I stormed through the compound towards the crowd in the center of the courtyard, my vision red with rage, my gut hungry for blood of my enemies. My eyes were yellow with coal black veins under my eyes as my fingernails and canines grew. I was on the verge of shifting completely, barely having a hold on my control. The two male original vampires were closely behind me. The crowd of vampires were cheering and hollering with excitement as they were still unaware of our presence. I was faster than an adder, swifter than a vixen and more quiet than a feline as I whooshed up to the crowd and shoved aside the two closest vampires, I got my hands on, sending them across the compound. Klaus sped to the center of the crowd and snapped the neck of the female who was standing there with her arms raised above her head in victory. She dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes and the vampires in the compound grew silent. I snarled and the vampires quickly parted to allow me to make my way to the center of the crowd with Klaus as he looked up to the second floor where Marcel was leaning over the railing glaring at us.

"Good evening." Klaus' voice rang out. "I'd like a word."

"What do you think you're doing?" Marcel growled.

"It appears that we've interrupted a collection of filthy amateurs." Elijah said casually, strolling through the vampires to take a place beside me. "We've come here for the girl. Give her to us, or… we kill everyone here. Starting with you."

"You three got a lot of nerve coming into my home and making demands."

"Your home, is it?" Klaus questioned him, astonished.

"The girl." Elijah repeated, placing his fists into his pockets. "I will not ask again, and Hayden will not be kept waiting." Using my vamp speed, I grabbed the nearest vampire to me and held them by their neck, my mouth hovering over their jugular ready to bite.

"I assume you're talking about Hayley—yay high, dark hair, bitchy attitude." Marcel taunted us and without a second thought, I bite the vampire's neck and tossed him across the compound with ease. I spit my mouthful of blood out on to the cobblestone next to me and glared up at this wannabe king.

"Watch your mouth before everyone here is infected with werewolf venom." I snarled at him.

"Who is she, anyway?"

"She's an old friend. You know how sentimental I am about old friends." Klaus smiled up at him, clasping his hands together behind his back.

"She's family." I corrected him. venom

"Well, I ain't got her, and before you start whining, I did pay her a little visit earlier tonight. I was feeling nostalgic, so I took a trip out to the plantation where I used to be a slave and imagine my surprise when I realized that the original family of vampires had taken up residence." Elijah licked his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. "Your girl Hayley answered the door. We exchanged hellos. That was it. You don't believe me, look around. Hell, I'll even help you find her, but the question I'd ask is, if Hayley isn't here, then where is she?" I looked away from Marcel and glanced over at Elijah, eyes filled with worry for my friend and he returned my gaze, his brown eyes filled with reassurance.

TO

"Not the most attractive community, are they?" Elijah said loudly enough for all the vampires in the courtyard to hear him. Klaus and Elijah sat in the chairs as I paced behind them, arms crossed over my chest, waiting for Marcel to returned. My stomach was tossing and turning and churning at the sick thought of something awful happening to Hayley.

"You do realize they can hear you?" Klaus laughed as the vampires surrounding the courtyard glared in Elijah's direction.

"You do realize I don't care." Klaus laughed against as Elijah grabbed his drink from the table in front of him and took a sip from it as I continued to pace behind the two vampires with my arms crossed over my chest.

"You know, Elijah, I liked you better in that box, but, Klaus, my sire, you I owe the world, and I always show respect to my elders." Marcel retorted, walking across the courtyard to us. "If your special lady friend is missing, you can benefit from the help of a witch, and since I control all the witches in this town, I'll grant you one little locator spell." Two vampires walked into the compound, gripping the arms of the tour guide Sabine as they led her over to us. "Sabine is the best guide in the quarter." She yanked her arms free of the vampires and glared at Marcel. "You need to find someone; I guarantee she's your girl." Marcel turned and began to walk away but Klaus called him back.

"Where are you going?" Klaus asked him.

"I hate to cut this short, but the sun is coming up soon. My nightwalkers need to get inside, and I've got a city to run. I'll you to track down your lost sheep." Marcel left as Sabine stepped up to the table and laid out a map.

"Can you find her?" I asked hastily.

"I can try." She breathed.

TO

The sun had come up as Sabine sat at the table scrying for Hayley's location using Klaus' blood. Klaus was pacing on one side of the table while I am pacing on the other side growing very impatient with the wait. Elijah sat calmly across from Sabine watching her perform the spell. The blood trail began to move down the map towards the bayou.

"She's in the back country, way out past Houma, deep in the bayou." Sabine informed us.

"I don't suppose you could be more precise."

"What's the matter, Elijah, you worried a bit of splashing about in the bog might ruin your expensive shoes?"

"As a matter of fact, after my recent confinement, I could use a decent stroll through the countryside.

"There are stories of exiled werewolves, encampments." Sabine said. "If Hayley went out that far, chances are, she went to find them." I shook my head.

"No." I protested. "She wouldn't have left without telling me, without waiting for me to get home so I could go with her."

"Perhaps the two of you don't have the strong sisterhood that you'd like to believe." Klaus taunted me with a smirk, and I growled at him. "Clearly, she hopes to make the acquaintance of more like herself. I suppose our company wasn't good enough for her."

TO

Elijah parked his car to the side of the dirt road, and we got out to begin our hike through the woods where Sabine said Hayley should be. It was a little warm but not ungodly awful. The leaves and twigs cracked under our weight as we strolled off road.

"We should head south towards the water." Elijah suggested.

"You seem quite determined to find the little wolf." Klaus taunted him.

"If I'm moving too fast for you, Niklaus, you're welcome to wait in the car. Do be certain to leave the windows down."

"Ah, so I've touched a nerve." Elijah stopped walking and turned to face his little brother. I sighed loudly and irritably at the delay.

"You want to insist on treating her like a walking incubator, then that's your mistake." Klaus sniffed the air and anger clouded his face at the smell. I took a whiff and recognized it immediately and knew why Klaus was so angry at the scent. "Have you found her scent?"

"No… but I found someone else's." Klaus takes off into the woods and we had no choice but to follow him to a side road where there was a Ford Bronco sitting off to the side. Klaus yanked opened the driver's door and started rummaging through the car, throwing clothes and items out onto the ground as he sniffed each one of them. "This vehicle reeks of someone I thought I was rid of—"

"Tyler Lockwood." I breathed, closing my eyes, and sighing heavily.

"You make it sound like you've had a run in with him recently."

"I saw him outside the plantation house a while ago. I didn't think anything of it."

"And you failed to mention it to anyone."

"It's Tyler, Klaus. Not the smartest among the three of us, now is he? I thought he was just passing through."

"And why would your little hybrid sidekick from Mystic Falls have any interest in Hayley?" Elijah questioned him.

"He wants revenge because I went after his girl." Klaus explained, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Why do I suspect this is the least of your offenses?"

"Back when I had the means to sire hybrids, he was my first, although I didn't give him much choice in the matter."

"Did you give any of us a choice?" I spat at him and he glared at me before hopping into the back of Tyler's car to go through more of his belongings and then tossing it onto the dirt road.

"He was loyal in the beginning, but he grew insubordinate, turned my other hybrids against me. Exhibit A standing right next to you. I couldn't have that, so I massacred the lot of them."

"Well, you tried. You missed two." Another glare was thrown my way and I was honestly shocked that Klaus hadn't killed me yet.

"Tyler and Hayden here both ran like cowards before I could finish them off and while we're on the matter, I can still finish you off, Hayden. You're only alive because I am allowing it."

"Anything else that you would like to share?" Elijah inquired.

"Well, there was this business with his mum."

"You killed his mother. Wonderful."

"You did what?" I breathed in astonishment.

"He need to be taught a lesson." Klaus said defensively.

"And what lesson will you be taught, Niklaus, if he retaliates by harming Hayley?" Elijah questioned him.

"So, you do care about her. Well, go on, then have at it, brother. Save her. Claim what spoils you can. I've sampled what she has to offer, and, let me tell you, she is exquisite."

"Niklaus, so help me—"

"Enough. I'll kill Tyler Lockwood myself." Klaus sped off leaving Elijah and me to fend for ourselves.

TO

After spending twenty minutes around Tyler's bronco I finally caught on to Hayley's warm and sweet natural scent. Elijah and I walked through the woods, heading deeper into the bayou. We were silent for another twenty minutes when Elijah finally spoke.

"You and Hayley seem quite close." Elijah stated from behind me as I reached out to grab onto a tree trunk to steady myself as I climbed up a small mound.

"After I activated my werewolf curse, I ran away from home." I said, sniffing the air once to make sure that I was still on Hayley's trail. "I couldn't stand to look at myself. My parents couldn't stand to look at me even though they were werewolves themselves. I met Hayley in the Appalachian Mountains and we went to Mystic Falls together. I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time because Klaus turned me into a hybrid. Hayley stuck by me while she helped me break the sire bond to him. When he went on his little murder spree, I flew back to the Appalachian Mountains hoping Hayley would join me, but she traveled here to find her family. After not hearing from her I came here looking for her and when I find her, I'm going to put a leash on her." As I put my right foot down on my climb up a mound, a branch snapped under my weight and rolled under my foot, causing me to lose my balance and fall backwards. Arms wrapped around my waist and my back was meant with a solid force. Catching my breath, I turned my head to see Elijah's face next to mine. I never realized how warm and bright his eyes were until that moment. Or how his scent was intoxicating, and his touch was serene. I gripped his hand to steady myself. His calluses scraped against my own—the only reminder of the trained warrior beneath the suits and veneer. He stared deep into my eyes, grey meeting brown.

"I may care about Hayley, but it's not her that I'm trying to impress." My breath was stuck in my throat as I struggled to come up with something to say. Luckily, I didn't have to as a thumping sound came from nearby. Elijah must have heard it too as his head snapped in the direction of the noise. Elijah gently held onto me until I found my footing and quickly and quietly made my way towards the thumping heartbeat. The sound was coming from behind a tree. Hayley came around the trunk of the tree, dagger raised above her head, brown eyes wild. Elijah caught her wrist with swiftness and grace before she could stab either one of us. Elijah smiled amusingly at her. "Forgive me. Thought you were in danger. It appears I was mistaken." Hayley threw her arms around Elijah and closed her eyes, sighing in relief.

"You will not believe the crap day that I'm having." Hayley breathed taking a step back from Elijah.

"Let us take you home." Elijah turned to guide her back through the woods, but Hayley caught his arm to stop him.

"Elijah… there's something you need to know about the baby. The blood of my baby can turn werewolves into hybrids. Tyler Lockwood just tested it. Klaus must have known. That's the only explanation. He could care less about the baby. He just wants her to be born so he can use her to make more sired hybrids." Elijah was quiet as he nodded his understanding. "Although the way Dwayne was acting, it was more like he was sired to me."

"I should take you home."

"Are you serious? Home to what?"

"Look. Regardless of my brother's intentions, mine remain the same. I said that I would protect you, even, if need be, from Niklaus himself."

"I can take care of myself. I've done it for a long time." Hayley stalked off into the woods and we followed her to a clearing that had a little brown wooden shack sitting by the lagoon. A man was slouched over on the porch and I assumed it was Dwayne as Klaus walked out of the shack.

"There you are." Klaus greeted us. "I see you found our wandering stray. Perhaps she could shed some light on the situation. This…" He kicked Dwayne's corpse off the porch, and he hit the group with a hollow thud. "… would appear to be the body of a hybrid."

"His name was Dwayne."

"Well, whoever he was, I didn't sire him. Any idea how that's possible?"

"As if you didn't know." Hayley started walking towards him, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her back behind me.

"Do not provoke him." I growled in her arm as she ripped her arm from my grasp. Elijah took a couple steps forward to stand in front of me as he watched his younger brother carefully.

"Ah…" Klaus cooed. "Aren't you two fast friends? Well, come on, then. What horrible accusation have you conspired to levy against me?"

"Tyler Lockwood brought Hayley here to test a theory, that the blood of her child could be used to sire hybrids." Elijah stated. "He claims you knew that that. Furthermore, you intended to use this knowledge to build an army."

"And, of course, you assume it's true. I mean, why else would I show any interest in my own flesh and blood? A heartbroken, little crybaby points his finger at me, and my own brother falls in line, eager to believe it. How quickly you assume the worst, especially when it comes from her."

"Oh, spare me your indignation. When have you ever demonstrated any kind of concern towards Hayley or her child beyond your own selfish pursuits, and what was it you once said to me?" Elijah's dropped his voice to become raspy as he imitated Klaus. "Every king needs an heir."

"My big brother, so you doubt my intentions. Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Standing beside the noble Elijah, how can I be anything but the lesser brother—a liar, a manipulator, a bastard?" Klaus stepped off the porch in a fluid motion and walked over to Elijah. "That's all I am to you, and to Rebekah, and judging by the way Hayden and Hayley hang on your every word, it's clear they feel the same. No doubt, my child will, as well."

"Brother, if I—" Klaus interrupted Elijah by grabbing him by the shoulders causing every muscle in my body to tense up.

"We've said all that needs to be said, brother." Klaus let go of Elijah and took a step back and splayed his arms as he looked at each one of us. "I'll play the role I've been given." He vamp sped back over to Elijah and grabbed him, biting his older brother on the neck faster than any of could blink.

"Agh!" Elijah cried out in pain as Hayley and I gasped in shock.

"Klaus!" Hayley yelled at him and he let go of Elijah, letting him fall to the ground, blood dripping down his chin. "Oh…" Klaus wiped the blood from his mouth and glared at us.

"You three enjoy each other's company." Klaus sneered at us. "You'll have much to bond over once the hallucinations and dementia set in." Elijah wearily stood back up, gripping his neck where the bite was still bleeding and glared at Klaus. "Consider that bite my parting gift to you three." Klaus slowly pushed past us and walked off into the woods, disappearing. Elijah stumbled towards the shack and I caught him, bracing him against my shoulder as I guided him down the slope.

"Hayley, go back to the way we came." I ordered, panting with Elijah's weight. "About a mile north, you'll see Elijah's car. Go."

"I'm not leaving." Hayley protested at Elijah began to pant heavily.

"Hayley, once the venom settles in, he's going to become bloodthirsty. If it were an ordinary vampire, I wouldn't be worried about it, but I don't know how long I'll be able to hold off an Original vampire hyped up on werewolf venom."

"I like to think I have better control than that." Elijah breathed as I helped him up the steps.

"Yeah. Let's hear you say that when the hallucinations start."

TO

To occupy the time between now and the beginning of Elijah's dementia, Hayley and Elijah were going through the shack, looking for any hint or clues about Hayley's family. I was standing by the door with my arms crossed over my chest, keeping my ears tuned to the outside world but my eyes never leaving Elijah. One sign of hostility and I would have Hayley out of here in a heartbeat.

"You don't have to help." Hayley told Elijah. I can dig through the werewolf antique show on my own. Besides, shouldn't you put some kind of ointment or something on that?"

"The bite won't kill me." Elijah informed her. "Like Niklaus himself, it's more of a nuisance than anything, really."

"Good, because I'm eventually gonna need a ride home… and thanks, by the way, for staying out here. You didn't have to."

"I know, but you said the people of this village are all of the family you have left. I can relate." Elijah's shoulders were tense as he dropped his head back down to the workbench in front of him.

"You're thinking about Klaus." I said softly to him.

"Perhaps I was too willing to condemn him. In the one thousand years that we have been together, my brother has committed numerous unspeakable acts, but then again, so has Rebekah. So have I."

"So have I."

"So did I the last time I was in Cabo." Hayley muttered. "We all do awful things. It's just, most people die before the list gets embarrassing, but don't for a second compare yourself to Klaus." Elijah gave her a grateful smile. "Heh. It's like a freaking hotbox in here. I'm gonna get some air."

"I'm going to go hunt something. I'd like to be at full strength if Elijah decides to lose it. Do you think you can keep it together for ten minutes?"

"I'll be fine. Hayley is in no danger."

"Mm-hmm." I turned to Hayley. "If something goes wrong—run, scream, yell, shout. I'll be here faster than you can blink." She nodded and I followed her outside with Elijah behind us. Before I could walk off the porch there was a brown, old worn-down book on the porch that wasn't there when we had arrived. Hayley bent down and picked up the book. "Someone left this here." I looked around at the trees for any signs of intruders as Hayley flipped through the book. Nothing. "What is it?"

"A bible with a family tree that goes back generations."

"What are these names?" Elijah asked her, looking over the list. "Who is Andrea?" On the last page, the very last name was Andrea Labonair, 6 June 1991.

"I think I am. That's the day that I was born."