"I'm not letting you do this alone." I say taking her hand. Sophie puts a dagger in fire to heat it up and then she steps onto the concrete. She stands in front of Davina as I squeeze her hand.
"Do you believe in the Harvest?" Sophie asks Davina.
"I believe." Davina nods. Sophie puts the dagger to Davina's throat and cuts it open causing Davina to fall back as Marcel and I catch her. I hold back a sob threatening to escape my throat.
"I love you, Davina. Okay?" I tell her as she takes her last breathes before her head lolls over to the side and her eyes close. As soon as she dies the rain immediately stops. Davina's skin lights up and travels down into the Earth.
Marcel lays her in between the other girls. He goes to stand off to the side. However, I don't move. I go to my knees and position myself right above her head.
"After the Harvest comes the reaping." Sophie announces. "Their sacrifices made and accepted, we call upon our elders to resurrect the chosen ones." All of our attention goes to the four girls. None of them makes any movement. My eye dart to Sophie and her eyebrows scrunch together. "We call upon our elders to resurrect your chosen ones." She tries again. "Resurrect your chosen ones." She demands as tears began to fall from my eyes again. "Please, I beg."
"No, no, no." I plead moving closer to Davina. Sophie starts sobbing as she hits the ground. "Please, Davina. Please wake up." I say, but she doesn't. She stays still, her skin becoming colder from the rain and the lank of circulation.
**
"The earthquake last night. It was the Ancestors; they overpowered the dagger and woke me up." He struggles to explain. "I didn't know where I was or what I was doing until it was too late."
"What did you do, Kol?" I demand. I scan my eyes down his shirt and over all the blood dried on it. "No!" I shake my head in denial. "Did you-- Did you ki-ll my sister?" I choke out with squinted eyes and my vision blurry with tears. Kol looks down at me with an enormous amount of regret and heartbreak.
"Kelsey?" Nik says softly behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder, but I shrug it off.
"NO!" I snap. "Is my sister dead?" I ask Kol again. He opens his mouth to answer but can't find the words. I shove him back a bit. "Is she?" No answer, so I ball up my fists and hit his chest. "Where is she? Where's Davina?" I sob as I pound on his chest. He makes no move to stop me and I know deep down this isn't his fault, but right now I don't care.
I just continue to lose it and hit him over and over. Nik, finally, wraps his arms around me and pulls me away. I try to push him off, but I can't. So, I give up and collapse into his arms and allow my body to once again be overcome with crying. Nik holds me close, until my loud sobs grow softer, and no one says anything.
**
"Klaus." Freya calls out, stopping us from walking to the car. "There's something you need to know. You too, Kelsey."
"What?" I ask.
"We didn't have time to find another way to get the power we need to turn Lucien back." Freya explains with a look of sorrow.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying." I state, fear raising in me. "Even after Nik told you to find another way. You banished Davina to torment."
"Lucien could bite my brothers and kill them." Freya defends, tears lacking out of her eyes. "We had to do something."
"So, you sacrificed MY sister!" I yell. "I stand by you guys every time and the first time I need you to help my family you throw her away. She's a child!"
"If there was another...."
"Shut up, Elijah." I snap at him, cutting him off. "You didn't even want to help in the first place." I grit my teeth in anger. "The both of you can go to hell!"
"Had we not done what we did, you and Klaus would be dead." Freya states.
"And you think that justifies killing my sister!" I yell at her, tears free falling down my face. "You think allowing the Ancestors to shred apart her soul was the right choice! We can never get her back now! I can never get her back. And I'll never forgive you for that."
I turn around and stormed to my car. "Kelsey!" Nik calls, but I ignore him. I jump in the driver's seat and just as I am putting it into drive Hayley gets in my passengers. I accelerate out over there, not wanting to be around them.
**
I gasp awake, panting. I sit up and rub my face, wiping away a thick layer of sweat and tears. The nightmare burned into my brain and seared into my memory. I look over at the clock, it reads 2:47 AM. Groaning, I throw my legs over the edge of the bed and stand up, straightening my shorts and tank top. I walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
As I pass the Courtyard, a blue light shines in the middle of it. I immediately stop in my tracks and turn to it, going into a trance.
______________________
Hayley, Elijah, and I are going to take the twins to Mary's in the Bayou. Nik is going to meet up with Freya to make sure the Hollow is really gone.
I run a brush through my hair, looking in the bathroom mirror. My eyes flash blue and I freeze looking at my eyes in shock. Suddenly, in the mirror, a person with dark brown hair walks by, in my room behind me.
"Davina?" I question swinging around and rushing into the room. I look to the left where I saw her walk and find the room empty. I hardly slept last night and the exhaustion must be messing with my head.
"Mommy?" Bexley says, making me jump and put my hand to my chest. I look at the doorway and see Bexley and Hope staring at me.
"You scared me." I smile and they giggle.
"We just came to tell you we're leaving." Hope tells me.
"Okay, let's go." I smile, following them out.
_____________________
The girls run ahead of us picking bright flowers, as we walk through to woods of the Bayou. "I do miss it out here." Hayley says.
"Yeah, it looks like you're not alone." Elijah observes, watching the twins. "You know, we could be happy out here."
Hayley bends down and picks some purple flowers. "I think you might stand out in that suit."
"Well, I was thinking jeans, shorts and flip flops." Elijah muses.
"I want to build a life with you, Elijah." Hayley tells him. "I want us to be happy." Elijah stops her and I continue with the twins, walking up to an old cabin that belongs to Mary.
The twins both knock on the door. Mary takes no time answering and as soon as she sees them, she smiles widely. "Grandma Mary!" They exclaim excitedly in unison.
"Well, hello, sweethearts." She greets them and pulls them into a tight hug. "Oh, my girls. Oh."
"We picked you some flowers." Hope tells her. Mary looks over their heads and see Elijah and Hayley walking up behind me.
"Honey darlings, why don't you both run on inside." Mary suggests to the twins. "I need to talk to your Mama and Aunt Hayley." They nod and go into Mary's cabin. "Didn't know you were bringing him." She states looking at Hayley.
"Mary, come on." Hayley sighs.
"Vampires aren't welcome." She states. "You and Kelsey are the exception. Rules of the house."
"I'll leave you three." Elijah tells Hayley and walks away.
"Seriously?" Hayley says walking up next to me.
"You know how I feel." Mary deadpans. "Our kind winds up dead when they're around. Yesterday, we lost Lara. I wake up to hear there's been some kind of occult massacre in the woods. Let me guess-- Mikaelsons are involved."
"Not by choice, I can promise you that." I tell her. "It's why we're here. We want to talk about what actually caused the massacre last night." Someone moves in my peripheral vision and my head snaps in that direction. "I think I saw something." I tell them.
"Where?" Hayley questions, looking around.
"I'll check it out." I say. "You fill Mary in."
Without waiting on an answer, I walk away and towards the direction I saw the person go in. I go up a hill and once I get up there, I look around.
Off in the distance, I see someone laying on the ground. I squint my eyes and furrow my eyebrows. A young girl seems to be struggling to breath. I vamp over to her quickly. I look down at her, as she lays at my feet, and my breath catches in my throat. I squeeze my eyes shut and open them again. Still laying there bleeding out from her throat is Davina. Her expression covered in fear, and she is looking at me desperately for help.
I drop to my knees. "No, no, no, no." I panic, tearing cascading down my face. "Not again. Please don't die." She stares at me helplessly, choking on blood. I go to put my hands on her throat to trying and stop the outpour of blood. But, as soon as my hands go to touch her throat, she disappears. I frantically look around, trying to find her. " Davina?" I call. "Where are you? Please, don't leave me." I plead.
Laughing sounds behind me and I swing around to find Freya. "Pathetic." She mocks. "You come to New Orleans to protect your sister and instead she dies twice."
"Freya?" I question. "What the hell is this?"
"Who chooses a guy over their sister?" She scoffs, her eyes glowing blue. "Much less a Mikaelson. I mean Niklaus is the worst of them. He's a monster and your sister was an innocent teenage."
"You're not Freya." I narrow my eyes getting to my feet. "You're that thing."
"Niklaus made you turn against your sister." 'Freya' taunts.
"It's despicable." 'Elijah' appears at my side. "Even Marcel protected her far better than you did."
"Okay, so what, your plan is to piss me off at Nik and Marcel?" I sneer.
"Marcel had his thumb over the witch community and it lead to Davina being in vampire business." 'Elijah' says.
"Eliminating Marcel or Niklaus would make your world so much better." 'Freya' smiles. "You can get justice for Davina."
"I would never kill them." I snap.
"Well, you don't think you're the only one I can get to, do you?" 'Elijah' asks. "Marcel is going to rip through your family and Niklaus, well, he's going to rip your throat out just like he has done to so many other lovers. I mean that was the plan after you had the twins, anyway."
I shake my head in denial. "Come on, we'll prove it to you." 'Freya' smirks.
__________________
I follow 'Freya' and 'Elijah' to an abandoned house. Then, they disappear. I walk up the steps and open the door. "Marcel, Nik." I greet and they both look at me. The door slams shut behind me.
"Seems none of us is to leave until one of us dies." Nik concludes.
"I know you're seeing things, Klaus, Kelsey." Marcel says. "But I have a way to fix that for the three of us."
"And I'm to take your word for it, am I?" Nik counters.
"Don't be stupid." Marcel warns. "You can't beat me."
"Oh, but I can." Nik states and holds up a dagger. "You see, courtesy of my dear sister. Now you're not so unkillable after all."
"No." I shake my head. "This isn't right." I put my hand to my head. "It's messing with us."
"Listen to Kelsey." Marcel tells Nik. "I mean, of course. You say our feud is over, but you're off building a weapon that can kill me."
"Well, I wouldn't need it if I knew you could be trusted!" Nik exclaims.
"Well, trust me now and we both get to live!" Marcel says.
"How can you trust yourself?" Nik asks.
"Spelled beads keep me safe from this damn thing." Marcel explains holding up the beads. "I bury these here and we're done, all right? No need to fight."
"You should have kept me safe, Kelsey." Davina appears behind Marcel. "I got caught up with vampires because the witches were controlled by Marcel. Without him, I'd be alive."
"That's not true." I deny.
"I am no fool." Nik says raising the dagger.
"Damn it, Klaus, I didn't come to fight." Marcel states. "All right? Put the weapon down."
"My family won't be safe unless you're put down!" Nik yells.
Marcel vamps at him and knocks the knife to the side and punches his face. Nik swings at him and Marcel blocks it, so Nik uses his other hand and pushes Marcel's chest, sending him through the wall and they continue to go at it.
"Come on, Kelsey." Davina encourages. "They're the reason I'm dead. Avenge me."
Rage fills me and I grab two pieces of wood off the floor. I charge into the hallway, where Nik and Marcel are struggling. Nik is trying to impel Marcel with the dagger and Marcel is pushing against him. I imbed the wood into both of their sides at the same time. Marcel and Nik groan in pain and fall to the floor away from each other.
"What the hell are you pissed about?" Marcel grunts yanking out the wood.
"You two are the reason my sister is dead." I snap. "It opened my eyes." I point at Marcel. "You had the witches trembling in fear of you. Of course, they wanted to do the Harvest and Davina died." I turn to Nik. "And you. You manipulated me into choosing you over her. And now she's dead. Without you both she'd still be here."
"I'm not the things puppet and neither are the two of you, we cannot give it what it wants." Marcel tells us, standing up.
Elijah vamps in and takes Marcel into the kitchen and slams him into something. Nik and I walk into Marcel having the upper hand on Elijah, pinning him to the wall. Nik drops the dagger and vamps to Marcel, snapping his neck, freeing Elijah.
"Klaus left him defenseless." Davina whispers in my ear. "Pick up the dagger and end Marcel." I pick up the dagger off the floor and walk over to Marcel's body. I raise the dagger. "Come on, do it."
Someone grabs my wrist, stopping me. "Kelsey." Nik says. "It's messing with your head. Marcel isn't responsible for Davina dying." A tear leaves my eye, as I look at him and then past him to Elijah and Freya. Seeing the real Freya and Elijah, I snap out of it and release the dagger. It falls from my hand and clatters it the floor.
"And you never manipulated me." I mutter. He grabs my hands and pulls me away from Marcel.
Whispering cuts through the air. Nik and I look at each other in confusion and follow it to the hallway. A bright, blue light shines, and a shadowy figure stands in the middle of it. Elijah and Freya step behind us, staring at it too.
"Leave my family alone!" Freya exclaims and throws a potion at the shadow.
Blue eyes stare at us and a high pitch squealing pierces through our ears. I clutch my head to try and block it out, but it doesn't help much. Then, the blue light disappears and so does the screeching. We stare at where it was, none of us speaking.
____________________
They decided to put Marcel in the cell, where he kept Nik. I disagree, but as usual I didn't get an opinion.
Now back at the Compound I walk into the study, where Nik and Elijah are. Elijah brings a bottle of alcohol to Nik, while he is sitting at the desk.
"I prefer my mind remain unaltered for the time being." Nik tells him, denying the whiskey.
"Weird." Elijah says. "I feel the exact opposite." He turns up the bottle.
"Me too." I agree. "I want to forget about everything I've seen today."
"Rest easy, brother, my spells have Marcel bound and cloaked." Freya states coming in behind me. "Even more, I can find no trace of the Hollow's magic in any of you."
"So where has it gone?" Elijah inquires.
"It's a ghost." She answers. "It could be anywhere but it still wants to sacrifice someone powerful, we have to be prepared." She put her hand on the dagger and Nik put his on top of hers, so she can't take it.
"I think I'll hold on to it for now." Nik tells her.
"This wasn't a gift." Freya counters. "Today proved Marcel's a threat, whether used as a sacrifice or possessed."
"Regardless..." Nik says.
"What good is having a weapon if you won't use it?" Freya cuts him off.
"Niklaus, give it to her." Elijah agrees with Freya.
I scoff loudly. "The weapon shouldn't have been made, period." I sneer, glaring at Elijah and Freya.
"Do you have something you want to say?" Freya snaps.
"To you?" I raise my eyebrows. "Plenty and none of it is nice."
"I'm doing what I have to to protect MY family." Freya exclaims.
"Freya." Elijah interjects and Nik stands.
"Do you keep telling Kelsey she's not a part of the family?" Nik looks at her and she avoids eye contact. "Kelsey is in this family and if you have a problem with that, get over it because it's not changing. So, stop telling her lies." He holds the dagger up to her. "Now, having a monopoly of power makes you target, sister. Remember that." He passes the dagger to her, and she storms off.
"Giving her that was a mistake." I tell them. "She's changed ever since she threw Davina away."
"We'll keep an eye out." Nik says, then he turns to Elijah. "You think I spared Marcel out of some mawkish sentimentality. The Hollow wanted both of us dead. Killing him would have given it what it wanted. Mercy was necessary. That's all." Elijah walks out leaving us alone.
"You did the right thing." I tell him. "It wasn't mercy. He's your son. They might want to ignore that, but you don't have to."
"Why didn't you tell me Freya was practically pushing you out of the family?" He asks, changing the subject.
"Because Freya's opinion, these days, means nothing to me." I shrug. "She's completely off the rails. Besides, you don't treat me like an outsider and that's all I care about."
"You're not an outsider." He tells me. "And I think, when we defeat the Hollow, you should consider officially becoming a Mikaelson."
My heart hammers in my chest and my stomach becomes a bundle of nerves. "Nik." I whisper in shock. "You don't have to literally change my last name for me to feel like part of the family."
"That's not what this is." He shakes his head and stands. He grabs my hand and pulls me to the couch. We both sit down, and he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a velvet ring box. My eyes widen and I look up to meet his. "I bought this five years ago."
"You did?" I ask in a whisper.
"I did." He nods with a smile. "I have never felt like this about anyone in my entire thousand years of life. You opened me to feelings I didn't know I was capable of." A few tears leave my eyes. I stare at him in disbelief, shocked that this is happening. He wipes my tears away with his thumb. I lean my head into his hand, and he keeps it on my face. "You and the twins are everything to me and when this is over, we are going to go somewhere far away. There we will live happily ever after. I was always consumed in the darkness, until I meet you. You forced your way into my life, and you lit it up. I love you and I don't want to live an entity without you. So, please, do me the greatest honor of all and marry me."
I stare into his eyes, and he looks at me with sincerity, love, and nerves. "Absolutely." I nod. "Of course." He smiles and opens the box. Inside is a princess cut, dot dash ring with a gold band. It's about fourteen carats, with a large diamond in the middle and four small diamonds on each side. "It's beautiful." I gasp and he smiles.
"You deserve it." He says, taking it out of the box and sliding it on my ring finger.
I look at it for a while and then, I look at Nik. I grab his face and press my lips to his. I pour every bit of passion and love I have for him into the kiss, and he does the same. He grips my waist, pulling me closer. My whole body is on fire and my heart is pounding in my chest. I straddle his waist, sitting in his lap, getting as close to him as possible. I slide my hands from his face and into his hair tugging it. Nik groans into my mouth and he swipes his tongue across my lips. I immediately grant him access and our tongues entangle.