The Original Love (Book 5)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Klaus

Elijah still lays on his bed in the compound, still asleep. He's breathing erratically, covered in sweat, and he's tense like he is terrified of something. I'm standing over him and talk to him “I know you are locked in battle, however deep in your mind our mother has set the stage. Hear my voice. Our mother thinks she will win because she has left you alone, but you are not alone. Let me in” I say and put one hand on his head, and one hand on his chest, hoping to gain entry into his mind. “Let me help end whatever torment she has forced upon you” I say.

My nose begins to bleed, and I get glimpses of the dreams Elijah has been having. I groan in pain and continue to try to break through, but I'm ripped off of Elijah by Star. “What the hell are you doing” Star asks me confused as I pant and wipe the blood from my face. “I'm trying to enter Elijah's thoughts to wake him” I say and gesture to Elijah, who is still sleeping fitfully “Esther's locked me out”. Star walks over to Elijah “is this rash a side effect of what ever your bitch over a mother did to him”? I frown and walk over next to her.

I notice a flower petal-shaped wound on Elijah's neck “I haven't seen this since I was a child. Mikael would return home from battle more blindly temperamental than usual, and our mother would use the petals of a rare merlock orchid to put him to sleep. She would mend his mind with a spell, and then wake him with the roots of the same plant” I say. I turn to Star “if she has access to it now, then maybe it also grows in the Bayou. You stay here with Hayley and watch the place” I say. Star rolls her eyes at me “I'd rather rip your mother's head off” she said.

Star

Klaus looks at me seriously “stay clear of her, I mean it Star. She already got to you once and I won't let that happen again” he says. “Fine, I won't go after her, I promise” I say as Klaus looks at me for a moment before turning and leaving. “I won't go after her, but I wouldn't say the same thing about Hayley” I whispered to myself. I look at Elijah “maybe you should sleep more often, he shows he cares more”.

I sigh and head to my room, changing into some jeans, a dark gray shirt, and my black leather jacket. I keep my hair down and grab one of my guns, loading it. I stick it in my back pocket and quickly head out of the house. I'm walking towards the woods and look around, seeing a faint figure in the distance walking deeper in the woods. I keep my distance so Klaus doesn't see me. I'm so happy that he hasn't ran off so I can still fallow him.

Klaus is wandering around the Bayou and I fallow, keeping quiet so he doesn't hear me. I step on a branch and quickly hide behind the tree “I know your out there” Klaus sighs and I walk out form behind the tree. “Why are you fallowing me” “to help Elijah” I stated. “You shouldn't be here” Klaus says, a little mad “I shouldn't be a lot of places, yet here I am” I said with a smile. I start walking past Klaus and pat his shoulder “come on, we have a brother to save” I say. Klaus sighs and starts walking next to me “you know, if I really wanted to I would disappear from here and leave you” Klaus said.

“But you won't, because you love me” I said with a smile. Klaus smiled slightly before stopping “what is it” I ask? Klaus didn't answer and acted like he was listening to something “Klaus” I say and he puts a hand up to silence me. Suddenly Klaus runs up to someone who's been fallowing us and pins them to the tree. I jog over and see Ansel, Klaus's real father. “Stop following me. I have no intention of taking Esther's bargain, and no desire to be remade a mortal being. Now, kindly piss off. I'm in a hurry to help my real family” Klaus says before stomping away.

Ansel calls out to Klaus, making him stop “you seek the merlock orchid” “how did you know that”? “I saw you carry Elijah home last night. Who do you think used to find the orchid for your mother to put Mikael to sleep? Without my help, you could search forever” Ansel says and smiles a little at Klaus. “My mother brought you back from the dead. My sense of strategy tells me that it wasn't to play a father-son game of hide and seek” Klaus says and turns away to search for the flower.

“You can storm off in a fit of stubbornness if you like, but I suggest you do so toward the west” Ansel said and gestures to his right. I look at Klaus who stops for a moment before sighing and turning to the west, nodding for me to fallow. Ansel fallows behind as we walk threw the forest. “A thousand years estranged, and you choose to walk in silence? Surely you have questions for me” Ansel asks? Klaus sighs and stops walking, making me bump into him slightly. “Just one, is there a way to cure Elijah without having to listen to the pointless ramblings of an old man”?

“I'm afraid the price of my expertise is conversation” Ansel pats Klaus affectionately on the back and slips past him so he can lead him through the woods. Klaus looks at me as I look at him “hey, he's your dad” I said putting my hands up and walking past Klaus, fallowing Ansel. “You know, I used to tell myself that my real father must have had no idea I existed. Otherwise, he'd never leave me to suffer under Mikael” Klaus starts talking.

“Esther forbade from seeing you. So, I waited, knowing that one day, you would trigger your curse and need your real father. When that happened, Mikael found me first. I fought him for you” Ansel said. “Yes, well, your grand declaration is just a few years too late”. “Now, you joke, but I know you've always felt a void in your life. I've watched you from beyond for centuries. You've traveled all corners of the world, seen monuments erected, feasted on the blood of the history's most extraordinary men, but you've never found true peace. Until you met the girl who stands next to you” Ansel says.

“The only moments of joy in your life, however fleeting, have been simple pleasures. Spending moments with Star. As you climbed the Himalayas, as you tended to your horses. Quiet days, teaching that boy Shakespeare” Ansel starts “stop” Klaus say so verwhelmed “I watched you paint. I watched you feel your unborn daughter's kick” Ansel says and Klaus grabs him in a choke-hold. “I said, stop! A millenium of observing me, were your eyes closed as I slaughtered whole villages? Fed my way through thousands of innocents? Because, let's face it, I have a tendency to play with my food” Klaus says.

I sigh as Ansel stares at him in silence before stepping closer so they are nearly nose-to-nose “have I made you proud, Father” Klaus asks with a small smile before angrily shoves past Ansel, who looks heartbroken. I lean on a tree nearby as Klaus continues to walk “you won't get to him like that. You can try and you might get somewhere, but it won't be where you want to go” I say with my arms crossed. “And where is that” Ansel asks? “His heart” I said before pushing myself off of the tree and fallowing Klaus.

Ansel, Klaus, and I have come upon a large tree, where the merlock orchids are growing upon the branches. Surrounding the tree are dozens and dozens of purple-flowered herbs. “Vervain” I say with a sigh “it's everywhere” “my relentless mother has set a trap” Klaus says. Ansel looks at the tree, and then back at Klaus, smiling “I'll retrieve the merlock for you”. Klaus looks at Ansel suspicious “at what cost” Klaus ask. Ansel takes out his knife and throws in into the ground and approaches Klaus.

“Why don't you use your vampire abilities to end your doubts? Search my mind. You'll see I'm not aligned with your mother” Ansel says. “I have absolutely no interest in the inner-workings of your brain” Klaus says. “I'm surprised at your cowardice” Ansel says and Klaus and him look at each other. I sigh “I'll go myself” I say and start to head to the big tree but Klaus grabs me. “No” Klaus says protectively before turning to Ansel “gather the orchids” he says before walking into the woods with me by his side.