When Sophie made her way out of the pool, Caroline stepped in front of the staircase. The woman looked up at her.
"I know you were just using her to protect your people. But try it again? And I'll kill you myself." Caroline said.
Klaus hung up the phone while Caroline was lost in her thoughts. She had actually threatened someone she barely knew over babies she hadn't met yet. She put her fingers to her mouth in surprise.
"I assume that you hadn't told Damon and Elena I was accompanying you to the Bennett witches' funeral." Klaus prompted with a smirk. She gave him a look.
"Obviously not. But when we get there, I'm not letting you out of my sight. No hope or dream crushing, Charles Dickens." She ordered. Klaus chuckled and smiled ahead.
"Don't worry, love. I'll behave myself." He assured her. "For you." He knew she'd give him a look for that, and pretended to ignore it.
They were very late to the funeral. There wasn't any structure to this, not anything like she'd envisioned for Bonnie. Bonnie deserved better.
"We have to stay for longer so I can give her the send-off she should have." Caroline told him as they readied in black clothing.
"We haven't the time."
"Sure we do. Hayley's just fine now, the babies are safe, everything's calmed down." She reasoned. Klaus sighed.
"No. No they haven't, love." He said. Caroline stared at him.
"What have you been hiding?" She accused, venom dripping from her words suddenly.
"Hayley is missing." Klaus replied. Caroline stared at him wide-eyed. "Elijah went to check on her and found no trace."
"Well could she just be with Rebekah?"
"Rebekah left town the moment the link was broken, there was no place safe for Hayley to venture."
Caroline groaned and held her head.
"Dammit." She threw her hands down. "We, we have to go back right now." Klaus shook his head. "Right now! She could be in more danger than she was before!" Caroline exclaimed.
"Your friend Bonnie needs you here and now, Caroline." He replied calmly, taking a step to her. She huffed. "Give her some modicum of a sendoff, perhaps this could just be a small ceremony to hold you over until you have the time to plan a proper funeral. Then, when Hayley and the twins are properly safe, we can come back and do this right."
Caroline crossed her arms, thinking. She hated it when he was right. She had no time to make up for the bad planning now. And spending as little time around Damon as possible would be a plus. Hayley wasn't accounted for. But Bonnie had died.
"Fine." Caroline said in a firm voice. Klaus smiled at her softly. "A tide-over funeral, until Bonnie gets the black hearse and Kentucky derby flowers she deserves."
The ceremony was going to take place in the middle of the forest, a makeshift altar made of a long ago cut tree trunk. Just Bonnie's picture was propped there. Just her smile staring back at them. As Caroline started for the line of trees they needed to cross, Elena put a hand up.
"Wait, Caroline. Why did you bring Klaus with?" She asked. Damon quickly came to her side.
"Because he's my ride back." Caroline replied. "And it'd be better if he stayed with me so he wouldn't have the opportunity to go off on a killing spree."
Elena nodded to herself and looked at Damon, who shrugged.
"Klaus does seem to do whatever you want him to." He offered, then looked at Elena. "Also, if Klaus decided to kill someone, Caroline's a good shield so we can get away."
"I'd be careful with those kind of jokes, mate." Klaus replied, coming to Caroline side as she glared at Damon. "Who knows what I'd take seriously."
"You going to keep your murdery hands to yourself while you're here?" Damon asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Klaus smirked.
"Trust me. If there's anyone I wanted to kill, you'd be the first to know." Klaus seethed.
"This isn't the time to be making threats, Klaus." Caroline hissed at him. He noticed the tears in her eyes and tried to make an apology, but no words came out. He just blinked and his face softened.
"This is Bonnie's funeral. Let's go say goodbye." Elena added. She held up a small crystal bowl that Caroline just noticed she had been holding the entire time, filled with white feathers. Matt handed her Bonnie's cheerleading pom-pom.
Somberly, they headed to the clearing where Jeremy was waiting for them.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and all those in-between." Marcel's voice boomed over the balcony, taking everyone's attention. "Welcome to Fight Night!" The people applauded, throwing fists in the air. Josh clapped awkwardly. "First rule of Fight Night..."
"We don't talk about Fight Night?" Josh quipped silently, hoping for a smile. All he earned was annoyed looks.
"The vampire left standing at the end of the night is one step closer to the inner circle, and a daylight ring!" The audience murmured, pointing like tourists and smiling. "If you can impress me, you too can enjoy the warmth of sun on your face." Marcel continued, pretending to lift his face to an imaginary heat. "All you gotta do is kick a little ass." He finished with a huge grin.
Josh looked away. He was such an out-doorsy person when he was human. To the point he got way more than his fair share of sunburns. No doubt that was a one-way ticket to skin cancer but now, he was immune to that stuff. And he really wanted to cook in the sun again. But he was no fighter.
The crowd made a circle in the middle of the floor, wondering what the next step was. Some were obviously not ready to fight, just there to watch for the moment. Maybe Josh could hide behind them.
"Our first two contenders," Marcel introduced. A smiling, aging asian woman in a sports bra and legging walked to the middle of the circle, holding out a fist to the crowd. "Felicia and Otto!"
Otto came out. The man looked like a friggin body builder that took his tips from Arnonld Schwartzenegger. He looked down at the woman with a condescending stare, flexing his muscles. Did he grow a couple of inches in those muscles alone?!
And yet, even though the body builder threw a surprise backhand at the woman, she took him down easily with her thighs snapping his neck. Marcel laughed at the man's arrogance and nodded to the woman.
"Damn girl, not bad!" He cheered. Felicia curtsied to him and suddenly Elijah appeared behind her. Felicia jumped, and the Original merely nodded at her. Rebekah stood at the corridor of the fight club.
The crowd went silent, and for a moment Rebekah knew Felicia was considering fighting Elijah. No doubt the woman thought knocking an Original out was a one-way ticket to a daylight ring, no matter if she could fight off all the other newbie vampires. So Rebekah made quick work of her. Marcel stared back with annoyance.
"Good evening." Elijah greeted in amusement. "We'd like a word."
"What do you two think you're doing?" Marcel angrily responded.
"It appears we've interrupted some amateurs." Rebekah said. "How sweet." They had rousted the witch community trying to hunt down anyone that saw Hayley, on top of looking for Agnes. The witches had convinced them Hayley wasn't there. Marcel was the only other option.
"Where is the girl?" Elijah asked.
"I don't know who you mean." Marcel replied.
"Give her to us or we'll kill everyone here." Rebekah added, crossing her arms.
"You two got a lot of nerve coming into my house and making demands." Marcel said with a smile. "I assume you're talking about Hayley?"
Elijah and Rebekah remained mute, staring up at him.
"Yay high," Marcel lifted a hand to his ear "dark hair, bitchy attitude. Who is she anyway?"
"A dear old acquaintance." Rebekah replied smartly.
"Well I don't have her. And before you start whining, I did pay her a little visit last night." Marcel replied. "I was feeling nostalgic." He shrugged and looked out at the crowd. "So I went back to the plantation, where I had been born a slave." His voice raised. "And imagine my surprise, when I realized that the family of original vampires had taken up residence." Elijah crossed his arms with a smirk, impressed. He saw several black fighters around the place, their faces had already dropped from excited to worried when they'd arrived. But now it was unbridled anger. And they weren't the only ones. "Your girl Hayley answered the door."
"That place isn't the same as you left it, Marcellus." Rebekah protested. "We raised the original building to the ground."
"And yet you still live there." Marcel replied. Rebekah pursed her lips and didn't push. "Hayley and I exchanged hellos and that was it."
"And we are supposed to believe you?" Elijah asked.
"Frankly, I don't care if you believe me. You can look around if you need to. Hell, I'll even help you find her. But the question I'd ask is, if Hayley isn't here...where is she?"
Elena led the way to the trunk, tears already pouring down her face. She clutched at the bowl thinking it would stop her shuddering. Instead she felt a crack under her palm and she turned her emotions to her stomach, breathing hard. But knowing Damon was there helped her.
As she came to the trunk, there was a large lilac bush, the branches obscuring her vision. She brushed it aside.
Matt came around the other side of the tree, with Caroline and Klaus. Klaus held Caroline's arm as she began to lose her composure, and she let him do so. Matt stole looks at Klaus, both bitter and sad. Klaus ignored him.
Jeremy stood before them, and put a handheld bell down in-between the objects already on the altar. Caroline looked at the placement of them, and tried to move to put the pom-pom down, but stopped short. Klaus watched her, and gently pushed her to take a step. Shakily, she did so. Putting the pom-pom down, she quickly walked back. Klaus took her shoulder in one hand and she leaned into him. He tried to ignore the harsh intake of breath he took at her closeness. Instead, he kissed the top of her head and tightened his grip on her.
It was Matt's turn. He walked up and ceremoniously put the coach whistle down by the pom-pom. He looked at Jeremy, who stared back without a reaction. Then Matt turned and stood by Klaus and Caroline again.
Elena's turn. She slowly walked up to the altar, holding the bowl and took a pink of the feathers out, letting them drift softly down in the air. She couldn't take it anymore. Elena put the bowl down and rushed back. Caroline opened her arms to Elena and Klaus reluctantly let her go, the girls hugged one another tightly and cried.
Damon looked back at Elena, wishing he could've been the one to hold her. But he walked up, Bonnie's grimoire in his hand, and set it down, nodding to Jeremy. He walked back to his place as Elena and Caroline continued sobbing together.
Jeremy stared at them. Caroline and Elena broke apart only a little to face him.
"It's okay." Bonnie said from behind him. "They need this." Jeremy looked back at her. "I, need this."
Jeremy picked up the bell and glanced at them all.
"We ring this bell, in honor of Bonnie." Jeremy stated. Matt's eyes filled with tears. "In remembrance for her." Caroline and Elena's faces were streaked with tears. Damon cleared his throat to try and keep his own tears from falling. He didn't much care for the witch, but she was Elena's family. If there were a way to bring her back, he'd take it.
Jeremy rung the bell, then put it down before the chiming ended.
Damon and the others stared back at Jeremy, the silence hanging in the air.
"I'm not sure what else to say." Jeremy admitted.
"I am." Bonnie said. "Say that I'm not going anywhere." Jeremy looked back at her. "Say that even though they couldn't save me, I've been there the whole time."
Jeremy relayed the message, hope and excitement filling Caroline and Elena's eyes.
"I've watched you have the summer of your life." Bonnie said, appearing by Elena. "And I saw you happy." Elena and Caroline smiled together. "And I know you think now, that you can't have a normal life. That you have to be here for everyone. But you don't. Everyone will find their way. So you are gonna repack your things, you're gonna go back to college, and you're gonna live it up." Elena smiled again as she let out another couple of shuddering sobs.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Matt." Bonnie said, appearing beside him. "You know, I would've sent you three hundred emails back if I could." She joked, Matt softly laughed, turning red at how hard he was trying to keep the tears from falling. "I miss you."
"Caroline." Jeremy said. Caroline inhaled sharply. Klaus looked at her. "I watched you take care of Hayley better than anyone else could have. You shouldn't be scared of Elijah. Take a chance. I know that college isn't everything you expected and it's hard to juggle what you're doing. But you're doing great."
Bonnie went back to Jeremy's side as Elena reached for Damon and Klaus took Caroline in his arms. Caroline hesitantly looked up at Klaus as she let him hold her. Even as tears streaked her face, ruining her makeup, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She sniffed and looked away.
"This is good." Bonnie said, nodding to herself. "This is all I wanted." Jeremy heard the tears fill in her eyes again. Caroline cried openly into Klaus's chest. Elena sobbed into Damon's neck. Matt held his fist tightly, looking about ready to pass out.
It was simple. Prove to the others what he already knew, and gain an army of allies to take down Klaus Mikaelson. Finally avenge his mother's death. All he had to do was make a hybrid.
He heard her inhale sharply, gasp, and figure out what was happening. Paying a hybrid in the Mikaelson mansion to spike Hayley's tea with tranquilizer worked like a charm, since he'd helped the guy break free of his compulsion. But now, Hayley was kicking through the glass of his truck.
Tyler swerved off the dirt road, got out and pushed the useless back window out of the way before catching Hayley's foot that was aimed for his head.
"Seriously?!" He yelled.
"Tyler?" She asked in return.
"You don't want to fight me, Hayley. You know you can't beat a hybrid." He caught Hayley's other foot and bound it in the same plastic as her wrists were. She screamed in frustration, yelling curses.
"You half-breed piece of shit!"
"Shut up!" He yelled back. She shrieked as he threw her over his shoulder and began to make the rest of the way on foot.
"Not the most attractive community." Elijah noted.
"I'm sure they'd say the same of us." Rebekah replied. So she was still mad at him. The vampires had scurried to the walls for the night, begrudgingly waiting for whenever Marcel would announce Fight Night again and daring to take peeks at the Originals they'd never met but were taught to fear. In turn, Marcel had asked for the Mikaelsons to be made comfortable. They sat in the middle of the room in the best chairs, refreshments readied for them, and unnecessary candles decorating the tables they were set on. They were being treated like the royalty they were.
Marcel came back into the main room, and began to grin at them.
"You know Elijah, I liked you better in that box." Marcel said. Elijah grinned back. "You Rebekah, I honestly thought seeing you last night was the last time for a long time. But no matter, you guys always did change your minds pretty fast."
"But since you're missing your lady friend, I thought you could use the help of a witch." He added as if it had been obvious. Rebekah kicked herself for not suggesting it after they'd learned Marcel wasn't the captor, but was grateful she hadn't slept with him and then he went to where she had been hiding for months and took the mother of her brother's children.
Two vampires strong-armed a witch into the compound, and it was Sabine. Her cloudy disposition showed that she did not come willingly, but as she met Elijah's eye, Rebekah saw a hint of smugness. Again.
"I'll grant you one little locator spell. Since I control the witches in this town."
As Sabine was brought to them, she yanked her arms from the vampire's hands. "Sabine's the best guide in the Quarter. If you need finding somebody, I guarantee she's your gal."
Elijah and Rebekah schooled their faces as Marcel began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Rebekah demanded. He stopped and turned back.
"I hate to cut this short, but I got a room full of nightwalkers and the sun's coming up. Plus I've got a city to run. I'll leave you to track down your lost sheep."
"Very well, you may go." Elijah snidely replied. Rebekah noticed a spark of a fire in his eyes. No one would get away with insulting Hayley if Elijah has anything to do with it. Marcel narrowed his eyes as he turned away. Rebekah turned to Sabine.
"Can you find her?" She asked.
"I can try." Sabine replied.
Rebekah bullied someone into giving her a shot glass, which she then poured a fair amount of blood into and thrust at Sabine. The witch gave her a distrustful stare before sitting in front of the map Elijah had already laid out on the table.
Sabine poured the blood onto the corner of the map and began the location spell. She didn't need to chant, she was practically an expert as Marcel had stated. Her gleaming red fingernails hovered in lazy circles over the map while one thin line of blood made it way along the roads.
"She's in the back country." Sabine announced as Rebekah paced, Elijah sitting in front of her. "Past Houma, deep in the bayou."
Elijah rolled his eyes. "I don't suppose you could be a tad more precise."
Sabine smiled at him languidly, Rebekah noticed her eyes glinting with a mixture of flirtation and...malice? Before the witch caught her staring and looked away.
"There are stories of exiled wolves, encampments." Sabine glanced between the siblings. "If Hayley went out that far, chances are she went to find them."
Tyler's boots crunched on the dead leaves scattered about the dirt yard of the small shack he headed towards, Hayley had given up struggling when she realized she couldn't pull herself off his shoulder. He crouched down and sat her on the one step to the wrap-around porch. As he turned away, Hayley quickly took in her surroundings.
This place looked abandoned, nearly. Run-down, certainly. The shack was built to be halfway over the water of a lake, the forest Tyler had carried her through ending a couple yards away. Next to the trees was another house-like shack, one more lived-in. Things strewn about on the porch as if the owner would come to collect them shortly.
"What is this place?" She mumbled.
"The armpit of Louisana." Tyler replied. He casually reached into his back pocket and withdrew a knife. She started.
"What're you gonna do with that?" Hayley asked, trying to crawl back away from him. He pointed the blde at her.
"That depends on you." He quipped, then slice through the zip-tie around her ankles. She needed to look up that video on how to get out of those when she was free of this...if she got out of here.
"Hey, you attacked me." Hayley shot back, standing up freely. "You ambushed me."
"In Klaus's backyard." Tyler sneered. "You're shacked up in a mansion with that psycho. When you used to help wolves." Hayley shook her head. She'd told Tyler why she betrayed him and the others before. If he couldn't accept it, it wasn't her problem.
"You're pregnant with his kid." He added. He scoffed, staring at her stomach. "A hybrid baby. Yeah, I know all about it."
"Yeah, I know you're the reason why Caroline found out. I also know you're the reason why she left New Orleans to come be my babysitter." Hayley spat. Tyler's eyes flashed yellow.
"What?" He growled. She gulped. Oh. He didn't know about that bit. Whoops.
He shook his head. "Doesn't matter right now. I've been roaming all over the bayou asking questions. And I learned some things." He jerked the knitting of Hayley's sweater off her right shoulder and gripped her arm where the large eye-print birthmark was previously covered. "This crescent means you come from the wolf equivalent of royalty in this region. And right here," he threw the fabric back over her shoulder. "is what's left of them."
Hayley blinked the tears from her eyes. Tyler just wanted to hurt her for what she did to their pack. He was lying, and wanted to fool her into thinking he'd basically brought her back to the family she'd sacrificed 12 sire broken hybrids for.
She scanned the trees anyway. Maybe this was as close as she'd get to her birth family, some fantasy she could conjure up. And a woman silently popped out from behind a tree, dirty blonde hair in a long braid swaying from her shoulder with cooking utensils in one hand.
She was probably the occupant of the other lived-in shack. The light caught the woman's shoulder as she turned away from her. It looked like a scar...in the shape of her own birthmark.
"Hey," Hayley cried out, taking a step towards her as the woman fled without a thought. "Help me!" She protested, holding up her wrists.
"She can't help you!" Tyler replied a little too gleefully. "They can't even help themselves. They've been persecuted for decades by vampires and are in hiding here because of it."
Hayley glared back at him and then a twig broke. She spun around and a man she hadn't even noticed was coming to them. He gestured at her.
"Is this her?" The man asked, eyeing her suspiciously. Tyler nodded. Hayley glanced back at him.
"Get her inside, Dwayne." Tyler ordered, then glared at her.
Dwayne roughly gripped Hayley's forearms and man-handled her into the shack. She tried to fight against him, but the zip-ties stopped her. She stomped on his feet, kicked him in the groin, even gripped the edge of the porch with her freed ankles. Dwayne either didn't care about the pain or he was wearing a cup, because he just yanked her feet from the porch and carried her bridal style into the small room. Hayley quickly threw her arms over the man's head and bit into his ear before he gripped her arms and threw her into the wall. The pain shook her twice as hard as it would have without two living beings growing in her, and she lost her breath for a good minute.
"Careful, Dwayne! She's gotta be mostly unharmed for this!" Tyler called as he heard the scuffle.
"Are you alright, love?" Klaus asks for probably the twentieth time in as many minutes. Caroline falls back in her plane seat with a huff and rolls her eyes.
"If this is supposed to get my mind off of Hayley being missing, it's not working." She replied, then eyed him. His face betrayed nothing but concern for her. "No." She admitted. "No, I'm not alright." How could she be? One of her best friends was dead. Dead. And the girl she was starting to be friends with was probably in a ton of danger. The bad things were piling up by the hour.
Klaus's phone chirped and he brought it out, then sucked in his breath.
"What?" Caroline asked.
"Hayley's in the bayou, they did a locator spell." Klaus replied. Her confused expression almost made him chuckle. It was honestly an adorable look on her.
"Tyler."
Josh watched as the other newbie vampires laughed and took their turns at beer pong. They weren't getting their daylight rings any sooner than he was, and he was the newest among them. Except maybe the one in the beanie. He sighed, knowing that made it way more difficult to do the spying Klaus was forcing him to without a stupid ring.
"You could join them, you know." Marcel smoothly greeted, bending down to his eye level. The way the leader of the vampires of New Orleans studied him made Josh justifiably unnerved.
"Drinking games?" He chuckled and shook his head, seeing one bolder newbie guy kiss one of the newbie girls. He honestly thought the guy was cute, but unless he know caught wind of him being bisexual...Josh shook his head of the thought. "That's not really my thing."
"Why are you watching then?" Marcel asked with a smile.
Josh shrugged. "I was trying to figure out which one was the closest to being in your inner circle and up for a daylight ring so I could undermine them and take the spot myself." He replied honestly. Marcel chuckled in surprise.
"I didn't expect you to be so honest, man! Especially seeing as how you're so close with Klaus."
Josh stared at him and shook his head in mock confusion with a small shy smile.
"The plantation. I saw you there, talking to the girl that's recently gone missing. Got anything to do with that?"
The newbie vampire shook his head. Marcel cocked his. Josh looked around to see four men flanking them suddenly.
"Nothing, I swear."
"Now that, I know you're telling the truth about." Marcel replied. "If you're not to blame for a pregnant girl's kidnapping, even if she was in cahoots with Klaus, then maybe you could just tell me what your boss is planning."
Josh gulped again.
It took Caroline and Klaus half an hour to meet Elijah and Rebekah in the bayou. Klaus protesting her getting involved at all along the way.
"You need me to be there for Tyler. I can keep him distracted if I need to so you guys can get Hayley out of harm's way."
"What if he discovers you are now my family's ally? There's no telling what the young Judas will do." Klaus grumbled.
"I'll tell you what he won't do. Go after Hayley and the babies. Because he'll be too irate to focus on her anymore. He'll only be going after you."
"And he might turn on you as well, love."
"I'll handle that problem if it comes up. But the number one priority is keeping the mother of those babies safe."
Klaus growled under his breath, knowing she had a good plan. Forcing the car to a halt in protest, he swung out of the car and nodded to Elijah as the man saw them.
"I would ask how the funeral was, but we have more pressing matters to attend." Elijah greeted Caroline. Rebekah regarded the younger blonde with a mixture of suspicion and concern.
"While that's true, I doubt you care about Bonnie Bennett or my friends." Caroline snapped. The older vampire stared at her gumption. Caroline nearly felt light-headed by the response as well, silently thanking Bonnie for the courage she'd given.
"We'll head south, towards the water." Elijah announced to change the subject.
"You seem very determined to find the little wolf." Klaus noted with a knowing smile. Caroline chanced a look at Elijah and while a normal person would be blushing or denying right now, Elijah had only anger in his eyes. What did he think Klaus would do to Hayley if Elijah admitted how he obviously felt? Rebekah seemed to be on edge at the mention as well, but seeing as how she'd told the story of Klaus killing her boyfriends, how could she not be.
"You are welcome to wait in the car if you'd rather flirt with miss Forbes instead of rescue the mother of your children, Niklaus."
"You've really begun to admire this girl, brother. Is that the reason you've been trying to give her the impression of being the family patriarch, barking orders and expecting them obeyed?"
"If you and your 'companion' insist on treating Hayley like a walking incubator, then that's your mistake." Elijah seethed. Klaus held back a growl...just barely.
"Could we fight about this after we've gotten Hayley out of here?" Rebekah demanded.
Elijah walked away without a word.
"You're going the wrong direction, brother." Klaus called nonchalantly.
"Did you find her scent?" Caroline asked immediately. Klaus glanced at her.
"It would have been better if I had, but no." He replied. Klaus looked hard at her, and now she understood.
Tyler.
After another few yards, the trio found Tyler's car. Klaus yanked open the door and grabbed items of clothing from it.
"Forwood must've been living here. He's been planning this for a while." Rebekah realized in horror.
"Who is it that we are having to face?" Elijah asked in annoyance. Caroline blushed in embarrassment at the memories that came forefront to her mind.
"Tyler Forwood. He was the wolf Klaus used for the hybrid ritual." Caroline said. Elijah cocked his head in suspicion.
"And how do you know that, Miss Forbes?"
"Because I had been turned into a vampire by that time so Klaus had his hybrids kidnap me as a backup vampire." She replied cooly.
"And yet you stand by him now?"
"I didn't even meet her when that ritual happened, brother." Klaus replied tiredly.
"Why does Tyler have any interest in Hayley?" Elijah asked him
"Because Klaus killed his mother and he wants revenge. Also, because Klaus was trying to 'court' me, while I was dating him." Caroline replied. Elijah glared at Klaus.
"If people continue to go after Hayley solely to hurt you, Niklaus, we'll have to throw her in a dungeon and throw away the key."
"Don't be silly, brother," Klaus laughed, clapping him on the back. "You know witches can open locks without keys." He added as he walked away.
"What else did you do to this man?" Elijah asked, beginning to follow him. Caroline fell into step beside him.
"When I was still able to sire hybrids with the blood of the doppelganger-"
"Elena." Elijah and Caroline protested together. Klaus nodded irritably.
"He was the first that survived. Not that he had had the choice to become one."
"He was loyal in the beginning, but-"
"Because he was sired to you, Klaus. You brainwashed him into thinking he owed you for turning him." Caroline protested again.
Klaus spun around with a dark look.
"Then, when Tyler turned the rest of your sired hybrids against you, you committed freaking genocide." She added. Elijah and Rebekah exchanged impressed faces in seeing how the young girl stood up to their brother.
"Technically there are still hybrids in the world, love. None of them are of my bloodline, however-"
"Klaus with the amount of servants at your beck and call, that's biologically impossible." Caroline snapped.
"How is it that Tyler survived?"
"He ran like a coward." Klaus replied.
"Because he knew he couldn't stand against you!" Caroline said, then took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Klaus watched her, worried she'd nearly side with Tyler.
"What if he retaliates by harming Hayley?" Elijah demanded.
"So you do care about her." Klaus accused smoothly.
"Enough!" Rebekah yelled. Klaus whipped his eyes to her and she was glaring a hole into him. He took a step back from his brother whom he'd been towering over. "Go and find Tyler with Elijah. Caroline and I will go and help get Hayley."
"I don't think you'd need my help to get Hayley." Caroline protested. Rebekah narrowed her eyes at the younger blonde. "I'll be backup if things go south with Tyler."
"We don't need three vampires on one hybrid, miss Forbes." Elijah replied tiredly.
"And you and I have things to discuss." Rebekah said acidly. Caroline glared at her. "You're coming, with me."
Tyler came into the little hut Hayley now sat in, staring her down. Hayley rubbed her back and tried again to undo the twist ties that now kept her stuck on a big black pipe against the wall.
"There's been a wolf watching me lately. Protecting me. I saw it a few days ago. Was that you?" She asked.
"Nope." Tyler replied, uncaring of the flicker of hurt on her face. "But maybe it's still a wolf you knew once."
"Whatever you're planning to do to me, you should know the whole Mikaelson family made some sort of pact to protect me. They'll have found out you have me by now and they'll fight to rescue me."
Tyler sighed.
"If you hurt me, they'll kill you." She added, trying to somehow find a tremor or an ounce of fear.
"First of all, what makes you think I'm even afraid to die at this point?" Tyler asked, his hands disappearing into a duffelbag. Hayley blinked away the tears that were threatening to run. "After Klaus took everything from me? My mother?"
"Caroline?" Hayley challenged. Finally, she saw something. And involuntary gulp.
She didn't have any more time to get under his skin, as there was a knock at the door, and Dwayne stepped in.
Hayley could see it in every inch of the wolf who'd uncaringly thrown a pregnant girl against a wall. He had given up on the world and himself. Maybe that's how he and Tyler found each other. She should know the signs, after all.
"You ready for this?" Tyler asked. Dwayne nodded.
Tyler turned to Hayley, and brought his hand up so she could see what he'd retrieved. A hypodermic needle, seemingly empty but with magic potions being able to do anything...
Hayley stood up immediately and as slowly as Tyler walked, she thought she could've used her new vampire power to break free and run. Maybe the babies were draining it away. She shrieked as Tyler grabbed her arm, turned his penetrating stare from her face to her belly, and stabbed her with it, a louder scream erupted from her mouth. She watched the plunger come further out and blood filling the tube, reaching two inches in length. When he took it out, it took only a second for the puncture mark to close.
It seemed Tyler wasn't done, as he turned to Dwayne. The hybrid took the wolf's shoulder and quickly stabbed the needle into the jugular, emptying the hypodermic completely. Dwayne shook his pain, and Hayley's eyes filled with tears again. She wasn't entirely sure why.
Tyler threw the needle away and abruptly broke the wolf's neck. Hayley gasped and looked away before she could see Dwayne crumple to the ground.
Tyler turned to her.
"Klaus destroyed my life. So I'm taking the thing he wants most."
Hayley would've retorted that Tyler was off the mark on what Klaus truly wanted, but chances were Tyler didn't believe that Klaus valued Caroline over whatever the babies could mean to him. Hell, she wasn't sure she believed it either.
Tyler picked up Dwayne's body and tried setting him in a comfortable position. Hayley stared at him in horror.
"Don't be all judgy. You must've seen the Mikaelsons individually all doing something like this since you've been around them."
Hayley remembered the dead body Rebekah dragged through the kitchen. Then she remembered Elijah helping her in the pool. It was Caroline she saw tower over Sophie, undoubtely threatening her.
"Not all of them are monsters." Hayley said. Tyler gave her a derisive look.
"Give it a bit more time. I know you weren't hanging out with Caroline's friends when you were in Mystic Falls, so maybe they got to see all the carnage and manipulation every one of them made."
"Like you can call yourself any better than them." Hayley finally replied. Tyler rolled his eyes.
"The list of bad things you've done just today, in retaliation for the couple of things Klaus did to you? You must have tipped the scales by now."
Tyler growled, his eyes turning and Hayley involuntarily shrank back against the wall. She didn't actually care about Tyler's bad things, outside of what he had done to her. The further she got under his skin like a splinter, the more control he'd lose, the easier it would be the escape.
"I'd be more worried about what Klaus is planning to do with your kid once it's out of you." Tyler said suddenly. Hayley's confusion crossed her face. "Dwayne is a werewolf who died with your blood in his system. Same blood your hybrid baby has."
Realization dawned on Hayley.
"You're trying to turn him into a hybrid?! That's impossible!" She exclaimed.
Tyler ignored her, rummaging through his duffelbag again. "Been running with werewolves all over the country, one of them was tight with a witch. That witch had these nightmare visions about Klaus and the baby." Hayley couldn't help but lean in as Tyler stared at her, desperate to hear the mic drop. "How he would use your baby to make an army of slave hybrids."
She gritted her teeth and shook her head, banging it against the wall for how stupid this all was.
"I am sick of these goddamn witches and their fucking visions. These babies are just normal twins. I am a normal fucking werewolf, and so will they be." She protested in a moan. Tyler blinked.
"Twins?" He demanded. She shook her head, figuring out her slip of the tongue. "Twins!?" Tyler shouted. He threw a spare dagger from the bag into the wall next to him and then a punch, making her flinch. Then he growled, his eyes flashing yellow again. "Maybe those babies aren't going to be hybrids, but maybe they are." He breathed hard, and turned to the slumped werewolf in the corner. "That's where Dwayne comes in." He pointed.
"He was happy to be the test case for my experiment. If you hadn't noticed the people in this bayou don't have much to live for. They'd all welcome the chance to become the superior species."
At that Hayley gulped.
"Every hybrid out there is sired to Klaus, which makes him the one with all the fucking power." Tyler spat. "They follow his orders as holy writ."
Tyler went back to the duffel and got out another dagger. He must have tons in there. Then began walking towards her. She tried to push herself into the wall again.
"No way I'd let that happen."
She scoffed.
"What makes you think you'd be able to stop him, whatever he's got planned?" Hayley challenged.
"You remember! I broke the sirebond on his entire former pack of hybrids."
"And then he killed them all." She pointed out.
Tyler lunged forward and held the dagger against her throat. She could only let out a squeak.
"That's because you sold me out. You sold them out! To get information on that stupid family." He growled.
"How are you so sure Klaus knows what the babies' blood will do?" She challenged weakly. It was his turn to scoff.
"What the hell do you think?" He took the knife away. "Klaus Mikaelson, mass murderer of millions through the centuries, all the sudden wants to be a daddy?" Hayley's eyebrow twitched in agreement. "Or, he's got an ulterior motive." He put the dagger on the table next to him. "Hybrids are able to walk in the sun. Their bite is lethal to vampires." He shook his head at her. "They would take over New Orleans by the end of the fucking week." Tyler slowly crouched in front of her. "And you know what's going to stop Klaus then?"
He let the question hang in the air. She already knew the answer.
Suddenly Dwayne gasped, launching himself from the ground. He breathed hard, groaning in pain. Spittle flew from his mouth, as did blood. He looked up at Tyler expectantly.
"You're going to have to feed on her." Tyler told him.
"What?" Hayley asked, blindsided. Of course he did, that's what happened to make vampires transition, and hybrids were half that. Before she could move away Tyler slashed at the side of her neck and she screamed.
Dwayne crawled on all fours and grabbed her, sinking his fangs into her. Her screams reached fever pitch from the mere shock of it.
Tyler stared at the interaction, making sure she couldn't get away, that Dwayne didn't slump to the ground again. If the guy was fine after feeding...then he was right. And Klaus could potentially be unstoppable.
Dwayne gasped as the blood went down his throat and he stood, looking at Tyler.
"Dwayne, easy." Tyler tried to settle him. Then the newly-turned hybrid tripped over his feet and spun out of the door, falling into the dirt outside. Tyler looked back at Hayley, weighing his options. She gets free, then Klaus will know he's onto him. He goes and helps Dwayne, the new hybrid will be living proof of his theory.
Tyler ran after Dwayne.
Hayley looked at the zip ties holding her to the pipe, then saw the dagger had landed not far away. She crawled over to it, not chancing that if Tyler had now found out he'd been right that she'd be allowed to live. Not if she escaped and went back to the Mikaelsons.
Tyler watched Dwayne cautiously, careful not to touch him.
"Look at me." he ordered. Dwayne moaned loudly, blood and spittle spraying from his mouth still. But he sat up slowly and breathed hard.
"You're ok." Tyler said, trying to make it sound like a command. If he'd made this transition happen, Dwayne could be sired to him instead. It worked for Klaus.
Dwayne lifted his eyes to Tyler, the usual blink veins sprouting from under the eyes emerged, and yellow eyes glowed under his blonde bangs.
"I'm better than okay." Dwayne replied in a confident voice.
Rebekah and Caroline walked through the leaves, uncaring if they made a sound. Judging by the pained screams they heard, Tyler wouldn't hear them coming either way. Caroling flinched every time she heard something loud enough.
"Oh buck up, sweetheart." Rebekah muttered.
"We should hurry up, we don't know that Tyler isn't going to kill her." She replied.
"Course he won't." The older blonde said confidently. She turned to Caroline giving her a 'are you insane?' look. "Tyler hates my brother. Enough, that if he was going to kill Hayley just out of sheer spite, he would've done it by now. Chances are he's only torturing her to get information."
"And if he isn't doing it out of spite?" Caroline asked.
"Then we'll find him presenting the mumsy when he smells Klaus, ready to plunge a dagger in her tum."
"I'm sorry, how can you be so cavalier about this?!" Caroline demanded, coming to a stop. Rebekah rolled her eyes, swinging her arms. "Elena told me that you wanted a family. Children." She said. Rebekah's eyes filled with hurt.
"Because that's exactly what you're doing." The older blonde accused. "Leading my brother on."
"Like I said last time, I'm not doing that."
"No, you didn't say anything last time!" Rebekah protested. "We were suddenly interrupted, you remember?" Then she switched her stance and crossed her arms. "I've no doubt you have the best intentions for Hayley and those babes. But Klaus thinks that some part of you is here for him as well. You're giving him false hope."
Caroline looked away.
"It's not false." She said in a small voice.
Rebekah tilted her head.
"I understand it's not easy to love my brother, with everything he's done and the people around you. But hiding behind playing babysitter for the next eighteen years would just be stringing him along. And I watched Elijah suffer through that with Katerina, I will not let it happen again."
Caroline met her eyes, and sighed.
Tyler slowly went back in the house, closing the door behind him. Hayley was shuffled closer to the pipe, hiding her hands.
"It worked didn't it?" Hayley asked. "He's a hybrid."
"If Klaus gets you back, those twins?" Tyler choked, his eyes shining. "We're all doomed."
"Then help me run. Take the babies, hide them." Hayley pleaded. Tyler stepped closer to her.
"He'll find them. And he'll use them just like he did with Elena." He replied. Elena had accidentally described to him what it felt like to be drained of her blood. Hooked up to huge bags, sat in an uncomfortable chair, not even looked after by someone. She was a bloodbag to him, and that's what those babies would be.
Hayley saw the conflict on his face, his hand shaking.
"Tyler, you're not like this. There has to be another way." Hayley tried one more time. Before Tyler lunged for the dagger that had been on the floor. Had.
As it dawned on him what he'd done, Hayley ran past. He grabbed at her ankle but missed, and she knocked Dwayne back to the ground as she sped past him. She growl the new hybrid growl.
Hayley ran through the trees, holding the dagger tight, and looking behind her every chance she could. Having needed to outrun wolves, vampires, humans. She zigzagged through the trees, and jumped from one bit of clear dirt path to another, careful not to trample on crunching leaves. Her hair blew in her face and her neck hurt, but she didn't feel any stinging of the air on her wound. It must've healed already. And she found she jumped farther than she'd been able to before. Ran faster. That certainly helped, by Tyler had way more experience with being a hybrid, he could've caught up to her by now.
She was not going to die because of a homicidal lunatic wanting the babies. Or Klaus.
Hayley found a thicker tree than the rest, and hid behind it. It was just big enough she knew it would cover her until her breath came back to her. But Dwayne growled and practically barked as he came for her.
"Dwayne!" Tyler shouted from a distance. "DWAYNE!"
Leaves crunched nearby, and Hayley readied the dagger. Then she spun from the tree, prepared to stab whoever it was in the eye.
Elijah caught her wrist easily with a smirk.
"Forgive me, I thought you were in danger." He greeted her with an impressed tone, looking her up and down. Hayley panted hard still, but every muscle preparing to run even harder relaxed considerably.
"It appears I was mistaken." Elijah added.
Hayley pulled the dagger away, and threw her arms around his neck, sighing in relief.
"You would not believe the absolute shit day I've had." She breathed, moving her mouth closer to his neck. Elijah slowly put his arms around her, letting his fingers comb through her hair.
She pulled away, and Elijah's hands stayed on her waist until he stepped away.
"Let me take you home." He said. Home. Is that what the Mikaelson Manor was to her now? Caroline was there, Rebekah. They'd cared for her more than some, but less than others. Others like him.
"Elijah," Hayley began, catching his arm. He turned immediately. "There's something you need to know about these babies. He stepped back to her.
Tyler got Dwayne under control, and brought him back to the hut.
"Hayley might have gotten away, but we have proof now." Tyler told him. "We can stop Klaus."
"Oh, I don't know about that." Klaus' voice sounded. He spun.
"So it's true," Tyler said. "You knew what the babies could do, that's why you've kept them."
"Whatever nefarious plans you think I have for my own children are no concern of yours." Klaus replied smoothly.
The younger hybrid laughed. "No concern?" He pointed to Dwayne. "If your little hybrid bastards are born, your shadow's going to cover the entire goddamn planet. There'll be no stopping you."
Klaus shook his head. "You certainly look well for having had to live in your car for months." He noted. Then sneered.
"I aim to change that."