Chapter Twenty: In Her We Trust
"Fuck!"
The sharp exclamation echoed through the quiet hallways of the Abattoir.
Standing in the middle of a guest room, fists clenched and trembling, Hayley snarled her rage.
The room was Tyler's, and it was empty, save for the lingering scent of the young Hybrid and the Hunters. But there was something else… something very faint…
Hayley's hand shot up, signalling for silence when Klaus and Marcel caught up with her. The two men exchanged a look while she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.
The scent burned her nostrils as she focused in on it, and she recognized it immediately.
Hayley turned quickly. "Wolfsbane," she said. "That must've been how they took down Tyler, and Eve and Mason."
Marcel shot Klaus a raised brow look. "You said wolfsbane doesn't have the same effect on you like it does werewolves."
"No," Klaus said, frowning. "But mixed with vervain, perhaps it would be enough…"
"How would they have take down your siblings?" Hayley asked.
Klaus' expression shifted into a dangerous snarl. "There's only one thing that could do that. Blades that put them in-,"
"A coma like state," Hayley finished, suddenly remembering what Thierry had told her the night of the party.
"Precisely," Klaus said, brows pushing together. "How did you know that?"
"That doesn't matter right now," Hayley said impatiently, shaking her head. "We need to get them back."
"I doubt the Hunters will just hand them over," Marcel pointed out.
"No, they'll want to trade," Klaus realized. "My life for theirs."
Hayley felt a familiar chill go down her spine.
Ooo0ooO
Tyler sat on the cold floor of the basement, eyeing the blonde werewolf sitting next to him.
She sat with her legs crisscrossed in front of her, with her hands resting on her knees, palms up. Her eyes were closed, and she looked oddly serene despite being caked in dried mud and covered in slowly healing bruises.
On the other side of the room sat the vampires. They all leaned against the brick wall, legs stretched out in front of them.
Rebekah looked ruffled and very displeased, her blue eyes locked on the door.
Kol stared at the ceiling, wishing that he had gotten some blood earlier instead of lounging in his rooms. His crash was bad, despite the supernatural healing, and hunger was never a good factor to add on.
And then there was Elijah, who looked nearly as calm as Eve, his eyes turned towards the dirty window that barely showed the sky outside.
Mason had his head lowered, concentrating on healing, keeping himself calm and aware to every noise from the house above.
There was a creak before the door opened slowly. At the doorway stood the black haired Hunter, whose smirk made Rebekah's hands curl into claws unconsciously.
"Well, looks like everyone is awake," the Hunter said, eyeing them all.
Mason's head lifted, his eyes bleeding gold. He growled.
"Shh, doggy," the Hunter scolded as he walked down the stairs. "No growling or I'll tighten your collar."
Eve and Mason were tied with wolfsbane soaked ropes and silver chains, while the Originals were tied with vervain soaked ropes.
The Hunter walked over to the vampires, twirling a piece of silver in his fingers. "Time to go back to sleep," he told them before staking them once more.
Tyler thrashed against his restraints. "You son of a bitch!"
The Hunter glanced at the young Hybrid. "What, is this your girlfriend?" he asked, toeing Rebekah's boot. When Tyler just glared, he tried again, shifting his foot to Kol. "Boyfriend?"
Tyler snarled. "Like hell! Klaus will know we're missing. So will Hayley."
"So you discovered the master plan," the Hunter gasped dramatically. "Boy, and I thought you were all brawn, no… well." His teeth flashed in a grin.
"He won't give himself up," Mason growled. "You'll just kill us then kill him."
"Oh I don't know, doggy. Rumor has it his lady friend is making him… weak."
Eve opened her eyes, pale blue like the Hunter's. "Only fools would confuse love with weakness."
The room filled with the Hunter's sarcastic, biting laughter.
"As if that monster could feel love," the Hunter chuckled, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.
The old wolf merely smiled slowly. "I suppose we'll see who's laughing in the end, won't we?"
The Hunter waved her off, still chuckling. "Sure, lady. I'll laugh when you're all dead."
Eve just hummed in reply, closing her eyes again.
The Hunter sneered at her before stalking out of the room. "Crazy bitch."
Ooo0ooO
Jackson was waiting for her outside the Abattoir, like she instructed. The moment he had appeared with his news, she told him to stay and when his gaze shifted towards the doors leading indoors, Hayley had snarled, standing defensively in between him and where Klaus was, eyes gold and cold.
His curls were ruffled in the cold breeze, too long, and Hayley briefly wondered why she had adored them at first. They weren't, after all, gold and soft to the touch…
Hayley cleared her throat, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
Jackson glanced over her shoulder and immediately growled at the sight of Klaus and Marcel. "What are they doing here?"
"They are here for the same reason you are, mate," Klaus replied coolly.
Jackson looked at Hayley with wide eyes. "Hayley, you can't be serious."
Hayley's eyes flashed again. "The Hunters took his siblings. So we are going to work together and if I hear any animosity, your face will be introduced to my fist, got it?" She glared at the three men equally.
"Yes, ma'am," Klaus said with a mischievous grin.
"Yeah whatever, wolf girl," Marcel said, rolling his eyes.
When Jackson didn't say anything, Hayley rounded on him. His gaze immediately lowered submissively. "Yes, Alpha," he muttered, ignoring the other two when they snickered.
With a final glare, Hayley stretched her arms towards the ground and shifted into her wolf form. Klaus quickly followed while Jackson and Marcel stayed on two feet, eyeing each other warily.
Hayley snapped at Klaus when he tried to nuzzle her shoulder, her golden eyes narrowed dangerously. Focus, they seemed to say.
With a snicker, Klaus stepped back, allowing her to take lead before following her closely as she took off after the lingering scent trail.
The timber wolf took in the scents all around her; the smells of the Quarter, the nearby rose garden, the forest hugging the town… and there, a sort of musk, like firewood and something ancient.
Hunters.
The gray wolf stood next to her, scenting the air as well. He turned his molten gaze towards the Alpha, the hair along his back stiff and raised.
Hayley growled in response, eyes flashing. Her gaze swept over the town as they dashed through it, her instincts pushing her deeper into the oldest parts.
A muffled noise made her stop in her tracks. Klaus nearly ran into her, and Jackson and Marcel were blurs before they caught up.
Hayley listened closely, ears tilted forward, her entire body stiff yet vibrating with a sort of anxious energy.
There! she thought. It was faint, but distinct.
Klaus heard it too and immediately bared his teeth, snarling viciously, hackles raised.
It was the muffled sound of someone being hurt, and from the high sound, it sounded an awful lot like…
Ooo0ooO
Another scream ripped up Rebekah's throat, which was muffled by the gag in her mouth. Her eyes were red and black, spidery veins crawling down her face as her true face showed itself as she glared at the Hunter of her.
The Hunter, Damon, smirked at the expression. He lifted the dagger he had taken from her chest only minutes ago, before he dipped it in a thick paste that smelled strongly of vervain and other poisons.
The other Originals were still incapacitated, unaware of what was happening to their sister. The wolves and Tyler, on the other hand…
Mason threw himself against his restraints, his own eyes gold, teeth bared and sharp. "Don't touch her!"
Damon laughed. "Awfully defensive of a vampire that'd sooner kill you than thank you for sticking up for her."
"This isn't right!" Tyler yelled. "You got what you want, you don't have to hurt her!"
"Actually, little Hybrid, we don't have what we want. And until we do, well…"
The Hunter turned in a flash, digging the blade into Rebekah's abdomen again, making her shriek.
Ooo0ooO
Hayley had to block Klaus from tearing open the house to get to his screaming sister. Her eyes remained gold, but they now stood in their human forms once more.
"If we barge in now, we're all dead!" she hissed.
"They're laying hands on my sister-,"
"Klaus, I know!" Hayley pressed her hands against his chest. "I know," she repeated softly. "But please trust me on this."
Klaus' eyes flashed to hers, gold and blue, churning with rage and something else. He inhaled, releasing his breath in a shaky sigh. "What's the plan, little wolf?"
Hayley turned towards Marcel. "How long can you two distract them?"
"Wait, I'm not working with-,"
Hayley growled, cutting off the vampire's protests. "Unless you want to help Rebekah, you'll do as I say!" she snapped.
Marcel looked like he was ready to argue, but when Rebekah cried out again, his expression fell. Lip curling, he looked at Jackson. "Follow me lead, wolf boy."
"My name is Jackson," the werewolf growled under his breath before following the vampire.
Hayley looked at Klaus again. "You're with me, Hybrid boy," she said on a smirk.
Klaus' lips twitched. "After you, little wolf."
Suddenly, the air seemed to ripple, making them both freeze. Hayley's eyes widened slightly when she saw who was approaching them.
The witch Sophie grinned. "Did you really think I was going to let you have all the fun, wolf girl?"
"Sophie," Hayley exhaled with disbelief. "What the hell-?"
"Later," the witch said with a wave of her hand. "Let's kick some Hunter ass, shall we?"
Cautious looks were exchanged between the witch and Klaus, each silently calling a truce… for now.
They turned to follow Hayley, who was now creeping along the side of the house. Hayley paused when she saw a small window that seemed to look down into a basement.
She crouched down, wiping at the dirty glass. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw what was- or rather who was - inside.
Then there was a shout, and Marcel flashed over to her. "Hunters, hot on our tail."
Hayley turned her gaze towards Sophie, who nodded. "Go," the witch said. "I'll do what I can."
"Stay with her," Hayley told Marcel, then reached out to take Klaus' hand in her own.
They came around the front, where Jackson was attacking a female Hunter while in his wolf form.
Hayley and Klaus flashed by, dodging the slew of arrows that came raining down from above. Hayley barely had time to look up to see another Hunter shooting from the staircase, their bow aimed directly at Klaus.
"No!"
Klaus saw a blur of movement, then a soft, tearing sound followed by a small gasp.
Hayley looked down, towards the arrow now embedded in her shoulder, inches away from her heart.
Her vision wavered for a moment, before she reached up and ripped the arrow free. She snarled at the pain, then turned her gaze back towards the Hunter, eyes bleeding gold.
In a flash, she threw the arrow to the ground and was up the stairs, throwing the Hunter over onto the foyer below.
Klaus snarled, ready to rip them apart.
"No!" Hayley cried again, before reappearing in front of him. "He's knocked out. No unnecessary kills."
Klaus seemed to war with himself before giving her a tense nod.
Hayley winced when she turned sharply, pain radiating from her shoulder. She dashed for the basement door, ripping it open and off its hinges.
A pair of hands grabbed her, pulling her back, just in time for a throwing knife to miss her by mere centimeters before burying itself into the wall next to her face.
Hayley exhaled, then leapt into the room, shifting in midair, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. She snarled at the black haired Hunter, her gaze venomous when she saw her pack mates tied up, along with the vampires.
Klaus stepped into the room, much more calmly than Hayley had. He remained in his human form, but his eyes flashed gold when the light caught them.
"So, you're the King," the Hunter sneered.
"I don't believe we have had the pleasure," Klaus said. "I'm Klaus. That's Hayley-" he gestured towards the snarling timber wolf, "And we'd very much like our friends back."
Ooo0ooO
Hayley lunged forward, sinking her teeth into the Hunter's forearm, feeling victorious when she tasted blood.
There was a crash somewhere, and a shout, but her gaze had clouded over with red and she kept tearing at the Hunter.
There was a voice, and it might have been yelling her name, but it seemed dim, far away.
Something grabbed her then, and only then did her gaze shifted elsewhere. Somehow, the Originals were now free from their restraints and the daggers that had been piercing their chests. And on the other side of the room, the wolves watched her with anxious eyes.
Klaus looked down at her. "No unnecessary kills," he reminded her.
Hayley looked back at the Hunter in front of her, who was clearly unconscious and bleeding heavily. She stepped back quickly, then shifted. She wiped the blood off her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Come on," someone said. "We only have a few minutes before the spell wears off."
Hayley stayed rooted to the spot, unable to tear her gaze away from the Hunter in front of her.
"Hayley," Klaus murmured, reaching out to touch her chin. "Time to go, love."
She blinked. Blindly, she reached for his hand, then sighed when he took it, linking their fingers together.
"Come on," he said gently, pulling her away from the Hunter, then that old house.
Hayley didn't realize she was holding her breath until they got to the Abattoir, and it came out on a shaky exhale.
Ooo0ooO
Klaus took Hayley upstairs, along with the others. He ordered some of his witches to tend to their wounds before pulling Hayley into her room.
Hayley hissed when he gently brushed a thumb over the wound on her shoulder. She looked down and saw she had bled through her shirt.
"We better get that cleaned," Klaus said.
Hayley nodded, walking into the bathroom. She peeled off the shirt, throwing it into the wastebasket. She eyed the wound in the mirror, wincing when she saw how bad it was.
The wound itself was fairly small, but it was surrounded by blackened skin, as if she had been burned. The arrow, as she recalled, had been made of silver, which would explain that.
"Here."
Hayley glanced over her shoulder and saw Klaus was holding a few clean towels and a bowl of hot water, with some medicine.
She sat down on the chair in front of a vanity mirror, eyeing him with a small smile. "Are you my nurse now?"
Klaus chuckled, kneeling down to gently wipe the blood from the wound with a towel and warm water. Once he cleaned it, he dabbed some medicine on it, which he assured Hayley was from the witches and would help the healing process. He then bandaged it up to keep it dry and clean.
"There, you're as good as new," he said, sounding pleased.
"Thank you," Hayley said softly.
Klaus met her gaze, smiling in return. "It's no trouble, little wolf."
Hayley smiled warmly, then leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. But quickly the innocent kiss turned into something more heated and passionate…
Hayley found herself now in Klaus' lap, arms wrapped around his shoulders, her tongue battling with his for dominance. Her hips tilted against his, moaning when they came into contact with his erection.
"Klaus," she moaned, fingers digging into his skin.
Klaus pulled away, eyes burning. "Hayley… You're hurt."
"Make me feel better," she whispered against his lips, rolling her hips against his once more.
With a snarl, Klaus took her into his arms, carrying her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.
Ooo0ooO
Disclaimer: I do not own the Originals.
Author's Note: Everyone likes a good cliffhanger, right?
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