ELIJAH FELT LIKE his entire body was on fire. It was impossible to distinguish his hallucinations from real life. His entire world had become dreams and shadows, and he wandered through them in endless pain. Alejandra was gone. Her absence left a gaping hole in Elijah—there was nothing left of him but a burning that filled every part his mind. It was impossible to move without her, impossible to live. Yet here he was, somehow alive, despite everything.

He could hear his siblings calling to him, but he had no idea how to find them. He was trapped in an infinite forest that sometimes became a swamp, although the merciless sun beat down on the back of his neck, making the place feel like an endless desert.

Sometimes his mother was there, and once he was sure that he saw his father gripping a White Oak stake from behind a hawthorn tree. As Elijah ran, Mikael stalked him through tall swamp grasses, his face hidden by shadows.

“I’m here,” Rebekah whispered in Elijah’s ear, and he could feel that Klaus was nearby, too. He had seen Klaus...he had fought him. First at the Southern Spot, then again, with Alejandra riding him like a broken horse. She had been inside his head, filling every corner of his mind with her voice, her scent, and her relentless will. She had told him his siblings were done with him, that they were better off without him.

But she was wrong. Rebekah and Klaus were with him now, and that had to mean something. Elijah struggled to open his eyes, to see if his siblings were really by his side, but it felt like red-hot pins had been pushed through his eyelids, fixing them in place.

Every muscle in his body strained against his closed eyelids, and he felt them lightly twitch. Somewhere above him either his mother or Rebekah gasped in surprise. It was working. He worked harder, fighting against the blank space that used to be Alejandra, and his eyes fluttered open at last.

The ceiling above him looked like the one in his own bedroom, which meant he was hallucinating. Elijah knew he was still in the cabin, and that he would probably never be allowed to leave. Alejandra had told him so, yesterday or the day before or the day before that.

Two pairs of concerned blue eyes stared down at him. He’d brought his two siblings together at last, another sign that this wasn’t really happening.

“You’re safe,” Klaus assured him. His forehead was creased with worry. “You’re home, and you’re going to be all right.” He felt Klaus’s hand on his shoulder, and the weight and feel of his skin felt real. Was he actually in his room? Was he safe?

“Can you speak?” Rebekah asked. “Alejandra said she used vinaya powder on you, but I’d never even heard of the stuff until a few days ago. We need to know what she did in order to reverse it.”

Elijah tested his lips and tongue, trying to guess how his voice might sound if he managed to force it out of his dry, cracked throat. “Thirsty,” he rasped, and Rebekah jumped up at once.

“I’ll go get someone for you,” she said, and then she disappeared from view.

- The Originals: The Resurrection, Chapter 18