Chapter Five: Hope

It has been a week since Hayley and I found out that we were cousins. We have been spending as much time together just to get to know each other a lot more. She has helped me understand the wolf side of my life. Elijah and I bonded as brother and sister. He would take me to an old church and train me to fight. Rebekah and I bonded when it came to spoiling the little baby. Even though I am not a witch, Freya, Davina, and Vincent have been teaching me the history of witches and spells. Kol and I bonded over the most random stuff.

Niklaus and I spent the whole day together before he left for a manhunt. The two of us sat in my living room watching random shows on the television. I learned that his father hated him because he found out Niklaus was not his son. I know that he is the one that broke the hybrid curse. He told me that he felt something stronger for me that he has than anyone else. I told him that I felt the same way, but I was not ready to be in something since Edward and I broke up about a week ago. I needed to work on me.

That was five days ago. I have yet to hear from him.

A day after that, I found out that my mother was a witch.

Flashback

"Oomf," I said as I tripped on my loose step. I seriously have to fix that step. I looked down to see that the wood was overturned. "Huh?" I grabbed the book that was hidden in the step.

Westphall Book of Spells

Who?

I went back downstairs to my living room to look over the book. There was a list of people that dated back to the 16th century. I didn't really pay attention to those names until the names changed into family trees.

Gregory James Westphall (1945 - 2000): Coven Leader. Death by Robert Dumas

Annabeth Jones Westphall (1947 - 2000): Coven Leader. Death by Robert Dumas

Maia Marie Westphall - Labonair (1969 - 2000): Traitor. Disowned at 18

Baby Girl Labonair (2000)

"WHAT?" I screamed out very loudly. A few seconds later, I was running across the street with the book. "Anyone here?" I called out to the compound.

"What is it?" I looked over to see Kol and Davina standing there.

I wiped away a few stray tears. "My mother is Maia Marie Westphall. She is a part of the Westphall Coven. She was disowned because she fell in love with my father." I held up the book. "This is their spell book."

Davina ran down to me. "Let's see what you can do. Choose a small spell and try it out."

"What spell?" The three of us looked at the front door. Freya was standing there with Hayley, Jackson, Vincent, Rebekah, Elijah, and Marcel.

I looked down at the book and found one. I turned my head around to find my object. In the middle was a medium sized garden that had a fountain. I took a deep breath. "Tomar Lento. Na Paz, Armor."

Nothing happened. Freya walked closer to me as did Davina and Vincent. "It's okay, Bella. It will take a few tries before anything happens. You have not done it before," Freya reassured me.

"Release everything from your mind. Make the spell the only thing in your head," Vincent said.

I sighed and looked at him. "It's hard not to clear my mind when I don't know if Niklaus is safe or not."

"I'm safe, Baby," Niklaus said. He walked up behind the others.

"Niklaus." I ran over to him and jumped his arms. "You're back."

We put our foreheads together. "I'm back." He lifted up my legs and wrapped them around his waist. "I found the person that gave you the wolfsbane."

"Who was it?" I ran my thumb on his cheek.

He looked over to everyone. "Genevieve and Monique are back. They are planning something huge." Everyone else jaws dropped, but Niklaus looked back at me. "The one who put the flowers on your doorstep has been killed. I enjoyed watching her bleed."

I don't know what came over me, but I kissed him. There were gasps. "Bella, you did it," Hayley said.

Niklaus and I pulled apart, and we looked. The spell that I said earlier was working. All of the flower petals were floating in the air.

End of Flashback

Everyone has been on edge since Nikalus has come back. We have been on looking behind our backs at every turn. I have been practicing with Vincent, Davina, and Freya.

Elijah, Niklaus, Hayley, and I were walking to the compound when everything went black.

The next thing I know is that I was attached to the wall of the church between Niklaus and Elijah. I was the only one of us three awake. Hayley was awake on the church's counter getting ready to push. "Hayley."

She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "They used magic to break my water." Hayley threw her head back and screamed. "Promise me, Bella. Promise me."

Tears started to flow down my cheeks. "Promise you what?"

"Don't let anything happen to my baby." The three women walked in.

"I promise, Hay. I promise." She nodded. I watched as the Genevieve coached Hayley through the labor. "I will end the three of you," I warned as harshly as I could.

The baby cries rung out throughout the church. "It's a baby girl," Genevieve said.

Hayley and I cried while the boys were still out. "Can I hold her?" Hayley begged.

"No." The young curly haired girl - Monique - sliced Hayley's neck.

I screamed. "No!"

Once the three women and the baby were out of the church, the guys and I fell off the wall.

The guys were still out. Hayley was dead on the counter. I needed to save the baby. I got up and walked out of the church. I walked out of the church into the cemetery. I just followed my senses to find the baby. When I turned the corner, I saw the three witches standing behind a cement counter that the baby was laying on. "No!"

I was flung back into a large headstone. The young blonde witch ran to me. Once she came close to me. I shoved my hand her chest and ripped her heart out. I was splattered with her blood. I grabbed a stray iron post, and I threw it. It completely went through her chest and held her to the wall of the crypt. Genevieve was staring at the baby, I ran over to her. I hit the dagger out of her hand which ruined her focus.

"We need her for the harvest," she said. "You dare go against your ancestors."

I gave her my worst menacing look. "Fuck my ancestors." I punched a hole in her chest and ripped her heart out like the I did the other witch. The baby was crying in the woven basket. "I got you, baby. Aunt Bella has you."

I picked her up and held her to my chest. "Let's go see if Daddy and Uncle Elijah are awake. Your Mommy loves you. I promise you that I will always..."

"Bella." I turned my head to see Hayley, Elijah, and Niklaus standing there.

"Hayley, you are alive." I started to cry. The three of them slowly walked over. "She is okay. Nothing happened to her."

I handed the baby over to her Mommy. "Thank you, Bella." Hayley kissed the top of my head. "I had some of her blood in me. I'm in transitioning. The only way for me to survive is if I drink some of her blood. I just want a few moments with her."

Niklaus put his hand on the baby's back. "She has a hint of the devil in her eyes." Niklaus looked at Hayley. "That's all me."

"Oh, God." Hayley rolled her eyes.

Niklaus moved over to me. "You took out three witches. Why are you not turning?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." He lightly kissed me. "What is going to happen now?"

Elijah cleared his throat. He seemed a little upset because Hayley is talking about dying. I know that since Hayley married Jackson, he pushed down all feelings for her. "We just need to prick her finger to let out a little drop of blood. I lost you when you married Jackson. I refuse to lose you completely."

Hayley started to cry. "I can't do it." I buried my head in Niklaus' chest and started to cry. "Bella," Hayley croaked. "You will always have a piece of me with you. Remember you promised me that you will always protect her." She paused. "I can't leave her, but I can't drink her blood. I have to let her go to protect her." Hayley looked at Niklaus. "The less that people know. The better."

"What?" He asked confused.

"The four of us need to be the only ones that know that she is alive," Hayley said.

"What about the others? Jackson? The pack?" Elijah asked.

She shook her head. "No. Just the four of us."

Niklaus grabbed the baby. I just looked at her and her parents. "I will take her."

Elijah, Hayley, and Niklaus looked at me. "What?" I saw the hurt in Niklaus' eyes.

I looked at Hayley. "I promised you that I will always protect her. I will stick to the promise." I wiped my tears away. "I start classes the beginning of August, so I have to go back. No one will know where I am. I have been practicing a cloaking spell with Freya. I will cloak the both of us, so no one can find us."

"I can't lose the three of you," Niklaus confessed. "Hayley, you are the mother of my child. Our daughter needs you. You have to stay alive. I can't lose my daughter because she is our miracle." He turned to me. "Bella, I can't lose you. If I lose my daughter and her mother, I will be lost. If I lose you, I will turn my humanity off and be gone forever."

Hayley and Elijah looked shocked. They have never seen a soft side of Niklaus like this. I have. "Niklaus, you will lose the two of them if you don't let the baby and Bella go."

"We never discussed our daughter's name," Hayley said to Niklaus.

He looked lost. "I don't know."

"Hope," I said. The two of them looked at me. "She is our only Hope."

Hayley nodded. "Hope Isabelle Mikaelson."

"Our Hope," Nikalus agreed.

Elijah grabbed Hope's finger and pricked it with a rose thorn. Hayley immediately drank the amount that she needed to stay alive. She closed her eyes and fell into Elijah. "We need to get them out of the city."

"Tonight." I looked at Niklaus. "Take her to my house so no one out of the four of us sees her. I will watch her. As soon as it gets dark, you and Hayley come to say goodbye. I will leave with Hope sometime after that."

Elijah carried Hayley while Niklaus held Hope. Niklaus ran at an inhuman speed to my house while Elijah and I walked in silence. He went to the main house while I went home. Niklaus was feeding Hope with the formula that Hayley made sure that I had in my house.

"You need to go to the main house. People will get suspicious. You have to show that you are hurting. Tomorrow, tell them that I am going home because this became too much to me."

He laid Hope down in the swing that Hayley put in the house. He walked over to me. "I will always be hurting without you and my daughter at my side."

I shot my head up and kissed him. The two of us passionately kissed. "I love you, Isabella. You know that."

I nodded. "I know." Niklaus left. I looked at Hope. "It looks like I have to pack." Hope just stared at me. "Come on, Cutie." I picked her up and walked upstairs to my guest room. Hayley and I turned half the guest room to a nursery in case of an emergency. "I see that your Daddy has dressed you already. Let's get a few necessities for you that people will not know is gone." I grabbed a few outfits for the ride home. We moved to my room and packed up the things that I brought from Forks.

I got everything ready for our trip home.

My front door opened. "Bella," Hayley called out. I picked Hope up off the bed and met them downstairs. "How is she? Elijah had to snap our necks to keep us from coming here."

I nodded. "She is fine. She just chilled with me. She slept for a total of an hour the whole day."

Hayley turned to Niklaus. "Can you put the car seat in Bella's car?" He nodded. Hayley started to tear up. "Hope can call you Mommy since you are going to be there for her when I can't if you want."

I shook my head and handed her Hope. "No, she is your daughter. She will call you Mommy. I have faith that you all will make it safe for us to come back." She nodded. "I trust that you will protect her with her life. I will look after the house and Niklaus for you." She looked at Hope. "I love you, Hope. Mommy loves you. You be good for Aunt Bella. Goodbye, Hope Isabelle. You will be home soon." Niklaus walked back in. "Go see your Daddy."

Niklaus grabbed Hope as Hayley and I hugged. "Hope, you and Aunt Bella will come home to us. You will be home with us soon, my Little Wolf. I have plans to eliminate any threat that ruins the plans. I will seek vengeance on anyone that does us any harm. Hope, I promise to protect your Mommy. You are our only Hope." Hayley and I released. "Mommy, will you put her in the car seat?"

Hayley grabbed her and walked to the back living room. "Goodbye, Niklaus."

He grabbed me and held me close. "Call me if you need anything. I will be there for you two. You will do the best. People call me the King of the French Quarter. Every King needs a Queen." He gave me a kiss. "I love you, Bella. I know that you are not ready, but just know that I am here for you."

Hayley and Niklaus watched as I loaded Hope up into the Volvo. "I will protect her." I got into the drivers seat and drove out of New Orleans.