𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔
ミ★ ( reign of wolves, act two ) ★彡

     Dreaming was supposed to be peaceful. It's often just a sign of the brain still being active and representing that in the things one imagines at night during R.E.M. sleep. Dreams are usually strange or funny, or of a thing someone wants to happen—but then there are times when those dreams turn into nightmares. The nightmares were the yin to the yang of peaceful dreams, the darkness to the other side of the light. It instilled bone-chilling paralysing fear into people; make their heart pound and skin crawl, be too scared to close their eyes again in case they dream the same nightmare; and be too terrified of their once safe space they called their bedroom. No one liked nightmares of monsters lurking in the shadows of their room, especially when the monster wore the face of the man Rhea loved.

Esther hadn't just planted nightmares into Rhea's mind, she had made her feel fear—their fear—every time she closed her eyes for what she wished would be a peaceful moment. She hates herself for flinching away whenever he got violent because it only reminded her of her nightmares of him attacking her. She knew he would never lay a hand on her but it was all that plagued her mind.

Elijah had done terrible things and Esther wanted to use that as a weapon against him as if she hasn't done terrible things herself. Rhea had done the same as what Elijah had done in the diner with her humanity off so she couldn't judge. She knew what she signed up for when she agreed to marry him and continue to grow their bond.

But Esther's magic was causing a strain and Rhea hated that she was giving her power. She wanted it to stop because deep down she would never picture Elijah in a way any less than gentlemanly. Esther wanted to be credited for being the person who made him who he was—noble and righteous—but she held no part in it besides causing the damage he still held onto after all those years. Elijah refused to let anyone see how broken he felt because of his upbringing, and his mother's torture only reminded him of that pain which Rhea detested.

She could only imagine what sort of torture Elijah went through himself while she was unconscious. Rhea could only thank her blessings that she never got to witness her hurting him at least because that would've broken her more than any other torture she did—maybe Esther wasn't ready to resort to that yet or was blissfully unaware of that fact.

"Are you okay, my love?" Elijah whispered to her finally after a while, having heard her heart rate pick up to a dangerous speed before she lightly flinched awake like she had been doing for many nights now since they returned from the crypt; only now did he gain the confidence to ask since it wasn't getting any better, "I know you're awake."

Rhea had been laying with her back turned, her eyes wide awake for a few hours now just thinking, "Just had a bad dream." She told him with a whisper, "Go back to sleep."

Elijah pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, "Tell me about it." He offered, "I can tell it's bothering you."

Rhea bit her lip, thinking how it was only months ago when they were in this same position when his father was in his own nightmares and now his mother was stirring up ones of her own, "No, you'll hate yourself." She shook her head with a weak voice, "I can see what you're going through—Hell, I can feel it. I don't want to be the one to bring you more pain."

"Hey," Elijah sat up, gently turning her face to his, "You could never be the one to bring me pain, Rhea. You are my light, always." He told her and her eyes softened at him as he continued, "Tell me, please."

     Rhea had been his rock throughout the last few years and only continued to do so. But he could see she was struggling while trying to help him also. It made him feel selfish; like he was neglecting her needs but she was always a little tough to get her to unload her concerns onto him verbally rather than bottle them up.

     "I dream of you..." She stated quietly and he looked at her with confusion while she only reached to fiddle with the sheets. She choked up saying, "I dream of you hurting me like you've done with countless others."

     Elijah's eyes could only widen. Hurt splashed across his face that she would ever dream of him hurting her but he tried to remain calm. He hadn't realised that she was scared of him—scared of the man she shares a bed with. They shared a bond and he hadn't even realised that she was scared of him. How could he of not noticed? How could he of been so ignorant?

     "I dream that I am Tatia and that I am many other people you've fed on, killed and maimed all in the name of family." Rhea looked down in shame, shaking her head once again, "I want it to stop because I'm so scared of that person —not because I'm afraid that you will hurt me—but because that person is everywhere and I can't sleep. I can't sleep and my mind is playing tricks on me, and I'm afraid that one day I won't know if I'm dreaming or awake and I won't know which version of you is in front of me."

     "Esther..." Elijah realised and she weakly nodded, which almost made him feel relieved that her fear wasn't actually because of him but because of magic.

     She sniffled, finally sitting him to be face to face with him, placing her hands on his chest, "I know you would never hurt me and I love you still so much, but I am just so tired of being afraid to go to sleep and seeing you attack me; not recognising who I am despite me screaming at you trying to remind you." She explained before wiping her tear, "And then there's the dreams where I can't even scream for help because you've compelled me in the memory or it's not what they've done. I can feel their fear and their pain and it breaks my heart because I never want to be afraid of you like that."

     "Come here," Elijah ushered as he pulled his soulmate into his arms, hushing her while she cried soundlessly, "Like you said, we won't let my mother win and I'll do everything in my power to fix it."

     "Please don't hate yourself." Rhea told him into his chest, "While it was your actions, it was the past and this was Esther's doing. You didn't do this to me."

     "But I should've been able to protect you—"

     "You were going through your own thing with her." Rhea reminded him. While she didn't know what it was that she did exactly, she knew it was extensive and that he would tell her when he was ready, "I know she weakened you to keep you down."

     "She was hurting you and that was all I cared about." He frowned, "That was worse than any torture she could've done to me."

     "I love you, Elijah." Rhea reminded him once again, "And no matter how broken or torn apart we are, I know that everything we've been through is going to lead to us being together and happy. And I'm not giving up hope on that just yet so your mom won't win no matter what nightmares she puts in my head because I love you."

"I do believe you are perfect, my Rhea." He said to her and she smiled as she buried her face into his chest, the two of them laying back down again, "Let's try to get some sleep, okay?" He suggested and quickly noticed the nervous energy coming from her, "Wake me up if you have another nightmare and we can just lay here until morning when we can speak to a witch."

"You won't leave my side?" She asked, holding up her pinky finger, even though deep down she knows she won't be able to go back to sleep.

Elijah smiled at the sight of her small pinky before linking his own with hers, "Never."

     It was the next morning when Klaus pulled back to the safe house with Cami in the passenger seat, having returned to New Orleans to bring her there after he realised the danger she would be in after betraying Finn's trust. Klaus knew he could trust her with the secret of his daughter's status and he cared about her too much for him to care about her knowing considering he cared too much about her well-being.

     "It has been said that all love begins and ends with she who gave us life. A thousand years ago, my mother turned us into monsters. Yet, still, she claimed to love her children, even as she vowed to destroy us." Klaus ranted to her, "The noble Elijah, tormented by long-buried, shameful secrets that he now shares with his soulmate. Kol, the wily troublemaker, out for no one but himself. Finn, the devoted acolyte, his love all too easily walked by our mother's sick hate. Fierce Rebekah, willing to risk everything on the chance that she may one day find happiness. And me, the bastard child. My mother's greatest shame." He continued as they departed the vehicle, "Now, finally, we have defeated her, giving her the choice she never thought to give us—to live on as one of the monster's she created... or, suffer the slow, agonising death she so deserves."

     Cami's eyebrows furrowed as she made a confused face about his rant, "Um, congratulations, I guess?" She stated before saying, "But, right now, I'm a little more worried about Finn... considering I totally stabbed him in the back."

     "He won't find you here. This is the safest place you could possibly be." Klaus assured her because he knows Finn has no idea about the house in Arkansas before gesturing towards the house, "Come on! There's someone I want you to meet." The two walked together towards the house as he explained, "I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. The little troublemaker all the fuss has been about." The door opened and Hayley came out on the porch with Hope in her arms as Klaus walked up the steps to join her, and face the blonde human while Elijah and Rhea watched adoringly from inside the house, "Camille, this is Hope."

     Cami looked absolutely stunned, her eyes widened and mouth dropped in shock as she looked in between Klaus and Hayley in confusion before turning her focus back on Hope, "Oh my God!" She gasped in wonder at the baby in front of her, "But—you said—I thought she was—?" She stammered.

     Klaus didn't take his eyes off his daughter as he explained, "The only way to truly protect her was to convince the world of her death." Hayley only offered a smile but Klaus looked awkward as he turned back to Cami, "I hope you understand, once it is safe for you to leave here, this secret cannot leave with you."

     Cami only nodded in understanding, she was only ecstatic at the revelation that Hope was alive, smiling at her with tears in her eyes while she walked past him to get a better look at the baby. Hope grabbed onto her finger and cooed at her, making Cami and Hayley both giggle, "Oh, she's perfect!" She gasped again, making them all smile at how loved that baby was already.

     Klaus then placed a hand on Cami's waist, "Come. We have much to discuss."

     They walked inside the house and Rhea walked over to Cami and pulled her into a hug, "I'm really glad you're okay." Rhea told her, having been nervous about leaving since she found out Esther was planning on using her for a spell with Finn's help.

     "Same to you, too." Cami said also into the hug. While she and Rhea weren't exactly the closest of friends, they were friends that cared about each other regardless and in their world, they needed all the friends they could get.

     Elijah smiled at them, as did Klaus before he cleared his throat to discuss their next move against their family, "Now that we've entombed our mother, I intend to finish making the city safe for Hope. Which, to start, means dealing with the lingering problem of Finn."

     Cami sighed as she pulled away from Rhea to frown at him, "Once he figures out what you've done to your mother, he's gonna go off the deep end."

     Rhea only made a disapproved face at the fact that they had to resort to such means to get Esther's relentlessness to stop, but it didn't mean she felt bad for the woman. She had made her bed and her children only retaliated in the way they knew they could get their point across; which resulted in Esther being turned into a vampire and being trapped in a tomb for all time.

     Klaus nodded in agreement, "That's exactly why we need to keep you out of harm's way." He said, "Hayley and I will return home and take care of my wayward brother. Elijah and Rhea will remain here with you." Cami and Rhea smiled at each other excitedly while Elijah only peered out the window. Klaus smirked in amusement as he teased, "He's been experiencing some side effects since his ordeal as our mother's captive. Best he stay here and convalesce."

     Elijah gave Klaus an offended look, clearly feeling patronised by him, "A single violent outburst at a filthy road-side café, and one never hears the end of it."

     Rhea pecked him on the cheek, "She can help us. Just give her a chance." She pleaded softly and he gave her a relenting sigh which made her smile.

     Klaus cleared his throat to try and get their attention away from each other and back to him, "Well, if you excuse me, I best be on my way! Rebekah should have already woken up in the body of Angelica Barker. Once she has cut the ties of Miss Barker's former life, she'll make her way directly here." He smiled at them, "You should expect her shortly."

     He and Hayley then left, not without saying goodbye to Hope who had been passed into Rhea's arms.

     Cami and Elijah were looking at each other awkwardly and Rhea only exhaled a deep breath knowing she would have her work cut out for her to get them to bond.

     "Sooo.... shots?"

      Elijah was leaving Rebekah another of many voicemails in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room while Rhea and Cami looked through  the kitchen cabinets for something to drink. Rhea spots a bottle of bourbon and took it off the shelf to show the human girl, whose eyes brightened and she yelled, "Yahtzee!" She laughed happily which made Rhea laugh herself.

     "If there's one thing I've learned about being around the Mikaelsons, it's that there's always a bottle of booze around." The Lockwood hybrid informed her, shaking her head, which made Cami laugh as she looked in another cabinet for glasses.

     Cami then looked back to Elijah, "You want one?"

     Elijah only smiled condescendingly, "And then I suppose we have another, and another, perhaps another after that, another after that... I find myself opening up to you, or 'baring my damaged soul' as it were." He said sarcastically, making quotation marks.

     Cami and Rhea looked at each other and the hybrid only said, "Ignore him. He's in a mood. Klaus' comment pissed him off." She brushed off and Cami laughed at how much of a married couple they were already before she turned to her soulmate, "And you need to not be so rude. It's not her fault Rebekah's not calling you back."

     Cami took out three tumblers and sat down on the couch in the living room while Rhea sat beside her with the bottle of bourbon in hand, "Esther must've really did a number on you guys, didn't she?" She asked and Rhea only hummed in agreement. The blonde then turned to Elijah, "Has it ever occurred to you that I'm less interested in fixing your problems and more interested in forgetting my own? I mean, I'm basically in a supernatural witness protection program because your psychotic brother—who, by the way, I practically had to seduce—wants me dead. So, yeah, booze and board games is pretty much where I'm at right now."

     "Cheers to that." Rhea stated as she poured the drinks for them, making a disgusted face at the idea of Cami trying to seduce Finn, while Elijah sat down across from them in an armchair that was closest to Rhea, watching as the human girl pulled out Trivial Pursuit and set it on the coffee table.

     Elijah rolled his eyes at them as Cami pulled out one of the game cards and read it aloud, "Here's a question—what was the name of Don Quixote's horse?"

     "This is absurd." Elijah muttered and Rhea sent him a harsh glare.

     Cami let out a frustrated sigh and set down the trivia card before intentionally changing the subject, "Fine. Dumb idea. How're the dreams about killing your soulmate? They seem fun. Got any sleep lately?" She asked while she casually sipped her drink, knowing she had him beat.

     Rhea turned to look at him expectantly, realising he had slightly lied to her about what he was picturing despite never really telling her—and he hadn't said a thing when she practically cried to him about her dreams the night before. "Go on." Rhea urged, crossing her arms.

     Elijah sighed in defeat, knowing he only had two options: answer Cami's question and tell Rhea about the dreams he's had about brutally murdering her or playing the stupid game, "Rocinante." He answered and Cami gave him a puzzled look. Elijah sighed again, "The horse's name is Rocinante."

     "We'll talk about this later." Rhea said quietly, loud enough to let Elijah hear but quiet enough that Cami could not. He only grabbed the bottle of bourbon and poured himself a glass, causing Cami to smile.

     The three of them continued to play the came and Cami was quickly reading off card after card, frustrated that Elijah knew the correct answer to every question she asked.

     "What three European countries begin with the letter 'A'?" She asked.

     "Albania, Austria, Andorra." Elijah answered with boredom.

     "Agh!" Cami made a frustrated noise and threw the card aside while Elijah made himself another drink while Rhea observed with amusement, "Okay, hey! Who was the only U.S. president to earn a Ph.D?"

     "The rather tedious, Woodrow Wilson." Elijah answered without hesitation and Cami groaned again as she searched for another question in the stack of cards.

     "Told you we should've played UNO." Rhea muttered.

     "Then that would've really made me mad—I know you two wouldn't play fair." Cami said and Rhea chuckled, knowing she was right. UNO was war when she played growing up. Cami then picked up another card, "Who rode Secretary to the Triple Crown in 1973–"

     "Ron Turket." Elijah cut her off.

     "No! I refuse to believe that you just happened to know that!" Cami, frustrated beyond relief, threw up her hands in exasperation and in her excitement and drunkenness, she accidentally spilled Elijah's drink onto the table, splattering bourbon onto his shirt sleeve. When she sees the mess she made, she immediately started to apologise, laughing innocently, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Elijah. Here."

     She handed him a hand towel to clean himself up, which he took to blot the alcohol from his shirt while she started looking through the game cards. Cami turned back to her game while Rhea watched as he began to furiously scrub his sleeve despite it being practically gone, concern filling her, "Elijah? Are you okay?" She asked but he didn't answer her, "Hey, Elijah—"

     She reached out to touch his hand, but Elijah quickly grabs her by the wrist to stop her and she froze, her eyes widening in alarm and fear as she saw flashes of the Elijah she dreamt about before they returned back to normal and he gently set her arm down, "I'm not as fragile as my brother suggests." He told her and Rhea brought her wrist back to her chest closely to rub her wrist while Cami watched the interaction awkwardly from the side.

     Rhea only gulped, swallowing the thickness in her throat and in turn, her fear. The two of them watching each other guilty that their fear of each other was consuming them and Esther was getting her way until Elijah's phone rang. He cleared his throat and quickly answered it, thinking it's his sister finally, "Rebekah, where on Earth are you?" He asked and paused while he listened to the voice on the other end, "I see. No, I must have been dialing the wrong number. Forgive me."

     He then hung up the phone, looking distressed, "What's wrong?" Rhea asked, "Who was that?"

     "It's not Rebekah. She's missing." He informed her vaguely and Rhea's eyes widened, "I need to call Niklaus." He says dialling Klaus' number instantly, who picked up after a few rings and putting the call on speaker, "Rebekah's gone."

     "What do you mean she's gone?" Klaus asked back snappily, clearly stressed by the information.

     "I just received a call from Angelica Barker, who is still very much herself." Elijah explained further and Rhea's eyes widened again at the information, realising that Kol must've pulled a fast one on them.

     "Stay where you are. I'll handle it." Klaus then hung up the phone while Elijah was left looking angry.

Elijah was looking out the window of the living room a few hours later when Rhea walked into the room, completely unaware that he was in the midst of a flashback of his dream about chasing Rhea down a hallway, where he is covered in blood—her blood—and she had wounds all over her.

"Hey." She softly called out to him, "I wanted to apologise. If it wasn't for me, Rebekah wouldn't be lost; I told you to trust Kol with this and he played us and I'm sorry." She said to him but she didn't get any verbal response, he only began to hyperventilate and gasp for breath.

"Elijah?" Rhea called out again as she walked closer to him, "Elijah, are you okay? Hey..." She reached out her hand to gently touch his shoulder, but he turned and swatted her away, his vampire face coming out as he looked at her.

Rhea jumped back, flinching away and realised that it was no longer her Elijah that she was interacting with and she began to step back away from him while Elijah tried to control himself, "Elijah?" She called out to him, gulping, "Elijah, listen to my voice. It's me."

He didn't listen to her and only stalked towards her, "Oh, shit." She whispered to herself until she felt her back press up against the wall, cornered by him, "Elijah, please! Wake up, dammit!"

He snarled at her and grabbed her by the throat and she gasped for air at how tightly he was gripping her, trying to shove his hands off of her, kicking him off, sending him flying across the room while she dropped to the floor on her hands and knees

Cami then walked into the room and Rhea's eyes widened in fear of her safety as Elijah's attention turned to her, "Cami, go!" She shouted at her before running at Elijah to tackle him to the ground to keep him away from her before she quickly snapped his neck, momentarily rendering him unconscious. Rhea let out a shaky breath as she peeled off of him and retreated to the corner, bringing her knees to her chest, trying to calm herself down, her heartbeat racing from fear and adrenaline; unsure if she was living in real life or a nightmare.

     Rhea was playing with Hope in another room when Elijah woke up, staying as far away from him as she still needed to process everything that had just happened. He gave her space because that was what she needed at the time and she would come to him when she was ready. Instead, he called his brother while he stood on the porch, "I need you to trust me. I can handle finding Rebekah." Klaus told him after he had pleaded him to let him help.

     Elijah sighed, "Brother, you are asking me to do nothing." He said, turning his head back to the window where he could sense Rhea was watching him, seeing her holding Hope in her arms before she let the curtain go again, the fabric shielding her from him and she walked away from the window again making him sigh.

      "Elijah, right now, the most important thing is that you are there, protecting Hope." Klaus explained, "And repairing your relationship. I will not have you drive away another woman—especially not your own soulmate. I've grown to like her like my own sister."

Elijah sighed once more, "I should've known it was you that told Camille about the nightmares."

"She can help you, brother." Klaus told him, "Just trust her to."

"So be it." Elijah agreed and Cami tried to sneak onto the porch without Elijah noticing while Rhea watched from the window again cautiously in case he where to have another episode and she would have to step in, "I shall remain here with the... hopelessly courageous Camille. She certainly has charisma, though she does lack stealth." He smiled and turned around to see Cami standing there, listening to them speak, "Let me call you back."

Elijah then hung up the phone and approached Cami, who was visibly nervous after seeing the fight between him and Rhea, and how scared the hybrid was after it, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just thought you left."

Rhea only held Hope closer to her as she watched, placing a hand on the back of her head to gently push her further into her neck, the baby snuggling into her arms easily as if there wasn't a care in the world despite the fact her aunt was worried out of her mind.

"I owe you an apology." Elijah stated, also saying to Rhea who he knew was listening, "You shouldn't of had to see what you did. My sister's missing, my family's in jeopardy, my soulmate is terrified of me, I am... uh, utterly powerless to help them. This is not a state of affairs I'm accustomed to." Cami only stared at him, still slightly scared, as he stepped closer to her, smiling uncomfortably, "Perhaps I'm not weathering this ordeal as well as one would hope." He stopped talking, not sure what to say next, and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Forgive me."

Cami considered his apology a moment before smiling at him, "If you ever want to talk about it... it's kind of what I do." She said and the two smiled at each other, finally at ease, and Cami lead them both back into the house while Rhea turned her attention back to her niece, pressing a kiss to her head.