After just over an hour of searching the neighbourhood for Hayley, both Elijah and Rebekah are starting to lose hope. Rebekah is pretty sure Elijah lost all hope the minute the clock struck ten, but he hasn't given up yet and she doubts he will until Hayley is found and sat safely at home. Rebekah has been strongly considering phoning the police for the last twenty minutes, but what her brother said before is correct, the police won't see her as a missing person until she has been missing for 24 hours. Therefore they won't help.
Rebekah sighs loudly and checks her phone again. Still no calls from Hayley, or Marcel. She sent him out in the car to look for Hayley, but he hasn't got back to her since. To be honest, she doesn't expect Marcel to phone her if he finds Hayley, he never really uses his phone even when he genuinely needs to. In fact, it wouldn't surprise her if they go home and he is sat there watching TV with Hayley acting as if nothing has happened. However, she knows that this is not the case because she knows Hayley would have phoned by now.
Rebekah turns to see her brother pacing on the sidewalk. Her brother is always very good at hiding his emotions, but he has never been good at hiding his panic when his loved ones are in danger. This is one of them times when Elijah just can not hide his fear.
"We'll find her, Elijah. She'll be okay" Rebekah says, hoping to comfort her brother.
It does not seem to work.
"Where else could she be? We have searched the entire neighbourhood" he says, more to himself than Rebekah.
A loud bark echos through the streets and Rebekah turns to where the sound is coming from, but sees nothing. She turns back to look at Elijah, still pacing. She could suggest they check near the shops again, but she doubts they will find anything new. She could suggest they go home and wait for Hayley, but she doubts she will be able to drag a worrying Elijah home. They could search the park again, but she doubts they will find anything new there either.
Another bark sounds out, closer this time. Rebekah ignores it.
"He must have her" Elijah suddenly says, and they both know he is referring to Klaus.
"We don't know that" Rebekah says.
"Why else would she be gone for this long without contacting us?" He asks, anger lacing his voice.
"Maybe her phone died" Rebekah says, despite not believing that herself.
Another bark, closer yet again.
"That is extremely unlikely" Elijah says.
"We can't be sure of anything, Elijah, not yet anyway. It has only been a couple of hours" she says, hoping and praying he will calm down a bit.
Elijah stops pacing and stares at his sister. She can tell by the look on his face that he has definitely not calmed down.
"A lot can happen in a few hours, Rebekah" he says, fear lacing his tone now as his own words scare him. Because he is right. A hell of a lot can happen in a few minutes, never mind a few hours.
A very loud bark sounds out and Rebekah turns around to see Jack running from the dark side of the park. Her heart instantly drops to her stomach because despite how safe her neighbourhood is, everyone has heard the bad stories about what use to happen in the dark side of the park and if that is where Hayley was walking Jack, then who knows what has happened to her.
Elijah starts walking towards Jack straight away, meeting him halfway and crouching to the floor. The dog does not wag his tail and does not look like his usual happy self. Elijah grabs his leash and strokes him gently. Rebekah comes to stand next to Elijah and looks down at the dog. She can see blood on his fur and her heart drops to her stomach once again.
"Elijah... he has blood on his fur" Rebekah points out.
Elijah looks at the blood and runs his fingers over the patch of red fur, checking it isn't the dog's blood. When he is satisfied that it is not Jack's blood, he stands up and looks towards where Jack has just come from.
"We checked the park before" he states.
"We didn't check the dark side of the park" Rebekah tells him and he turns to look at her, anger in his eyes.
"And you are just telling me this now?" He asks.
"I didn't think Hayley would go to that side of the park. It is literally pitch black, I thought she might have more sense than to go that way" Rebekah says.
"Regardless of what you thought, we should have checked there earlier" he says and she knows he is right.
"Then stop wasting time having a go at me and come check it out with me" Rebekah says, getting a bit angry herself.
Elijah sets off walking towards the entrance to the dark side of the park, Rebekah following closely behind and Jack tugging him forwards. He knows Jack is a very smart dog and right now he is more than happy to let Jack lead him wherever he wants to go; chances are he will lead him to Hayley.
After following Jack down a very dark and very long path, they finally come to see two bodies lay on the floor. Elijah lets go of Jack's leash and he sets off running towards the bodies. Elijah and Rebekah also set off running and as they get closer they can see that one of the bodies is Hayley. Jack skids to a halt at Hayley's side and licks her face before looking up at Elijah as he reaches them and lets out a quiet whine.
Elijah instantly crouches down and puts his hand on Hayley's neck, feeling for a pulse. He finds one and closes his eyes as he lets out a sigh of relief. He pushes a stray piece of hair from her face and tucks it behind her ear, his touch extra gentle.
"Please tell me she's okay" Rebekah says, out of breath.
"As far as I can tell" Elijah says, stroking Hayley's cheek.
Rebekah looks over to the man lay on the floor nearby, who also seems to be unconscious. She moves closer to him and squints to see bloody wounds on his arms and one right in between his neck and shoulder. They look like bite marks and Rebekah turns around to see Jack glaring at the man.
"Jack wouldn't have attacked him for nothing, he must have attacked Hayley" Rebekah says her thoughts out loud.
Elijah looks over at the man.
"She's lucky to have such a loyal dog" Elijah says, quietly.
"He's certainly one of the good ones" Rebekah says, putting her hand lightly on the dog's back.
Elijah carefully puts his arms under Hayley's thighs and back before he lifts her into his arms. He stands up and takes a step closer to Rebekah. The blonde gently puts her hand on Hayley's head and smiles sadly. At least her friend is safe, even if she is hurt. She looks back down at Jack to see him glaring down at the attacker, not letting his guard down for even a second after everything he has already seen his owner go through.
Elijah also looks down at the attacker and from the look in his eyes, Rebekah knows that he is not coming home with her tonight. She has seen that look in her brother's eyes before and she knows that it never ends well.
Elijah looks at Rebekah once again and asks, "do you think you could carry her?"
Rebekah gives her brother a worried look.
"Please don't do this, Elijah" she says, despite knowing he has already made up his mind.
"This is not a discussion, Rebekah. Can you carry her, or not?"
Rebekah stays silent for a second, considering saying no. She then sighs because she knows that either way Elijah will find a way to get Hayley home and punish the man who attacked her.
"We don't exactly do heavy lifting in yoga, but I could give it a go" she says.
"Thank you" Elijah says, and she can tell that he really means it.
"I would say anytime, but that is not an offer I want you to take advantage of" she says, trying to lighten the mood.
Elijah does not laugh, or smile at her joke, but she knows that in any other situation he would of done. She can settle for that right now considering the circumstances. Slowly and carefully, Elijah lowers Hayley into her arms and she is actually quite surprised with how much Hayley weighs when she is literally one of the skinniest girls Rebekah has ever met. Or maybe Rebekah is just not as strong as she used to be.
Regardless of the immediate ache in her arms, Rebekah takes Hayley and starts to walk home. Elijah watches them walk away for a few seconds before he looks down to see Jack stood next to him. He pulls a pair of black gloves from his jacket pocket and the dog looks up at him, tilting his head slightly to the left.
"Go" Elijah tells him, nodding his head to the direction of the exit. "You're not going to want to see what happens next."
Jack doesn't understand the second part of what Elijah said, but he knows what 'go' means and as always he follows his instructions. He also doesn't want to be too far from Hayley right now after what happened, so listening to Elijah seems logical. He nuzzles Elijah's leg with his nose once and sets off in the direction of home, trotting quickly to catch up with Rebekah.
Elijah watches him trot away and pulls on the black gloves. He then pulls his phone out of his pants pocket, turns it on silent and puts it on the inside pocket of his jacket. He removes his watch from his wrist and puts that in his right jacket pocket before he looks down at the injured attacker. He seems to slowly be coming around, which does not fit in with the way Elijah plans for things to go.
He sighs as he walks around the man, stopping when he is stood directly behind him. The man probably pasted out from the shock of Jack attacking him and unfortunately the shock was never going to be enough to keep him knocked out cold. But Elijah knows what will keep him down for awhile and he waits patiently for the man to come around just enough that he will really feel the side effects. Just as the man is about to sit up, Elijah stomps on his head, hard and fast. He is unconscious again instantly and Elijah is very aware that what he is about to do is illegal, but he has done a lot of things that the law would not agree with in his lifetime. He does not see how once more could hurt.
Elijah then puts his arms under the mans arms and starts to drag him to the exit. He will hide the body in a bush while he goes to retrieve his car. Then he will drive to his new office and drag him down to the basement, where hopefully he will get the answers he needs out of the man.
Meanwhile, Rebekah drops Hayley on the couch and lets out a deep breath. Jack runs to his owners side instantly, sitting right by her head with his chin resting on the edge of the couch. Rebekah notices the blood in Hayley's hair and moves her head slightly forwards to see a head wound. The bleeding seems to have died down, but the wound does not look good at all.
Rebekah scratches her head and moves her hair out of her face as she tries to remember what her mother always told her about head sores and how to treat them. She remembers something about warm water and applying pressure to the wound.
She quickly walks into the kitchen and grabs a bowl from the top cupboard before filling it with warm water, she doubts cold water would help in a situation like this. When the bowl is almost full, she turns the tap off and grabs a cloth from the cupboard under the sink before she returns to the living room.
Rebekah pushes the untidy pile of magazines off the coffee table and sits down on it right in front of Hayley. She dunks the cloth into the bowl of warm water and then squeezes some of the water out before dabbing it around the wound. She repeats this until the wound looks cleaner and less bloody. She then washes all of the blood from the cloth in the water and squeezes it out above the bowl again.
"Let me get there, Jack" Rebekah says as she gently nudges the dog away.
Jack looks confused at first as Rebekah gently lifts Hayley's head, but he doesn't growl, or bark, he just watches, knowing that Rebekah will not cause Hayley any harm. Rebekah then sits down before placing Hayley's head on her lap and applying pressure to the wound with the cloth. Jack then moves in closer again, watching Hayley for any signs of waking up.
Rebekah continues to apply pressure to the wound with the cloth in one hand while she quickly Googles what to do next with her phone in her other hand. According to Google, she has done everything correct so far and should apply some ice in a cloth to the wound for twenty minute after she has applied pressure with the cloth for ten minutes.
Just as Rebekah is about to go and get a fresh cloth and some ice, she feels Hayley move in her lap. Hayley tries to sit up and lets out a small groan, Rebekah puts her hand on Hayley's shoulder to keep her lay down.
"You're okay, you can relax" Rebekah tells her.
She isn't sure if Hayley is listening, she isn't even sure if Hayley can understand her, but she doesn't attempt to get up again. She stays put on Rebekah's lap and lets out a deep breath. She must feel the pain in her head because all of a sudden she is reaching for where the damp cloth is and Rebekah gently stops her, wrapping her hand around Hayley's wrist.
"I wouldn't if I was you, you won't like what you find" Rebekah says, referring to the cut on her head.
Hayley groans quietly and Jack moves forwards slightly, his tail wagging slowly. He wants to jump all over her and lick her, but he can tell she is delicate right now, so he settles for a careful lick of her hand before backing away. She squints to look at him before letting her eyes fall shut again. Her head is pounding and opening her eyes only makes it hurt even more right now.
"What happened?" Hayley finally manages to ask, her voice low and rusty.
"You were attacked in the park. You were lucky Jack was with you, he fought off the man and managed to take us to you" Rebekah explains, still applying pressure to the wound.
"My head hurts" Hayley grumbles.
Rebekah chuckles, "it's bound to when you have a hole in your head."
"A hole?" Hayley wishes she sounded more worried, but she just doesn't have the energy to voice her worry.
Rebekah chuckles again before she says, "I'm being dramatic, darling."
Hayley doesn't respond to that. It was hard enough for her to ask a few questions, she definitely is not up for a conversation right now. In fact, all she wants to do is sleep until the ache in her head goes away.
Rebekah shifts from under her and tucks a stray piece of Hayley's hair behind her ear.
"I'll be right back. Stay there and don't go to sleep, you might have a concussion" Rebekah instructs.
Hayley groans in response.
Rebekah takes the bowl and the cloth back into the kitchen and puts them in the sink, she will wash them later. She then grabs a new cloth from under the sink and opens the freezer, pulling out the ice bag. She puts several pieces into the cloth and then puts the ice back into the freezer. She also grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and takes a pack of pain relief from inside one of the top cupboards. She then wraps the ice up in the cloth and returns to the living room.
Lifting Hayley's head gently, she returns to her place. She carefully puts the ice filled cloth on Hayley's wound, making the brown haired girl groan in pain. She then opens the box of pain relief, pops two pills from the holder and throws the packet onto the coffee table out of the way.
"I've got you some pain relief" Rebekah says.
Hayley groans again and Rebekah helps Hayley sit up slightly. Rebekah takes Hayley's hand in hers and puts the tablets in her hand, closing her fingers around them. Hayley wastes no time and puts both tablets in her mouth as she sways in her almost sat up position. Rebekah quickly opens the bottle of water and holds it to Hayley's mouth. She drinks from the bottle and swallows the tablets before letting herself sink back into Rebekah's lap.
Rebekah puts the lid back onto the bottle and puts the bottle on the floor next to her feet. She then places the ice cold cloth back over Hayley's wound and holds it there. She uses her other hand to send Marcel a quick message saying 'found Hayley, come home x'.
Jack moves to the other end of the couch and carefully jumps up, curling up next to Hayley's feet. He rests his head on her thigh and never takes his eyes off her unless there is a good reason for doing so.
Hayley sighs loudly and then moans quietly, moving her head a little bit to get more comfy.
"Where's Elijah?" She asks, quietly.
Rebekah almost blurts out the truth, but she knows that telling Hayley where he is and what he is doing will do nothing but worry her. So, it looks like she will have to lie for now.
"He's with Marcel looking for you. I just texted Marcel to come home, so they should be here soon."
Hayley nods once and then stays silent. She has no energy, she feels like she could sleep for a week, but she isn't sure if she is allowed to sleep. To say she feels groggy would be an understatement.
"I hope you aren't going to sleep, Hayley" Rebekah says, a playful firmness in her voice.
"No" Hayley says, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I think you have to wait like two hours, or something before you can sleep with concussion, so it looks like we're gonna have plenty of time for a catch up" Rebekah says.
"Great" Hayley says, unintentionally sounding unenthusiastic.
Rebekah picks up her phone off the arm of the chair again and starts Googling about concussions, hoping that she will find something usual about what to do. If Elijah was here he would know what to do, but unfortunately he is currently preoccupied.
"You won't believe who I ran into at Target yesterday" Rebekah says, trying to stir up some conversation to keep Hayley awake.
"Who? Hayley asks.
"Matt bloody Donovan" Rebekah tells her.
"Who's that?" Hayley asks, wishing she had the energy to at least sound interested.
"The boy I lost my bloody virginity to" Rebekah says. "I was just about to put a cucumber in my basket when I heard someone say 'yeah you always did like big ones didn't you, Rebekah'. So I turn around and there's Matt, stood there looking dopey and smiling at me like we are still in high school. That was one hell of an awkward encounter."
A tiny smile appears on Hayley's face. Only Rebekah could get herself into a situation like that.
"What did you say?" Hayley asks.
"Well, I said, 'yes that's why I went black'. I don't think he got the joke, but I found it funny" Rebekah tells her.
Hayley actually almost chuckles at that. She loves Rebekah's wit and humour.
"Marcel loved it, said it was one of the best things he has ever heard, which I doubt, but it was a nice compliment" Rebekah rambles.
"I like it" Hayley says, her voice croaky.
"Obviously you do, we all know that you have an evil sense of humour" Rebekah says, putting her phone down and giving up on searching for answers on how to how to deal with a concussion.
Hayley smiles again. Her smile quickly drops however when she feels a sharp pain in her head again.
She can't remember anything accept a pain. A strong, nasty pain shooting through her head. Then everything went black. And Jack was barking, but then he wasn't, or maybe he was and she just couldn't hear him. She can't remember what happened and she doesn't like not knowing.
"What happened in the park?" Hayley asks.
Rebekah holds her breath for a few seconds, unsure what to tell her friend. She has already lied once, she won't lie again.
"We aren't entirely sure, but we know you were attacked by a man, an ugly one, and he must of knocked you unconscious because you were flat out when we got there. Jack came and found us and then I brought you home with Jack" Rebekah explains.
Hayley frowns, "we?"
Rebekah could smack herself. Of course Hayley would be able to sniff out her lie even in her dazed state. No point lying now.
"Elijah was with me when we found you. He told me to bring you back and he stayed at the park with the man who attacked you. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry."
"He'll get in trouble" Hayley says, still not being able to express her emotion through her voice.
"He won't. This might sound extremely unsettling and disturbing, but believe me, he knows what he is doing" Rebekah says.