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CHAPTER 42: BURDEN TO BEAR

❝ who put us here? ❞

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BODIES NEVER STAYED BURIED IN NEW ORLEANS. The dead seemed to roam together in boxes above the ground. Family tombs crack open when someone passes on. Old bones are shoved aside to make room for fresh remains. Bloodlines rot and decay. The houses are that way as well. Layer upon layer of peeling paint that hides little tragedies. Scorch marks from the fires. Water lines on wallpaper. These are the tombs of the living where we rot alongside memories of the dead. Crowded with people we have failed and those who have failed us. We are forced to struggle with those we love.

Enola woke to complete and utter silence. She remembers locking herself in her art studio and cracking open an expensive bottle of wine after the funeral. She had changed into a blue sweater with black leggings and uggs before settling in front of an easel. She still wore that very outfit when she rolled out of bed to take a look around. She had heard light chatter coming from the foyer and had gone to investigate. She was in for a surprise when she found Rebekah and Klaus in a tight embrace. That is when Kol suddenly fell into the room—naked.

"I was in Corsica drowning my sorrows about Hayley when I suddenly dropped." Rebekah hummed. "What I wouldn't give to spend just a decade without being dragged into a godforsaken Chambre de Chasse."

Rebekah popped open a vintage bottle of wine when Kol entered the room again. He was in the middle of tugging a shirt over his head as she went to pour herself a glass of wine. She frowned when she realized it was empty before angrily setting it back on the small table beside the wine glass. Could this day get any worse? Probably. She just didn't want to jinx herself.

"I suppose you were at a board meeting," Klaus joked, eyeing Kol in a teasing manner.

"I was waiting for my darling wife to come home from work. I was once again ripped from complete contentment for this." Kol huffed, eyeing Klaus in an accusatory manner. "I suppose I will ask the obvious—piss off any witches lately?"

"Actually," Klaus began snarkily. "Our current enemies are a group of hatemongers who see all hybrids as abominations to the vampire race."

"The bigoted undead," Enola sighed.

"That is new," Rebekah scoffed. "They must have a witch for hire."

"A witch that's spent enough time here to replicate every detail," Kol muttered, lifting the bottle of wine off the coffee table with furrowed brows. "This is the same Cheval Blanc Elijah had imported from France seventy years ago."

"The culprit may be closer to home," A familiar voice sounded. Freya. She descended the stairs with poise as she spoke calmly. Like she was unfazed by this turn of events. "A witch who knows the compound well and who doesn't trust you to stay away from Elijah. Someone who would risk everything to save New Orleans from plagues."

"Vincent," Klaus realized.

"On the bright side, Vincent would never harm Hope." Freya shrugged. "All of you, on the other hand, I expect he will be shipping your bodies to the four corners of the world."

"All of their bodies?" Enola straightened, a scowl twisting at her face. "He isn't here, is he?"

"He is," Elijah confirmed from the doorway, immediately making Enola grow tense. "I think I might have just found a way out of here."

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Enola stood in front of a pale blue door. It had six locks with six initials. Though there appeared to be no keys in sight. She had never been put in a Chambre de Chasse before. But the meaning was pretty straight forward. She needed to find her key if she wanted to get out. Though that was easier said than done. It all depended on how the witch who casted the spell viewed her.

"This was not here before," Elijah noted after a long moment of tense silence. "What is it?"

"It is representational magic," Kol informed. "I expect there are keys. One for each of us. Hidden somewhere meaningful. Somewhere connected to who we are."

"And for those of us who don't remember who we are?" Elijah wondered.

"I will give Antoinette your regards," Klaus deadpanned. That is why he had missed most of the funeral. He was busy giving his brothers lover a hybrid sized bite as payback for what had happened.

"The door will not open unless all six locks are released," Freya said.

"So the only way out is together," Enola huffed.

"Sounds about right," Rebekah sighed.

"Elijah, if we are to get through this without bloodshed, I recommend that you go to the corner of the house furthest from Nik." Kol chirped, grabbing Elijah by the arm. "Come on. Follow me."

Enola watched Elijah and Kol leave alongside Klaus. They both shared a bitter look and went to say something snarky about their situation when a sudden yell startled them back into reality. They immediately turned around to find a new guest had entered the Chambre de Chasse. And not by choice. Though none of them were really here by choice.

"Marcel," Rebekah breathed. She had not seen him since he had proposed and she had ran away. It was honestly getting ridiculous. She complained about him always choosing the city over her, and when he finally chooses her, she freaks out and runs away with her tail tucked between her legs.

"I have to get out of here," Marcel muttered manically. "Now!"

"What game is Vincent playing at?" Klaus demanded.

"Oh, this has nothing to do with Vincent." Marcel scoffed in disbelief.. "We gotta get out of here. This city is about to wash away. They are out of their damn minds."

"Who?" Enola questioned. "Who put us here?"

"Your kids," Marcel spat. He had to pause to take a deep breath. It was clear that he had to fight like hell only to fail. "You kids are responsible for all of this."

"That makes no sense," Klaus denied.

"What are you talking about?" Enola frowned.

"Ivy was telling Vincent and me all about the latest prophecy when a hurricane showed up off the coast out of nowhere," Marcel explained.

"A monsoon from the waters is the final curse before the Firstborns die," Freya reminded.

"I went to go find you guys. Hope was at the church. She had Klaus and Elijah laid out on the floor." Marcel continued. "She is gathering up all of you to take back the power that has been split up inside you."

"Hope cannot take that power. It will destroy her." Enola reminded. "It was the whole reason we had split it up in the first place."

"Which is exactly why Finn created the Chambre de Chasse and threw you inside," Marcel said. "To stop you from foiling their plans."

"I don't know whether to be pissed at them for doing something so reckless or proud that they are finally working together," Enola frowned.

"How are they supposed to find my body?" Rebekah wondered. "It is halfway across the world."

"They have help. I created hybrids with Hope's blood. They are sired to her. They will do anything she asks." Klaus reminded. "She will take the power back. She will end the curses. She will keep the firstborns safe. Then she will be forever lost to darkness."

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Enola entered the room that belonged to Hope. It had been less than twenty minutes since she left to find her own key. The search had been pretty fruitless up until now. She had avoided this room out of habit because her eldest daughter was a big fan of privacy. She was too until she became a mother. Now she was unable to go to the bathroom in peace when her daughters were home from school. Privacy and motherhood never coincided.

Enola began searching the drawers of the vanity. Though she was careful not to snoop because she knew that it would make her daughter uncomfortable. Which made her uncomfortable. She sighed at the thought and moved on from the vanity. It was difficult because she had no clue what her daughters thought of her. Her eyes flicker around the messy room before landing on the dresser. The middle drawer was open with a few pieces of clothing that hung out. She made her way over and pulled the drawer open further. Her hands sifted through the clothes until she reached the bottom.

Enola paused with furrowed brows. She had one hand holding the bottom of the drawer as the other one dug inside. Something was not adding up. The bottom of the drawer was supposed to be deeper. She gave a gentle knock before realizing the drawer had a false bottom. Her eyes briefly widened before she began throwing the clothes across the room until the drawer was empty. It took her a moment to pry the bottom of the drawer out before setting it aside. She reached inside the now empty space to find a singular object. There was a jewelry box in the shape of a heart. Not one of those artificial hearts. A human heart.

Enola set the jewelry box on top of the dresser and hesitantly opened it. She found her key sitting inside. A smile curled at the corner of her mouth as she realized the soft meaning behind this. Though the smile melted off her face at the sound of a throat clearing behind her. Her eyes were immediately narrowed as she slowly turned to face the one person she was hoping to avoid in all of this.

"I do not believe I got your name," Elijah noted.

"Enola," She answered bluntly.

"You are married to Niklaus," Elijah continued. "Which makes you my sister in law."

"I suppose it does," Enola muttered.

Enola watched as Elijah slowly entered the room. She did not like the idea of being in the same room as him. It made her skin crawl to know that the man who killed her sister was so close. Though he seemed none the wiser as he lifted the stuffed bunny rabbit off the bed with furrowed brows.

"What was my relationship like with your daughter?" Elijah inquired.

"The irony of you expressing interest in family," Enola scoffed.

"Listen—I have nothing to go on here." Elijah reminded. "You help me and we all get out of here."

Enola was hesitant to approach Elijah. She took slow steps forward until he was only three feet away. Then she reached out and took the bunny into her hands. She was honestly just going to set the stuffed animal and put it back on the bed without answering any of his budding questions. But he was right. If she wanted to stop her daughter from doing something stupid, she would have to meet him halfway. Or a quarter of the way.

"You gave her this the day she was born," Enola answered. "You even named her."

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Enola did not stick around long enough to watch Elijah rip the bunny to shreds. Her feet carried her down the hall until she heard noise coming from the room she did not recognize. She slowly entered the room to find a grand piano in the center of the room. There were many other musical instruments but it was the bookshelf on the other side of the room that caught her attention. Or more specifically, the man grabbing books off the shelf before lazily tossing them to the ground.

"You already found your key?" Kol hummed, sparing Enola a quick glance.

"Yeah," Enola confirmed, watching Kol toss another book onto the ground. "You got something against literature?"

"Well, these are the collective works of William Shakespeare. Love. Power. Betrayal. How to thrive in the Mikaelson clan 101." Kol hummed. "Davina and sent these to Finn as a birthday present. She was starting to get into literature then. We thought she would appreciate the work."

"How is Davina?" Enola hummed. "She doesn't call much."

"Well, that is how normal families work." Kol shrugged. "You learn what you can and then you grow up. Join a cult. Start a rock band. Find love. Make your own family."

"Does that fly in the face of always and forever?" Enola teased.

"You know, to think I spent a thousand years dying to be a part of that vow." Kol scoffed.

"What changed?" Enola wondered.

"I met a girl," Kol smiled softly. He flipped open another book. This time it was not empty. A single key with his initial was tapped to one of the pages. "Voilà. Four more keys to go."

Kol tossed the book to Enola before moving to leave. She furrowed her brows at the page he left open with the tape still stuck to the page. But that is not what had her confused. She had almost forgotten the whole reason why she had come into this room. Because she had never seen it before. At least, not in person.

"Why would your book of plays be in the music room?" Enola inquired.

"Kids are messy," Kol shrugged.

"Yeah, but this room doesn't exist anymore." Enola continued. Kol paused. "There was a storm. Everything was damaged. That was at least a century ago. It was all moldy and gross when we moved in. I was pregnant with Hope when Elijah decided to do some refurbishing. He demolished this room. My kids would have never seen it."

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"Hope and Finn asked for my help,"

Freya descended the stairs into the courtyard as Enola and Klaus followed close behind. Her confession was met with sounds of protests from them. Though she seemed unfazed by their anger and disapproval. As if she had prepared herself for it. But they were persistent and would not stop unless she undid whatever this was.

"This is going to end horribly," Enola deadpanned. "What were you thinking?"

"The plagues are nearing the end," Freya informed, coming to a stop in front of the pale blue door full of mystical locks. "All it would take is one more meeting between you to end it all; something needed to be done."

"I was leaving New Orleans when you struck me down," Klaus argued.

"Who is to say you wouldn't be weak again?" Freya shot back. "Test the limits to lay your eyes on Hope and Finn as you did Elijah?"

"Do not put this on me. I was trying to protect her." Klaus spat. "Perhaps I was wrong to have faith in you. Maybe your obligations to family were infringed upon by other plans. Bonnie is back in town, is she not?"

"I have sacrificed everything for you. For Finn. For Hope." Freya reminded. "I understand that you were trying to protect them. But that is not what they need right now."

"I am their father," Klaus growled. "I decide what they need."

"Do you?" Freya blurted. Klaus recoiled. "Because I was here raising your children with your wife while you were out doing god knows what. The only time either of them ever acted out was because they missed their father."

"I understand," Enola sighed.

"You do?" Freya and Klaus blurted in unison.

"I have been teaching them to be more independent," Enola continued. "We have to let them make their own choices even if we do not agree with them."

"They are only children," Klaus argued.

"Those girls have not been children for a long time," Enola said. "We have all done dangerous things in the name of family. We have all seen each other through it. I guess it is their turn now."

"So you are just okay with this?" Klaus scoffed.

"No. I am not okay with this." Enola denied. "Something tells me that they are not okay with this either. Just like how they were not okay when this family fell apart or when their dad stopped calling or when their aunt died. They have lost so much. They are doing what they think is right. I am not okay with this. But I understand."

"Thank you. They will be glad to know they have your support." Freya smiled before vanishing into thin air. Her lock on the door disappeared which meant she was no longer trapped here. Wherever here was. At least that meant finding one less key.

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Enola knew the Mikaelson family quite well. She had even found three of the keys by herself. Now there was only one key left and it was the trickiest of them all. Each key was placed in a meaningful spot to the owner. Though the owner of this key had no meaningful memories.

Enola had searched everywhere that was meaningful to Elijah. But then she remembered that the location of the key was special to whomever casted the spell that created the Chambre de Chasse. She grabbed the creepy looking lantern off the nearby table and used it to illuminate the dark hallway. Her eyes were narrowed and her mind was focused. No more dilly dallying.

"Where did you hide his key?" Enola muttered to herself.

As if on cue, Enola spotted the door to the cellar up ahead. She never spent much time down there unless she was doing laundry. Though it was used for storage before it was turned into a laundry room. Ornate coffins were once stored down there once upon a time. It made sense. She was not a fan of the cellar because it was very creepy. Especially at night. But this was her only lead.

Enola hesitantly pushed the door to the cellar open. She reluctantly entered with the lantern raised to light the way. She tightly clutched the railing all the way down the stairs. She paused at the bottom to look around the room only to spot a familiar coffin placed directly in the middle. She rushed over before setting the lantern down and swinging open the lid of the coffin. She jumped back with a sudden yelp when she was met with a pit of snakes.

Enola groaned in defiance. Though she was ready for action after rolling her neck and hopping between her feet. She had to give herself a little pep talk before actually reaching inside the pit of snakes. She made a face and gagged at the feeling before she reached the bottom. Her hand landed on something cool under the heap of snakes and her shoulders folded in relief when she pulled her hand out to reveal the very last key.

Enola did not bother celebrating. She whirled on her heels and took off towards the staircase. She emerged back into the dreary looking hallways and made a beeline for the courtyard. Though she was unable to share her excitement with everyone seeing as they were all laid out across the stone floor.

"Rebekah," Marcel breathed, helping Rebekah to a standing position.

"I feel like I am missing something," Enola noted.

"Hope," Klaus gasped. "She took the Hollow from us."

"Well, on the bright side, I found all of the keys." Enola announced.

"Where did you find them?" Marcel breathed.

"Kol's key was in As You Like It. Act one, scene three: now go we in content liberty, not banishment. Finn knows you can't stay. It is her way of setting you free." Enola began. "Rebekah's key was on a necklace. Hope hid it somewhere safe in secret. Just like you hid her when she was a baby." Her gaze moved on to her husband. "Klaus—yours was placed in an envelope full of written letters that were never sent. Finn wants to connect with you. But she is scared that you will turn your back on her again."

"And mine?" Elijah wondered.

"You have done a lot of horrible things over the years and claimed it was for the sake of your family. Always and forever. You made that vow and you broke it the day you let Hayley die. All you represent now is death." Enola said. "I found your key in a coffin full of snakes in the cellar."

"Let us be done with this maze of metaphors," Klaus decided.

Enola used all five of the keys to unlock the pale blue door in the middle of the courtyard. She was a bit hesitant to push it open which prompted her husband to take that risk. He was the first to enter the world beyond the door. Everyone else followed close behind. Shock marred all of them at the familiar white corridor that greeted them on the other side. Before any of them could make the wise decision to run, the door disappeared behind them.

"Oh, bloody hell." Kol sighed. "Now we are in Elijah's mental maze. Of all the hells I have had to endure."

"That door," Elijah breathed, pointing to the red door at the very end of the hallway. "What is this? Revenge? Imprison me until I reclaim all of my memories and am forced to accept accountability for all of this?"

"Well, as much as I love a cherry on top of a scheme, I have somewhere else to be." Kol decided, finding the door with his initials engraved.

Kol did not hesitate to open the door and simply leave. Marcel gave Rebekah one last longing stare before following suit. Enola nodded before disappearing into the unknown. She woke up with a gasp before looking over to the others. The two who had left before her were side awake. But the three she had left behind seemed troubled. Then one of them gasped away.

"Rebekah," Marcel muttered, helping Rebekah stand.

Enola stood off to the side. Then suddenly Klaus gasped to life. She was hesitant to go to him. There was clearly a lot that she needed to say to him. None of these things seemed appropriate in that moment considering the fact that she was currently riddled with grief. He seemed okay with the distance between them for now. Because he knew that she would come back to him when she was ready to talk about things.

Everyone watched Elijah with bated breath. He did not gasp to life or make any sudden moves. His eyes flickered open as his memories began to filter in one by one. Only then did he realize that the love of his life was dead. And it was all his fault. He had been given the option to have his memories returned but he declined. Because he was scared that he would not like who he used to be. Why else would he have his memory erased?

Elijah slowly stood and looked around the room. No one said a word as his eyes glossed over or as his tears began to fall. No one said a word as he collapsed to his knees or clutched his chest in pain. Everyone simply watched in defeat as he finally broke. Because it was all his fault. His pain. His agony. His torment. None of it would have happened if he had been strong enough to just remember. Now it was his burden to bear.

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Enola made it back home in record time. The ache in her chest would not go away until she laid eyes upon her daughter. She leaned against the doorway with her shoulders slumped in relief. Her eyes were glued to the form tucked under a mountain of blankets while her ears listened to the calm beating heart. She had been like that for the past twenty minutes. Just standing there. Watching. Waiting.

"She is going to be okay,"

Enola smiled at the sound of Finn. She glanced over her shoulder before returning her gaze on sleeping beauty. She was scared that she would miss something were she to look for even a moment. Though her company simply joined her side with the very same air of concern. Even though said company tried to.

"You know," Enola began. "I had this habit when I was pregnant with you where I would listen to your heartbeat until I fell asleep."

"I remember you telling me that I was weak when I was born," Finn recalled.

"Not weak. Fragile." Enola corrected. "I had been kidnapped by an enemy and forced to consume a scary amount of vervain and wolfsbane."

"What is it with you being kidnapped?" Finn teased.

"It sort of comes with the territory," Enola grinned. "I thought it would get better by the time you were born. That I would be able to rest easy."

"And were you?" Finn wondered. "Able to rest easy?"

"No. I was not. I am a mother. It constantly felt as if my heart was walking around outside my body." Enola confessed. "I knew you would be okay because you are strong. But I still worry."

"Like you worry about Hope," Finn concluded.

"I just don't want you and your sister to think you can't talk to me," Enola stressed. "I am on your side no matter what. I want to be there through every tough decision."

"Not telling you was a tough decision," Finn said. "But—"

"But she is your sister," Enola finished. "And this was ultimately her choice which you felt obligated to honor."

"Aunt Hayley is gone," Finn reminded. "We need our family here."

"Just promise me that you will not do anything reckless without me present," Enola sighed.

"I promise," Finn grinned. "No reckless behavior unless you are there to witness it."

"Good," Enola hummed. "Now go to bed. You have obviously had a very long day."

"You don't know the half of it," Finn yawned, turning to leave before pausing. "Oh, and mom? Thank you for trusting us today."

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AUTHORS NOTE.
hope and finn have a very complicated relationship. they almost never get along. but they are always there for each other when it counts. until next time, my loves!!!