Severed Heaven (Niklaus and Elijah Mikaelson)

Chapter Sixteen: Leftovers Are For Quitters

Thanksgiving, New Orleans

     There was something at once chilling and off-putting about the air when the guests arrived. It was almost as if they were doing it on purpose; Aurora's annoying high-pitched voice, her brother's sweet attempts to tame her, and Lucien's undeniable arrogance. The three of them were feeding me such indignation even when I found myself upstairs, waiting until I got to shoot my shot at endless torture and persecution. I poured myself a second glass of whiskey on Freya's watch. I sat back, and crossed my legs impatiently. Her brothers weren't here to remind me not to touch the expensive stuff, and I greatly took advantage of the situation.

Freya rolled her eyes, grinning at me, but I could tell she felt slightly down. "You're already drinking?" She asked me.

I cleared my throat, decided I needed more whiskey when I heard Aurora's irritating giggle coming from downstairs, and poured more into the glass. Anything to avoid that little wench. "Yeah, well, they've been here for an hour so I've been drinking for an hour."

After downing my glass a few minutes later, I slammed it down on the table. Freya's patience seemed to be tamed better than mine. I quickly started pacing around the room, and tried to glance down the balcony without interrupting the discussions they were having. "What a boring and idiotic dinner. Can't believe this was my idea." I threw myself back into the chair.

"I can't believe Niklaus agreed to it." Freya sighed deeply in frustration, and suddenly she got up. "I'm going down there now."

I rose up from my seat, too, but decided not to follow her down to where the party was taking place. Running my hand through my hair, I let my thoughts wonder about Nicklaus' long lost ex, or love, whatever one calls her these days. I despised her, not because of her intensified qualities which continuously pushed my buttons, but because she was simply the ex. Yes, I dared to admit it to myself. Yes, I was angry of her presence, heated that she was invited, and perhaps I was even jealous of her connection to Niklaus. She'd come closer to him than I ever had. I was merely just me— just Elizabeth, whom he'd never kissed before, and he'd kissed her. He'd never told me he loved me before, but he'd told her. I couldn't compare to her, now could I?

Leaning against the doorway, I allowed myself to listen, or well, eavesdrop. "We're welcoming our enemies to the dinner table now?" I heard Freya complain to her two brothers.

And then, "Shut up, Lucien."

"Be careful with your threats, Nik."

Now, that was going well. Meanwhile, hearing myself scramble for answers made me suspect that perhaps more was amiss than I was showing. I'd let my thoughts and feeling go again. I blamed her and him. I'd let them do this to myself.

I could no longer sit back and do nothing when I picked up on the dinner that was suddenly escalating. I could hear Aurora's shouts ever so clearly, and when I stormed down the stairs, without her knowledge of it, I snapped my fingers.

There. I'd snapped her neck. And I'd done it without shame or any regret at all.

All eyes were on me. Her brother's burning with madness and anger. Niklaus watched me with a stunned look on his face. His sister approached me with a devious smirk that satisfied my attitude, and Elijah looked like I'd done with he'd been tempted to do. "Well, let's get to work, shall we?"

Knowing exactly what stirred me, I immediately decided to take advantage of my resentment. I liked the way I feigned my exasperation. I never even had to ask Freya about how we were going to do this, because great minds think alike, and they did. I'd secretly waited for this, and I blamed Niklaus for it. I blamed him for my sudden darkness, and raging feelings. It wasn't a fire of passion, not a ravaging fire, but something paralysing, like the fire of cluster bombs that suck up the oxygen around them and leave you panting. Fire like fear, like panic, like one more minute of this and I'll snap. All thanks to him, and his ex.