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MODERN DAY – EAST COAST, UNITED STATES.
While Elijah treasured silence, there was nothing more tense than that silence which hung heavy between him and his older brother. There were many things that Elijah could say or even ask his elder brother but would not pass his lips, even to assuage the tense silence that hung between them in this tiny space. However, the silence wasn’t entirely silent as Elijah had classical music playing while he drove. As much as they disliked each other, necessity and a love for their elder sister dictated this trip to Mystic Falls, the birth place of the monsters they had become. There was not much Elijah wouldn’t do for his family and Finn felt the same – at least for Freya. Where he stood with the rest of them was quite clear.
Somewhere on the stretch of I-85, right outside of Charlotte, Elijah spoke up. “Would you care to drive, brother?” he questioned, turning his attention briefly toward Finn, who was staring out the window and seemingly taking in the scenery. Elijah knew that their alliance was tentative in this moment and there was quite a bit that he didn’t understand about his older brother, so he decided to start on neutral ground. Returning his eyes toward the road, he waited for a response from Finn.
The response came in a form of a great, heaved sigh. “I do not know how, brother, and even if I did, I do not think it is a good idea,” Finn said and turned his attention toward Elijah, meeting his younger brother’s eyes for the moment. There was a time when he knew those eyes, when he knew this person. Once upon a time, Finn knew the boy that would become this man, who had been kind and self-sacrificing, even in their youth. The curse placed upon them by their parents had made him something else entirely – something that Finn did not know or recognize as his own brother. Letting out another sigh, he returned his attention toward the passing scenery without saying anything else, sending them back into another tense silence.
But this one did not last.
“Do you intend to remain silent for the rest of this journey?” Elijah asked, his eyes never leaving the road as he continued forward toward Virginia. He had already known the answer to the question, but he was not sure that he could handle the stifling intensity of the unspoken between them for a second longer than necessary.
“What is there to say that has not already been said?”
This earned Finn a sigh in response. Elijah was not sure he was up for another speech from his older brother about how he’d spent centuries in a box at the behest of his siblings. Yet he knew that time period was something they would need to hash out eventually; just not now. “Anything else to keep my mind off the fact that a psychopath has a hold of our sister,” he responded, his tone having taken on a hint of pleading as he looked at Finn to talk about anything.
“We could always discuss our plans on how we’re going to rid this Lucien of his limbs if he even thinks of laying a hand on Freya,” Finn mused and looked at Elijah, canting his head a bit. This earned him somewhat of a smile.
“Carry on then, you first,” Elijah said before turning his eyes toward the road once more; now they were talking. Finn could be as brutal as he in the name of those he loved; Elijah knew that he was merely being tolerated for Freya’s sake and he’d take it for now. The Original was not worried about the speed limit as he continued to drive well above it, moving between cars as if he had no care in the world. Police were not something he was concerned about either as he waited for Finn to discuss his plans for Lucien.
“I was always a fan of slow and torturous dismemberment, if you recall,” Finn commented, eyes toward the window and smiled a bit to himself. He could tell that Elijah did, in fact, remember a time when Finn had embraced who he was for even a moment. “And with the advancements in medicine and herbs, I believe I could achieve much in the most painful way possible.” He pressed a hand to his breast and tried to at least look remorseful for what he was about to say. “In honor of those great torture techniques inherited from the Scots,” he replied and started to laugh to himself, looking out the window again.
“Ah, those were magnificent, weren’t they?” Elijah remarked and looked over toward his brother before returning his eyes toward the road once more. “I did admire their technique for the macabre and horrific,” he said, one hand on the wheel and the other on the sill of his window. “I rather enjoyed the one with the maggots in a living specimen,” he motioned toward his head, pressing a finger to it. “Slow, torturous indeed, watching them go mad one moment at a time. Ingenious, I say. A shame we didn’t come up with it ourselves.”
Finn chortled and kept his eyes toward the scenery. “Too tame for Lucien, I would say brother,” he teased and got a laugh out of Elijah in agreement. For the moment, he could pretend that they were a loving, happy family, talking about the weather or planning some life affirming event and not the dismemberment of one of their enemies. “Just tear his head off and make it quick. I don’t want to give him more than he deserves.”
Elijah agreed and let out a sigh, Finn’s final statement settling them back into silence once more – but a less heavy one than before, making the rest of their journey less tense. Taking a deep breath, Elijah was happy for that one moment where they were on the same page, no matter how minuscule as it was.