Strange Fates

Chapter 16: Three Days

A/N: depression, grief, self harm. Do not read if any of this might be triggering. 

***

Three days. That's how much time had passed since the brothers left you weeping in your shop. Three days that felt more like three hundred. Not only were they having to deal with their own emotions, yours battered against them constantly like waves on a shore.

They put up walls and locked themselves down as much as they could. There were ways to completely sever the bond with you but none of them were willing to take that step. Frankly, they weren't certain they'd survive it should they even try.

All three brothers had retreated to their own spaces in the house as they constantly sniped at one another when anywhere close to each other. It was late afternoon when the front door slammed and Cami's voice rang throughout the house. "I want to speak to all three of you. Right now."

Elijah sighed in annoyance and went to greet their friend. It was unlikely the other two would bother. "Now is not really a good time," he said as he reached the top of the stairs and she came into view.

She scowled and moved into the living room. "I don't really give a shit. And I'm not leaving until I've said my piece so I suggest you all make an appearance."

Elijah ran a hand through his hair and followed her into the other room. Truth be told, he was surprised it had taken her this long to appear on your behalf. The two of you had grown quite close.

His brothers appeared seconds later evidently deciding to take their punishment as well.

"Look, Cami—"

"Sit down and shut the fuck up," Cami barked, cutting Klaus off.

They took seats in various locations around the room and Cami stood in front of them. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she tapped her foot on the floor. Elijah could practically feel the anger radiating off her.

"Did Y/N tell you about her family?"

Elijah frowned. That certainly wasn't where he was expecting this conversation to start. His brothers looked equally as stunned.

"Of course, she did. Undoubtedly more than she told you at any rate," Kol said and Elijah had to agree. As close as the two of you were, he found it doubtful that you happened to mention your heritage to her.

Cami huffed and lifted her chin to sneer down her nose at them.

Elijah shifted his weight and clenched his teeth to keep himself from saying something he'd regret.

"So she told you how her sister tortured her? And got her friends to join in as well? Or maybe she told you how the only mother she'd ever known didn't even wait until she'd had a chance to wash her father's blood from her hands to tell her she wasn't her real mother and kick her out of the house?"

"What?" Kol's voice cracked.

Elijah swallowed past the lump in his throat. How had you never told them this?

"She made no secret of the fact she doesn't get along with her step-mother and her sister but I had no idea it went to that extreme," Klaus added.

"Of course, you didn't. In case you haven't noticed she goes out of her way to not be a burden, a bother. You can only listen to someone say something to you so many times before you start to believe it." Cami wiped a hand across her eyes and cleared her throat before continuing. "She spent her entire life being told by her step-mother that she wasn't wanted. When her father died they added the rhetoric that her real mother took one look at her and abandoned her. Her sister tormented her for years about her soulmark until she was convinced her mark was the way it was because her mates wouldn't want her either so they'd just reject her in turn."

"We understand what you're saying, Camille but—"

"You don't understand shit." Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she cut Elijah's words off. "All she's wanted in her life is to be loved. To belong to a family that was happy to have her. You didn't just break her heart, you ripped her family away. You took her dream. She is so, so broken and none of you care. Why pretend to love her if you were only going to snatch it away?"

Klaus was on his feet in an instant, his own tears a match for Cami's. "You can come in here and yell at us for breaking her heart, but don't you dare accuse us of not loving her. Or think for even a moment that we don't care for her. She is everything." He was yelling by the end, not that Elijah could fault him for it.

"Then why do this? Why make all of you suffer?"

"We have to." Kol's voice broke and he turned away from all of them.

"You don't have to do shit. Just—"

It was Cami's turn to be cut off as Elijah stood, hands fisted at his sides. "We will not falter in this, Camille. As much as we may all hate it, this is for the best. Her life is danger as long as she is with us."

She swiped her tears away again and looked at all of them with such profound sadness that Elijah's heart ached. "What makes any of you think her life is worth living without you in it?"

***

Three days and you hadn't heard from any of them. It was for the best you supposed. Easier to let them go this way. After all, they'd all but shut down their connection with you so they wanted you gone. And you kept trying to pull yourself together but there were so many reminders. Every where you looked.

You snatched the half full bottle of liquor from the table and took another long swallow. The real problem here was you marks. No matter where you looked on your body there they were. You'd tried covering them up the first day, but you were drawn to them anyway. Always moving aside your clothing to catch a glimpse of them. And if you did succeed in ignoring them for awhile they'd start itching, trying to get your attention. A constant reminder that even they didn't want you.

So now you sat at the little table in your kitchen in your bra and underwear so you could see them all. You took another swig of the alcohol and savored the burn. You slammed the bottle down and the other items on the table shook. Among them was your favorite knife. Grasping it in hand, you turned it back and forth to catch the light with the blade. The edge was so sharp that a mere touch could cut. The thing about a super sharp blade was the damage was done long before your pain receptors kicked in.

You'd mixed up some of your special essences and put them in your bottle just to be sure. The triangles had to go first. They started this whole mess and in some ways were the worst reminder. You ran the edge over the soulmarks, lightly on the first pass then more firmly on the next. You tossed the blade on the table and grabbed the towel from beside it. After wiping the blood away and seeing no sign of the marks you allowed yourself a small smile. One down.

It was evident from the amount of blood that trying to be rid of the bonding marks the same way wouldn't be a good idea. Fortunately, you had a plan for that as well. Clippings from two of your fae plants lay on opposite sides of the table. You picked the leaf from one and cracked it open. A thick sweet smelling gel oozed out and you rubbed it over one of the bonding marks. When you ran out, you picked another leaf.

Once you had them all covered, you did the same with the other plant. Once finished, you sucked in a breath and whispered an ancient fae word. Flames leapt to life and began to sear away the marks. The longer they burned, the more the pain crept through. It took a moment for you to realize that you were screaming. Another word and the fire faded away as if it had never been.

Your head spun, and you hurt. God, you hurt. But when you examined your skin and found nothing but charred flesh, it was so worth it. You put your head down on the table and let the tears flow in a mix of relief and devastation. A pounding at the door startled you and you thought someone might have yelled your name. But none of it mattered as you closed your eyes and sank into blackness.