The Cruel Prince || Klena

12.

A knock resounded from the door. Elena jumped. Then she opened the door. No one was there. She looked out, but there was still no one in sight. Confused, she stepped out of the room. Immediately she was doused with a thick, hot, and suffocating liquid. Elena gasped for air and clawed at her face. The liquid dripped of her in torrents.

To her horror, it was red. She seemed to find her voice again as she let out a scream. In a flash, someone was shaking her. Someone, a blurry someone. Her breaths came in short gasps. "ELENA!" Tbe voice increased in decibels. Then a hand came down on her face. Hard. The force of it caused blood to fly off her face and onto the wall.

Her vision seemed to clear up quickly. She groaned and flexed her jaw. It stung very much. "My apologies. Nik!" It was Rebekah. There was still a trace of sleep left in the way her eyes slowly blinked. "What the bloody bell happened to you?" A voice said. It was Kol. "Where's Nik?" He shrugged. "I don't know." Rebekah rolled her eyes. 

"What's going on?" Another voice yawned. Henrik. He froze when he saw Elena. Elijah swooped in and escorted him away, casting a look over his shoulder that said explain. Rebekah sent back a helpless one. Elena felt him before she saw him. The air electrified. Niklaus was here. He stormed down the hallway, all fury. "What is the meaning of this?! Kol I swear-". He saw Elena.

His face molded into one of confusion. "I don't know. Someone must've rigged it, the body." Body? Elena slowly turned and looked up. Her stomach dropped. Pinned into the wall above Rebekah's doorway was Sophie. She had a single sword pinning her small body to the wall. Her face was frozen in a permanent state of terror. But the blood wasn't hers. Elena could see it now. There was a bucket precariously balanced by nearly invisible strings.

And then she saw the words. Written in dripping angry red was a message: You're next. Klaus snarled and all but launched Kol into the air. He collided with the wall. "Oof."

"She was your plaything!" He bellowed furiously. Elena frowned. She was certain Sophie was a mere sixteen. Kol winced as Klaus yanked him up off the floor and to the wall. "I had nothing to do with it, I assure you."

"Liar!" He reared back his elbow to hit him. "Niklaus! That's quite enough." The siblings parted the hallway as their mother, regal as ever, came swiftly through. "Oh, you poor dear. I could smell that blood a mile away." She sniffed. Poor Elena could do nothing but shiver. Esther put her hand on her elbow and guided her away. She shot a warning look back at her children. "This had better be gone by the time I return."

"And Kol? If i find out you had something to do with this, I'll turn you over to your father." Elena didn't see it, but Kol paled significantly. "C'mon. You look like you could use a bath." Esther lead her into her own quarters, where Elena finally registered what was happening. The Queen had her in her own personal quarters, and was letting her use her own personal bath.

"Would you have me send in some servant girls?" Elena shook her head very quickly. The last thing she needed to see was another innocent girl. Alive. Even now, she could still see her behind her lids. Turning on the water, Elena let herself sink below the surface, the water enveloping her in a warm caress. She stayed under until her chest ached and her throat began to claw for air.

Gasping, she sat up in the tub. Her skin was still tainted a faint pink. She grabbed a sponge and began scrubbing. Elena dragged it along her arms, even when it started to sting. Even when her skin became raw. The blood seemed to cling to her, screaming 'this is your fault.' That girl was dead because of her. And she couldn't escape it. It seemed everywhere she went, death followed.

And none could escape death.