Black Castle 🖤 E. Mikaelson

Chapter Twenty•Three. & Death Follows

Chapter Twenty•Three. & Death Follows
ELIJAH
{Head Above Water by Avril Lavigne}

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God, keep my head above water
I lose my breath, at the bottom
Come rescue me, I'll be waiting
I'm too young to fall asleep
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"Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference in your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of my mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well.
All is well."

Henry Scott Holland
{27 January 1847 - 17 March 1918}

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FIVE DAYS LATER...

Elijah didn't allow his eyes to leave her body as he leaned forward in a chair and brought his hands up to his mouth. The devastation was an understatement for how he was feeling.
It had been five days since he'd been like that, sitting over her body, watching, waiting for her to suddenly take the breath he was so certain would return to her lungs. He waited for life to take refuge in her chest. He waited for her to live again.
But it just wasn't happening.
Rebekah walked up behind Elijah, and she placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. She wanted him to know she was there for him and that she too was heartbroken from such tragedy. She had thought Arabella was invincible, but seeing her best friend and forever sister laying on a table lifeless gave her second thoughts. When she received the call from Niklaus, she packed a bag, brought Eli along, then hopped on the first plane out of Virginia and she went home to New Orleans to be with her sister. On the way there she thought it was some sort of sick joke NiKlaus was playing on her to get her to come home, but when she made her way into the courtyard and in through the family room on the left side of the compound, she realized none of it was a joke as she saw Arabella still laying there. Her man went straight to her mouth while grief soared through her body.
Niklaus said nothing, he just stared at her with tears in his eyes. There wasn't much he could do except to kill everyone he thought might have had something to do with her death. Silently he wished that she was telling the truth and that she was in fact indestructible. But it had been five days. And she wasn't showing any signs of coming back. And that was why the tears in his eyes continued to stay for longer than he desired. When no one was looking he would wipe away a single tear. He had to be the strong brother for as long as Elijah needed him to be.
Niklaus; four hours later, came to the conclusion that it was time to lay her to rest.
Niklaus and Elijah moved Arabella two days ago into the family room so that Freya would have the room to try to fix Arabella and see what was going on with the book that they found, and so far nothing was working. Freya believed that a strong amount of magic had been used, but he couldn't think of anyone stronger than her own mother or her aunt Dahlia. It was all a matter of which it was.
Elijah couldn't keep staring at her, he couldn't come to terms with Arabella's death, which would have been true. He couldn't go through that hurt again. He left the room without excusing himself and he found himself in one of the many rooms that had been filled to the floor up in books. He took a moment for himself and sat down at the desk while trying to calm his hurt.
His index finger was to his closed mouth as he tried hard to keep his frustration at bay. He looked at the books gathered around the desk that he was the last to use, and he pushed everything off out of retaliation for how he was feeling. As he did so, his brother walked in.
"Woah, now isn't the time to lose it, Elijah." Niklaus raised an eyebrow as he looked at the books that hit the floor and then his brother who covered his face with a shaking hand.
"There isn't one thing in any of these books that explains a grimoire with a wolf on it," Elijah explained with frustration. Niklaus could tell it was getting the best of him, but they needed to figure something out soon because it had already been way too long since Arabella was breathing.
He didn't want to put the love of his life to rest. There had to be a way to bring her back to life but he didn't know what he could do. The only thing he could think of was to call Davina, who was in the middle of bringing Kol back, or the book that she was holding on to when he found her. When he took a look at it while he waited for her to take a breath, he noticed that every page was blank and that alone confused him. What could that have meant? Was there something he was missing?
The only logical explanation was Esther. Arabella mentioned that Esther was the one to make her into who she was, as she came to her so long ago in a dream, so that had to mean she was the only one who could fix what happened to her.
Freya couldn't find a location on Esther even when she knew that she was somewhere around New Orleans. She once inhabited a teenage girl named Cassie, and who was to say that she still wasn't walking around in that poor girl's skin. It was all in a matter of finding out where she was so that she could fix Elijah's beloved. He wasn't going to stop asking for Freya's help until he exhausted every one of his options.
Niklaus came into the room and looked around as he took in the mess that Elijah created out of anger, sooner or later he was going to clean up his own mess so he thought it was best not to upset him. Instead, he grabbed the book from his brother and flipped through the pages while he thought about why their mother would cloak an entire book about Arabella. It was the only book she created that had that type of magic put into it, so there had to be something inside of it that was viable to her species. But he read it front to back and couldn't find anything that would deem that to be true.
Niklaus also didn't want to be the one to tell Elijah it was time to put Arabella to rest, but there would be a time when they wouldn't be able to keep her in the middle of the living area for much longer. They would have to put her somewhere until it came time to see if she were to come back to life. Because as much as each of them loved her, they didn't want her decomposing inside of the compound, that wouldn't be good for either of them.
"I really don't want to be the one to tell you this," Niklaus inhaled and looked elsewhere, he didn't want to upset Elijah any more than he had to, but what he had to say was important.
"Then don't tell me anything." Elijah blinked once and glared up at his brother angrily. Though his anger wasn't toward Niklaus, it might as well have been simply because he was there. It was more at himself that he wasn't there to protect her, again. A little bit toward Hayley because if she had just held onto her opinions until the end of her wedding night then Arabella wouldn't have left the compound and he wouldn't have found Arabella with her heart ripped out in the middle of the old church.
"Rebekah is prepping to clean her up and dress her." He kept his face straight so that he wouldn't show how sad he really was. Arabella's death saddened each of them in different ways, and without a doubt, Niklaus would have been somewhere killing random people to blow off his anger but instead, he did his mourning on the inside. He thought it wasn't the right time and eventually, he would get to the bottom of who was behind her death. And when he did, that person or people would feel his wrath.
"What are you telling me, Niklaus?" He asked with more annoyance that he meant to lead on. His hand dropped from his mouth and he looked at Niklaus again as he waited for his brother to continue.
"We can't keep her lying there another day, Elijah. It's time we put her to rest." He replied. He was already prepared for Elijah to go against it, so he just waited for him to tell him no. Eventually, Elijah would know that was what was best for her situation.
"No." He shook his head as he looked elsewhere. Because if Niklaus continued with his stupidity, Elijah would be three seconds away from snapping his neck. He wasn't in the mood to be tested.
"What do you mean no?" Niklaus' eyebrows furrowed, he expected his reaction but he was still confused by how Elijah sounded when he said it.
"Niklaus you are not going to put Arabella in a casket and bury her until she decides when she's good and ready to wake up." Elijah was brief but he still didn't make eye contact with his brother. Because if he chose to do so then he knew a fight would happen. That was how upset he was.
"We weren't going to bury her." Niklaus clarified for Elijah.
"And who gave you the permission to decide what happens to my wife?" Elijah fumed.
"She isn't your wife anymore, Elijah! She is dead! She is in the family room, lying exposed on top of a table, and she is rotting!" Niklaus protested while his rage began to bubble.
That sent Elijah over the edge as he ran into Niklaus at full speed and sent him flying back through the door and against the railing out in the hall. Elijah threw his fist into Niklaus' face and then tossed him over the railing, which made Niklaus' back hit a chair, causing it to smash into a thousand pieces all around him.
That commotion alone had Rebekah and Freya running into the courtyard. Niklaus found his footing, hurried to his feet, and tackled his brother into the nearest wall. They both continued to throw punches at one another without any signs of letting up.
"Stop it you two!" Freya shouted while throwing her hand up and inflicting pain on the both of them to cease their fighting.
"That is enough!" Rebekah added. She seemed so hurt and disappointed that both of them would be fighting at a time like that. Emotions were everywhere, and what they didn't need was fighting. They needed a plan on how they wanted to go about dealing with Arabella's body.
While they all fell silent, no one noticed Hayley running into the compound until they heard her boots stop with a thud. Elijah's eyes shot up instantly because she was clearly not the person he wanted to see. He blamed her for Arabella's death and no one was going to change his mind. In that moment, Elijah would exchange Hayley's life for Arabella's. No questions asked, with no regrets.
"I just heard what happened." She came off as sad but Elijah knew better. For that, his anger grew.
"It's been five days, Hayley." Rebekah's eyes narrowed sheepishly.
"I was on my so-called honeymoon with Jackson and I didn't get back in until this morning. I came as soon as I heard." She defended herself because she didn't understand why the hostility was directed toward her.
"I don't see why you would need to," Niklaus inserted his annoyance and his blame toward her also. "Considering you truly don't give a damn about whether she lives or dies.."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Her eyebrows arched and her demeanor changed immediately. She was sure they were blaming her for something, but what, was beyond her.
"You're the reason why Arabella left the wedding reception. If she would have never left, then she would still be alive." Elijah's hand was shaking again, his voice struggling to stay stern.
"W-wait, you're saying this is my fault?" She looked astounded by the accusation, somehow they found a reason to blame her for Arabella getting herself killed. "That's just insane!"
"Oh really? Then what other reason would Arabella need to leave the wedding she planned?" Niklaus filled in for Elijah, completely dropping the fact the two of them literally just got done fighting.
"That means nothi- look." She stopped trying to argue with her daughter's father and turned to Elijah. "I'm not here to argue. I'm here to give you my condolences and to offer her a proper werewolf funeral."
"Why would we accept that from you?" Elijah sounded angry but his face showed the complete opposite.
"You don't have to accept it, it's just an offer. And as much as Arabella and I hated each other, she did give me a beautiful wedding. So I want to return the favor. Even under these circumstances." Her voice was sincere but Niklaus didn't buy it. There was a hidden agenda and he was going to find it what it was.
"And what did you have in mind?" Rebekah asked, she couldn't think of anything better. Arabella didn't really make friends in New Orleans other than Davina and Josh so there wasn't really a point in throwing a flashy funeral with people dancing in the streets to celebrate her life. She was sure that Hayley's idea couldn't have been too horrible.
"Just make sure she's presentable and bring her to the bayou at dusk, we'll take care of the rest." Hayley nodded her head and looked around to see if the others understood, and then she left to go back to the bayou without arguing for her innocence.
The group stayed quiet as they thought amongst themselves. But they all were waiting for Elijah to make the concrete decision. He thought long and hard and for some reason, he realized Niklaus was right and that it was wrong to be selfish by letting Arabella stay where she was. No matter how much it hurt him. It was clear she wasn't waking up and he needed to come to terms with knowing someone out there knew how to kill her and she was as forever dead as she'll ever be.
So he nodded his head once and then walked away to the kitchen where he was going to find something strong to drink. Rebekah felt so bad for her brother but there wasn't time to go and comfort him, what she needed to do was clean Arabella up, stitch her together, and dress her accordingly. She didn't want to do it without crying but she needed to be the strong one for her family.
Niklaus followed his brother into the kitchen and didn't bother leaving his side, at the end of the day he was always going to be there and he felt like he shouldn't leave him alone at a time like this. When he walked in, Elijah was wiping his eyes over a glass of bourbon, and when he saw Niklaus walk in he didn't stop wiping until all traces of sadness were gone. Niklaus reached into a cabinet behind Elijah, pulled out an extra glass and poured the same contents Elijah had.
"I know what you're going to say," Elijah stopped Niklaus. "But I don't need to hear it right now, okay?"
"I was just going to ask if you were okay. But I've gotten my answer about ten minutes ago." He replied before taking a sip of his drink as he thought about their fight again. "I know this is hard for you. But you need to be strong."
"I'm tired of being strong Niklaus. On three separate occasions, she's been hurt and I wasn't there to protect her. How am I supposed to feel when the one woman I'm completely devoted to, is dead? I continue to fail her over and over again." He didn't meet his brother's gaze, instead, he stared at the bottom of his glass.
"This will never be your fault, brother. We will find whoever did this. You and I will be sure to rip them apart for making our family suffer a loss as big as this one. I swear to you we will have our revenge." Niklaus swore while his voice became low.
Elijah turned his head up to Niklaus before he leaned over the counter, obviously exhausted. "I hope you're right." I
"Always, brother," Niklaus smirked and from there, their glasses clanked together and they drank in silence.