Guilt ▻ The Originals [3]

7

Elijah was in the middle of his workout at the new gym Marcel had set up at St. Anne's church, where he was vigorously punching and kicking a punching bag.

  After a moment, he got so heated in his exercise that he punched the bag clear across the room, where it knocked over a bench press and hand-weights.

When he turned around, he noticed that Hayley and Ophelia entering the room with a small card in Ophelia's hands, "Something the matter, Elijah? There's nothing you want to talk to us about?" Hayley questioned him mockingly, "Like...The Strix?"

  Elijah pulled out a towel and used it to blot the sweat from his face. When he didn't respond, Ophelia read the black invitation in her hands aloud to him, "'I do hope that you and Miss Marshall can come, Queen. Signed, Tristan." She paused, waving the invitation in the air and gave Elijah them a look as he walked over to pluck the invite out of her hands to read it for himself, "Hayley and I were picking up Hope when some random vampire dropped it off."

   Elijah continued to skim the invitation, which read in full, "You are cordially invited to an evening of exquisite excess. The Davilla Estate, 7041 St. Charles Avenue. Midnight," along with Tristan's personal note at the end that Ophelia had read aloud.

"You care to fill me in?" Hayley questioned Elijah concerned.

"This isn't either of your concerns," Elijah told the two women as he started to walk past Hayley and Ophelia, but the latter grabbed him by the arm and stopped him.

  "Oh, but it is," Ophelia responded with an attitude, vamp-speeding them both over to the cage, where she pinned him to the chain-link wall by the throat, "So, why don't you cut this protective of Ophelia and Hayley crap and tell us what the hell's going on. We're apart of this family too, Elijah. I would think you of all people would act like it."

  Elijah, who looked surprised by her tenacity, spun them so he was now pinning Ophelia against the wall by her wrists, causing Ophelia to smirk slightly, "So, what do you want to know?" he asked her in a calm tone.

  Ophelia smiled, sharing a glance with Hayley before she turned to look back at Elijah, "Everything." She responded in a calm tone.

______

In the second floor study, Klaus and Freya were in the middle of an argument when an annoyed Ophelia and Hayley walked into the room alongside an amused looking Elijah, "Well, as long as we're talking attendance..." Hayley trailed off, clearly hearing their conversation.

"Oh, good!" Klaus spoke up in mock enthusiasm, "It's my not-so-loving older brother, the woman I love, and my former one-night-stand! What a nice, normal family gathering."

Ophelia rolled her eyes at the fact that Klaus admitted to the whole group that he loved as if it were nothing, just to piss her off.

Hayley rolled her eyes as well, smiling fakely at Klaus, "Charming. Elijah was just catching us up on how you have no clue which one of your long-lost buddies you can trust and which one is trying to kill you."

Klaus gave Hayley a snarky look, "Well, clearly what the situation needs is more opinions." He paused, turning to look at Elijah, "I assume you told her about the bloody prophecy?"

Ophelia's eyes widened as she and Hayley shot Elijah a glare, "I was just getting to that..." Elijah trailed off as the two women turned back to Klaus.

"Well, right now sounds about good," Ophelia spoke up, earning an eye roll from Klaus.

"Well, it appears my old mate Lucien has acquired a genuine seer, and in an effort to prove his good intentions, he got her to show us some rather dire visions of future doom. It's grim stuff, really--not for the faint of heart." Klaus explained to Hayley and Ophelia, both of whom frowned in confusion.