The streets of New Orleans were awfully calm and deserted for this time of night. I have traveled a long way looking for someone and I have been in several witch shops and asked numerous vampires but could not receive a location. I was growing tired, but I continued to make my way down the street, clutching the photograph in my hands. Hunger tore through my stomach that made my vision blur and my muscles quiver with weakness. I needed to feed soon but I was too driven to find what I've been searching for to stop. Glancing at the photograph one last time, I stuffed it into the inside pocket of my jacket and zipped it close to protect myself from the cool early spring air. Though I had a terrible hunger, it did not stop the hair on my neck from rising as I felt eyes watching me. My muscles tensed up on instinct and my back straightened as if a steel rod was going down my spine. I felt like someone was watching me for a while now but wasn't completely sure until now. Forcing myself not to react and remain calm, I turned my head left to right casually as if I were trying to figure out which way to go when in reality, I was figuring out my next move. Noticing a deserted alleyway cutting between two magnificent vintage looking apartment buildings, I nonchalantly began to walk towards it and slowed my pace to allow this stalker to catch up to me. Once we had both entered the alley, I used all my vamp speed to turn myself around and launch myself at the attacker. But he was quick. As I charged at his lower abdomen, his arms enclosed around my waist to swing me around him, meaning to send me off balance. As soon as my feet were back on the ground, I balanced on my right leg so I could swing out my left foot, aiming for his temple. With an easy and graceful motion, he pushed my leg away. Using the momentum of my leg going back to the ground, I kicked up my right leg which connected with his sternum, knocking him back a few steps. My movements were slow due to the lack of blood in my system, but I wasn't going down without a fight. Not giving him even a second to collect himself, I charged at him again, but this time, my werewolf fangs and eyes were bared. If this vampire wanted to mess with a hybrid, then I was going to give him a taste of hybrid venom. I lunged for his throat with a snarl but once again, he deflected my assault with fluid ease. Grabbing me by the throat, he flung me back down the alley. My teeth sang as my jaw collided against the concrete and palms stung as I braced myself. That only fueled my rage as I scrambled back to my feet without hesitation. My legs quaked, threatening to give out from under me. I panted for breath as I watched the vampire in front of me. He stood there casually with his weight on one hip and his left hand stuffed into the pocket of his dress pants as if he weren't just in a fight. I studied him for a moment, figuring out my next move. This vampire obviously had some years on him. He was strong and fast. I admitted to myself that even after I had a full meal and I was at full strength; I didn't think I could beat him. He was immaculate. He had short cropped medium auburn brown hair with captivating chocolate brown eyes. He had high cheekbones that complemented his full lips. He wore a crisp, dark suit without a wrinkle or crease in sight. His eyes narrowed and opened as he gazed at me.

"Are you quite done so we can have a civilized conversation?" He asked in a quiet voice, his tone laced with an accent. I scoffed.

"Civilized?" I snarled at him, gingerly touching my healing swollen lip. "If you wanted to have a civilized conversation with me then you wouldn't have been stalking me for the past twenty minutes."

"Yes, well, I was curious about your intentions in this city." I rolled my eyes and straightened my posture.

"A normal person would have just asked. Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do." I vamped sped past him down another alleyway but before I could make it halfway down, the vampire appeared in front of me. I skidded to a step and closed my eyes, inhaling deeply as I fought against my werewolf nature.

"Perhaps if you just told me what it is you are looking for, I could be of assistance." I bared my wolf fangs at him.

"Will it get you to leave me alone?" When he didn't answer, I sighed and pulled out the picture from my jacket and held it out for him to look at. "I'm looking for my friend. She's like a sister to me. She disappeared a while ago and last I heard she was in this area. Hayley Marshall." I saw him swallowed and he nodded once.

"Follow me. I know where she is. But we have to make a stop first." He turned to walk down the alley, but I stopped him.

"Why should I trust you?" I eyes him suspiciously and he turned back around to face me fully.

"Do you know who I am?" I shrugged my shoulders and raised my eyebrows at him.

"Am I supposed to?"

"My name is Elijah Mikaelson." The blood drained from my face. "You've heard of me."

"Yes. You're part of the Original family. Your brother is the crazy deranged hybrid who slaughtered my entire pack a few months ago. But I've heard stories of you. Not good stories."

"Surely you must have heard that I am a man of my word."

"Yes."

"Then I give you my word that if you come with me now, I will take you to Hayley." Reluctantly, I nodded and waved my hand to signal for him to lead the way. I followed him silently to an ancient townhouse and I obeyed when he told me to wait outside. After twenty minutes I was beginning to get impatient when Elijah appeared again with another man. I immediately tensed up, my werewolf eyes and fangs flashed and the veins beneath my eyes dilated. I snarled loudly trying desperately to hide my nervousness as Klaus approached me with Elijah.

"You are supposed to be dead." Klaus sneered at me.

"Guess you missed one. Well, two, if you include Tyler Lockwood." I snarled, smirking.

"I can assure you, I won't miss again." My nails lengthened and my canines elongated as I roared at pushing off the ground by the balls of my feet, charging at Klaus. He was quicker than me and easily stepped out of my way, but I was prepared. As he stepped to the side, I did a cartwheel, kicking out my right leg and connect with his chest and knock him to the side. That only fueled his rage. My feet skidded on the ground as I spun around and did not hesitate to charge at Klaus again. Before I could meet with Klaus, a sharp, blunt force hit me in my side, and I was knocked off course. I rolled across the ground and stopped on my stomach, scrambling to my feet to see Elijah standing between us.

"Enough." His voice was sharp and crisp as he looked from Klaus to me and back again. "We have bigger concerns than this childish quarrel." Never taking my eyes off Klaus, I straightened and brushed the dirt off me, keeping my fangs bared.

TO

My muscles never relaxed once as Elijah led Klaus and me through a cemetery to a crypt. I was on edge. Partially because I was in the presence of my sire who I betrayed and broke the hybrid sire bond and was one of the two remaining hybrids alive. I jumped at every noise; my eyes never stopped moving as I scanned my surroundings for any trap. People surrounded the entrance of the crypt and parted as we approached them. As we entered the crypt, I saw a young woman with long, thick brown hair with warm brown eyes standing by the back wall.

"Hayley?" I called out to her and she immediately picked up her head, looking around for the source of the voice. I pushed past Klaus and Elijah and ran to her, throwing my arms around her as an expression of surprise washed over her face.

"Hayden?" She gasped, wrapping her arms around me to return the hug. I buried my face in the crook of her neck and sighed, breathing in her scent. Hayley was like a sister to me. She was there for me when I turned into a hybrid and helped me through the first hundred painful transitions to break the sire bond from Klaus. After Klaus massacred twelve of the hybrids he created, she took me under her wing and traveled to the Appalachian Mountains. I knew she had family down here in Louisiana so when she left to go find them, I expected to hear from her, but no messages came. After about a month of no news from her, I left the Appalachian Mountains to go find her.

"I've been looking everywhere for you."

"I came out here to find my family until these witches took me hostage." Letting go of Hayley, I looked at all the witches in the crypt and growled at them, my eyes flashing yellow with a silent threat.

"Why?" Hayley looked past me at Klaus.

"Because I'm pregnant with Klaus' baby." She instinctively placed a hand on her stomach as I looked down at her abdomen as if I could see inside her at the fetus growing. The blood drained from my face as it was silent for a moment before Klaus said anything.

"No." He snarled. "It's impossible."

"I said the same thing myself." Elijah told him and my eyes finally lifted from Hayley's stomach to her truth filled eyes, utterly speechless.

"This is a lie. You're all lying. Vampires cannot procreate."

"But werewolves can." A female witch stepped forward. She was young, maybe in her early twenties with dark brown hair and dark lashes, her brown eyes peering out from under them. Klaus turned to glare at her, waiting for her to continue her explanation. "Magic made you a vampire, but you were born a werewolf. You're the original hybrid, the first of your kind, and this pregnancy is one of nature's loopholes." Klaus rounded on Hayley and stormed towards her and I instinctively placed my body in front of her as a human shield, snarling and warning him back. My nails grew and my canines lengthened, ready to shift.

"You're been with someone else. Admit it!"

"Hey, I've spent days held captive in a freaking alligator bayou because they think I'm carrying some magical miracle baby." Hayley barked at him over my shoulder. "Don't you think I would've fessed up?"

"My sister gave her life to perform the spell she needed to confirm the pregnancy. Because of Jane-Anne's sacrifice, the lives of this girl and her baby are now controlled by us. We can keep them safe, or we can kill them if you don't help us take down Marcel, so help, Hayley won't live long enough to see her first maternity dress."

"Wait, what?" I snarled and took a menacing step towards the young witch.

"Enough of this." Elijah said. "If you want Marcel dead, he's dead. I'll do it myself."

"No." Sophia argued. "We can't, not yet. We have a clear plan that we need to follow, and there are rules."

"How dare you command me, threaten me with what you wrongfully perceive to be my weaknesses!" Klaus yelled, his eyes wild as he paced back and forth. "This is a pathetic deception. I won't hear any more lies." Klaus began to storm out of the crypt, but his older brother called him back.

"Niklaus…" His voice was soft and clear and crisp. "Listen." Everyone was silent as Klaus froze in place when a small, faint heartbeat echoed through our vamp hearing. I perked my ears and tilted them down to listen better to Hayley's stomach. Klaus turned around and stared past me at Hayley's stomach, his hazel eyes full of awe and wonder at the beautiful sound. The moment was short lived as Klaus grew angry once more and rounded on Elijah who gave him a small smile.

"Kill her and the baby. What do I care?" Klaus stormed out of the crypt, every pair of eyes following his movements as if he were going to turn back around and massacre us all.

"Screw this." Hayley snapped. "I'm out of here." She turned and tried to walk out of the back entrance, but the witches stopped her and I instantly by her side again, snarling and baring my teeth at them, warning them back.

"No one touches the girl." Elijah said. "I will fix this." Without another word, the witches didn't attempt to stop him from the leaving the crypt as he walked out, following the same path as his little brother.

"Marcel and his vampires are out of control." Sophie argued with the elders as Hayley and I stood in the corner of the crypt, observing the confrontation. "Something had to be done."

"And the solution is to bring in more vampires?" Agnes retorted.

"These aren't just any vampires, Agnes. They're the Originals."

"What makes you think you can control the hybrid?"

"She can't." Elijah's voice sounded from the entrance and the witches parted to show him leaning casually against the stone wall, nonchalantly looking at his fingernails as if he had all the time in the world. "Not entirely certain that I can either, but not that your coven has drawn his ire, I have a question." He pushed off from the stone wall and entered the crypt. "What prevents my brother from murdering you instead of cooperating?" Sophie walked to one of the shelves that was embedded in the walls and grabbed a voodoo doll. She plucked a pin from it, dropping the doll to the dusty floor. Holding out her palm, she stuck herself with the pin needle and Hayley gasped beside me. I instantly turned to her and took her outstretched hand in my own, blood pooling in the center of her palm. I inhaled deeply the sweet, metallic scent and my veins crinkled under my eyes, but I composed myself as I turned to glare at Sophie.

"Ow!" Hayley cried. "What the hell?"

"The spell my sister performed, the one that got her killed, it didn't just confirm the pregnancy." Sophie announced. "It linked me to Hayley. So, anything that happens to me happens to her, which means her life is in my hands. Klaus may not care about his own child, but it's very clear what it already means to you. If I have to hurt Hayley or worse to ensure that I have your attention, I will." Elijah gave Sophia a menacing, serpentine smile.

"You would dare threaten an Original?" Elijah questioned her quietly, his voice laced with quiet thunder.

"I have nothing to lose. You have until midnight to get Klaus to change his mind."