Anomaly [ELIJAH MIKAELSON] [1] [COMPLETED]

XVIII - THE RECKONING

   Audrey let a small groan, rolling over onto her back as she opened her eyes. She remembered the warehouse, she remembered the angry look on Klaus's face, then it all just went black. Placing her hands flat on the soft surface beneath her, she sat up and looked around, a sense of familiarity hitting her instantly. The mirror with pictures of her and her friends taped along the edges, the corner shelf next to her chair, which was overflowing with the book collection she'd built up over the years. Her desk holding her laptop, with a messy pile of forgotten school work laying next to it, along with her very unorganised pot of stationary. 

   She was home. Her usual comforter was pulled over her, her assortment of pillows stacked neatly behind her. She was at home, in her room, not some warehouse in the middle of Chicago. Confusion became clear on her face as she looked around, wincing slightly as she turned her neck. 

   "You're still healing." A voice spoke up. "The pain will fade soon."

   Her eyes snapped to the chair by her shelf, staring in disbelief. "Elijah?"

   "Hello, Audrey." Elijah looked over at her with a small smile. Rising to his feet, he moved and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. "I take it you have some questions." 

   "Just a few." She admitted, looking at him in a daze. She didn't understand what was going on, or where to even start. She glanced around the room again, then looked back at him, the look he gave her making her realize. "None of this is real, is it?"

   "I'm afraid not." Elijah confirmed for her. "When Niklaus snapped your neck, the necklace sent you here while it uses my healing to heal you. Somewhere you feel safe." He explained, gesturing around the room. "And because of our bond, it brought me here to make sure you were okay."

   "He snapped my neck?" She repeated, her eyes going wide. Then it all hit her. She could remember him shouting, asking what she was hiding, then Rebekah's yells as it all went black. "He killed me. I'm dead." She let out, her voice barely above a whisper as it sunk in. 

   "Yes." Elijah nodded once again, a look of distaste on his face. As she watched him carefully, she saw the anger there too. "Niklaus once again let his temper and crippling paranoia get the better of him." He brought his hand up to her face, his thumb stroking gently across her cheek. "Thankfully, you're going to be okay."

   Audrey leaned into his touch, her eyes locked with his. Her mind thought back to before the summer, before she ended up locked in Alaric's apartment with Katherine. How close they had gotten in the library, and ever little moment that had led up to it. Seeing felt like a weight had lifted off her chest, and she just felt at peace. Almost simultaneously, both of them started to lean in closer to one another, slowly closing the small distance between them. It gave them both a familiar sense of deja-vu, neither of them having the thought to pull away or stop it from happening.