Thank you, thank you, thank you. Jeez, some of you really came out of the woodwork. Enjoy ;)

Elijah thought he was dead. He should be dead. But when he opened his eyes, everything was quiet. There was no fire crackly or trees rustling. All was silent. Except for one thing: Hayley's screaming. He glanced up as she stared right at him. Her body shook as tears streamed down her cheeks. She would have fallen from her knees to the ground if it weren't for Klaus holding her against his chest. A sick feeling started in Elijah's gut. He could count on one hand how many times he had seen Hayley cry, most of them were from when she was only a child. But seeing her like this, completely given up and broken while crying over him, he didn't know how much longer he could watch.

Elijah got up to comfort her. But when he got up, he looked down to see that his body still rested motionlessly on the forest floor. Damon kneeled and looked at it with a blank stare. His eyes were back to normal. But his attention on the dead original was short as it quickly saw the other lifeless body in the forest opening.

"It is the in-between, my son." A voice said just a few yards to the side of him.

Elijah's neck quickly turned away from his body and in the voice's direction. He relaxed when he recognized his mother. It had been over a thousand years since he'd been in her presence. But it felt like it had just been yesterday. She gave him a shy smile, unsure of how he would receive her manifestation.

"Mother." He whispered in disbelief. But Hayley's crying brought back his attention. He turned back to her and step by step; he slowly made his way closer.

"She can't see you." Esther tried to say as gently as possible.

Elijah ignored her comment for a few seconds. He kneeled down just a few feet in front of Hayley. She stared right through him to his real body. He thought perhaps he could get her to sense that he was still with her. Elijah shut his eyes, hating himself for leaving her like this.

"Is this where you've always been?" He asked his mother without facing her.

Esther looked down at the ground. She could hear the accusation in his question, even if he didn't mean it. Then he turned to watch her as he waited for her to say something of importance.

"I have been forbidden peace." She muttered.

Instead of feeling sympathy for her, Elijah felt anger. He quickly stood up from Hayley and took a few aggressive steps toward his mother. "And this, this is what you spent your time doing?" He alleged as his hand gestured to Hayley. Esther opened her mouth to defend herself, but she was cut off before she could even begin. "You changed the course of her entire life, for what? So she could be killed? So she could become a vampire?" He practically spat at her.

"My dear son, you have been killed, yet all you care for is reproaching me?" Esther asked him calmly. Then her eyes wandered over to Hayley and her son. "Niklaus will watch over her. He will never leave her side."

It was meant as a reassurance, but all it did was make Elijah angrier. "She deserved better! Our family…we ruined her."

"You were her better!" Esther finally raised her voice as well. "I have seen inside your thoughts, Elijah. I know what curiosities haunt you." She said mystically. Elijah narrowed his eyes, daring her to try him. Esther waved her hand and with it, their entire surroundings changed.

The sun was just starting to set, making the light look even warmer to a vampire. Elijah ignored his mother and glanced around to understand his new setting better. It seemed they were in a backyard. But behind it were tall oak trees that shaded part of the yard. A young boy, no older than 6, ran past Elijah as if he wasn't even standing there. His gaze followed after the young boy.

Elijah's expression immediately dropped when he found the child's destination. The boy had stopped at a picnic table. But Elijah wasn't watching him anymore. His attention was stuck on the woman whose lap the boy sat on: Hayley. But it wasn't his Hayley. She had her hair longer than she ever allowed it. And it pulled back by a headband, something he had never seen her do in real life. She was older, late 20s perhaps. Next to her was a young man Elijah seemed to recognize, but he wasn't sure from where.

"His name is Luke." Esther brought him out of his thoughts. She seemed to have appeared from nowhere. "And you have seen him before. Not in person, of course. But from pictures in her room, stories she told you as a child."

Elijah didn't take his eyes off of this illusory Hayley. "What is this?"

"This is what you think her life would have been had she not met you." Esther stated simply. Then she stared at her eldest son. "But it was never a possibility. Even if I had tried, her life would never have been what you hoped."

"I do not understand." Elijah murmured. "Why? Why could she not have this life? A human life where nothing of our world could ever touch her."

Esther sighed and her hands held together in front of her. "There are certain people in this world who were meant to be intertwined with the supernatural: the doppelgängers, Alaric Saltzman…Hayley. I have seen it too many times. They have beautiful souls. They deserve more. But they get broken anyway. There is no stopping it." She looked up at Elijah, who then finally met her gaze. "This was never a path she was given."

Elijah felt the fabrication coming to a close. He tore his eyes away from his mother's to take one last glance at this different girl. She was laughing with her son. But as her husband talked to their child, she suddenly stopped smiling. She appeared to be sensing something or was in an abrupt and deep thought. Her gaze slowly wandered over to where Elijah and Esther stood. She didn't look at them, but she stared at the air around them with a sad expression. It was almost like she knew she was in some sort of fairytale that could never actually be true.

Then Hayley and her family disappeared.

Elijah bowed his head and closed his eyes. A deep breath escaped as he pinched the bridge of his nose. The false image affected him more than he ever thought it could. He'd imagined something similar so many times. But seeing it in front of him brought on emotions he thought he'd never feel again: jealousy for seeing Hayley living a normal life with a man that was not him, hope for the thought that she could have such a life, and guilt from knowing she never would. And it was all because of him.

When he finally had the courage to raise his head, he wasn't back at the forest clearing. Fluorescents fueled the lighting, the floor he stood on was linoleum tile, and he could even smell the scent of stale coffee and burnt bacon. His mother wasn't watching his reaction. Instead, she was looking straight ahead.

They were standing by a row of booths. And at the other end, sat the only customer in what appeared to be a 24/7 diner. Elijah glanced out the wall of windows. It was obviously late in the nigh, 2 maybe 3 o'clock in the morning.

Elijah walked closer to the customer on the other side. He didn't have to look closely at them; he had immediately recognized her. Hayley sat with her head hung low and hidden underneath a black hood. It caused a small shadow over her face. She had on a black leather jacket and combat boots. It was her normal attire, but these clothes appeared worn out and almost as if they were falling apart.

Her eyes were gloomy and bloodshot. The small amount of red-blonde hair that managed to be seen from underneath the hood didn't look vibrant, like usual. Her nails were painted blood red but half the polish was chipped. Elijah noticed the dirty backpack and duffel bag sitting on the other side of the booth. They seemed to be her only belongings. Her life packed into two small bags.

A waitress came over, interrupting Elijah's observations, and filled the coffee cup that was in front of Hayley. Usually the employee was used to seeing all types of people in the diner that was right off a highway. But something about the young woman made the waitress linger longer than usual at the table.

"Can I get you anything to eat, sweetheart? Something more than coffee?" She asked in a way that made it obvious she was somebody's mother. Her voice had a slight country twang to it.

Hayley blinked a few times as if she was breaking out of some drug fix. She rubbed her eyes roughly with the back of her hand. "Ugh. I'm good. Thanks." Her voice was hoarse and exhausted. The waitress nodded and took a step backward, but stopped to watch Hayley for another moment.

"What's a young, pretty thing like you doing on the road by herself?" She finally made herself give into the curiosity.

Hayley looked up at the waitress for the first time. "If I was washed up and unpleasant, would you be asking me the same question?" She challenged darkly. It was always the same thing at places like these. Every once in awhile, someone would muster up the courage to ask her what the hell she was doing. Sometimes it would be young men…or old men. Sometimes they would think they could take advantage of her. But she was always more than happy to prove they couldn't.

"I guess not." The waitress sighed, flustered by the girl's quick wit. She rushed off, deciding she wouldn't say another word to the girl. Hayley took a sip of the black coffee and then stared straight ahead. It was like she was waiting for something to appear in front of her, something that would give her a purpose.

"Your mind was vaguely tainted." Esther commented. She spoke of the difference between what he had always thought her life would be without him to the scene in front of him that was the truth.

Elijah didn't have to look to know it was his mother. "That is putting it frivolously." He muttered. "How did this even begin?" He questioned with disbelief.

"She had nothing to stay for, so she searched for a reason. But she did not apprehend that she would not be able to find what was needed." Esther hummed. A strange smirk started on her lips as she watched her son in the corner of her eye as he stared at Hayley. "She is looking for you…perhaps you could say Niklaus as well. She simply does not know it." This caused Elijah to finally look at his mother. The words were too close to what he had recently told Hayley. His gaze narrowed. Had she heard him say that to Hayley? Was she using it to mock him now? But Esther was serious, hoping it would prove her point to him.

The scene around him started to have a pulse. It would dim and brighten as it beat in the air around him. It almost felt like static on an old television. Elijah was growing more and more frustrated. The only thing keeping him calm was the thought of crossing over and ridding himself of his mother's paranormal torment. But what if he couldn't cross over? What if he would receive the same punishment as his mother? All his talk of morals and he had still murdered hundreds. How could he have ever believed he deserved peace after the things he did? Elijah covered his eyes with the palm of his hand. He was done.

"Patience, my son. There is one more thing you must see." Esther's mouth whispered into his ear. It caused a shiver to go up his spine. He quickly removed his hand and was hit with another setting. They were on a mound and nothing but green hills could be seen. Clouds and blue sky were above them. It was too bright and colorful to be reality.

Elijah spun around, wanting to find her as quickly as possible so he could get it over with. But when he turned around, instead of seeing Hayley. There was a little girl looking right up at him. She was even younger than the boy from the first apparition, hardly even 4 years old.

Elijah was speechless as he observed the similarities. The little girl had chocolate brown hair identical to his. It stopped just as it brushed her shoulders. But her cheekbone, her lips, everything about her face was almost identical to someone else. Then he stared at her eyes. They were blue-green just like the ocean on a day filled with overcast. She smiled up at Elijah as if she knew that he had put it together. But the little girl didn't speak to him.

Something possessed Elijah to kneel down to one knee so the girl could look him right in the eye instead of tilting her neck so far back. His forearm rested on his knee as he leaned forward just the slightest bit.

"Your most secreted reveries, Elijah." Esther spoke quietly from a few feet behind her son. "Your daughter." The witch tilted her head as she watched Elijah ignore her statements and continue to stare at the girl in front of him. The small smirk that had been on the little girl's lips slowly turned into the saddest frown a child could ever bear. There was awareness or knowledge in her eyes that made Elijah believe she knew none of this was real.

Without speaking, she moved forward and wrapped her arms around Elijah's neck. It was the only part of his body that her skinny arms could hold on to. He immediately placed his hands on her back as if it was instinct. Elijah shut his eyes and a single tear slid down his check as he felt her heart beating fast against his.

When he opened his eyes, another individual was in his view. His breathing faltered as Hayley looked right at him. She was barefoot and wearing a white, lace dress that stopped just above her knees. Her blonde-red hair fluttered around her face from a breeze that only seemed to be around her. She had on the smallest grin as she watched their child being held by him.

More tears escaped down Elijah's cheeks. Then his unborn child let go of him and kissed him on the cheek. Without waiting for a response, she turned and ran toward her mother who smiled welcomingly. Hayley kneeled down and spoke to her daughter, but Elijah could not hear what she said.

Elijah slowly stood up as they both brought their attention back to him. Hayley held on to the girl's hand. "Stop it! Just stop! What is the point of any of this?" Elijah shouted at his mother. He'd turned his back on them as he roared at his her. "Why must you torment me with these imaginings?"

Esther wasn't wearing her usual mysterious grin. Her expression was serious and she even flinched as her son spat his anger at her. "I wish for you to truly understand what I did for her. I desire your forgiveness. And I believed if I showed you the truth, you would be able to absolve me."

Elijah took a step toward his mother even though his heart was dying to go and join Hayley and their daughter. "By mocking me with my deepest desire? That is how you will achieve my forgiveness and understanding?" He ridiculed.

"You were always the most human of my children, Elijah. I never realized how similar yours and Rebekah's wishes were until recently. After a millennium of being one of the most powerful creatures in the world, what you wanted most was to be human with the woman you love."

Without meaning to, he glanced at the two again. It caused the next words to come out just faintly. "It was a foolish dream." His head hung low. Then he heard his name being called. But it wasn't from his mother. Elijah quickly looked up to see Hayley motioning for him to come to them.

"Is this some sort of bliss? Can I stay with them?" He whispered to Esther.

"No." She immediately replied roughly. "You cannot go to her. It will disappear the moment you believe it is real."

Hayley's face dropped into wretchedness as she slowly realized he wouldn't come to her. She walked backwards as her eyes stared into Elijah's with sadness. Then she grabbed her daughter's hand and they ran away.

Esther came up behind her eldest son and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Her mouth moved right next to his ear. "When you are with her, it shall be without guilt or wonder of a better life for her."

Elijah finally glared at his mother. "What use is there to proving to me that we belonged together?" He growled at her. "I am gone! There is nothing left for us! She has an eternity without me!"

"I hope you think better of your mother. Tell Niklaus I loved him. Perhaps he will believe it this time if you say it instead of Hayley."

Elijah's glare lightened slightly. "I do not understand."

Hayley's eyes had run out of tears. Her cheeks and neck were wet while her body was limp. The others had vanished, Damon carried his best friend and Stefan carried the girl they loved. Both were dead from separate originals. Klaus would never had let the key to his hybrids be killed had the situation been controlled. But he was blinded by rage at someone trying to hurt the people he loved.

"Hayley," Klaus started to whisper. But he didn't know if he had the courage to tell her they had to go. "Hayley, we need to leave town." He tried to lower the urgency of the situation.

"I'm not going anywhere." She muttered.

"Hayley," Klaus pressed.

"I said I'm not going anywhere!" She then yelled.

Klaus then let go of her and stood up. He moved in front of her so he blocked her view of Elijah's body. "I am not leaving this god forsaken town without you. And I will make sure of it whether it's by throwing you over my shoulders or compelling you. Don't make this any harder and come with me peacefully." Hayley seemed to be looking right through him, at Elijah's body. She wanted to go to him. But she knew Klaus wouldn't let her get even an inch closer.

Klaus leaned in front of her, forcing eye contact. "You are my friend, Hayley. And you are coming with me whether you choose to or not."

She glared daggers at him. Her eyelashes were still wet from her crying. "Friend?" The word practically hissed. "Is this-all this," She started yelling at she gestured toward the destruction around them. The smell of burnt flesh and blood filled her nostrils still. "That's what it took for you to choose us!"

Klaus looked at the ground with shame from her observation. His jaw tightened in anger to hide it. He was too proud to admit his mistake. That was a matter they needed to deal with later. There was no telling if any witches would regain their courage and come up with another plan before they left.

"Your brother is dead!" Hayley shouted at him. "He is dead because he came back for you, even after you rejected him and the rest of us!" She stood up straighter. Her anger could no longer be expressed while she hung with hopelessly.

"I hate you." She whispered to him. And as expressionless as Klaus' face was, her words broke his heart.

"Careful, child. Do not speak words of malice during such grief-stricken times." The voice was so calm and melodic. Both vampires immediately turned to see a stranger standing right over Elijah's body. Klaus, despite the harmful words shot at him, stood protectively in between Hayley and the witch. He didn't recognize her. But Hayley did, although she hadn't seen Genevieve earlier like Elijah.

"How many more of you do I have to kill to prove that you have no chance against me?" Klaus growled at the redheaded witch.

"Why didn't you warn me? What was the point of telling me they were connected if you and your kind planned to kill us all along?" Hayley accused her loudly. None of it made sense. She knew Hayley would tell the originals and they would find away to separate themselves. Wouldn't it have just been easier to kill them if Genevieve had never revealed Bonnie's secret spell?

"You of all people should understand that we do not always agree with our family." The witch hummed calmly. "I may have been present for their attempted massacre. But I never agreed with coming out of hiding and exposing our line." She pointed to the corpses of her two elders. "It only brought us the suffering we always meant to escape."

"Speak your reason for being here before I lose my patience and turn you." Klaus said with a tilt of his head.

Genevieve ignored him and stared at Hayley. "I was the witch who told Elijah of the prophecy. It was through me that he first laid eyes on you." Then her hidden smile went away. It was strange to see her without it. "At first, I felt responsible for bestowing his path toward you. But she quickly showed me what your life would have become had I not."

"Who showed you?" Hayley asked quickly. Just for a moment, her anger had been replaced with curiosity.

"I owe a debt to her." Genevieve didn't answer the young vampire's question. "I almost died as a young child. I crossed over to a world that is neither here nor the hereafter. It is the place that many witches are forced to forever exist, never truly resting or finding peace. She pushed me back to the mortal world. She saved me and promised that she would never let me get stuck there again."

Klaus glanced at Hayley who took a step forward from behind his protective stance. Her eyes were mesmerized by what the witch was saying.

"I thought my debt was repaid the day I helped Elijah find the brother he wished to destroy." Genevieve's eyes flickered to the hybrid and then back at Hayley. "But it was just the beginning." Hayley squinted at the witch, not fully understanding what she was trying to tell her. Genevieve gave a small and wicked smile. "Come, child." She gestured. "I need your blood."

Klaus immediately intervened. Before Hayley could even take a step toward the witch, he had raced for her and grabbed Genevieve by the throat. "Do you think me a fool to overlook what you are truly trying to do?" He snarled.

"Nik! Let her go!" Hayley yelled angrily. "If she wanted to kill all vampires, why would she have tipped me about all of you being linked?"

Klaus stopped glaring down at Genevieve and glanced at Hayley. "To gain our trust obviously, so she could finish what her family started while we were caught off guard." He turned his attention back to the witch and his clutch around her neck tightened. Then his head felt as if it were bursting. His teeth clenched together as he had no choice but to loosen his grip. The pain stopped as soon as he let go.

"Your inability to trust others will be the death of you." Genevieve said calmly, as if she hadn't just been nearly choked to death by the hybrid. She looked around him, at Hayley, waiting for her to come over. Hayley slowly walked toward Genevieve and tried with all of her might not to look down at Elijah's body.

In all honesty, she didn't know what Genevieve planned to do with her blood. A part of her agreed with Klaus. But that was the part that also motivated her to do what the witch asked. If she just wanted to kill her, then she'd let her.

Once she had made it to them, Klaus stepped back with loathing. Both young women ignored him. "Your hand." Genevieve advocated. That's when Hayley finally looked down at Elijah. As she stared at his seared and numb body, her hand shook while it reached out. It suddenly felt even more real than before.

Genevieve brought up a knife that glinted in the moonlight. Klaus started forward. "Stay where you are hybrid. You are well aware I can end you on my own." The witch warned. Hayley ignored the small tryst. Her eyes were glued to Elijah. She didn't even feel the knife go across her entire palm. Klaus watched in anger as Genevieve opened up a skinny glass tube that was already half way filled with other blood. She gently turned Hayley's palm so her blood dripped into the tube. She didn't stop until it filled to the tip, threatening to overflow.

Hayley finally tore her eyes away from Elijah and stared at the container of blood. Question lingered throughout her expression. But she didn't even care to ask. Genevieve stared at her seriously. "You must do precisely what I say." Hayley nodded blankly, not seeing the point in disagreeing.

Genevieve kneeled down next to Elijah's body and looked up at her, waiting for her to follow without instruction. Hayley slowly kneeled, but quivered as she was forced to gaze at Elijah's corpse again. Genevieve grabbed Hayley's hand once again and placed it over Elijah's heart. There should have been a thumping there. But it was still. The only movement was Hayley's trembling hand.

Genevieve almost looked sympathetic, as she perceived Hayley's tortured and desolate face. "Close your eyes." The witch whispered to her.

Klaus watched in anger as Hayley did everything she was told. As soon as her eyes were closed, Genevieve opened Elijah's body and poured the flask down his throat. Klaus wanted to rip her apart for defiling his brother's body and making Hayley a part of it. But something stopped him.

Hayley had ragged breathing as she listened to the witch mutter things she could not understand. She felt like she was going to break down any second. She just wanted to give up completely.

A wind suddenly picked up and was spiraling around her, causing her hair to flutter around her face. Then it stopped abruptly. "Open your eyes." Genevieve whispered. Her voice sounded strained and exhausted. Hayley didn't know how much time had passed and she didn't care. But hser eyelids slowly lifted.

Hopefully that didn't get too trippy for you guys.

So, tomorrow is going to be a horrible day. And I would love if I had reviews to make it more bearable.

Please and thank you.