Dark Paradise - Niklaus Mikaelson

Chapter three

The noble Original followed Sophie Devereaux into the cemetery, opening the gates in the cold air. He attempted to walk through, but soon found an invisible barrier preventing him from going any further. 

"This is sacred ground, which means vampires have to be invited in," stated Sophie somewhat smugly as Elijah simply stared at her unamused.

"But since I'm desperate, come on in. We can talk freely here."

The vampire slowly placed his foot over the threshold, testing that it was safe, and started to follow her. "Then I suggest you start talking," he replied, annoyed and anxious to find out what his imbecile of a brother had managed to get himself into now. "What do you want with Niklaus?" 

Sophie looked at him for a moment before replying with a small scoff, "Isn't it obvious? We have a vampire problem, and we need help. We haven't had much luck, clearly," she looked around, checking for anyone who could overhear as she continued, "Until my sister heard a rumour. She said that she heard from an old friend that Klaus was occupied for a couple of days. Nothing unusual of course, except this time, her friend said that he was leaving behind the one thing he never does. Creating a perfect opportunity for someone to come and take it."

"Take what?" Elijah asked, his annoyance growing to anger at the idea that someone had taken what he suspected the witch was talking about.

Sophie looked wary of the Original, and backed away a few steps before saying, "Hold on, before you get mad, just here us out." She then turned around and shouted into the dark, "Bring her out!"

Elijah watched in complete disbelief as three more witches came from around the corner, one holding onto a girl's arm. The girl looked up at him, before breathing out in shock, "Elijah?" 

Elijah was frozen in confusion, surprise and a hundred other emotions he didn't want to think about racing through his mind. He was sure his eyes were deceiving him; he couldn't fathom how it was possible that his sister was standing in front of him now, her hair a mess and her wedding dress coated in a layer of dirt. 

"Ellika?" He questioned, snapping out of his thoughts before speeding to her, pulling her out of the witch's hold and taking her softly into his arms. She returned the hug, wrapping her shaking arms around his torso and burying her head in his chest. He heard her sniffing, tears pooling in her eyes once again, and his hand came up to stroke the back of her head as she mumbled into their embrace, "How are you here, 'Lijah? I thought you would be... I thought you would all be..." She trailed off, not wanting to voice her thoughts in the fear that she would somehow break the beautiful illusion she was certain she currently resided in.

The Original chuckled before pulling back from her and saying, "Don't you think I should be asking you that, 'Lika?" He said, the nickname slipping naturally of his tongue. 

It had started as a way to tease little Ellika, as when she first met the Mikaelsons, she was only three years old, and had trouble saying his name properly. Eventually, young Ellika gave up and stuck to saying 'Lijah. In retaliation, Elijah who was significantly older than she was, took to calling her 'Lika, dropping the 'E' in a similar manner. It annoyed the young girl to no end, but its soon became a habit, and the nicknames added to the friendship that blossomed as they grew older. Ellika cared for Elijah like he was her brother, and Elijah (and Kol) had taken to referring to Ellika as their sister long before she married Niklaus. 

Ellika looked up at the Original before shrugging. "I don't know. They woke me up and kept me here-"

"That's enough of that," a harsh voice cut through Ellika's words as the witch from before pulled Ellika away from her brother and kept a firm grip on her arms. Elijah grew angry, saying "What do you think you are doing? Let go of my sister this instant before I remove your hands from your body." He once again sped to Ellika, but this time was stopped by an invisible force. He placed a hand against the clear wall, being burnt from the spell.