Chapter 23

In St. Anne's church, Elijah was hiding while Marcel was talking to the young witch, Davina. 

"Good news, Little D. I'm moving you out this pile of dust." Marcel announced. 

"Are you serious? When?" Davina exclaimed happily. 

"Tonight. I just need to lock in the arrangements. How's our Original?" He gestured towards Elijah's coffin but Davina stopped him, telling him she had a spell in progress. "Bet you do. Pack up, 'kay? Only what you wanna take. I'll buy ya anything else you need." 

"Okay." Davina said, feigning excitement. 

"You didn't reveal that I was awake." Elijah said, surprise after he appeared from behind the corner. 

"We're not done talking yet!" Davina said, with a small shy smile. 

"You and Marcel seem very close." Elijah observed, picking up the violin he had inspected earlier. He happily started to fix it, while still listening to Davina. 

"Marcel's my family." Davina shrugged it off. 

"And yet Marcel is someone who delights in harming the witches. Those people, I would think, you would consider family. This doesn't trouble you?" Elijah asked with a small frown. 

"No. They deserve it." Davina angrily said. 

"Why would you say that?" 

"'Cause they're liars. All of them." With that, she started to tell him about the Harvest. "hey made me and my friends do this Harvest ritual. They said our participation would bring our family strength, health... that we'd forever be celebrated as saviors of the community. But all they really wanted was more power. So, I left before they could get it. Now, they're running out of time, because after the Harvest, comes the Reaping. And if they don't complete the Harvest, there won't be a Reaping. Soon, all the witches in the Quarter will start to lose their power. Eventually, they will cease to be witches altogether."

"So what does it take to complete this ritual?" Elijah asked. 

"I have to die." Davina explained. 

Davina started packing her suitcase, while Elijah kept fiddling around with the violin. "So, enlighten me. What did you mean when you said you had to die?"

"That's what the Harvest was. They said they'd put us four girls in a state of, like, peaceful limbo as part of the offering. And then later, at the Reaping, we'd awaken and be reborn. I never got as far as the limbo part, which means the Harvest isn't complete. That's why the witches are so freaked out. The Reaping is just around the corner, and if they don't finish it before then, it's over. All I have to do is wait it out." 

"And then what?"

"They're punished, and I'm free." 

"From magic?" Elijah guessed. 

"Of magic. All our power will drain away. I'll be normal." Davina smiled. 

"Is that what you want? To be normal?" Elijah asked. 

"I just don't wanna be what I am. I can't control it sometimes. Magic. I..." She began to cry. "...hurt people. Even when I don't mean to." 

"Why don't you tell me about your friends? You must miss them." Elijah said, sitting patiently. 

"There's Tim. He doesn't know about any of this witch stuff. He's normal. My best friend, Monique. She was a part of the Harvest too. She's lucky. No one ever fought for me, but someone fought for her. The only one who ever spoke out against the Harvest was Monique's aunt." 

"And who is that?"

"Sophie Deveraux." A voice said. 

Elijah smiled at it and Davina looked confused. 

"Who are you?" Davina asked. 

"I'm sorry, I am Adelaide Ackelson." 

"Soon to be Mikealson." Elijah added. 

Adelaide snorted. "My, my... jumping to conclusions? It is not because I carry your child, babe, that I become your wife all of a sudden." 

"Carry his child?" Davina asked. 

Adelaide leaned against the door. "Yes, I am with child- his child. Care to invite me in, love?" 

"Come in." Davina said, a bit starled at it all. "I'm sorry, are you a Vampire?" 

"How is it that you're a witch and none of you know me? I am the only Vampire-Witch Hybrid. Anyway, tell me more about Sophie, please." 

"Right. No one but Sophie ever questioned the Harvest. Not even my own mother. So, neither did I. We thought it was such an honor, we had such faith. We were so stupid." 

"You weren't stupid, love. You were lied to, manipulated. It wasn't your fault." Adelaide offered, sitting next to Elijah on the small armrest of the chair he sat on. 

"So, how did it begin?" Elijah asked. 

"We were led out like princesses. My mother was so proud." She took a breath as her eyes glazed over, it was clear she was lost in memory to the two lovers. "Bastiana, one of the elders, called upon the four elements to bind our past and future magic together. Earth, to connect us to our ancestors. Water, to heal the community. Wind, to carry us to our ancestors and back. Fire, to purify. After all our preparation, we knew exactly what to expect. For weeks, they told us that the magic in the knife they used to cut our palms would put us to sleep, and that later at the Reaping, we would all be resurrected. They said we'd awaken, and all be together and more powerful than ever. And it was just like we rehearsed it. All that was left was a little cut on our palms for the blood sacrifice." 

"Even after Sophie tried to stop it, we didn't suspect anything." Davina spat out. "They asked if we had faith, the first girl nodded and she held out her wrist like we rehearsed. Instead, they slid her throat. We got up and started yelling, we screamed, kicked and cried. No one would listen, my own mother looked the other way." 

"Everyone involved in the ritual knew that this would happen." Elijah said, appaled by it all. 

"Except the four of us. They weren't putting us to sleep, they were slaughtering us!" Davina went on with her story. "I begged for someone to help. My own mother turned away from me. Sophie screamed and screamed for her sister, anyone, to do something. But no one did."

"And yet, you survived. Therefore, someone or something intervened."

"Yes. Someone finally did." 

"Marcel did." Adelaide realised. 

"They killed Cassie and even Monique, I was last and Marcel intercepted by then. He saved me. Every girl who died released her power on to the next. When I was the last one, I suddenly had all of it-- all the power that was supposed to be released back into the earth to appease our ancestors." 

"So... the Harvest was actually working?" Adelaide asked. 

"Something was working. And I knew that I was supposed to be killed so the Harvest could be completed and we would all be resurrected. But, they lied to us about how they were killing us. How do I know they weren't lying to us about coming back?" She paused a beat. "But mostly, I just didn't want to die. So, I let him save me. Marcel saved my life."

Elijah, later, handed over the violin he had fixed. "You may return this now to its rightful owner. It's restored." 

"I don't even know if I'll see him again." Davina said, sadly. 

Davina let the room shake after she was overwhelmed by the many emotions she was feeling. The three look around, woriedly and winced as the shutters burst as the shakings stopped. 

"Davina, this power that you contain, drawn from your fallen friends—- it's too much for you. You need control, which requires study and practice. Now, my mother was a very powerful witch. She left behind her grimoires, a legacy of books filled with spells. These books contain all of the tools that you might need to control your magic. If you free me from here, I can share them with you. However, if you leave now with Marcel, we'll never see each other again, and I cannot find you, and I can't help you." Elijah said. 

"Yes. Hell, I'll even give you some of my own spells." Adelaide offered. "As long as you don't leave." 

"The witches manipulated me. You know how that ended." 

"This is not manipulation. This is one thing in exchange for another. I'm offering you a deal." 

Later, the three were sitting around and Adelaide was showing Davina some easy stuff. When Marcel could be heard, Adelaide quickly left and Elijah went back to his coffin. 

They left but not even that much later, they returned. "Elijah?" Davina called out after Marcel left. 

Elijah came out of hiding. "I'm pleased you stayed."

"You'll keep your promise about your mother's spell book?" Davina asked, as Adelaide walked back in. "What about your girlfriend?" 

"Fiancée." Elijah corrected. 

"Girlfriend. And yes, I will keep my promise." 

" I will. You know, difficulties aside, I value my family above everything. I am sorry that yours failed you" 

"Your brother Klaus handed you to Marcel in a box, yet you still don't give up on him?" Davina asked. 

"Well, I've given up on giving up. It's an affliction. I will fight for my family until my last breath." 

"And I'll fight the witches until mine." Davina vowed.