The Beautiful and the Faultless | Cami O'Connell

Chapter 27

A/N: Did not realize til now that this is the last chapter based on how I want it to end! Sorry for the lack of a warning.

Ingrid wasn't doing too well.

And she knew why. She knew that she had done exactly what everyone told her not to do: get too desperate to recover her magic. They'd warned her to be patient, tried to help her in safer ways. She didn't listen. She landed herself in a bad situation. And she knew that.

For three days, she was miserable, curled up in bed. Cami had called off of work to be by her side. She hadn't heard much from anyone else. Finn, Aiden, and Alexis had all been asleep the entire time, recovering after their resurrection. Vincent came by to bring them dinner each day, and to eat with them despite Ingrid hardly making conversation. Irene was starting to go ballistic with Ingrid's lack of attention to her. But she still curled up faithfully on her tummy, waiting for the day that Ingrid would pet her again.

She wondered if that was why her parents had appeared to her. Deep down, she'd known the entire time that what she was doing was wrong. That she should have asked the Strix witches to break her blood pact immediately, that she should have informed her cousins of her plan, asked for their input. But she had known they would show her reason, perhaps a different approach. And she always wanted to do things her way, which wouldn't have suited her at all.

Elijah and Marcel had managed to gain control of The Strix. Rebekah had made a full recovery, and was now helping Freya track Aurora, who was nowhere to be found. Still, this did not bring Ingrid any joy.

And she didn't exactly feel better when people started visiting, either.

The first to come by were Jackson, Hayley, and Hope. Hope had a marvelous time with Irene, who was thrilled to have someone to play with. Jackson had brought donuts. He wasn't cross with Ingrid. Annoyed, perhaps, that she'd practically manipulated him into helping. But he didn't feel he was in any position to judge her or to be angry with her. Besides, she'd brought Aiden back. And though he hadn't gotten a chance to speak to him yet (since he claimed Aiden was playing the part of 'Sleeping Beauty' at the moment), he was getting to have his brother back after so long without him. It meant the world to him, and he just couldn't be harsh with the witch who resurrected him.

"Look, Ingrid," said Hayley, seeing that the dark circles under her eyes had gotten worse since she last saw her. "You had good intentions... but the wrong idea, since a lot of people could have gotten hurt because of the fact you didn't tell anybody about it. This is a team. And you don't do that in a team. We want to help you, but we can't do that if you don't communicate with us. It's not healthy for anybody involved."

Ingrid just nodded numbly, squeezing her eyes shut. "I know," she said weakly. "I got ahead of myself... the instant that magic flowed through me... I reverted back to what I used to do when I was with Dahlia. Anything I wanted without giving a damn about others. I felt like I was the only one who could save everybody. I guess Klaus and I are similar, in that way." She cracked a slight smile as Hope came over to her, babbling. "Hi, little one."

"You've always been good to her," said Hayley. "You've protected her. I honor that, Ingrid, no matter what I feel. So... whenever you want to stop by to see her or just to talk... our door will be open. Just... try to understand our side of it."

"I do," she whispered. "I do, truly."

"If you're up for it, I think Freya has been wanting to talk to you."

"Freya hasn't shown her face or texted me or anything. If she wants to talk, she can reach out."

Hayley pursed her lips. "I'll tell her, then."