chapter twenty-five.
the devil is damned
❦
ELIJAH HAD HOPED TO have had sorted through his problems but had been neglected the chance even as he had agreed to sitting in a therapy session with Camille, willingly giving her the chance to making him feel better, like his normal self. Finn had neglected Elijah of the chance to talk as he had been locked in a Chambre De Chasse alongside his brothers, Klaus and Kol. He had been forced to listen to what Finn had to say to them both, narrowing their description of their personalities to animals that burned as soon as they had solved the puzzle that released them back into the real world than a dark cottage that wasn't near to their comfort.
Finn was a problem, he had been channelling Mikael and Esther to allow his magic to carry power that made him stronger and able to do things that needed to have had been left be. He was a danger to Hope and Esme's son, two innocent people in the world that deserved a better time in the world already. Esme knew she'd do anything to protect her son and protect Hope, and she was already thinking of the possible way to end Finn and the danger her carried on his back.
Over the couple of days where Elijah and Esme had been filled in on what happened in New Orleans with a phone call from Klaus. Esme knew everything as if she had never left but it did make her feel like she needed to pull her hair out. Rebekah had returned in the body of Eva Sinclair who had been locked away in a house filled with witches that found no escape until Rebekah Mikaelson came along. It was revenge in which Kol had a joy in bringing to his sister as she had pulled a traitor act in 1914 that led to a dagger being driven into his chest.
Rebekah's imprisonment had allowed her to meet their long lost sister, Freya Mikaelson, who had been been taken from Esther before no other than Finn was the one only able to remember her. As soon as Rebekah had escaped she had parted ways with their long-lost sister and found herself back home filling Klaus in, where he had questioned how Freya could've been alive if she was a witch and which brought him to his concern of Dahlia being alive and breathing just the same.
Esme's hands clasped beneath her stomach as she hovered over Elijah's cell where it had been placed on the table between them as they were catching up with what happened in New Orleans during their absence. Klaus had been carrying his phone into the room where portraits of the siblings were strung on the wall and which Rebekah had been studying intensively questioning if the artist had been accurate with his painting. "That is just not my chin, Nik. it was much more delicate." Eva Sinclair's voice was something in which Esme needed to get use to, it was now the voice of her best friend.
"The only delicate thing about you, sister, is your ego." Klaus remarked.
"When placed beside the behemoth size of yours, certainly." Rebekah quipped causing Esme's eyes to flicker towards Elijah who grey as irritated as the Browne had with the squabble between the two of them.
"Could we dispense with this fascinating dispute for a moment and return to the subject of our long lost sister?" Elijah suggested and which had interrupted the pair from squabbling any further that'd pull them away from the important topic of Freya Mikaelson.
"There's not much to discuss, Elijah." Rebekah answered causing Esme's brows to knit together in confusion as she had thought that maybe the Mikaelson would've gotten more information on the girl roaming around, probably, the city. "Said she was Freya then darted off into the night."
Esme's hands lifted to rest against her lower back as she questioned what made Rebekah believe the words that came out of a strangers mouth, who allowed her to escape the witch house. "Wait, you believed her?" She questioned.
"I met the girl in a mystical loony bin." Rebekah reminded. "She could be anyone, telling any lie. But she did seem familiar somehow."
"And how is she still alive?" Klaus asked as his brows raised towards his little sister. "A question as ridiculous as its possible solutions given this family's annoying predilection for cheating death."
Rebekah shrugged. "I don't know, Nik. Just telling you what she said."
"Did you happen to ask if by similar miracle, our Aunt Dahlia lives as well?" Klaus interrogated as Elijah had handed over Hope's toys towards the Browne who had happily taken them to place into the basket that helped declutter the room to where it was tidier than its usual state.
"I barely had a chance to process--"
Klaus had cut off his little sister, growing frustrated with the fact of how much information that she had lacked and what she could've probably asked that would've been to their advantage. "Because on the list of obvious questions, it'd be nice to know if the woman who placed a curse on the first-borns of this family is still breathing air."
"Let me turn back time and do it for your liking then!"
"Gosh, enough." Esme interrupted, never had she been able to cope with Rebekah and Klaus' bickering. "The both of you, please."
"If she is who she says, we'll find out soon enough. For now, it is imperative no one learns of Hope's existence or Esme's." Elijah told after finishing folding the blanket to hang on the play cot. "This has been our salvation thus far."
"Unless Hayley's husband to-be starts flapping his gums." Esme was still trying to bare the news that Hayley was getting married and that she was probably going to miss the wedding that allowed the wolves to carry more power with their abilities. It was an old ritual that favoured the Crescent Wolves but either way it was a wedding Esme wished she could've been sitting in. "Perhaps I should take preventative measures and separate him from his head."
Esme favoured Jackson, she felt that he was a good man with the encounters that she had with him, he was perfect to be a husband. Her defence had risen for Jackson, not wanting his life to end the way that Klaus had threatened. "Jackson will do nothing to jeopardise that wedding." She reassured.
Rebekah scoffed in disbelief. "Hayley's getting married? What in hell else did I miss?"
❦
"Elijah..." Esme called after the Original as she entered into the kitchen to find him conjuring up lunch to feed all of them. The Browne had been in intrigue of a amulet she remembered taking from her home the night that she had gone back, where Mikael had left his burning mess. It was within the night where she had left Klaus' side and promised him that they'd reunite just so she could retrieve the sun wheel amulet from around her father's neck, to have something that reminded her of her family, the good life that they had lived. She had been thinking about the amulet heavily, and she couldn't recall the last time that she had it leading to her question for the Mikaelson. "I-I've been thinking about what I could give my son. You know like family heirlooms from my side on the family given he'd never meeting any of them. But do you remember...the night in 1215 when you took me with you to flee from Mikael but I went back to my home and took the sun wheel amulet from my father?"
The man had cracked a smile. "How could I forget? You were hell bent on getting to that necklace. Why are you asking?"
As Elijah's brows furrowed in confusion with the Browne she was only hoping that they'd be able to find it. "Well--" Before she had the chance to explain herself a clatter from the room had pulled her attention away from the thought of the amulet before a cry screeched its way through the house. Esme had been as quick as Elijah to getting to Hope who had been picked up whilst her cries grew louder from the hit on her head that left a scratch and which brought the Browne to her concern. "What happened?" Esme asked.
Camille pouted at Hope as she tried to calm her within her arms. "She yanked the tablecloth and that knickknack fell on her." She explained as Elijah had lifted his hand to brush against the scratch that marked the baby girl's forehead. "It's just a scratch."
Esme frowned at the sobs from the baby. "You're going to be fine, Hope. It's going to be okay." She cooed as her finger brushed against her cheek in hope of soothing her just as she caught Elijah's lingering hand that had stopped mid air.
"Elijah?" Camille had caught how his eyes were glued on the child who sobbed uncontrollably that it was rather haunting for him. "Elijah."
"Yes." He had been snapped out of thought, out of his day dream to pay more attention tow hat was happening around him. "Forgive me." Elijah apologised.
Esme frowned at Elijah. "I'm going to get Hope a bandaid." She told before slowly backing away from the three of them. "Elijah, you should check on the pan, I think you left the stove on."
The Browne had thought of ways in which Elijah's mind could've been pulled away from his haunting memories, symptoms of PTSD. He had triggers and one of them was how Hope screeched from the pain that she had felt on the side of her head that had been fixed with a bandaid that Esme had put on her head and tried to get her to calm down and for the crying to finally stop. Elijah was somewhat nervous to pull is eye away from Hope, incase she could've gotten hurt again even as Esme chose to play peek-a-boo with her. The brunette's hands would covered her face and pull away to reveal her face leading to the baby giggling and forgetting about the scratch on the side of her head.
As Esme continued to play with the baby girl, Elijah still lingered even with the giggles that escaped Hope's lips. Esme had pulled her hand away from her face once again and a louder fit of giggles escaped Hope's lips until Camille hovered behind Elijah. "It's a trigger." The O'Connell spoke as Elijah glanced over his shoulder at the blonde who had approached to stand beside him. "You pulled yourself back which is improvement, for sure. But we can't ignore the fact, that your mind went elsewhere. It's very common in traditional PTSD patients. You've done the work to face your atrocities. Truth is, it's going to take some time to settle."
Esme had pushed herself up from her knees causing an end to the game that she played with Elijah who questioned the way in which Camille might've been of help to him. "And yo believe you have the power to resolve this?"
"It's not that easy." Camille explained. "There's no..." She had clicked her fingers, not making it seem that the way she could help Elijah was as simple as he thought it was going to be. "and you're fixed. In cases like yours, sometimes not dwelling on the problem is more productive than examining it through minutiae therapy. Staying mentally busy instead of physically." From her sleeve she had pulled out a piece of paper that she begun to unfold that held a lot of things that needed to be done around the home. "This house, though charming, is completely falling apart."
Elijah had taken the piece of paper from her grasp to read over the list of things that she had found to be a problem and which the Original probably would've had no trouble in mending. "So this is your solution? Mend the home, mend the man."
"Or we could go fishing and I could tell you about the summer I lost my virginity." Esme had helplessly snickered knowing it was a conversation that Elijah would've preferred to have dodged.
"I'll mend the home."
"Great." Esme clapped her hands with eagerness. "Cami and I will spend the day with Hope." She concluded.
"And you spend the day not thinking." Camille added causing Esme to grin with the thought of a mending mind of Elijah's. "And fixing the heater, because this place is freezing at night."
❦
The grocery store had been the first place Esme had visited since arriving at the safe house, where she was no longer stuck between four walls but breathing air off of that ground and shopping with Camille and Hope. A smile had crept onto her face as she walked down the aisle within the tiny store, picking up things that caught her interest and which she'd read or she'd feel such as apples just to make sure they were perfect to be bought. Camille glanced over at Esme who pushed along Hope in the pram and carried things within the roof of it to place into the basket that the blonde carried when they'd reunite after each aisle.
Camille greeted Esme with a smile as she had slid some things into the pram to continue their walk around the store together. "I heard you asking Elijah about an amulet." She broke the silence between the both of them and which had caused Esme to slow her stop with question of the blonde's sudden curiosity. "I don't think you've mentioned much about your family. What were they like?" Esme tried to not talk too much about her family, it made her miss them and made her made that they didn't get to live the life that they deserved because they were good people. With her silence Camille immediately felt sorry for bringing it made her feel like that it was something she never wanted to talk about. "I-I don't mean to pry, Esme."
"No, no. You're not prying at all." Esme reassured as she forced a faint smile on her lips that made Camille carry even more guilt as she was able to see through the look on the Browne's face. "Everyone holds curiosity to my relatives. Even Marcel had the same speck of curiosity when I adopted him. Well, I grew up around warlocks and witches."
"So, you were a witch?" Camille questioned.
Esme grimaced with the thought. "Yeah. I carried the blood of a witch but...I could never perform magic because witches were seen as works of evil. So we hid. We performed magic when we needed to. So, when I was killed by Mikael...I didn't exactly miss it too much." She explained before beginning to fiddle with the handle of the pram. "As we hid, we acted our best to make sure that there'd be no threat to us but we had fun anyway. There was me, my mum, my dad and my three brothers, Raymond, Grayson and Daniel. Three annoying overly protective brothers." Camille had chuckled softly, she knew how protective her twin brother had been and she could only wince at the thought of three protective brothers. "We always lived in peace together and the only time you'd catch us bickering is with whatever game we played outside. It was a time in which I wished to relive, where things were much easier and where I would get cuddles from my father. I knew I was the favourite child but he always defended that he had no favourites. The amulet that I mentioned was my father's, when I was a little girl, he'd tell my stories and one night I asked him about the amulet and...and he promised that when I get older I could have it and give it to my children. I was just thinking about my son and having something from my side of the family. They weren't immortal, not like the Mikaelsons."
"Even though you were witches, your life still sounded human." Camille commented causing Esme to nod in agreement, it was rather normal. "Did they all die when Mikael attacked?"
"Yeah. He killed every last person from my coven." Esme explained as her head soon bowed with the haunting reminder of the fire that she saw she had smelt with the thought of it and was able to hear the screams and cries of people fleeing for their lives. Seeing her home blanketed in the blood of her brothers and her parents haunted her mind and caused her to swallow the lump in her throat before looking over her shoulder at Camille. She blinked away the burn pressing against her eyes to let tears escape and grabbed the strawberries sitting on the shelf. "The Mikaelsons became my home, my family. When Klaus and I drifted apart, only reuniting if it felt right, if we felt like we needed each other, the Mikaelsons were the only people in the world who I knew and I had no idea that Marcel was alive and breathing. The only family I've ever known since mine died were the Mikaelsons. It may not be as peacefully and it is more complicated but some families are like that and mine was...mine had their moments."
"All families do." Camille reassured as her hand fell onto the woman's back with comfort. "Your son is going to be very lucky when he's born. He's going to be around family who'd die to protect him and his sister."
"Oh, if anyone thinks of touching my son, they'd need to get through me." Esme concluded as her hand fell onto her stomach with a genuine smile forming on her lips as her thumb brushed against the bump.
Camille chuckled. "Though this family has some faults, you're all still willing to die for each other. It's a beautiful thing."
Esme nodded in agreement. "It definitely is."
❦
"Hey, Elijah." Esme's brows had furrowed in confusion as she stared at her phone, questioning how it hadn't been charged as she recalled that she had left it on during the night. The fruit farm had practically been raided by herself and Camille as bags hung onto Hope's pram as the blonde had stood at the pay phone, resting the machine against her ear as she left a voicemail for Elijah. As Esme's phone had died, Camille's phone had been left at the safe house, resorting them into contacting him through uses of quarters. "I left my cell at the house like an idiot and Esme's phone died. Luckily, pay phones are still a thing out here in the sticks." Esme had chuckled before catching the woman's longing look towards the baby who squirmed beneath the blanket where she had noticed the scratch that had seemingly disappeared from her forehead. "Um...anyway, we're heading home now."
As Camille had hung up, Esme had slowly crouched down in front of her niece and smiled innocently before beginning to gently pull the plaster off of her forehead. "Oh..." The scratch had faded, as if it had never been there causing her to form a smile as she looked over her shoulder at Camille with realisation that it had healed. "okay, I don't know if the paediatric board would approve of your uncle using his vampire blood to heal boo-boos." Esme had flinched with the sharper kick that had hit from inside her stomach causing her to gasp from what felt like pain as her hand fell onto her stomach.
"Esme?" Camille panicked as she noticed the way the Browne's eyes closed to deal with the kick her son pounded into her stomach. "You okay?"
Esme nodded with reassurances. "I-I guess. Yeah. It's just...he's kicking." She explained before pushing herself back to straighten her spine as another kick smacked against her stomach. "Let's get into the car." She wondered how the baby's kick had grown stronger over the couple of days as she waddled towards the car.
"Do you think Elijah's completed the list?"
The vampire snorted. "Definitely." Camille had faintly chuckle as the vehicle and been unlocked with the press of the button on the keys that Esme pulled out from her jean pocket to begin to load the car.
Esme had made sure that Hope was buckled into her car seat as Camille had packed away the shopping bags and Hope's pram to allow them to set off back to the safe house. The pregnant vampire had placed the pacifier between the baby's lips, wanting it to be her comfort and hopefully stopping her from squirming during the ride back to their home. Camille's eyes lingered on Esme as she had closed Hope's side door, hoping that the slam didn't frighten her before she felt another kick against her stomach that made her grimace but bear through it.
"Do you want me to drive?" Camille offered as Esme had approached the driver's side to the vehicle she knew far better than the blonde.
"I got it." Esme reassured as her hand wrapped around the handle to tug on the door for her to enter behind the wheel. Camille felt that she had to have been concerned with Esme and the kicks she received from her son as she settled into the driver's seat and pulled the seatbelt over her body while Camille and climbed into the seat beside her.
Silence had filled between them as Esme had started the engine of the car to carefully pull away from the fruit farm to pick up the speed towards the safe house, where they were better off. Esme's fingers begun to tap against the leather of the stirring wheel as her foot lightly pressed against the gas with the thought of needing to get back home where she could charge her phone and talk to Klaus about the kicks she felt. "Did you know Finn?" Camille questioned and her intrigue seemed to have had been thing that had broken the silence between the both of them.
"Never met him." Esme answered as she smiled slightly. "I knew everyone but him. I knew his love for his mother was stronger...far stronger than his love for his siblings. I knew Kol, though." A chuckle passed her lips with the reminder of the times her and Kol had drinking New Orleans dry and how he was the perfect partner for when her humanity had been turned off. "Yeah, he and I we were...we were good friends. I fought for him a lot but when Klaus daggered him, I couldn't change his mind then. I sometimes thought that Nik hated the friendship he and I had because he was awfully rebellious back in the day and no doubt he still is."
"Davina's taken an interest in him."
Esme's brows raised as she slowly turned the wheel over the car to the narrowed road that drove up to the driveway of the safe house. "He is a charmer. Girls did reel over him." She chuckled softly before it had faded with the thought of a memory that was bittersweet. "When Mikael killed me, Kol was there when I woke up. He reassured me that it was going to be all right, that I could get through it all. When I didn't, when I turned off my humanity switch...Klaus fought for me to turn it back on but Kol...Kol had made me stop doing anything that'd haunt me as soon as my humanity switch was turned back on. Kol reminds me of my brother...Raymond. He protected me a lot, when we were little he'd come into my room when there was a storm and he'd sit in the chair in the corner of the room telling me these stupid stories till my eyes closed and I went to sleep. If something was wrong, he'd try and make me not worry about it or feel better about it. Davina doesn't have to worry about Kol breaking her heart...he can be mischievous sometimes but...but when he's in love with someone, he can never hurt them."
A cry escaped Hope's lip, pulling Camille from her nice thought of how beautiful Kol and Esme's relationship was to the baby who squirmed in her carseat causing the blonde to lean back and gently rock the carseat in hopes of calming her down. The soft hum of a nursery rhyme had begun to calm down Hope as Esme had sighed in relief with how close they were to the safe house until she heard the silence from the engine causing the car to roll to a stop. "Esme?" Camille's brows furrowed in confusion as she noticed how the system had completely shut off.
"It's fine." Esme reassured before beginning to press the button continuously just to turn on the engine that didn't seem to have switched on with the numerous attempts. "That's weird." She commented before she had groaned at the kick against her stomach that caused her back to sharpen and for Camille's concern to raise.
"Esme, is something wrong with the baby?" Camille panicked.
Esme's head shook. "N-No. It's just...he's kicking really hard." She reassured just as the ground beneath them had vibrated and Camille's eyes had widened at the fire that lifted to the sky as the house and exploded, speckles of wood shooting up to the sky to fall back down to fade into the grass.
"Oh, my God!"
Esme worried about Elijah just as the car's engine roared and the kicking she felt in her stomach had finally stopped, allowing for her to be relieved of the tension while Camille had looked over towards Hope believing that she had something to do with the engine that had been cut off. With how Esme had eased to comfortability, Camille had not only thought that Hope had something to do with the engine cutting out but as did the boy in which Esme carried inside of her, who had been kicking her as if it had been a warning for her to stop. Before either of the children had the chance to control their magic, they were able to sense the danger that Esme nor Camille had been able to sense.