Red Queen ▻ The Originals [1]

32

Elijah entered the courtyard to find Marcel and Ophelia sending out more troops to search the city for Klaus and Rebekah, "Anything?" He questioned as he approached the two.

"They're putting eyes and ears out everywhere. Daywalkers are working every contact we've got. Cops, dock workers, guys in the Treme..." Marcel informed him, "Word is out: anyone trying to earn favor with me and especially Ophelia gets a lifetime of it if they find them."

"Good. I need a pen and paper." Elijah replied as he began to walk away, Ophelia following soon after.

Marcel paused for a moment, rolling his eyes before he followed after him, into one of the many rooms in the compound "Hey, am I taking orders from you and Ophelia now, or are we all in this together?"

Elijah started removing his jacket, causing Ophelia to frown in concern, "Pen and paper, Marcellus. Now!" He insisted.

Marcel sighed, "I want her back just as much as you and Ophelia do, you know...The both of them."

When Marcel left to get the supplies, Ophelia decided to go with him to make the whole process go quicker, "What's got him in such a pissy mood?" He complained, earning a glare from Ophelia, "What?"

"His brother and sister are missing all because he chose to save Hayley before them," Ophelia explained to him, "He feels guilty, as though it was his fault."

Marcel was silent, finally finding a piece of paper and pen, "Got it!" He told her, showing her the paper and pen before they made their way back to where Elijah was.

They overheard Elijah and Hayley talking about all of the names that had appeared on his body after Monique Deveraux performed a spell on him, "Elijah, what is this?" Hayley asked concerned.

"I believe they represent the names of the women Celeste inhabited for the past two centuries." Elijah informed the girl.

Marcel and Ophelia rejoined them and Marcel handed the paper and pen to Hayley, "It's called a Devinette," Ophelia explained to them, "It's old school. Kind of a riddle. My father used to do it to me. Witches use them to teach their kids. Solve it, and it disappears."

"Why? What's the point?" Hayley asked confused.

"Celeste forced me to make a choice between yourself and my siblings, and now she means to mock that choice, taunting me with a childish game. The longer the game, the more they suffer. To find Klaus and Rebekah, we need to solve this riddle. The solution lies somewhere in these names."

Marcel pointed to Elijah's left arm, "The name next to Sabine..." He trailed off, "Annie La Fleur, she's the witch that was shunned from her coven just over a year ago. Ophelia and I never knew why, but I can find out."

____

Elijah, Ophelia, and Marcel had arrived at the neighborhood where Annie lived after she was shunned. Once they were there, they were able to speak to someone who knew her from the coven, "Annie was a good girl. The witches did her wrong, shunning her like that--claiming she was doing dark magic. There's no way. But, they had proof. So, she just quit, and I can't really blame her for that. 'Cause once you've been shunned, what's the point in going on, you know?"

Once hearing the story, Ophelia and the two male vampires began to walk back to their cars, "I think I have an idea," She informed them, causing both Marcel and Elijah to turn to her, "Meet me at the pit in thirty minutes."

As she walked back to her car, Ophelia quickly dialed Hayley's number, "Hey, what's up? Any news?" Hayley asked Ophelia in concern.

"Not yet. But I have a little side plan in mind for when we find Celeste. I was thinking about kidnapping her and bringing her to the bayou for some answers," Ophelia explained to Hayley, "Wanna team up for a little destruction?"