Black Castle 🖤 E. Mikaelson

Chapter Four. A Hero & A Villain

Chapter Four. A Hero & A Villain
ELIJAH
{At My Weakest by James Arthur}

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Here I go, down that road, again and again, the fool rushin' in.
But I can't help, what I feel, some kind of way, do you feel the same?
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Elijah hadn't heard from Arabella for the rest of the day.
The spinning that took place in Elijah's head only occurred when he thought about Arabella for long periods of time. He was silently piecing together the events before and after he couldn't find her back then and immediately his mind drew a blank. Just the sound of her voice had him going utterly insane and he thought maybe the attention he was so focused on, should have been aimed more toward Hayley and a little less toward Arabella. But how? He felt like a hopeless teenager in love for the first time when he stared at her from across any room in silence. And for once he didn't want to fight against any feelings he thought he would have. It only happened because Hayley wasn't around to thwart his plans of getting closer to Arabella. He wouldn't admit that out loud either. Nor would he want to rush into something so soon, he just got Arabella back, and was still reeling at the fact that she existed again.
He felt it to be wrong. How his wife and his on-again-off-again girlfriend had been under the same roof. He wouldn't even call it that. But he wasn't to blame since he thought his beloved wife had perished over one thousand years ago. How was he supposed to come to terms with her demise? It wasn't like everything going on would still go on if he knew she was alive. And since he was led to believe that, he knew he couldn't suffer her loss for ten centuries, and that he had to move on eventually, and that couldn't have been his fault.
But still, even after all that time, Elijah came to the conclusion that he couldn't come to terms with what happened to her. Not even now. If Niklaus had never laid the seeds of lies and deceit then Elijah would have set Arabella free from her slumber and would not have looked twice at Hayley.
"What the HELL!" He heard Hayley's voice boom off of every wall. It made his eye twitch, which resulted in him looking down to pretend it had no effect on him. Then he showed his first initial reaction, which was one where he thought she was in trouble, but it was the opposite entirely. He sped to where she was, just as the others had joined them in the courtyard. Just as all four of them took in the large pile of dead vampire bodies, with blood... everywhere.
"Bonjour," a voice of silk announced her presence as they all glanced back over their shoulders to a small woman with her leg crossed over the other and blood dripping down her chin while she chewed on something foreign. She then brought a heart up to her lips and took a bite out of it. Like an apple.
Hayley gagged while turning away for a moment. Her hand covered her mouth like she never killed anyone in her life. After all, she did have to kill someone in order to trigger her werewolf curse. Accident or not. But that wasn't why she felt sick, it was because of the way they were on display that had her stomach turning. No remorse on Arabella's face, she clearly enjoyed where she was. There weren't nearly as many vampires back then compared to now so she felt like a little girl in a candy shop. As many choices as far as she could see and she decided to go a little crazy.
"Ara, I told you! No ripping out and eating vampire hearts while in the Quarter," Rebekah whined and Arabella stood to her feet, letting the hearts that were resting in her lap fall to the floor. Rebekah made sure to meet her halfway so she could scold her properly, but it went out the window when Rebekah saw Arabella's ruined outfit. Which was completely covered in deep dark-like molasses.
Elijah was obviously swooning in silence at the marveled beauty standing before him. If the others could read his mind, surely they would think him mad for finding what was in front of them, to be attractive, but he would concur despite there being much worse things Arabella could do to make him sway. Each moment passing almost made him kneel and want to become her humble servant. She had that type of control over him. Covered in blood and all, she had been a thing of perfection, and he admired her dearly for it. It was reason number one why he stared while he slowly turned his body so his whole being was facing in one direction.
"But Bex," She whined also but she was joking which caused Elijah to snap out of his trance and narrow his eyes to her behavior. Meaning, she had been hanging out with his sister a little too much since she was picking up the same little habits from Rebekah that he didn't find attractive at all. In fact, it seemed to annoy him more than his brother did. "These imbeciles were trespassing through the courtyard, and when I told them to leave they only laughed at me. I only took care of the issue."
It was never okay to laugh at Arabella. That would have only made her lose her temper. When her eyes met him, precisely because she felt his eyes on her, she smiled a little bit before she added something else. "You know I just hate to be underestimated."
"So you ripped out their hearts?" Rebekah asked astounded although she wasn't necessarily surprised. That was why she tried to sound astounded, for the effect or something of that nature. Far worse things happened for much less so that little stunt Arabella pulled hardly phased the sister-in-law.
"And ate them! Well... most anyway." She stated proudly, and Elijah could tell just by the way her eyes lit up. She held her hands behind her back, then she pointed her bloody chin to the air.
Rebekah let out an exasperated sigh as she looked between her brothers. There was no changing someone who came from a different time. Elijah had been gazing at her through eyes of lust, while Niklaus, well, he had been fuming. 
"Those imbeciles were my men, and you killed them. So now I'm going to kill you." Niklaus stepped closer, and of course, she didn't move an inch. Why would she when she couldn't find herself to be scared of him? She couldn't understand why anyone else would be either. For the first time, Hayley had nothing to say because she didn't have a problem with Niklaus killing Arabella. One less problem if Hayley was being honest. If she was out of the way then she could go on with her life. And Rebekah stepped in front of her brother to calm him as Elijah looked at Hayley just as she started to stare at the bodies again. With all the death she witnessed, somehow it still stunned her that there were people who were as careless as Arabella and Niklaus.
"Oh please Niklaus, those men were barely vampires. I mean, look. They're all dead." She tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders as she batted her eyelashes and sarcastically stated the obvious. "They didn't even put up a good fight."
"And speaking of, how come we didn't hear you killing them? With this amount of bodies, we would have heard something." And there Hayley went. Running her mouth as she had from the day Arabella showed up.
"Well if you must know," Arabella began to walk up to her slowly, sighing in annoyance. Completely ignoring the fact that she was dripping in blood. "A true hunter, hunts in silence, kills in silence. You would know that if you were any good at being a wolf."
Arabella had been inches away from Hayley's face, and Elijah wasn't sure what to do. But then Hayley broke her stare down with Arabella to look at Elijah. And Elijah swallowed hard.
"Is that why you rip out hearts? You got it from her?!" Hayley grew angry. When she pointed that out, his sister and his brother looked at him with confusion while Arabella smiled because she was intrigued.
Niklaus and Rebekah both looked at Arabella and then back at their older brother, then they raised an eyebrow as they put two and two together. When he didn't answer, he hung his head and remained quiet. Hayley rolled her eyes and stormed off. She wasn't the least bit worried about whether Elijah would chase after her or not and she was beginning to not care. She found out so much in a little amount of time that she wasn't really sure she wanted to stick around for anything else. She thought she knew all there was to know about Elijah. But it turned out she didn't know him at all. She was willing to love Elijah as he was, but not if who he was had everything to do with her.
He raised his head once he felt she was completely gone then focused solely on Arabella. She smiled lightly, but Niklaus' huffing and puffing ruined yet another moment for her. She rolled her eyes dramatically as she felt him approaching her with a devilish grin on his lips.
"Now, since we're all here and since you didn't bother with wanting to tell me, maybe you can enlighten my dear brother." Niklaus grinned from ear to ear. But Arabella's eyes narrowed at his ignorance.
"Can you ever just ask a question, do you have to keep on babbling? Geez, I tell you Niklaus, I'm rather bored of your continuous nagging." She deadpanned as she rolled her head again before her eyes and tilted her head to the arrogance that was all Niklaus Mikaelson. He was so quiet back then, it must have changed when his balls finally dropped after he stuck her in a wooden box for a thousand years and chose to forget about her.
"Enlighten me about what?" Elijah shifted from one leg to another as the change of topic made him feel uneasy. She had his attention.
"How she's awake from her thousand-year slumber," Niklaus smirked devilishly. And Rebekah wasn't pleased with how he said it. It was because of him, that Arabella was in that box for that long in the first place.
"The same slumber I wasn't supposed to be in, for the record," Arabella mumbled as she continued to grow annoyed.
"What are you going on about Nik?" Rebekah asked, she was curious. Also thinking her brother was growing mad, more mad than usual lately.
"Dear sister, someone pulled that dagger from her majesty's chest, and I would like to know just who that someone is." Niklaus' smile dropped and became serious. He had a feeling he knew who could have possibly done it but he needed Arabella to confirm it for him. Though, he wasn't quite prepared to hear what she had to say. "I know you've all been thinking it."
"If it's bothering you that much, I will tell you... It was Mikael." She answered simply. The three of them froze as if the sound of his name had been fresh. Just like his choice to have the urge to kill his children for what their mother had done to them. She could tell she hit a nerve in each one of them.
"Mikael?? As in, Vampire Hunter Mikael?! Our wretched father?" Rebekah shouted at that point. Not only had she been furious, she had been scared out of her wits. She wasn't sure she was about to start hyperventilating or crying which would have been abnormal for the thousand-year-old vampire.
"Do tell me, what was his purpose in pulling that dagger out?" Niklaus shifted his weight onto his right leg and he started towards her, in a hunter-to-prey fashion. And she seemed to be in a fighting mood so she decided to meet him halfway. Hunter versus Hunter.
"The purpose is you, dear brother-in-law. He wanted me to do his dirty work. And I considered it for a moment until I came to the conclusion that a queen takes orders from no one. Especially a worthless pawn." She smiled boldly. "So I took the dagger and pierced his heart with it."
They all shot glances at one another before collectively focusing on her again.
"That dagger was designed for the Original Werewolf. It won't work to keep him down," Niklaus snickered. But even in his eyes, Arabella could see the complete terror of the possibility that his tyrant father was coming after him. That amused her. How would he know that? And better yet who designed it if it were true?
Arabella had been in his face now, and it was too close for Elijah to be comfortable with. He didn't like seeing his wife inches away from his brothers' lips, especially in the way she had been taunting him. It had been the way she stared at Niklaus' lips but she hadn't thought about kissing him, she imagined what her foot would look like kicking him in his mouth.
"There is always a loophole Niklaus, I read the engravings on the dagger long ago when Elijah showed them to me, it's designed for an Original, it didn't specify which one." She whispered a centimeter from his face, she had to be close because she knew it would be the only way Niklaus received her threat. Even when she hadn't made one yet.
"Are you positive it's going to keep him down?" Rebekah looked at her sister for clarity, and with that question, Arabella took Rebekah's hands in her own and smiled the brightest of smiles. Elijah's heart started to pound loudly. He knew Arabella would notice because her head moved to the right almost immediately. It was just enough for him to notice.
"I swear to you sister, Mikael is never going to be a problem for you. With or without that dagger in his chest." And with that, Rebekah beamed and embraced Arabella in her arms. But Niklaus and Elijah exchanged looks. They weren't eased by her words. Arabella might have been able to stop their father, but there was always the possibility of someone freeing him as he freed her.
"Now," Arabella began to say as she placed Rebekah at an arms-length, just as she made eye contact with Elijah. His breath managed to get caught in his throat just from the way she looked at him. "If you'll excuse me I'm going to go take one of those marvelous fountain baths."
Three pauses were shared by the three siblings that time around.
"Do you mean a shower?" Rebekah turned her nose to the air as she tried to figure out on her own just what she was talking about. But then she laughed when Arabella's eyes lit up.
"Yes! A shower! I've been trying to remember what you called it. Let me tell you, if those things existed a thousand years ago, everyone's problems would have been solved instantly!" She exclaimed excitedly before trying to make her exit and it only made Rebekah laugh and Elijah smile while he tried to hide it. Niklaus remained unamused while he stalked her with his glare.
And with that, she walked off without any disruptions, but not before she picked up a heart that was laying in the chair she was seated in. Then walked off again while taking a bite out of it, then they all remembered she was drenched. So much for trying to be a normal family in New Orleans, they considered that fairly normal. Nothing normal about it.
Rebekah turned her head in disgust because there had been no way she was going to get used to that. She wasn't used to it before, she wouldn't get used to it now. Though, back then it wasn't vampire's hearts, she was hunting animals. Since she found out there were vampires all over the Quarter, the place became an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Once Rebekah shook that off, she and Niklaus both turned to their brother who had been looking lost suddenly, like Elijah had no idea what was going on when he met their stares.
"So," Niklaus smirked, becoming sly with his next words. "You took a page from Arabella's book, and that's why you rip out your enemies' hearts?"
Immediately Elijah grew defensive. He felt that Niklaus had no right to be asking him that question. And he didn't, he only asked as a means to start a fight since he couldn't finish his with Arabella.
"No." Elijah swallowed hard. His eyes had been dead when he looked his brother in the eye. "I rip out the hearts of my enemies because mine was ripped out a thousand years ago. I wanted everyone to feel my pain."
Elijah made his exit and was sure to make Niklaus feel embarrassed for the pain he caused him. And it worked, for a little while anyway.