I woke up in my bed at the compound to drilling noises coming from the courtyard. I groaned as the noise pounded against my overly sensitive hearing. It always took me a minute to wake up and tune down my hearing and drown out unnecessarily sounds. I didn't get much sleep last night to begin with. Hayley had moved out to the bayou to be with her pack. I was stuck here in the city being a voice for the wolves and the emissary to the factions. Groaning as I pushed the covers off me, I walked out of my room and to the stairs that led down into the courtyard. Elijah was standing off to the side with his hands on his hips watching four construction workers drill into the concrete. Elijah was wearing loose casual clothing, so different from his usual business attire. He had a long sleeve brown shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows and dark jeans.

"Enough with all the racket!" Klaus growled from the second floor on the other side of the courtyard. Elijah looked up at him.

"Is there a problem, brother?" Elijah asked him nonchalantly.

"Seriously, Elijah, I know that I'm still new here, but I would very much like to get some sleep." Elijah looked over his shoulder at me.

"Please forgive me, Hayden. Gentlemen, please." The worker dropped their tools and left without saying a word, obviously compelled.

"I agreed to a general sprucing up, not a bloody three ring circus." Klaus said as he began to make his way down the stairs with the witch Genevieve behind him. The two of them had been getting close to each other and honestly it made me sick to my stomach.

"Marcel and his minions abused our home for the better part of a century now, you might be content to live in squalor I'm not." I walked down the steps and out into the courtyard barefoot and in my yoga pants and tank top.

"I agree with your brother." Genevieve said. "It's a new era in the French quarter. This place could use a makeover."

"Careful, Elijah." Klaus smirked as he walked past Elijah. "When this one agrees with you, it's a sure sign she wants something."

"Actually… I do have a request. I'm told our coven hasn't been able to celebrate feast days in the open since Marcel restricted the use of magic. Now with the new peace, I'd like that to change." I walked over to Elijah, crossing my arms over my chest as I listened carefully to what the witch was saying.

"Am I to assume that you have a certain feast day in mind?"

"The Fete Des Benedictions." Elijah smiled widely and looked over Genevieve's shoulder at Klaus who was chuckling amusingly. I looked between the two brothers in confusion. I wasn't familiar with witches' holidays, but the brothers obviously knew what this particular holiday was.

"Feast of the Blessings." Elijah translated gently for me and I raised my chin in acknowledgment but still confused on why the Originals found this feast day amusing.

"In the past, members of the community offered witches gifts in exchange for blessings. We'd like to use it as a forum for introducing our young harvest girls to society." Elijah crossed his arms over his chest, the sleeves of his shirt tightening around his biceps.

"So, your coven attempted to destroy my family and you yourself held my siblings in unspeakable torment and you would like a party for the witches." Klaus let out an amused chuckle.

"I made my amends with your brother. Why don't you think it over?" Genevieve turned and left the compound, leaving Elijah to ponder the request.

"Let them have the party." I told Elijah and he gazed at me. "It'll be an honor for the harvest girls to know that the coven is grateful for their sacrifice and besides the tourists love a good festival. It's a win all around. Keep the vampires fed. Keep the witches happy and keep money in the humans' pockets." He let out a thoughtful hum.

"Oh, don't be a stiff, Elijah." Klaus said. "What better way to cement the solidarity than a show of faith toward a onetime enemy?"

"A onetime enemy with whom you've grown rather nauseatingly intimate." Elijah retorted.

"Eck." I grunted, shivering in disgust at the thought.

"Who said maintain alliances can't be fun?"

"One would think you'd be a little more interesting in attending to the needs of the mother of your child."

"So, she's the reason behind this oh-so-thoughtful renovation. Elijah, the truth is the mother of my child is werewolf royalty. She's safer in the bayou with her pack than she would ever be here with us. Don't worry. I'll bring her home before the birth." He began to walk out but slightly turned his head to call back at us over his shoulder, "No child of mine will be born in a swamp."

TO

"You want us to go to a witch event on bended knee and give them a gift?" Diego demanded as Elijah and I stood in front of him and the entire vampire community. Elijah continued to stand there in silence with his hands in his pockets, face adamant and unamused at Diego's protest. Elijah gave him a look that said obviously and that they really didn't have a choice in the matter. He was wearing a navy-blue zip up jacket. The wind blew through my unbounded hair. "I'm sorry, but I just remembered. We're busy doing just about anything else that night."

"Diego, this isn't a request." Elijah purred. "Your name is on that treaty. Now, if you have any difficulty whatsoever with your newfound position, I'd be more than willing to remove you." I let out a nervous chuckle and placed a gentle hand on Elijah's arm.

"Ok, not the best way to handle this." I laughed nervously looking at Elijah before focusing on Diego. "Diego, going to the festival will signify that you want peace, not more war. Not going will only indicate to the witches that you have no interest in establishing that peace which is going to cause problems for your faction and causing problems for your faction means that it's going to cause problems for Elijah and then I'm going to get dragged into it and as much as I love a bloodbath as much as the next vampire that goes against the treaty and my newfound position of emissary for the factions so…"

"I never thought I'd see the day vampire bowing down to witches." Diego scoffed.

"You're not bowing down. You're merely just standing beside them, not with them, not against them, just on the same level as they are. Okay?" Diego scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Great. We'll see you there and roll your eyes at me again, Diego, and the last thing you'll be seeing is the back of your brain when I shoved them through your eye sockets. Great. Toodle loos."

TO

Our next stop was the bayou to try to convince Hayley and Jackson to bring the pack. Of course, Hayley was defiant and refused, which in my defense, I did warn Elijah that she wasn't going to agree to it after everything the witches had done to her and the pack.

"Your people are uniquely poised to set an example for the rest of the French Quarter." I tried to explain.

"Which is why it's important for the wolves to attend." Elijah concluded, shifting his body weight to his left hip. Hayley looked at Jackson and Oliver as if they to, can you believe these two idiots? She looked back at us with her brows raised.

"Thanks, but no thanks?" Hayley declined as I knew she would.

"Hayley…" I began to speak.

"Let's hear them out." Oliver suggested and I eyed him suspiciously. Elijah shared my suspicious look. Oliver was a rebel. Stubborn, defiant, prideful, and insubordinate. He would never agree to anything without a fight. Which threw me off that it was him that was trying to convince Hayley to hear us out.

"The witches are the ones that cursed your pack." Hayley reminded them. "And they've been nothing but crap to me since I first came to town. No."

"This is a new start, Hayley, a new treaty of peace." I tried explaining to her. "Not a treaty of the past. I understand that they have wronged you. They've wrong all of you, but we can't move on and build a new French Quarter if y'all are wanting to remain separate from each other."

"We're not going, Hayden." I raised my eyebrows and scratched my temple, my eyes wide as I tried to keep my temper in check.

"Woman, you're killing me."

"It's a new day in the quarter, Hayley." Jackson said gently and I splayed my hand in his direction.

"Thank you, Jackson. Glad someone's in my corner."

"I agree with Oliver. If we're gonna coexist, we have to play ball. We'll send a representative with a gift." I bowed my head to Jackson in respect, pressing my hand to my chest gratitude.

"Thank you, Jackson." I shot Hayley a glare before smiling at Jackson. "You just made my job a whole lot easier." Hayley glared at Elijah and me before stalking off into the woods. We vamped after her and stopped in front of her. "How well do you know Oliver?" Hayley continued to glare at me. "I'm being serious, Hayley. What does your gut say about Oliver?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know." She answered honestly with a bitter sigh. "He pisses me off any chance that he gets. He's defiant and reckless but he seems alright. Why?"

"Because that was too easy." Elijah told her. "Don't trust them. Don't trust any of them." He sped off into the woods and I took a step to follow him but turned back to Hayley.

"Just be careful." I warned her. "And keep your eyes and ears open." I took a few more steps into the woods but turned back around. "Did you get bigger? I mean, last time I saw you, you were like a volleyball. Now you're like a basketball, border lining beach ball." Hayley quickly picked up a stick and threw it at me. I laughed as I shot up an arm to deflect it. "Kidding. Kidding. I'm just kidding, Hayley." She had a smile playing across her lips. "I'll come back out and see you as soon as I can." I sped off after Elijah.

TO

I walked through the gate of the venue, wiping the corner of my mouth with my finger for a stray drop of blood after just feeding on a tourist. I sucked the drop of blood off my finger as I walked through the gates. My gossamer gown for the evening was a shade of blood red. I made eye contact with Elijah who was greeting the guests as they walked in. He spotted me and I stopped in front of him smiling brightly at him.

"You're late." He grumbled, unamused.

"I'm here, aren't I?" I told him sweetly.

"I see you had a snack." I gave him a saccharine smile.

"Like I said. It's a win win. Everyone's happy." I walked up him and straighten his tie, looking him in the eye. "I'll see you inside." I walked past him, gown swishing around my legs as I walked down the steps. I spotted Hayley and made my way over to her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm the representative for the werewolves." She told me bitterly. "Get over it." I growled at her but kept silent as I looked her over. She was wearing a tight black dress with laced shoulders. Her thick brown border lining black hair was combed to one side of her head. The three harvest were led up onto a dais like queen. Representing autumn, Monique's attire was made up of shades of gold and brown, an earthy atmosphere to her. Destiny was representing winter with her pure white gown that would make any bodies of water jealous. Davina stood for summer which suit her perfectly. She stood for fire with her blood orange gown. Genevieve clinked her glass by the stage to get everyone's attention.

"Welcome." She called out with a serpentine smile. "As is our time-honored tradition, you are all welcome to deliver your offerings. It is our custom that no one should be turned away, no blessing be denied." Hayley was the first one to step up to deliver her offering. She tried to set her gift down at Davina's feet, but the usher directed her down to Monique. As the night carried on, Destiny and Monique were the only ones to receive gifts. Davina sat there uncomfortable in her throne, a queen with no respect from her coven. She got up and left her throne, disappearing into the crowd. Elijah came up to my side and handed me a glass of champagne.

"You look absolutely stunning." He told me and my cheeks tingled as I blushed.

"Well, someone keeps leaving these pretty little gowns in my armoire so I thought it was only polite that they be worn." He let out a soft chuckle that warmed me on the inside and I couldn't help but smile a little.

"How considerate of you." Before I could take a sip of champagne, I heard Davina's voice by the stairs.

"Josh." She called out and I turned to see Klaus dragging Josh by the neck to the stairs and let's go of him to climb a few steps to overlook the crowd.

"And what the hell is he doing?" I grumbled as the crowd stopped chattering and turned to look at the Original hybrid.

"I think we're about to find out." Elijah said as I glanced around for Hayley to keep one eye on her and the other on Klaus.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please." Klaus called out and the room grew quiet. "We are gathered here today to pay homage to our beloved witches, but one very special witch has been utterly ignored. That seems a little unfair to me." He pulled a small purple box from his pocket and held it out to Davina. She refused it.

"No." The little witch spat at him. "I don't want your gift."

"I understand why you would reject me, given our past." He put the present back into his pocket. "In truth, many of us here today have been wrong in the conflict which my brother's treaty ended. Your friend Josh was involved in a plot to kill me. It would be well within my right to execute him here and now." The hair on my arms began to bristle as I tensed up, ready to shift.

"He's going to start a bloodbath." I breathed and without looking at me, Elijah placed a gentle hand on my arm to calm me down.

"Just hear him out." Elijah told me gently.

"But in the spirit of solidarity, and for your favor, Davina, I hereby pardon him." Klaus continued. "Josh… from this day forward, you have nothing to fear from me." He tried to give the little purple present to Davina again who reluctantly took it. The party buzzed to life once more as I watched Klaus for a moment longer before turning to survey the guests and to make sure the fractions were playing nice with each other. I hadn't even done a full sweep of the room when drums began playing in a tribal rhythmic pulse as eight African American men in pure white suits started coming down the stairs, beating on their drums in two single file lines. Elijah watched them closely as I bristled and Hayley walked over to us, looking at them questioningly. As the men climbed off the stairs and stared out into the crowd, they stopped beating on their drums.

"Happy Fete Des Benedictions." One of the men called out. "We have a message for all of you from Marcel Gerard."

"Oh, no." I breathed, holding my arm out in front of Hayley, and guiding her to stand behind me. "This can't be good." The crowd began to murmur as all eight men pulled out switch blades and flicked them open in unison. Each one of them held them up in the air before slicing their wrists as one. The amount of blood that poured from them hit me like a brick wall. My blood ran colder than freezing rain as I felt that panic inside me grow as the monster inside begged to be let free. The blood smelled so good and my mouth watered as my fangs elongated. I panted slightly but I was still as a statue. All the vampires around me flashed their fangs as well, their monstrous sides taking over from the smell. Elijah looked from Hayden to the men to Hayley as I remained perfectly still, trying to wait it out, trying to control herself.

"Don't touch her." Elijah told Hayley before looking at me. "Hayden, control yourself." Elijah turned to walk up to the drummers who were still bleeding on the floor. Elijah turned to face the bloodthirsty vampires. "Control yourselves."

"Hayden, pull yourself together." Hayley whispered behind me. "You are the emissary. You need to be an example. I can't imagine how difficult it is, but you can do it. Just breathe." I inhaled deeply and the saccharine scent of the blood was intoxicating. I hissed, my eyes glowing yellow and the veins popping under my eyes as I flashed my fangs.

"This is a vulgar trick. We do not violate our agreement." As he finished speaking, the lights in the building turns off, cloaking us in darkness. And that darkness… that darkness became my friend as it snapped the leash that I kept on myself. The shouting became distant, part of another world, as I lunged forward like an arrow being fired from a bow. It was like a leash had just snapped off an attack dog. I grabbed one the men and coiled me body around him like a snake and sank my fangs into my victim, closing my eyes at the sweet, sweet taste. Their blood tasted sweeter, smelled finer than anything that my senses could remember. I had the man drained in seconds but there was still a hunger in my belly that I could not satisfy so becoming a creature of the night, I lunged for my next victim. And a next and a next until the lights came back around and I stood in the middle of a massacre. I panted heavily as I looked around and as the monster side of myself began to settle back down in its cage, panic and guilt began to rise and take its place. All the drummers were dead as well as a few humans and witches. Humans… witches… they were innocent, and I killed them. Across the room Hayley was on the ground with a cut on her forehead, looking around disoriented.

"Elijah?"

"Hayley." Elijah walked over to her side and gently helped her to her feet. "It's alright." Behind them was a message on the stone wall written in blood.

There will be no peace. I slowly looked back down at the carnage around me and covered my mouth with my hand in shock, my heart in my throat as I realized what I had just done. My dress was a mess and I had blood dripping down my chin as my hands shook with panic. I choked on my breath as I looked at Hayley and her injured forehead again.

"Oh, my God, Hayley." I choked. "I'm so sorry." Hayley slowly stepped over the bodies to get me.

"It's okay." She said gently, soothing a rabid animal. "I'm fine. It's fine." She reached for my shaking hands, but I yanked them out of her reached and stumbled back in my heels, the panic inside me growing.

"No. It's not fine, Hayley. I'm supposed to protect you and I let my own selfish needs put you in danger and you got hurt. I am supposed to be the emissary to the factions and I just murdered these people." My left hand pressed against my forehead as I became lightheaded with guilt and my right hand clutched my chest as it began to get harder to breath, the regret swallowing me whole from the inside out. "Oh, my God. I murdered them. I killed them. Oh, my God. I haven't killed a human since—" I was struggling to breath as it felt like the room was getting smaller and closing in around me.

"Niklaus, would you please?" I heard Elijah purr and Klaus walked over to Hayley to guide her out of the venue. Elijah sped over to me and grabbed me as we became a blur all the way up to the rooftop. He set me down gently and I walked away, the cool breeze of the night doing very little for my heated skin. "This wasn't your fault, Hayden." I spun around; my eyes wide as tears streamed down my face.

"How can you say that, Elijah? After I just killed all those people?"

"You were not the only one who lost control."

"It doesn't matter, Elijah! I'm the emissary! I set the example and I lost control! And I killed all those people!" My voice broke as a sob wrecked through my body. "I killed those people. I haven't killed a human since I activated my werewolf curse. I don't kill humans. I snag, I feed, I erase, but tonight—" I choked on my own words. "Tonight, I lost control." I let out another sob as my vision blurred with tears. "I lost control! I am a hybrid! An abomination! Not a vampire! Not a werewolf! An abomination! I should not be the emissary, Elijah, because I lost control. What does that tell the factions? That vampires can lose control? That the witches are not respected? That humans are just food for our taking? That werewolves are nothing but hot-tempered mutts? What kind of example did I just set down there?" I continued to cry as Elijah walked over to me and pulled out his handkerchief and started to wipe the blood off my chin and neck to clean me up. I looked up at him with sad eyes.

"It says that even leaders falter. You are not an abomination, Hayden Argent. You are the emissary for a reason. Because you have the qualities of all the factions. The heart of a human. The serenity of a witch. The fierceness of a vampire and the loyalty of a werewolf." I sniffled as he gently wiped the tears off my cheeks with his calloused thumb.

"How will they respect me now?" He gently but firmly gripped my chin to tilt my head back so that I would look at him. My grey eyes locked with his brown ones.

"A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep." I sniffled once more as I took a step back from him, wiping furiously at my eyes before turning my back to him.

"God, I can't stop crying."

"It's okay to cry. You've been strong for too long. It's okay to cry. There's no reason to hold back." We were both quiet for a moment, the only sound was the whistling wind and the musicians in the distant as more tears fell from my eyes. "Now, what do you say we pay Marcel Gerard a little visit?" And just like that, the well dried up and I stopped crying as I spun around to face him and saw mischievousness flickering in his eyes. I smirked at him.

TO

We tracked Marcel and Thierry to across the river at the warehouse that they had been staying at, just by the docks. I merged with the shadows, my blood pulsing with adrenaline. Quick as lightning, I emerged from the shadows, lunging for Thierry, and grabbing him the throat while Elijah pinned down Marcel. I snarled in Thierry's face before throwing him across the roof, hissing at him, the wind blow my dress this way and that.

"I warned you." Elijah said quietly, pinning Marcel against a pole with ease. "And yet still you return to the French Quarter."

"You gonna kill me, Elijah?" Marcel taunted the Original breathlessly with a smirk on his face. "Go ahead, but then you won't know what Klaus has got going with that witch in his pocket."

"Oh, whatever shall I do? I suppose I could just ask him."

"Yeah. Make sure he tells you about the secret meetings with the werewolves." I bristled. Was Klaus conspiring with the wolves? That would put Hayley in danger. No. Klaus wouldn't do anything to jeopardize Hayley's life, not while she was carrying his child but still, it wasn't comforting to think that Klaus was working with the wolves, a part of himself that he hated. That was if Marcel was to be believed. "That is, if he's still speaking to you once he know that you killed me." Thierry slowly got up from the ground and Elijah's hold on Marcel grew tighter.

"Do you not know me?" Elijah slammed his fist into Marcel's chest, gripping his heart. Marcel groaned in agony. Thierry tried to rush past me, but I shot out my fist, breaking through his rib cage and grabbing his heart. "For your violation."

"And for putting my queen in danger." I hissed and with a quick jerk of my hand, his heart came out of his chest with a slurping pop and I shoved his body to the ground with my free hand. I turned on one foot to face Marcel who was staring at Thierry's desiccating body in horror.

"No." Marcel breathed, struggling against Elijah's grip. "No, no."

"You live… or you die according to my will." Elijah reminded the young vampire as I dropped the heart with a splat against the rooftop. "Try to remember that." Elijah removed his hand from Marcel's chest and left the roof with me behind him, the attack dog following her master.