Unleashed ↠ Elijah Mikaelson

03

As soon as Elijah had stepped out of line of the path and far enough that he could no longer see it, he knew he was taking his life into his own hands. But what creature would even be strong enough to take down an original?

Below his feet, hugging the floor was ounces of mist; coming from somewhere nearby. Like someone was enacting a spell or creating a potion so potent that it flooded their surroundings. He took a deep breath in, smelling something odd, a sweet smell that danced under his nose, something he couldn't put a finger on.

But he followed it anyway, one foot in front of the other. Elijah kept vigilant, checking his blind spots every moment or so to ensure nothing was following him. He pulled at his collar, not out of nervousness, it was just a reflex.

His leather boots came to a halt on the dampened ground when he realised he was a good few miles into the unknown. This was still witch country, but for witches that had been shunned. It was still very dangerous grounds.

He stopped before a small cottage; it seemed baron but outside hung a small cauldron, hanging from three iron prongs. The source of the mist. The mysterious fog overflowed the chipped cauldron and filled the ground. Elijah strode through, treading carefully and quietly as not to disturb anyone until he deciphered if this was the correct cottage.

Elijah stood at a distance but managed to peer over the cauldron to see what seemed to be causing all of this, but he couldn't tell what the liquid was; it had a violet tint to it, but that was it. The fog clouded his vision so he couldn't see any more.

Suddenly, Elijah heard the door open, and shut in quicker time than he could actually lift his head back and make it look like he wasn't being nosey.

"Excuse me?" The girl's honey sweet voice bellowed from In front of him, but nothing prepared Elijah for when he actually looked up at her. It was like a blow to the chest, leaving him speechless.

It taught him not to be so stereotypical, he would always imagine renegade witches to be older and not as sweet looking. But this girl was something else. Rich mahogany hair flowed down adorning her pale skin. Her lips were full and had a slight hint of ruby red but they gave no sense of personality as of yet, they stayed straight as her silver blue eyes stared forward at him.

"Apologies" Elijah pushed out some sort of sympathy as he stared at the enchanting girl before him "I am looking for a witch"

"Then you have come to the wrong place" she stepped forward, working her fingers around the chains that were hanging the cauldron "the witches you seek reside in the town, the witches here do not do anything for anyone, you are playing with fate here; especially for your kind"

"Cassandra?" Elijah stopped her from taking the cauldron away by asking her name. It was a long shot, but it was obviously effective.

Her hands slowed down as she looked up at the vampire, her eyebrows knitted together to portray a look of confusion. "You know my name?" She asked

"Eloise sent me" he referred to the other witch that had known her "she told me that you would help me"

Cassandra looked away, she tucked her hair behind her ear and huffed in an obvious anger "that girl always makes promises that I cannot keep" she muttered to herself "has nobody taught you that renegade witches aren't exactly reliable?" She asked, but somehow Elijah felt something different about her, he wasn't sure if she could be relied on, but it was a last resort. "Normal witches won't even help vampires like you"

"Please" Elijah replied with that one word "my vampires are in danger and so are people like you"

"People like me?" She asked in curiosity

"Eloise informed me that a mysterious creature lurks here in the bayou, they have been killing my vampires and they have killed her sister alongside many other witches that live out here" he admitted, watching as her eyes widen at his explanation.

"Eloise's sister, Mary?" She swallowed in what Elijah would class as fear, but he could have been mistaken.

"You know her?"

"I know of her?" Cassandra snapped out of her little episode and began to act normally "I heard she wasn't very nice"

"Yes, well she was drained of blood the other night, and it wasn't by my vampires, or any vampires to be exact" Elijah revealed the true nature of his visit

"And you are?" She asked, wondering why he was talking so protective over the vampires.

"Elijah Mikaelson..." He begun, ready to introduce himself fully

"...original" she replied, already knowing who this Elijah was, she just was unable to put a name to a face, and now she could "I apologise, my Lord but you are barking up the wrong tree"

"Just because you have been shunned?" He asked, stopping her from turning around and walking back into her home

"No" she rolled her eyes, out stretching her hand towards him and attempting to do a simple spell. Elijah shut his eyes and tried to ignore what pain was to come, but there wasn't any. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times and adjusting his eyesight to the light again. "I physically can't help you"

"You aren't a witch?" He asked, he swore he could have sensed something supernatural about the girl; and the potion she was mixing, everything pointed to her being a witch.

"No, I am a witch" she nodded "I'm a very special type of witch who can't use magic unless she steals it from another being" Cassandra admitted "I can't do magic unless I have a source, and right now nobody will even give me the time of day"

Elijah had never heard of that type of  witch before, maybe that's why she gave off a stranger vibe than the others. "How are you making this potion then?" He asked

"The ingredients are in there, I just need the power to bind them" she said "it's just a simple one just to ..." She thought, not wanting to reveal the true nature of the elixir "to give life to my plants" she lied "I take trips out to find some sources for my magic, plants etc., but they don't last for long, and right now I'm running out of these plants"

"How about me?" Elijah asked "I am a supernatural creature, I possess a lot of power in my veins, why not siphon some of me as a gift, in exchange for your aid, I'll find you more plants and when in need, you can use my power"

Cassandra moved forward "how do you expect me to take from you?" Her eyes fixated on his wrist before his words told her otherwise

"How you would take it from the plants?" He suggested "skin to skin contact, put your hands on my arm"

"Of course" she felt stupid to think of anything else, her hands felt his forearm as she shut her eyes and began to take power from him.

It hurt Elijah, a hell of a lot, leaving him feeling tired and lethargic towards the end, knowing why nobody would even let her draw from
Them. But it worked, she had the power and she was able to complete her elixir.

"So do we have a deal?" Elijah asked, out of breath.

Cassandra looked up to him, a glint of something in her eye, her silver blue eyes now showed a glisten of a light red. She seemed on some sort of panic, her hands were shaking as they bunched up into fists to stop them slightly. "Meet with me tomorrow" she demanded "for now I need to be alone"

Elijah realised the sun was setting in the sky, turning the air around them a deep red ish colour. Had he been out for long?

"The sun is setting and I don't want to be caught up with this creature you describe; especially when they're targeting my kind" she explained, her eyes darting to her left, and checking behind her as if she was paranoid.

"Of course" Elijah understood, for he did really need to get back home as well. Maybe he'd bump into the creature on the journey home, maybe he would be the one to identify it.

"Be here tomorrow at noon" Cassandra demanded, she still didn't seem to smile at him.

"I'll see you then"