Gods & Monsters ✧ Elijah Mikaelson

XXXIII ✧ Humanity

Chapter Thirty-Three

Levi, Ajal, and Robert came to the castle when Aspin told them that Avarice hadn't been back in hours. They were all worried, but collectively decided that Avarice needed to take care of whatever it was that frightened her. She needed to do it alone.

"Are you sure that you shouldn't go in there?" Klaus asked worriedly after a few minutes of pacing through the hallway. "She could be hurt."

"She can take care of herself," Kol assured him.

"That's what I'm worried about," Pin said, though it was more of a whisper. She was the most concerned of them all.

"What do you mean?" Freya asked from beside her. The two had been getting close recently, and Freya was more than happy to comfort a clearly very stressed Aspin.

"We have never killed anyone," Aspin stated, crossing her arms over her chest in nervousness. It was a defensive position, and she was more than just a little worried. "None of us. The only reaper that has ever murdered another person, be it another reaper or a supernatural creature, is Kaige."

"You think she's hurt someone?" Rebekah asked.

"It's very possible, yes."

"She looked horrified," Elijah said, his brow furrowed as he scratched at his neck. "But then she seemed angry."

"If it was Hope or Hayley that were being attacked, I know that Avarice cares for them deeply," Ajal said. "She has told me about them many times. She adores Hope, and she has done all she can to make Hayley's life as easy as it can be."

"You think she would kill for them?" Klaus asked.

Elijah didn't miss the somewhat relieved look in Klaus' eyes. Of course, Klaus didn't want Avarice to be harmed in any way, psychologically or physically, but it was clear to Elijah that Klaus was very grateful to have someone like Avarice protecting Hayley and his daughter when he could not.

"Yes, I do," Aspin said, biting her bottom lip. Freya laid a hand on her shoulder in a form of comfort, and Aspin gave her a soft and hopeful smile in return.

If only hope could have stopped Avarice.

*

One thing that Avarice could see clearly about the human world was that the people there all had one common goal; survival. A few were even good enough to have the goal of keeping the people around them alive as well. She had seen it many times; a person kills another to keep their family safe, a person lies to take the negative attention off their lover, a child willingly takes the blame for an act their sibling committed.

When it came to Avarice, she had felt that many times since the Mikaelson's had arrived in her world. And even now, she felt it..

Hayley was in trouble. Hope was in trouble. Someone was there, and they wanted to hurt Hayley and her daughter. They could not just be deterred, they had a goal.

This goal, however, was not a good one. It was to kill Hayley Marshall and Hope Mikaelson.

It was very likely that Marcel Gerard had sent his men to find them. Or maybe it was someone else that wanted to get rid of Klaus Mikaelson's child. There were a thousand possibilities, but before she had truly come to terms with what she was prepared to do, Avarice knew for certain that she had to get rid of them.

There was a threat to Hope and Hayley, and Avarice needed to eliminate it.

They had caught her right as she was coming back into the house. It was nighttime, and it was likely that Hayley had met Mary for dinner or maybe taken Hope to the store and was only just getting back. Her SUV had been flipped, so she had clearly been attacked by one of the few witches that Marcel had under his thumb. It reminded Avarice of what Vincent had done to the SUV that Aurora had been in when Vincent promptly crushed it like a piece of paper.

The vampires had Hayley up against the SUV, and she was fighting them both. The SUV was on its side, and she was against the roof. Avarice caught a glimpse of a vampire jumping through one of the broken windows, where she could hear Hope's cries.

Avarice darted towards the SUV, and took care of the vampire that was inside. She was satisfied when she heard his heart stop beating. Hope was still crying. She took care of the other two as well. Yet again, she felt only satisfaction when she felt the tear of their skin and the lack of their breathing.

It happened so quickly that Avarice couldn't quite understand what had happened. She didn't quite understand what she had done. She was still trying to process it when she saw that Hayley was staring at her with wide and confused, as well as shocked eyes.

She felt something wet on her hands, and looked down at them. Her fingers and palms were coated in blood. She looked around her, still in shock. She saw that the one vampire she had dragged out of the SUV had a hole punched straight through his chest where his hearts would have been. She hadn't just removed his heart, she had made a hole straight through the man's torso. As for the other two, they had holes through their backs. Avarice only realized what it was when she saw the two hearts laying beside them.

Avarice had broken the rules. She was not supposed to kill anyone. She was supposed to follow the fates and not interfere. She was supposed to guide everyone that died, not be the one to kill them.

She had murdered someone. Not just one, but three people.

Avarice blinked rapidly, then looked Hayley in the eyes. "Take Hope inside," she ordered.

Hayley did as asked, but Avarice caught Hayley watching her closely. Hayley knew about what Avarice was supposed to do. She knew that Avarice had never killed anyone. It had never been part of her job, so she had never done it.

Avarice ran out along the shield, then scanned the forests. She didn't hear anyone else. She didn't hear any other vampires, or sense any other supernatural creature. There weren't even any humans nearby, since Avarice had chosen a house that was very far from any other people.

She heard a stream near by, and was quick to run for it. The blood was becoming sticky and was beginning to stink of iron. She was disgusted by it. She wanted it off of her.

When she scrubbed at her hands so roughly that they were red by the time the blood was off, she caught a glimpse of her shirt in the moonlight. It was torn now, and splattered with blood.

Briefly, she wondered if her humanity would be damaged after this. But then she wondered if she even had any in the first place.

She stood, and knew that her face was probably covered in it too. She put a hand on her hip and the other over her mouth to stop herself from crying. She succeeded, but anyone could hear her heavy breathing in the darkness.

Especially when she began to scream her pain instead of internalize it.