Eternal || Elijah Mikaelson

XCVII - Bring Him Back

Chapter Ninety-Seven

As we came into the cemetery and neared where we suspected Kol was with Davina, we heard him say that he wanted to be alone for the part that came next.

"I'm afraid that's not an option," Elijah said as we came around at the corner to see him.

"Always and forever is not something you weasel out of, brother," Klaus told Kol.

The two of them had hints of sad smiles on their lips.

Kol suddenly stumbled forward as if someone had pushed him, but it was the spell. It was quite literally knocking the wind out of him. He coughed violently, and blood made it's way past his lips to drip on the ground.

I went forwards and held Kol up, and his arm went over my shoulders. I could see the tears forming in his eyes, while Davina was full on sobbing at this point.

"Let's get him to a building," I said.

They all agreed, and Elijah came and took his other arm. We took him to one of the tombs, and Klaus broke the lock off of it to allow us entrance. We took him in and laid him on the ground, only for him to immediately begin coughing.

I knelt down by Kol's head, while Klaus was on his right and Elijah was on his left. Each of them had tears in their eyes, all except for me. I was sure that I could still save him. I refused to think otherwise. It seemed that Davina thought the same, because she was playing with her bracelet in the corner of the room while murmuring incantations and spells that she thought might work.

"Could our blood possibly heal him, even a little?" Elijah asked, leaning close to me and making his voice hushed so that only I could hear. "Or at least make him become a vampire once this is over?"

I shook my head. "Finn's spell is too strong. It makes him go through this in any life," I bit my lip. "If we turn him, it will just be a life of torture. This will happen to him every hour of every day. The only way to stop it is for..." I sighed. "Is for him to die. But if we bring him back, then that's an entirely different story."

"We bring him back," Elijah swallowed. "That is the only option."

I nodded. "But... Elijah, even I can't do that."

He nodded slowly, looking down at his brother. "Then we make his last few moments as good as we possibly can."

Kol jerked upwards again, coughing up more and more blood while pain racked his body. For him, it would feel like a painful version of the stomach flu. Instead of feeling nauseous, he would feel like this insides were on fire. He would slowly become tired until the only thing that he wanted to do was fall asleep forever.

I held Kol's hand, right hand and Klaus moved over a little so that I could be above his shoulder. Kol calmed and leaned back, Elijah's hand holding his head up.

"All my life," he said, his voice cracking. "All I ever wanted was for you lot to care about me."

He coughed again, and Elijah looked up at Rebekah with a saddened expression. She walked over to Kol, and sat down on a step that was right behind his head. He leaned back, and his head laid on her thigh. He held onto my hand and her arm, clenching them tighter every time a wave of pain went through him.

"Kol, listen to me," she whispered to him. "You don't have long. You are going to die."

He took a deep and struggled breath, looking like he was about to burst out crying when she said that.

"But you will die a witch. And we will consecrate your body. You will join the ancestors of the French Quarter, and those spirits can be brought back. And I promise you, brother, I will not leave this body until I find a way to bring you home."

He looked up at her and smiled, but it was a sad and painful one.

He coughed and heaved again, and Davina finished her newest spell. She crawled over to him, desperate and hopeful. "I tried a different spell."

"It's okay," he said, and she looked at him with confusion. He shook his head at her, and tears flowed down her cheeks. He held her hand in his. "I'm not scared," he whispered.

He heaved one last time, taking another breath before his body went limp. His eyes stared into hers, and she broke down completely.

He was gone.

I reached up and closed his eyelids, making sure that he was finally at peace again.

Rebekah and I both looked up at the brothers. Klaus was crying, while Elijah was fighting the tears. He was trying not to cry. I could tell that he wasn't truly accepting the fact that his brother was gone, just like I hadn't been.

I stood up, the first to leave the tomb. I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to be near his body. I couldn't do that.

I went back to the compound, and saw that everyone had gone home. I was kind of happy about that. I didn't really know why.

I went up the stairs and to my room, ignoring any stray person that I happened to go past. I went into my room, not bothering to shut the door behind me. I needed to pack again This time, I wasn't just leaving on a long trip. I was moving.

It crossed my mind that Klaus didn't know where I was going, but I figured that Elijah or Marcel would tell him. After these past events, he would understand why I didn't stay any longer to let him know. I only had a few things that I wanted to take with me. My clothes, and a couple trinkets that I had along with some electronics. That was it, so I could pack it all into two suitcases.

I put the suitcases on the bed, and filled them with the clothes I wished to take with me across the river. I was almost finished when I heard him.

I pursed my lips, not sure what he wanted. I didn't really care, either.

"Roseia, you need to-"

"I need to pack, Elijah," I said. "That's what I need to do."

He walked into the room. "I understand that this is difficult for you to-"

"It's not difficult anything. He died, I tried to help, he came back, and he died again!" I shouted, throwing an old jewellry box into the suitcase. "It's not that hard to understand."

I put the last remaining thing into my suitcase, a necklace that I always kept separate from my other jewellry. The necklace that Elijah gave me.

"He's gone and nothing is going to change that," I said, my hand lingering over the box that contained the necklace. "He's gone."

I swallowed, and I felt it. The lump in my throat, the twisting in my gut, the stinging in my eyes. I moved my hand up to cover my mouth to stop the scream of frustration and pain that threatened to leave.

"He's gone," I repeated.

I heard his footsteps from behind me, but I didn't move. I didn't turn to look at him, and I didn't have to. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, and I sunk into him. He was large enough to quite literally encase me, and that calmed me immensely. The emotional pain didn't go away when he did that, but it lessened.

"It's going to be alright, Rose," he whispered, his head over my shoulder.

He was the one thing that could calm me. After everything that we had been through that night, he was the only thing that made me feel okay.

That had to mean something. It had to.