SIDE CHARACTER [ 1 ]| THE ORIGINALS & LEGACIES

F I F T E E N

Marcel stared at me, his gaze skeptical. I thought to run, to leave, altogether. Just to prevent my identity from coming out, but I also knew I couldn't do that. I was already too intertwined with this family, I couldn't just get out of town.

Before I could give Marcel any response, my phone went off. I looked at the caller ID to see it was Elijah. I gave Marcel a serious face, telling him with my eyes to be quiet. I stood up and walked a few steps away and pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Lilah," Elijah said on the other line, sounding urgent. "It's Hope. She has kidnapped Roman, and I am afraid of what she may do to him."

I turned to look at Marcel, who was listening in with his vampire hearing. He nodded to me, telling me silently to go.

"I'll be right there," I said, hanging up and putting the phone back in my pocket. I looked at Marcel, and said, "I have to-"

"Go save your best friend from doing something stupid, and your lover boy from getting something stupid done to him," he cut me off, smiling. He pointed at me and continued, "But don't think for a second that we're done with this conversation."

"Okay," I nodded. "Just... don't tell anyone about what happened here, okay? I'll tell everyone the truth, just let it come from me. Please."

He nodded again, and pointed at the door with his head. "Get out of here, Lilah. Go save your friends."

When I got to the compound, I was yelling downstairs like crazy for Klaus or Hope. Parts of me was angry at them for kidnapping Roman, and another part of me was angry at Roman for all he had done. The moral side of me overcame the pain, and I knew it in my heart that it wasn't right. 

"UNCLE KLAUS!" I yelled, my hands balled up. "HOPE!"

Elijah descended the steps, and said, "We have come to an agreement," he said. "Roman is upstairs, Klaus and Hope are gone. We have business to attend to. Do not take that boy out of those ropes for I am scared what Klaus may do to you if you do, but go and see him. He's alright."

The panic that had been coursing through my body the entire drive over from the plant calmed itself. Remnants of the panic lingered, wondering what it was that Klaus, Hope, and Elijah would be doing together if Hope hated Elijah as much as she claimed to.

I ran to where they were keeping Roman to see him with dried blood dripping from his nose to his lips. His arms were chained up to the ceiling, and he was clad in a gray shirt and black pants. Blood had dripped onto his shirt.

He looked up when he saw me, there was a broken kind of excited on his face.

"Roman..." I mumbled, rushing over to his side. I held his face in my hands, wincing. I knew he'd heal, but I also knew it must've really hurt. "I'll be back."

I rushed into the bathroom with a face towel, soaking it in water to get the blood off of his face. When I returned, he was looking down again. I held his face in my hands again, wiping off the blood. He just stared at me with his hazel eyes as I said nothing.

After I was finished, I took a few steps away from him. I looked down, conflicted about feeling angry at him for all he had done, or sorry because he lost so much as well.

"I thought you'd come see me," he spoke truthfully, sadness coming out with every word. "I thought that one day you'd decide to come see me."

I looked up to meet his eyes, the sadness pouring out of them as he continued. "But I understood when you didn't. I had lied to you, kidnapped Hope's mom... helped in the reason she's gone. I hurt your family, and I'm so sorry."

"You lost your mom, too," I stated, stepping back towards him.

He looked at the ground, silent.

"And Klaus killed your dad," I added, remembering hearing it from someone. "This family wronged you as much as you wronged us, maybe even more..."

"My family consisted of people with horrible beliefs."

"They were your family, either way," I said, and I stopped right in front of us. 

We were so close. I wrapped my arms under his arms, pulling my body into his, my head on his shoulder. I took in his scent, the lingering smell of his cologne still there. 

"I'd hold you back, but..." he was able to get in a joke even in a situation like this.

"I know," I said, "Now it's my turn to hold you."

He relaxed into me more, his head on my shoulder as well. I looked up at the chains and bit my lip.

"Fuck it," I swore.

I went up to where the chains were hanging, and I unbound them from both sides. Roman fell to the floor, exhausted from holding himself up for so long. I rushed to him, helping him sit up and take the chains from his wrists. 

When they were disregarded to the side, I wrapped my arms around his neck once more, burying my head in the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling my small body in between his legs and running his hands through my long hair.

"I'm sorry I didn't come see you," I whispered.

"It's alright," he said, holding me tight. "I understand why you didn't." 

After a few more moments of silence, he said, "So, I found this picture the last time I was here. I meant to ask you about it, but I never got the chance."

"What picture?" I asked.

He reached into his pocket and took out a picture of Klaus with Stefan Salvatore. It was from their time in Chicago. My eyes furrowed at the picture.

"I don't get why this is something you wanted to ask me about," I said, shaking my head.

"That's you, isn't it? In the corner?" he asked, pointing.

Surely enough, there I was. The early 1900's version of me with tight curls and shorter hair, ruby lipstick, and fancy clothing. The words were knocked out of my throat as I remembered that time. It was a time period I blocked out, literally, from people's minds. I thought I had been careful, but I guess not.

"I thought you said you met the Mikaelsons when Hope was little," he said.

"Who said I met Klaus back then?" I said, my voice wavering.

"It's just a little peculiar that you were at the same place at the same time as him, that's all," Roman said, hinting at something. "Is this the big bad secret Lilah Desmarais is hiding? She was intertwined with the Mikaelsons before recently?"

"I've always been intertwined with the Mikaelsons," I said truthfully, seeing no reason to lie any longer. Even though he once broke my trust, I found myself confiding in him a way I once confided in Stefan. 

With a heavy breath, I got out the words I could never bring myself to say, "I'm Elijah's daughter."

-- 

comments are appreciated. the secret is OUT.