𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐒 | 𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄

"I had a bit of an incident, Carol. I'm hoping you could help." Elijah sweetly spoke to the woman, while Eden wore a smile. 

"Well, I'm on my way to a meeting so—"

"—It won't take but a minute of your time." He stepped closer as his eyes met hers. Eden always marvelled at compulsion and how it messed with someone's mind completely. 

Once compelled, Carol's entire demeanour changed. "Of course." She took a few steps backward, ushering the pair inside her home. "Anything you need."

"Thank you. Well, first things first, I'm going to need a change of clothing."

"Well, we could try one of my husband's suits. I haven't boxed them up yet." Carol seemed almost baffled that she had willingly mentioned giving away her husbands suits to a complete stranger, but she simply shook it off and smiled before she disappeared to collect them.

Eden raised an eyebrow and turned back to Elijah. "Most of the towns on vervain. How'd you know she's not?"

"Because I'm the one who get her off it. Right before you and your friends killed me. Twice." He hummed. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be down in a moment."

Elena walked into the study to wait whilst Elijah changed into one of the suits Carol had picked out for him. She knew that, by now, Elena and the rest of her friends would have realised she and Elijah are gone and be desperately trying to locate her. Which was way Eden turned her cell off. If she was quite literally making a deal with the devil, she didn't want any interruptions. Plus, she knew none of them would approve of her methods.

"So." Elijah's voice echoed moments later as he wandered into the study looking considerably better. "I assume that the Martin witches are no longer with us?" He watched as Eden shook her head. "And Katerina? She would have been released from my compulsion when I died."

"Klaus took her. And, uh— probably killed her."

"I doubt that." A scoff escaped his lips. "Not Klaus' style. Death would be too easy for her after what she did."

Eden shuffled in her seat as if she were trying to make herself comfortable. "Here's what I don't understand, why make Katherine pay for betraying him if you want Klaus dead yourself?"

"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. There was a time when I'd have done anything for Klaus." Elijah hummed almost reminiscent. "He's my brother."

Eden's eyes widened in complete and utter disbelief at the fact that Elijah was related to Klaus. "I did not see that coming."

"Yes, I'm a little behind on the times but I believe the term you're searching for is 'O.M.G'." 

"Hang on. So, is there a whole family of Original vampires?" Eden asked after a few moments of having to completely rewire her brain. She imagined Klaus was some complete monster— not someone with a family.

"My family was a wealthy landowner in a village in Eastern Europe." Elijah swiftly got up from his seat and began to adjust himself in the mirror. "Our mother bore seven children."

"Your parents were human?

He nodded. "Our whole family was. Our origins as vampires is a very long story, Eden. Just know, we're the oldest vampires in the world. We are The Original Family and from us, all vampires were created." 

The Gilbert girl nodded slowly. But, she couldn't understand why Elijah wanted Klaus dead. "He's your brother? Why would you want him dead? I could never do that to Elena or Jeremy."

Instead of responding Elijah began to stride toward the door. "I need some air. I'm still feeling a tad dead. Come." She grabbed her jacket and followed as he led them outside. "So, as you've seen, nothing can kill an Original. Not sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned."

"Ash— that's where the ash for the dagger came from. It's the ash of the tree you burned down to protect yourselves." 

"Yes. The witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the Earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain balance."

Eden scrunched her face in confusion. "If the sun can't kill you, then why does Klaus wanna break the Sun and Moon curse?"

"Right. The Curse of the Sun and the Moon." Elijah smiled as he tried to stop himself from chuckling softly. "It's all so biblical sounding, don't you think? Oh, Eden. We planted the idea of the curse. The easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelgänger or to get your hands on some long-lost moonstone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout for it. The Curse of the Sun and the Moon is fake. It doesn't exist."

"If it's fake, and there's no curse—"

"—Oh, there is a curse. Just not that one. The real one's much worse. It's a curse placed on Klaus. Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years, and you and Elena are his last hope."

Eden stopped walking as she folded her arms across her chest. "What is Klaus' curse?"

"You know, my family was quite close. But Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret. Klaus was from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this he hunted down and he killed my mother's lover and his entire family. Not realising, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages until this day."

"A war between species? So, that means Klaus' real father was a werewolf?" Eden asked as Elijah nodded in confirmation. "But, I thought Klaus was a vampire? He's werewolf?"

"He's both." As the words left Elijah's lips, Eden couldn't believe what she was hearing. "A Hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, the servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant."

"You're joking." Eden almost let a chuckle escape her lips. "He wants to kill me or my sister just to free up another aspect of himself?"

"Yes. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He'd build his own race, endangering not just vampires, but everyone. I helped him because I loved him, but that's changed now. He must die."

"The dagger will put him down, right?"

"Wrong." Elijah snapped. "When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An Original can't be killed by anything but White Oak ash on a silver dagger. So, you see the conundrum? The dagger does not work."

"Are you telling me he can't be killed? Because we literally just had a conversation about how nature must have a balance." Eden didn't quite understand what was going on around her anymore.

"There's one way to kill any supernatural species. At the hands of the servants of nature themselves."

"If a witch channels that much power it'll kill them, Elijah." Eden looked at the vampire with a defeatist look. She knew the outcome of what he was asking. 

"The curse must be broken during the full moon when Klaus is in transition. That's when he'll be at his most vulnerable." Elijah stepped closer to Eden with a confident look in his eyes. "A witch with enough power can kill Klaus."

"What if I had a witch that could channel that much power? As long as she is safe."

"Then, I would tell you there's one more thing that you should know. When I learned that Klaus was planning on sacrificing Katerina to break the curse, I wanted to find something— anything that would spare her life. They gave me a way. Unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first. I believe you already know how that played out."

Eden's face fell as she looked up to him. "You cared about her. Enough to betray your brother?"

"It's a common mistake, I'm told." He nodded. "It's one I won't make again."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───