Disclaimer: I do not own the Originals! I only own my OC, Juliet Jordan Gilbert, and any other characters I make up along the way!
Author's Note: This chapter is going to be sad. Get the tissues ready!
Enjoy!
The next day, I pushed Charlotte in her stroller. I walked into the compound and threw my voice out. "Klaus!" I called out. After calling him Niklaus for so long, it was a bit strange, but I would eventually get used to it. "Klaus!"
Using vampire speed, he was standing in front of me in a second. "You shouldn't be here," he panicked. Alarm was clear on his face.
I narrowed my eyes. "Why? What happened?"
Klaus sighed and looked like he was physically refraining from kicking the table over. "It's Camille." He growled. "She's in transition."
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. "As in vampire?" I wondered, pulling Charlotte's stroller closer to me.
He nodded, looking back behind him. "She's upstairs in my study. She's still out of it."
"What happened?" I demanded.
"Aurora happened," he snarled. "According to Camille, Aurora decided she didn't like the thought of any girl in my life, romantic or otherwise." He glanced at me up and down, and I fought the urge to cross my arms over my chest. "So she fed her her blood and snapped her neck."
"How is she?" I asked, glancing up in the direction of Klaus' study.
"She has just risen from the dead," he responded quietly. "As soon as she feeds, her mood will change for the better." He growled as he changed the subject. "In the meantime, these attacks need to be answered! Our retribution must be swift, and it must be brutal!"
"Okay! Okay," I said, trying to calm him down. "What did Elijah say?"
"He thinks we need to wait until after we've recovered the Serratura," he answered. "And until we can recover Freya's pendant."
I sighed, nodding in understanding. "That holds Finn's mystical essence which is a magic booster."
Klaus rolled his eyes. "I say we let the imbecile stay lost! Our business for today is to finish off the de Martels!"
"Now, brother, think," Elijah's voice called out, and we both looked up to see him walking down the stairs. "Think. Tristan needs the most powerful witch in the city to activate that weapon." He stopped just beside us. "A Regent."
Klaus sneered. "Vincent." He turned to rush out of the compound. "Who was once possessed by Finn-"
Elijah stopped him by grabbing his arm. "Perhaps you should stay here," he suggested. He glanced up at the study. "She'll need you, brother."
Klaus grinded his teeth, but backed down. He looked over at me. "Will you stay here? I might need you."
I hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Sure."
After I settled Charlotte down in her nursery, I walked over to the study where I caught Cami and Klaus' scents. "Ugh, the light is killing me," Cami moaned, leaning against the door frame as I walked in.
I smirked. "Oh, you'll get used to it." I reached Klaus and spun on my heel so that I faced Cami.
She stumbled into the study, visibly overwhelmed by her now heightened senses. "Why is this music so loud? Why does everything hurt so much?" She managed to make it to the desk and leaned against it for the support.
"It's just your body adjusting," I offered. "Getting used to your new supernatural nature."
Klaus nodded in agreement. "As soon as you feed, your heightened senses will cease to be painful and become... euphoric."
Cami turned and scowled at Klaus, a reaction that shocked us both. "You just assume I'm going to do it? Feed on human blood?"
Klaus and I looked at each other, clearly caught off-guard by Cami's words. She rolled her eyes and slowly made her way over to the couch. "What did I expect? I chose to live here, right along all of you, knowing what you are." She sat, and it looked like it hurt her to do so. "What the hell did I think was going to happen? This was only ever gonna end one way." She paused, then moaned, "I deserve this."
"No one deserves this!" Klaus countered. "Not unless they choose it, and some of us don't have that choice. We just have to survive what is forced upon us."
"But I do have a choice," Cami cut in. "I can choose not to feed."
Cami wanted to go back to her apartment, but someone needed to stay with her and someone needed to stay home with Charlotte. I volunteered to stay behind, knowing that Klaus would be able to provide more comfort to Cami, seeing as how the two of them knew each other better. Before Klaus left, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Behave yourself," I warned him.
"I haven't the foggiest idea what you mean," he said, and when he tried to leave again, I pulled his arm. He growled in frustration but looked over to me.
"You cannot force Cami to complete the transition if she doesn't want to," I told him.
"I can if I try hard enough," he retorted, and I pulled his arm again when he tried to leave. "What?"
"If you force Cami to feed, she will never forgive you," I said firmly. "If Cami doesn't think she has a reason to live, you can't make her."
"I can make her see that she does have a reason to live," Klaus responded.
"Klaus," I said slowly. I reached up and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. He looked from my hand to my face. "I know she's your friend, and I know you care about her, but-"
"But what?" Klaus cut me off. "I distinctly remember when your sister Elena was in transition, you begged her to complete it because you didn't want to live without her. How is what I'm doing any different?"
"Elena's my family," I countered.
"Well, Camille is mine," Klaus retorted. "She's my best friend. The best friend I've ever had, other than you." He reached up and pulled my hand off of his shoulder. "I can't let her do this."
I bit my lip and looked away from him. "Just be prepared to live with the consequences," I warned him. I crossed my arms over my chest. "And... take care of her, Klaus. Transition is a hard time to be in."
He eyed me up and down. "It was an easy decision for you."
I smiled weakly. "I had a reason."
We both knew what the reason was. He smiled at me, nodded, and then left with Cami.
I was walking back from the kitchens when someone stumbled into the courtyard. He clutched a box in his hands, and the strong metallic smell told me that whatever was inside was covered in blood. He strolled over to me and held the box and a letter out.
I frowned and took it from him. "Who's it from?"
He didn't say anything, and I recognized the dazed expression in his eyes to be that of compulsion. I simply shrugged, going over to the table and setting it down. I pulled the box open, and my stomach turned when I recognized the thing inside to be a heart. I made a face and shoved the lid back on top. I had ripped a few hearts out myself, but it didn't make it any less gross.
I turned to the letter, ripping the envelope open and sliding the card out. I scanned the words on it.
"Dearest friends, please find enclosed the heart of Jackson. Hayley's will follow unless you meet me at Coltrane's Autoshop, 1268 Adderly in the ninth.
Kind regards, Tristan."
The card fluttered out of my hand. My stomach lurched, and tears filled my eyes. I tore the lid back off of the box, but instead was still a heart.
Jackson's heart.
I let out a wail of agony and dropped to my knees. My hands covered my face as tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I sobbed heavily, wrapping my arms around myself. My stomach lurched again, and I didn't stop myself from emptying the contents of my stomach all over the ground in front of me.
He was dead. Jackson Kenner, my brother-in-law, my family, someone whom I loved so much, was dead.
I hunched over, continuing to let out screams. I heard footsteps, and I felt a pair of hands on me. "Juliet? What's happened? What's wrong?" Elijah's concerned voice asked.
I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't stop long enough to explain to him what had happened. I had to be a sore sight; a pile of my own vomit in front of me, tears coming out nonstop, rocking back and forth.
I felt someone take the letter out of my hand, and Elijah weaved his arms carefully through mine so that his arms were wrapped around my front. He pressed me to his back, holding me.
"Elijah..." I faintly heard Vincent's voice. "It's Jackson's. The heart in there...it's Jackson's. And if you don't go there, Hayley's will follow."
I felt a pair of lips press against the back of my head, and while I appreciated Elijah's comfort, nothing could comfort me right now.
Elijah finally managed to calm me down, and Freya gave me a special herbal tea to drink that would calm me even more. I took dainty sips of it.
We sat in the living room, waiting for Klaus to show up, and when he did, I immediately put my cup to the side and ran over to him. I jumped into his waiting arms, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Klaus..." I sobbed.
"It's okay," he assured me. "I'm here, it'll be okay." He led me back over to the couch and sat me down. "Two Original vampires and two powerful witches against an army of miscreants?" He straightened up after sitting me down. "I'm rather looking forward to it."
Vincent flashed Klaus an exasperated look. "Keep in mind that I'm mortal, and, as much as I want these guys out of my city, I like breathing." He paused and then suggested, "So, let me go to the covens. I can propose an alliance. They hate you guys, but if I explain what's going on..."
"There's no time," Elijah insisted.
"There never is," Freya pointed out. "But, before we rush into battle, let's keep in mind that Tristan may be the very foe to lead you to your doom." She held her hands out. "Isn't this exactly what the prophecy foretold? Rebekah's on the run. I will not lose the two of you, as well."
"Rebekah's safe," Elijah said. He turned to Klaus hesitantly. "Brother, perhaps you should stay..."
Klaus scoffed. "I can't leave Hayley. Not after what Tristan's done to Jackson." I reached over and took Klaus' hand, giving it a grateful squeeze. "He killed one of our own, and I intend to make him pay. I have no intention of being outmaneuvered by Tristan de Martel, of all people."
"Intention's got nothing to do with it," Vincent cut in. "As long as Tristan de Martel has the Serratura and someone that you all care about, the advantage is all his."
Freya's eyes lit up. "Well, then we should take that advantage from him." She turned to Klaus with a knowing smirk. "I'm gonna need something that belonged to his sister."
At Patrick's Dock, I waited with Elijah and Klaus outside of the warehouse. I paced in front of them, my entire body shaking.
"Maybe you should've stayed home," Elijah said to me.
I scoffed. "And miss the opportunity to tear Tristan's eyeballs out and make him eat them? No."
All of a sudden, we were surrounded by half a dozen Strix vampires. The three of us power walked toward them as another few dozen or so vampires joined them.
"Here they come," Klaus said.
Finally, Tristan, Aya, and Marcel stopped several feet away from us, looking displeased. I felt rage built up within me, and I couldn't stop myself from charging Tristan.
Klaus and Elijah, however, both knew me better than anyone, so they were each standing ready. They both grabbed one arm and yanked me back roughly.
"Gentlemen, lady," Tristan greeted, and I struggled in the Mikaelson brothers' grasp. "I wish I could say it was a pleasure."
Klaus nodded in acknowledgement and gave Marcel a knowing look. "Marcellus. Made your bed with the enemy, I see."
Marcel smiled fakely. "Membership has its privileges."
Klaus smirked. "Let's get on with this, shall we?"
Tristan turned back to a tall, blonde vampire woman and nodded, so she and other male vampire bring a still-bloodied and shackled Hayley forward. I immediately burst into tears at the sight of her. I went weak at the knees, and Klaus and Elijah both struggled to hold me up. Hayley was so weak she couldn't even stand on her own, and when the vampires let go of her, she collapsed onto the floor in between the two groups. "Hayley Marshall-Kenner, only slightly worse for wear," Tristan confirmed. "You'll have to forgive her if she seems a bit off. There's enough wolfsbane in her system to kill an entire pack. However, here she is, as requested. Now, where's my sister?"
Klaus sneered. "She lives. You can thank Elijah for that." He handed me off to Elijah and then strolled over to Tristan so that they stood eye-to-eye. "I wanted to flay her and hang her skin as a flag. Anyway, enough chit-chat. Let's conclude this tedious business, shall we?"
"My sister first," Tristan insisted. "And, if you're tempted to argue, consider the numbers."
Klaus smirked in amusement and walked even closer to him so that their noses were nearly touching. Tristan looked slightly nervous, but stood his ground.
After a moment, Klaus rolled his eyes and walked over to a rusty green shipping container, which he opened to reveal Aurora sitting inside with a black hood over her head and her wrists bound behind her back. To Tristan, at least, she was Aurora. We, however, knew that the person sitting in the shipping container wasn't Aurora, but a transitioning Cami, who agreed to help us as her last wish.
Tristan, still suspicious, turned back to Aya. "If they try anything, attack."
Aya nodded in agreement, and Tristan vamp-sped into the shipping container toward Cami. He took off her hood, and her head rolled on her shoulders. When Tristan looked back at Aya, Aya nodded at the vampires standing over Hayley. Elijah finally let me go, and I ran over to Hayley. I tossed one arm around my shoulder, and Elijah put her other arm around his own shoulder so we could pick her up. "Hayley, I'm so sorry," I whispered into her ear.
Cami's eyes fluttered open. "Oh, brother, you came for me," she cried.
Tristan smiled. "Always."
Tristan stood once he was finished and pulled Cami to her feet, and she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Come on. Come on."
While they were hugging, Cami reached into Tristan's pants pocket and pulled out the Serratura. As soon as she had it, she yanked herself out of his embrace. He looked at her warily when he caught sight of the medallion in her hand, and slowly reached out to take it from her, not knowing what she was trying to do. "Rory...? What are you doing?"
Before Tristan could do anything, Cami slammed the Serratura against the wall of the shipping container, which activated its power and caused the warehouse to shake for a moment as though an earthquake had just hit. I stumbled a bit, but Elijah and I managed to stay on our feet.
The medallion remained stuck to the wall, and Cami looked at Tristan with crazed eyes as Tristan, realizing what had just happened, tried to run out of the shipping container. When he tried, however, he was blocked by an invisible barrier. Tristan looked over to Cami in horror. "No... Aurora... What have you done to us?"
Cami smiled smugly. "Not to us..." She walked right a horror filled Tristan, right past the barrier. She joined Elijah, Klaus, Hayley and I outside. At this point, Hayley was starting to stir. She woke up more fully when Cami reached our side. "To you."
"Jules," Hayley whispered. "Jackson..."
"I know," I whispered back, but I shhed her. "Now's not the time."
All of a sudden, Cami stopped looking like Aurora and was back to her old self. Tristan stared at us with a look of cold fury from inside the shipping container. "What is this?"
Cami smirked. "You know what they say-payback's a bitch."
"How is this possible?" Tristan demanded, horrified.
"The Serratura creates an impenetrable boundary," Klaus explained smugly. "Nothing living or dead can pass through."
"And, thanks to your lunatic sister, I'm neither," Cami confirmed.
Tristan's eyes widened in alarm. "No. No. NO!" He turned his attention to the Strix vampires. "What are you waiting for? Take them! Now!"
Just as the Strix were about to obey this command, Elijah stepped forward to address them himself, putting his body protectively in front of Hayley and I. "Before you rush headlong toward almost certain death... As your sire, I would like you to employ just a little bit of common sense."
Aya scoffed. "We are ancient vampires, Elijah-each of us almost as strong as you."
Elijah shrugged. "You might almost be successful in subduing us, but at what price? Most of you will die in the process, and for what?" He moved Hayley's arm from his shoulder, but at this point she could support herself. "To avenge a fool marching you headlong toward your very extinction in the name of a witch's prophecy? You do realize he engineered absolutely all of this purely to satisfy some petty grievance against my family?" He turned and walked toward the shipping container, smiling fakely at Tristan as he leaned against the metal door. "Tristan doesn't care for any of you."
"Stop listening to him!" Tristan screamed furiously.
"The only danger here is the choice that you must make," Elijah continued, ignoring Tristan. "You see, I am not your enemy." He stopped in front of Aya and nodded in acknowledgement. "It's true, I delivered you into this existence. I can just as easily pluck you out of it. The choice is yours to make."
Aya looked torn, but continued to glare at Elijah. Marcel walked over and blocked her way as he whispered in her ear, "It's done. The moment has passed. Be smart, Aya. Smarter than Tristan. Don't waste any more of our guys."
Aya, clearly not pleased at the thought of Marcel bossing her around, turned to the rest of the vampires. "Stand down."
That only infuriated Tristan even more. "You will not abandon me!"
Aya walked toward where Tristan was trapped. She flashed him a regretful look. "It's a shame it has to end like this."
"Aya, this isn't over!" Tristan raged.
Aya put her right hand over her heart in a sort of salute to her former leader. "May the ghosts of our fallen keep you company," she said coldly. Then she took her leave, the rest of the Strix following her.
The Mikaelson brothers, along with me and a slowly healing Hayley, walked back over to the shipping container to Tristan. He growled. "So, this is to be my end?"
Elijah smiled at him patronizingly, and Klaus smirked as he leaned against the door of the container. However, Hayley continued to scowl at him with hatred and fury.
"No, no. This is the very beginning!" Elijah corrected. "You are going to the bottom of the ocean, where you will drown in darkness again and again and again over the course of centuries. This will be your splendidly horrific and perpetual end."
"What have you done with my sister?" Tristan asked anxiously.
Klaus smiled wider. "Nothing... yet. But, I assure you, her death will be spectacular."
That made Tristan worry more, and just as Klaus and Elijah were about to close the door on Tristan, Hayley pulled herself away from me. "Wait."
She walked forward so that she could look Tristan straight in the eye. "You took a very good man from this world," she snarled. "He will be with me forever, but you? You will be forgotten." She leaned forward. "And as you rot in the ocean, remember my face." She reached over to grab the shipping container. "Because it's gonna be the last one you ever see."
With a loud bang, Hayley slammed the door shut.
After I dressed myself and Charlotte in all black, I walked down the steps of the compound into the courtyard. Hayley was already at the bayou, prepping for Jackson's funeral.
"Juliet," I heard, and I looked behind me to see Klaus walking over, dressed in all black himself.
"You want to come?" I said in a confused tone.
Elijah appeared beside him, also dressed in all black. "We're not going to make you go alone." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Jackson saved Freya. He was Hayley's husband."
Klaus nodded. "He's proven more than once that he is family."
Tears filled my eyes again, and I stepped forward as Klaus and Elijah both opened their arms. We managed some kind of awkward group hug, and I pulled away after a few moments. "Let's go."
I left Charlotte with Klaus, who waited with Elijah at the lake where we would do Jackson's funeral. I knew where Hayley was going to be.
I found her sitting on the porch of our old shack, where we lived in the bayou during the months I was pregnant with Charlotte. She was also dressed in all black, being the widow. She was writing something into the Labonair Bible that Eve left us, and I knew that it was Jackson's name. I slowly sat next to her on the step, and I put my hand on her shoulder. "They're ready for us, Hayls."
Tears slipped down Hayley's cheeks, landing on the Bible, right where she had written Jackson's name. She drew a deep breath, and then said, "I'm pregnant."
My eyes widened, and she slowly turned her head to look at me. "But... but..." I stammered, shaking my head. I thought back to what Tristan had said at the docks. "Tristan said he gave you wolfsbane. It would've..." I looked down to Hayley's flat stomach.
She rested her hands on her stomach. "When I found out, I had Freya put a protection spell on my uterus to protect the baby. Jackson thought that... being a Crescent Alpha and an honorary member of the Mikaelson family... that it'd be a good idea."
"How long have you known?" I asked, glancing back down to her stomach where my little niece or nephew was currently growing.
"Just about a month," she answered. "Jackson and I... we wanted to keep it a secret for the first trimester. We..." She paused, swallowing the lump in her throat. "We were actually planning this cute little party where we would tell everyone..." She cut herself off again, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. I rested my forehead against her temple, and she let out a trembling sob. "I'm alone. I'm all alone now."
I looked up. "You are not," I said fiercely. "You have me, and you have Charlotte, and the Gilberts and the Mikaelsons," I assured her. "There is no way you could possibly be alone, Hayley."
"Girls?" I heard, and we both looked up to see Klaus, holding Charlotte in his arms. He nodded his head back to the lake. "I was sent to see what was taking so long. They're ready for us."
Hayley took a deep breath and shut the Bible, setting it down before standing up. I scrambled to my feet as well. She stared straight ahead and walked down the steps, right past Klaus.
Klaus watched her walk and turned back to me. He looked over at me, his face asking what had happened. I simply shook my head, walking over to them. Before we joined them, I took a moment to wrap an arm around Charlotte and snuggling into Klaus' chest.
He stood there for half a second before immediately wrapping his arm around me, holding me to his chest. I felt his lips against my forehead, and I pulled myself away from his embrace. Holding Klaus' hand, we walked over to the lake for the funeral.
Once we were at the lake, I let go of Klaus' hand and he went over to stand with Elijah. I took a torch from one of the Crescent wolves and held it while Hayley says her goodbyes to Jackson. She looked down at his body, wrapped in white sheets and resting on a wooden boat as per Crescent tradition, and started to cry as she covered his face with the sheet. Tears of my own fell, mourning the loss of someone who loved me so much, and whom I loved with all my heart.
Hayley then grabbed a bottle of whiskey and took a large swig of it before she poured the rest on his body. She turned to me, and I handed her the torch. I watched her silently as she set his body ablaze.
"'Til death do us part," she whispered.
The Crescent wolves moved the boat so that it was pushed into the lake, giving Jackson the traditional Viking funeral. I walked over to Hayley and took her hand. She squeezed mine tightly.
"Say goodbye to Uncle Jackson, Charlotte," I heard Klaus whisper to our daughter. "Say goodbye."
I rested my head on Hayley's shoulder, and she rested hers on top of mine.
Goodbye.
TBC...
Whaaaaaaaat? Hayley's pregnant?
I literally thought of this a few weeks ago and I love the idea so much.
Till next time!
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Next chapter...
Wild at Heart...
A STORM IS COMING — While Klaus finds himself dealing with pressing matters at home, Elijah reluctantly aligns with Aya after learning that she may have knowledge of an elusive weapon that could kill an Original Vampire for good. Meanwhile, alone and shunned by her coven of witches, a desperate Davina is left conflicted after she is approached with an enticing offer that could bring her one step closer to reuniting with Kol. Juliet attempts to comfort Hayley after a devastating tragedy.
