The Other Mikaelson- Book 2

Chapter X

The next morning, Keira walked down the stairs into the living room, where Nik and Elijah were casually reading, Nik also gripping the arm of a screaming brunette girl in her late twenties, her neck bleeding a large amount of blood and neither brothers clearly not finding the noise bothering.

"Well, hello sister!" Nik said enthusiastically.

"Your little snack woke me up," Keira replied. "So, this is what you do the first time we're back together as a family? Vampire book club?"

"Reading edifies the mind, sister. Isn't that right, Elijah?"

"Yes, that's quite right, Niklaus," Elijah replied. Keira then noticed what he was reading.

"Elijah, is that mother's grimoire?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied casually.

"And what's this business?" Keira asked, motioning to the girl, who screamed louder.

"This is," Elijah said. "A... peace offering."

Nik sighed. "I presumed, after so much time desiccating in a coffin, that my big brother might be a bit peckish."

"And I explained to my little brother that forgiveness cannot be bought. I'd simply prefer to see a change in behavior that indicates contrition and personal growth. Not this nonsense," Elijah replied.

"Well, if you don't want her, can I eat her?" Keira asked. "Also, she's staining a carpet I'm pretty sure is almost older than us."

"Yes, go on, have at it," Nik said, throwing the screaming girl at Keira. "Eat Elijah's peace offering."

"Thank you," Keira yelled. "Rebekah!"

"What do you want?" Rebekah asked, coming down the stairs.

"Clean the carpet," Keira said, her fangs entering the girl's carotid artery.

"Why do I have to do that? It's your prey, why can't you clean it?"

"Because I got my neck snapped yesterday."

Elijah sighed, annoyed by his siblings, and walked off into the kitchen where Hayley was. Being the annoying younger siblings they were, all three other originals paused what they were doing to listen and watch. Nik dropped his book, Rebekah dropped the rug, and Keira dropped a corpse.

"Good morning," Elijah said.

Hayley looked up. "Hey." 

Rebekah walked into the kitchen as well and grabbed some coffee.

" Listen, I know I'm the only one in this house that actually drinks milk, but would it kill any of you to make sure it's on the grocery list?" Hayley asked.

"Well, you're also the only one in this house that doesn't replace milk with blood!" Nik said from the living room.

"Would it kill you, Niklaus, to not be a complete nuisance of a brother for just one moment?" Elijah asked.

"Yes," Nik replied.

"Speaking off the grocery list, add bleach!" Rebekah said. Elijah dug around in the cupboard while Hayley pulled ice cream out of the freezer.

"You know, I do hope my siblings were hospitable to you in my absence," Elijah said.

"In your absence, as you like to call it-- which is a way-too-polite way of saying that your brother put a dagger in your heart," Hayley said. "I have been attacked by French Quarter vampires, I've had to live in a house with a secret dungeon full of coffins, and I was nearly murdered by witches who are convinced my baby is Lucifer."

Elijah looked sympathetically at her, having done some of those things himself. He poured out cereal and milk into a bowl and gave it to Hayley, cereal first because milk first people are crazy. Hayley looked slightly embarrassed that she hadn't been able to find milk.

"Oh... milk," she said. "They've been fine. Your siblings are weirdly protective, I know I have you to thank for that."

"Yeah, and the fact that he is terrifying when we break our promises to him!" Keira yelled from the living room. Elijah threw an orange at her from the kitchen, which hit her in the face.

"I'm just happy to see that you're in one piece," he said as his siblings continued brainstorming ways to be annoying. "So, back to the murderous witches. I have some concerns."

Hayley looked worried. "They're evil. And, my life is still magically linked to Sophie Deveraux, which is not comforting."

"Yes, I think it's time we took care of that little problem."

Keira got up and walking into the kitchen as well, dragging the corpse of the girl she had killed. "Who do we get to kill?"

"Probably no one," Elijah said after a moment. As his sister threw the corpse out the window and into a fire she had created specifically to burn the many bodies she had acquired, she gave Elijah a pointed look. "Alright, potentially everyone," he said before turning to leave and walking up the stairs.

A few minutes of silence later, someone finally decided to speak again.

"Poetry about poisoned apples from dead trees. Looks like someone's worried about impending daddy-hood," Keira said, noticing what Nik was reading.

"Nonsense. Elijah's back. In his presence, all problems turn to pixie-dust and float away!" Nik said. Keira side eyed him and grinned, and he grinned back as Elijah heard them and walked back into the living room.

"Strange, I don't recall any pixie-dust from the darkness of the coffin I was recently forced to endure," Elijah said, flipping Esther Mikaelson's grimoire open.

"What are you doing with mother's grimoire?" Keira asked.

"Well, in exchange for my freedom, I promised the witch Davina that I would share a few pages from Mother's grimoire. To help her learn to control her magic. I thought we'd begin with a little unlinking spell."

Rebekah walked in as well. "Wait, you want to use her to unlink Hayley from Sophie Deveraux?"

Keira stared at him. "As your present former witch, I just wanna say, wait, you want to help a witch learn control by starting with a freaking unlinking spell?"

"Sophie brought us here under false pretenses. She doesn't just want us to take down Marcel and his minions, she wants to take Davina back. So, she yolked her own cause to ours with magic, threats, and half-truths. Well, no more. As of now, our deal with Sophie Deveraux is null and void," Elijah replied. "Niklaus, I need you to come with me. I need five minutes alone with Davina. You need to make certain that I am not interrupted." Elijah pointed at Rebekah. "You stay here and watch Hayley," he said, before leaving the room.

Rebekah turned to Nik, annoyed. "How did I get elected super-nanny?"

"More importantly," Keira said. "Who put him in charge?"

"I am, currently the elder of the Mikaelson's," Elijah said from a different room. "I am also the only one of us four that is not completely annoying and or a lunatic, and therefore, I am in charge. Oh, and, Keira? You can do whatever you want." Nik reluctantly followed him out of the house.