SHE PROMISED ( the originals )

0057. MAKING MURDER PLANS FOR OUR DEAR AUNT

SHE PROMISED
( part two, chapter fifty-seven )

WHEN ELLE HAD ARRIVED IN THE DINING ROOM that morning, she was definitely surprised to hear that Dahlia was closer than they thought. According to Hayley and Jackson, while they were out for a walk with Hope, she had given the duo a disturbing message saying that she basically had eyes and ears everywhere.

That fact immediately put Elle on edge. With all this talk of her psychotic aunt hell-bent on kidnapping her niece, Elle understood the need for a meeting. It was still a bit odd to be around Klaus and Elijah, seeing as the witch had revealed her not-so-innocent act to them, but she was glad to finally have that off her shoulders.

Of course, it was odd to see Klaus and Elijah without acting like anything was wrong. Sometimes she'd see them give her looks, ones of pity, and it would irk her instantly. She told them not because she wanted pity (in fact, she kind of hates it with a passion), but because they deserved to know.

"Isn't that the point of a fortress?" Klaus shouted from the head of the table. "It does a better job of protecting you when you stay within its walls."

"Okay, we get it," Hayley sassed, leaning on her hand. "Let's just figure out what the hell we're gonna do."

Klaus stood up, gesturing towards the younger hybrid. "What I would like to do is take a strong leash 一"

Elijah was quick to step in. "Children, please! Niklaus, your ire is justified; however, Hayley is quite right. We need to find a new strategy. Freya, if you please."

Freya, who had been behind Rebekah and Elle brewing some sort of tea, looked back at her family. "This spell you described, Dahlia calls it kenning 一 using proxies to watch her enemies from afar. But I've never seen it done on quite this scale."

"Cool, awesome," Elle sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat. She tilted her head upwards. "So basically every drunk, boob-flashing human 一 A.K.A. every New Orleans tourists ever 一 are potential spies for our aunt against our family. This is, this is just great." She reached up and massaged her finger against her temple.

"The good news is I know a little bit about how her magic works," Freya said, bringing over the tray to the table. "This tonic will at least prevent her from using any of us." Atop the tray sat the ornate tea kettle, along with six tea cups already filled with the tonic.

Rebekah was the first to reach for them. "Well, come on. It should work like a charm. Bottoms up!"

Elle reached for one of them, sniffing the tonic. "Gross," she said, before downing it as well. She saw everyone else had reached for the cups, except for Klaus, who stood watching over his family.

"Niklaus, is there something you wish to contribute?" Elijah asked, holding out the cup to his younger brother.

Klaus shrugged. "I prefer biscuits with my tea. Besides, our minds are far too strong to be invaded by kenning spells. Now what we experienced was a test, Dahlia's watching to see how we respond to aggression. She's preparing for battle; my guess is sooner rather than later."

"Well, if she was watching us," Hayley said, "she would know that we have our own army."

"True, but dear Auntie Dahlia also knows where we are," Elle chimed in, placing her cup back on the tray. "And given that we don't exactly know just how much power the woman has, we have no idea what to expect."

Elijah nodded. "What we need to create is a new stronghold, something that Dahlia knows nothing about. A sanctuary from any witchcraft."

"That's a fine strategy," Freya said. "I offer another. We could use Jackson to trace her magic back to its source. I'd know exactly where she is."

Everyone looked to Hayley. It was obvious to everyone that the hybrid was conflicted about what to do. This was her husband, not some plaything for Dahlia to toy with, but she didn't want him to caught up in the Mikaelson drama. She eventually sighed. "Fine, do it."

"Good, then it's settled!" Klaus said. "Off you pop to your respective tasks; me, I've always been of the opinion that the best defense is a good offense. So I'm gonna find a way to murder that God forsaken witch."

Elle slapped her hand against the table. "Now, that, I most definitely agree with!" She looked around, seeing that her family were giving her odd looks. "What? Are you telling me that you want to let Dahlia continue being the vulture she is? No? Then, it's settled." She stood up from her chair and rolled her shoulders, looking to both Rebekah and Freya. "Let's get on with it, shall we?"

A/N: as of today, your dear
author jem is 19!!!