A guest review was asking who I would cast as Hayley. And in all honesty, I've never thought about a specific person. I tried really hard to think of someone and struggled. But here's a specific description.

Height: 5'11-5'10ish - Long legs, built lean and tall like a runway model

Blonde-red Hair (I guess a little darker than strawberry blonde) and blue-green eyes

The closest actress I could think of was a kinda young Charlize Theron with those features.

Hayley sat at the bar of the grill. She was playing with the straw of her drink, lost in her thoughts. Elijah just barely allowed her to leave the house while he arranged their departure. She had been pacing around the room. And even though he would never tell her or even show it, her anxiousness was driving him senseless. Every time she heard Klaus even move an inch inside the mansion, she questioned if she should try to talk to him again. Hayley knew she couldn't. But she was left so shocked from his unexpected reaction earlier that she wanted to make things right.

"He's made his choice, Hayley. He's taken his hybrids over all of us." Elijah had told her as gently as he could. It didn't stop the reminder from hurting still.

"Maybe if I…" But she slowly stopped, realizing that there was nothing she could even think about trying that would help Nik. "I should leave." She said quickly. "I can tell I'm driving you crazy." Elijah parted his lips to argue her leaving the safety of the mansion. After all, the Salvatores still had two stakes to use on the originals. And he didn't put it past them to try and use Hayley against them again.

"I'll only go to the grill. They won't try anything while people surround me. I'll keep my cellphone in my hand the entire time. You can call me every 5 minutes for all I care." Hayley had felt so pathetic as she said it. Never had she lowered her life to someone else's terms. Before Elijah, she did what she pleased and when she pleased.

"Alright." He'd finally sighed. "I would tell you to take Kol. But he has disappeared."

"Are you going to actually drink that? Or are you just gonna stare at it?" Matt asked Hayley with his boy-next-door charm that he was so oblivious to.

She stopped stirring her drink, but didn't look up as she tried to ignore him. He killed Elijah, along with every other vampire that was created from him. Hayley understood why he did it. Matt was one of the few humans left in his group of friends. He loved them and he would give up his blissful ignorance and morals to help any of them. But didn't he realize that his actions weren't fully justified as the greater good for man?

"Hiding any stakes behind that counter, Blade?" She accused darkly without lifting her eyes off of the drink in front of her.

Matt stopped cleaning some glasses behind the bar. The grill wasn't crowded at the time. It allowed him to watch Hayley for the past few minutes. Clearly, her thoughts were filled deep with worry. He sighed as he put down the glass and leaned on the counter toward her, hoping to get her to actually look at him.

"I don't know you that well, but I can still tell that you understand I had to do it." His raspy voice tried to get her to reason with him.

Hayley finally looked up at him, but her eyes were shadowy and glaring. She was stunningly terrifying. Her beauty would awe any victim stupid enough to upset her and it would be the last thing they'd see before she destroyed them.

"Finn was innocent. He never did anything to you or your friends." Her tone was even and emotionless. It was a warning that he should choose his words wisely if he was bold enough to even speak to her while she was in such a mood.

"They were supposed to be connected…we did it to kill Klaus." Matt quickly informed her.

"Is that supposed to make me forgive it?" Hayley snapped, disgusted with his excuse. "Klaus is my friend. And if they actually had been connected, you would have killed the man I love. If it had worked, I'd be dead too." Then she leaned forward on the counter too. "Let's not forget Caroline and Tyler. You would have killed them too." Then she leaned back in her chair and gave him the most condescending look. "You could have killed an entire race…every single vampire would be dead because of you."

"You're better than them." Matt said after watching her for a few seconds.

Hayley rolled her eyes and scowled. "Weren't you just saying that you don't know me, Matt?" She raised an eyebrow at him accusingly. His jaw tensed, as he didn't respond. "Don't tell me how better I am than the people I care about." She snapped. "If you really want to play that game," Hayley started mockingly. "You let your friends convince you to murder. So really, who's surrounding themselves with people that make them worse?"

Matt looked disappointed with himself, knowing she was somewhat right. When Hayley saw it in his expression, she almost felt bad. But her anger was the dominant emotion surging through her right now. Then she made eye contact and her heart dropped when she saw Matt's face go blank. She had been so angry that she wasn't paying enough attention to controlling her siren curse. Every time a man became mesmerized, it was like their blood called to Hayley. She let out a small gasp as her eyes were glued on a vein that was just barely visible on Matt's neck.

Suddenly, someone was at her side. "Don't you have work to do?" A voice interrupted swiftly that was laced with a British accent. Matt blinked a few times, completely oblivious to being both siren-entranced and compelled. He picked up another glass to dry and walked to the other end of the bar.

Hayley let out a calming breath as she glanced at Rebekah who took the seat next to her. "Thank-thank you." She stuttered to the original. If it hadn't been for her, Hayley might have attacked him right there in the bar.

"Matt's my plaything. And what a horrible proprietor I'd be to let your dirty mouth drink him dry." Rebekah said with her usual sass. She reached over the bar and grabbed her liquor of choice and a glass to pour it in.

Hayley rolled her eyes at Rebekah's curtness. It was neither charming nor funny in her opinion. It didn't surprise her that the original wasn't able to find friends. "Always such a pleasure." Hayley mumbled as she finally took a swig from her drink.

"You're welcome." Rebekah responded with some of her attitude replaced by an almost kind seriousness.

"We're leaving soon. Shouldn't you be packing or something?" Hayley asked.

"I have people doing that for me, of course. They're taking care of all my necessities." She said casually. "I ran into Elijah and he told me you were here."

"So he asked you to come babysit me?" Hayley sighed with frustration.

"No. I came on my own." Rebekah said as she poured herself another drink. Hayley quickly looked at her, astounded that she would come to see her on her own accord. "After all, the four of us will be together for who knows how long. I might as well start being civil to you now."

Hayley just nodded blankly and turned to face forward again. They sat there in silence for a few moments. Neither of them knew if they should start a conversation with one another. Hayley finally took in a deep breath, as if she were going into a battle of some sort and wasn't sure if she'd make it back alive.

"You know, Rebekah, I've only ever wanted to be your friend."

Rebekah brushed her hair of her shoulder with a hand and glanced at Hayley. "I know." Then she paused. "I was resentful of you, obviously. I had been trapped in a bloody coffin. Meanwhile, my favorite brother was finding my replacement and another brother had already fallen in love with her from the guidance of my mother." She said it so straightforward and simply that Hayley finally saw herself through Rebekah's eyes.

"I never wanted to replace you, Rebekah. I might be Nik's friend…well, I'm not even sure of that anymore. But you will always, always be his only sister." Hayley tried to reassure the original who looked slightly down from sharing her feelings.

"You are very hard to hate, I must admit." Rebekah sighed in annoyance. "Even Matt likes you and you're the enemy." Hayley followed her gaze to Matt who was walking around the grill, picking up dirty dishes.

Hayley laughed a little. "When I was a kid, Matt's the only type of guy I thought Elijah would approve of me marrying…the sweet and genuine boy-next-door."

"What are you talking about?" Rebekah asked confused.

Hayley looked at her, not understanding what she didn't know. "When I was barely even 12 years-old, we were walking and I was complaining about a boy I had a crush on." She paused, suddenly caught in the memory that she hadn't thought about it so long. "He stopped walking and kneeled right in front of me. All that time knowing him, I hadn't seen him so serious. He said, 'No one will ever deserve you, Hayley. No boy or man shall ever be worthy enough.'" Hayley's eyes were glazed over as she relived the memory. "I was too young to really understand what he meant. But for months after that, I was determined to find a boy that he would approve of. I used to have a friend that was just like Matt." Hayley could feel her throat tightening from thinking about Luke. She coughed, trying to stop it from destroying all her composure. "But Elijah kept away for years to protect me from Nik. So… slowly I started forgetting about him. And with it, I forgot about finding someone he'd approve." She turned to look at Rebekah and was surprised to see the original had been listening very closely to every word she'd said.

"I-I didn't know he met when you were a child." Rebekah said softly. Her voice didn't sound like her. Or, perhaps, this was her being herself.

Hayley nodded slowly. "When I was a kid, I just thought he was my imaginary friend or my guardian angel. I didn't really have anyone to be there for me when I was younger. He came and went, but when he was there, he actually listened and made me happier than he knows. But he didn't come back for a long time…too long. So I forgot about him. It wasn't until I was 18 that he came back and I remembered."

Rebekah had never bothered figuring out the history between Hayley and Elijah. She'd never confess that she couldn't bear hearing the love story of someone else when she didn't have her own to tell. "Hayley…I'm sorry for never giving you a chance." She tried to sound as sincere as possible. But somehow it still lacked validity.

Hayley smiled as her chin leaned into her hand. She tilted her head as the original watched her carefully. "Don't worry about it. We kind of have a lot of time to catch up." This caused Rebekah to laugh, a genuine laugh.

"So what do we know?" Caroline asked the group with her arms crossed and her weight leaning on one leg. Elena, Bonnie, and the Salvatore brothers sat in the boarding house, all with anxious expressions.

Damon was the only one that was able to appear calm and collected. He sat back on the couch and drank a cup of bourbon. "We know that killing an original will also kill every vampire that descends from them."

"We also know that Hayley figured that out too." Stefan sighed.

"Wait…how do we know that?" Bonnie quickly asked. If Hayley knew, surely all of the originals knew now too.

"It was written in her face." Stefan said. His eyes went vacant as he remembered that night. "She was figuring it out as it was happening. It was like she knew instantly."

"The three of us," Damon continued as he gestured to himself, Stefan, and Caroline. "Were all created from Katherine. Tyler is a directly connected to Klaus."

"Which means killing him is out of the question." Caroline specified sternly as she glared at Damon. It was all too obvious that the older Salvatore wouldn't hesitate to kill Klaus; even knowing Tyler would die too.

"Katherine was turned by Rose." Elena thought out loud. "But we have no idea who turned her. And sadly, we can't ask her."

"That's where you're wrong." Damon said cheerily. The rest of the group looked at him confused. "Are we all forgetting that little Gilbert can talk to dead people?" He was frustrated with their intellectual slowness. "Jeremy was able to contact her. A vampire named Mary Porter turned her. Or as some of us liked to call her…Scary Mary."

"Let me guess," Caroline sighed with disgust. "You slept with her." Damon just gave his infamous smirk. All the girls groaned and Stefan shook his head.

"And what about Mary?" Stefan asked. "Who turned her?"

"I found a number through friends of friends. She was a little apprehensive to give me such personal information. But eventually I used my charm and got the answer out of her." Damon stated, then his smirk slowly fell and took another swig of his drink.

"And?" Elena urged as she leaned forward.

Damon looked down at his now empty glass. "We can't kill Klaus."

"So that's it? We've been delaying handing over the last two stakes, only to find out that we descend from him!" Caroline barked. "After everything he's done to us, we're just going to let him live?" She shouted.

"And what else are we supposed to do, Blondie? Kill ourselves?" Damon snapped right back. "There is no killing Klaus. There never was. So why don't we all just do ourselves a favor and give him the stakes before he kills us himself."

"He's right." Stefan sighed to the group. Then he turned to his brother. "Why don't you call Alaric and get the other one?" He tossed him the other stake. Damon looked at it and sighed. In such a short amount of time, he had dedicated his life to destroying the original hybrid. And just like that, it was no longer an option.

Rebekah and Hayley had been small talking for quite some time. It was something Hayley never thought would happen. But it was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders now that there was an unspoken peace offering between them. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for just a split moment. While Hayley took away her sight, just for a few seconds, her other senses noticed something.

Her eyes snapped open and then cursorily swept the room. "Do you notice anything unusual about this stupid grill?" She asked the original.

Rebekah also glanced around the room. "No. It's still as ugly and boring as it always is." She replied carelessly.

But Hayley wouldn't let it drop that easily. She slowly shook her head. "It's too quiet." She urged to her.

"Hayley, there are dozens of people having pointless conversations as we speak. What the bloody-hell are you talking about?"

Hayley held up her hand to quiet Rebekah as she tried to concentrate. Then she glanced over at Matt. He had been watching them and looked away as soon as Hayley caught him in the act. She narrowed her gaze. "He's been making sure we're here. Where are all his friends?" She asked suspiciously in a whisper.

"Not here." Rebekah declared slowly. Suddenly she had caught on to Hayley's uncertainties. She turned in her seat and didn't see one familiar face of Elena's annoying friends. Then she got out of her seat and grabbed her purse. "We should leave."

"Stop." Hayley struggled to urge her in a calm voice. "That might be exactly what they want you to do." Rebekah opened her mouth to argue. "Don't be impulsive like your brother, Rebekah." She snapped before the original could speak.

"They could have just asked Matt to keep tabs on us."

Hayley nodded, agreeing with her. "Yeah. But why would they need tabs on two vampires if they weren't up to something that they didn't want us to stop or know about?" Her eyes flickered to Rebekah's, measuring if she understood the seriousness of their situation. They both shared a moment of realization. Something was wrong. Either the trouble was waiting for them right outside the grill or it was with another original.

Both of the girls walked briskly out the front door. They looked calm and oblivious to outsiders. But their attention was in all of their surroundings. If someone were planning something, they wouldn't be taken by surprise. They were on the sidewalks in the heart of downtown Mystic Falls. Rebekah stayed on the lookout as Hayley fished for her phone. She frantically dials Elijah's number and listens to the dialing ring.

"Yes, my love." He answers right away in manner he knows will possibly annoy her. Hayley, too relieved to hear he's okay, completely ignores it.

"Elijah! Has anyone come to the mansion? Are you okay? Did anything happen?" She fired question after question.

"Hayley, slow down." All joking had disappeared. "No one has been here. Nothing has happened." Even though she was speaking a mile a minute, he still understood her. "What has put you into such a panic?" He asked urgently.

"Something isn't right, Elijah. Rebekah and I were sitting at the bar. Matt kept watching us as if he wanted to make sure we didn't leave. We just know something isn't right. Have you heard from Kol since I left?"

"I have not. But Niklaus left some time ago. I heard him leave on his own accord though." Elijah left the room he had been preparing all of their things for the departure and decided to take a look around. He found hybrids moving around the mansion, ignoring his presence and observations. Elijah recognized one of them and stopped him as he moved a box.

"Mr. Lockwood," He greeted calmly. "What precisely are all of you doing?" He kept the phone at his side, knowing Hayley would be able to hear the conversation too.

Tyler looked around uncomfortably from the original's question. "Klaus asked us to pack up all of things. He didn't really say anything else. I guess he's heading out of town." Tyler shrugged and then continued his work.

Elijah eyed the young hybrid as he walked away, then put the phone back to his ear. "Hayley…"

"Yeah, I heard." She practically gasped. There was a sense of relief and hope but it was covered when another thought instantly popped into her mind. "Elijah, he's not leaving town before he has a few things. Like a certain doppelgänger and a few pieces of wood that have yet to be returned."

"Indeed." Elijah agreed. Then he felt like he could see through Hayley current expression perfectly even though he was not beside her. "Hayley, I hope you do not plan on intervening in my brother's personal affairs." But there was no response. "Hayley, you listen to me. Do not go anywhere except this mansion."

"If he's going to take Elena, we both know that a fight's gonna break out." She tried to argue with him. Then Rebekah put her hand out, asking for the phone. Hayley eyed her for a few seconds before slowly giving it to her.

"No need to worry, dear brother. I'll have her back at the mansion in just a few minutes." Rebekah stated confidently, absolutely disregarding Hayley's jaw dropping. She hung up the phone and dropped it in Hayley's hand with a content smirk.

"Traitor." Hayley hissed.

"I assure you, Niklaus can take care of himself. My family was without your company for thousands of years. And look! We survived!" She crossed her arms. "He doesn't need our help. And remember, he didn't choose us."

"I don't need reminding. But the thing with friends," Hayley didn't mean to make it sound so obvious that she knew more about it than Rebekah. "We care about one another and help each other even when we are fighting and have convinced ourselves that our friendship has been replaced with hatred."

Rebekah slowly uncrossed her arms and her eyes dropped to the ground. "I guess I wouldn't know." She said more to herself. Then she looked at Hayley. "Come on. Let's get back to the mansion. Don't even try running after him. You may be fast, but I promise I'll break your neck if you even think about disobeying Elijah and me."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "When did I become the original pet?" She muttered.

The doorbell rang at the Gilbert house. Alaric went to answer it and his posture straightened when he saw Klaus staring back at him. "Hello Alaric." The original hybrid greeted charmingly with a smirk.

Alaric crossed his arms and glared at him. "Can I help you with something?"

Klaus' smile faltered just the smallest amount. "Well, you see, I'm leaving town. I'll finally be out of your hair. I just need to pick up a few road trip necessities: spare tire, flashlight, doppelgänger." Then he saw Stefan and Damon creep around the corner from the kitchen. Klaus had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. As if the two brothers could even dream of stopping him from taking the girl they loved.

But Alaric stood his ground. "You know what I love best about vampires? It's impossible, even for an original, to enter a house that they will never be invited into." He slammed the door in Klaus' face, not caring if he angered him.

The hybrid immediately started pacing outside the house. When he wants something, he gets it. And he refused to leave town without taking the blood source of his hybrids with him. He saw a newspaper on the porch of the house; quickly he grabbed and threw it at the nearest window. It broke the glass and the shutters as if the meek roll of paper were a bowling ball.

"I think you're probably gonna want to let me in." He yells loud enough so even the humans can hear his threat from outside. The front door slowly opens and Klaus smirks when he spots Elena. She doesn't step outside. Instead, she chooses to remain in the safety of her house. He walks at vampire speed so he's only a foot away from her.

"That's enough, Klaus. You don't have to destroy the house." She mutters.

"Is this you coming with me peacefully?" Klaus asks with his dimple smile, feeling as though he's already won without even trying.

"It feels like it's the only choice I have. After you destroy my house, you'll just start threatening the people I love." Elena predicted darkly.

"You know me too well, Elena."

"Yeah, whatever." She crossed her arms. "There's no way you're gonna let me stay, is there?" She whispers sadly. "Not without you killing the whole town." Klaus tilts his head as he watches her. If this was her pathetic attempt at making him feel guilty and then letting her go, it would never work on him. "Can you at least give me a day?" She asks with him with as much pitifulness as she can muster.

Klaus leans his head forward while his hands are clasped behind his back. "Do you think me a fool, Elena Gilbert?" He reproaches calmly. "You want me to give you a day, for what? So your pathetic friends can try and muster a plan against me that is doomed to fail before it even truly becomes a thought?" He smiles as he reads her scowl. "Let me make myself even more clear. I am not leaving this dreadful town without you. I will give you a day, to simply humor you. But I promise this, there is nothing you or your friends can do that shall stop me from taking you."

He walked down the steps of her porch and turned around to see that Elena was still watching him. "Spend your day wisely." He winked and swore he could see the chills go down her spine. He took a pleasure it terrifying and maddening someone so easily. "Oh, and I'll be wanting those stakes back soon. And don't bother trying to use them against me. I know you're already aware that your friends would die along with me." Klaus smirked as Elena gawked at him. She had no idea that he knew they'd figured out what line they belonged to. "Always underestimating me. It's becoming insulting."

Hayley came storming into the mansion. Elijah was already at the bottom of the stairs as if he had sensed she would walk inside within seconds. She glared at him for just a few seconds, showing that she didn't appreciate his commands. Then she shook her head and slowly walked over to him. Rebekah closed the door and turned to them just in time to see Hayley slowly embrace Elijah. She could pretend that she was mad at him all she wanted but Rebekah could tell she was truly relieved that Elijah was okay.

"Has he come back?" Hayley asked quietly but roughly.

Before Elijah could answer, someone else did. "I'm right here, sweetheart."

Hayley turned to see Klaus had entered the entrance hall with his hands behind his back and his dimpled smirk. It was like he hadn't completely exploded at her. She was starting to have a difficult time dealing with his sudden changes in mood.

Hayley glared at him because of how pleasant he was acting. "Are you taking Elena then?" She practically growled.

"Well, if you must know…Yes, I am." He said just as cheerily.

"Then I guess we're going separate ways." Hayley snapped. "I'm not going anywhere with you if you're bringing your slave prisoner." She retorted harshly. It made Klaus' smirk weaken. Hayley glared at him and moved around Elijah to go up to their room. Their departure should be ready by now. She saw no point in staying further. It was clear that the final battle was approaching. The residents of Mystic Falls wouldn't stand for their precious Elena to be abducted and kept as a blood mule. Hayley didn't care anymore. She couldn't change Klaus. Before this war had started, she convinced herself that Nik was capable of changing for the better. Not she wasn't sure if the person she called her friend had ever truly existed.

Please, please, please review. :)

I always feel like warning readers when the story is coming to a close. So...this is my warning.