Awaiting a Changing fate ↠ Elijah Mikaelson

03

Lottie returned downstairs, she had only just returned to a semi natural colour, though she still had a tinge of blue shading her lips. But her hair had dried out and she had fresh clothes on.

"Where is William, Jessica?" She asked the maid, they had not liked each from the beginning, however; Jessica needed this job to help her family. Jessica was young and baby faced, just like Lottie, with a fair complexion and curly red hair that always was tied up underneath a hat, and she concealed a dirty secret. Lottie knew of her on and off sexual relations with her father, and she didn't like it, but there was nothing she could really do about it. It wasn't like she could expose them, her word against the governors? And she wouldn't want to sabotage her father's reputation, though sometimes she felt like it.

And it wasn't just that; Jessica had a boyfriend, a fiancé to be exact. Another worker, Charles. It wouldn't have been too bad if Lottie wasn't so involved with their lives, but Charles and Lottie were childhood friends, he was the same age as William and he had cared for her ever since she was born.

Jessica also had a tendency to get too close to other people's partners, especially William. And that made Lottie vow to keep a sacred eye on her at all times.

"He has gone into the back room with Eric and Mortimer" she informed her, they were his gambling friends. He would always seem to disappear and appear with significantly less money or more, it went both ways.

"Oh" Lottie said disappointedly "you are dismissed"

Jessica walked off; leaving an echoing sound of her shoes hitting the floor.

Lottie scanned the room intently to find something else or someone else to talk to. Her gaze fixated on the tall man in the exquisite suit, drinking champagne.

You.

Lottie stormed through the crowd until she reached her rescuer who looked confused when she spoke "I'd like a word, on the balcony, alone" the demands were to be met immediately as Lottie walked towards the nearest balcony and shut the door behind her.

Feisty

Elijah followed, opening and shutting the door to see the back of the woman, she was looking down at the ground underneath.

"First of all" she began, spinning around to face him "I'd like to thank you for saving my life back then from the stupid act"

"Are you talking about the fall? Or the jump?" Elijah really knew what was going on

"Are you questioning me on what happened?" She asked defensively "if so I'm not obliged to answer these interrogational questions"

"I'm not questioning you my lady" Elijah refused "I'm just merely giving you the opportunity to tell me the truth, maybe I can lend an ear, or be of some help towards your recovery"

Lottie couldn't tell if he was being truly genuine or not, she tilted her head to try and figure it out but his eyes blocked every kind of way she could read his emotions. "I don't need anyone to listen" she calmed herself down "nobody could help my circumstances"

"Maybe so, however you could help yourself?" Elijah suggested "subduing the other part of you can be difficult but it has been done"

"Subduing the other part of me?" She repeated "you know?"

"I'm a Mikaelson" he shrugged "we know everything"

"It was you, I assume" Lottie said "that found my dress at sunrise and left it for me to find"

Elijah simply nodded his head. That's the only way he found out about her.

"I'd like to thank you... Again" she curtsied slightly "two occasions where you have saved my life, though I'd like to question you on one more thing"

"What is it you'd like to know?" Elijah asked, feeling like a wise old owl

"Are you the culprit of these murders?" she asked

Elijah listened intently to her question and furrowed his eyebrows "what makes you ask?" He replied almost immediately

"I know your kind have a flare for the theatrics and my town has suffered enough, I just want to find whoever is doing this and if it isn't you, it has to be anther vampire. Not any human is capable of such horrors." She explained deeply with a hint of fire in her eyes

"I give you my word" Elijah said "nether I nor Niklaus have afflicted the murders you have spoke of"

"Unfortunately your word means nothing until you prove it to be right" Lottie said "thank you for all of your help today, and it was a privilege meeting you...?"

"Elijah" he finished

"Right, the original" she nodded "I'm Lottie, if you hadn't have guessed it by now, I'm practically talk of the town"

"Yes the engagement" Elijah recalled, forgetting the whole reason why he was there

Elijah let the balcony fall silent as he focussed his hearing on something else

Please please let me go, I won't tell anyone who you are, please I have a family

He heard sobbing, and raised an eyebrow in confusion as to who it was.

"What is it?" Lottie asked

"I believe this so called killer is here" Elijah mentioned coldly "he has someone"

He turned to leave and look for the source of the crying when a dainty hand reached out to his to pull him back.

"Take me along with you" she demanded "I need to know who it is"

"I can't put you into that much danger I'm afraid" Elijah refused

"I'm a witch, crossed with a werewolf" she said, it was strange; she had never called herself a werewolf before, not to someone else anyway "you are an original vampire, if whoever that is is actually a human, he won't survive"

Elijah needed to go, and he knew she wasn't going to back down. "Fine" he groaned and left, with her following Shortly behind.

She trailed after him through the party, trying to look for familiar faces. It was strange, neither Joseph nor William was there, and she hadn't seen Charles all night, which was even odder, he was always at her beckon call.

They descended to the wine cellar, and Elijah pushed the old wooden door open, creating a loud creaking sound.

"The lantern" Lottie mentioned, walking to the matches to light them. Elijah could see anyway, but it was for her benefit after all.

After the matches had been lit and transferred to the lantern, the two set off to search the whole cellar.

It was a series of corners and shelves and by the fourth corner, Lottie stood in something wet.

"Eugh" she said, examining the floor, a growing puddle of red liquid lay "somebody must've smashed a bottle of wine"

They turned the corner and what Lottie saw next would scar her. And Elijah wasn't exactly thrilled to see a viciously maimed body, freshly dead, lying against a wine shelf.

Lottie took a step forward, shielding her nose from the rising smell to examine the face of the body.

"Jessica?"