Awaiting a Changing fate ↠ Elijah Mikaelson

23

With a short gasp. Lottie had awoken on unfamiliar territory.

A bed to be exact, covered in gold and red sheets and blankets with matching pillows.

The curtains were drawn, but the light that soaked its way through gave her the most excruciating headache.

Lottie threw the sheets to the side and turned her whole body around to attempt to slide out of bed.

As soon as her weight had been transferred to her feet and legs, she stumbled over and her hand found the closet that was so close she could use it to lean on.

"Where am I?" She asked herself quietly, she didn't want to make too much sound, she didn't want to alert anyone to her awake state, whoever had gotten her here.

The noise of saxophone music emanated from outside. So transferring her weight on to the bed and then the drawers, enabled her to reach the window and open the curtains.

She had a small balcony, the iron bars curved and fashioned in to an exquisite pattern was the only thing stopping her from climbing down. She could climb down, there was ivy growing around the balcony, but it was too high for her, she was afraid of heights.

But instead her new eyes were completely mesmerised by the crowds beneath her. She had never seen a place so busy, it was filled with music of all sorts and there were people dancing on the road. How dangerous!

"Lottie" the voice snapped her out of her trance and she realised half of her body was hanging over the balcony, trying to get a closer look at everything.

But she knew that voice. She took a deep breath in, but she didn't want to turn around. It would seem unreal and if she turned around; she would wake up somewhere completely different. Maybe in a tomb; or the other side.

"Look at me" he said "is that really you?"

"How am I supposed to know that this is really you?" Her arms were leaning on the balcony, keeping her upright

"It is you" her voice proved it, her snappy comments only made Elijah want to run up to her and never let her go. But she seemed so startled by everything around her, he didn't want to make it worse. Not just yet.

"You can trust me" he said "you're safe"

Lottie recalled the times she had spent on the other side; times where the same voice uttered the same words and when she turned around, he was gone, everything was gone, she was plunged in to a darkness that consumed her, she couldn't take it, she couldn't face it anymore.

"Please" he begged

"You're not real" she cried out

"I am"

Lottie had enough and she just wanted to take the chance. If it was fake, if this whole thing was fake, she had endured that kind of pain before. But this time; she felt more alive, she felt the cold air flow up through her nose and out through her mouth. She felt the exhilarating feeling of being up higher than the rest, heights had always scared and excited her at the same time.

So she did it. As fast as she could, she turned herself around to face the man she had dreamt off for centuries, the man that the ancestors had used against her to punish her for the wolf inside of her.

"You are real" her lips trembled as she came to the conclusion that this wasn't an alternate reality, this wasn't the other side. This was real.

Elijah strode up to her and took her in his arms, his head buried in to her neck, absorbing every aroma she bad, absorbing just her presence. He wouldn't let her go.

Lottie sobbed in to his neck. She had waited for so long to be in a place she felt safe. She never thought that she'd be back in Elijah's arms, hopefully in a time that society allows them to be together.

"I'm never letting you go" Elijah vowed "I'm never letting you out of my sight again"

Lottie didn't reply just at that moment. The shock of everything didn't allow her mouth to project the words.

"I am sorry I ignored you" Elijah apologised "I saw it all, I saw what William did..."

"Sh" she interrupted him, tearing her head from his neck to look at how much he had changed "let us not ruin this moment"

Elijah smiled like a fool, his teeth on show as he would let go of her waist

"My you have changed" the back of her hand caressed his cheek, just to feel him again sent shivers down her spine

"Have I?" Elijah found it amusing. He really had changed a lot since the 1700's but because he lived with it, he didn't really recognise it

"Those clothes" her hands wove their way down to his jacket "they are so... Strange"

"Strange?" Elijah chuckled. He had never known anyone to call his dress sense "strange" but he didn't care. "This is what everyone is wearing these days"

"Wait" she halted, her eyes returning to their scared look "what year is this?"

"2015" Elijah replied

"I've been dead, for over 300 years?" She asked in disbelief as she attempted to calculate the amount of time in her head "the days felt so long there, I lost count"

"And there is a lot to see and a lot to learn" Elijah informed her "but for today, we'll settle you in, get you some comfier clothes" he looked down as she had Elijah's shirt buttoned up around her chest.

"Tell me, this place, is it..."

"New Orleans" Elijah smiled "you're still home"

"It has changed so much" she turned her head back to the street below and the people there "they dress differently, their music is louder, there are more people in that street than I have ever seen in my town"

"You are a smart girl" Elijah rested his forehead on his, still in awe of her "you can adjust, plus, in these coming days; I have a few people you'd like to meet; and one being very eager to meet you"

"It all sounds so complicated" she bit her lip, she was just so overwhelmed she didn't know how to channel it "who are these people?"

"You'll have to wait and see"