Bring Me To Life | The Originals (1)

It's Our Paradise, It's Our Warzone, And It's Our Home

"Coming together is a beginning.

Keeping together is progress.

Working together is success." – Henry Ford

Over the course of a millennia, Elijah had attended many funerals and memorials but there was something especially sombre in the atmosphere as he entered St Ann's Church for Father Kieran's funeral service. Imogen was walking beside him, looking particularly radiant in a classic black dress and she appeared to be unaffected by her surroundings but he could see the sadness in her blue eyes. He placed a comforting hand on the base of her spine as he leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her temple and she closed her eyes for a moment as she leaned into his side.

Every sniffle that she tried to hide from him was a reminder that the events of Kieran's death was still affecting her, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself let alone anyone else. The guilt was evident in her voice when she offered him a detailed account of her day when he saw her the day after and even though she told him she was fine, it was obviously a boldface lie. It wasn't easy to live with yourself after taking someone's life; he knew that it wasn't the first time Imogen had to kill in order to protect someone or to defend herself, but Kieran was the first one that he been an innocent victim of another.

Imogen lifted her head to offer him a shaky smile as she blinked away the tears gathering in her eyes and he returned the sentiment as he allowed his hand glided down the length of her arm until he was able to thread his fingers through her own. She squeezed his hand gratefully as he started leading her down the aisle and his gaze flickered around the already crowded pews as a long line of community members awaited their turn to pay their respects at the coffin at the altar.

It was easy to locate Camille where she was sitting in the front pew, a stoic expression on her face and Marcel stationed protectively on the bench next to her as she gripped his hand so tightly that it would hurt if he were human. He also noticed Genevieve and Francesca representing their respective factions towards the back of the room and he felt his lips twitch downwards at the sight of them because he didn't want Imogen or Camille to have to deal with them when they were grieving.

The witch beside him squeezed his hand for a moment before she released her grip and hesitantly approached the open coffin with an apprehensive expression marring her pretty face. He stood at the bottom of the altar in concern as he placed his hands in his pants pockets while he waited and he had to forcibly stop himself from going to her side when he noticed her shoulders shaking subtly. After a moment she took a deep breath to compose herself and carefully made her way off of the altar as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

Elijah reached out to squeeze her hand when she walked past him and she offered him a grateful smile before she continued down the steps of the altar. He watched sorrowfully as she approached Camille almost hesitantly, he knew that she was feeling guilty and concerned that her friend wouldn't understand or forgive her for the actions she'd taken during the incident. A small smile pulled at his lips as Camille immediately jumped up from the pew and catapulted herself into Imogen's arms when she caught sight of her friend approaching. Confident that she would be well taken care of with Camille and Marcel, he slowly made his way towards the coffin to say his goodbyes to a well-respected member of the community.

A frowned pulled at the corner of his mouth when he heard a soft cooing noise coming from the coffin of a supposedly dead man, his eyebrows furrowing as he glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone else was alarmed. No one seemed to be reacting to the strange noise and he hesitated a moment before continuing closer to the opened coffin, his muscle tense with unease as he narrowed his eyes. The noise only got louder as he approached, and there was something undeniably familiar about it but he couldn't put his finger on where he had heard it before.