SAVE MY SOUL
Jenny was happy.
Happy, it felt like a distant dream, and it was strange to feel that way for someone that used to be the picture perfect vision of happiness. But she was happy again and she felt like an ocean of butterflies, high on the feeling of fluttering through someone else's wings.
"You're staring," Jenny commented as she laid in bed with the sheet pulled up to her chin.
Elijah was currently getting dressed this morning after their activities and he hadn't once stopped staring at her. Literally.
She was sure he even watched her sleep last night just to make sure she didn't, well, disappear. But she wasn't exactly the perfect sleeper; she had nightmares about the dark place and she'd wake up in a fit, thinking she was a ghost again. She had clutched onto him so tightly in the night but he never once complained and simply coaxed her back to sleep, running his fingers softly through her hair like a lullaby.
"I would call it admiring," he corrected as he attempted to do his tie for the third time.
"You've been admiring all morning," she responded as she sat up and moved her legs over the edge of the bed. One of them moved out from under the cover.
Elijah stopped with his tie and knelt in front of her. His fingers glided up her bare leg as he laid a kiss on her knee. She shivered as he spoke, "Am I supposed to stop?"
She blushed as she shook her head, "No."
She ran her fingers through his hair before kissing him deeply. His hand glided up her leg, past her knee and to her thigh.
When she pulled away, she breathed heavily, whispering her heart's declaration between breaths, "I love you."
He smiled, "And I'll love you forever."
He kissed her again before he moved his lips to her jaw and then to her neck. She was going to protest as they had somewhere to be but once he found the right spot on her neck, her protest died.
She ended up doing his tie for him later.
_____
"It's not fair."
They got out of the car once they arrived at this place where a vampire named Marcel resided. While Elijah looked impeccable because he could get ready with vampire speed, she on the other hand looked terrible.
Her hair was up in a messy bun and she didn't have any makeup on. But at least she wore a coat that hid the hickeys on her neck.
"You look like...that and I look..."
"Beautiful," he answered with a small smirk.
She gave him a look, "And it's all your fault because of this morning. Now I look..."
He cut her off with a kiss and her head felt a bit dizzy when he pulled away. Not to mention the butterflies that erupted. And his eyes had a glow as he looked at her.
She held onto him by the lapels of his coat as she tried to gain her balance. She looked up at him with a playful glare. He could so easily dissipate all of her rambling thoughts. She breathed deeply, "You're so lucky I love you."
"Yes, I do know, Jenny Stevens," he gave her a soft look before taking her hand and leading her behind him.
She didn't quite understand why Elijah wanted her to go with him to check on Rebekah but she had no reason to complain. But now they were here outside a rundown building and there were, surprisingly, a crowd of people.
"Take her," an elderly woman commanded that seemed to be the leader of the little group.
"That won't be necessary," Elijah announced his presence as he led her through the crowd.
The crowd turned their attention to Elijah for only a moment before they directed their gazes to her. Whispers started up and she couldn't hear what they were saying but she was certain Elijah did as he looked back at her for a moment in concern.
Once they made it through the crowd, Elijah pulled her behind him as he directed his attention to the elderly witch. But even hidden behind Elijah, she could feel their eyes.
"Ms. LaRue. It would be a great shame to soil the goodwill of our recent agreement. Now, I am sorry for your loss, but, Marcel is telling the truth-- Rebekah now occupies the body of Eva Sinclair, and my sister is innocent of this crime."
"Now, you have my word, I will find whoever is responsible and make certain that justice is served," Elijah dropped her hand as he walked closer to Josephine. "But now, I would encourage you all to leave."
"You have 'til tomorrow," Josephine said as she glanced at Jenny like she was some peculiar thing before focusing back on Elijah. "After that, it won't matter what I say - witches will stop at nothing to protect their children. That's an impulse I know you can respect."
Josephine left along with her group of witches and Elijah turned to her looking at her for a moment in confusion. He was going to speak but Rebekah spoke while giving her a hug, "Jenny! I see you have my brother wrapped around your finger again."
Rebekah wrapped an arm around her shoulders once she pulled away, "Now, why the bloody hell were all those witches looking at you?"
_____
Jenny met Marcel who seemed nice enough but she knew all too well how to look pleasant on the outside. They all agreed they needed to get to the bottom of this witch business. Rebekah wanted to take Jenny with her to see Davina and see what the young witch could do to help.
"Jenny and Davina are both going to be my future sisters by law. They should get to know each other," Rebekah pouted. "And I want to take Jenny shopping."
Jenny blushed at the future in-law comment. Thinking of Elijah proposing made her lose the ability to breathe.
"Rebekah, shopping? Really? When we have far too many problems to deal with?" Elijah lectured.
"Fine," Rebekah huffed. "Then she can just meet Davina."
"No, her attackers have not been dealt with. Until then, she'll stay by my side," Elijah said as he grabbed her hand. She realized she was being fought over like a rag doll.
"It's okay, Rebekah. We can chat later," Jenny said before looking up at Elijah. "When both our witch problems are handled, apparently."
Jenny also wanted to stay with Elijah because she knew that without his presence she'd feel numb again and she didn't want to feel like that yet. She wanted to stay happy.
_____
Elijah put the car in park outside the Abattoir. She turned to him and asked, "What did you hear?"
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and she continued, "Those witches whispering. What did they say? You completely disregarded the subject back there so I want to know now."
He hesitated before he sighed, "Those witches were curious about you. They called you a name, although, I don't quite understand what it means: a lost soul."
"It would explain why the witches took me and locked me up with Rebekah," she said. "We'll have to figure out what it means."
"I know," his voice was melancholy as he grabbed her hand on the center console, he held it for a moment before bringing it to his lips and he laid a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "I'll fix it. I'll fix everything."
She knew he meant it as a promise and that he was thinking of her on the staircase and how broken she looked. But she didn't want him to promise. She didn't want to be just another weight that he carried.
She brought her hand up to cradle his cheek which made him gaze at her. Those brown eyes. And for a moment it felt like it used to. She felt like his eyes were hers to gaze into and a balloon inflated inside her chest with the joy of a thousand smiles.
God, did she love him. She shook her head at him with a small smile as she let her hand drop, "I don't want you to fix me....like I can go back to what I was."
"Then what would you have me do?"
"Love me..." she suggested hesitantly. "...until I'm no longer afraid of the dark."
He had noticed her uneasiness in the darkness. She had requested a candle stayed lit all night long. Even then, she still could hardly close her eyes. It made him sad that he didn't know what ailed her.
He smiled (and every smile came so easily in her presence like breathing), "My task is entirely too easy. Loving you comes naturally."
She smiled and leaned over the center console, kissing him softly, relishing in the feel of the way her heart pounded against her chest like a drumbeat. Alive, well, happy.
_____
"There you are. Finally," Klaus commented as they walked into the dining room. He smirked once he saw Jenny.
"So I assume your late arrival is because of the spectacular evening you had, brother?" Klaus teased.
Jenny picked up a grape from the table and threw it at him. He dodged it with a chuckle. Elijah held a small smirk as Jenny spoke, "Is your mind always in the gutter?"
"For the better part of a thousand years. I've learned to ignore him," Elijah answered.
Klaus only rolled his eyes and teased again, "So is that a denial?"
Jenny blushed and looked away while Elijah sighed, "Niklaus."
"Fine, fine. Our guest should be arriving shortly."
"Strange, our house is conspicuously absent of our lupine guests," Elijah commented.
"I sent Hayley and her poorly groomed husband off to spend the day with their werewolf brethren to test the limits of their new abilities. Leaving me to deal with family business as I see fit," Klaus informed.
"And I let the two of you handle that," Jenny said as she started to leave the room.
"Where are you going?" Elijah questioned as he reached for her hand, halting her.
She turned to look at him to see him staring at her with such worry like she'd suddenly disappear as she answered, "Upstairs."
"It's a family matter so I'll give your family space," she said before kissing him on the cheek. "I'll be right upstairs."
She went to pull away but Elijah hadn't let go of her hand. Klaus watched it all unfold. Jenny tugged on it, "Elijah."
Elijah reluctantly let go of her hand like he was afraid of what would happen if he did. He watched her leave the room and even then, he listened to the sound of her heart beating because the sound of silence still haunted his mind.
_____
After hours, Rebekah finally showed up but in a dire situation after the spirit of Eva Sinclair took over her body again. Elijah wanted to gain help from Freya but Klaus disagreed so he sulked in the corner like a child.
Although, every time she even looked at Rebekah, she started to gain a headache so she kept her gaze focused on her lap. And she started to feel like a shadow loomed over or around her and she knew that feeling all too well; the suffocating darkness blinded her senses and caused her to keep looking over her shoulder like at any moment she'd see the world of the dead behind her.
"Rebekah!" Freya smiled as she entered the room. "It's good to see you again."
"And you. Although I'd prefer better circumstances," Rebekah said as they sat next to each other on the couch. Jenny sat in a chair across from them while Elijah stood by her side.
"You needn't worry. Elijah explained the problem, and I can help," Freya said.
Klaus muttered loudly from the bar, "Rather confident, aren't we?"
Freya turned to look at him, partly amused and partly confused. But when Klaus doesn't even acknowledge her, she just sighed and turned back to Rebekah.
"The spirit of the host body is powerful, but I can cast a spell," Freya brushed Rebekah's cheek with her hand. "Put you in a deep sleep, and then suppress this other essence. You'll be just fine."
"Lovely," Rebekah said nervously. "When do we start?"
Klaus groaned, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. She spouts off some magical diagnosis, and we are all supposed to applaud?"
"Nik, she's trying to help!" Rebekah said, annoyed at his behavior.
Klaus stood to his feet and walked toward them, "Yes, but for the sake of keeping our options open, why not write down your spells and incantations, that way we can have them double-checked by an impartial third party? Say, Davina? She'd love to prove me wrong."
"I doubt she'd be able to understand my magic, let alone have the power to execute it."
"Oh, so you're my only hope, then? Seems rather convenient, doesn't it?"
"Actually, I'm not," Freya argued. "If you lack such faith in me, then have your spirit guide over there fix the problem."
Freya looked to Jenny and soon all eyes were on her. She swallowed harshly in surprise, "Excuse me? A spirit guide?"
"You know what she is?" Elijah questioned.
"You don't?" Freya looked at him in confusion before explaining. "I know that she is a beacon of spiritual energy and a nexus for lost souls. She should be able to guide a spirit from the living to the dead."
"I - I don't know how to do that," Jenny answered before she looked at Rebekah and her headache went away as she saw doubles of the girl; one with a vicious smirk and the other Rebekah. Two spirits.
"Well, I'm willing to give it a try if you are," Rebekah smiled but looked behind her to figure out what Jenny was looking at.
"Jenny," Elijah uttered and called her attention to him. His eyes that made her feel like she wasn't so lost in the darkness. His presence that kept her from feeling numb.
"I'm sorry," Jenny tore her eyes away and rubbed at her neck that felt like the darkness was suffocating. "That's not a place I'm willing to go back to." Because of him.
Jenny stood up and left the room, apologizing once more, "I'm sorry."
Freya spoke once she left, "Well, I can still help, Rebekah. If all of you will let me prove myself, perhaps then you'll trust me."
Suddenly, Klaus snapped her neck and smirked, "Well, that's enough of that, don't you think?"
_____
Jenny stood in the study staring out the window. With Elijah no longer in her presence, she felt numb. She couldn't smile at the sunlight that casted its gaze upon her, she couldn't smile at anything that didn't involve him. Her happiness relied solely on him.
Elijah stepped into the doorway and he cocked his head at her. She looked so...different. He used to catch her looking out the window and she'd watch the day pass with a smile on her face. But there was only indifference.
Jenny sensed his presence as soon as he stepped into the room as all her feelings rushed to the surface. She looked towards him as he stepped into the room, the face she loved, and she couldn't help the smile the erupted onto her face.
"Don't do that," he uttered softly as he came closer.
"What?" she questioned.
"Smile for me."
"What else am I supposed to smile at?" she questioned as she fiddled with the sunflower pendant around her neck, one that now contained vervain.
"You used to smile at everything," he said sadly as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
She turned her head from him to avoid his gaze and the smile dropped from her face, "I'm not that stranger with a smile you first met."
"I know," he gazed at her for a moment before he smirked slightly. "I suppose I should be happy that all of your smiles are reserved for me."
She looked at him again but with a gentle smile before she leaned in towards him, kissing him softly before resting her head on his chest and hugging him, "They'll always be reserved for you."
She breathed a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around her and laid a chaste kiss on her head. And she smiled happily although she couldn't ignore her misgivings about it.
She could hardly smile without being by his side. It was so hard to be who she was when a part of herself was gone. But the part of him that was in her heart was still there. It would always remain.
She couldn't ignore that she could smile for him just so she could be his radiant light. It made him happy and his happiness had become her own. Because of it, she could not smile for herself and she didn't know what was more terrible: not loving herself enough or loving someone too much?
______
Elijah went with Rebekah to check on the progress that Marcel made in finding out about Eva Sinclair. He was going to take her with him originally but Jenny wanted to go home. But Elijah refused to part with her until Niklaus got involved.
"Her assailants have not been dealt with, Niklaus. She's not safe."
"And are they supposed to make themselves known with you parading around her? I think not."
"So what would you do, Niklaus?"
"I'd lure them into the open, of course," Klaus stared at Jenny with a smirk.
It took a moment for Elijah to register what his brother was saying, "Jenny is not bait, Niklaus."
"No harm will come to her. I give you my word, brother," Klaus said. "By nightfall, her assailants will surely be dead and she can return home without any worry from you."
Elijah seemed to consider it but Jenny didn't give him the chance to answer for her like he'd been doing all day. She stepped towards Niklaus, "Sounds like a plan."
So Elijah reluctantly left her and she was left with Niklaus after he'd talked to Freya and had a chat with Hayley. Now they were seated at a bar waiting for the witches to find her.
"A bar? Really?"
"What? Everyone is on a mission to irritate me today and if there is one thing you'll observe about my family is that we drink."
"Yes, I observed that," she grabbed the shot of bourbon and she hesitated before downing it.
Klaus raised his eyebrows, "It seems I'm not the only one irritated. Is my brother too clingy after your return from the dead?"
She shook her head, "It's not about that."
She didn't mind that Elijah was worried about her. If anything, she thought it was rather sweet if not a bit sad. But she drank to escape the numbness she always felt and the reminder that she was no longer the same person. Death and darkness ate at her soul and stole the light that once was hers.
"You know, I've seen your famous paranoia today. You're worried about who to trust but you don't seem at all worried about me," she looked at him with curiosity.
"Because I don't need to question your motives, Jenny," Klaus reasoned. "All your motives stem from one single fact: you love my brother."
"I guess you have a point," she said as she took a sip of bourbon before she recognized the two guys that walked into the bar.
Jenny tugged on his sleeve as she looked the two men, "Those two."
He followed her gaze before he leaned towards her to whisper, "Do you trust me?"
His voice near her ear startled her a bit but she nodded, "For now...even if I think you're a bit crazy."
He chuckled before uttering quietly, "Then go out the back door and walk through the alleys. They'll follow you."
She did what Klaus said. She exited through the door that led to the back alley that was all lonely. She walked the back streets and like he said, they eventually caught up to her.
They cornered her when she reached a dead end and she backed up against the wall. One of them spoke out, "No disappearing this time."
Suddenly, blood splattered all over her as one of their necks was cut. The other was held up against the wall as Klaus held him by his neck.
"Now, my brother so dearly loves this woman which makes her family," Klaus said. "So you'll tell me why you want her or you can pay the price for attempting to hurt her? Which will it be?"
"She's a magical beacon, okay? Every witch in the world wants her power," the man said. "Her soul is tethered to the dead and- and our leader has a thing for collecting pretty brunettes...."
Klaus snapped his neck and looked at her carefully. Jenny picked at her shirt that was all bloody. Beacon? Tethered to the dead? Everyone else had questions but she didn't. She didn't know what it all meant exactly but she knew why.
She raised her gaze to Klaus and switched topics, "Did you have to make it so bloody?"
He smirked, "You're going to complain about how I save you?"
She shrugged and started walking away, "No one likes to be covered in blood, Niklaus, except besides you, I suppose."
He chuckled as he followed behind her, "I'll keep that in mind for next time."
______
Niklaus brought her home and he wanted to talk to Elijah so he stayed and waited. But she went into the bathroom connected to the bedroom and took a shower.
She let the water wipe all the blood away as she thought about all the revelations. Tethered to the dead. Beacon of energy. Dangerous. Powerful. Nexus for lost souls.
Lost soul.
She started to breathe heavily as she thought about it all and about the dead world she came back from. The one colored in black that terrified her.
And suddenly she didn't feel the water. She opened her eyes to the darkness. She felt the cold and the shadows creep around her. She closed her eyes tightly, wishing to be back where she was. Alive. Happy. Alive. Happy. Alive. Happy.
She took a step back and nearly slipped as she felt the water back on her skin. She turned the water off and put her hands on the walls, making sure they were there. Making sure the walls weren't just inks of black.
_____
Elijah talked with Klaus and went to find Jenny once he left. He pushed open the bathroom door to find her sitting on the floor with a towel wrapped around her.
"Jenny," he said urgently as he quickly went to her, kneeling down in front of her. She still had blood on her face that hadn't washed off because she wasn't in the water long enough. "What's wrong? What happened?"
With Elijah in her presence, she felt her fear. Before it was like she knew she was afraid but couldn't quite feel it until now. Everything had been numb until he walked in.
"I am tethered to the dead," she started to sob. "And not the peaceful kind or the happy ones. I was in the dark place. But I went there because I love you."
Her eyes focused on him, "You have to know I love you if-if I disappear again or it takes me back."
Her hands clutched onto him tightly as tears fell down her cheeks in endless waves, "Don't let it take me back."
Elijah cradled her against him, "You think I'd let anything take you away from me again."
She sobbed into his chest as his hands ran soothingly through her hair over and over until she calmed. And after he wiped the bloodstains from her cheek.
"I love you," he uttered like a lullaby as he held her and a few tears of his own slipped at how his once bright Jenny became just a shadow of herself. But it didn't matter. He'd love her regardless; he'd love the mess that he made.
AN: I think this is the longest chapter to date. It took me forever to write and I cried so hard writing it.
I'll let you guys know that Elijah and Jenny have one more hurdle to go through before all is well. I mean I made it pretty obvious that Jenny is not okay and that's going to have a big part to play.