27 | UNNERVED

The day was starting out terrible for Khalia. First Klaus had woken her up at a time that should be illegal to be up and asked her to go with him to church. What the fuck for, Nik? We're all going to hell anyways. She went back to sleep but when she got up eventually two hours later, she discovered that there was no more bloodbags. With a frustrated huff, the vampire sped of to the nearest hospital and cleared out half of their blood supply - she would have taken it all but she was half asleep and didn't have a big enough bag. Her day got even worse when she got home and discovered a familiar corpse in her home.

Half an hour later, her brother's and Marcel was standing with her around the body. Elijah crouches down to examine Papa Tunde's corpse, while Marcel, Khalia and Klaus stand beside him and watch.

"Elijah, remind me again, what century it was you got your medical examiner's license?" The Demon Mikaelson drawled with a smirk before going back to sipping on a blood back. She didn't think that her brother had any idea of what he was going.

"Can I get you anything, brother? A magnifying glass? A pipe, perhaps?" Klaus added to his sister's teasing, knowing that he was going to get a comment from her for the examples he gave.

"What exactly is it you think medical examiner's do?" The brunette girl asked, amusement on her face as she started at her Hybrid brother. He gave her an innocent smile. Elijah was not amused with his siblings teasing.

"Do either of you have a theory you'd like to share with us?" The dark haired male Mikaelson asked his two irritating siblings with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually-"

"That was a retortical question, Khalia." Elijah stopped his sister - Klaus surpressed a chuckle, knowing that she would come up with some sarcastic suggestion that would have his eyes rolling to the back of his head and frustration bubbling in his chest, leaving him with the desire to smack her head or send her to her room - neither of which was possible. Not in his lifetime of forever.

"Back in the day, the witches wanted to send a threat, they'd just kill a chicken and leave it on your doorstep." Marcel informed the Mikaelson trio. Elijah saw the look on his sister's face and he just took a deep breath, knowing that she was about to say something.

"A chicken?" Khalia asked, eyebrow raised in disbelief. "Why the fuck would you use a chicken, of all things, to send a threat?"

"What would you have used?" Marcel retorted but regretted it the second it left is mouth, remembering who he was talking to - the woman who had an answer for everything.

"Me, personally, I don't make threats. I take action. Though, it I was going to make a threat, I would have send a loved ones heart. Not a bloody chicken." Khalia shrugged, looking at Marcel with a smug smirk. He should have known.

"It's rather a large and ominous chicken, wouldn't you say?" Elijah interjected, pulling them all back to topic.

"Papa Tunde defeated Rebekah with ease, almost got the three of us as well. If he was supposed to be the prize fighter, why leave him for dead in our front yard?" The blonde was clearly annoyed with not having all of the answers.

"Because they have someone even more powerful than him?" Khalia suggested, and wasn't that a terrifying thought because her being pinned against a wall with stakes in her body and unable to rip herself away, was defenitely not her idea of fun. If there was an even more powerful witch out there than Tunde? Well, Khalia was going to need a lot more booze and blood.

Rebekah arrives and joins Marcel and her siblings. "Well, don't you look cheery. Listen to this, a girl literally exploded from a grave today as Sabine was giving a tour of the city of the dead. It was Monique Deveraux."

"What?" Klaus asked, bewildered and not sure he heard right.

Khalia frowned, "Isn't she supposed to be dead?"

Rebekah nodded to her sister. "The tourists thought it was part of the show, but the witches are celebrating like it's some kind of bloody miracle."

"Maybe it is. They think that all hope is lost, but now suddenly a Harvest girl is resurrected. This is how we're gonna get Davina back-- kill the witch who took her place." Marcel said, looking more alive than he had since the Harvest failed while Hayley returns home and the Demon Mikaelson tensed when she noticed the pregnant girl.

"I have a theory about who one of them could be. Celeste. I mean, it's got to be. Davina was trying to tell us, she was drawing pictures of Celeste. She was warning us that a great evil is coming." Hayley told the Mikaelson's, her and Khalia doing their very best to avoid each other's eyes. The siblings noticed it and wondered what was going on between the two?

"Why can't dead dead people just stay dead?" Khalia scowled in frustration, emptying her bloodbag and speeding to the kitchen and back before anyone could say anything else.

"First, Papa Tunde returns to settle old scores, now your murdered lover is back. This isn't witches attacking vampires. They're declaring war on us." The Hybrid said with a scowl.

Khalia grinned, a crazy glint in her eyes. "Fantastic. It's been a long time since I've had a good fight."

Klaus took care of Papa Tunde's body while the rest of his siblings, Marcel and Hayley split up in to their own directions. As the immortal brunette girl left, the werewolf gave her a longing look with eyes full of sadness. The vampire felt the gaze on her back as she walked away and everything in her screamed to turn back to her. But she couldn't.

***

"Ah, here you are." Elijah said, walking into the study when he saw his sister rummaging through the cupboards and he would bet his best suit that it was for booze. She hummed in acknowledgement but otherwise didn't give him any attention. "I need you to take Hayley to the plantation and keep her safe."

This seem to get his sister's attention and made her froze halfway through ripping a door open. She sighed, shutting the door and turned to her brother. "Hayley and I are not on speaking terms at this very moment."

"May I asked why?" Elijah inquired, looking at his sister with raised brows.

She huffed, "You may not."

"Why?" His raised eyebrows turned into a frown.

"Because it's none of your business." She snapped glaringly, crossing her arms over her chest and the look in her eyes said, 'back of'. Her brother nodded.

"How do you feel about seeing a witch?" Elijah asked, wanting her to do something to get her mind of why she and the werewolf wasn't talk to each other. He'd rather it be something productive than her going on another killing spree in New Orleans.

"No, thank you." She denied with a faux smile, turning back to the cupboard to resume her search for her bottle of tequila.

"With the possibility of killing her." The dark haired male added on, knowing it would be enough to convince his sister. She closed the cupboard with a resounding bang and turned to him with a grin.

"I am in."

Hours later, Khalia was annoyed. When Elijah told her they were going to visit a witch, she thought there would be threatening and bone breaking and maybe even a neck snapped. There was none of that as the Mikaelson siblings followed the witch around. The Demon Mikaelson shot her brother a sour look.

"This is seriously boring, Elijah." She complained for what seemed like the umpteenth time. The elder Mikaelson's lips twitched upwards.

"Yes, you've told me, sister. Repeatedly." He retorted with a small grin, casting her a side ways glance. He should have been annoyed, had it been anyone else, he would have been. But he wasn't. Because even with all of her complaining and nagging, she stuck by his side. Not even once hinting to leave him and go do something else. This was growth - both before and after Kol's death, she would have not hesitated to leave him but since being in New Orleans, she has changed for the better. Elijah had a big enough sense of self preservation to not say it out loud.

Instead, he just took all of he complaints with a smile.

"And I will continue to repeat it until you finally listen to me." She jabbed back, brows turned into a frown that has been present since they started follow what they both suspect to be Elijah's once dead lover, Celeste.

Celeste in Sabine's body walks down a street, followed by Elijah. She turns around to face him and his sister. "Elijah, Khalia. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a pleasure." Khalia pointed out, like the little shit she is, while she eyed the witch, in case she tried to attack them.

"My family needs an ally among the witches, and you've helped us in the past. Perhaps together we can avoid an unnecessary conflict." Elijah lied smoothly. Khalia was impressed.

"It physically pains me to say this, but Elijah is right." Khalia supported her brother's clever lie, expression on her face telling anyone looking that she was dreading the mere idea.

"It bothers you that much to admit that I am right?" Elijah turned to his sister in disbelief.

"No." She denied immediately with a firm shake of her head. "It bothers me that much to work with a witch. I don't know if you noticed but I am not fond of witches."

"They may be willing to make a deal, if it were with the noble Elijah. But there will never be any peace at long as it involves Klaus or Khalia." Celeste told her ex-lover and the female Mikaelson shot her a look that clearly said, 'hello, I'm right here'.

"Is that what all this is about? You want my brother and sister out of town?" The dark haired male questioned, looking at the witch.

"I'm just telling you how they feel. My people are scared, they're desperate, but they're not dumb. You have a niece on the way. It stands to reason you'd be willing to discuss how to run a dangerous Hybrid and a unhinged, and more than a little deranged, serial killer out of the city." She glanced at Khalia. "No offence."

"Oh, none taken, witch bitch, I'd wear that title with pride. Can you say the same?" She asked with an amused smirk. A thought crossed her mind and her face darkened. "Was that a threat to Hayley and the baby?" Khalia asked, taking a threatening step forward, eyes narrowed and the look on her face made Celeste freeze and terrified all in the same second.

"J-just an observation." The witch quickly said because Khalia was seriously terrifying and she had a few things to do before she could die.

Her shoulders relaxed slightly but the dark eyes were still staring at the witch dangerously and watching her every move. If there was one person on this earth that unnerved Celeste, it was this female Original. "It better be."

"Let's walk together. You can take us on one of your famous tours." The Mikaelson male suggested before his sister could do something crazy, like lunged for Celeste and Rio out her jugular.

"More walking." Khalia noted, flicking her tongue over her teeth and crossing her arms over her chest. "Great."

She was bored again - the tour was close to putting her to sleep. Following around her annoyingly polite brother and a bitch witch that was supposed to be dead, was even worse than just following the witch. Most of the time she imagined draining the blood out of the witch and serevel other ways to kill her as a way to amuse herself.

"So, this next part of town is one of the few areas where any of the original French architecture remains. The most of the buildings were destroyed in the 1700s when the city burned for the first time." She notices Elijah hasn't said anything in a while. The witch decided to ignore the female vampire, who never said anything - just rolled her eyes now and again. "Am I putting you to sleep?"

"Yes, you are. Your history lessons are even more boring than Elijah's." Khalia nodded, her words blunt. "If this whole tour guide thing doesn't work out, you could become an assassin, specialising in boring or talking people to death."

Elijah hid a smile from his sister's words. "As surprising as you might find this, it's not every day that someone asks you to betray your own brother... Celeste."

The immortal girl grinned, now the fun could being. Celeste looked impressed. "How did you know?"

"As Davina was drawing your likeness, I dared to imagine that your presence was near. And when Sophie discovered that there was no magic in your remains, I wondered, could you have possibly cheated death by using your power to place your essence into the body of another? And if so, then who? And then, I recalled the lovely Sabine. Your visions of my brother's child precipitated the death of the last Elder within your coven, ensuring that the Harvest ritual could not be completed - unless you were to control it. You have been playing a very long game, indeed. But to what end?" The Original brother explained what he figured out and told his sister before they started their following of the witch.

Celeste steps closer to Elijah and kisses him - Khalia's face at the sight was rather comical. When she pulls away, her lipstick is on his lips, and he quickly becomes dizzy and weakened. Khalia frowned. "Oh, Elijah, my lost love... After all this time, don't you understand? I died because of Klaus. And even after all his vindictive lies about witches led to my death, you stood by him. All because of your vow- 'always and forever'."

Elijah becomes even weaker and struggles to stay on his feet. When he starts to speak, his speech is slurred and worry clenched in Khalia's heart. "What have you done to me?"

Khalia goes to move over to her brother but Celeste points her open palm to her and mutters a quick spell and the female Mikaelson finds that she can not move. It was like her whole body was paralyzed. "What the fuck did you do to me?"

Celeste didn't answer her and kept looking at her once lover. "Oh, it's a simple enchantment. You needn't worry. I'm not here to kill you, Elijah, I'm here to teach you the error of your ways. 'Always and forever' was the greatest mistake of your life." Elijah suddenly passes out and falls unconscious to the ground, much to the panic of his sister.

"Elijah!" She shouts, trying and failing to move. The vampire glared up at the witch. "If something happens to him-"

"I am powerful, Khalia, but not powerful enough to kill an Original vampire." The witch smirked. "But I can make him turn against his family."

"You're bonkers if you think Elijah would side with you. That always and forever vow you speak of, Elijah is the most devoted to it out of all of us." Khalia was feeling like laughing in the witch's face. If only her brother didn't lay unconscious a few feet from her.

"Let's talk about something else, shall we? A certain pregnant werewolf, perhaps?" Celeste smirked but it vanished when a dark and deadly look covered Khalia's face.

"If any harm comes to her, Celeste, mark my words, my wrath will be unspeakable and unleashed fully on you." Her words were calm but rage shined in her eyes, her body was trembling with anger. Celeste's eyes widened, she wasn't supposed to be able to move. Just how angry was Khalia that she could breach through the barriers of her spell? She quickly muttered another spell, scared that the Original's anger would be stronger than her spell.

"What is it about her specifically? I remember all those centuries ago, you never cared for anyone. Killed lords and ladies with your twin brother for sport. You never stood with your family, and yet, I didn't even have to threaten the wolf and you are ready to kill me." Celeste was truly gobsmacked. Then she thought back to that night she was chased out of the plantation by Khalia. How their souls felt when she was there. Her eyes widened. It couldn't be.

Just then, Elijah started to awaken.

***

Okay, I am really enjoying where I am now in the story and I sincerely hope you guys do to.

-Mixie