𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞 ⟪♥︎⟫ Elijah Mikaelson

XXV

Jacques flipped through one of Elijah's journals, specifically a part that described one of the conversation he'd had with Sigmund Freud. They talked about the theory of the iceberg and the beastly urges of mankind, perhaps even more interesting were the comments and theories Elijah had written himself. The ones that described the urges of werewolves and vampires, which were heightened.

'If you have any questions, you should know you can always ask me,' Elijah commented.

Jacques turned to see him lean against the doorframe, 'I do have one actually, but it's not about this.'

Elijah walked over and pulled a chair to sit down next to him, 'Ask away.'

'I...' he paused, 'I found you by reading one of your journals, by reading about New Orleans and...' he paused again, feeling his face flush slightly, 'and I read about Celeste.'

Jacques could see through Elijah's calm demeanour, he could see the millimeters that his eyes widened in surprise and he could see how he paused a beat before starting with his answer. 'Celeste was a woman I loved deeply, but I found out recently that she was not who I thought she was. She turned into someone I don't recognise and I'm sad to say that I'm glad she's not among us anymore.'

'Oh.'

'She tried to cause great harm to my family, kill them even, to torment me.'

'Tatia, Katherine, Celeste and a family like that... did you ever think that God started to feel sorry for you and set me on your path?'

Elijah started laughing softly, 'Well, if that's true, I'll thank him.'

'Then why didn't you come back to appreciate your gift from God?'

It was a question said in a joking manner, but it was genuine nonetheless. Elijah could hear the fear lacing his words and it shattered his already broken heart. 'I've had a lot of theories to that answer, but Rebekah recently alerted me to one that I think I might have been trying to deny. When I left, I chose my brother over you and Leah. But that was only because my brother was going down a self destructive path and the both of you were doing perfectly fine.'

'I don't blame you for leaving, it's just... you didn't come back.'

He nodded, 'I know. But what Rebekah theorised is that somewhere along my time in New Orleans, I realised that one day, there might come a day when I'll have to choose between my siblings and Leah and you. When all of you are in danger...'

'You don't know what you would do,' Jacques added.

'I think I do, but I would never be able forgive myself. So I prevented myself from having to choose at all. That combined with the fact that my siblings all have a tendency of getting in trouble and I was faced with a new mess to clean up every day... I convinced myself that my family would fall apart without me to help them and though Leah didn't deserve to be left like that, perhaps I knew deep down that she'd be alright.'