much! I can't resist turning up the angst every so often!
Hello all! I really, really can't wait to get your thoughts on this one! The Klaus/Elena interaction totally ran away with itself, but I love how it turned out!
As always, I look forward to hearing back from you all!
Until next time
~ I x