"The Italians call them Strega." Elijah informed us as we stood in the study, surrounding the abstract of Celeste on the floor. "The Yoruba of West Africa call them Aje, meaning mother. Where my mother was from, they called them Hexa, and here we call them witch. Over the centuries, vampires have fought them and fought beside them, bedded them, and burned them. Whether adversary or ally, they have been a force to be reckoned with. Their ancestral magic anchors this city." He stood there standing over the arranged artwork of Celeste with his arms crossed over his chest. "There's never been one all-powerful witch until Davina." Hayley sat in a chair and I stood next to her, watching Elijah nervously. Ever since we found out that the drawings that Davina had been sketching for months were of Celeste, my heart has been pounding in my chest and my vocal cords aching to tell Elijah the truth but the tightness in my chest kept me silent.
"Who is now tucked in safe and sound down the hall under my protection." Klaus informed us walking into the study. "Your Celeste was quite charming and a portent of evil according to our volatile artist in residence."
"Yes. Perhaps Davina's mistaken. What she calls evils for power. Celeste was certainly very powerful in her day, but she's been dead for over two hundred years. I don't understand why all these sketches now." I arched my eyebrows and rubbed my forehead with my hand as a I let out a loose breath of air.
"Why does any witch do anything?" Elijah and Klaus both took a seat in chairs as a crashing noise sounded from down the hall, coming from Davina's room and we all looked concerned in that direction. "Well, that's going well."
"If you were trying to win the girl's trust, perhaps poisoning her one true love was not the most splendid idea."
"Oh. Are they any more inopportune deaths you'd like to wave in my face?"
"Give me a month. I'll get you a list."
"Heh. Heh." Klaus laughed but it was short lived as another crashing noise came from Davina's room and Klaus abruptly stood up. "Young, old, dead, or alive, witches are a pain in the ass." Klaus left the room to go check on Davina. I blocked out the racket coming from the other room as I focused on Elijah. I had to tell him. I had to let him know that Celeste's grave had been disturbed. It was the right thing to do. Elijah looked over the artwork in front of him as I tried to come up with the courage to tell him the truth.
"Elijah?" I called out softly to him.
"Hmm?" He hummed his acknowledgement, not tearing his eyes away from the drawings.
"There's something you need to know." Elijah finally looked up from the artwork and looked over at me and the warmth and serenity in his eyes broke my heart. Before I could say anything else, the compound began to shake and rumble. I quickly stood up with Hayley and pressed my body close to hers as I guided her away from the bookshelves where books were being knocked to the floor. We rushed out of the room to the inner courtyard and looked over the railing. Marcel and Klaus ran out of Davina's room on the other side of the courtyard. Vampires were scurrying for cover below us as Rebekah walked to the center of the yard and she looked up at us.
"What the hell is going on?" Rebekah demanded.
"Davina." Klaus breathed, gripping the railing tightly.
TO
I stood at the end of the hallway from where Klaus, Marcel and Elijah were talking amongst each other about how to handle Davina who was slowly losing control over her magic and was going to take down the entire city of New Orleans with her. Elijah was planning on going to talk to Sophie about it. I nervously bounced on the balls of my feet as adrenaline raced through my veins and my heart was in my throat, tapping my fingers against each other. I was jittery and couldn't remain still.
"You don't have to do this, Hayden." Hayley whispered beside me.
"I have to tell him. I must. It's the right thing to do. I have done everything you ever ask me to do. Do not argue with me on this one. This is the right thing to do. He needs to know. It's the right thing to do. I don't want to keep this a secret from him. I can't lie to him." Marcel, Klaus, and Elijah parted ways and Elijah walked down the hallway to Hayley and me and stopped in front of us. "You're going to see Sophie."
"You don't have to eavesdrop." Elijah informed me gently. "I keep nothing from you." He turned and began to walk down the hallway and I gave Hayley a pained look before following Elijah, leaving Hayley behind.
"Yeah. Well, I don't want to keep anything from you either, or if you're going out to see Sophie, then there's something that you should know." Elijah stopped and turned back to me; his eyes filled with curiosity. "She called Hayley and asked her for a favor, and I couldn't allow Hayley to get caught up with the witches again, so I helped her." I walked past Elijah and rounded the corner of the wrapped around balcony and he slowly followed me. "She promised Hayley that she would help break the curse that Marcel put on the wolves." The more nervous I got, the faster I began to speak. "In exchange for some information, and I didn't think anything of it, but then Davina started doing those pictures of Celeste—" My heart pounded faster as Elijah interrupted me and I turned to him.
"Whatever this is, you have to tell me." I closed the space between us with a tight chest and looked down as I spoke, unable to make eye contact with him.
"Sophie wanted to find Celeste's remains, so I…" I lifted my eyes to see his eyebrows raised and a pained and uneasy look was in his eyes that was enough to break my heart. "… went through your journals, and I found out where you buried her, and then I told her." Elijah was speechless as he looked out into the courtyard unable to look at me. "I know it was stupid and it was snoopy." Elijah's mouth closed and the muscles feathered in his clenched jaw. "And I—I should have just asked you." Elijah finally looked back at me but still not speaking. "Please say something. Please." He looked away again and raised his eyebrows as he shook his head. He let out a disbelieving scoff, sucking in his bottom lip before looking back at me.
"She wanted to be left in peace. When a witch's remains are consecrated, that power fuels the rest of their community. Celeste did not want her remains to be found. She made me promise to bury her where she would not be found." Coldness clouded his face with hurt and betrayal in his eyes. "You not only violated my privacy; you have broken my promise to her."
"I thought they were just bones, Elijah."
"If you truly believed that, why didn't you ask me where to find her?" Adrenaline coursed through my veins and my defense mechanism took over as I shifted into my wolf worm. I hunched down in submission, ear drooping and eyes cast down the floor in front of me. Elijah said nothing else as he walked away from me.
TO
I stood in the doorway of the study after Elijah had brought Sophie back to the compound for her to look at the formation of Celeste. Elijah was sitting at the desk with Klaus at the bar and Rebekah on the couch. Sophie looked over the sketches.
"So, you have stolen the remains of the very person that Davina's been drawing for months." Elijah's voice was cold and distant, hatred and laced with a quiet thunder as the rein on his temper was threatening to snap. "Would you care to explain this startling coincidence?"
"I can't." Sophie said, not taking her eyes off the drawings. "I didn't even know who Celeste Dubois was until I—" Sophie was interrupted as Davina let out a guttural scream from her room and the compound shook as if an earthquake was going through it. Elijah, Klaus, Rebekah, and I continued to stay in our place with an adamant expression on my face as Sophie looked around worriedly. Glass fell off the shelves and shattered into a million pieces on the wood floor. As the quaking subsided, Sophie looked at us. "Was that Davina?"
"Charming little habit she's developed." Klaus muttered sipping his drink.
"And the earthquake I felt today?"
"Also, Davina, and she's taken to vomiting dirt." Rebekah clarified and horror clouded Sophie's face.
"Oh. We have a huge problem. I thought that we had more time, but we need to complete the harvest now."
"Said the desperate witch conveniently." Klaus sneered from the bar.
"I'm serious. That earthquake you just felt—a preview of the disaster movie that is about to hit us."
"Why should we believe you?" Elijah questioned her.
"You've met Davina, you know her story, for months now she's been holding all the power of the three girls sacrificed in the harvest ritual, a force that was meant to flow through her and back into the earth. One person was never meant to hold that much power. It's tearing her apart, and it will take us down with it." We exchanged glances with each other as we tried to decide what to do next.
TO
I leaned against one of the pillars in the courtyard with my arms crossed over my chest as I observed the scattered furniture from the windstorm caused by Davina. First was Earth which resulted in several earthquakes. Next was wind. Severe windstorms as if a hurricane were blowing in our direction. Next would be water, ending with fire. Klaus and Elijah walked through the courtyard setting the chairs and tables upright.
"We sedated her too heavily." Elijah protested with Klaus.
"Well, if this is her sedated, I'd hate to see her otherwise." Klaus said. "We all agreed that Davina must be sacrificed. There's no need to let her blow the roof off our heads in the meantime."
"No way!" Marcel yelled from above us. "You're not touching her!" Marcel jumped from the second floor and landed in front of Klaus. Without missing a beat, his fist slammed into Klaus' jaw causing him to stumble back. Marcel tried to charge at Klaus again, but Elijah held him back with a hand on his chest.
"Ok. I'll let you have that one."
"Marcel, no one wishes to see Davina come to harm less than I, but there is no scenario in which we simply wait this out." Elijah tried to explain to him calmly. "She's going to die."
"According to Sophie, the witch who screwed over everybody here." Marcel snapped.
"The harvest was working before it was stopped. If a nonbeliever like Sophie Deveraux can come to have faith that these girls will be resurrected, then, I, also, am a believer." Marcel pushed past Elijah to stand in front of Klaus who gave him a challenging look.
"I saved Davina from the harvest, and now you want me to just hand her over?"
"Do you think that I'm happy about this?" Klaus questioned him. "If the witches complete the harvest, not only do they regain their power we lose our weapon against them. The earthquake I was willing to chalk up to hideous coincidence, but these winds? If Davina is not sacrificed, then every inch of earth shook, everything blowing about now will soon be drenched and consumed by fire." It was hard to stand there and listen to them talk about killing a sixteen-year-old girl. My heart clenched at the idea and I felt hollow, but it was the way of the witches and for the greater good. Besides, the witches said that once the harvest ritual was completed then all four harvest girls would be resurrected. Marcel threw his hands up in the air and scoffed.
"Oh! Now you care about the city."
"We ought to." Elijah challenged the younger vampire. "We built it."
"And we all saw it burnt to the ground twice." Klaus reminded him. "I will not let that happen again. Do I make myself clear?" Marcel scoffed again before waving a dismissal hand at Klaus and turned to leave the compound.
"Not a people person are you, Niklaus?"
"Nonsense. I love people. Just on my way to warn a couple of prominent ones in case the weather gets out of hand. If you fancy yourself as plus diplomatique, perhaps you'd like to come along."
"No. Soon Sophie Deveraux shall be consecrating Celeste's remains, and though her actions are reprehensible, still I should pay my respects." Elijah and Klaus began to walk across the courtyard to the exit. I had to catch him before he left. Try to see if there was anything I could do to make this up to him. With a pounding heart, I ran up to Elijah.
"Hey." I nervously greeted him. "Do you need—" Without even looking at me, he held up a hand to silence me without missing a step.
"On my way out." I fiddled with my fingers and watched him with sad eyes as Klaus turned to walk backwards, still following Elijah, staring at me in confusion before pivoting back around and leaving the compound.
"Which one of us is the people person again?" Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Hayley walking up to me as I continued to stare at the now empty corridor.
"Still furious?" Hayley inquired.
"Yeah, Hayley, he's still indignant." I muttered at her as I turned to walk away. I didn't want to talk to her. She was the whole reason that I was in this mess. If she had just listened to me in the first place.
"Oh, what? So now you're going to take your anger out on me? You have no right to be sharp with me." I spun around, my hair flying as I stormed back over to Hayley and growled in her face, every nerve in my body on fire. She didn't flinch.
"I have every right to be angry with you, Hayley Marshall. I have done everything you have ever asked me to do. I know I owe you for helping me break my sire bond with Klaus, but I have been there for you. I have been by your side. I have followed you. I have been loyal to you." I paused and inhaled deeply, collecting myself. "I know you want your family, Hayley. I know you want to help them, but you can't just disregard me like I'm nothing. I have been your friend. I have been your sister, your guardian. I have been your family. I'm your family and the one time, the one time, I asked you to find another way, you ignore me like I was nothing. So, yes, Hayley, I have every right to be angry with you." Without waiting for a response from her, I pivoted on my heel and stormed out of the courtyard.
TO
I was numb and lost as I gathered up some canned food and stacked them in boxes. I felt foreign in my own body, my skin crawling and irritating me. My eyes burned with regret and guilt. Elijah was a man of honor, nobility and I betrayed him like he was nothing more than chattel. What kind of person did that make me? It left me empty and useless on the inside. I continued to gather up the canned food Hayley told me to get to take out to the bayou to the wolves. I didn't realize that I was crying until I felt Klaus' presence behind, and I suddenly became aware of the cool chill against my cheeks.
"What are you doing?" Klaus questioned me.
"I was gonna take these to the—" My voice was brittle as I spoke ready to crack as Klaus interrupted me.
"If you say, bayou, I will find a nice comfy dungeon and throw you in it." I wiped the tears furiously from my eyes. "This is not the night to be out there." The wind howled through the open floor plan and whistled in my ears. "For anyone."
"But some people don't have a choice so I'm going to take this food out to the bayou for the wolves unless you rather Hayley to do it herself." Growling under his breath, Klaus picked up the two boxes that I was stocking up and glared at me.
"Grab that lot and come with me." I followed him to the St. Anne's church as thunder crashed overhead and lightning lit up the night sky, revealing the storm that was headed our direction. We walked in to see Father Kieran scurrying around from person to person, helping them and aiding them in any way that he could as they sat around the church huddled together and eating whatever was provided to them. As soon as Kieran saw us, he parted ways with a man and made his way over to us.
"We still haven't gone through all that you've already provided, Klaus." Kieran said as he took the boxes from Klaus and handed them off to one of the volunteers before taking the boxes from me and setting them down. I looked at Klaus in confusion. Klaus Mikaelson had been donating food to the church? For whatever reason?
"Well, this newest bit isn't from me."
"Oh?" Kieran looked me over and held out his hand. I reluctantly took and gave it two firm shakes. "That's very kind of you…"
"Hayden." I answered. "And these people are?"
I asked Father Kieran to give them shelter." Klaus explained. "He suffers from an incessant desire to do good, but now I need you to be useful. Marcel and Davina have disappeared." Kieran looked shocked. "I assume from the stupefied look on your face they haven't sought refuge in your attic."
"No." Kieran answered. "Those days are gone."
"Then energize your resources. I don't need to remind you how important it is they be found."
"Yes." Without another word, Kieran turned and returned to tending to the people of the church. I looked to Klaus once more, waiting for a further explanation on the situation here. There was something more to this story. There was no way Klaus was willing to help these people out of the kindness of his heart. The lights flickered as thunder echoed against the stained glass.
"These people, they're werewolves, and the priest, he said that you've donated the food." I observed. "You're helping them?"
"They're not Hayley's werewolves." Klaus explained quietly. "They're my clan from very far back. They've fallen upon hard times, and their plight has brought out the philanthropist in me. What can I say? Must be Elijah's influence." Thunder clashed outside once more as Klaus began to walk out of the church, but I called out to him and he turned to face me.
"What do you mean your clan?"
"The blood that runs in their veins runs in mine… and in my child's."
"This family gets more complicated by the second." Klaus closed the space between us and looked down at me.
"Listen, Hayden. Word of advice when dealing with Elijah. Don't do as I do. Just apologize. He's accomplished in many things, but he is a master of forgiveness."
TO
We had made our way out to the plantation where Esther Mikaelson's remains were going to be consecrated in order for Sophie to absorb her power and become an elder to complete the harvest ritual. Consecrating Celeste's remains didn't work. Apparently, the power that once laid within her bones had already been taken which of course baffled Elijah who was still not speaking to me. Elijah being Elijah of course had a plan B. They were going to consecrate their mother's remains on the property. Her power would be passed from mother to children and then to Sophie to perform the harvest ritual. Rebekah had found Marcel and Davina at the docks. Elijah still wouldn't look at me. It was pouring rain. The waterdrops were so thick and cluttered together I could barely see Father Kieran standing ten feet in front of me. Rebekah and Klaus shared an umbrella while Hayley and Elijah were under another umbrella. I was off to the side, keeping close to Hayley with no protection from mother nature. My blonde hair clung to my skin making me feel foreign in my own body and my wet clothes suffocated the air out of my lungs. I tried to pay attention to what Father Kieran was saying but my mind kept replaying what Klaus had told me. I had to apologize to Elijah. I knew I did. I was in the wrong and he had every right to be angry with me, but my pride was making it near impossible to say I'm sorry. Father Kieran was saying a prayer over the unburied coffin in the ground.
"Did you find them?" I heard Klaus ask Rebekah over the roaring of the rain. She nodded. "Will he bring her?"
"He'll bring her." Rebekah said so quietly, my hybrid could barely pick up her voice over the roaring rain. Father Kieran stopped praying and looked up from the coffin at the Originals.
"Are you ready to do this?" He shouted over the howling wind and Klaus pulled out a knife and looked at his little sister.
"Always and forever." He reminded her before cutting into his palm with the knife, blood pooling into his cupped palm. He handed the knife off to Rebekah who mimicked his actions before turning and giving the knife to Elijah. He cut his palm and the smell of his blood rose above all the other scents. I could smell it clearly through the rain. It was intoxicating. He handed the knife to Hayley and she sliced her palm. I grimaced at the smell of her blood. Not because it smelled disgusting but because it smelled sweet and it made me crave blood. Hayley handed the knife off the Kieran who took and after muttering a prayer over, tossed the blade into the grave.
"It is done."
TO
We stood in the cemetery with the three dead harvest girls laying on a slab in front of us. Sophie was standing off to the side with her hands clasped in front her. Klaus, Rebekah, Hayley, and I were at the bottom of the slab while Elijah was standing on top of a small crypt, peering down at the site. We were waiting for Marcel to come with Davina in silence. Hours seemed to have pass and I was beginning to think that Marcel wasn't going to show with Davina. My chest was tight with anxiety at that the thought that a sixteen-year-old girl had to die. Being resurrected or not, it seemed wrong, but it was something that had to be done for the greater good. It was something that I kept telling myself every time that I started to feel bad. Fire appeared behind one of the crypts in front of us and illuminated the stone walls the stone walls that rose above us. It crept closer and closer to us, threatening to consume and destroy everything in its path. Marcel came around the corner with Davina in his arms, the fire following the path that he walked. He set her gently down the slab with the other harvest girls as Sophie heated the blade of a dagger in a fire before climbing onto the stone, facing Davina.
"Do you believe in the harvest?" Sophie asked Davina over the crackling of the fire, the howling wind, and the roaring rain.
"I believe." Davina said quietly and reluctantly. Sophie held the blade up to Davina's throat and before she could ever allow herself to think about slitting her own niece's throat, the blade smoothly and quickly over Davina's jugular, blood dripping down to the hollow of her chest. Hayley let out a gasp and looked away. I choked on my own breath as I closed my eyes, my chest tightening and my heart clenching. Rebekah closed her eyes as well, unable to look. I opened my eyes to see Davina began to fall to the ground, but Marcel was right there to catch her and gently laid her down on the slab among the three other teenagers. The fire died away as the rain came to a halt. The wind stopped howling as Davina's arm began to glow a bright, ember color as the power traveled from her arm and down to her hand before fading out as the power she once had was released back into the earth. We waited in silence for Sophie to finish the ritual.
"After the harvest comes the reaping. Their sacrifices made and accepted, we call upon our elders to resurrect your chosen ones." The little fire next to Sophie danced in the silence as we watched the bodies, waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Nothing happened for several minutes and Marcel's head snapped so fast in Sophie's direction, I thought the motion would have given him whip lash. He glared at her as she began to look worry. "We call upon our elders to resurrect your chosen ones." Nothing happened. Sophie was worried and confused as my gut dropped to the ground and my blood iced over. "Resurrect your chosen ones." Sophie's voice broke as she pleaded to her ancestors. "Please. I beg." Still nothing happened and the witch fell to the ground, sobbing over her niece's body. Furious and hurting, Marcel sped off into the night leaving the rest of us frozen in our spots, horrified that now four sixteen-year-old girls were dead.
TO
My footsteps were silent against the cobblestone as I headed down the road that would take me out of New Orleans and into the bayou. The street was empty. I had to go for a run. I had to get out of the city and back into the wilderness to clear my mind. My hands were stuffed into my pockets and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elijah emerge from the shadows and walk silently over to me, matching his stride to my gait. He had his hands in his pockets as well and stared directly in front of him, not saying a word.
"Are you ready to forgive me yet?" I asked quietly.
"It's not that easy, Hayden." He whispered.
"Elijah, I was wrong to go through your journals, I was wrong to tell Sophie about Celeste, but after everything that happened today, I don't know why we can't see past this."
"And you of all people should know why. During my fever in the bayou, you were inside my mind. You know what Celeste means to me."
"Don't you mean meant to you?" Elijah turned and stopped in front of me, facing me and finally, finally, looking at me.
"No. Do you have any idea how rare love is? In a thousand years, I have found it but twice, and when I have, I have honored it."
"I know what a promise means to you, Elijah, but you made it two hundred years ago. I may still be new to this whole being immortal thing, but I still live in the now. If I feel something, I act. If I want something, I take it. I won't choose the dead over the living, so why are you?" Elijah didn't respond. I looked away from him my heart breaking as I tried to come up with something to say. I glanced back at him. "I'm sorry, Elijah." When I thought that he wasn't going to say anything else, I made a move to walk past him, but he grabbed my and snapped my back around to face him. His face was just inches away from mine and my gaze betrayed me as I looked down at his full lips, anxiety and lust bubbling up inside me. I wanted to kiss those lips so bad. I wanted to know how it felt to be wanted. To be safe and secure. I looked up into his brown eyes as he brought his left hand to cup my cheek and my eyes fluttered as I reveled in the warmth that came off his palm. He leaned in so close our lips brushed against each other's. Heat pooled in my core as my breath hitched in my throat but before he could go in for the kill, he pulled back at the last second and looked down at his feet, letting go of my arm. I stumbled back a step, lightheaded from the adrenaline rush that quickly subsided, his hand sliding off my face. I was disorientated by a head rush. I looked him over before turning and phasing, running the rest the rest of the way out of New Orleans.
