The Original: Book 6

Chapter 6

"You want a plan of attack, it comes down to this. Use the element of surprise," Vincent suggested, all of us gathered at the compound. "Now, Marcel will hand over the bone, and then stab the Hollow with Hayley's blood, and then I'm gonna cast the spell that buries her."

"The ancestors' spell requires a sacrifice," Hayley reminded him. "An Original has to die."

"Yeah, and right now, the Hollow is gonna use Elijah's death to come back, but that opens up a window where I can use the sacrifice to shove her back into her grave."

Nik stood from his seat, "you'll forgive me for stating the obvious, but your plan does nothing to save my brother. In fact, it relies entirely upon his death."

"Easy. He's just trying to help," Marcel spoke up.

"Klaus, Elijah's already dead. Now, the only thing that we can do right now is figure out whether or not that death is gonna count for something," Vincent replied.

"That's not a call any of us get to make. Especially not you," Hayley retorted. "There has to be a way to save him."

"Freya, you still have the antidote we used to cure Marcel's bite?" Nik asked, looking over at his sister.

"I have it, yes. But I don't know if it'll work against the poison of the rosebush," Freya remarked.

"You guys aren't listening, okay? Even if we do cure Elijah, we still have a big problem; that's called the Hollow. And it's just gonna keep coming at us until it resurrects," Vincent interrupted. "And when that happens, we're talking about an ancient, primal power that's made flesh and blood. It will wipe out this entire city in an afternoon, and there ain't a damn thing that you or anybody else here can do about it. Now, my way? We take her out while she's still a spirit. Elijah dies, but at least his death counts for something."

"No. No, I'm not willing to discuss this any further," Nik stated firmly.

"What about your children? What about Hope? This thing wiped out the entire Labonair bloodline. It already got to Hope once, right? Now, this is a chance, Klaus. This is probably the one chance that you got. Now you want to blow that opportunity to maybe save your brother, or do you want to do your job and save that little girl?"

"Don't use my daughter to justify your absurd plan."

"Hey, his 'absurd' plan is the only plan that we've got," Marcel reminded Nik. "So maybe we should do a little less fighting, and a little more thinking?" Everyone was quiet.

"There's always a loophole," I spoke up, breaking the silence.

"I have my mother's grimoires. I welcome you to study them with me," Freya suggested to Vincent, who nodded, following her out of the room.

***

"Vincent said the ancestors can imprison the Hollow," Freya announced. "To power their spell, an Original must die. If Elijah is going to die one way or another, we should harness his death and then I can try placing his soul inside the pendant."

"Try? What do you mean, try?" Hayley questioned.

"Well, it won't be easy. We have to find him, and I'll need all of my magic. And Elijah's been poisoned for some time, there's a chance he won't survive the process," Freya revealed, and I glanced over at Nik, who had his back turned.

"But I would survive," Nik stated, turning back around.

"Nik," I started, but he cut me off.

"If I'm the sacrifice, you can channel my death to imprison the Hollow before she kills Elijah. Yes, I'll be in the pendant, but the rest of you can find him, cure him, and bring him home."

"This is insane," Hayley commented.

"That evil wench cannot be killed. Left unchecked, she will come for Hope. Sacrifice me, we can save Elijah and we can defeat this thing. It's the only way." Nik held his hand out to Hayley and she slowly passed the pendant over to him.

"No. No, it's not. There are other ways," I argued, shaking my head.

"We don't have time to debate this." Nik held the pendant out to Freya. "Work your magic, sister." Freya hesitated before taking the pendant.

***

"You're ignoring me," I heard Nik say. I ignored him, keeping my eyes on my book. "Care to tell me why?"

"I think you know why," I retorted, turning the page.

"You're mad because I offered myself up as sacrifice."

"I'm not mad. I'm frustrated," I began, setting the book down. "Do you not remember what happened the last time you sacrificed yourself to save your family? I spent five years raising our children on my own, wondering if I would ever see you again. Wondering if my children would ever know their father." Nik let out a sigh. "You have three children to think about. We're engaged, we're supposed to be getting married. Yet here you are, ready and willing to give it all up. I can't keep doing this, Nik. And I don't want this to be something the kids have to go through over and over again."

"It won't be forever, kitten," Nik reassured, coming over to where I sat and crouching down in front of me. "Vincent will put my soul into the pendant and then when she can, Freya will put me back in my body. The Hollow will be back where she belongs, and we will be together again."

"You make it sound so easy."

"That's because it is."

I rolled my eyes, leaning forward and pressing my lips to his, "I love you."

"And I love you."

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My character and her story are of my own imagination. They belong to me and nobody else. Please do not steal. Copyright 2018.