Elyse wasn’t saying anything. Her eyes were widened, and what he presumed was horror was present in her features. Elijah ducked his head, his teeth gritted almost painfully. Then calloused fingers brushed against his cheek, and it was time for his eyes to widen, though in surprise.
At her question, he exhaled shakily, taking her warm hand in his cold one, looking at it and trying to rub the blood from her fingers.
“Because they were of your ages when Maverick killed you. Well, not you. The others,” Elijah replied in a rather shaky voice. “When I first Turned, I acted up each time a vampire hurt a child. It always reminded me of you all, and Lilith always strikes where it hurts the most. Then I realized feeling isn’t an option, that the best thing to do is to enjoy what I’m doing, rather than give her the opportunity to exploit weaknesses.”
"Do you enjoy it? Don't lie to me either Elijah, tell me truthfully." She asked quietly, almost afraid to hear his answer. It would be stupid to think he might not, it was in his nature anyway, but she hoped he didn't. Normally knowing vampires enjoyed draining humans of their blood didn't bother her, it was what they did, but thinking that they could enjoy draining and killing innocent kids was something that made her uneasy.
Elyse watched as he attempted to rub the blood off her fingers, succeeding other than the reddish stain it left. As soon as he had wiped it away though, she gently pulled her hand away and reached up to wipe more of the blood off his face. It reminded her too much of what Maverick's face had looked like in her memory after he had drained the blood from her friends. That flash of memory was one that she saw often in her nightmares, mostly because it was one of the only things she remembered from that night.
Elijah closed his eyes as Elyse touched his face, taking in the warmth of her hand. Because he was a vampire, his skin was always cold. It felt nice being able to touch something warm, especially when it was Elyse providing it to him.
"Do you enjoy it? Don't lie to me, either, Elijah. Tell me truthfully."
With the way Elyse spoke, Elijah could practically taste the fear from her words. His eyes slowly opened and he swallowed, though not from nervousness, and locked eyes with hers.
"I don't enjoy killing children," he answered truthfully without any hesitation, and his next words didn't make him feel ashamed. Guilty, maybe, but no shame. "Adults, though… I don't have a problem with. Does that make you afraid, Elyse?"
"I..I don't really know. Yes, but at the same time no, because I know you would never hurt me, Eli." Elyse looked up at him, staring into his mismatched eyes as she answered using his nickname, "Being a vampire means you need to feed and kill, and I would prefer you do it on adults rather than children that have done nothing wrong. At least adults have done enough things wrong to deserve it."
Her hand was stained with more blood each time she wiped more off her face, though she was sure to wipe it off on her pants leg before going to wipe more off his face. It left a dark patch on her thigh, the blood leaving smudges that were quite dark on the pale gray of her pants. She tried to keep her movements gentle, especially as her thumb ran over his bottom lip when she wiped away the blood from around his mouth.
"You're the one thing in this world that I've learned to hate since birth, the one thing that I'm supposed to be afraid of because of your bloodlust. But if I'm telling the truth, I'm not scared of you Elijah, I'm not afraid of you as much as I am any other vampire."
At first, at her words, Elijah felt frozen. Speechless, even. He had really been bracing himself for clear rejection, or maybe some of her teammates to pop up and drive a stake through his heart. Elyse was supposed to think she was saving him from a life of damnation, but instead, she was accepting him. His vampire needs and everything — she was accepting him. And even though she still feared him, it felt good to know she didn't think the same of him as other vampires.
When her thumb brushed against his mouth, he grasped her hand and held it against him, closing his eyes again and stepping closer. He pulled her into his arms, buried his face in her shoulder, and breathed her in. Once. Twice, until his senses were intoxicated by her scent.
"I could never hurt you. That's the last thing I want, and I would do anything to keep it from happening," he murmured, his hand behind her head. "That's why… that's why I have to kill Lilith before it can ever come to that."
Elyse wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but she let him step closer without stepping away. Then his arms circled around her and she was being hugged. She was frozen for a second but then quickly returned the hug. Her grip tightened when he started talking again, not moving her head from where it was resting on his chest.
"I'll help you get rid of her, kill her, whatever you need help with," Elyse answered, her voice quiet but firm as she relaxed against him, "You won't be able to do it on your own." Knowing what he said about Lilith being able to control him would be a problem if he tried to kill her on his own, and it would most likely end up with him being dead for good this time. She refused to let that happen. Elyse would do anything in her power to keep him safe she decided then and there, he wouldn't die as long as she was around.
Elijah's smile was a little dry. He knew she'd say that, and he had been relying on her help. But now… now he wasn't so sure. If they failed, she'd make Elijah kill Elyse. He couldn't let that happen. He refused to let that happen.
"I knew you'd say that," he murmured, tightening his grip. "But I'm afraid I can't let you. She's a monster. I can find the perfect opportunity myself. I just want you to know that if there's a chance I don't succeed… you can tame monsters. Not just for extracting weapons, but also to have them fight for you. It's the same way a monster works for vampires. You can even form a contract, the way you do for a demon. But that is dangerous, so you need to be careful."
He pulled away and gently cupped her cheeks. "I'm really glad I got to see you again, Elyse," he said softly. "You have to survive. Don't do anything stupid. And protect yourself better."
Learning that they could tame monsters was something completely new to Elyse, though she was sure that the rebellion would love to get their hands on that information. No matter how dangerous, they would try everything to tame monsters and use them to help defeat vampires. And yet Elijah was telling it to her like it was no more important than talking about the weather.
It almost made her forget completely about what he said about her not being able to help. Almost.
"You can't stop me from helping you Elijah, I'm not going to let you go into there alone." Elyse looked into his eyes, resting her hands on top of his and making sure he could see that she wasn't letting him leave without talking about this further. She wasn't going to let this conversation drop just like that, no way. "Not after just telling me you are going to willingly try to kill the vampire who can get inside your head and control you. You'll die without my help, and I'm not letting you die as long as I'm around, not again."
(Sorry for the extremely late reply. Today was… well, it was a rough day. I'll try to speed up my responses, though. Sorry again!)
Elijah tilted his head to the side, returning the eye-contact. His eyes fell on their hands at first, then back to her eyes, where they remained. He pursed his lips. He should have known she wouldn't let him do this alone. It was amusing; he was one of the strongest vampires, yet he needed help with killing his leader, whose only greatest gift was the Blood Link.
"And how are you even going to do that? If I accept your help, and we get caught, who do you think will be ordered to kill you?" Elijah's gaze was stern, but his voice was harsh. It wasn't controlled, not like usual. "There are certain times where I can disobey her and get away with it, but I can't do anything against direct commands."
(It's alright, I understand!)
"Then we don't get caught," She started, a sharp edge to her words even as she kept them more controlled than his, "That's what we'll plan to do for now. If that doesn't work..we'll deal with that." Elyse knew she would die if it came to it, to save Elijah's life, even at his hands, but right now was not the time to bring that up. At least that was clear.
Even if her words weren't soft, her actions were as she stepped away just enough for his hands to drop from her face and onto her shoulders. It made it much easier to focus on making a plan and arguing with Elijah that way, instead of focusing on his hands cupping her cheeks.
"We're going to do this Eli, I'm going to help you break your bond with Lilith. Even if I don't know how exactly yet. One way or another."
Elijah, silently, looked her over. Perhaps he was memorizing her features, more so because he didn't get to do that last time—before Maverick had mercilessly broken them apart. He didn't want to forget a single detail again.
"There's only one way I'll allow you to help me with this," Elijah finally spoke, squeezing her shoulders a little before he pulled away entirely. The warmth was rather unfamiliar. "If we fail, you fight back, or you run. Do not, under any circumstances, let me kill you. I'll try my hardest to prevent that from happening. If I feel as though you're not prepared to protect yourself, I will leave you behind."
"And I will only follow those rules if you promise me that you won't stop me if I do something stupid to free you from the blood bond or to kill Lilith," She countered. Elyse didn't like the fact that he would willingly leave her behind if it came to it, even if it was because she couldn't protect herself. Her eyes flicked over his face as he let go of her, then she looked to the ground and her boots.
"If you leave me behind you know it won't change anything Eli," She whispered, knowing he could most likely hear it, "But I'll follow those rules, and if you leave me behind, I'll just find some other way to save you." With that whisper, she knew it was getting close to when she would have to leave, to keep everyone from worrying and coming to look for her.
Elijah’s ears perked up upon hearing her whispered words. His eyes narrowed slightly.
“If I believe you’re going to do something stupid, I’ll be stopping you,” he said slowly, crossing his arms. “I will not risk you dying.”
Then he followed her gaze, past the path she came in. He knew she needed to go; if she stayed too long, her team would be suspicious.
Elijah stiffened. Her team. Right, she’d had to leave her team behind if she wanted to help him. They would, clearly, never willingly help a vampire either way.
“What will you tell your team?”
Elyse didn't answer right away. Trying to come up with a convincing lie to fool her team would be tough, and she didn't want to deal with the consequences if they found out. She knew what her solution to that would be, but she wondered what Elijah would think.
"I'm not going to tell them anything," She said simply, looking back up at him and watching his face for any hint of what he thought, "If they found out I was lying, I would face terrible consequences, so instead, I'm going to continue working with them. Plant a plan about trying to take over Lilith's coven..then I just go missing. They should assume I was taken, that information leaked somehow, and then even if we fail, they'll be set on a strong path to defeat her themselves."
Elijah leaned against a tree as he listened to her plan, and mulled it over. He didn’t know what to think of it, especially since he didn’t know just how well Elyse could lie. Her plan was okay, but it had faults. He didn’t think rebels like her knew about coven leaders; the fact that she knew about Maverick at all would have been surprising. She didn’t even know he was the vampire the rebellion had been set on hunting until she actually met him. He didn’t want her walking into danger where there was barely any way out.
“Do you think they’re suspicious of you?” he asked instead of responding to her plan. “You somehow knew about Maverick, which in return led to his death, and allowed the humans to take over his manor. You know certain bits of information you’re not supposed to. What if they think of you as a traitor, Elyse, and you may never be free again?”
"The shouldn't be suspicious of me..they knew about my hatred of Maverick." Her own words didn't comfort her though, instead if planted doubt in her. Maybe they did think she was suspicious. Elyse shook her head, pushing past the thoughts and continuing, "If they think I'm a traitor, then the punishment is worse than never being free again." The rebellion hated traitors, she knew that for certainty. Vampire sympathizers were not tolerated, and punishment was almost always death, to keep any secrets about the organization leaking out.
She didn't like thinking about things like that, especially since now she was actively breaking multiple rebellion rules just by talking to Elijah. So she shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts from her head as she shifted on her feet and looked up to him again.
"What do you think I should tell them? Since I obviously can't tell them the truth."
Elijah clenched and unclenched his jaw, then closed his eyes to think. There were different tactics they could use to prevent the rebellion from being suspicious, but it was Elyse's ability to lie and deceit that he was worried about. As a child, she'd been absolutely horrible, though he wasn't any better. A memory flashed in his mind, that one time they got caught for something by a vampire, and the way they lied so terribly, it was a miracle the vampire had believed them. Over the years, though, he'd perfected lying; it was like second nature to lie and not even bat an eyelash. Had Elyse improved as well, or was she the same?
A little idea formed in his head, though it was bloody and brutal and he didn't think Elyse would like it. His brain was hardwired on violence, though, so for him, it was just a bloody idea. It wasn't anything big, but it didn't take a genius to know she would be against it.
"I think I may have an idea, but you won't find yourself liking it," he finally said, opening his eyes and tilting his head to the side. The memory that had been bothering him slowly slipped back in its cage, but the laughter was still ringing in his ears.
"I don't think me liking the idea is something we have time to argue or talk over," Elyse admitted, watching him carefully, "What's your idea Eli?" Her blue eyes wandered over his face, taking in how much he had changed since the day they had been caught so many years ago. He had grown up clearly, and she subtly tried to remember what he now looked like incase anything went wrong.
She knew that her original plan wasn't the best option, seeing as her lying skills were quite weak and the plan itself relied on her telling a believable lie. Misleading anyone with a lie really wasn't something she liked doing, though working with the rebellion had strengthened her skills slightly. Any plan that didn't require them trusting her lying skills wasn't a good option A, so she knew that deep down, however much she disliked his plan, it would give them a much better plan to go with.
Elijah tried to gauge her reaction. He knew she wouldn't like what she'd hear, and he knew she realized that, too. But he really couldn't think of anything better. He didn't want to go into many details, however. It was better carried out than thoughtfully explained.
"Let's just say a vampire from Lilith's coven will attack," he replied, referring to himself when he referred to 'a vampire.' "He'll leave them wounded, assuming they're dead. The survivors would make it back to base, and…"
He trailed off, shrugging. The rest was fairly simple. They'd make it back to base and share what had happened. Elijah was one of their top vampires to eliminate, and Lilith had never outwardly sent any of her vampires on such a hunt like this. She'd only ever sent them out in battles against human rebels. It would allegedly be an act of war, which would ultimately convince them to lead a battle against Lilith herself.
He was right when he had said she wouldn't like the plan. Even just his brief explanation was horrible. Elyse listened to what he said though, taking a deep breath as he finished. "And then the rebellion will join the fight." She hated the thought of having to let some of her teammates die for this, especially at Elijah's hands, but she wanted to free him more. "How do I work into this? If I go back to the base with the survivors, I won't be able to meet up with you again." She thought over the plan again, playing with the sleeve of her jacket-formerly Elijah's jacket- as she thought.
If this part of the plan went smoothly and he wanted her to be with the survivors to get back to base, she was sure that she would never be able to leave the base without someone else at her side. That wasn't something she liked at all.
Elijah watched her fumble with his jacket—well, it wasn't his jacket anymore, and it was pretty obvious— and felt a bit of… pride? It was a weird feeling, one that erupted from his chest and traveled to the rest of his body. It wasn't something he had much experience with, but it was also a familiar feeling. He couldn't recognize it, though. When he realized he hadn't replied to her yet, he quickly looked away and instead focused his attention on a tree.
"You won't be with the survivors," he responded slowly, then looked back at her. "I'd rather not hurt you, Elyse. You'll be at your base, but I'm sure they'll call you in during the meeting. Or they'd assign you to the job themselves."
Then another thought entered his mind. "Or I could take you."
Her head flicked back up with his first statement and she was clearly about to protest. There was no way she would just sit back and watch her team get hurt just to get the rebellion swept up in things. Elyse would go to extreme lengths to get Elijah free from Lilith, but having to know she would send people into a death trap was almost too much.
"Or I could take you."
His words echoed in her mind. "What would I have to do to get that idea to work?" Elyse asked slowly. Being taken with him seemed like a much better way to be able to help, plus the rebellion would go to farther lengths to get her back, especially if they thought she would be tortured for information. She was already much more of a fan of that idea, as long as it wouldn't be too much more work.
Elijah pursed his lips once he regained her attention, knowing she wouldn't want her team injured. He didn't even know why she was doing this. It was his fault, his mess, his owner. Lilith was his to kill, and she was his responsibility more than anything. He didn't want to bring her into it, especially if the worst-case scenario was Lilith's punishment. He clenched and unclenched his jaw.
"Not much," he finally answered, exhaling an unnecessary breath. "Just be out with your team. And… don't try to mask your emotions."
The worst thing was, both situations would get her to fear him. Elijah wasn't a dangerous vampire for no reason. He was cruel, he was sadistic, and he enjoyed it—to an extent. He knew what he'd have to do to be able to 'kidnap' her, and he also knew it would probably make her hate him. He really wished he hadn't known she was still alive.
But that was a lie.
"I can do that," She agreed, trying not to think too hard about what she was agreeing to, "Just…don't kill more than you need to for this to work, ok?" Elyse knew it would be hard knowing any of her team's deaths were specifically her fault, but the less that were going to die, the better. It would make it easier on her, knowing she did something.
Thinking further into the topic was making the idea harder to stomach, and she tried to think of other things. Like how soon she would have to leave, to keep Westly from coming out to look for her. She didn't think it would be a good idea for him to see her talking to Elijah. He was the only friend she really had in the base, and even if he promised not to tell, he would still not talk to her.
"I should get back now, before anyone gets suspicious," Elyse finally said, dragging herself back to the present and looking up at Elijah again, "I can't give you an exact date for when to look for me and a team, but just keep your eyes out, I'll try to get one out soon."
If Elijah could, he’d really avoid killing anyone. Not for himself, though. As long the ones at the receiving end weren’t children or innocent people, he didn’t care. But this time, it was for Elyse. He couldn’t kill her teammates. He could smell her fear as well as slight hesitancy, so he gave a slow nod his head. He understood her needs.
At her next words, he turned to look at where she’d have to leave, then looked at the blood on her hands and pants.
“You have blood on you,” he said, and instantly felt guilty. She had innocent blood on her. He should have really not let her so close.
