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Midnight found the group splitting up around the school perimeter. The older vampires had split up and scattered around the woods to search alone since they had the best chance of subduing Hayley and bringing her back to a place for Lexa to meet them.
Lexa and Elena had taken off together. The young witch had determined that she could use Elena in lieu of the full moon that was weeks away to enact the curse that would hopefully pacify Klaus when he learned what the traitorous mother of his child had done.
Elena cocked her head to the left after they had been walking for several minutes. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the telltale sign of two heartbeats.
"Over there," she motioned east. "If I run ahead to check can you catch up?" She took off when Lexa nodded.
Seconds later she came to a stop beyond the tree line to see Hayley arguing with a young woman she assumed was Davina.
"I can't help you anymore," Davina shook her head. Elena thought she saw tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Why the hell not?" She could see it was taking everything Hayley had not to shriek. "You hate Klaus, so help me get my daughter away from him."
"I can't Hayley," Davina shook. Elena didn't know if it was rage or sorrow making her limbs tremble. "The Originals know. They sent a witch after me, and she did something to my magic."
Elena rocked back to hide behind the tree when Hayley spun to pace out her frustration; her foot came down on a dry twig. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them just in time to see Hayley come to a stop in front of her.
"Well, well, well," Hayley smirked, "if it isn't the doppelbitch." She grabbed her by the throat and hurled her through the air.
She barely missed Davina and crashed into the stone wall surrounding the school.
Elena gasped. She was on her feet in a flash, crouching in a defensive stance. She tried not to let her trepidation show when Hayley fixed her with a feral look.
"What is it with you doppelgangers?" She stalked towards Elena. "You can't keep your nose out of other people's business."
She kept her eyes trained on the hybrid, sensing when Davina backed away clearing a small arena. She moved in a slow circle never allowing her back to be facing Hayley.
The hybrid flashed forward and threw a punch.
Elena ducked, sweeping her leg in an arch.
Hayley flipped out of the way, coming up on her feet. Her fist connected with Elena's jaw.
She caught her balance, spat out a stream of blood.
"Maybe it's not my business," Elena admitted, wiping her chin, "but it's important to Elijah…"
"Oh yeah," Hayley scoffed, "Elijah…" she grunted, swinging her leg up and catching Elena in the stomach.
Elena lost her balance and fell onto her hands and knees. She went down when Hayley brought her foot down twice, and rolled onto her back as the internal injuries healed. She blinked up through bleary eyes as a heel settled over her heart; it wasn't wood, but it would definitely hurt.
"You couldn't wait to step in there, could you?" Hayley dug her heel through Elena's breast; blood bubbled up around the stiletto. "Just between us girls…" she yanked back her leg and crouched, grasping Elena's chin, "… who do you think he sees when he looks at you? Does he want Katherine, or is he still pining after the first one? You know he killed Tatia right?"
"I bet its Katherine," Hayley smirked. "You're certainly acting like her. Siding with the oldest vampire's in history, worming your way into an Original's bed. What is it you want?"
Elena's vision flooded with red. Her body was still healing, but it didn't matter to her in that moment; nothing mattered but shutting the hybrid up. She forgot her rule about avoiding Hayley's mouth and brought her head up.
There was a sickening crunch as Hayley's nose was broken. Elena used the distraction to push the woman over and pin her to the ground in nearly the same position she had held Elijah against her bed that afternoon.
"Let's get something straight," she squeezed her hands breaking Hayley's wrists, "I am nothing like Katherine Pierce, and all I want is to help reunite a child with her father and end a separation that should have never taken place."
"Oh," Hayley huffed, "is that why you're sleeping with Elijah? I can smell him all over you," she lifted her head and sniffed, "and in you. You fed off him?" Her voice dropped to a growl. She had never shared blood with Elijah; she couldn't without infecting him with a bite that Klaus may or may not have healed depending on his mood.
"That's none of your business," Elena glared. Where the hell is Lexa? She didn't dare let go long enough to break Hayley's neck.
Hayley jerked her leg up and flipped Elena onto her back, plunging her hand into the vampire's chest cavity.
She choked on her blood, felt it coat her lips and stared at the arm. Her fingers curled around the wrist to keep her from extracting the pounding organ.
She could feel Hayley's fingers graze her heart with each frantic beat.
"Do you think you're special?" She sneered as Elena struggled to breathe. "Do you think he loves you?"
"I think you're jealous," Elena rasped, clawing at the woman's wrist, "and pathetic, and maybe one of the worst mothers I've ever met."
"I've done everything for my daughter. I cleaned out New Orleans and made it safe," Hayley gritted her teeth. Her canines descended, sinking into her bottom lip.
"Is that why she's at a boarding school thousands of miles away?" Elena knew she was goading now, but it was keeping Hayley from tearing out her heart and the questions had been on her mind for weeks now. She could see the benefits of the school for young supernaturals, but she also knew that Hayley only called once a week and according to Caroline hadn't been seen on campus since bringing Hope to school; most of her time was spent in New Orleans. "Is that why you only came up here when you thought Elijah was gonna tell Klaus?"
"Try to remember this is my family!" She snapped.
"Yeah," Elena laughed, the sound was wet with the blood in her mouth. "The family you tore apart with a spell you knew could have been done differently."
Hayley tore her hand free. Elena gasped, coughed and turned her head to spit the blood from her mouth. When she looked back she saw the gleam of fangs rushing towards her throat.
She was going to throw her arms up to defend herself but Hayley clutched her head before she got close enough to sink her teeth into Elena's jugular.
She scrambled out from under the hybrid and jumped to her feet. Spinning on her heels she saw the gleam of blonde hair in the darkness and heard the unmistakable sound of chanting. Lexa was crouched over the first bit of blood Elena had spat out.
She flashed to the witch's side and extended her hand. The familiar pull of energy as it left her body washed over her and she watched as Hayley was forced to shift.
Her eyes went gold as she screamed and clawed at the dirt, but there was no stopping Lexa's spell once it had taken affect.
Elena helped Lexa to her feet and held her breath as the woman was overtaken by the wolf. She narrowed her eyes when a golden gaze fell on Lexa. Without thinking she pushed the witch out of the way and felt razor sharp fangs sink into her forearm.
She stifled her scream and used all of her strength to break the cursed wolf's neck.
Elena was still staring at the angry mark on her arm when the air rushed around her. She blinked up at the vampires while gingerly poking her wound.
"What kept you?"
Marcel ignored Elena altogether and paced around the clearing. His eyes were wide as he sniffed the air.
"Where's Davina? She was here?" He turned an accusing stare on Elena, but Lexa answered her question.
"She ran off that way," she pointed off to the right with a vague wave. "My guess is she knew she stood no chance here and wanted to avoid getting in the cross hairs of a vampire hybrid fight."
Elijah took Elena's arm and examined the wound with a critical eye, ignoring Marcel as he took off after Davina. Angry red lines extended from the bite upwards half-way to her shoulder.
"Do you think I'll last till Klaus gets here?" She attempted a joke, but Elijah's face remained grave. "Elijah?" She took his wrist; the marks spread upwards to her shoulder. Hayley was a hybrid in wolf form and her poison was working fast.
"No I don't," he shook his head.
"Oh," her vision shifted, the world got a little blurry. "That's not good."
"You'll be fine, lovely," he cupped her cheeks. Glancing over his shoulder he gave the wolf a frosty look. "Sister, can you handle Hayley? I believe there is a cell in the old Lockwood cellar."
"Consider it done."
Elena didn't get a chance to ask what he was planning before she was being scooped up. When the world came into a fuzzy focus she was being lowered onto a couch in the common room of the school and Caroline was rushing towards her in pink bunny pajamas.
"Love the look, Care," she grimaced, holding her elbow.
"You should see the slippers that go with it," Caroline managed a weak laugh. Her eyes watered when she saw the bite on her friend's arm.
"Miss Forbes," Elijah smoothed Elena's sweaty hair from her brow, "I would be eternally grateful if you would fetch my niece. Her blood works in the same manner as her father's."
"I've got some in my office…" Caroline paused on her way down the hall, "… unless you want me to wake her."
"The blood will be fine," Elijah murmured.
Elena focused her eyes on him and tilted her head. She hadn't quite made out their conversation through the echoes of a memory, or it might have been a hallucination – probably a hallucination since she was certain Katherine had never taunted her about Elijah.
"Elena…" he held her hand tightly. There was an intense set to her mouth that worried him.
"I love you," she sighed.
"I love you too," he chuckled, "but just so we're clear elskede, you are not dying today." He took the vial from Caroline when she rushed back in and tipped the contents into Elena's mouth.
Elena blinked at her wrist as the skin knit back together and sat up.
"Now that this is taken care of," he tapped her forearm, "would you kindly tell me why you're covered in dirt and your own blood?"
She chewed her bottom lip and shrugged one shoulder.
"I got into a small cat fight with your ex."
"Wouldn't that be a dog fight?" Caroline quipped.
"You were fighting with Hayley?" Elijah shifted onto the couch beside her.
"In my defense she started it," she held out her hands. "I was going to back away and go find Lexa or one of you, but I stepped on a twig and the next thing I know were throwing punches and verbal insults."
She saw Elijah's jaw clench, a momentary tick that meant he was angry and she knew it wasn't directed at her; after his time without memory he had gotten in the habit of telling her what he was thinking and it had persisted after he got his memories back.
"I can handle Hayley, technically I am older than she is," she smiled, omitting the bit where she had nearly lost her heart. She was confident she could have gotten out of that before the organ was ripped from her body.
"I just rushed you into the school because of her bite."
"Okay," Elena nodded, rolling her eyes, "I can handle her until the teeth come out, and there was a cure nearby."
"You didn't know that," he pointed out.
"My other option was to let her rip Lexa's throat out," she sighed. "The instinct to run has kind of been stomped out of me."
"It's true," Caroline perched on the coffee table, "she hasn't run from a fight since turning her emotions off. She ran from the Salvatores but not a fight."
"They were being so annoying," Elena smirked. She tried not to think about her time without humanity too much. "But I do still run when I know I'm out matched."
"So why didn't you?" Caroline tilted her head.
"Because I wasn't the one being attacked," she shrugged, "I'd have done the same thing for you."
"You probably would have," Caroline agreed. She shifted her gaze to Elijah. "Do you still want me to wake up Hope?"
"Let her sleep," he shook his head, "I'll come back tomorrow and tell her what's going on."
"Not hiding it anymore?"
"She already knows part of it," he ran a hand back through his hair, "she should have the full explanation, or at least the child equivalent of one."
"Leave out the cat fight," Elena grimaced, looking down at her clothes.
"Exactly," he nodded.
"Just let me know when you get here," Caroline stood from the coffee table, "and I'll get her out of class."
"That sounds like a dismissal," Elena cocked an eyebrow.
"You're covered in blood and dirt, and I've got werewolf students still metabolizing after the full moon who like to 'sneak out' after hours to the kitchens, so yeah 'Lena. It's a dismissal. Get out of my school, take a shower, and get a snack."
One chapter to go...