I sat to the left of Elijah at the courtyard table with Klaus at the head seat and staring intently at the two mortal witches sitting across from us. Finn the oldest brother, had body jumped into a powerful African American New Orleans witch. Kol, who was born shortly after Klaus, was possessing another witch. Courtesy of their mother. They were no longer Original immortal vampires. Just two simple, mortal witches that could very easily be killed. Elijah kept fidgeting beside me, obviously still on edge and tense.
"We arrive into this world as innocents." Klaus smirked at his brothers. "Wide-eyed, vulnerable. It is the job of our parents to nurture and protect us. Unfortunately, our own parents failed miserably… at even the most basic parental tasks but we are not beholden to the past they created for us. Today, a new future awaits." Compelled servants buzzed around the table, placing food in the center and filling glasses with blood. One of them set a glass down in front of me and I sniffed and moaned in delight. AB negative blood. My favorite. "Forget your animosity toward Elijah and myself. Instead, join us against she who truly deserves your ire. Our mother. Do this, and we will welcome you with open arms." Kol leaned forward to reach for a beignet but Elijah slowly pulled the plate out of his reach. Finn and Kol glared across the table at him as the original vampire casually sipped his tea. I chuckled lightly and took a drink of my blood. "But if you continue to oppose us… a denial of pastries will be the least of your concerns."
"If all you wanted was my allegiance against Mother Dearest, you should've said so." Kol said.
"Saved me a night shackled to the wall."
"Yes, this was Niklaus." Elijah purred, waving a hand at their shackles. "My recommendation was to remove your limbs one by one until you comply."
"I seconded that motion." I agreed and Kol glared at me.
"And who are you exactly?" Kol inquired with narrowed eyes.
"Hayden Argent. Bloodthirsty hybrid." I held out my hand for the witch to take but Kol didn't move and didn't break eye contact with me. "No?" I pulled my hand back and settled back in my seat. "Doesn't matter. I'll be eating you soon enough. Hopefully. Let's just say, I'm the… dog who gets the unwanted scraps." I flashed my fangs at both of the male witches as Klaus laughed and stood up.
"We've no desire to torture you… or eat you… provided you vow to stand beside us as brothers." Klaus assured them.
"Brothers." Finn scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Does that word even apply to us after all these centuries of betrayal? And is loyalty to you ever really rewarded?"
"Well, it beats being punished for disloyalty."
"Tell me, Niklaus, where is our sister, Rebekah?" Elijah, Klaus, and I all forced ourselves to remain neutral and show no expression. We didn't know exactly where she was. All we knew was that she was somewhere keeping Hope safe. "She was blindly loyal to you for a thousand years, and now nowhere to be found. Where did our sister go? And how did she escape your vile machinations?" Klaus smirked and scoffed.
"You think me vile? Well, what then do you make of the one who cursed us?"
"She was trying to make you mortal again." Elijah picked up a butter knife and gripped it so tightly, his knuckles turned white. I casually placed my left elbow on the table and turned my head towards him, watching him carefully. "That you both refused her… only proves how far you've fallen." Elijah started to twirl the butter knife between both hands. "But I expect Rebekah will have a different response to her proposal. See, unlike the two of you, she always did cling to her humanity." Elijah snapped the point of the knife in Finn's direction in a threatening manner."
"Rebekah's off limits." Elijah growled at his older brother. "You pursue her and you will suffer."
"Do not let them goad you, Elijah." I told him gently, eyeing Finn. "Neither he nor Esther will find Rebekah… unless she wants to be found, and she does not." Finn chuckled lightly.
"Esther is quite determined." Finn laughed. "She's been searching for Rebekah since the day she returned. I imagine it's only a matter of time." It was a blur, and I didn't have time to react as Elijah used his vampire speed to reach across the table and grabbed Finn by the collar of his shirt. He dragged the now mortal witch across the table and pinned him on his back. I jumped from my seat, kicking it back in the process and too shocked to do anything. Elijah snarled down at Finn and flashed his fangs, the black veins emerging under his eyes as he bit Finn on the neck. Finn's cry of agony brought me to my senses as I grabbed Elijah by the shoulders and hauled him off Finn.
"Okay, that's enough of that, Elijah." Gripping his upper arms tightly, I guided Elijah out of the dining room and into the inner courtyard with Klaus behind us. After shutting the double doors to seal off the room, Klaus turned on Elijah and pinned him against the wall. Elijah splayed his hands in surrender as I walked up to him and yanked his handkerchief from his suit jacket pocket. I handed it to him to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"I enjoy a good bloodletting as much as anyone…" Klaus growled at his older brother as Elijah snatched the handkerchief from me. "… but our brothers have power, as well as knowledge of Esther's plan. We need them alive."
"What the hell was that Elijah?" I questioned him, placing my hands on my hips. "That was not you."
"Can you imagine what they would do to Rebekah? To Hope?" Elijah growled.
"Rebekah and Hope are cloaked." I assured him. "It'll take a hundred witches to break that spell. Focus on the task at hand." Elijah breathed heavily as he tried to calm himself down. "We need to persuade them."
"I through with persuasion." Elijah snarled and he pushed past use to walk away, but using both hands, I shoved him and knocked into the wall to stop him.
"Calm down, Elijah." I ordered. "I don't know what's going on in your head or what your mother did to you, but you need to calm down and pull yourself together because it's kind of unnerving to see that you need restraint from Klaus." Before either Original could respond, Elijah's phone rang and he answered it, never breaking eye contact from me.
"It's me." I heard Rebekah's voice on the other line and my heart fluttered. "I have the baby and we're on the run. Esther found us." My blood ran cold. "We're safe now. I've lost her. Bloody starlings, but I have no idea where to go."
"Tell her to head west." Klaus told Elijah. "I'll call Hayley."
"Do not tell Hayley. Esther's too smart for that. The only advantage that we have is that she thinks the baby died. Text me with plans." Rebekah hung up.
"Go." Elijah ordered his younger brother. "I'll take care of Kol and Finn."
"Splendid." Klaus said sarcastically. "In your hands, I assume they'll be dead by nightfall." Elijah closed his eyes and let out an irritated sigh.
"I will show restraint. Hope needs her father."
"I agreed with Klaus, Elijah." I told him gently, those hard brown eyes piercing through me. "Finn brought out the other side of you in a matter of minutes. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be left alone with them. We need allied to help us defeat your mother."
"Finn and Kol must be turned to our side." Klaus repeated. "Without their help, there'll be nowhere for Hope to run."
"Klaus, your child—" Elijah began to argue but Klaus quickly cut him off.
"I have waited months to see my daughter. I can wait one more day."
"Me and you are leaving, Elijah." I told the original vampire sternly. "Whether I have to snap your neck and drag you along with me or not is your choice." Elijah stared at me for one moment before giving one slow nod of acceptance. We began to walk out of the compound when Klaus called us back.
"Elijah, Hayden. Do whatever it takes to keep her safe." I dipped my head in agreement.
"I give you my word."
TO
I leaned back in one of the booths in a small-town diner as Elijah and I waited to meet with Rebekah. She was on her way to us, bringing Hope along with her. I crossed my arms over my chest and placed my head against the headrest and closed my eyes. There were soft murmuring among the customers and the sizzling whispers coming from the grill in the kitchen. Every time an order was placed, a sharp piercing bell rang through the air like a knife to my vampiric hearing. I kept my ears open to the noises around me, but my sole focus was on Elijah who was sitting across the table from me. He had been edged ever since we left New Orleans, tensing at every loud, sudden noise and damn near baring his teeth at anything that could pose a threat.
"You need to chill." I cooed, not breaking my current position. "I can feel the anxiety and paranoia rolling off you in waves." I opened one eye to glance at him as he gave me an unamused stare. Our waitress came up to refill his mug with coffee. My muscles tensed and my heart lurched to my throat as Elijah quickly snatched the waitress' wrist to hold her in place. She looked down in shock but immediately relaxed as she met Elijah's gaze as he began to compel her.
"Tell me…" Elijah coaxed her. "Has there been anyone out of the ordinary here today?"
"Just you." The waitress answered honestly before leaning over to refill his coffee mug. Some of the hot bean water splashed over the edge of the mug and splattered on Elijah's pure white cuff. "Oh! I'm so sorry. Let me—"
"It's quite alright." Elijah said shortly, flicking his wrist as a way of dismissal. "Thank you." Eyeing him closely for a moment longer, I leaned back further into my seat and closed my eyes and drifted off into an uneasy nap.
TO
I woke up from my nap a few hours later. Elijah was still sitting across from me, casually looking around the diner for any signs of trouble. Most of the customers have disappeared and night was now falling across the sky. I stretched my aching muscles, stretching out my legs under the table and stretching my arms high above my head, inhaling deeply.
"I'm tired of being in this booth." I muttered, sliding out of the booth. "I'm going out for some fresh air." Elijah merely gave me a short nod of acknowledgement before I made my way to the door and walked out into the parking. I crossed my arms over my chest and tilted my head back and sighed heavily as a gentle breeze caressed my face. The road in front of the diner was not busy, a car passing by every now and then. Crickets sounded in the woods across the street and the dried leaves rustled and whispered in the wind. Once I felt awake, the fresh air now coursing through my lungs, I turned to head back inside. The air inside the diner now felt heavier and as I looked around, I didn't see any other customers and only two waitresses were behind the counter. I no longer heard the sizzling of grease in the kitchen or the chiming of the bell when ordered were put in. A metallic, thick familiar scent of blood filled my nostrils. Noting Elijah's position at our booth, I slowly made my way around the tables, following the scent to the kitchen. Glancing at Elijah's back one more time, I slowly opened the kitchen door and had to suppress the shocked gasp that formed in my chest. There were at least a dozen bodies scattered throughout the kitchen. Some of them were customers and some were workers at the diner. Blood was splattered, staining the once pure white tile walls and the stainless steel. Elijah's scent was all over this kitchen but yet he sat calmly out in the booth. The bell of the door rang, and I turned to see Rebekah coming in carrying a car seat in her right hand. Swallowing hard and turning away from the luring scent of blood, I made my way slowly back over to the booth as Rebekah walked up and set the car seat on the table. Elijah stood up to greet his little sister and smiled down at his niece. He gave Rebekah a quick hug before carefully picking Hope out of the car seat and cradled her in his arms.
"Look at you." Elijah breathed, sitting back down in his seat as I stood behind him and gazed down the baby. She had a round face with thin reddish-brown hair and bright blue eyes. "So big, so perfect. I can't imagine the joy of spending every day with her. It's…"
"Quite lovely." Rebekah finished in awe. "It feels so human."
"Yes. Some would argue, the most human of experiences."
"I know I have to give her back to Hayley when the time is right, but she's made me realize how much I want that child of my own I know I can't have."
"It's a lovely dream. Unfortunately, it's one that's just beyond our reach… considering the curse of our existence. It seems Esther's attacking with her usual fervor."
"Yes, Mother tortured me for days with memories… I thought I'd buried long ago. Then she made me an offer… to make us all mortal again. You see, Sister, Mother believes that by placing us in new bodies… we could then reclaim some kind of purity. We can begin families of our own again and I have to confess, Rebekah… this invitation, however cruel the delivery had a certain kind of… appeal." Hope began to whimper and fuss, squirming around in her uncle's arms. Rebekah's eyes shifted down to gaze on the baby, but her gaze dropped lower and narrowed. Her lips frowned and I peered over Elijah's shoulder to follow her stare to the blood stain on Elijah's cuff. With adamant coolness, Elijah simply said, "You needn't worry. We're safe." So that's why he slaughtered all those people in the kitchen. He thought they were a threat to us. To Hope. He found trouble when there wasn't any trouble. Rebekah raised her gaze to glance at me over her older brother's shoulder and I slightly shook my head, the movement so small that Elijah wouldn't notice it out of the corner of his eye, but Rebekah understood the message clearly. The female original vampire looked back at Elijah and gave him a false small.
"Looks like this little one needs her diaper changed." Rebekah said smoothly and stood up to gently take Hope out of Elijah's arms without raising any red flags and setting him off. "Here, my love." Rebekah began to make her way to the bathroom, and I watched her as she cautiously peered into the kitchen. I saw a jolt of shock go through her body as she saw the bodies scattered across the kitchen. She turned back and our gaze met. I never really had much luck getting along with Rebekah but in that moment, I understood her perfectly, a silent conversation going between us. I knew what had to be done. Rebekah slowly made her way back over to us as Elijah set the car seat on the table and Rebekah gently laid Hope into it and strapped her in before covering her with a blanket. Rebekah quickly and casually gave me a knowing look as Elijah stood beside his little sister, peering down at Hope. While his focus was on the baby, I slowly made my way behind him. "Well, she's all sorted and ready for an adventure. Aren't you, my love?"
"It's difficult to believe we were all this innocent once." Elijah sighed. "We mustn't let the world hurt her."
"You're right. We mustn't." With one fluid motion, I reached up with vampire speed and swiftly snapped his neck, stepping back as his dead weight fell to the ground. "Get him out to the car." I let out an irritated groan as I grabbed Elijah under the shoulders and began to drag his dead weight to the car, gritting my teeth with effort.
"Why do I always have to be the one to carry the dead weight?" I muttered under my breath as Rebekah called her older brother.
"Where have you been?" Klaus demanded on the other end of the phone.
"Nik, it's me." Rebekah snapped. "Something's wrong. Elijah slaughtered a dozen people whose only sin was terrible taste in food. When have you known him to kill when he could compel? It's the kind of act that'll draw our mother's attention." I heard Klaus sigh.
"Her torture must have affected him more deeply than I realized. Where is he now?"
"Hayden broke his neck to keep us safe, but I have no clue what to do next."
"Do you recall where we dined the Christmas after we fled Mikael?"
"Of course." Rebekah breathed.
"Go there now."