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CHAPTER TWELVE | VOODOO CHILD
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
IT FELT AMAZING HAVING ELIJAH BACK IN HER ARMS, AND IT FELT EVEN BETTER KNOWING HE WAS SAFE. The two laid within their large bed situated in the middle of the bedroom whilst the sunlight flooded in. Elijah laid silently, his arms wrapped around Riley as she slept soundly against his chest. It had been the first night that she had managed to get a good night sleep— unable to sleep whilst he was gone.
"Oh." Riley groggily spoke once her eyes flickered open the moment he placed a gentle kiss against her head. "You should— you should've woken me."
"Well, I thought that perhaps you could use the rest." Elijah hummed softly as she rolled over, glancing up at him. He brushed her hair from her face and smiled. "Words cannot express how I have missed you."
"What about me?" An excited voice echoed from the doorway. Both their attention moved as they noticed Avery stood holding a stuffed elephant and her sketchpad. "Did you miss me?"
"More than there are stars in the sky, I can assure you." Elijah chuckled back as he and Riley both sat up. He patted the bed, giving Avery permission to jump on, which she did. "Things are going to be different for the three of us. The Hollow is gone and the threat has subsided, however, there will always be something."
"What're you saying, Elijah?"
"What I'm saying, my love, is that we should think about making that trip to France." Elijah shrugged and then turned to Avery. "What do you think, Avery?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The seven-year old squealed happily. "Can we go to Disneyland?!"
"We can do whatever your heart desires." The Original vampire mused as he noticed Avery flick through her sketchpad. But, as she did so, he saw the same familiar drawings that had plagued them previously.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
With Klaus and Elijah of the compound, Riley thought it best to take the opportunity to speak with Hayley. Now that The Hollow was gone, Riley assumed that Hayley would feel better knowing her daughter was safe, but the Hybrid still seemed distant.
"Come on." The Evans girl spoke as she stepped into the balcony to see Hayley overlooking Bourbon Street below. "What's bugging you? And, don't say nothing, because it is so clearly something."
"Everything this family does— the bloodshed, the killing in the name of always and forever. I worry that Hope will see that and think that I'm okay with it." Hayley admitted suddenly as Riley's head tilted. "What am I teaching her if I allow her to grow up in a place where we trap our enemies in dungeons and retaliate against threats by killing whole neighbourhoods? I— I don't want her learning to become that."
