Endgame ⚜ Sweet but Psycho

39. day of crying

Klaus continued. "You and Hayley can assure that." He told his brother before looking at his eldest daughter. "Poppy, is everything okay?" He asked her with a gentle tone, brushing his fingertips against her arm. He longed to see her smile again, and to see her happy. The father wanted to be a part of her happiness, and it was killing him to know that he was only feeding her suffering. 

Poppy looked at him, appearing distracted and deep in thought. She then looked at Elijah, her gaze turning cold. "Yeah." She lied. "Everything's okay. I'm just here to see Delevingne."

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows and nodded, but he got an odd feeling in his gut, and the voice of Mikael (which had been haunting him all morning) whispered into his ear. 

She's here to kill Elijah...kill your daughter before she kills your brother! Mercy is for the weak, Niklaus.

Klaus ignored the voice, but not completely. "She's downstairs in the dungeon." 

"Thank you.." Poppy walked away from the two brothers, peeling her eyes away from her uncle. She walked towards the middle of the courtyard, then stopped when she heard the cries of her children, or at least she thought she did. They sounded so real, and they sounded like they were behind her. 

Mommy! Help us! 

Poppy spun around and, as a reaction to what she had heard, her face transformed so she appeared more threatening, her eyes glowing blue. She frowned, not seeing her kids, yet they still cried for her. 

Mommy! Uncle Elijah is going to hurt us!

The tribrid mother looked between her dad, who was on alert now and worried, and her uncle, who was confused and worried. She kept her eyes on her uncle, a low growl escaping from her throat as she began to get worked up. Her kids were all she could think about, their smiles and their happiness, and the blood she had seen on them back at the loft. 

"Poppy.." Elijah held his hand out a bit. He had a feeling that the Hollow had gotten into the mind of his niece, especially since there was no clay on her forehead. He didn't want to hurt her, so he only spoke. "Whatever the Hollow is making you hear or see...it isn't real." 

Klaus frowned, looking away from his daughter as Mikael spoke to him again. 

Now, Niklaus! Protect your brother!

Poppy whooshed towards her uncle, but before she could dig into him, she was thrown into a wall and pinned into it. She gasped a bit in pain, and her eyes widened. Directly in front of her was her dad, who had both of his hands wrapped around her neck, and he began to squeeze. She saw the blue glow flicker in his eyes as she grabbed at his wrists. She couldn't breathe, not really. She could feel her throat being crushed, slowly and agonizingly. The stare that her father gave her was cold and it scared her. 

"Dad-" she gasped out, trying to take a breath of air. "This is-" she let out a moan of pain when she felt something beginning to be crushed "-exactly what it wants-" a tear slipped down her cheek as she let her dad continue to choke her. Poppy wasn't going to hurt him, she wouldn't give the Hollow what it wanted. 

Elijah sped towards the two and threw his brother off of Poppy, allowing her to breathe and to heal. Poppy leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes as she coughed. Her fingertips brushed against the healing bruises on her neck, and she could feel everything being put back into their places. She took a deep breath after coughing and looked at her uncle and father. 

Klaus stood to his feet after having been knocked out of his trance, and the incredible guilt he felt was written across his face for everyone to see. He looked at Elijah, then at his daughter, who still stood against the wall feeling shocked no doubt. With one more glance at his brother he disappeared.