Stronger than the rest

Chapter 11

I open my eyes again and this time, I'm in the forest. my eyes dart around and I look down at myself. my clothes have been replaced by a blue dress with a leather belt and a knife. my feet are bare as I feel the ground beneath the skin and my hair is Braided back in complex plats and twists, just like Tatia's use to be. that's when I realise, I'm not here. I'm only mentally here. A twig snaps behind me and I spin to see a man in a clean and crisp suit. I look again and frown.

"Elijah." it is a statement, not a question as he walks closer to me.

"I thought this would be a good time talk." Elijah says, leaning against a tree.

"You got into my head." I hiss, crossing my arms.

"Only because you let me." My frown deepens. "I've been trying to reach out to you or a while. after, I gave up. then I heard a distress call." his gaze shifts to the forest to my right and a younger version of me with my hair pinned back and curled and a green dress runs from the trees and turns around with a smile on her face. the smile is giddy as she holds her dress in her fists. slowly, she steps backwards, careful to look everywhere.

"Looking for me?" Elijah appears behind her, his hair longer and his clothes old. then I realise what time this is. My arms loosen as I watch the scene unfold. the younger me turns around and giggles before taking a few steps back.

"Come catch me." she laughs playfully and the younger Elijah chuckles.

"But if I catch you, the game would be over." he takes a few steps over to her.

"What if I give you a prize?" His eyes seem to lighten up at the suggestion.

"And what prize would that be Evangelina?" He takes a few steps forward, and her, a few back. She taps her nose, the wide giddy smile never leaving her face.

"I don't remember this." I state, watching the pair.

"I do, every second. Niklaus had a witch to wipe your memory of the moments we shared after he found out we were going to run away together." Elijah replies and I remember, when he asked and the consequence.

The younger me turns to run, but only gets few steps ahead before the younger Elijah grabs her arm and pins her to the tree.

"So, are you going to tell me what my prize is?" He asks, their faces so close.

"This." One of her hands rests on his chest as they other runs through his hair. she bites her lip before pressing the ruby features to his. they both laugh and smile as they kiss.

"I don't get it, we loved each other?" I ask Elijah as the pair fade away.

"Yes, we were deeply in love. We planned to run away with each other. somewhere where we can get away from my brother and start fresh. of course, we didn't know we were being followed. your friend, Caitlin, caught us and went straight to Niklaus. he decided to torture me by getting you too forget our love and memories and for you to be cursed with loving someone so dearly but rip it to shreds." he explains in more detail. "the only reason for you having these, flashbacks, is if a witch is inside your head and looking through the memories." I sigh.

"Bonnie bennett. they are trying to find information on Mikael. they are going to awake him." I say and his eyes widen.

"Why would they do that?" He asks, walking closer to me.

"To kill Niklaus. but they dont realise that he won't stop there, that he will kill all of us, but if course, you last." I reply and I notice he is right In front of me. "I can't believe Niklaus would do that. he treated me like a little sister." tears come to my eyes. of course I can believe that, he daggered his family.