•River in Reverse•

3RD POV

Elijah is laying on the bed in the hut, and Aphrena stands beside him.

"Here, drink this."

Elijah drinks it, but immediatly starts to cough.

"Forgive me. Please." He asks her and she smiles a small one.

"It's okay. Remind me to annihilate your brother once you're healthy." She jokes trying to lighten the mood just a little, he must be in so much be in pain.

"Yes, remind me to remind you to get in line." He replies back joking as well.

"It doesn't help that we decided to shack up in a swamp either." She says with a sigh. She goes outside but Elijah starts to cough harshly again and comes running right back inside.

"Are you okay?" She ask worriedly.

"I'm fine. Please just... return to your reading." He says refering to the bible with all the names.

"I went through the whole book. It's just a regular old Bible. With an entry in a family tree, that may or may not be me and Hayley, but you know I've been a little busy worrying about you." She tells him softly.

"Aphrena, please. This fever will make me unstable. And once the hallucinations begin I'll start to see things. You must leave me here." The young vamp scoffs.

"Yeah...no. Your in no condition to be left behind. I can't leave you when you have never left me." She tells him stubbornly.

•••

"All right, I'm here. Let's do this. I'll keep this simple. This kid is an old enemy of your favorite person Klaus. And he's got plenty to say about what that traitor, son of a bitch, has been up to behind my back. Now, for those of you faint of heart, there's the door. Because those who stick around, you're signing up for battle." No one leaves the room. Marcel nods proudly.

"You all know Klaus wasn't always the hybrid. When he broke the curse that kept his werewolf side dormant, somewhere in all that, certain parts were now able to trump his vampire side. Like the ability to pass on the werewolf gene. That's where the werewolf girl he's been hiding from you all comes in. She rode through my town, pretended to be my friend and then ended up hooking up with him. Now she's pregnant with his kid. There is this thing called mates for the family and they share a soul making the family able to have kids as well. the other girl Aphrena is one of them who happens to have Elijah's baby. She was a friend but that's long gone because of this family."

"What the hell is this?" Diego asked.

"Just listen." Marcel says shortly.

"When Klaus became the hybrid, he figured out a way to turn full-bread werewolves into creatures like him." He rises his hand, "You're looking at one of them. On the plus side, we had all the perks of being vampires. We're stronger, faster. And the toxins in our bites could still kill a vampire. But on the downside we were loyal to him. Like, supernaturally loyal."

"Right, and that's why you're here, spilling all his secrets?" Diego says not trusting Tyler.

"That's the point, Diego. He figured out a way to break free of it." Marcel explains.

"And I helped the rest of them too. Then Klaus killed them for their betrayal." Tyley adds on.

Rebekah bolts into the room. "Because that is what Klaus does. Don't mind me, I'm fascinated by this story. Hello, Tyler."

"Rebekah. Long time no see."

"What Tyler was about to tell you is that my brother can use the babies blood to sire more hybrids. What you will all figure out is that vampires don't stand a chance. So, Tyler, I assume you were trying to rally this lot into making sure the babies aren't born."

"Yeah. You don't like it? Go on and take your brother's side. But you know I'm right."

"I believe you've mistaken the ladies intentions." Marcel defends his bolnde vampire mate.

"Alright. What's going on?" Diego asks confused.

"You were absolutely right, Tyler. My brother is a crap enough individual as it is. The last thing he needs is to sire a superior species. Go on, you can tell them."

"She's not here to fight us, she's here to help us." Marcel says hiding the smile from his mate.

"That's right. But first..." Rebekah vampire speeds up to Tyler, snaps his neck and then sits down on the chair he was sitting before. "That is enough talk about harming those babies. Klaus is the one we're putting a stop to."

•••

The female vampire is outside the hut by a lake, when Elijah groans in pain. She rushes in and sits down on the bed and lays a hand on his forehead.

ELIJAH'S MEMORY

A woman, Celeste, is sitting in a bathtub, Elijah enters the room.

PRESENT TIME

"Celeste?" Elijah asks in a daze. The vampire doppleganger hids her jealousy knowing now is not the time. Elijah then suddenly realises it was just a memory and he called his mate another womans name. "Aphrena, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."

Trying to act like she didn't care she said, "Celeste. Whoever she was, she was smokin' hot."

Elijah looked concerned and regretful for saying that to his mate. "Did I let you enter my thoughts? I'm not well. I should go. This is..." He starts but she cuts him off.

"This is fine, Elijah. You're sick, I'm taking care of you."

"We're being watched." He tells her. She goes outside. Eve is standing near the hut. When she sees Aphrena, she runs away. Again.

"Hey. Hey!" The female vampire calls out.

•••

Aphrena dips the rag in the water ringing it ou and putting it to his sweaty forehead.

ELIJAH'S MEMORY

It's the same the memory as before: Celeste is sitting in a bathtub, Elijah enters the room. Celeste throws the sponge to Elijah who catches it. Celeste giggles.

"Assistance, please, good sir." Celeste says.

"No, I'm much happier taking in such a wonderous view. It's perfection." Elijah replies with a smile.

"You do realize some day you'll find you mate and I'm not her?" Celeste asks. She still smiles because she has Elijah's heart now and that's all that matters.

"But it doesn't matter for now my, love." Yikes! There is another tug to the doppelgängers feelings.

"Your brother is again up to no good. He's challenging the gentry to duels as though they have any chance of a fair fight." Celeste says changing the subject while Elijah comes to sit on the side of the tub.

"I do grow weary of sacrificing my joy to temper my brother's mischief. Surely, you can cast a spell to put him in his place." Elijahs asks hopefully with a smirk as he washes her leg.

"It would take a hundred witches to put him in his place. Besides, he only ever listens to you." She smiles at him and you can see the love they have is powerful. Aphrena's never seen him so in, love. she can't help but feel jealous.

He throws the sponge in before replying, "Yes. He certainly needs a little discipline." He kissed her foot. "Perhaps a spanking of some kind is in order. I think I shall need some rehearsal. Come." Elijahs teases as he leans down and they kiss. Now that was a painful tug to the poor doppelgängers heart.

PRESENT DAY

She pulls her hand away effectively stopping the vision. Once out of the memory Aphrena can't help but be disgusted with recieveing these memories from his past. It weirds her out to see someone she likes with another so intimately but no matter what she needs to help Elijah.

"If you are having hallucinations about her you must have really loved her." Aphrena says. He looked so happy with her in the visions and although it pained her that those were what his mind chose to remember she had to admit they looked happy and adorable.

She rings out the water again looking at him as he shivers and groans in pain. "Aphrena, please. This fever. My mind is flooded with these torturous memories. You have to leave." He begs his mate.

With a slight frown she asks, "What is it with you? You don't want to be taken care of?"

Elijah knowing from expierence says, "There are consequences for those that care. I will not have you pay that price."

"So you're having weird retro sex dreams? Get over it, I'm staying." She says stubbornly although she would really like to stop seeing that stuff. She moves the bucket of water to the table as the continue to talk.

Trying to get off the memories for his own and his mates sake he asks, "What about our visitor? What does she want?"

Aphrena looks out the window then back to Elijah. "I'm guessing she's the one that left the mystery Bible on the doorstep last night. Would be nice if she'd stick around long enough to tell me why."

"Aphrena, you came here to gather information about your family, not to play nursemaid to a vampire with a temperature. Please, find her. Learn what you can.

Once again she shakes her head and denies, "No, I'm staying."

•••

Elijah starts breathing loudly. The younger vampire sits on the bed with her hand on a rag on his forehead. as he lays on her lap.

"Celeste. Forgive me. I'm sorry." Not this shit again.

ELIJAH'S MEMORY

Klaus and another man are standing back to back, revolvers in their hands. Klaus gives orders in French. They start to walk away from each other.

Klaus counts down in French, "Huit, sept, six, cinq, quatre, trois, deux." They turn around and shoot. Klaus remains unharmed, while the man falls down with a headshot. Klaus smiles devilishly while saying, "Is that it? Is this the best New Orleans has to offer?" Another man drags the corpse to a pile of other dead people.

Elijah appears and yells for him clearly upset, "Brother! Please, this is high folly. Is it not enough, you have slaughtered dozens in just these past several weeks? Word of a city littered with bodies will surely travel the oceans. Do you want to bring our father upon us?"

"Relax, brother. I've sent rumor that the bodies are result of the witches seeking blood sacrifice for their rituals." He replies and Elijah's face falls.

"You did what? Have you forgotten? Celeste is one of those that you recklessly point your finger at?" Elijah asks worriedly for his lover.

"Who's Celeste?" Klaus asks his brother. Elijah gives Klaus a meaningful look. "Oh, yes! The witch you've been knocking around with who by the way is NOT your mate. Well, fear not. Harlots are like rats in the quarter. You trip over one every step you take." Elijah knows she isn't but it seems his mate and her appearnce is taking a bit.

He takes a revolver and shoots at Klaus, who groans with pain. "You care about her. Someone who is not your mate this would not bode well with your mate if she found out." Klaus tease then says, "Well, this is unfortunate. I hear they're rounding up the towns witches as we speak."

PRESENT DAY

Elijah shoots up screaming. Aphrena looked at him worried and gets up to help him.

"Elijah?" She asks putting her hands on his arms. "Oh!"

His veins protude underneath his eyes as he hallucinates, "Niklaus! I'll kill you, you bastard." He says in anger.

Eyes widened in fright she screams, "Elijah?" Elijah jumps up and put his hand around Aphrena's neck. She starts fighting for air trying to remove his hands. "Aah!" she says gasping and tightening his hold on her. "Uh!" She groans out. Suddenly someone stabs Elijah in the back. He falls to the ground and Aphrena gasps for air, she looks at Elijah mouth agape then she diverts her eyes to see, it's the werewolf Eve.

Getting more air in her lungs Aphrena greets Eve, "Hello to you too."

•••

Aphrena and Eve are talking outside, near a bonfire.

"I'm sure you got questions." Eve starts.

"Only a few. Like who are you, why are you following me, where the hell is everyone and if the people in this book really are mine and Hayley's family, what happened to them?"

"I'm Eve. I'm following you because you brought an Original to werewolf country which is pretty much the same reason why everybody else skedaddled. If you wanna know what happened to the people in that family tree, I will sum it up nice and quick: Marcel happened."

"What did he do? I mean I know he band them but what else?"

"He killed most of them. Later, the descendants of the ones who dodged death, he strong-armed a witch into putting a curse on them." She explains to the sorta tri-brid.

"What kind of curse?" Aphrena asks.

"Swap nature around, inside out. Made it so their natural state was wolves. They only turn back human on the full moon. We're hunted by the marks we carry. That crescent moon birthmark - that's why I got rid of mine. I didn't wanna get found out."

Elijah appears next to Aphrena holding a stake. "Good evening. Think I might have something which belongs to you." He then shows the stake Eve used to dagger him to eve.

"Elijah, I've got this. Are you okay?" She asks him.

"The wound is healed, the fever is broken but for some strange reason I have this sharp and lingering sensation in my back."

Aphrena looks to Eve and says, "I have to get him home. But I'll be back, okay? I need to know more."

"Keep that mark covered up. Tell your sister the same." Then Eve leaves.

"What happened?" Elijah asks his beautiful mate.

"I just met someone else in my family."

•••

The next day Elijah drove her back to the planataion ready for the the screaming that will come from Klaus.

"So thanks for the ride." She says looking over at him.

"Quite the awkward little adventure, wouldn't you say?"

She huffs and smiles, "Yes I believe so."

"I'm sorry I tried to hurt you. I would never want that."

"Elij-tell me what happened to Celeste."

He quickly looks away from his mate finding it hard to bring up someone he could never have loved more than the girl next to him, "That's not important."

"It is important. 1,000 years of memories and that's what breaks through your fever brain? I want to know. Show me." He looks to her and he can't help but love her more. Even when it's his old lover and she herself is his mate she still wishes to know more.

He moves his hand to her head to show her.

ELIJAH'S MEMORY

Celeste is lying in the bathtub underwater, dead. She has her eyes open and Elijah looks over her. He goes to his knees over the tub and starts panting. He shakes his head and lifts her head up, he carresses her face with a shaky breathe and lays his forehead on hers. He screams out in sorrow.

PRESENT DAY

Their in silence for a moment as he retracts his hand from his mates head.

"It was a cruel and bloody time to be a witch, courtesy of my wonderful brother." Aphrena looks at him sad.

"She died because of Klaus?"

He quickly corrects her looking down at his lap keeping his eyes off the young vamp, "She died because of me, because I cared too deeply for her." He sighs then continues, "I had allowed my brother to slip through my grasp. I'd loosened the reigns while Celeste consumed my every moment. I'd abandoned him in the name of my own happiness. I almost did it with you. And Celeste paid the price."

"What do you mean? With me?"

"There is things that you don't know. That i'm not quite ready for you to know. But trust that you were very much important to this family," She put her hand on his understanding that whatever he has to tell her will come out when he is ready. "To me."

He moves his hand out from under hers and put his on top holding it.

"I understand. And whenever you decide to tell me i'll be ready to listen." She smiles at him and they stare at each other for a little longer holding hands before he gets out.

•••

"Hey, Aphrena." She turns around to come face to face with the pregnant wolf.

"Oh. Hey wolfy." She pats the steps she was currently sitting on and Hayley sits next to her.

"I found this book out in the bayou with a family tree. It has the same date I was born in and I thought you might like to see it as well." She grabbed the book from beside her and hands it to Hayley and turns to the entries. "Aleah labonair 1991 June 5 is my exact birth date."

"Aphrena..."

"What?"

"June 6 1991 is my birth date." Hayley was shocked so shocked she couldn't take her eyes off the names. Aphrena smiled and hugged Hayley.

"We are sisters!" The vamp yelled out excited.

A tear went down Hayley's face as she looked up at her older twin sister happy she had family with her this whole time.

"Oh, my god." She dropped the book and hugged the life out of Aphrena. "I can't believe you are my sister. This is amazing." She sniffled and pulled back looking into Aphrena's doe brown eyes.

"Now we are not only sisters by bond but by blood as well." Aphrena says wiping the tears off her younger twins face.

"I just can't believe this. First Nik and I kissed again and talked it out and he has his home back now I find out I have a sister and a twin no less."

"You kissed again?!" Hayley nodded with a big grin. "Look at you girl. Get some!" Hayley laughed and blushed hiding her face.

Nik came out to the two girls who were very happy and he smiled at them.

"Come on, love, little wolf. We are going home. As of now you three are the ony things on this earth that matter to me." They looked at each other then followed after him to his car.