is there a rehab centre for being addicted to updating a story every day???
no???
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Chapter Thirty-Two
"You do not have to stay, Elijah," she assured him, sitting up on the bed.
Her entire body was stiff, but she was determined to make it to the library on her own. Even so, Elijah was equally determined to not leave her.
"Nonsense," he said, coming out of the bathroom fully dressed in new clothes that Vanessa had brought him. He slipped on the suit jacket, looking down at her as he adjusted his cuffs. "I merely wish to make sure you do not cause harm to yourself again."
"I really am all right," she argued.
"Apologies, my dear, but I am not leaving you alone after the events of this past week."
Avarice cringed. It had been a week since she developed the fever, and she had only just gotten rid of it. That was six days of vulnerability that she detested showing.
"I need to research some more. You may come with me if you wish," she sighed, giving in.
He nodded, then held out a hand. She took it and he helped her to stand, but walking steadily was another matter entirely. Her legs ached for a moment, but then they felt numb. Seeing her uncertainty, he bent his arm and held it out to her. She gave him a grateful smile before hooking her arm over his elbow, and they left her room together. They walked as if they were taking a leisurely stroll throughout the castle, and it was nice for Avarice. It was calm, something that she rarely felt.
"Why, look at the happy couple!" Klaus said cheerfully after coming around the corner, a grin on his face. Kol followed right after him, but unlike his brother, he was just smirking.
"Brother, could you perhaps take this time to, for once, silence that infernal mouth of yours?" Elijah asked with a sigh.
"Come now, 'Lijah! Teasing my siblings is one of the few joys I find in life."
"Speaking of joy, when shall we be expecting the wedding to be?" Kol added with a smug look. "Spring, Summer, Autumn, or Winter?"
Elijah rolled his eyes as they passed his brothers, who were both chuckling. Avarice kept her lips tight together in an effort to keep herself from snickering. Klaus and Kol certainly didn't allow their lives to be a bore.
While Avarice looked through some of the books, Elijah was still focused on staying with her. So, he offered to retrieve certain books for her and then would read a book of his choice while she scanned through the books.
However, Avarice suddenly seemed off, and Elijah noticed.
She would open a book and then freeze, not seeming to concentrate. Then she would look off at the wall or down at the floor.
"Avarice," he called out, but her voice seemed to dull in her mind. She only heard an echo. "Are you all right?"
Avarice did not register that he was even saying anything until he touched her arm. She jumped and looked up at him, blinking rapidly.
"I asked if you were all right."
"I'm fine," she replied. "I just..."
"Yes?"
"There's something wrong. I can't get it out of my mind. I have not figured out what it is yet, but I know that something is off."
His brow furrowed, and she was about to say something else when it dawned on her.
Hayley and Hope. What if something was wrong? She had had this feeling before, and it was when the Mikaelson's were dying. What if something had happened to Hayley and her daughter?
With that, Avarice ignored the pain that show up and down her spine and limbs when she ran from the room. She heard Elijah calling after her, and when she reached the reaping room, he was in front of her. He stood in front of the doors, looking down at her with a furrowed brow.
"Avarice, what on earth is the matter?" he asked.
"Elijah, you need to listen to me and not go into that room. Ever. Do you understand?"
He blinked, but then nodded. He didn't question her. That is, until she shoved him out of the way, entered the room, shut the doors, and locked him out. He knocked on the door repeatedly, but she blocked him out.
She didn't have enough strength to both look through a vision and go to the mortal world and back, so she simply went through the portal and hoped for the best.
*
"Vanessa!" Elijah shouted as he stalked through the castle hallways. "Aspin!"
Pin, by some stroke of luck, had just been preparing the visit Avarice. She was standing at the front doors, taking off her coat when Elijah turned the corner.
"Elijah?" she asked, a brow raised. "What's wrong?"
"Avarice!" he said. He was losing control of himself in his desperation. "She just went into a room and locked me out. She told me I can never go into it. What the hell is she doing in there?"
Pin blinked at him, then paled. "If she went into the reaping room, she's right. You can't go in there."
"What if she is hurt?" he asked.
"She won't be," she replied. "Don't worry about it."
He could tell that she was lying. "All right. I will figure it out myself."
He sped to the door, and was prepared to knock it down, when Pin's magic suddenly went around his wrists. She flung him at the other side of the hallway, making sure not to hit him against the wall too hard.
"She wasn't lying, Elijah!" she shouted, seeming frustrated with him. "You can't go in there."
"Why not?" he growled, standing up straight.
"Because you'll die if you do. That room is the reaping room. It's the place that holds a portal to the mortal world."
His jaw went slack. "I've seen her go in there multiple times. Is that where she's been going? To the human world?"
By that time, Vanessa and his siblings had already appeared. Vanessa looked guilty, while Pin seemed horrified. She hadn't meant to tell them.
"Yes."
"What exactly has she been doing there?" Klaus asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"She's been curing all of you," Pin said with a sigh. It appeared that there was no holding back now. "Freya and Rebekah have been fully cured. Only Kol and Elijah are left. Klaus' body is with them now."
"She went to find Klaus?" Freya asked. "His body was in New Orleans. Did she take it?"
Pin nodded.
"She went against Marcel?" Kol asked, a brow raised. "And she won?"
"From what she told me, she ran into him, but they didn't fight. He didn't know what she was," Pin explained, seeming to become fed up with the many questions.
"And the friend that is looking after Hayley and Hope-" Elijah started, but Klaus stopped him.
"What?" he asked, not seeming to believe it. He immediately became concerned about the whole situation. "Someone has been going near Hayley and Hope?"
"Was it you? Or Levi?" Elijah asked, ignoring Klaus' questions.
"Damn it, Elijah, there was never any friend!" Pin shouted exasperatedly, gesturing to the door that Avarice had gone through. "It's been her all along! It's always been her! She has kept all of you safe since the moment you got here, including Hayley and Hope!"
All of them were more than just a little surprised. Avarice had gone above and beyond when it came to their family. She really had protected them more than they ever knew.
But of course, as they all knew, protecting the Mikaelson's came with a price. Avarice would become very much aware of that price that very night.