Willow ↠ Elijah Mikaelson

65

Elijah ran as fast as he could; his feet constantly moving, pushing through the crowds, ignoring all of the curse words that were thrown at him by angry passers by. Well, they should really learn to get out of the way quick enough.

Finally, he was able to breathe as he reached the gates of the compound. But as he let out the breath he was holding in for so long, he gasped at the sight of a massacre.

Willow sat at the far end of the room, Bradley's dead body resting on her, she was holding it tightly. Staring ahead, the girl was rocking, trying to stay sane.

"Willow" Elijah stepped forward, but he never earns a reaction from her. She was just staring, staring past Elijah, her bottom lip quivering.

Elijah walked up to her, acting cautiously around the blood that laid there, it didn't happen too long ago, he could feel the Heat emanating from it. But he wasn't too sure if it was his or hers.

"Don't worry" she carefully lifted Bradley's head and placed him on the floor, so she was able to stand up. Her voice sounded monotone and her eyes looked dull, she looked completely dead inside. "It's not mine"

Her body faced Elijah but her head looked away, she didn't know what to do, she didn't know where to look. She definitely didn't want to make any sort of physical contact with the vampire at this moment in time, she didn't want to disrespect Bradley like that.

Willow reached to the back of her neck, undoing Christopher's gold chain and holding it in one hand as she bent down and collected the ring from Bradley's pocket. For some reason she knew he had it there, and she definitely wanted it.

She threaded the chain through the ring and put it back on her neck. "I don't know what I'm going to say to his mom and dad"

"You don't have to say anything to them"

"I do" she bit her lip again and shook her head, trying to stop herself from crying again "they're good people, they deserve to know. Bradley, he might have seemed a little hostile towards you, but he's a good man, he didn't deserve this"

Elijah touched her arm, he knew that hugging her or anything more was sort of inappropriate, being that her ex fiancé lay dead on the floor. But he wanted to make sure she knew he was there. "You don't deserve this either"

Willow wiped her eyes, trying to keep her cheeks as dry as possible "it's not about me" she told Elijah "I need your help, I want him out at rest, not here; not in this god forsaken place. I want him home, in the cemetery behind the local church"

"Yes, yes of course" Elijah didn't see why she even bothered to ask, she knew he'd go to the ends of the earth for her. Even if she wanted him buried on mars, he'd find a way, he'd always find a way to keep her happy, to give her what she wanted. "There is no need to ask, whatever you desire"

"I just want to be alone right now" she exhaled, feeling like at any moment now she might throw up. The sight of blood had become normal to her now, but the knowledge of who's blood she was covered her was enough to make her stomach turn, never mind the fact that she caused this herself.

Part of her was angry at Elijah, trying to find someone to blame but herself. How dare he leave her, how dare he do this. But she couldn't express the anger because it was unrealistic, she knew that Elijah couldn't help what had happened and this was all on her. "I'm just gonna take a long shower, scrub all of this off my skin and hopefully get some sleep"

Elijah nodded "please, there is no need to worry about the details, you rest, I'll sort everything out" Elijah tried to reassure her, he'd plan the best send off for the man, though he didn't like him very much, he'd do it for Willow.

She nodded her head again, every movement seeming so painful. How does one attempt to forget about murdering someone close to them? How do you even begin to live with yourself, knowing you felt their last breath, you were there, you caused it? Nothing comes close to that sort of pain.

Willow was used to losing people, surely she should be immune to the grieving process by now. It wasn't the case though, for some reason, with every death of a loved one, she never got any better, just closer to the edge of a breakdown.

Without another word to Elijah, without another look at the mess on the floor or the body amongst it. Willow walked away, trying to remain in one piece whilst still in sight of Elijah, trying to keep in the screams she wanted so much to let out.

It was a nightmare, it wasn't real. It felt so much like fiction, like it wasn't real. Her mind ran away and she felt dizzy, she felt like you would when playing a part in a dream. But Willow would never awake from this to find herself in a bed surrounded by loved ones. It would always be this.

She turned on the shower and began to get undressed, grasping a cloth and scrubbing harshly against her sensitive skin to remove the stains from herself. It hurt, the friction between the skin and the cloth, it would probably cause a reaction later on but she didn't care. She was trying to punish herself, starting small and probably will work up over the next few days. She deserved everything coming to her.

The clear water hit Willow, and spiralled down the drain a completely different colour, the blood had dyed the water. And when it ran clear, finally, she turned the shower off.

Of course, after using it as a cover up to hide her cries. She didn't want to see anyone else for at least a few days.

Echo - Jason Walker