Blue ▹ The Originals [2]

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

"Sleep is a luxury which I can't afford."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

     Henrik couldn't move a muscle without his entire body aching.

He had been working practically nonstop since Finn's death, trying to find a solution to a problem he didn't even know the specifics of. The more he had to scrap what he had and start over from scratch, the more frustrated he became. It was the third day that the anger started to settle in. It had been three days of everyone staying inside the compound, where Lucien couldn't enter. It had been three days of Freya and Henrik obsessing over their witchcraft, three days of barely sleeping and barely eating because neither of them could sit still. Three days of Henrik being on pins and needles whenever one of his siblings went out, or when Francis and Marcel weren't safely inside somewhere. Three days of nonstop stress and a dull, painful ache in his head that never wanted to go away no matter what he did to ease it.

He had his hands braced on the table in the center of his room, eyes going over the array of scattered papers with his notes. He could usually understand his mess of notes, but now he could barely read a line or two without feeling frustrated and puzzled. His eyesight was even starting to blur. He blinked rapidly and tried to focus it, but it wasn't working. Sighing in exhaustion, he reached up to rub at his eyes. Eventually, he stopped rubbing and just resorted to pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. He knew he was exhausted, knew that he needed to rest, but every time he tried to sleep, his mind wouldn't go quiet. He couldn't remember the last time he suffered from so much exhaustion.

"Henrik?" Henrik jumped, a sharp gasp leaving his mouth. He hadn't heard anyone open his bedroom door. Twisting on his heel, he let out a breath of relief when he saw that it was Francis. Henrik had seen very little of Francis the past few days. He had requested some space after Finn had died, so Francis had been busy helping Marcel try to track down Lucien and Aurora. Francis stepped deeper into the room and closed the door, eyes taking in the papers strewn across the table and various dusty, old grimoires lying open on any available surface. There was a coffee in his hand, but when he glanced up and got a good look at Henrik's face, his mouth twisted into a grimace. "I was going to give you this," Francis said as he raised the coffee, "but I don't think that's a very good idea. Darling, when was the last time you slept?"

"Last night," Henrik said with a huff, trying to grab the coffee. Francis moved it out of his reach, clicking his tongue in disapproval. He gave Henrik a knowing look, and Henrik sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Technically, it was last night. It wasn't more than two hours, though."

"That's what I thought." He set the coffee on top of a stack of books before he got closer to Henrik. The hand he smoothed down Henrik's back was more comforting than Henrik liked to admit. Francis's voice was soft and gentle when he added, "Don't you think you should take a break? You've been working for days." Henrik knew he meant well, knew he was only looking out for him, but Henrik was also stressed and exhausted. The thought of taking a break while his brother's murderer was out there somewhere made all his frustration and growing anger come to the surface within seconds, and he couldn't bite his tongue quick enough to stop the words rising up his throat.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Henrik snapped, voice so sharp and quick that Francis actually flinched back, not expecting the level of venom that was in his voice. The sight of him getting so startled made Henrik realize just how unreasonable he was being. He clenched his jaw shut and took a deep breath, glancing away. He knew he should apologize, but what came out instead was a calmer continuation of his point. "Wait for Lucien to reappear and bite someone else? Nik? Elijah? You?" Henrik shook his head and turned back toward his mess of notes. "No, I'm not taking a break until I at least get somewhere. Everything has a loophole. There's no supernatural ailment that doesn't have a solution or a cure. That means the bite of a pathetic copycat Original like that piece of shit definitely does. He can't be unstoppable. There's always a balance, I just need to find it."