chapter fourty-one

man who can't be moved

・❥・

   IT HAD BEEN six months. Six whole months since that night. When Klaus pulled away a confused Jordanna, he sat her down and explained—or well, he tried to explain how long she had been 'gone'. Six fucking months. The vampire tried to stay calm as he told her about how they defeated Dahlia, the tense atmosphere between himself and Elijah, how Hayley threw a party for Sebastian's birthday—but everything he had said afterwards? She hadn't heard it, not a single word.

    She missed his birthday. Their first birthday. God, Jordanna used to say that she'd never have a maternal bone in her body, ever, but shit . . .  she did. And when she was torn apart from her child? Again. It was the worst feeling in the world. It felt like someone was tearing her heart from her chest—slowly and painfully, it was an anguishing pain she felt.

    And she didn't like it.

    She didn't like what she felt—how she felt. It wasn't normal for her, the none stop pacing up and down the floorboards, sure enough to drive a dent into the wooden surface, the shaky hands, the tired, red looking eyes, the pale complexion that rested on her face, how when she spoke her voice was low—quiet even.

    She needed normal—perhaps that's what it was. She hadn't felt 'normal' in a long time, and maybe she needed that to get back into routine. Then she could just be Jordanna again. Not this . . . imposter.

    So she did what she knew, she fixed everything. Or . . . well, she tried, there was only so much that she could glue back together. She covered her pale complexion with makeup and did her hair, her red eyes were concealed by Chanel Glasses that sat on her nose and her shaky hands?—well, she cured them by putting a cigarette between them.

    Jordanna cleared her throat as she held the phone up to her ear. The silence on the other end made her stiffen as she listened to Davina's breathing before a timid, shocked voice spoke up. "Jords?" Davina's voice broke in shock.

    "Hi D," Jordanna breathed out lowly.

    "I thought you . . . you-"

    "I'm awake now," Jordanna sighed as she crouched to the floor, resting her back against the bedroom door. "What's up with you? You sound sad." Perhaps talking about someone else's problems might drown her own—or better yet, she might drown.

    "I'm fine. I'm fine," Davina dismissed, wiping tears from her eyes with a huff, a small laugh escaped her mouth as she sat for a moment—mind rushing with thoughts. "I'm happy you're okay. I'm just confused. How are you awake? I tried so many spells for so long and nothing worked, I . . . I nearly gave up."

    Jordanna sighed. "Turns out Freya isn't that bad of a witch after all."

    And they talked and talked for a while, pulling Jordanna's mind off of the past excruciating six months and Davina's mind off of the coven. They both just needed to hear a comforting voice.

    They were both going through something, yet neither wanted to talk—and deep down they both knew that, they understood it. They didn't want to worry one another with their problems when they had their own demons to battle.

    And right now? Jordanna didn't know if she'd win the battle with her mind.

    "I'm gonna go, D. I gotta call Caroline, Stef and Bonnie. Let them know that I'm not, you know, a shrivelled corpse or anything."

    Davina let out a soft chuckle, "Of course. I'll see you soon?"

    "See you soon," Jordanna promised.

    ・❥・

    Klaus had found Jordanna's behaviour . . .  weird. She hadn't made any snarky comments, no jokes about Aurora De Martel being his past lover—she simply said nothing.

    She seemed more on edge. Jordanna wasn't on edge, she wasn't a particularly nervous woman. She didn't get nervous or scared ( unless it was a certain circumstance, of course ). But as he walked past the nursery, where Jordanna sat on the floor, Sebastian in front of her as he played—she looked nervous. She looked spooked by something.

    And while he would've gone up to her to ask if she was okay, he hadn't a clue how to put it. Jordanna didn't do 'heart to hearts'. If he asked if she was okay, she'd say yes. If he asked how she was doing, she'd simply say fine. She'd shut herself off.

    He didn't want her to push herself away from him.

    Jordanna sat on the floor with Sebastian, watching as he played around with a toy. But her eyes constantly kept flicking over to the bear that sat atop the cabinet. Yeah, you guessed it. That damned haunted bear. The one that got her in contact with Anastasia.

    The lights flickered harder the more she stared at it, and she knew that it wasn't her who was doing it. Jordanna hadn't used her magic since she'd woken up and she wasn't planning on using it either. Truth be told, she was afraid of it. Her magic, that so called 'gift' was what got her landed in that hell. She wanted nothing to do with it. Maybe that was the spirits' purpose, to scare her into not using it.

And if it was, it worked.

They used her own magic against her. Stuff she didn't even know how to do was done to her, over and over—more painful, more deadly than before. She still had scars, ugly, long jagged scars painted across her abdomen. For a vampire, they were doing a pretty shitty job at healing, and the scar across her neck? The one from when 'Klaus' drove a knife across it, yeah, that was still there too.

Perhaps it was her minds way of reminding her, not letting her forget. If scars heal, eventually you yourself may heal, it might be easier to get past it. Maybe not for everyone, but it's easier to forget. With the scars there, it was a constant reminder. Whenever she changed or showered or removed the concealer that kept hidden that faded red mark on her neck she remembered.

She remembered every single second, of every minute of every day . It was bound to her. The memories gripped to her like a vice, and whether she liked it or not it effected her. It effected the people around her.

    ・❥・

    Jordanna had deemed it 'normal' if she went with Klaus and Elijah on their search for this Lucien man. If she had stayed at home and moped all day—that wouldn't be normal. No, what was normal was the three of them running around New Orleans like the Scooby Doo Gang on a mission.

    She was Daphne, of course, no explanation needed. Klaus was Fred because well . . . lover boy, his head was so far up his own ass and he was a little dumb sometimes. Elijah, of course, was Velma. Don't ask. She couldn't explain it, but he was. It just fit. ( Hayley was Scooby, obviously! )

    She hoped by joining them on their 'adventures' it'd take her mind off of things, it'd bring her a peace of mind. But it didn't. She was nothing more than an empty shell of a girl, trudging around New Orleans like a corpse, perhaps she was, a corpse, that is.

    The Jones watched from behind the Mikaelson brothers as they made their way into Lucien's apartment. "Lucien," Klaus sang mockingly as he looked around for the man, his eyes scanned the room as a sardonic smile fell upon his face. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

    Jordanna rose her brows as Klaus turned to her and flashed her a playful grin, the raven-haired woman could only crack a small smile in return.

    "I'm afraid you just missed him," a voice called out. A woman slowly entered the room, a sly smile on her face as she didn't even attempt to hide her wandering eyes as they drifted up and down both Mikaelson brothers' figures.

    "Shame," Jordanna spoke dryly, leaning against the wall before she turned to Klaus. "Can we leave now?"

    Klaus sighed, turning to the Jones with a look. He held a finger up in a one minute motion. "Not just yet, sweetheart." He answered before meeting the unknown woman's, Alexis', eyes again. "Where is he?"

    Alexis smiled coyly in Klaus' direction as she dragged her eyes away from Jordanna. "At the police station," she replied smoothly, flashing a grin as she slowly made her way over to the three. "A detective Kinney had some questions for him."

    Elijah's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he shared a glance with Jordanna. "And he allowed himself to be arrested?" The Original asked.

    Alexis shrugged in answer. "He has nothing to hide," she dragged out, a smug look on her face.

    "Everyone has something to hide," Jordanna muttered under her breath as she tiredly sauntered further into the room before dropping her body onto the couch. She crossed her leg over the other and reached for the bottle of whiskey that rested on the coffee table. "Seems like your friend is busy," Jordanna drawled, taking a sip. "And seeing as I don't have any effort to go anywhere, perhaps we should entertain ourselves here?"

    Klaus smirked, looking over at her. It felt just like old times. It didn't feel as though anything had changed, it didn't feel as though Jordanna had been stuck in that hell and that's all she wanted.

    "What a wonderful idea, Jordanna," Elijah smiled widely, fixing his suit jacket before he took a seat.

    "Yes, and perhaps that energy of yours will return after a snack?" Klaus gestured to Alexis with a grin.

    "I like your thinking, Nik," Jordanna grinned in return, hiding the grimace that so badly wanted to dance on her features as her mind began to play tricks on her once again and Klaus' face flickered to that one she did not like very much.

・❥・

    Jordanna had gotten bored and redecorated Lucien's apartment. Oops?

    Well, I wouldn't say redecorated . . . but she did move stuff around. She rearranged his wardrobe for a start—I mean, c'mon, it was just one huge mess and it irked her. At this point she was doing everything in herself to keep her mind busy—busy so that she wouldn't think of 'Klaus' and her past six months.

    When she had finally finished sorting Lucien's closet ( which, if she was gonna' be honest, he had some nice clothes ), Klaus thought it'd be a good idea for Alexis to show Elijah the visions the other witch, or 'psychic,' as she called herself, had shown him.

    Jordanna was sceptical. She didn't know whether to trust Alexis or not. Actually, you know what? Scratch that, she didn't trust her. So that's why she watched every single move the witch made as she gathered ingredients for her spell on that same table Jordanna found the bottle of whiskey.

    She lit some candles just as Klaus' annoyed voice spoke up. "How much longer is this going to take?" He asked impatiently, coming to a stand besides Jordanna as he snatched the whiskey bottle out of her hand before taking a sip.

    Jordanna shot him a look that merely brought a smile to his face. Alexis rolled her eyes. "Elijah and I can begin now, but just us," she stated. Klaus narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Sadly, I've already shown you what visions of yours I've managed to divine."

    Klaus huffed his cheeks in annoyance, a scowl rested on his face as his irritated glare fixated on Alexis' face. "The warning was for both of us—friend, foe and family. I'd like to see his, please."

    Jordanna raised her hand and clicked her tongue as she met Alexis' eyes. "I wanna see it too," she told the woman. "Now."

    Alexis rose her eyebrows. "Since family is one of your concerns and you two are brothers . . . " she addressed Klaus with curious eyes before her eyes flickered over to Jordanna. "And you? I guess you may be counted as family or friend." She sighed. "Are you so sure you want to see what I have to show you?"

    Jordanna rolled her eyes at the warning tone the witch sent Klaus. "I think he made it pretty clear he wanted to see it when he said, oh, I don't know, that he wanted to see it," she snapped, nearing the witch. "Show us. Chop chop, we haven't got all day."

Alexis rolled her eyes at the Jones once again before she reluctantly pushed her hair from her neck in agreeance. "Are you sure?" She asked again in warning, glancing between the three.

Jordanna rolled her eyes and suddenly vamped out, her fangs extended and before she knew it she bit into Alexis' neck, hard. The woman winced at the touch before she held her two wrists out to the Mikaelson brothers, Klaus grabbed Alexis' left hand to feed whilst Elijah drifted to the right.

Jordanna tried so hard not to drain her dry as she fed but Alexis was the first person she had drank from since being awake and the blood? The blood felt euphoric as it slid down her throat. Well, that was until the visions started blurring through.

A grimoire laid flat on a table, covered in unintelligible writing with two pentacles on either end of the page. The next thing the three of them saw was the Mikaelson compound, the living room, Elijah's portrait was covered in crimson, the red blood dripped down the length of the painting before hitting the floor with a splash.

She then saw Marcel. Oops, she forgot to tell Marcel she was awake. Anyway, back to the vison, it was Marcel kneeling on the ground of what looked like St Louis, wiping the blood from a cut on his face as someone hovered over him.

Then suddenly the vision flickered to Cami and an unknown man in the police department. He was seen stroking the palm of her hand as though he was reading the lines. The sight shocked—and worried—both Mikaelson brothers that they abruptly pulled away from Alexis.

Jordanna? Jordanna continued drinking from her before she pulled away a minute later. The Jones woman sighed before wiping the small droplet of blood from her mouth when she met the Mikaelson brothers' eyes as Elijah snapped the witch's neck.

"Um, don't you wanna see the rest?" Jordanna asked Klaus with raised eyebrows.

"It appears we have seen enough," Elijah muttered.

"It seems Lucien has intentions for Camille," Klaus pursed his lips.

"Okay?"

Elijah rolled his eyes at her carelessness and turned back to his brother. "And what of Marcel?" He asked. "Family and friend? Where do his loyalties lie?"

"Wow," Jordanna muttered. "First of all, I think that's the first time I've ever heard you refer to Marcel as family and second of all, c'mon, Elijah, it's Baldy. He's good, you know? Well . . . unless you both piss him off, which you probably will because . . . it's you two."

"Find him and question him," Klaus stated after a moment of hesitation. He didn't believe that Marcel could betray them. He wouldn't believe it. Though he and Marcel have had their ups and downs Marcel was still family. He always would be.

"Come on, sweetheart. We have things to do, business to handle and whatnot," Klaus smirked in Jordanna's direction, holding a hand out to her. Jordanna looked down at the hand for a moment—flickers of bad memories running through her mind before she reluctantly placed her hand in his own.

Elijah watched in confusion as they neared the apartment door, "And where exactly are you two going?"

"Yeah. Where are we going?" Jordanna asked with the same confusion.

"We're going to eliminate an old friend before he gets his teeth into my therapist," Klaus answered, a smirk on his lips.

"Uh, why?" Jordanna halted to a stop.

"Because, Jordanna, Naomi might just kill me if we do nothing to stop it," Klaus answered her before his voice dropped to a mutter. "And believe me if she can't kill me, she will have much more fun trying."

Jordanna's lips curled up into a teasing smile. "You're scared of her," she mocked.

"I am not," Klaus denied with a shake of his head before he began dragging her out of the apartment.

Jordanna turned back to Elijah, "He's so scared of her. Oh my God."

・❥・

Jordanna and Klaus stormed into the interrogation room at the precinct, finding Cami, Naomi, Vincent and a man who Jordanna assumed was Lucien.

The four quickly rose from their seats in shock. Cami and Naomi's shocked faces landed on Jordanna before the Tate vampire threw herself in the Jones' arms.

"Oh my God," she breathed out. "You're okay. Davina told me that she talked to you, but I didn't believe it—oh my God."

"Yep," Jordanna clicked her tongue as they pulled away. "I'm fine. Not dead. Totally fine."

But a harsh smack on her shoulder earned a scowl to form on her face. "You bitch! You never fucking told me you were alive," Naomi scolded.

Jordanna smiled tightly. Though she might not show it very well, she did miss Naomi, sometimes being in this city made her miss Caroline and Naomi reminded her of Caroline—it brought her a kind of peace, it made her feel at home.

"Can we do this later Nai? Gotta make sure Miss Perky over there doesn't die first," Jordanna gestured to the, still very much in shock, blonde.

Naomi took a moment to stare at the Jones. Something was wrong with her. Her hands shook before she began to play with her hair to distract herself—she stood by the doorway, leaning against it as her heels clicked the floor anxiously, eyes darting around the room like she was looking . . . waiting for something.

At the sudden attention on her Cami cleared her throat, a frown pulling at her lips. "You're alive?"

"Sadly," the Jones muttered under her breath. "But I was never dead, Blondie, just not . . . awake?"

Cami blinked before swallowing roughly as she turned back to Vincent and side-eyed Lucien. "He says he knows who the killer is," Cami gestured to Lucien as she turned back to face Klaus and Jordanna.

    "And I'm sure you can continue your little Murder Mystery game later, but right now we need to borrow your friend," Jordanna told the blonde with an eye roll.

"Yes, and whatever Lucien's said to you today has most certainly been a lie," Klaus rose his brows, tone obvious.

Lucien scoffed. "Oh, come on, Nik! Why would I lie?"

"For the same reason you lied about avoiding a werewolf bite when Elijah saw it with his own eyes," Klaus retorted, a scowl resting on his face as he met his old friend's eye. "This ends now."

Lucien let out a sigh of annoyance. "Then you're giving Tristan the victory he seeks. He is the guilty one," he shot back, Klaus rolled his eyes whilst Jordanna stood in confusion—who the fuck was Tristan?

Klaus let his own sigh out and turned to the other three who accompanied the room. "Jordanna and I are going to need a word with Lucien in private," he announced, earning an eyeroll from both Naomi and Vincent.

The latter reluctantly nodded his head and headed for the door—he came to a stop as he noticed both Naomi and Cami stood, not following after him. "Come on, ladies," he urged. Naomi pursed her lips and after a moment nodded, grabbing a hold of Cami's hand she dragged her out of the room.

Once the three were alone, Klaus opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Lucien. "I'm so sorry," he spoke, a grin slipped on his face as he turned to Jordanna. "But who is this?"

Klaus sighed in irritation, "Who she is is none of your business-"

"Jordanna."

Klaus pursed his lips and shot her a look whilst Lucien's smile got bigger. "Pleasure," he held his hand out to her. The Jones looked down at it blankly before meeting his eye again. "No? Okay. Rude."

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Klaus asked in annoyance. "Thank you. Whatever Tristan's role in this charade may be, have no fear. I will discover it," Klaus assured.

"Wait," Jordanna spoke up, hand wafting about. "So, Tristan is Aurora's brother, the one you both had a thing for-"

Klaus huffed, "It was hardly a thing."

Lucien met Jordanna's eye an amused smirk pulled at his lips, "Oh, it was definitely a thing."

"Lucien," Klaus warned causing said man to lift his hands in surrender. "One more word and I'm going to drain you of vervain. Then, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and, once you've answered, if I'm feeling sentimental, perhaps I'll grant you a painless death." A malicious smile graced Klaus' lips as he placed a hand on Jordanna's shoulder, the Jones flinched at the sudden contact—but it went unseen. "Or," Klaus continued. "The lovely Jordanna would like to do the honours. It's been a while since she has spilt blood. I'm sure she would indulge in killing you. But I assure you, it would be anything but painless."

Jordanna swallowed discreetly and pursed her lips as she drummed her fingers against the table. Flashes of that place ran through her mind like the plague, screaming echoed through her ears as flickers of blood coaxed her mind and she was stuck there. Again.

"Perhaps he's right," she started, a faux thoughtful expression on her face. "Maybe killing you will make me feel better. I could always rip you limb from limb, start with your arms, then your legs—I could rip your dick off but . . . " her gaze travelled down before an unimpressed look crossed her face. "I don't think there's much to get rid of, really."

Lucien stood with an exasperated look on his face as he glanced between the two. "First of all, you are grim," he pointed down to Jordanna with a scowl before it curled into a smile. "I love it. Secondly, ask away, Nik! Enough posturing, please! Ask me anything you want. As I've said, I am only here to protect you."

Klaus chuckled bitterly, "Watch it." He warned. "You lied about your werewolf bite, why?"

"I simply didn't want to bother you! Don't you have greater concerns than a little wolf bite that I can cure on my own?" Lucien question, a tired tone held to his voice as he glanced between them.

"You didn't wanna bother him?" Jordanna asked, scoffing. "Then why show up at all? You're bothering him by being here."

"Because, Jordanna, I had to warn him," Lucien stated. "I don't wish to see my sire dead as much as I wish to be dead. I also assume that you're apart of his sireline too, and it'd be a waste of a pretty face if Nik were to die."

"Ew," she muttered under her breath before coming to a stand. "Well, I'm bored now." She announced as she moved away from the table. "I'm gonna go catch up with Nai, I'll see you later."

Klaus frowned as she left the room, he could tell that there was something wrong with her—he could feel it all day, but he hadn't the heart to say anything. He just didn't want anything to change. He wanted it to be normal.

Jordanna let out a deep sigh as she exited the room, shutting the door after her. She leant against the wall, eyes shut as she relaxed her breathing. No matter how hard she tried it didn't feel right. She didn't feel right. Every time she looked at him, every damn time she looked at him, felt him near, she'd get this immense fear rush through her body. A fear for him, not him, but him. If that made any sense.

・❥・

   Jordanna had seen Naomi after she had left and Naomi dragged her back to her apartment to catch up. They spoke about Naomi and Cami's relationship ( which wasn't a relationship at all ), and what Jordanna had missed.

And the latter conversation was what started a very depressing conversation to flow through the two. Jordanna told Naomi about her time in that place, that place that her mind ( or, rather the spirts ) conjured up.

When Naomi heard about how much 'Klaus' effected Jordanna she had a bad feeling. A gut wrenching feeling that didn't sit right with her. Like she knew it was the end, even before Jordanna did.

And when Jordanna realised. It killed her, because it wasn't his fault. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve the forced smiles on her face, he didn't deserve the flinching every time he touched her, he didn't deserve for her to look at him as though she was scared of him.

It was when she said it, she realised. She realised that she just needed some time. Some time to fix herself first.

"Jords . . . "

"Every time I look at him, it's like I'm looking at a damn corpse!" Her eyes were teary, sitting in her waterline, waiting to spill. "And I can't," her voice broke as she spoke. "Not anymore."

She simply needed time. Just some time to sort it. To fix it.

So as she walked into their room in the compound, Klaus following after her in confusion, her heart raced. His brows pulled downwards as he noticed the packed bag on the floor.

"Jordanna, what is this?" He asked in confusion, eyes alone on the bag.

The Jones inhaled deeply, gathering enough courage to look up at him. "You know, you were the first person I thought of when I woke up, the first person I go to when shit hits the fan. The first person I go to if something happens . . . " she trailed off. "And now? Now it's like I'm staring into a void, a pit. And it won't go away. I can't look at you without wanting to cry, and I know it's not your fault. I'm not blaming you, but its . . . it's like you're not real anymore. Like you aren't there and I'm stuck in that place again and it's playing mind-games with me. Making me believe that I have you before it tears you away from me again," her eyes started tearing up and that's when Klaus knew. He knew.

"I just need time, okay?" Her voice cracked as she spoke, sadness crawled up the back of her throat. Tears sat in her waterline, unreleased. "I need it to go away because I can't . . . it hurts. It hurts so fucking much. So, I'm gonna stay with Hayley tonight . . . she and Jackson got this new place, it's only across the road and I'm not going far, okay?"

"Jordanna . . . -"

"I love you, Nik. But I just need to sort my head out, okay? I'm not leaving you but . . . I just need space-"

    "Space away from me," Klaus muttered.

    As Klaus uttered those words she felt her heart break.

     "Not from you specifically, I just need space from everything," she sighed, grabbing the bag from the floor. "Just . . . I know it's selfish to ask but . . . don't let me go, please? If I lose you because I'm going fucking crazy-"

    "You won't lose me," Klaus told her. "You'll never lose me, Jordanna, so I'll wait. If this . . . break is what you need, then take it." He looked down at her as he stood in front of her, his hand cupped her jaw, a sad smile forming. "No matter how crazy you are, I'll always love you. Always and forever."

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

ends kinda choppy cos i didn't even wanna write the 'break' myself so i rushed it while i was at work😐

*UNEDITED* cos im lazy af and will never edit xx