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Elena sat curled on a couch holding a novel. She wasn't sure why she was bothering with the book since she had read the same line again and again: 'it is a truth universally acknowledged…'
She had read the line so many times that it had ceased to have any meaning. She had begun mentally filling in the rest of the sentence.
'It is a universally acknowledged that babies the size of lemons must throw their mommy's hormones out of whack.'
'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hybrid in possession of a doppelganger must be in want of a hybrid army.'
"Good book?" Hayley's voice broke through Elena's musing.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that I can't get past the first sentence," she closed the book and dropped it on the coffee table. The comment brought a soft laugh from Hayley. "My mind's elsewhere. Can I ask you something?"
Hayley closed her book and inhaled slowly before nodding.
"I know why I came down here, but I'm curious why you did." Elena curled her fingers around her ankle. "Last I checked you were helping hybrids in Mystic Falls. What prompted you to make the trip to New Orleans?"
"Would you believe that was Klaus?" Hayley leaned back in her chair. "Ever since my adoptive parents kicked me out I've been looking for my birth family."
"How was that going?" Elena tilted her head.
"Not great," she sighed, "the records I managed to find were vague at best, and I had all but given up. Then I spent the night with Klaus."
Elena's brows furrowed.
"I've got a birthmark," Hayley gestured towards her shoulder, "and Klaus saw it, and recognized it. Apparently it's passed to every member of a certain family of werewolves in the region. He may have used the words werewolf royalty."
"Seems like someone like that would be easy to find," Elena frowned.
"They're not. I got a tip from some witches that sent me out to the Bayou, but it was trap. That's how they caught me and used me to bring Klaus and eventually Elijah to town." Hayley crossed her arms and shivered. She could still remember the way her skin had crawled when they cast their spells. "Someone lied to me."
Elena bit her bottom lip.
"Damon and Stefan once told me that the best lies were rooted in the truth," she straightened up and met Hayley's eyes. "Klaus wouldn't have lied to you. I can't think of any reason he'd want to manipulate you, but the witches would have. They might know why werewolves are banned in the Quarter."
"I don't think I'd trust their answers," Hayley scoffed.
"Fair enough," Elena sighed. She reached for her cell phone when it started to ring. "Hello?"
"Hey 'Lena."
"Bonnie," she swung her legs around so her feet were on the floor, "what's up?"
Bonnie stared at the map laid out on her table. She'd had to print out a second one from the computer when the first one burst into flames.
"I tried two different locator spells, and they gave me a lot of locations."
"A lot?"
"Yeah," she lifted the antique silver, "I tried the dagger first because I figured whoever was cloaking him probably wasn't cloaking the dagger but him specifically and that gave me three spots."
"What about my blood?"
"Tried that," she stood from the table. "Your blood gave me even more. I'm assuming the spell located everyone your babies are related to."
She lifted the new map that she had printed. Several locations were circled in red marker.
"I cross referenced with the results from the dagger and marked them for you on a map. I'm going to picture and send it to you."
"How many places are circled?"
"Seven," Bonnie laid out the map on a flat surface. "A couple of them are side by side, so you can probably rule them out."
"Thank you Bonnie. What about the other thing?"
"I'm going to work on that next," she glanced at the rope. "It looks simple but Kol's note says it takes a lot of power and concentration so it might take me some time. Tell Hayley to sit tight."
"Bonnie's going to work on the unlinking spell next." Elena hung up her phone.
"She found him?" Hayley sat forward in her chair.
"Maybe," Elena nodded. "Is there a computer around here?"
She followed Hayley into a study and took a seat at the desk. A few clicks brought up her e-mail and the scanned image from Bonnie. She sent it to Klaus' printer and snagged the paper.
"That's a lot of dots," Hayley turned over the map of the Quarter.
"Process of elimination," Elena reached for a pen.
"That's the mansion," Hayley pointed to two spots outside of the French Quarter.
"You, me, and our mystical miracle babies," Elena crossed out the dots. She nodded to another two spots near the heart of the Quarter, and one in Lafayette cemetery. "I think we can rule these ones out too. Klaus and Rebekah are together at the party and Kol's with the witch in the cemetery."
"That still leaves two spots," Hayley frowned.
"One in the French Quarter and one in the Bayou," Elena pulled her hair into a high ponytail.
Hayley tilted her head and frowned at the sudden determination in Elena's eyes. She knew without asking that the brunette was planning a midnight excursion.
"I'll go with you," she started towards the door.
"No," Elena moved and blocked her path.
"I want Elijah found as much as you do," she crossed her arms. "He was the first one to actually give a damn about what happened to me when I got to town."
"You might not believe me Hayley, but I care too," she sighed, "and it's because I care that I'm telling you to stay here. You're a werewolf and its open season in New Orleans; you have been banned from the French Quarter."
"If those witches get hold of you they'll…" Hayley trailed off leaving it unsaid.
"They won't do anything to me because they don't know me," Elena smiled softly. "Kol was careful to keep me hidden that one time I went in to town, and in this town the only people who know me are the Originals and you. I'm nobody here. I'm not a doppelganger, I'm not a pawn to be used; I'm just a girl."
She said the words again in her head and felt some of the weight on her shoulders lift at the thought. She knew she would never be ordinary, but the idea that she could pretend for even a few moments was nice.
She could be invisible.
"That's assuming nobody in town knows Katherine."
"What are the odds that Katherine would have ever come to a town that Klaus once called home?" Elena cocked her head and tried to calculate the chances.
"It's unlikely," Hayley agreed reluctantly. "I'm just supposed to sit here alone then? I can already hear the earful I'll get for letting you go in town alone."
"It's got to be better than the one you'll get for coming with me," Elena managed a small smile. "Will you call Kol and tell him where I've gone?"
"How exactly are you planning to get there?" Hayley followed her into the kitchen and outside to the garage.
"I thought I'd commandeer a car," she opened a box along the wall. Inside the compartment was a row of keys. She picked up a set at random and clicked the lock. A black BMW chirped in darkened space.
Elena pressed a button by the box and heard the garage door open.
Hayley followed the sound and shook her head when she saw the car. She leaned over when Elena got inside and chewed her cheek.
"What?" Elena inserted the key and heard the car come to life with a gentle purr.
"Just…" Hayley stepped back so she could close the door, "… be careful."
Elena nodded.
Hayley watched her go and stood staring down the gravel driveway for a moment before pressing the button to close the door and moving back towards the house, but she wasn't quite ready to return to the spacious rooms.
Circling around the back of the house she approached the pool and watched the light refract off the surface of the water. She was about to reach into her pocket for her cell phone when she heard a twig snapped behind her. Spinning around she took a few steps towards the sound and froze.
Her eyes locked on the glowing yellow gaze of the wolf. Most people in her position would have been afraid, but the terror didn't take hold; instead she was filled with curiosity. If not for the reflection of the half-moon in the pool she might have thought she was staring into the eyes of a fellow werewolf. She supposed it could have been a hybrid, but as far as she knew Klaus hadn't called them forth from Mystic Falls, and none of the ones that had broken their curse knew of her condition or location; at least she didn't think they did, but there was something intelligent in the animal's eyes, something almost human.
"You're not supposed to be out here," a firm voice sounded behind her.
Hayley's heart leapt into her throat at the sound. She turned quickly and eyed the woman suspiciously.
"Who are you?" Her muscles tensed ready to sprint for the cover of the trees at the slightest provocation.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
Hayley's eyes narrowed as the woman went from commanding to friendly.
"I'm Sabine," she skirted around the pool. "We actually met once, briefly," she smiled. "I'm a friend of Sophie's."
Her eyes flickered over the woman's dark skin and somber clothes. Several beaded necklaces hung from her throat, one of the chains was pulled taut by the weight of a yellow
"You're one of the witches."
Sabine nodded.
"What are you doing here?" Hayley thought of Elena now halfway to the Quarter, if not in it, and relaxed marginally; she had left the house in the nick of time.
"Sophie asked me to come and keep you company while everyone was out," Sabine nodded to the empty space behind Hayley where the wolf had once stood. "It's drawn to you."
Hayley glanced over her shoulder to the dark grass.
"You and Klaus made something really special," Sabine smiled serenely when Hayley turned back around.
"You sound like Elijah," she scoffed. "He thinks the baby is going to make us one big happy family, but now he's gone, and I don't even know what it is." Boy, girl, vampire: the list ran through her head.
"I can find out for you if you like," Sabine tilted her head, "if it's a boy or girl, I mean."
"I thought you couldn't practice magic," Hayley's eyes narrowed. Her phone weighed heavily in her back pocket.
"It's not magic," Sabine shook her head, "just an old trick my grandmother taught me. Are you interested? Come on," she grinned, "you've got to be a little curious."
Curious was one word that could describe her state of mind. She bit her bottom lip and nodded once following Sabine into the house while pulling out her cell phone and sending a text to Kol.
I'm trying to work up a slow friendship between Elena and Hayley. At this point they don't particularly like each other, but they recognize they are in the same situation. I'd like to think that if it came down to it and Elena was in trouble Hayley would help, but they've got some ground to cover.
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