The Original: Book 4

Chapter 9

"I don't care if we have to get you a leash. That was your last trip to the Bayou," I maintained, looking up at Hayley as I sat at the piano.

"What is with you and those wolves, anyway?" Rebekah asked as she poured bourbon into three glasses.

"I feel like we're connected somehow," Hayley admitted. "I don't know. Maybe it's some pipe dream that I have of finding any real family out there, but sometimes when I feel like it's me against the world, it keeps me going." Rebekah handed me a glass before holding another out to Hayley.

"Um, 'Bekah," she glanced over at me, then down at the glass.

"Oh, right." She quickly downed the contents. "Well, if you ask me, family is a pain in the behind."

"Good thing nobody asked," I cut in and she glared over at me.

"As for being in it alone, how dare you? I don't ruin a perfectly fabulous pair of boots traipsing through the Bayou for just anyone."

"I think she's starting to like you," I joked, looking over at Hayley, who chuckled. The front door opened, Nik walking in. The smile immediately fell from my face and I looked down at the keys in front of me.

"Nik, finally. What –," Rebekah trailed off as Elijah came through the door. She ran over, wrapping her arms around him as I stood, setting my glass down.

"I should go," I whispered to Hayley. "I'm not sure how welcome I am in this household right now." Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and I gave her a small smile, keeping my head down as I moved past Nik and the hugging siblings. Making my way down the porch steps, I had just reached my car when a voice called my name.

"Ellie, wait." I stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Don't worry, Nik. I'm leaving," I declared, reaching for the door handle. It had just barely opened when a hand reached up, shutting it. I looked up, surprised to see Nik standing so close.

"Don't."

"What?"

"Don't leave. Not yet." I slowly released the door handle, letting my hand slip down to hang by my side. "I want to apologize for last night. It was wrong of me to react the way I did."

I shook my head, "no, it was a perfectly normal response, actually. I'm not entirely sure why I was surprised."

"Well, either way, I am sorry." He moved his hand from the door, reaching out to grab mine and slowly lacing our fingers together. "And I understand why you did it. You thought I was dead, you were distraught. Emotions were running high, playing with your mind. Sometimes when a person is being comforted by another person, things happen. I should know because I've been there as well."

"We've both made mistakes. Some we can move past."

"You've already moved past my mistake, so I can move past yours." A small smile made its way onto my lips as he used his free hand to cup my face, gently rubbing his thumb over my cheek. He started leaning in and instead of turning away, I let myself move closer. I could feel his warm breath fan over my face, his lips inches from mine. Rebekah called out to us and Nik let out a sigh, pulling away.

"Maybe next time," I told him before dragging him back into the house and following Rebekah to the study I had once yelled at Nik in.

"Ellie and I had a chance to talk with Davina today about her loyalty to Marcel instead of the witches," Elijah told the others.

"Wait, why were you at the church?" Rebekah asked, looking over at me as I stood next to Hayley.

"I teach Davina how to control her magic and in return, I get a less severe punishment for using magic," I divulged.

"So, if any other witch uses magic, they die, but if you use magic, it's a slap on the wrist?" Hayley remarked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"And do the other witches know about this?" Rebekah rejoined.

"No, I didn't want them knowing. They might think I'm a spy for Marcel or something. There would be a fight for my position."

"It's a good thing you didn't," Elijah commented. "Everything that brought us here to New Orleans was a lie. This story that Sophie Deveraux fabricated, this struggle for control of the French Quarter, this war between vampires and witches, wasn't over territory at all. This was over Davina," Elijah explained to Hayley and his siblings. "Eight months ago, Sophie Deveraux and her sister, Jane-Anne, lost everything. Now, four months after that, a young, pregnant girl wanders into their restaurant. Suddenly, all hope is renewed. Jane-Anne actually sacrificed her life so that her sister could use you to find Davina. If Sophie Deveraux is successful in capturing Davina, she can return Jane-Anne's daughter back to life. We thought we'd come here to wage a war for power." Elijah shook his head slightly. "This is about family. In order to return her niece to life, Sophie Deveraux will fight to the death. That makes her more dangerous than anyone."

Nik and Ellie made up! Yay!

Hey, I'm actually posting on time! :) And now that I've done so, I'm going to go watch 'Stranger Things' season 2!! 

With Halloween (All Hallows Eve, Samhain, whatever you want to call it) coming up in a couple days, I want to know what you guys are going to dress up as (if at all) and what your plans are (i.e. party, trick-or-treating, nothing).

My character and her story are of my own imagination. They belong to me and nobody else. Please do not steal. Copyright 2017.