Our Hope • Ava Rose Mikaelson

6. Wheel Inside the Wheel

I'm standing on the balcony in the nursery and I'm staring out into the city. Nik and I suspect Esther took Elijah captive. I'm wondering what Esther is doing to Elijah. Stefan called me a couple of times these past few days. They say with time losing someone gets easier but it doesn't. It's been almost six months since Damon died and I haven't been able to stop thinking about him. I cry each and every time I think about him. My brother is dead. It becomes clearer that I'm not going to see him again.

The sounds of screams startled me and I went into my room where Nik is. He has blood splattered all over his hands and face. He's washing up in his sink as I sniffled and quickly wiped my tears.

"Are you okay?" Nik asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thinking about Damon. I just miss him. So much."

"I know, love." Nik says and I smiled softly.

"One day I will be okay. Hopefully." I said and he looks at me with concerned so I cleared my throat. "Did it go well?"

Nik looks at himself in the mirror while he washes up. "It turns out these witches are delicate creatures. No matter! I suspected my mother had Elijah captive."

"Let me just put some shoes on." I said and Nik shakes his head no as he walks toward me.

"Esther is too powerful. She won't be easily found. I need to draw her out." Nik says as he walks into the closet. "First, I'm going to change my shirt, and then I'm going to find my brother."

"I'm going with you." I said, firmly.

Nik sighs deeply and walks toward me. "I know you want to help, Ava, but you can't. My mother is wretched. She will target you in order to thwart me, and I can't very well save Elijah if I'm busy saving you, can I?" He says as he puts his arms around me. "I need you here at the compound where I know you'll be safe."

I looked at him for a moment before I sigh in defeat. "Okay, fine."

"So, you called Mikael a coward?" Nik asks, smiling, as he takes off his shirt.

"Like a couple of times."

"I'm surprised he didn't kill you right on the spot." Nik says, jokingly, as he throws his bloody shirt at me and I caught it.

"Don't let Esther capture you because then I'm going to have to save both of your asses."

"I won't." Nik smiles as he gave me a kiss. "Promise."

If I can't help Nik then I can help someone else. Like Oliver. I can't leave him for dead. I mean, I can but I can't. I need to keep myself busy because I'm going to start thinking about my daughter, my brother, and I'll get drunk again. Saving Oliver seems like the perfect task to get my mind off everything.

***

I came to Marcel's loft to get some help. Figured I could use some. I heard Gia and Marcel talking.

"I did like you said." Gia said. "I kept a low profile, went all over the city. There's no sign of Elijah anywhere."

"Yeah, the humans I know said the same thing. Maybe Klaus is having better luck?"

"No, he's not." I said as I walked into the room, making my presence known. "All we know is that Esther has him. You guys want to help with something? Like a... rescue mission?"

"Are we going after Elijah?" Gia asked.

"Nope. That's all Klaus. He doesn't want me to get targeted by Esther if I helped him. I'm talking about Oliver. Now, he and Elijah were fighting the werewolves together. I've heard that Oliver's been captured and is about to be executed. Now, look, if we can save Oliver, then we might be able to find out where Elijah is."