The Originals: Rewritten

Ch.27: Red Door

Elijah woke up from a nightmare he'd had of killing Tatia, the original doppelganger that he and Klaus had both loved 1,000 years ago, only to find that he was still chained by his wrists in a crypt, and was confused as to what had just happened to him. He mustered up all of his strength and yanked on the chains that held him as hard as he could to free himself, but it was useless.

A moment later, Esther walked in, drinking a cup of tea calmly.

"Have you forgotten where you are, son? Save your strength. My chains don't break so easily," Esther told him. She then pointed above his head, where a large poppet hung from the rafters, magically fortified so that they couldn't be broken. "Having sweet dreams?"

Elijah lunged for her, but the restraints wouldn't allow him to get any closer.

"Get out of my head," he demanded of her.

Esther smirked.

"I'm not in your head, dear. You were screaming."

Elijah glared at her, but Esther remained unbothered by his aggression towards her.

"Go ahead, get your bearings. We have much to discuss," she added, before leaving, and Elijah tried once more to break the chains.

A while later, Esther returned to the crypt, where she continued to talk to Elijah.

"Who were you dreaming about ripping apart when you woke earlier? Was it Katherine? Or, was it someone else?"

Elijah aggressively lunged for her again, but still couldn't get any closer.

"Oh, stop fighting, Elijah! I brought you here to listen, and you're not going anywhere until I've said my peace."

"So speak," Elijah furiously replied.

"I want you to rejoin our family, but as a witch. I want you to leave behind the grotesque savage vampirism has made of you. Take the body of a mortal, and we can all be happy again. Start over."

"You do know you're entirely demented, don't you?" Elijah replied.

Esther chuckled at that.

"Am I? I'm not the one who pulls the wings off of every beautiful butterfly that he finds."

Elijah continued to try to break the chains.

"Like the woman who flits across the edge of your nightmare."

"Let me go. Now," Elijah angrily demanded. Then he vamped out.

Esther, unfazed, said, "Hmm. How quickly you slip back into your more savage self."

Elijah was stunned into silence by her response, and he looked almost ashamed as his vampire face disappeared.

"The moral son I raised is now but a mask worn to hide ancient demons," Esther added to him.

"You know nothing."

"See, that's where you're wrong. I know more about the secrets you carry than you do. Shall I list them? I can begin with the first little butterfly you destroyed. The sweet, young window from our village who caught your eye when you were still human. You remember her. How could you forget the first girl to ever steal your heart? She of mystical blood, the doppelganger, Tatia."

"I did nothing but love that woman until the day you took her life," he replied.

Esther gave a smile.