A Dangerous Game

Contemplating how she'd complete the task ahead, Eve knew very well she wasn't tall enough to reach the chains that bound Ian's wrists. He hung from the ceiling like a butchered pig, swaying back and forth from the lightest of touches. She knew she'd have no chance of climbing his body to the ceiling, because every time she'd try he would flinch in pain. She didn't blame him. His wounds were raw and tender, enflamed with setting infection.

Looking around the darkened room, she spotted a rusty aluminum bucket in the far corner, it appeared to be placed under a roof leak. It would have to do under the circumstances. She picked the bucket up by the grimy handle and poured out the remaining rain water. Or, at least she hoped it was rain water.

She set the bucket down behind him, upside down so she could step up onto it, giving her the height she'd need. She reached her hands up to his only to soon realize she was still a couple of inches too short to reach.

"Blast it!" she cursed in a contained whisper and then bit down on her tongue, "I'm sorry for the harsh language."

Ian let out a gruff chuckle "I'll try not to hold it against you."

"It isn't funny," she scolded, "I'm still cross with you."

"I know." Ian murmured.

Eve stepped down from the bucket and scanned the room for anything that might aid her. She noticed then, a small table with gleaming instruments. Walking towards the table, she noticed there was a fair amount of blood on the pieces and she knew immediately these had been used to inflict Ian's deep gashes.

"I think she assumes you'll lose control over the blood and attack me" Ian spoke through the darkness, his voice sounded so weak it made Eve cringe. She wanted to care for him, wanted to coddle him, but she was still angry for what he had done. All he had done.

Eve glanced over at him and frowned "Then she doesn't know me very well, now does she?" she picked up a small blade and walked over to him, "I have more control over my nature than my siblings." She stepped back onto the bucket again and reached as far as she was able, trying desperately yet calmly to undo the chain lock.

"Why is that?" he asked curiously, "If you don't mind my asking, of course. Considering I suppose I'm the one who should be doing the talking…"

"You suppose?" she asked and then bit her lip before answering, "My mother, Esther. She didn't change me along with my siblings at first. I begged her to allow me to at least have one child, and given her understanding of desperately having wanted children of her own, she granted me my wish. However, later she changed her mind. She had learned her lesson from her first spell and didn't want to make the same mistake twice. She spelled my brother's blood, Finn, so that I might be an Original, without the outrageous thirst for blood. I suppose I should be grateful to her, happy I hadn't fallen to the same fate, but I never did get what I truly wanted. A family of my own…" she trailed off, fingers pausing on the lock for a moment before going back to wriggling the blade around in hopes to pop it open.

"I never knew that," Ian said with a frown, "Sarah said that all vampires are malicious monsters."

Eve shook her head in disagreement "Some are. Not all. Just as some people are monsters. People like Sarah."

"Hm." Ian was silent as she continued to fiddle with the lock of the chains. Then, all at once the lock clicked open and Eve barely caught Ian by under the arms before he could collapse to the ground. The vervain had certainly taken its effect on her, she had some difficulty holding him up.

"Can you walk?" she asked, her arms wrapped around his waist, holding him up as well as she could manage.

"I think so," he said, gingerly putting weight on his strained leg muscles.

She carefully helped him to the wall closest to the door for two reasons. One, it was closer to the door in case they were given a sudden chance to escape. And two, it was the only wall without a horrid amount of mold. She sank down beside him and puffed out a sigh.

"I'd offer you a drink, but she's already injected me with vervain. I don't think I'd be of much help."

"It's alright," she said gently, her fangs slowly protruding from her gums. She bit down into her palm, creating a pool of her blood and then offered it to him.

Ian's eyes widened in alarm "I know you're still angry with me, but I think turning me into a vampire is a little drastic, don't you?"

"Nonsense. My blood will heal your injuries. Is that what Sarah told you? That you would turn into a vampire if you drank their blood?" She shook her head and scoffed "She's lied to you, Ian. You would do well not to listen to a word she has to say."

Furrowing his eyebrows, he nodded slowly "So that isn't how you turn into a vampire?"

"No, well, not completely. You would have to die with my blood in your system, and even then, you'd have to drink human blood to complete the process."

He bit his lip "Oh, well that's good to know at least. I know not to trust her now; would you like to know how I know?" he asked as he leaned his head back against the wall.

"I'd like to know a lot of things" she answered grimly as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

Ian paused for a moment before speaking again "She once told me you and your family were soulless monsters that needed to be destroyed. She was wrong," he paused, "The night I took you to the theatre, we watched A Streetcar Named Desire. I looked over and I saw you crying, you were so heartbroken to have seen such a horrifying event. I realized then that you were nothing like the monster Sarah depicted you as. And it was in that moment that I fell in love with you. True, head over heels, honest love. With you."

Evangeline was silent, feeling hot tears brimming her eyes. She hated how her emotions were connected to her tear ducts. If he loved her, truly loved her as he said he did, why hadn't he told her what was happening? Why had he still played the part of her helping hand?

"Through all our time together, you didn't tell me. Didn't warn me what was to come. How can I trust anything you say?"

Ian's eyes cast down and shook his head sullenly "I was a coward, Eve. If I could go back in time and take it all back I would in an instant."

"Tell me why, then. Why have you put me through this? You've not just toyed with my heart but with my life and my family's lives. I deserve an explanation. The truth, not some fabrication your ex has told you to recite," she said and held her palm to him, "Drink and then talk, or Sarah will be the least of your worries. And I don't mean my brothers."

With that subtle threat, Ian took hold of her hand gingerly pressed his lips to her palm, swallowing a mouthful of the gooey liquid. She watched him cringe and she knew it couldn't be a pleasant experience, yet he trusted her to drink it anyways. That said so much without words.

"Speak," Eve said once he had finished and his wounds had healed, she would no longer sit on the sidelines to wait for him, she would push forward. She wasn't weak, she was a Mikaelson. She always had been and she always would be. She waited patiently for him to begin.

"I met Sarah a couple of years ago at a sort of Business After Hours Banquet for a company I had just started to work for. She was magnificent. Sexy and smart, I was entranced immediately. It wasn't long later that we were together and soon she told me her little secret."

"That she was a witch?" Eve asked with an arched eyebrow.

Ian nodded in response "I wasn't afraid. In fact, I was even more entranced by her. I would have done anything for her, but then something happened. Something in her changed, she wasn't sweet and kind anymore. She was cold and harsh and I still don't know what it was that could have cause such a change in her personality. Anyways, it was that time, a year ago that she cut it off with me. It was sudden, unexpected, but if it was what she wanted then I would let her go. I couldn't force her into a relationship she didn't want. Shortly after… I was diagnosed with terminal cancer," he paused and furrowed his eyebrows, eyes casting down to the floor, "I paid for all the treatments. Had multiple second opinions and things were just not looking good."

"Ian…" Evangeline whispered softly, taking his hand in hers. She didn't know what else to say. What could she say?

"I was afraid, Eve. So terrified to of my fate. To die. I sought her out, asked her to help me. She said she had medicinal powers and I even watched her mend a butterfly once before. I knew she could mend me if she'd only be willing. So, I went to her and I asked her if there was anything she could do. She said yes, but she wouldn't do it for free," he chuckled humorlessly, "Can you imagine? She told me there was a price to save my life. That price was something she said was very simple." He looked up at her, his brilliant blue eyes somber "To lure you to her. To draw you in with my looks, my charm, and then hand you over to her once she was ready. She said once she had the white oak ash ready, I was to bring you to her, and then shortly after she… would kill you, and then she'd cure me," he shook his head his voice breaking with emotion, "I know it was so selfish and inhuman. I was a coward, I know this. I don't know how many times I can apologize, I know it will never be enough."

"You were afraid, Ian" she said softly, rubbing her thumb into the back of his hand as tears ran down his cheeks, "Ian… you have to know." How could she tell him this? That Sarah wouldn't be able to cure him even if she wanted to, that the ancestors would throw a fit if she even thought of doing that? "Witches, no matter how powerful… cannot cure an illness like this. I don't think she ever intended to help you" she said softly, her heart shattering as his expression turned to absolute heartbreak. "I'm so sorry…"

"She-she can't make me better?" he asked with a soft voice, his shoulders slumping forward. She'd never seen him so defeated and it made her feel… anger. True, raw anger. How dare she do this to him. Manipulate him in this way.

"She will not get away with this. I give you my word, she will not."

Ian ran his hand down his face slowly and swallowed "I suppose I knew deep down. That she was only playing me. I shouldn't be surprised."

She felt the dire need to reach forward and touch his cheek, comfort him in any way that she could. "Earlier when she and I were talking she said that she hadn't died in the fire that day, but somebody had. What did she mean by that?"

"It was her sister, Ophelia. Her twin sister…" he nodded slowly "It was an accident, a gas leak, and Sarah was the one they suspected, not me. We paid off the tabloids to display my name rather than hers so she wouldn't have to deal with it. I could hold my own, but she was too distraught. She'd say or do the wrong thing and make everything worse. We just played it all off until it died down. Later is when she broke up with me."

Evangeline frowned, something seemed to be off about that story, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. With a nod, she kept hold of his hand "Well, first things first. We need to get out of here. I won't play damsel this time."

"Do you have a plan then?" he asked her.

With a sly smile and a stubborn glint in her eyes, she responded "Yes. I think I do."