Seven Devils - Elijah Mikaelson -

Prologue

"Charlotte...please, forgive me."

Elijah mumbled, as his muscles spasmed again. He knocked down some knick knack, but despite his neat nature, he couldn't care less. The werewolf venom raged through his veins, setting every cell in his body on fire, making him slip in and out of consciousness.

"Who's Charlotte?" 

The Original had completely forgotten about Hayley still having his head in her lap, comforting her. Because he accidentally let her into his mind, the young werewolf had seen flashes of a beautiful blonde woman with big, innocent blue eyes being held by Elijah. They sat on a green meadow and talked about nonsense, wearing clothes from another time. It was then when Hayley realized that this must be a memory. 

"Let's say she was special young woman...a very special one." 

A small smile appeared on his pained face as he thought back to Charlotte. Even though these memories were tainted in darkness, she would never cease to make Elijah smile. 

...

Elijah Mikaelson thought that he never had loved like this before and that he could never be happier than now. 

The woman he fancied giggled when he tried to grab her and deepen their kiss. Playfully, she pulled away from him and ran up the stone stairs, leading up to a part of her families' home that Elijah had never visited before. 

As if she could ever run from him. 

He grinned and followed her up the narrow stairs after giving her a head start. They both enjoyed these games so much, it gave Elijah a sense of being carefree for some cherished minutes. Usually he wasn't that childish, but Celeste changed him. She had the power to let him forget all his sorrows and all the family drama. 

Their love even made him distance himself from Niklaus and for once put his own wishes first. It's not that he could ever forget his family, of course not, but it made him remember that he was a person on his own, with his very own desire to be loved.

Suddenly, the Original vampire grabbed his lover from behind, buried his face in the crook of her neck and growled mockingly. Celeste jumped startled and shrieked, but laughed at the tickling feeling. Elijah turned her back around and captured her lips in a passionate, longing kiss.

It was in the middle of the night and they could be caught any second. Probably everyone around knew of Elijah's and Celeste's romance, but the witches, including her parents, would never accept it. They had to hide up until Celeste would give him the permission to take her far away from here.

He was ready to let her go for the night yet. Elijah simply couldn't get enough of her. He desperately wanted to show her how much she meant to him and how much he'd love to be with her forever.

Quickly, he scanned his surroundings and noticed that they've walked up the stairs of a tower, he could see the end of the narrow way was separated by a thick, wooden door. It was only dimly lit and it looked like it wasn't used that much. 

"Come, we shall seek a hideout for tonight." 

Elijah whispered into Celeste's ear. What he didn't expect to happen was that his love would suddenly tense harshly and pull away from him. Her eyes were filled with fear and she violently shook her head. She even wiggled out of his arms, took his head and attempted to lead him back down the stairs.

"No, mon cherie, no one is allowed to go to this place." 

The Original frowned and didn't move. He didn't like to be left without an explanation. 

"Please, trust me, it's dangerous. Even for someone like you." 

Celeste sounded heavily upset and she started to shiver. Of course that wasn't what Elijah wanted to know, but he felt that it was painful for his love to speak about it. So for now, he let it go and followed Celeste downstairs. But not without sparing one last look at the mysterious door. He wondered what laid behind it. Witches always had been full of secrets, but what he saw in Celeste's eyes was pure fright. What could the witches hide so dangerous, but yet had to keep it so close? 

Elijah tried to push the question away and concentrate on what was ahead of him, but he knew that he would spent a sleepless night, trying to figure out what was behind the door. He could never forget something that could mean a threat to his family and the ones he loved.

But not tonight.

As he fully turned his attention back to Celeste, Elijah could've sworn that he heard the sound of a faint little heartbeat coming from up the stairs.