Chapter 39: Family, Fear & Flames
Elsewhere Hayley gulped for oxygen herself.
The word "Wife" began circling the room and her eyes couldn't help but widen.
Her phone then suddenly buzzed causing her to jump and she silenced the device without even looking at the caller ID.
Her eyes diverted from Jackson and her arms folded. She leaned against the doorframe for some support.
"Thank god Elijah isn't here." She then involuntarily sighed to herself but then grew angry remembering their current situation and tried to brush the thought of him aside. She had enough to deal with now.
Jackson perched himself on the arm of a sofa and smiled at the ground slightly amused at Hayley's reaction. He then rose and took a seat at the piano stool resorting to playing a short soft melody to break the tension that seemed to hang like a heavy chord in the air.
Eventually, he plucked up the courage to look up but Hayley's eyes were gazing into the distance.
"I know...it's a lot to take in..." he spoke distracting her from her thoughts.
Hayley rolled her eyes. "Sure right it is!" she thought sarcastically inside.
"Wife?! The guardian werewolf is some husband from the past." She exclaimed internally, a nervous energy bubbling inside her but on the outside came across as quite calm.
Hayley finally then took a deep breath and pushing herself off of the door frame took a step deeper into the room.
"You think?" she replied jokingly trying to sound composed and also to lighten the atmosphere because the current one was only creating a horrible knotty feeling within her.
Jackson struggled with deciding on what to say next, the last thing he wanted to do was make another mistake.
Luckily Hayley spoke instead.
"I just wanted to meet my family. I never imagined I'd meet my husband from some weird-ass arranged marriage. " Hayley admitted truthfully.
It was she now who struggled on what to say and Jackson notice how a million questions were forming in her mind.
"Let me explain." He spoke softly and Hayley waited for him to do just that.
"I guess you don't know about any of this because there was never anyone around to teach you..."
Hayley thought about her parents. Ever since she was a child she had worked on making up this image of them in her mind. Her mother beautiful but strong, with a soft but powerful heart, her hair the same shade as hers, her lips the same shape. Then her father an authoritative but caring man, someone people looked up to in the pack. She dreamed he had her eyes and could look with them as fiercely as he could with love.
However as she had grown older these images had deformed and she had learnt to accept the truth. She was abandoned and that was that.
She found now that she was afraid to hear about what she had been searching for, for so long.
Hayley's eyes flickered back up to Jackson as he continued to speak and her heart thudded.
The Crescents aren't just any pack of wolves. The bloodline goes back to the very beginning. Two families, yours and mine. I guess that makes us kind of a royalty. " He spoke slowly giving her time to let everything sink through.
However it didn't. Hayley stirred unable to retain her composure. She scoffed. That was not what she was expecting.
"This is a joke, right? I mean, if you're royalty, where's the throne?" she exclaimed.
Jackson swallowed. He brushed his hands over his jeans and rose from the piano walking towards her. His face seemed sadder at her comment.
"New Orleans used to be our town, and we lost it all because of some infighting. The vampires came after us, and if our families were united we could've taken them. So our parents decided to bring the two lines back together. And you and I were betrothed." Jackson answered.
Hayley thought about her parents running New Orleans and making decision about the lives of so many like her while she slept soundly in a cot somewhere and shook her head to blur the image.
Hayley covered her mouth took a second and placed a hand forth to stop him from speaking anymore.
"I'm sorry. This is ridiculous." She replied because really that was how she felt. Yes she'd come here to find out about her family but this was just crazy. A normal pack was what she had been expecting but of course that was too much to ask for.
Eventually that image of her parents had become that of a younger couple stuck with the issue of a unplanned pregnancy eventually leading to her being given away but of course that wasn't the case, there had to be bloodlines, brawls and just to added betrothals too.
Jackson sighed growing angry at her response; he hadn't expected such indifference from the woman he'd been observing for so long.
"Look, obviously things didn't work out the way anyone thought they would. Our pack made a huge misstep with the vampires when we refused to back down, and Marcel had us cursed by a witch. You are the last one of your bloodline, Andrea. Or Hayley, whatever you call yourself. These people will follow you. You can help them, you and what you represent." He pressed the determination in his voice clear. He sounded as if he was pleading.
Hayley's expression grew serious.
"The last of my bloodline holy crap." She thought inside.
"I'm the only one left." Her hand hovered to her stomach.
"And what is that exactly?" she then asked remembering his last words, she was beginning to see where he was coming from.
"A time when things were different. When our people fought back. And after everything you went through to find us... You're the one who's gonna break our curse." He continued empowered by some sort of vision.
Hayley's forehead creased at this. Yes she was adamant on breaking the damn curse but he had sounded just a little too sure.
"Hey I'm all for freeing the pack but don't sound so sure just yet." She told him.
When Jackson threw her a strange look of confusion Hayley knew something was wrong.
"But your witch friend, she told Eve she was coming here tonight to set us free." Jackson spoke.
"What witch friend?" Hayley asked sensing something being not quite right.
"What are you on about?"
"Witch." Hayley's eyes then widened. She knew they were up to something; she had for a while now.
"Not Davina, Not Sophie...Celeste..." The name formed in front of her. Somehow she had no doubt that this was something to do with her. Her gut instinct was enough right now. Ever since Elijah had been acting all shifty she has sensed something was wrong , her time in the Bayou, the information from Eve, Sophie , Davina's drawings, they all led to his evil lover from the past.
Jackson read her expression and then immediately knew something was very wrong.
"Andrea, I mean Hayley, what is - ?" He asked concerned but she sliced his sentence.
"Where's Rebekah?" Hayley spoke sharply.
"The blonde original? She's with Oliver, I think. " Jackson replied but brushed the question aside, he wanted answers.
"Hayley– What is it?" he firmly repeated grasping her shoulder to prevent her from walking away.
She turned back to face him.
"I didn't make a deal with any witch. This is a trap." She spoke firmly and finally Jackson understood.
Hayley fumbled within her pocket for her phone. She clasped her hand upon her forehead to wipe the perspiration as she saw the screen.
Two calls from Elijah. Something was incredibly wrong.
"I'm an idiot." She cursed herself several times as she struggled clumsily pressing call. All her anger toward Elijah evaporated in a second and the feeling was instead replaced by a large amount of fear.
Hayley couldn't remember the last time she had felt this terrified. The incident with Klaus, the tornado in the bayou, nothing, compared to this for she knew Celeste would go to Elijah first and if not that, Elijah would end up going to her first.
She tapped her foot waiting for him to pick up, praying desperately that he would.
"Who are you calling? " Jackson asked but just then the line connected stopping Hayley from answering him.
Jackson's eyes fell to the floor. He realised he didn't need an answer and quite frankly he could bet any money that the person on the other end was an original vampire who always wore a suit. He had seen her with Elijah on more than one occasion and he wondered now what his deal was with her.
"Elijah!" Hayley called down the phone unable to hide her worry despite the presence of Jackson.
Elijah had woken up disorientated, breathing heavily and had immediately got her call as if it was sent from the heavens itself.
"Hayley." He answered relief flooding him on hearing her voice but then suddenly anger took hold of him.
"Why on earth did you not answer my calls?" He scolded her and Hayley eyes narrowed her lips pursing into a tight line.
"I'm sorry but we haven't exactly been on good terms now have we?" Hayley shouted down in reply but then both of them stopped to breathe.
After the pause Elijah spoke "Listen to me. Sabine is Celeste. You we're right, we were right. She's back, Niklaus, Rebekah, you're all in danger. " He explained firmly while still catching his breath.
Then just as Elijah finished his sentence all the doors of the plantation house slammed violently shut by a gust of sharp wind. Hayley shuddered inside struggling to keep herself looking as strong as she normally did.
"What's going on?" Jackson asked and Elijah's eyebrows furrowed on hearing this.
"Who are you with? You can't trust anyone." Hayley?" he spoke loudly.
"It's fine, he's fine." She replied, glancing at Jackson, he looked as unnerved as she did. This wasn't his doing.
"Hayley. You have to find Rebekah and stay with her, are you listening to me? You have to find her until I get there." Elijah instructed his voice resolute but Hayely's attention was directed elsewhere.
Jackson eyes followed hers to see what she was looking at.
Flames had begun licking the perimeter of the room and they were creeping close devouring what dare came in their path. Jackson turned to look at Hayley, their faces mirroring the same expression.
"Hayley!" Elijah roared down the phone with worry.
"Elijah." Hayley spoke meekly.
"It's a spell, fire, they're trapping us inside." She breathed.
Elijah's eyes widened as he finally found his balance routing himself immediately towards the plantation house.
Hayley could sense his despair through the long pause. She glanced at Jackson briefly who seemed to be looking for anything he could use to save them.
"Elijah..." she then spoke softly after thinking ahead, calculating the risks and coming to a decision.
"I love you." She breathed because she felt it just needed to be said and Elijah's eyes closed on hearing her, his eyes prickling with tears.
His heart felt like it would explode any second.
Hayley waited for him to reply, wanting desperately to hear those words be spoken from his lips once again because she knew very well this could easily be the end, yet that was not what blared from the phone into her reddening ear. The temperature was rising rapidly now.
"Don't you dare." Elijah's voice replied speaking each word through gritted teeth.
"I'm coming for you and only then will I say it." He spoke and the phone suddenly was disconnected. Hayley panicked for a second but realised that she must keep in control.
She blinked a couple of times to stop her eyes from watering. She fought tears and a fierce expression flashed onto her face.
"We need to get out of here somehow, anyway we can." She called above the crackle, searching eagerly around the room. Despite the situation, despite what she had said on the phone she was not one to give up.
Hayley banged against the window shutter but it would not open, she looked for something to break it with but Jackson was two steps ahead.
He pulled her back flinging the piano stool at the pane of glass which looked so fragile but still mockingly remained intact. The heat was maddening now and the blood of the royal werewolves only boiled hotter, the flames around them only growing wilder, consuming each piece of furniture, creeping nearer and nearer.
Hayley clutched her baby bump and felt horribly nauseous, she was meant to protect her daughter, her baby, her little girl. Suddenly she fell to her knees and Jackson crouched down next to her. His eyes then catching something and he rushed towards it, a vase. He dampened a towel and handed it to her.
"Breathe." He instructed and she tried but coughed violently.
Hayley turned to face Jackson and the two looked at each other one last time amongst the crashing and burning around them and were about to accept their fate when the window they had helplessly tried to break was shattered into a million tiny pieces.
The shards glittered against the fire and rained over them as Jackson shielded Hayley as if he were an umbrella. Hayley however seemed to have passed out and now lay sprawled on the carpet.
A form loomed towards them; it was Elijah fighting the fire blindly, searching desperately for Hayley. He caught sight of her and suddenly there was nothing else in the room but her lifeless looking body. His heat pounded so loudly and his instincts zoomed forth.
He was at her side in an instant and scooped her protectively against his chest before rushing outside as rapidly as his vampire self could.
"Hayley!" he called repeatedly while placing her upon the ground. He knelt next to her, stroking her hair aside feeling her burning cheek. The fear he was feeling was unimaginable.
Hayley spluttered awake coughing harshly and Elijah drew her close wrapping his arms around her.
"You have no idea how much I love you." He breathed on hearing her own breath.
"Where is Rebekah Hayley?" he then asked.
"With a werewolf called Oliver." Hayley croaked.
"I don't know where they went." She spluttered as Elijah stroked her.
He got up to leave despite feeling terrible for even thinking about leaving her, his siblings were still in danger, he had to find them.
Hayley held his arm. Her eyes watered for she knew time was short.
"Elijah my friend is still in there." She spoke ashamed almost at asking for anything from him.
Elijah saw this and in an instantly disappeared.
For a second she thought he had left but when she turned around Jackson lay by her side groaning in pain but, alive...