CHAPTER EIGHTEEN | ASHES TO ASHES

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DISORIENTATION WAS THE FIRST FEELING THAT RILEY FELT FROM THE MOMENT THAT SHE WOKE IN THE COURTYARD. As Elijah breathlessly stumbled toward her and cupped her face, her panicked eyes were fixed on his confused ones. There was so much to process after what had happened with Klaus, but the biggest question that Riley Evans had to ask herself was— how the hell was she alive after Marcel had snapped her neck? 

"Elijah?" Riley's terrified voice broke as he examined her closely. His head tilted, distress upon his face the moment he realised Riley's fate. "How am I— Marcel snapped my neck. I don't—"

The Original vampire could barely comprehend the reality of the situation. She swallowed thickly and let a confused Riley fall into his arms. "I am so sorry this has happened to you." He held her for a moment, and that was when Riley finally peeled herself from his embrace and looked up to him. "You're in transition."

"Oh, my God." Was all that Cami could muster out as she heard Elijah tell Riley the heartbreaking truth. "Oh, Riley. I—"

"—No. No, I can't be in transition." Riley lifted herself up to her feet, holding onto the water fountain beside her as she desperately shook her head. "I'm a witch. I— I am not a vampire!" The Evans girl let an emotional cry leave her lips which caused the light fitting against the walls of the courtyard to shatter immediately. Riley blinked in horror, noticing the damage she had caused before Elijah held his hand out toward her. "What the hell is happening to me!?"

"I am not entire sure what is going on, Riley, but I promise you— I give you my word, we will get through this." Elijah's gaze then darted toward Cami. "So, now that you have healed, what do you mean Niklaus had a plan? We had a plan! A plan he has mercilessly destroyed—"

"—Your plan wouldn't have worked, Elijah." The blonde human yelled out in a tone which immediately caused him to silence. "When Klaus got into my head he said your plan would fail so he had to enact one of his own."

Riley felt sick to her stomach at their current dilemma. However, even in her darkest moments, all she could think about was their present threat— Dahlia. "What's he doing?" 

"He has to get her to link to him."

Elijah's eyes widened once more in complete disbelief. "My brother wishes to bind himself to our enemy? She'll be virtually indestructible."

"He said I had to convince you both that everything he had to do, he had to do alone. He knew that you would be okay, Riley. Now, I know that doesn't excuse what he has done to you, but—"

"—But, nothing!" Riley snapped immediately. Her eyes had darkened over and she felt nothing but rage. "I have given everything for this family, and now my life just so he can work alone?" She swallowed thickly, shaking her head again. "Now, what the hell is he doing?" 

"He said you had the wrong ingredients to kill Dahlia, and he has to buy time before he finds the right ones."

"How?"

Cami had explained everything to Elijah after Riley had left the courtyard for some air. She felt overwhelmed. She had learned that if she completed the transition, she would be a vampire with the ability to do magic. 

Elijah was seated on the edge of the fountain, his eyes situated to the exact spot where Riley was laid dead. "I am sorry about Riley."

"Are you?" He asked with a hint of skepticism in his voice. Elijah knew that Cami would defend his brother no matter what he had done.

"I don't condone Klaus' actions. I'm trying to help you." Cami started to explain as Elijah looked up at her with a hurt expression. "All I know is Klaus will do whatever he has to do—"

"—Klaus will do whatever he has to do for Klaus!" Elijah bellowed as he lost his temper once more. All he could think about was the fate that was bestowed upon Riley. Her choices that were now taken away because of him. 

"Hayley isn't answering any of my calls." Riley's voice echoed as she strode back into the compound, shoving her phone into her pocket. "Cami, we need to know what he's done."

"Don't blame the messenger." Rebekah's voice carried as she and Marcel stepped into the courtyard. All eyes fell on the Mikaelson, who was now back in her Original body, rather than Eva Sinclair's. "Looks like Niklaus had a lot on his to-do list last night. And, as for Hayley..."

"What is it?" Elijah asked, worriedly.

"When Klaus attacked me, he stole the spell that I used on the Crescent wolves—" Marcel anxiously trailed off as a scoff of disbelief left the transitioning Heretic's lips. Riley knew exactly where Marcel was headed with his explanation.

"You're telling me that he's used the spell on Hayley? She'll be human once a month, forced to live out the rest of her days in wolf form!" Riley stressfully ran her head through her hair. "Okay. I can still do magic, maybe there's—"

"—Riley. We need to focus on who needs saving today." Rebekah offered the girl a comforting smile. Marcel had explained what he was forced to do to Riley, and Rebekah felt almost as guilty as he did. "Freya called. Dahlia is incapacitated. They are two hours north at an orchard near Pale River. She has Hope."

Before Rebekah could even continue, Elijah sped away to meet Freya and retrieve his niece which left Riley, Cami, Rebekah and Marcel in the courtyard. 

Marcel opened his mouth to speak, but Riley shook her head. "Before you say anything—" She interrupted him. "I don't blame you, Marcel. Compulsion is a tricky thing. The blame falls solely on Klaus. Nobody else."

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Elijah, Freya and Hope had returned to the compound with Klaus and Dahlia. The Hybrid laid with a dagger embedded in his chest meaning that Dahlia would remain in the same state as Klaus until the dagger was removed. 

"Nik is demented!" Rebekah scoffed with her eyes scanning her older brother's body. "Are we really to dig up mother, burn her to ash, swap said ash with Kol's, and then trick Davina into using up her last chance to bring someone back from the dead? Not to mention we lose the opportunity to save Kol, if Davina doesn't turn us inside out!"

"Or, we dig a deep hole and leave both our problems at the bottom of it." Elijah unsympathetically spoke with a shrug. 

Freya's gaze remained fixed on Dahlia. "I say we choose a more permanent option— find the White Oak stake, kill Klaus, Dahlia dies with him."

"Not an option. You're talking about killing Klaus' entire sideline along with him." Riley folded her arms across her chest. As she spoke, she winced in pain, stumbling backwards as Elijah held his arms out to steady her. "God. Is it supposed to hurt this much?"

"The longer you take to complete the transition, yes." Marcel answered back with a guilt look on his face. He knew that whether or not Riley forgave him, he would never forgive himself.

"Are you going to?" The blonde Original pointedly asked. "Feed, I mean." Then, her attention was taken by the golden dagger in Klaus' chest that had started to melt. "The dagger. It's bloody melting!"

A heavy sigh left Elijah's lips. They were out of options. "We have no choice but to finish the task that Niklaus has set." Elijah gently brushed past Riley, tugging at her hand to guide her to follow him. "Riley, there is nothing I can say to make this better for you, but I am truly sorry."

If Riley were being honest, she didn't have any words left in her, either. Instead, she let Elijah's arms wrap around her in an attempt to make her feel somewhat better. "I feel like crap."

"Marcel was right. The longer you delay with your decision, the more agonising the transition shall become." Elijah sighed heavily, resting his chin against her head. "Perhaps, just while you are within this state, you should go to St. James. I'd feel better knowing that you were safe."

"You know, what? Yeah. Okay." Riley was in no position to argue with Elijah. Every single part of her body ached and left as if she had been hit by a truck. 

"Wonderful." Rebekah's voice echoed. She clapped her hands together with a smile before she strutted past Riley and Elijah. "We can drop you off there before Elijah and I dig up mother dearest." 

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The feeling of transitioning into a vampire was something the Evans girl never thought she would ever experience. She felt like her brain was going at a million miles an hour. She struggled to concentrate, and every single part of her body ached uncontrollably. Riley exhaled deeply, gathering herself mentally as she attempted to walk toward the bar. She gripped onto the bar top and carefully walked around until Klaus entered with Hope in a car seat. 

"Oh." Was the only thing that left Klaus' lips as he delicately placed his daughter's car seat onto the bar top. His eyes lingered on Riley, noticing the clear pain she was in. "You know the longer you delay—"

"—Don't you dare!" Riley snapped immediately before Klaus even had a chance to finish his sentence. "I have heard that phrase so many times day that I am beginning to find that more painful than this damn transition."

"From my brother, I assume?" Gently, the Hybrid started to rock Hope within her chair as she began to fuss. 

"I really don't have the energy for small talk with you, Klaus. And, to be honest, I don't even want to be in the same room as you." The Evans girl rolled her eyes with an irritable look on her face. "So, why don't you cut the crap, and tell me why you did this to me?"

Klaus blinked at her emotional outburst and swallowed thickly. "I did it to protect you. Dahlia had been one step ahead this entire time, we needed to change the playing field. Because of your power— because of who you are— she wanted you dead, Riley. Permanently."

"Oh, so I'm just suppose to be grateful that you've done this?" She scoffed in disbelief once more. She winced in pain again, causing Klaus to edge forward to comfort her. "Stay away from me."

"You recall your bloodline is powerful, but a first born Evans witch is all the more powerful. Usually, if a witch dies with vampire blood in their system, their connection to magic dies along with them. But, you? Yours only grows stronger. So much so that you can be both. A vampire capable of witchcraft. Similar to a Heretic, though you don't possess any siphoning abilities."

Riley's head was spinning. She didn't know whether it was to do with the newfound information Klaus had given her, or the fact that she was quite deep into her transition period and still hadn't fed. 

Their conversation was cut short by the entrance of Cami, who appeared to be incredibly irritated the moment Klaus' eyes fell to her. "Camille, I need your help."

"Hello, Klaus. Hello, Camille. Thank you so much for convincing my furious siblings to join my Machiavellian plan! Yeah, that was good times. Oh, what did you say—" She sarcastically touched her neck, where he had previous bit her. "—How is my neck? It's healed, thank you so much for asking." She stopped mocking him and took a breath. "Now, you were saying?"

"I had to make it seem as if I cared for nothing, for no one. But, you should know that when I hurt you—" Klaus tried desperately to finish his sentence and sighed. "Our battle is not yet won, and I need to to protect the most important thing in my life, and I need you to do it here, where magic is void. And, I'm sorry. I will find a way to make it up to you." He glanced back to Riley. "Both of you."

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The biggest battles of their lives had been won. Dahlia had been vanquished and Hope Mikaelson was officially safe from those who sought to harm her. Though Klaus' victory led to one of the biggest loses the Hybrid would ever face— his family. Rebekah was given a choice by Freya— either stay in her Original body, or jump back into Eva Sinclair. She chose the body of a witch to search for a way to bring back Kol all while Elijah swore that once their final battle against Dahlia was over, he would never stand beside Klaus again. 

Hayley's fate still remained the same— sentenced to the body of a wolf while once a month being able to see her daughter. That, amongst other things, was the reason that Riley chose to feed and complete her transition. She swore that she would never forgive Klaus for what he did to her, but she would never give up on the rest of the Mikaelsons. 

Riley and Elijah stood on the balcony, overlooking Bourbon Street below. "You remember right before Marcel snapped my neck?" As she spoke, his eyes flickered down to her.

"It is something I don't think I will ever be able to forget."

"I was about to say something, right before." She admitted, a light smile on her face as she moved her arms delicately around Elijah's shoulders. "I love you."

The smile grew upon Elijah's face once he heard the words leave Riley's lips. "I love you." In spite of everything, they always managed to find their way back to each other. 

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AN:
oh my god, so season 2 is finally finished and I can honestly say that making Riley into a vampire/witch is something I've always wanted to do. 
ANYWAY, season 3 is about to begin and I can't wait to get started!