SHE PROMISED ( the originals )

0026. SO THAT'S WHAT MY MOM LOOKS LIKE

SHE PROMISED
( part one, chapter twenty-six )

CASSIE, WITH THE HELP OF her friend Vincent, had Elle lay down on a large table, resting her head on a soft pillow. "It'll feel like a dream," Vincent explained as Cassie lit some candles nearby.  "Once you wake up, your head may hurt but that's only because of the on rush of memories. I promise you'll be fine."

"All right," Elle said and twisted the ring around her pinky. "Just tell me what to do."

Cassie moved to stand on Elle's left. "Just relax." Vincent stood on her right, reaching over to hold both of Cassie's hands. "It'll be over before you know it."

Shutting her eyes, Elle exhaled softly and heard both witches above her mutter pretty French spells. Before she knew it, she had passed out.

☆ ☆ ☆

"Katrielle!" The brunette turned, spotting her pretty blonde sister calling out to her. "Come on! Dinner's ready and you know how Mother gets when you stay out too late." Her sister stood on the edge of the meadow, hands on her hips.

"I'm coming!" Katrielle said and stood up, brushing dirt off her brown dress. She started to run towards her sister, taking her hand. "Did Father hunt tonight's meal?"

"Mhmm," her sister hummed. Her blue eyes sparked with amusement. "Elijah and Niklaus helped as well."

Katrielle nodded her head and tugged her sister back to their home. There, they spotted their mother talking to Kol, brushing the long hair behind his ear. When she spotted her two daughters, she said, "There you are! I sent Rebekah after you so long ago I feared you two had gotten lost."

"I'm sorry, but I was out in the fields picking flowers." Katrielle bowed her head, holding the small bouquet between her hands.

"You know you shouldn't stay out there too long," their mother said. "It's dangerous."

The brunette lowered her head. "Yes, Mother..."

Her mother smiled, placing a hand under Katrielle's chin and tilted her head up. She looked into her daughter's hazel eyes, and said, "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. Just don't mention it to your father, all right?" Katrielle nodded, smiling. "Now, get inside both of you. Your dinner will get cold if we stay out here and talk all night."

Rebekah grinned and allowed Katrielle to pull her into the home. They saw their older brothers already kneeling on the floor at the table, with Kol already arguing with their eldest brother.

Sitting between Rebekah and Niklaus, Katrielle reached over and took some of the deer offered to her.

☆ ☆ ☆

Holding his little sister's hand, Niklaus smiled and said, "I wanted to show you something." He helped her step over a log. "Henrik and I discovered this not too long ago."

"What is it?" Katrielle asked.

"You'll see," Niklaus mused. "I do think you'll really like it."

"Can you at least give me a hint?" Katrielle said in a half-begging tone.

He paused to think, rubbing his chin with a mischievous grin. "I don't know, could I?" Katrielle playfully shoved him away and he let out a boisterous laugh. "I'll tell you this: it'll help with our art."

☆ ☆ ☆

In the morning, when Katrielle had woken up, Henrik and Niklaus were both gone. At first, she thought they had gone off for a morning stroll but hours later, when the sun had just touched the tops of the tall trees, her guess was very wrong.

"Mother!" came Niklaus' lone scream.

Running out of Ayana's home, Rebekah and Katrielle darted outside. They saw Niklaus holding Henrik, blood covering the younger boy's shirt and revealing the ugly wounds across his chest.

"Mother!" Niklaus yelled again.

Their mother appeared, running forward and falling to her knees by Henrik's head. "No! No! What happened?" she demanded.

Niklaus, who had fallen to his knees, whimpered, "The wolves... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." Rebekah ran to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder while also struggling to fight her tears.

Their mother turned to Ayana and begged, "We must save him! Please, there must be a way."

Katrielle felt Elijah tug on her arm, not wanting her to see any of this, but she resisted, keeping her eyes glued on her brothers. Tears welled in her eyes but she bit her lip to stop the sob. She couldn't help but look.

Ayana held Henrik's hand, shutting her eyes. When she reopened them, they looked sad. "The spirits will not give us a way, Esther," the woman replied, and Katrielle's mother's face had fallen. "Your boy is gone."

Turning, the girl buried her face into Elijah's chest, squeezing her arms tight around his body. Her brother cupped the back of her head, quietly shushing her.

"No!" Esther cried. "No, no!"

☆ ☆ ☆

Memories continued to hit her like a truck, rushing into her mind. It felt like she was reliving every one of those moments again 一 joy, every anger, every pain she'd felt in those memories hit her once more.

She heard her brothers' laughter and saw her sister's smile. She remembered the field of orange flowers her brother had taken her to, she remembered the tree her brother and her would climb, she remembered the stars her sister and her would count, and she remembered the stories her mother and father would tell her. But most of all, she remembered herself.

When she opened her eyes, they first focused on the glass ceiling of the lycée. A soft breath escaped her lips as she felt a hand be placed on her shoulder.

It was Vincent, who moved his hand to her back as she sat up. "Are you all right?" she heard him ask.

She moved slowly to swing her legs off the table with a hand pressed to her mouth. Her feet touched the ground and she instantly crumpled to the floor, knees slamming to the ground and sob wracking her body.

Vincent 一 no, Finn took a step forward to comfort his little sister, but the witch beside him held out her hand. Finn stopped, looking at his mother then back at Elle. They didn't help her up.

So Elle sat there on the floor and cried.

A/N: first, i am actually SUPER
happy there have been people
who have been guessing elle's
identity & i'm glad you were
all so excited about it. there's
only one more chapter until part
one is over then moving on to
PART TWO, BABY!!!

p.s. in case you haven't heard,
there was a huge ass fire in california
and we were almost evacuated it
got that close. BUT DON'T YOU
WORRY YOUR PRETTY LITTLE
MINDS. i am safe and alive!!! but if
i don't update anytime soon, it'll
be because of that.