chapter thirty nine

so cold

・❥・

JORDANNA WIPED THE back of her hand against the blood that trickled down her cupids bow. Her phone was pressed snugly between her shoulder and ear as she awaited for an answer, but was yet to get one as the call soon went to voicemail.

The vampire kissed her teeth and released a sigh. "Hey, Stef. Long time no speak," she started awkwardly before a small eyeroll formed. "Anyway, I was thinking . . . I wanna desiccate your brother and ship his body off to some country," she trailed off, clearing her throat. "Get back to me on that, yeah? We'll talk soon. Love you, gorgeous!"

After ending the call, ridding her ears of the silence on the other end, she used her free hand to grab her phone and carefully drop it down onto one of the tables in the gardens of the Abattoir. She pushed her hair from her face before bending down and grabbing the feet that belonged to Jeremy Gilbert, the very dead Jeremy Gilbert.

Jordanna was officially going down her hitlist. The world was finally rid of the Gilbert siblings—or cousins ( cue eyeroll ), whatever you wanted to call them, but still. She was happy so she didn't really care for the little complications between the Gilbert family.

Now, only Damon was left.

Jordanna lifted her head as she heard footfalls travel down the steps to the garden, the same gardens where Marcel held all of his 'prisoners', the vampires who had done wrong in a way. Her gaze met Klaus' as he sent her an amused look, he leant against the brick wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her drag the Gilbert's body to a large sheet on the floor.

His eyes narrowed on her face as she came to a stand. "You let him hit you?" He asked, gesturing to the small smudge of blood that resided on her face.

Jordanna rolled her eyes and scoffed playfully, "Well, duh. It'd be boring if I just killed him. Besides, the fight was long overdue." Her mind trailed off to when Jeremy and Elena had killed Kol, and to this day she was still embarrassed that Jeremy and Elena Gilbert had bested her. Her.

"Of course," Klaus smirked lightly, voice full of amusement as he slowly walked forward towards her, eyes travelling to the brunette's body that laid dead on the floor to the large bucket of water that sat in the room, sloshes of damp on the floor—showing that the Gilbert still had a fight in him, even when he was being drowned by the ever-so-lovely Jordanna.

"You drowned him to death," Klaus pointed out before a frown fixated on his face as he let his eyes flit over to the Gilbert boy. "What happened to his face?"

Jordanna clicked her tongue and pursed her lips before she answered, "I made a little witchy concoction. You know, full voodoo. But it went wrong . . . "

"You don't say," Klaus trailed off, raising his eyebrows, eliciting in the Jones to roll her eyes.

    Because of the spell placed on the compound ( the spell that deactivated magic, not their daylight rings, Jordanna had found a loophole, allowing their daylight rings to work ) Jordanna and Rebekah no longer had access to magic and there was salt surrounding the entrances, intensifying that chance.

So, if Dahlia got in? She'd have no magic, nothing to keep her safe from the angry parents that resided in the compound.

"Like I said, it went wrong. At first his skin started to melt, which was super gross, by the way, and his eye was, like, popping out of his head. Yeah. Popping," she exaggerated, shaking her head. "I could've been sick. It was only supposed to give him these really bad, painful wart things, so I'm not gonna complain—that seems boring now. Don't you think?"

"Ah yes, painful wart things," he recited her words, a mocking tone to his voice. "Very boring indeed."

"Thank you!" She gestured to him before looking back at the Gilbert boy. "I better get his body sorted. Do you think Hayley's dog friends will eat him for me? It'll save me the trouble of having to drag his grimy ass to the river."

She had lured him to New Orleans with her magic, making it so that she didn't have to leave, with everything going on with Dahlia and Sebastian she didn't want to leave.

But what she was soon to realise was that sometimes, you don't have a choice in the matter.

"Ask them, sweetheart," Klaus shrugged. "They might indulge in something to rip apart."

"How about you?" She asked, raising an amused brow as she made her way over to him. "Don't you wanna turn into your wolf-form and tear him apart for me? It'd make my life a hell of a lot easier."

Klaus let a sarcastic smile accompany his lips, "I'm going to have to decline."

Jordanna narrowed her eyes, "Uh. Why?"

"Because the last time I was in my wolf-form around you, you tied a leash around my neck, put a spell on me so that I was unable to turn back and dragged me around New Orleans like I was some kind of bloody show dog!"

Jordanna scoffed, "It was funny, get over it."

"You made Sebastian sit on my back like I was a horse," Klaus countered. "And when people asked, and I quote, why I was such a 'big, ugly thing' you said that the bloody vet dropped me on my head when I was a puppy."

"Oh, come on," Jordanna chuckled at the memory. "You don't think that's funny?"

"Quite frankly, no," he deadpanned. "You tried to take me to a dog park, Jordanna. You don't even like dogs."

"Yeah, and you reminded me why when you bit me, asshole," she retorted.

A proud smirk pulled at Klaus' lips, "At least now I know you won't do it again."

"We'll see," she trailed off, reaching to pick up her water bottle before taking a sip—she pulled the bottle away from her mouth as her eyes lit up. "Ohh! Wanna hear Jeremy's last words?"

"I don't really care-"

"Hold on," she held a finger up and sipped some more water before making a gargle noise with her mouth. Klaus rolled his lips into his mouth and stared at her blankly as she finally swallowed the water and looked back at him with a grin on her face.

"You're a child," he deadpanned.

Jordanna's face fell before she huffed in annoyance, "Then that'd make you a kiddie fiddler."

Klaus shook his head, sighing. "You had to make it weird," he muttered before making his exit.

Jordanna pursed her lips, "I thought it was funny." She turned to the dead Gilbert beside her, "Didn't you Jer? Oh, wait. Sorry. You can't think. You're dead. Just like your parents, huh? Guess they didn't teach you how to swim, then again . . . they didn't have much luck with the water either, did they?"

・❥・

Jordanna sat in the dining room with Klaus when her phone lit up beside her, her eyes brightened as she read the words written on her phone.

ANIMAL MUNCHER
5 years max

JORDS
10

ANIMAL MUNCHER
6
and i'll give you the keys
to his car
do as you please with it

A large smile formed on the Jones' lips as she lifted the mimosa glass to her mouth.

JORDS
deal
you're an angel stefan salvatore!!!

ANIMAL MUNCHER
yeah, yeah whatever.
now leave me alone i'm
sleeping

    Jordanna bounced Sebastian up and down on her knee in joy as she put her phone down with a gleeful smile, her mood lifted at Stefan's ever-so-generous self.

    Stefan Salvatore was an angel in the form of a monster, his blessed, pure soul was tainted with the bloodthirsty beast half of him—but yet . . . even with that ravenous hunger he had embedded into the pits of his body, he was still . . . Stefan.

    The sound of footsteps echoed into the dining room, Elijah walked in, brushing down the sides of his crisp, clean suit as his gaze flitted between the three seated—it was quite a domestic sight, a weirdly domestic sight.

    Klaus sat, sipping a mimosa at the head of the table with Jordanna besides him, drinking from her own glass as she bounced Sebastian up and down—a fabric, toy rabbit in his hands as he cooed and muttered unintelligible sounds under his breath.

    Elijah rested his body weight against the seat opposite Klaus' and sent his brother an unamused look, the irritated sigh that slipped passed his lips caused Klaus to roll his eyes lightly before he pulled his gaze from his child and Jordanna, "Is something the matter, brother? Can I fix you a drink, perhaps?"

    Elijah kissed his teeth, shaking his head subtly in disbelief, "Strangely enough, Klaus, I'm not in a mimosa mood."

    "Aw," Jordanna tutted, pouting playfully as she glanced up at the older Mikaelson brother, her glass was held between her finger tips as she swirled the remnants of the orange drink around before tipping her head back and letting the liquid slide down her throat smoothly.

    "Fantastic! More for us!" Klaus mused, pushing another glass towards Jordanna.

    A grin formed on her glossy lips as she took the glass in her hand. "Why thank you, Nikolicious." Her mouth tugged upwards when an annoyed look spread across the Mikaelson's face.

    "Jordanna, I swear I will snap your neck if you call me that again," he muttered under his breath against his glass, taking another sip as he sent her a blank stare.

    A small, idle giggle fell from Sebastian's lips as he heard his father speak. Jordanna whistled. "Very kinky Nikolicious." The sound of Sebastian's soft, gentle chuckles continued to leave his lips as he laughed gaily in his mother's hold. "Traitor," the Jones whispered down to him, tickling his stomach with her hand.

    Klaus opened his mouth to respond with a smug comment when Elijah interrupted. "Let's discuss strategy, shall we, Niklaus? Just wondering if you actually have one. We begin with Mikael's ashes," Elijah spoke, taking a seat. "Given that they are the main ingredient in our weapon against Dahlia, would you care to tell me where they have disappeared to?"

    Klaus set down his drink, an annoyed look spreading across his face. "Elijah! I have compelled the city's finest pastry chef for your own personal edification-"

    "Yeah, Elijah, your own personal edification," Jordanna echoed teasingly, tersely shifting her eyes in the Mikaelson's direction.

     Klaus clicked his tongue, shooting her a look. "I appreciate the backup, Jordanna, truly. But if you could just," he placed a finger over his lips in a hushing motion.

    The Jones kicked him underneath the table, "Okay. Rude much? I'm being your cheerleader, you know? Cheering you on and backing you and shit. It's nice, you should appreciate my nice-"

    "Jordanna, Niklaus!" Elijah clasped his hands together, pulling the two from their side-conversation. "We have much more important things to discuss."

    "Right," Klaus rolled his lips into his mouth. "Yes, onto more important things," he mocked before Rebekah's voice ( or Eva Sinclair's voice ) sounded out in the dining room.

    "Can we stop talking so loudly?" She asked with a groan, a tired expression held on her face before she spotted a pot of coffee, a relieved sigh left her lips. "Give me that."

    Rebekah made her way over to the coffee pot and poured herself a glass, Klaus' amused eyes watching her, "What's the matter? New witch body not up to last night's bender?"

    Rebekah rolled her eyes. "So, I had a few." She shrugged, sitting down next to Jordanna as she flashed her pearly whites at her nephew, playing with his hand when he reached out to her before her gaze drifted back to her brother. "It's not every day you lose your father at the hands of your brother. Again."

    Jordanna pursed her lips at Rebekah's words whilst Klaus' laugh reverberated through the dining room. "Well, your dad was an ass so who cares?"

    Elijah rubbed a hand over his jaw, "Freya cares."

    "The 'dad' Nik had to deal with was a different dad to which Freya knew for all of five seconds," Jordanna countered. "I don't know why you're both being salty about it. Mikael is dead, again, we should throw a party. Ooh," she turned to Klaus who had an amused look on his face. "When all of this Dahlia stuff is over do you wanna throw a party in honour of it being dead?"

    Klaus opened his mouth to agree before Elijah cut in, "Under normal circumstances, the annihilation of our father would be rather commendable. Unfortunately, we have a greater threat to contend with."

    Klaus stood to his feet with an eyeroll and moved to pour himself another mimosa. "You know, for someone who's been invited to a celebratory breakfast, you're proving quite the buzzkill," he commented.

    Elijah sighed deeply. "Well, Niklaus, if anything indeed has killed the," he began making air quotes with his fingers, "Buzz, as you say, perhaps it was because murdering father alienated the one person who truly knows how to defeat Dahlia!"

    Klaus clenched his jaw, turning back to his siblings, "If Freya wants to be part of this family, she should be willing to accept us, warts and all!"

    Ha . . . warts reminded her of Jeremy.

    Poor Jer, may he rest in pieces.

Get it? Pieces . . . because the wolves were going to rip him to pieces.

Oh, c'mon! It was funny!

    Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Elijah's right. Freya loved Mikael, and you've likely ruined everything." A scolding tone laced her voice.

    Klaus irritably rolled his eyes, placing his chin in his hands, "Pity. Whatever shall I do?"

    The sarcastic remark and the teasing look he sent in the Jones' direction elicited in a laugh to spill from her lips before she covered her mouth with her hand as Rebekah sent her a pointed look.

    Elijah narrowed his eyes, his stare fleeted from Jordanna back to Klaus before he retorted in annoyance, "Whatever you please, apparently!"

    Klaus glared at him, slamming his hands against the table angrily. Sebastian's head snapped up towards his father with a curious look on his small face, the Mikaelson looked down at his son with an apologetic stare before he set his sights on Elijah, glare coming back to surface.

    "Do not mistake my high spirits for lack of clarity! I know full well the threat we face. And, I intend to deal with it . . . personally," he stated, looking between his siblings.

    Elijah released a sigh, staring at him sceptically as Jordanna passed Sebastian to a hesitant Rebekah when the sound of heels clicking against the floor echoed through their ears.

    "Someone's here," Klaus voiced everyone's thoughts, standing from his seat he quickly rushed into the courtyard, Elijah soon on his trail.

    "Watch him, please," Jordanna muttered to Rebekah who nodded as she held her nephew closer to her while the Jones hurriedly followed after the two Mikaelson brothers.

    As she made her way into the courtyard her eyes fell upon Josephine, a frown fixated on her face at how the witch was in here, but that's when she realised, she couldn't feel her magic anymore, that's how she got in. Well, at least she knew the spell was to work on Dahlia if she got in.

    An internal groan ran through Jordanna's body as she came to a stand beside Elijah, her voice hushed as she watched Josephine, a cane accompanied the LaRue woman as she slowly approached the three, "Frankly, when I see that cane I wanna whack her with it like a piñata."

    Elijah pinched between his brows, "Jordanna."

    "What?" She gave him a look. "I'm kidding."

    She wasn't kidding.

    "Josephine?" Elijah called out in confusion as the older woman came to a halt in front of the three.

    She smiled politely in his direction, "Forgive me for calling so early, Elijah, but I've come bearing a message from your aunt Dahlia. She is owed a debt, and she means to be paid."

    A false smile pulled at Klaus' lips, "She can writhe in hell first."

    Josephine's eyes flickered to Klaus, "For merely taking what your mother promised her? If you must harbour hatred, isn't it better spent on the one who traded your child away a thousand years ago? Blame Esther, if you must, but I seek only to fulfil a bargain. A bargain that, consequently, resulted in your very existence. Perhaps you should be thanking me?"

    "Oh yay," Jordanna muttered under her breath. "It's your crazy aunt Dahlia."

    Klaus inhaled deeply, walking towards her threateningly, "You dare enter my home?"

    A sigh fell from Dahlia's lips ( or rather, Josephine's ), "I only came for what is mine."

   "What's with the ugly, bleeding choker?" Jordanna whispered to Elijah, as the words left her lips Elijah's eyes travelled down to the choker sat on Josephine's neck, blood slowly started to pour from her neck.

    "The time has come to add the child's power to my own. Though, I do not detect him here. I see you've used a spell to cloak him," her gaze fleeted over to Jordanna as she sent her a pointed look.

    It was true, before Jordanna and Rebekah did the other spell to stop witches from using magic, they did a cloaking one on Sebastian; just to be extra safe. They didn't know whether they would be running at any given minute—and if they were? They didn't want to leave it to chance.

    "No matter," Dahlia brushed it off, tutting as she shook her head. "Such spells will yield, as will you. Say your farewells. You have 'til nightfall tomorrow, and then the child shall be mine," Dahlia informed, a light smirk on her face.

    Klaus' lips curved upwards distastefully before he glanced back at Elijah and swiped his hand in a fast motion, decapitating her head.

    Jordanna whistled and placed her chin on Klaus' shoulder as she looked down at the lifeless body on the floor. "You still need to teach me how to do that," she told him, a small pout forming on her lips as she looked down at her hand, flexing her fingers. "My swing is a little weak."

・❥・

    Jordanna was freaking the fuck out—internally, of course, she had to be the one to stay sane right now. She had to hold everything together, at least until it was over and he was safe.

    Sebastian could always tell when his mother was stressed, when she was worried—and when she was stressed and worried? He cried.

    She didn't want to make him cry.

    So instead, she did everything in her power to make him laugh and smile. She was laid in bed with him as Klaus painted, lifting him up in the air—a 'whoo' sound leaving her lips as she did so.

    "You do understand how grating to the ears that is, don't you?" Klaus asked sarcastically, turning away from his painting momentarily as he watched her huff in annoyance before she leant forward and propped Sebastian on her hip before coming to a stand.

"Yeah? Well the sound of your paintbrush is grating to the ears," she mocked, smacking said paintbrush out of his hand as she came to a stand besides him. Klaus pursed his lips and bent down to pick it up.

An annoyed sound crawled up Klaus' throat as he glanced back at her, "You've gotten it all dirty. Lovely."

A teasing pout fell on Jordanna's lips, "Shame."

The Mikaelson merely sent her a small eyeroll before he moved aside, grabbing a fresh one as Sebastian suddenly cried out, thrashing about in his mother's arms. Jordanna bounced him up and down on her hip, soothingly shushing him.

Klaus turned his attention to Sebastian as he placed his paintbrush on the easel. "Hey," Klaus murmured down to him, taking his small hand in his own before Seb lifted it up to his mouth and started biting his finger.

A small chuckle left Jordanna's lips as she watched on before she looked up at Klaus teasingly, "Ah, he's learning."

Klaus huffed out a laugh, shaking his head as he pulled his finger from Sebastian's mouth, "That he is, as are you."

"What you talking about?"

"When you were pregnant you would incessantly call him, and I quote, 'little shit'," Klaus' lips curved into a smirk. "You haven't said that in a while."

"Ahh, yeah well, I feel bad for calling him that whilst his crazy relative is trying to use him as a fucking power beacon," Jordanna replied, looking down at the child in her arms as he played with her hair. "Besides, he isn't being a little shit—he's an angel."

"For now," Klaus teased. "Remember sweetheart, he is our son. I dread to think of his attitude when he grows up."

"Oh God, yeah," Jordanna murmured. "He's like fifty percent psycho. He's gonna run the city red."

A prideful, proud smirk etched on Klaus' features, "Good on him. He is a Mikaelson after all, he's going to have people shaking in fear when they hear his name."

"Both he and Anastasia would," Jordanna's voice was low as she spoke, a sullen expression painting across her face. "A little duo they would've been."

Klaus glanced back at her, a small sigh slipped passed his lips as he strode over to her, he placed a brisk kiss just under her hairline, lingering for a second before he moved back.

Elijah sauntered in the room all of a sudden, an appalled look on his face as he glanced from the paintbrush in Klaus' hand to his fresh art work on the easel. "You do understand there is no time?" Elijah asked his brother rhetorically, earning a glare from Klaus—his mood dropped at his brother's sudden appearance and he diverted his attention back to his art. "Niklaus, if Mikael's ashes are the key to ending Dahlia, then surely you must see the need to share their whereabouts?"

Jordanna pursed her lips as she watched Klaus clench his jaw, side-eyeing his brother. "Okayyy," Jordanna drawled, slowly backing out of the room. "We're gonna go cause this is boring us both, ciao." She took Sebastian's hand in her own as she reached the doorway and made him wave at Klaus. "Say ciaoooo. No? Okay."

Despite himself a small smile creeped up Klaus' face as he watched her walk off before he turned his attention back to his brother—the annoyed expression returning.

Jordanna stalked down the hallways, taking him to the nursery. She placed him on the floor, the baby occupied himself with toys as the Jones moved to the balcony and opened the double-doors for some air before she joined Sebastian on the floor—watching him with a smile as he played with his toys.

The sound of her phone ringing in her pocket reverberated through the room—the Jones pulled her phone out, a smile etching onto her face as she read the name.

"Well hello Baldy," she greeted teasingly, a joyous smile on her lips.

"Jords," Marcel responded, his own smile on his lips as he paced around his loft. "How you doin' kid?"

Jordanna rolled her eyes at the word kid, he sounded too much like her mother sometimes—perhaps that's why they were such great friends. "As expected, someone's trying to baby-nap my kid and I want to tear her wrinkly throat out, but Klaus won't let me anywhere near her 'cause he doesn't want me to die."

Marcel huffed out a laugh, "Yeah? Well, that's Klaus for you, JJ. He loves you, he ain't gonna want you near her. He'll have a plan, don't worry, he always does. You'll all get through, it. I guarantee you."

Jordanna hummed before she hesitantly spoke up, "Dahlia . . . she said yesterday, and I don't know . . . it just—I can't stop thinking about it."

"What was it?" Marcel asked, a frown forming on his face.

"Something about fate already has its ways 'set' with me?" She sighed. "It's stupid, I know. But I have a feeling, Marcey. And it's not a good one."

"Hey. Don't worry about it, okay? I'm sure you'll be fine, J, she was probably just trying to scare you."

"Well it's working," Jordanna muttered, pushing back the faint hair on Sebastian's head as he toothlessly smiled up at her—a small smile pulled at her lips, he kind of looked like that toothless dragon thing ( she couldn't remember the name of the movie ).

"Listen to me, J. You'll be fine, Seb will be fine and Klaus will be fine. And when it's all over, me and you are gonna drink the city dry, deal?"

Jordanna chuckled lightly, "Deal."

A grin pulled at the Gerard's lips, "Good. Now, I gotta go, Rebekah's here, we'll talk soon, okay?"

"Alright. Bye Marcey."

After playing with Sebastian for a bit, Jordanna picked him up—ready to set him down for a nap when an eerie gust of air travelled through the open balcony doors.

A frown fell upon the Jones as she moved to shut the doors when she noticed Dahlia stood on the balcony across from the compound—the elder witch watched them with amazement in her eyes.

"What a beauty! Hello, my child . . . " she trailed off, stepping further out onto the balcony until her hands met the railing.

"My child," Jordanna snapped. "Not yours, mine."

Dahlia huffed, lightly rolling her eyes before she gestured to the line of salt that bound off the compound from her, "I was hoping for a more intimate chat, though I sense by entering you would have me at a considerable disadvantage."

"You can always come in? See what happens?" Jordanna taunted at a warning. "You'll be amazed to see what damage a bat with a couple of nails on it can do."

Dahlia sighed once more, a calm, creepy, expression on her face as she sent Jordanna an eerie smile, "I only wanted to see the little one who has been promised to me. Won't be long now."

"Esther made the deal, not me, I'm his mother. And I promise you, if you touch one hair on his head I will rot your fucking insides and gut you like the slimy hag you are," Jordanna threatened, swallowing roughly as she stared over at the woman on the other side of the balcony.

A smile creeped on Dahlia's face, "Jordanna . . . I have no quarrel with you—like you said, Esther made this bargain long ago. It's most unfortunate you've been dragged into it."

"You make it sound like you're being forced into doing this," Jordanna countered snappily.

"When I give my word, I keep it, I expect others to do the same. Esther and I made a bargain a long time ago, and so, you see, that child is rightfully mine-"

"Yeah, well you didn't birth him did you? He isn't rightfully yours, he isn't a thing you can move about, he isn't a piece of furniture, he's just a baby! You're not taking him."

Dahlia pursed her lips as she tried to remain patient, "You're frightened for . . . " she rolled her eyes. "Your child. I can assure you anything that Freya may have told you about our old life together, well, she always had a flair for the dramatic."

"I very much doubt she was being dramatic about her time with you. You don't exactly seem like Mary fucking Poppins, more like the Wicked Witch of the East."

Dahlia's brows pulled together, "I haven't a clue as to who you're referring to, but I'm sensing it's not a compliment on my half."

"It's not," Jordanna clarified bluntly.

"Mhm," Dahlia made a noise from the back of her throat before an eyeroll formed. "Most of my troubles with Freya stemmed from the fact that I came for her so late in life. She had such a strong memory of the family that I took her from, but Sebastian is still young. He won't cling to the memory of you or cry for you in his sleep. You can take comfort in the fact that for him, it will be as if you never existed."

"I'll take comfort in that?" Jordanna asked sarcastically. "Really?"

Jordanna really wished she hadn't spelled the compound so that she could use her magic to tear Dahlia's head from her shoulders.

"You ought not waste your last hours with him. I can sense it, Jordanna, your time is merely coming closer to an end as we speak. No matter the spell you have placed on that," she gestured to the compound, her lip curling in distaste. "House . . . that magic that runs through your veins will ruin you. Then who will protect him? You should spend your final hours saying farewells."

Dahlia's gaze flickered down to Sebastian, a smile pulled at her lips, "Goodbye for now, little one."

"Go to hell," Jordanna called out to her retreating figure before Dahlia disappeared from her sight. A shaky breath left her lips as she anxiously twisted the beads of Klaus' necklace around her fingers.

What the hell was going to happen to her?

・❥・

Klaus and Elijah had gone off to go talk to the wolves about Sebastian, leaving Jordanna alone in the safety of the compound when Hayley rang her—her furious voice blared down the phone as she tried to explain how Klaus killed Aiden.

How could he have? He had been here with her all day for a start—he hadn't taken his eyes off of her or Sebastian, except for now. And secondly, why would he? What the hell would he have gotten out of it?

After putting Sebastian to sleep, finally, Jordanna made her way down to the courtyard after hearing footfalls echo through the Abattoir. She stood atop the balcony, looking down when she noticed Klaus enter.

She sped down to him, coming to a stop in front of him. The Mikaelson rolled his eyes as he noticed the look etched on her face, "If you've come to scream at me-"

"I know you didn't do it," she remarked, staring at him pointedly. "And even if you did, I wouldn't shout at you, to be honest I don't really care, I didn't know the boy."

And as harsh as it sounded, she didn't care. Because she didn't know him, so she didn't feel bad. She only felt for Josh, that was it. She felt bad for him how he had just gotten someone in his life—someone to love and he had slipped from his fingers in the matter of seconds.

It wasn't fair, for either of them, but life wasn't fair. People die, and as much as you don't want to except that, you have to because there comes a time in everyone's life where you have to deal with that pain—that gut wrenching pain and the grief of losing someone you love.

"What then?" Klaus asked, his mood already dampened from the accusations Hayley and Jackson sent his way. "You look as though you're about to say something I won't like."

" . . . What Dahlia said," she began, trailing off.

"What Dahlia said was lies," Klaus hissed. "She was trying to get in your head, Jordanna, and apparently, it's working."

"Of course it's fucking working, Nik!" Jordanna snapped. "She's saying all this shit about me having only a few hours left and telling me to say my goodbyes, how fate already has its ways set with me. What do you want me to do, ignore it?"

"Yes, because it's a lie, Jordanna," Klaus rolled his eyes. "She's trying to frighten you, weaken you so that she can get what she wants without you being in her way. And what she wants, is our son."

"I know that, alright? I know that," Jordanna stressed, running a hand through her hair. "We need to do something, Nik. We can't just sit around all day painting as if she hasn't given us until tonight."

"Well, what do you suggest we do then?" Klaus asked sarcastically, taking his bad mood out on Jordanna.

"I don't know. I don't fucking know," she snapped, chest heaving up and down as she paced. "Don't get angry at me," she muttered upon seeing the look on his face. "I'm thinking, alright? More than you have been all day."

"You think I haven't?" Klaus asked, narrowing his eyes at the Jones. "Of course I have, all bloody day. Perhaps you can run off like you suggested last night seeing as that's the only plan you have sought out so far."

Jordanna scoffed in disbelief, shaking her head, "Fuck my life. First of all, I suggested that we both run, not me, both of us-"

"Like cowards," Klaus retorted those same words he had spoken the night before.

"No, Nik, like parents. He," she pointed upstairs, "Comes first. Always. Cowards or not, we have to maintain his fucking safety."

"Well, go on then," Klaus rose his brows, stretching out his arms. "Run off, take him with you and flee from Dahlia."

From me.

Jordanna kissed her teeth in annoyance, she knew that he was being sarcastic and acting out because of whatever happened with Hayley, Jackson and the wolves but he didn't need to be an asshole.

"God, do you know much you frustrate me?" She pulled a face, a noise of disbelief crawling up the back of her throat as the necklace that was once sitting on her neck, wrapped around her palm ( she had taken it off because Sebastian was playing with it and her hair had gotten stuck between the beads ) those same beads that she subconsciously traced her thumb across—the necklace calmed her, always, it brought her a kind of serenity, a solace reminding her of everything good that had happened.

"If I were to even go. What? Do you think I wouldn't come back for you? Of course I would, you're the first person I'd come to, Nik. But no matter how much I prove to you and show you that I love you and won't leave you, there'll always be something nagging at the back of your head that thinks the opposite, won't there? One minute you trust me, next minute you don't. Make up your damn mind cause it's confusing, and honestly, it's giving me fucking whiplash."

She didn't bother to wait for a response, instead she turned away, walking in the direction of the stairs so she could go up to the nursery before either of them got angry. She hesitantly turned to look back at him, debating on whether or not to talk again. She did.

"I wasn't gonna run, Nik. I just need him to be safe, and I know you want him safe too."

And she turned back, continuing on her walk to Sebastian's room, Klaus' necklace still held tightly in her grip, calming her racing heart down—but it didn't though, did it? It didn't calm her, no, her breaths became erratic as she suddenly stumbled in place.

Too stubborn for her own good she didn't bother to shout out to the Mikaelson who she knew was still stood there, though his eyes were no longer on her.

Her sight became drowsy, black dots appeared in her eyeline as her heart raced in her chest, booming through her ears like a taunt—this was it.

This was what Dahlia meant, she could feel it.

Despite the better of her she called out to Klaus. "Nik?" Her voice grew weak as she feebly called his name out under her breath, suddenly finding it hard to breath. "Nik? I don't feel so good."

Staggered breaths left her mouth as she suddenly gripped onto the railing on the bottom of the stairs, stabilizing herself.

Klaus turned back around to face her, a confused look on his face as he watched her grip the pillar. His necklace slipped from her grasp, falling to the ground with a soft clank when suddenly, yet slowly, Jordanna fell to her knees, choked out gasps leaving her lips.

Klaus sped to her hurriedly, not a second to waste as he pushed his frustration aside, instead, worry drummed through his veins, his heart beat at a speed that had only occurred to him once.

When he watched her die.

He caught her just before she was soon to fall to her side. "Jordanna, sweetheart?" Klaus rushed out hastily, looking down at her in concern as he watched her chest heave up and down, more staggered breaths left her mouth.

Time slowed around her, the air seemed thicker, harder to consume as he helplessly called out to her, his voice drowned out—as though she was underwater. This was it. Was she dying? Dahlia told her that her time was soon to diminish, and she had spent her last minutes arguing with Klaus.

Tears pooled in her eyes as a soring pain flared through her bones, travelling up her skin like knives were being embedded in every inch of her body. Her hooded eyes tiredly looked up, meeting Klaus' as she used the little energy she had left in her body, a weak, wobbly smile pulled at her lips as a shaky hand grasped Klaus' in her own.

Klaus' protests got quieter and quieter in her ears, her body relaxed in Klaus' arms as the world blurred, a lone, fallen tear fell from Klaus' eye, landing on her chest as she let the wave of tiredness consume her, swallowing her hole—it captured her body like a prisoner, keeping her entrapped, and next thing you know . . .

Her eyes fluttered shut.

The last thing she heard was Klaus' pained voice calling out to her in agony, begging and begging for her to wake, for it to be a joke.

But she didn't and it wasn't.

AUTHOR'S NOTE !
yeah... so that happened :|

next chapter shouldn't be too long cause i already wrote it, it just needs to be edited!!1

ciao ;)

UNEDITED COS IT TOOK TOO LONG TO WRITE AND IM LAZY ASF🫦