NO ONE CAN FIND ELIJAH. I have a strong feeling I know what happened, but I don't know where Klaus put him. I called in the big guns.
Rebekah.
I was napping when she came but I heard her question if Hayley was the maid, so I got up.
"I was expecting some supernatural miracle baby bump. Guess you're not showing yet. It's Hayley, isn't it?" Rebekah questioned.
"You have your brother's manners." Hayley replied.
"And his temper, too, so watch it." Rebekah snapped. Her eyes went to me as I came down the stairs. "August, thank god." She let out with a sigh of relief. "So, where's Elijah?"
"Beats me. He's long gone." Hayley replied with a shrug.
"What do you mean long gone?" Rebekah questioned.
"Well, one minute he was here making epic promises about protecting me in this...predicament that going back to get my sweater got me into. He was all poetic about how I'm now a part of this family, and then Klaus told me that he bailed." Hayley spoke.
I looked to Rebekah and imitated a dagger into my chest, with a shrug. That's my working theory.
She huffed. "I fear Niklaus has done something dastardly and Klaus-like." She started before she walked into another room and started yelling for Klaus. "Klaus, get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!"
This brought Klaus out of hiding. He opened the doors to the room he was in. "Enough with all the shouting. Little sister, I should have known. I assume the six dead vampires were your doing." He spoke.
"Dead vampires?" I questioned.
"They were very rude. Trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way through the Quarter. So sorry. Were they friends of yours? Oh, that's right. You don't have any friends. And don't tell me August because she doesn't count." Rebekah replied in her typical sarcastic way. I like having her around.
"I do have friends. I have Marcel. You remember him, don't you? Yes, of course you do. He fancies himself. The King of the Quarter now, and he has these rules about killing vampires. It will be fun to see the sort of punishment he comes up with for you." Klaus taunted. I still haven't met him.
"I don't care about Marcel or his rules. Elijah doesn't welsh on deals. What did you do to him?" Rebekah snapped.
Klaus smiled and shrugged. "Perhaps he's on a holiday or taking a long autumn nap upstairs. Well, go on. Take a look around. You remember this house as well as I."
"I remember everything." Rebekah muttered and walked off.
I went following after her, but I stopped in front of Klaus. "You are making it very hard to support your claim to the kingdom with these antics."
"Oh, please, darling. Elijah will be back in no time."
I rolled my eyes. "He better." I stated and walked off.
Rebekah went on to tell us about how when they lived here, the governor at the time gave them gold in exchange for them to keep off the locals. Rebekah fell in love with the governor's son and wanted to change him into a vampire. Instead of a simple no, Klaus pushed him off the balcony.
"Well, he wasn't good enough for you." Klaus shrugged. I sighed and looked down. Some days, he makes it so hard for me to be forgiving.
"No one was ever good enough for me, Nik. You made sure of that. Now, where's Elijah?" Rebekah muttered.
Klaus' phone vibrated. He looked at it and stood up. He kissed me on the side of my head before continuing on. He does little domestic things like that that makes me want to forget it all. I'm the only person he's ever gentle with.
"Where are you going?" Rebekah demanded.
"It appears the night is not quite over yet. I'm off for another drink with Marcel." He paused and looked at me. "You're more than welcome to come, love."
I shook my head. "No, I'm mad at you."
He seemed amused by that. I'm not.
"Elijah told me your plan to take apart Marcel's empire piece by piece. I don't remember it involving you two drinking New Orleans dry together." Rebekah snapped at him. Someone had to say it.
"I know you don't have many friends, Rebekah, but what some friends do when they get together is they drink, and when they drink, they tell secrets. Marcel has somehow found a way to control the entirety of the witches in the Quarter, and I aim to uncover the how, so I might take it for myself." He went on.
"Yeah, and it better be abolishing it because I, your baby momma, am a witch and I will be damned if I can't do magic." I scolded him.
"You're the exception." Was all he said before turning back to Rebekah. "Finding Elijah didn't make my to-do list today. Oh, and welcome home, little sister."
With that, he was out the door.
Rebekah turned to me. "How the hell do you do it?"
"I don't sometimes. Now is one of those times. I chose to ignore it. Sometimes it goes away." I joked.
Rebekah looked up at Hayley who was sitting at the stairs. "You, wolf girl, I'm gonna search this house inch by inch until I find what my evil brother has done to my good one. You two are helping." She said. I already planned on it.
She led us down the stairs. "The governor had lots of secret rooms. I'll show you his favorite."
She brought us into a room where the caskets for his siblings lay. Nice.
"You think Klaus killed him?" Hayley asked, a bit worried.
"We can't be killed, silly girl, but that doesn't stop Klaus from finding ways to torture us. He has a set of mystical silver daggers. One in the heart send us into a deep slumber. Klaus gets his jollies from keeping us in a box until he decides to pull the dagger out. That must be what he's done to Elijah." She explained and pointed to one of them. "This one's mine."
This is Klaus' fatal flaw. I can deal with the other shit, but this is what makes me the most angry.
"He keeps your coffin on standby." Hayley spoke, baffled. I remember when I found out about this.
"He likes to be prepared for when his family members inevitably disappoint him." Rebekah replied.
I shined my light to see a missing one. "Elijah's isn't here. He must have stashed him elsewhere." I huffed.
"I feel sick." Hayley muttered. I began to feel queasy, too. The joys of being magically linked by a miracle baby.
"Please don't get sick because then I'll get sick." I told her.
"Welcome to the family, love. It gets worse every day." Rebekah said with a sweet smile.
—
The next day, Klaus decided it was time I met Marcel.
"Are you sure this can't wait?" I asked him.
"No, darling. He keeps asking to meet you. I think he thinks I made you up." He said with a chuckle.
"From what I've heard, I don't think I'm gonna like him." I told him honestly.
"Just play nice. In a year from now, you can be the biggest bitch you want to be from him. In fact, I'll support it." He assured me.
I rolled my eyes. "Let's just go and get this over with."
He brought me to a diner in the Quarter where Marcel was seated at a table. We walked in and Klaus brought me over.
"Well, this is a far cry from last night's party." Klaus smiled.
Marcel stood up and walked over to us. "You must be the famous Augustine Claire. It's a pleasure to finally meet the woman who's made Klaus go soft." He chuckled. Oh, he doesn't know Klaus at all, then.
He shook my hand and suddenly, I was back to when I got visions from people's touch. I acted normal on the outside, but in my mind, I saw visions of an attic. It was a clear picture. The bed had a canopy over it. There was a sketch pad on an easel. There was a girl in the middle of the room. Probably a teenager. Her back was to me, but I could see her hair. This is really odd.
"Klaus soft? Never." I chuckled in response. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you as well, Marcel. I've heard quite a bit about you."
"All good, I hope."
I wanted to say 'not really' but I kept my comments to myself. I just smiled in response.
Klaus saw my shoulders tense when I shook Marcel's hands. He sent me a look that asked me if I was okay and I simply nodded. I'll tell him about it later. Maybe this is his secret weapon he's been talking about.
Marcel then tried to flirt with the poor blonde girl seated across the diner. It was kinda pathetic, but caused for great entertainment.
As I looked around, I saw Marcel just staring at me. It made me feel uncomfortable, but I didn't question it. I just looked back at him and made awkward eye contact. This caused him to look away.
After some small talk, the lunch was done and Klaus walked me down the street.
"What happened in there?" He asked me.
"I don't know. I had this vision of a girl in an attic. And then he kept staring at me. It was the weirdest thing." I shook my head.
"Do you want me to kill him? It's not in my plan, but I can make arrangements." He offered. I could tell he was 100% serious, too.
"No, Nik. It's fine. Go hang out with your buddy. I'll see you later." I told him.
I went to walk away but he gently grabbed my hand. "Are you sure?"
I smiled and nodded. "Yes. I am fine. Go."
He nodded and walked off.
—
So, not only am I linked to Hayley physically, but I am also hormonally. Maybe it's Hayley or the baby, but at one point I felt terrified for no reason. I ended up calling her.
"Are you okay?" I asked when she answered.
"Yeah, I'm fine. A couple vampires tried to scare me."
"Well, it worked. I almost tossed my lunch." I let out.
"Rebekah saved the day. We'll be home soon."
She hung up and Rebekah came leaving a trail of dead vampires. Klaus wasn't too happy about it. Apparently, this all happened because a wolf in the Quarter is forbidden under Marcel's reign.
"This is why I told you to never leave the house. Werewolves are banned in the Quarter. I had a plan, but your little nighttime stroll put it all in peril." Klaus went on. Rebekah walked up to go kill the last remaining vampire but Klaus stopped her. "Leave him. You've done enough, don't you think? Leaving a trail of bodies like a roadmap to my door?"
"If I hadn't overheard this lot bragging about werewolf heads, everyone here would be screwed. And don't give me that crap about having a plan. You've had all the time in the world to execute a plan, and no one's seen you do a damn thing! Elijah made a deal to protect your child so that he could save you and August from your selfish, rotten self. You obviously don't give a damn about the child or Elijah or August because what have you done to honor it?" Rebekah exclaimed. She has a point.
"I have done everything. Let me spell it out for you, shall I? From the day I arrived, Marcel hasn't trusted me. From day one, he's had his vampires ingest toxic vervain, which as you know, little sister, protects them from my mind control. I needed a spy, someone on the inside with me, who Marcel would never suspect, so I created a day zero and got there first. Marcel had just lost six vampires, thanks to your little murder spree, and he needed new recruits, so I made the new one mine before he'd had even a drop of vervain.
"But we all know the real way to a man is through his heart, so I convinced that bartender he fancied to go on a date with him." He paused and gestured to the barely breathing vampire on top. "And this one, I'm gonna drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion in Utah so that he can explain to Marcel why he lost three vampires tonight." Klaus said and dragged the body to the front door.
"I have never seen anyone so dedicated to a lie." Hayley whispered in my ear.
I shook my head. "You have no idea how dedicated this man is."
We walked in the house and Klaus held out his arms. "Does anyone have any more questions?" We were all silent. "No? Good. Because I have a question, Hayley. What were you doing in the bloody French Quarter in the first place?" He demanded.
She didn't answer. Oh, god.
"Answer me!" Klaus yelled.
"Nik." I warned the same time Rebekah said "Leave her be."
Hayley stalked over to him. "You want to know what I was doing? I was buying poison so I could put your little baby out of its misery." She revealed.
Wait, what?
I looked to her a bit horrified, but that passed when I saw Klaus had his hand wrapped around her throat. He was choking her and I could feel it. I was choking, too. Hayley and I were both gasping.
"Nik!" Rebekah tried.
It wasn't until he realized I was gasping for air, that his grip loosened even slightly. Rebekah rushed to pull him off of her. "Keep your hands off of her! She is pregnant, for god's sake! And connected to August, who you almost just choked out, too!"
I coughed and caught my balance.
I looked over to Klaus who had tears in his eyes.
"All of this bluster about not wanting a child and then the second she tells you she's ready to get rid of it..." Rebekah trailed off. I want to say it's not her child to get rid of but she is carrying it. I know this has to be so hard for her. "It's okay to care. It's okay to want something. That's all Elijah was trying to do, all he's ever wanted for you, all August wants for you. All we've ever wanted." Rebekah finished.
Klaus looked at me as tears fell down his cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He then looked to Hayley. "I'm sorry."
I've never heard him say sorry so many times.
He sat down on the bottom stair. Rebekah sat next to him. I stayed next to Hayley to make sure she was alright.
"I gave Elijah to Marcel." Klaus revealed.
All of our heads snapped to him. "What?"
"Marcel was nervous. It was bad enough one original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so I gave him a peace offering." Klaus went on. I could see in his eyes he regrets it.
"You bartered our brother." Rebekah let out in disbelief.
"I have a plan. Gain Marcel's trust. Dismantle his empire. Honor Elijah's wish that that baby be born. I am executing that plan the only way I know how. If you don't like it, there's the door. See if I care." Klaus let out and walked away.
I shared a quick glance with Rebekah and went after Klaus. I walked in our room to see him with his head in his hands. I have never seen him so torn up about something.
"August, I'm so sorry. I never would've done-" He said through small sobs. I cut him off.
"Hey, it's fine. I'm fine. Hayley's fine. The baby's fine. We are all fine." I paused. "It's not okay and I'm gonna hold you accountable, but we are fine." I replied. He needs to know that what he did can never happen again.
"I just...I don't know what get's into me. It's like my father. I don't want to be like him." He cried.
"I know. It's up to you to fix that, Nik. Only you can do that." I told him as I held his face in my hands.
He nodded. "I know. I will. If not for you, for that baby." He said.
I nodded and sat down next to him. He rested his head on my shoulder. I know he likes to act tough around everyone else, but some times he just needs to be coddled. He's always been told that it's not okay to not be tough all the time. He needs to know it's okay to just...not be okay. To be sad. To be angry without being destructive.
We stayed like that for a while before we went to sleep.
—
Rebekah was out all night. In the morning, she came inside and came straight to Klaus and I.
"You're right. The girl Cami, she's the key. Marcel likes her, and because of that, I got to see the secret weapon of his that you've been going on about." Rebekah told us right away.
"Well, don't stand on ceremony. What is it?" Klaus asked.
"It's not a what. It's a who, a girl, Davina. She can't be more than 16, and the only other time I have ever felt power like is from you." Rebekah said and pointed to me.
I looked at her confused. When she said the name Davina, it was like something in my head clicked.
"A witch. That's who I saw in the attic." I let out.
"She's not just any witch. Maybe I'm calling it too early, but that power felt erriely similar to when you've done spells on me. I think she's a Claire." Rebekah revealed.
I shook my head. That's impossible. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that this powerful witch, like you, now has Elijah because of Klaus. Who knows what she could do to him." Rebekah replied.
"Where is she?" Klaus asked.
Rebekah tried to think. "That clever bitch. I don't know."
"What's wrong?" I asked her, confused.
"She wiped my memory of the location. Marcel possess a weapon bigger and more powerful than an original, and you handed our brother to him. How many times will Elijah forgive you? How long before his hope for your redemption finally dies?" Rebekah yelled in Klaus' face.
"I did what I had to do! He took our home!" Klaus defended.
"And our home is worthless without family. I am finding Elijah, whatever it takes. Are you going to help me?" She then asked him.
"Whatever it takes." Klaus nodded.
Rebekah then turned to me. "You might want to start looking at a family tree. You two even look alike."
There is no way. But, Marcel was looking at me weird.
That is a challenge for another day.