Chapter 88: Gumbo and Goodbyes

August 20, 2011

After the night a few weeks ago where all hell had broken loose between Ellie and Elena, the tensions in Mystic Falls had been at all time between the twins. Hayley had ended up sticking around town. She wanted to do research about her family, with the very limited information she'd been given by Professor Shane and Victoria about her birth family. She'd asked her adoptive parents once about her birth family. They'd confessed that they didn't know anything about them. They assumed she was an orphan because it was a priest of some sort that had helped them adopt her. They didn't even remember his name.

To Hayley's surprise, Ellie had been doing everything she could to help in the research. The duo had spent time in the little hotel room that Klaus had graciously paid for her. Now, Ellie had opted to do a slightly more complicated version of her regular locator spell. "So what exactly is this?"

"This is a locator spell, normally a locator spell can either show me the person I'm looking for or I can use a map to find their general location. Since we don't know exactly who we're looking for, I'm going to use a map to find the location where most of your family members are." Ellie explained.

"What if it doesn't work?" Hayley asked. She was picking at the skin around her fingernail to the point that she was bleeding. Ellie wasn't sure Hayley had even noticed.

She gave the werewolf a reassuring smile. "I don't think that will be the case, but if it is, we'll deal with that when we get there." The candles around the table shot to life with a wave of her hand. "Are you ready?"

Hayley took a breath to steady herself before she replied, "I'm ready." She insisted. Ellie said nothing about the fact that she didn't really believe her.

The map she'd chosen was confined to the United States, but she could change the map as needed. "Give me your hand. I need some of your blood to track your relatives." Ellie instructed gently. Hayley offered up her hand and did her best not to react to the pain as Ellie pulled the knife across her skin. "Sorry about that." Ellie apologized. After she had enough blood on the map, she wordlessly stitched Hayley's skin back together.

"That's still so cool." Hayley commented as she idly ran her fingers over the now unblemished skin of her palm.

Ellie snorted slightly in amusement. "Thanks." She took a beat to refocus herself on the task at hand. Doing the locator spell in this way was new and quite frankly she wasn't even sure if it would actually work. When she was ready, she began to chant. "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem. Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

The blood traveled across the map slowly, but steadily. It headed east and Ellie had to push to get it to go. This method of locating an entire family was more than difficult, but it was the hope and excitement on Hayley's face that pushed her to keep going. She looked like a little kid that was hoping to get a puppy for Christmas but was terrified that if she said anything she wouldn't get it.

Ellie did not dare to do anything that might risk breaking her own concentration. She pulled on all of her magic, willing it to give Hayley the hope she needed. It kept going, slowly but surely, toward Louisiana. She could feel Hayley's nervous energy practically bouncing off of her body and around the room like her energy was trying to escape but had nowhere to go. Finally, after what felt like an eternity but might have only been a couple of minutes, the blood stopped. "Where is it? Where are they?" Hayley asked as her voice shook.

"They're in New Orleans." Ellie replied after she moved to get a better look. "Listen, New Orleans has a lot of people. Like… a lot. What's your next move?"

Hayley seemed to contemplate her choices. "I don't know. I don't have any money and that's not exactly a couple towns over. I'm low on money and I don't know how long it's going to take to find anything."

Ellie contemplated what she could do. After a moment, she offered, "What if I go with you? Two heads are better than one."

"Why would you want to do that? You really don't have a reason to help me."

"Because I want to." Ellie told her honestly. Hayley quirked up an eyebrow suspiciously. "Can you blame me for wanting to get the hell out of this town for a while? I can't stand being anywhere near Elena, but I don't want to tell Elijah how bad it is because he's always so worried and it's really not that bad. I just need a little bit of a break. Maybe going to New Orleans with you and focusing on helping you can give me time to get over all the bullshit I've endured here."

"If your sister was my sister, I'd wanna get fuck out of here too. Honestly, she could probably benefit from getting her ass kicked a couple of times." Hayley flopped down on the bed of the hotel room before turning back to Ellie. "But what about your lover boy? He doesn't seem the type to be cool with you just up and leaving. We don't even know how long it'll take to find anything."

"Elijah's been wanting to get me out of Mystic Falls for a while now, whether he's come right out and said it or not. Besides, he doesn't typically stop me from doing stuff that I want to do." Ellie told her as she moved to clean the mess up she'd made with her spell.

Hayley seemed to be observing Ellie. "I want to go sooner rather than later. Today if possible. I have a family that's living. I want to find them."

"I'll go talk to Elijah. Pack your stuff, if possible, we'll head out today." After Hayley agreed, Ellie headed out and went straight for the apartment. After the drama with Elena, Ellie and Elijah had typically deferred to staying in their apartment rather than staying at the mansion with Klaus. She was even more grateful for that decision now that she planned on leaving for a while. When she got home, she called out, "Elijah? Are you here?"

He was behind her, rather than in front of her as she'd expected, bending slightly to press a firm kiss to the spot where her neck met her shoulder, a place that had become a favorite of his to sink his teeth into. "Hello, my love."

She tilted her head back to kiss him properly. "I have to talk to you." She confessed as she walked into the living room.

"What's the matter? Has something happened?" Elijah questioned.

"No." She assured him quickly. "You know the girl I've been helping, Hayley?" He hummed in acknowledgement. "She's been looking for her family since she first turned into a werewolf. I've been able to help her find the place to start. I offered to go with her because honestly I think she's a little scared to go even though she wants to."

Elijah looked over her nervous expression. "You're wanting to know if I take issue with you going without me." He deduced.

She grinned nervously before nodding. "You're not wrong."

The two were seated on the couch together as she'd curled herself into his side. "My love, why would I have an issue with it?"

"I don't know." She confessed. "You're very protective. And if I go somewhere without you, that limits your ability to protect me and I thought that might upset you."

"Upset me? No. I don't love the idea of it if I'm completely honest, but I also will not be the type of man nor lover that controls my partner, especially not one that is as capable as you are." He assured her.

She hummed softly as he ran his hand through her hair. "And maybe I'm worried that something might happen to you if I go. I don't trust Elena to not do something stupid."

"Elena does not have the white oak stake. Whatever she might try to do, she cannot kill me." He reminded her. "I have survived for a thousand years with much greater threats looming over my shoulder, including my father. I will be safe should you decide that you wish to go with this Hayley girl."

"And you won't kill Stefan while I'm gone?" She joked.

"Only because it would upset you."

She pressed a firm kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Elijah." She laughed as he rolled his eyes slightly. "However, there is one other thing."

"And what is that?"

It made Ellie a bit nervous to confess, "Hayley wants to leave as soon as possible. Like today if we can."

That caught his attention immediately and she shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Do you want to go today?" She was quiet for a long moment and when he heard her heartbeat stutter slightly from her nerves, he tilted her chin up gently to make her look at him. "Don't shy up on me now, my love. Talk to me."

"Yes." She was picking aggressively at the skin around her fingernails. "If I stay here much longer, Elena and I are going to kill each other because it's only getting worse. Hayley and I can go for maybe a week and if we haven't gotten anywhere we might come back, or at least I might."

"A week." He repeated. "I suppose I shall survive it." She practically shrieked as he lifted her into his lap and stood up. "But if my time is scarce before you leave, I believe I should make the most of it."

Her back was against the wall before she knew it and he was pressing hot kisses along the length of neck. "Elijah!" She laughed breathily as her heart jumped. He sunk his teeth into that favorite spot of his on her neck as she let out a choked gasp. She tugged on his hair, causing him to release her throat before she kissed him hard. She grinned into the kiss as he groaned. It always drove him up the wall when she didn't care about the blood on his mouth. "I suppose we both deserve a nice parting gift before I go." She mumbled against his mouth as his hand dug into her thigh where he was holding her. "Bed. Now."

"Yes, my love." He obeyed without hesitation.


After she and Elijah finished… saying goodbye to one another, he helped her pack a bag, though he mostly kept himself pressed against her back, peppering kisses along her shoulders and neck as she packed. He had a habit of being beautifully distracting when he put his mind to it. With her car packed, she made her way to Katherine's. When she arrived, she found both Jenna and Jeremy with Katherine. The trio were fully absorbed into Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Ellie crept up behind them with ease, but then again it was their fault they had the volume so stupidly high. "Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire!" Both Jenna and Jeremy screeched as she popped up behind them. Katherine, though she didn't screech, glared darkly at the witch.

Jenna slung a pillow at the witch. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Why do you have it so loud?"

"It's not that loud." Jeremy said defensively. "What are you doing here anyways you creep?"

"Saying goodbye." The trio immediately looked alarmed.

"Where are you going?"

"Does Elijah know about this?"

"When are you leaving?"

The three of them spoke over each other in a blend of voices. "Ok first, I'm going to New Orleans to help Hayley find her family. Second, yes, Elijah knows I told him first. Third, as soon as I'm done saying goodbye to everyone. I already packed my bags before I left Elijah."

Katherine looked incredibly suspicious. "Who is this Hayley girl that you're disappearing out of town with her?"

Ellie shot her a look. "She's a werewolf that had shown up to help Tyler break the hybrids from Klaus' control. Now, I'm helping her find her family. You can't blame her for wanting to find her family."

Katherine didn't seem pleased by the thought but Jenna spoke first. "How long do you plan on being gone?"

"I told Elijah that we'd be gone for a week and if we don't find anything, I'll come back." She explained. "It'll just be for a little while. I'll answer when you guys call and text, I promise."

None of them looked happy, but eventually the trio agreed on the terms that Ellie would keep them constantly updated. With hugs and kisses and a long goodbye and warning from Katherine that she would hunt them down in New Orleans if something seemed to be suspicious, Ellie made her departure. Caroline was her next stop, and she found both the vampire and her mother at home. Ellie rang the doorbell and was greeted by Sheriff Forbes. "Ellie, hi honey, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just needed to see Caroline." Ellie explained.

Sheriff Forbes stepped aside to let the young witch in. "Are you hungry sweetie? I can cook something up for you if you are."

"No thank you, Sheriff. I won't be here too long, I have a lot of running around I have to get done." Ellie explained.

Caroline was smeared with dust as she appeared out of her room. "Ellie, hey! What's up? I didn't know you were coming over."

"Yeah, it wasn't really planned, but I needed to talk to you."

The blonde immediately looked suspicious. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong… per say."

"But?"

"But I'm gonna be out of town for a while."

The vampire wiped her cheek clean as she turned to give Ellie her full attention. "Where are you going?"

"You remember Hayley?"

"The werewolf girl? What about her?" After Ellie went through the same routine of explaining why she was helping Hayley and where they were going, Caroline did not look happy. "But Ellie! We haven't even gone on a graduation trip together because you've been wanting to stay close to Jeremy." She quickly added on, "And that is totally valid. You know that I don't mind that at all because I completely get it. But like…. Ugh."

Ellie moved to hug the other girl tightly. "It's just like a week, Care. You can survive that long with me being gone. Besides, it's summer, no one is out to get us for once, except maybe Elena but she doesn't count." She glanced around Caroline's currently destroyed room. Clearly, the girl was redecorating before she went to college. "And you clearly have projects that you can work on while I'm gone."

"But it'll just be a week?"

"It'll just be a week." Ellie confirmed.

"Well, I don't quite think Caroline here knows how to function without you Ellie." Sheriff Forbes commented as she leaned against Caroline's doorframe. "I think it'll be pretty strange without you two being attached at the hip."

"She hasn't been attached to my hip in ages, mom. She's been too busy being attached to Elijah's." Caroline scoffed.

Ellie bumped her hip in retaliation. "You hush. I don't want to hear it little miss 'I all but vanished when I was dating Matt and when I first started dating Tyler'. Elijah is my first real relationship. I get to be attached if I want to."

Caroline grinned indulgently at Ellie before asking, "Does that mean you're leaving like… right now?"

With a nod Ellie replied, "Yeah, once I'm done saying goodbyes I'm headed out. But think about it like this, the sooner I leave, the sooner I come back."

"Ok, that's a good point. Get going then. I want you back as soon as possible." Caroline urged as she motioned for Ellie to move along.

"I love you too, Care."

Caroline went through a range of expressions before she hugged Ellie tightly. "I love you more, Ellie. I just realized that we've like never been apart from one another that long and it's kind of starting to freak me out and I'm trying not to panic because I get why you're going because you're just nice like that but god I don't like it." She rambled.

"Please don't remind me that we've never been apart because then I'm gonna start thinking about it and it's gonna like make me really sad." Sheriff Forbes watched as the two girls refused to let go of one another for a long moment. They really were everything to one another. Both girls were unsurprisingly teary eyed as they pulled apart. "Ok, ok, ok, I'm gonna go now because I want to get back soon." Ellie said.

Sheriff Forbes watched as her daughter held onto Ellie's hand for a moment longer before letting her go. "Ok, but call me when you get there and take lots of pictures and so help me if you don't respond I'll fight you when you get back."

"I expect nothing less from you, Care." The two girls hugged one last time before Ellie moved to hug Sheriff Forbes.

The older woman's hug was a familiar comfort and Ellie had never forgotten the way that she had stepped up and filled in part of the space that the loss of Ellie's mom had left that Jenna couldn't. It wasn't Jenna's fault, but she was barely older than Ellie and Elena and there were instincts that Sheriff Forbes had gained from experience and time raising Caroline that Jenna simply hadn't had the chance to gain. "You be careful, do you hear me? You're one of my little girls and I need you to be safe."

"I promise." Ellie wrapped up her goodbyes with Caroline and her mother before leaving the house as quickly as she could without seeming rude. There was a painful sensation in her chest at the thought of not being with Caroline when they'd been such a crutch for each other for so long.

Stefan was her next stop after Caroline. She'd found him at the apartment that he had taken to staying at after being in Elena's presence had become too much. After the absolute mess that had been their outing last time, Stefan had been more than apologetic. He'd told her upfront that he didn't blame Elijah in the slightest for his reaction and that had it been him in Elijah's position, he would have done the same.

Quite frankly, she believed him when he said he didn't know what happened. He had gone over it in detail with her. From what he remembered, they'd been having fun as they drank and danced and played pool with Ava and the man that Stefan couldn't quite remember the name of. He'd been too drunk at the time to care. He'd explained that he'd gone to the bathroom and that when he returned the man, who's name might have been John but it might not have been, said that she'd gotten a phone call and it had seemed to be pretty urgent.

From Stefan's memory, while Ellie was tipsy, she was definitely not so far gone that she should have blacked out. He was very insistent in telling her that he never would have let her leave alone if he'd realized how drunk she was and that he felt incredibly guilty that he hadn't paid better attention to her. When she'd forgiven him, though she wasn't so much angry at him as she was angry at herself for even getting behind the wheel in the first place, he'd hugged her tightly and held on for a while before finally letting go.

After that, they'd spent a good deal of time together in Stefan's attempt to apologize with her even sleeping over on a few occasions, though Elijah hadn't loved the idea. She reminded him that Stefan would never do anything questionable and that if he did, Elijah would be the first one she told. Elijah had eased up after that. Now, she stood in front of the door to Stefan's apartment feeling nervous and a bit guilty. She hated that she was leaving him here without much support in dealing with Elena, but Hayley needed help. The door opened before she could knock and Ellie stepped back in surprise. "Are you just going to stand out here all day or are you going to knock?" Stefan asked curiously before grinning at her.

"Sorry! I just… got lost in thought." Ellie apologized. "Can I come in?"

"Of course you can." He stepped aside to let her in before shutting the door behind her. "What's up? We didn't have anything planned today and I forgot did I?"

"No, we didn't don't worry. I just needed to talk to you." Ellie told him. She walked toward his living room before telling him, "I'm going to be out of town for a while, like a week or so, but I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

He turned to look at her curiously. "You're leaving? Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to help out Hayley. She has some family stuff going on and she didn't want to have to do it alone."

"Hayley?"

"The werewolf girl. Tyler's friend that snapped Caroline's neck. You remember right?" Ellie asked. He had known Hayley's name, hadn't he?

Stefan's eyes widened as the memories connected. "Oh! I thought she left town, didn't she?"

"She did for a while, but she came back because she needed some help from Klaus. Now that that's over, she's focusing on her family stuff and needed some help."

He nodded in understanding. "And you, of course, offered to help her. I swear I think that you're a saint."

She grinned softly at him. "As if you aren't also a bleeding heart, Stefan. You take care of everyone all the time just like I do."

He shrugged. "I'm working on it though. Do you need any company on the trip? Is Elijah alright with you leaving town without him?"

"I'll have Hayley, don't worry and Elijah is fine with it." Ellie assured him. "I didn't really plan on staying long, the drive is going to take forever anyways." Stefan seemed to understand and moved forward toward her to pull her into a tight hug. He held her close with her head tucked into his shoulder. It felt almost like there was something that Stefan was feeling or thinking, but he wasn't saying it. "Stefan, are you ok?"

She'd pulled back slightly to look at him, though his hand was still cupping her neck. He was staring at her intently for a long moment, keeping her there in that embrace. Had it been any guy other than Stefan, except of course for Elijah, she would have felt wildly uncomfortable with the intensity that he was staring at her with. But it was Stefan, and he was one of the people she trusted most in this world. "Yeah, I'm sorry." He said as he snapped himself back to reality. "I was just thinking."

"Thinking what?" She asked curiously. "You were awfully lost in thought."

He laughed softly before replying, "Yeah, yeah. I'm just really grateful to get to call you my best friend."

Ellie was touched by his sentimentality. "Stefan…" She said softly before moving back toward him, pulling him into another tight hug. "Why are you saying that like I'm never gonna come back. It'll only be a week."

"It's not like that, you're just incredibly important to me and I feel like I haven't appreciated you enough."

"You're incredibly important to me too." She replied. He'd held onto her a moment longer before she stepped back slightly. "I should get going, but I'm really glad that I stopped by."

"I am too." Stefan told her as they both started to move back toward the door. Before she could leave, he pulled her back slightly and pressed a firm kiss on the corner of her mouth. It was a habit he'd formed at the start of the summer. She typically didn't think anything of it, it was often just barely on the edge of her lips, but something about this time felt different, more purposeful. The kiss lingered on the edge of her lips as he pulled away. "I love you, Ellie."

When was the last time he'd told her that? She couldn't remember.

"I love you too." The response was automatic, and though it was true she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on with Stefan that she didn't know. Why had he even taken to kissing her on the corner of her mouth anyways? Before, if he kissed her it was often her temple or her hairline and she'd never thought twice about it, but now? Now the energy around them felt like it was dancing with something unsaid. She just didn't know what it was or why it was there. "I should get going."

"Of course." He opened the door for her and she didn't know why she felt some sort of tension ease in her stomach. What had been worrying her? She was safe with Stefan. Wasn't she?

She'd left Stefan and while she'd gone to say the rest of her goodbyes, she had managed to get her composure back. The interactions with both Caroline and Stefan had thrown her off, but she'd given herself enough time to get back to normal before she met Hayley back at the hotel that she'd been staying in. "Hey!" Hayley called as she dragged her suitcase out into the parking lot.

"Hey!" Ellie called back. "Do you need help with your bag?"

"I got it." Hayley said as she shoved her bag into Ellie's trunk. "Did you get the directions and everything?"

Ellie nodded as the duo got back into the car. "I did. Elijah took care of the hotel and everything for us, so I got the directions to get us there, but it's going to be one hell of a drive."

"Well, lucky for us, while you were saying goodbye to your lover boy and the rest of the Scooby Gang, I got some CDs ready for us." Hayley held up several CDs with handwritten names on the top from where she'd burned some sort of mix onto them. "Ok, pick a number one through six."

Ellie shot her a look of surprise. "You had time to burn six CDs?"

Hayley just shrugged at her. "I was bored and this is gonna be a long drive. Now come on, one through six."

"Three."

"Ooo, that's a good one. Ok let's go."


It took them over a day to get there. They'd gotten about halfway into the drive when Ellie's vision was starting to blur and Hayley was already passed out in the passenger's seat. Once they'd finally arrived in New Orleans and successfully found the hotel to get checked into, they were officially starving. "If I don't get food, I think I'm gonna die." Hayley huffed as she dug through her suitcase for her wallet.

"I saw some place in the quarter that a lot of people seemed to be at, so it's probably pretty good." Ellie replied.

"You don't need to tell me twice, let's go." The duo made their way out into the French Quarter and found themselves awed by the amount of people bustling about. Despite it being the middle of the afternoon, one of the bars seemed quite rambunctious with people cheering and shouting for whatever reason. "I feel like if we go into that one, one or both of us are gonna end up punching someone in the face." Hayley made a face as one of the patrons of the bar stumbled out drunkenly. "It's not even five yet."

Ellie steered her away. "That's fine. It's not the one that I was talking about anyways." She led Hayley to a restaurant called Rousseau's. This place was far calmer, though there were plenty of people still drinking.

"Hey, welcome to Rousseau's! Sit anywhere you'd like." A pretty woman told them kindly. "I'll be right with you guys." The duo opted for a seat at the bar as they took in their surroundings. "Hi, I'm Jane Anne, I'll be taking care of you guys. Here's some menus. Can I get you guys anything to drink?"

The young witch and werewolf both eyed the drinks before Ellie replied, "Can I just get a coke?"

"Same here."

Jane Anne nodded. "No problem, I'll go get your drinks while you guys look over the menu."

"The food looks so good, I don't know what to get." Hayley huffed. "Or maybe I'm just so hungry everything looks good."

Ellie nodded in agreement. They hadn't stopped for anything to eat since they'd gotten breakfast at their other hotel when they'd first woken up. "Why don't we ask Jane Anne what's good?"

That seemed to please Hayley as Jane Anne asked, "Ask me what now? And here you go, here's your drinks."

"We're starving, there's too many options on the menu, and I don't know what to pick." Hayley explained.

Jane Anne grinned at them. "Then you two definitely need to get the gumbo. It's what our little place here is famous for. It's also our best selling item other than the alcohol."

The two girls shared a look. "I guess we'll have the gumbo then." Ellie confirmed.

"Sounds good! And you're in luck. Sophie's new batch of gumbo should be ready to serve in like fifteen minutes. But, we still have some of yesterday's batch if you want a bit right now." Jane Anne told them. "We don't always have leftovers, but when we do we typically share it."

"How so?" Ellie asked curiously.

"We have some regulars that… struggle with the financial department. When we have leftovers we normally let them come and take it off our hands. Less food waste and less people going hungry." Jane Anne explained.

"That's really nice of you." Hayley complimented. "I've had times where I've been in spots like that. So, no, I'll wait. If that's the food they get to have, I don't want to take it away from them." Ellie nodded her head in agreement. "But do you have any like bread or something?"

Jane Anne replied, "Yeah, Soph just took some out of the oven and they should be cooled off enough to serve. I'll grab you guys a thing of butter to go with it."

Once Jane Anne was gone, Ellie pulled out a folded stack of papers that she'd stashed away in her bag. "Ok, so I've got a list of hospitals from around the city. We know when you were born so that's a start. So maybe we look into hospitals to see if we can find any of your family."

"Hey, is someone taking care of you guys? Do you need anything?" A blonde asked as she approached.

"Oh, no we're ok, Jane Anne is bringing us some bread while we wait for the new thing of gumbo." Ellie informed her.

"Oh! Ok, good. I just didn't want you guys to get missed over. I'm Cami, if you guys need anything you can let me know." Cami told them. She had started to walk away when Ellie's papers caught her attention. "Do you guys need some medical help? What's up with all the hospitals?"

Neither of the girls seemed to know what to do with the unexpected question. Ellie looked to Hayley, asking her silently what she wanted to say. "I'm uh, I'm trying to find my birth family. I was adopted as a baby and I'm not really on good terms with them anymore."

Jane Anne appeared then with their bread and butter. "Sorry to hear that. Do you know anything that could point you in the right direction?"

Hayley looked slightly uncomfortable with the attention but confessed, "Only my birthday. June 6, 1991."

"Well, I can help you narrow down a bit of this list." Jane Anne told them as she set the food she'd brought aside. Carefully, she took the pen from Ellie's hand and put an 'X' down beside several of the hospitals. "Those hospitals were opened after you were born. So, if you're trying to find a birth record, those places won't be able to help you because you weren't born there."

"That… that actually helps a lot, thank you." Hayley said before she divided the bread in half and gave some to Ellie.

"Cami!" Some guy shouted from the other side of the restaurant.

She rolled her eyes before saying, "I should go help them. Good luck finding your birth family."

"Thanks, Cami." Both Ellie and Hayley said. Ellie turned her attention back to Jane Anne. "Have you lived here your whole life?"

"I have. My family has been here for generations." She made a mark on a few more hospitals. "Those were some of the more popular hospitals around the time you were born. I might start there if I were you. If you've got no luck there, you should check the Louisiana Vital Records Registry. It's on Poydras Street. They close early though, before four in the afternoons and they're closed on weekends. But they're supposed to keep all the birth and death records in Louisiana. If you were born here, if nothing else, it should be there."

Ellie and Hayley were surprised by how helpful Jane Anne was being. "I didn't even think about a records registry." Ellie said as she scribbled down notes on a fresh piece of paper. "Thank you."

"No problem. My family is everything to me and I'd do anything for them. I understand you wanting to find yours." Jane Anne replied. "Give me a minute and I'll go get your gumbo, it should be ready now."

After she was gone, Hayley and Ellie dug into their bread as they thought about what they'd learned. "Less than an hour here and we already have more information. I guess that's a good sign?" Hayley replied after Jane Anne had brought their gumbo and left them alone.

"Yeah, but it's past four, so we'll have to wait to go to the Records Registry tomorrow. We can start going through hospitals after we eat if you want." Ellie replied.

"That sounds like a plan to me." Hayley agreed. "Thank you, again, for coming with me. I'm not really sure if I could have done this alone."

Ellie smiled at her gently. "Family is important. Everything you did back in Mystic Falls was just to try and find them. I figured you deserved to have someone keep you company."

Hayley didn't seem to know what to say. So instead, she turned to her gumbo. "Holy shit, Ellie you have to try this."

When she did as instructed, her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, my god."

Jane Anne, who was carrying a stack of dirty dishes as she walked by, paused to look at them. "Is it that good?" She questioned in amusement.

"I think this is literally the best thing I've ever eaten in my entire life." Hayley told her sincerely as Ellie nodded in agreement.

"What kind of magic did she use to make this? Because holy crap." Ellie asked curiously as she took another bite. In the state of their nearly ravenous hunger, both girls missed the uneasy expression that danced across Jane Anne's face.

"Just my sister and her talent for cooking." Jane Anne supplied. "Enjoy your meal."


For five days, Ellie and Hayley had been in practically every New Orleans hospital prying through records and certificates, trying to find anything at all that could point them in the right direction. To their extreme disappointment, the Louisiana Vital Records Registry, despite having several births on file for Hayley's birthday, there was not a single baby named Hayley at that time. So they'd resorted to going to the hospitals to see if any of the older nurses might have remembered something like Hayley's very distinctive birthmark on her shoulder.

However, Ellie had insisted that that wasn't all that they did. If it was all that they did, she insisted that they would end up depressed with their lack of finding anything. So, with much convincing, she got Hayley to attend some of the bars at night, gleefully dancing to the upbeat music. She had absolutely put her foot down at the thought of drinking though. After the world's worst hangover from her night out with Stefan, she felt ill at ease at the thought of drinking even slightly. Hayley had also chosen to not drink, though that was mainly because she didn't trust being in a new city, relatively alone, where she was at a higher risk of being assaulted.

After being disappointed once more, the duo made their way, once again back to Rousseau's. "Hey guys, your regular drinks?" Cami asked as they once again took a seat at the bar.

"Yes please, that would be great." Ellie confirmed.

Hayley was incredibly frustrated with the lack of progress that they'd made with their findings. "How is there absolutely nothing?" She asked Ellie. She sounded nearly hopeless. "The map led us here. Could it have been wrong? What if they're dead?"

"They aren't dead. If they were, the spell wouldn't have worked." Ellie reminded her gently. "We'll find them, somehow."

"The search not going too hot?" Cami asked as she handed them both their drinks.

Hayley shook her head. "Nope. I've got a big fat nothing."

Cami gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You'll find them. You just need a little more time." She insisted. "How about I go get you guys some of Sophie's gumbo and see if that helps you feel any better?"

"Thanks Cami, that would be great." Ellie agreed. "Come on, Cami is right. We will find them, we just need some more time." Cami reappeared with two steaming bowls of gumbo before leaving them alone to talk.

"But we have nothing to go off of, Ellie. Plus, isn't your boyfriend expecting you to be home like tomorrow or whenever it is. I'm out of time and options. And honestly I don't know what to do. How do you find a record of someone when I probably don't even know what my real name is?"

The duo fell quiet for a few minutes, quietly eating their gumbo before Jane Anne walked up to them with a smile. "This is the third time you two have been in here this week."

"I'm obsessed with the gumbo, Jane Anne." Hayley told her.

"Same, I don't know what it is about it, but I don't know how I'm gonna live without it when I'm not here anymore." Ellie added.

Jane Anne smiled softly at them. "The old ladies in the ninth ward say my sister, Sophie, bleeds a piece of her soul into every dish she makes."

"I asked around the quarter about my family." Hayley explained. They'd been keeping the other girl updated on what they'd been able to find about where Hayley had come from.

"And?"

"Nothing. Zero." Hayley replied. "I can't find a single person who remembers them."

Ellie bumped Hayley's shoulder with hers lightly. "We'll find them."

Jane Anne surprised them both when she lowered her voice and said, "Because, Hayley, people like you were run out of here years ago."

Both Hayley and Ellie were immediately put on edge. Had they somehow put themselves in danger? "What do you mean, people like me?"

Jane Anne glanced around to make sure that they weren't overheard as she walked out from behind the bar and over to them. She moved to stand between them with a map in her hand. "In the bayou, they call the werewolves roux-ga-roux."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jane Anne. Werewolves aren't real." Hayley hissed quietly.

They both tried to stand, but Jane Anne took a hold of Hayley's hand. "Calm down, Hayley, I don't mean any harm to either of you, but if you want a shot at finding your family, you need to listen to me. I am trying to help." She said softly. When both of them still looked to be on edge, she confessed, "I'm a witch, ok? I know about the supernatural things in this town and I know that you're a werewolf." Looking back at Ellie, she mentioned, "And that you're a witch. It's fine, we have the supernatural come through all the time. I know what I'm talking about, just trust me."

Ellie really looked at Jane Anne for a moment. Everything about the woman was giving her the vibes that she just wanted to help. Not knowing what else to do, Ellie sent a small nod to Hayley. "And what about them?" Hayley asked cautiously.

Jane Anne circled a place near Magnolia on the map. "If you head out there, you'll find what you're looking for." Hayley took the map and both she and Ellie started to stand. "Be careful, it's the last place you guys would ever want to go."

"Thank you." Hayley told her. "And sorry for being so suspicious."

"It's ok, I get it." Jane Anne assured her. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

The two girls left some money on the counter before heading out. It didn't take them long to map out the route and Hayley read off the directions as Ellie drove. "God this is in the middle of fucking no where." Ellie muttered as she drove. "I guess it's a good thing we filled up the tank before we left."

"No kidding." Hayley agreed as she added, "Take that left up there."

They kept making their way to the bayou carefully. By the time they arrived at the place on the map, it was already night time. "God this feels sketchy as hell." Ellie complained. They were on a dirt road and looking around, trying to find any sign of anything around them. "I'm not sure that we're in the right place, Hayley."

Suddenly, the map lit on fire in Hayley's hand. "What the hell?" She threw the burning map out of the car quickly. "I think we need to get the hell out of here." Ellie tried backing her car out of the dirt road they were on.

They'd managed to back a few feet, maybe a couple of yards before the car stalled and the engine started to smoke. "Are you kidding me?" Hayley asked in disbelief.

Ellie, on the other hand, was on high alert. "Hayley, I don't like this." With nothing but water in front of them, and a dirt road behind them, the duo got out of the car.

Katherine was the first call Ellie made, not wanting to worry Elijah any more than necessary. "Hey, gorgeous. I thought you and the wolf girl were still out and about. Did you find that bayou thing or whatever?" She greeted pleasantly.

Hayley was busy calling to get help. "Hey, I'm looking for a tow service." She said to whoever it was on the phone with her.

"Katherine, I think something's wrong." Ellie said quickly.

"Wait, what are you talking about-" A shrill noise from the phone cut off Katherine's voice as Ellie yelped in pain. It seemed to happen to Hayley's phone as well because both girls had thrown theirs to the ground.

Energy caught Ellie's attention. A lot of it. "Hayley." She said in warning as she reached out to the wolf. They were surrounded by at least a dozen people. It was then that Ellie realized that they'd walked into a trap, and somehow, for whatever reason, Jane Anne had betrayed them. "What the hell do you people want?" She demanded. Her magic swirled around her as she prepared to fight, but just as she raised her hand, it felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under her, and she collapsed in exhaustion. As she fell, she could have sworn she heard Katherine call out her name in a panic, but she couldn't make her mouth move to respond.


Author's Note:

We've made an entrance to New Orleans! Are you guys excited? I'm a little nervous to be somewhere new lol. As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!

To Guest: I know a lot of people don't love Hayley, but I hope with the way I make tweaks to her character, she'll be more enjoyable. However, she will still be Hope's mom. Jenna and Jeremy will probably leave at some point.

To NaRuKo-InuTaiSHo-XD: I hope you enjoyed!

To Leah0329: If she were to be a heretic, she would have had to be a siphoner first. Maybe it might be possible for her to be something similar, but she wouldn't be able to be a true siphoner.

To MesmerizingMermaid: I won't laugh, don't worry. I've had a few people make comments about Jenna and Klaus, but given that Ellie and Elijah are together, that's just a little too in the family for me. Hayley will still be Hope's mom.

To Daddy's LiL HeartBreaker: I'm glad you think their chemistry is hot lol. And agreed, she definitely has the Petrova fire and Victoria had to take Katherine's place since Kat never left Mystic Falls. But yes, them being friendly is definitely needed if they're going to be stuck together. And yes, I think that says a lot about Klaus.

To Guest(2): Yes, but like I said to them, if Jenna was Hope's mom, that would be a little too in the family for me. Plus Klaroline has my heart so, I don't want to bring Jenna into that mess.

To Rose1414: I'm so glad you liked it enough to give it a reread! Thank you so much!

To emilyljohnson1989: Thank you so much!

To Guest(3): That's the plan!

-Madame Magic

Posted: 4/16/22