𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧- 𝐄.𝐌

18. Treaties & Endings

A loud drilling sound made Maeve snap her eyes open in sheer frustration. She stared up at the ceiling before she pulled at her hair while gritting her teeth. She glanced at the small clock on the bedside table. 8:00AM flashed on the digital screen. Maeve threw off the blanket from over her and sat up. Just as she did she felt a sudden onset of pounding headache.

She pressed her hands to her temple massaging it slowly in a failed attemyto relieve some of the pain.

"Why did I drink so much?" she muttered to herself. Slowly she stumbled out of bed and onto the balcony area that overlooked the compound.

She stood in the first floor balcony overseeing the compound. Men were working around the place. "Enough. What's with the ruckus?" Klaus beat her to inquiry.

Elijah told the men to stop working seeing his brother ascend down the stairs, "Are you are trying to ruin my sleep or what?" aggravated Maeve making both men turn to face her.

"Why are you awake?"

Maeve gave him a deadpan look. "Elijah dearest, a drill machine is NOT A LULLABY that I would sleep to the sound of it."

"But I used sage." he confessed. "To soundproof my room."

Maeve groaned still feeling like someone was hammering her head. "Clearly you fucking suck at it. What's with the breaking and making?" Maeve asked looking around the compound.

"I agreed to a general sprucing up, not a bloody three ring circus." Klaus reminded Elijah.

"Marcel and his minions abused our home for the better part of a century. Now, you might be content to live in squalor. I'm not." Elijah answered back.

Maeve froze in place. Suddenly she was bombarded with flashes from the previous night. She noticed Elijah's look of concern directed at her.

"Don't give your pity, old man. I remember a lot from last night." she bitterly replied. "I am sorry about how I acted."

"Don't be. You had every reason to say everything that you did." Maeve glanced upward slightly at Elijah, tilting her head in an oddly specific angle so the light wouldn't hurt her eyes but she could still look at Elijah.

"Maeve you have every right to doubt everyone around you. Everyone you trusted other than us have in some way used you for their benefit."

Tears sprung in her eyes. "I just...why me? Am I not a good friend?" it was Klaus, this time who reached out to her.

"You are a wonderful friend. The best anyone could ever ask for."

"Marcel will pay for his actions. That is for sure." said Elijah determinedly.

"Can I ask for one more favor?" Both the brothers nodded their heads. "Can you keep what happened yesterday to yourself? Like not tell Ezekiel about it?"

Elijah and Klaus looked at her before they both noticed a figure walk in through the front door. "Uh.." Klaus began but Maeve cut him off.

"No, it's just....he loves Marcel, okay? Like they are the best of best friends. Like you and Elijah. If he finds out the truth, it will crush him. I know what it feels like to be betrayed, he doesn't. I'd like to keep it that way." Elijah tried to prompt Maeve but she continued on. "No. He only knows the feeling of being betrayed...repurposed or empathetically. I don't want him to feel what I feel. It's too painful. I don't want him to ever feel the way I do. He has gone through enough troubles for my sake already, Mystic Falls and now this. Something always bothers him — mostly because of me."

Ezekiel stood stumped by the entrance listening to his sister rant on. He had no idea his sister felt this way. Felt the need to protect him. "I am tired of being the cause of everyone's misery. So, if he asks just tell him Marcel and I had difference of opinion." Maeve had said. "Now if you'll excuse me I need a shower and some coffee with Advil."