Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or the Originals, but I do own my OCs.

Summary: Blair has been on the run for 400 years, trying to escape her past. She never stays in once place long enough, but she finds herself drawn to New Orleans and it is there that she meets the Originals. She soon finds herself drawn into their drama and ends up connecting with the Noble Original, Elijah Mikaelson. Slowburn.

ORIGINALS

The next day

It was the next evening and Blair was in her new room in the French Quarter organising everything. Klaus had been very generous in sending the movers over to collect all their stuff but Blair didn't like the thought of people touching her stuff so she did it herself. Blair had gone back and moved Raphael so no one found him. Now, he was tucked away in the basement of their new house protected with magic so no one could find him. Looking around her new room, she noted how the space wasn't as large as the one she had commandeered in the mansion but it was elegant and she liked it. It had a king-sized canopy bed with multiple wardrobes to hold all her clothes and a huge mirror. The walls were a white brick colour and the carpets were soft and red. However, Blair's favourite part of the room was the balcony and double glass doors that led onto it. The balcony overlooked the city, giving her a great view and one she couldn't wait to appreciate with a glass of wine. She knew she probably should have taken for a room with less window space in case the Hunter found her but she loved it too much to change it. She may hate Klaus and he may act like a brute but he did have taste and she could appreciate that.

It had been a busy day ever since Klaus and Elijah had taken back New Orleans, not that Blair cared. Elijah had informed her about the Vampires visiting the home and Blair had stayed away, not leaving her room. She had made sure to reapply her scent blocker because she didn't want any rogue Vampires finding their way to her because then she would have to kill them. Klaus had only just got his city back, she didn't need to kill off any of his subjects because they got curious – yet. Also, Klaus had been very clear that he wanted very few people to know of her existence as he still wanted that edge in case anything happened. Blair had no idea what was going on down there but nor did she care so she didn't ask. She was sure she would find out what he was planning soon enough.

Sitting on her bed, Blair pulled out a burner phone and dialled a number. The phone rang a few times before someone picked up. "Almost thought he caught you," The voice said making Blair smirk.

"He wishes," Blair answered back haughtily, "Got anything for me?"

"Hm," The male voice hummed to himself before he answered. "Depends on where you are,"

Blair rolled her eyes, "You know I can't tell you, Callum," Blair couldn't really make any connections due to her situation but Callum was persistent and he was useful. He seemed to want to help her so she let him. One of the lessons Katherine taught her was to build a support network who can act as her eyes and ears around the globe and Blair had managed just that. Callum and his group worked for her and she paid them generously for their service. Through them, she had managed to evade the Hunter for a long time and she had managed to put a lot of distance between herself and him. She had met Callum nearly 150 years ago by complete accident but it had worked out in her favour. The deal was that she would pay him generously but he could never know where her exact location was. The fewer people that knew the better.

"Worth a shot," Callum sighed on the other line. Vaguely, Blair could hear him typing away at his computer, "Well I have some good news and bad news, which one do you want first?"

Frowning, Blair closed her eyes, "Give me the bad news,"

"The trial you left back in India didn't last long and he's realised you're not there," Callum answered.

Blair held back a curse. She thought the clues she left was a good one but it appears it wasn't good enough to fool the Hunter. Every so often, Blair would leave false trial along the way to confuse the Hunter to give her more time in some places and allow her to build the gap between them. She liked to stay at least three steps ahead of him, anything less made her feel uncomfortable. "And the good news?" She needed some good news after that.

Callum seemed to grin over the phone, "He bought the trial you left in Sydney. That should take him some time to decode,"

Blair laughed, feeling a sense of triumph, now this really was good news. "That's amazing. Just what I needed to hear. I'll send over double, you guys deserve it," The trial she left in Sydney should keep the Hunter occupied for a while, at least a few months a best. Even then, it would take the Hunter some time to realise where she was and America was a big place. As long as everything went to plan, she could actually relax for a little bit. This also gave her a chance to focus on her other issue – protecting Hayley and the unborn child.

"Always good to hear. I'll update you in a few days if anything changes," Callum said before he hung up the phone.

Falling back into the bed, she stared up at the ceiling and smiled widely. She felt a sense of freedom that she didn't get to feel often. Blair didn't like setting too many false clues because then that would be predictable and he would learn her patterns. The less the Hunter knew about her the better and then he wouldn't be able to predict her movements. This was why she always changed her glamour every time she arrived at a new city and picked her new residence at random. She didn't want to unconsciously make a pattern that he might detect. She considered this news as a win. However, Blair kept in mind that she couldn't be arrogant about this small victory. She needed to air on the side of caution because the last time she became complacent it resulted in her nearly getting caught and left her with a scar on her hip that no magic could heal. That scar only added to the collection that she had on her real body and not the glamour she used.

A sudden and sharp knock on the door alerted Blair back to earth as she looked at the door. The door handle jingled as someone tried to enter but the door never gave way. "Blair, it's me," Hayley said from the other side.

For a moment, Blair considered not answering the Wolf Girl. She could hear the frustration in her voice and mentally debated if she wanted to deal with it. As time had gone on Hayley seemed to think that Blair cared about her problems and it was so exhausting listening to her complain. With a wave of her hand, Blair used her magic and opened the door. Hayley stood on the other side, clear frustration on her face. With the door now open, Hayley attempted to step into the room but found that she couldn't. She looked at the doorway with a frown and tried to walk in again but she was met with resistance. It felt like there was a force field stopping her. She looked to Blair, "Why can't I enter?"

"Magic," Blair answered simply as she sat up in bed, "I cast a spell on the door so no one can enter my room unless I give them permission," It worked very similarly to how Vampires couldn't enter properties without permission from the owner. It was a spell of her own creation and one that she was very proud of. However, one of the downsides of this spell was that permission couldn't be rescinded so Blair was very cautious about who she let in her room. She could count on one hand how many people had this permission and it was Katherine and Chloe.

"Well let me in, I need to talk with you," Hayley demanded.

For a moment, Blair considered not letting her in but then decided against it because she had a feeling Hayley would throw a massive tantrum and she didn't want to deal with that because it would alert Elijah. She had noticed that Elijah was acting as Hayley's protector and it repulsed her. Eventually, Blair sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine. Hayley, you can come in,"

Cautiously, Hayley stepped her foot in and was not met with any resistance. Happy, she walked further into the room and closed the door behind her. "I need your help," She said, looking down at the Fae on her bed.

Blair resisted groaning, "Whatever it is, my answer is no," She had a feeling Hayley was coming to ask for a favour, everyone always did at some point. She was the only person there that could use magic freely and so would be asked to do anything that required magic.

Hayley glared at her, incensed. "I haven't even said anything."

"Doesn't matter," Blair said dismissively.

"Klaus has ordered a wolf hunt as some jacked-up peace offering to Marcel's crew. You have to help them," Hayley argued. When she was in the Bayou the other day, she had found the book that noted down the birthdays of Werewolves, and one of the names matched her birthday. She knew that they were her people and there seemed to be a Wolf following her, almost as if it was protecting her. She needed to protect them from this assault otherwise she would never fully understand her connection to the Wolves.

"And what's your position in all this?" Blair asked, warily. This hunt could spell trouble and could make protecting Hayley an issue. If Klaus wasn't aiding in protecting Hayley then she needed to think of a new plan – may be getting her out of New Orleans and hiding her somewhere safe. Blair specialised in hiding from malicious creatures and felt confident she would hide Hayley from Klaus.

Hayley rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, "I have been deemed safe by the all-mighty Klaus,"

"Then I don't care," Blair replied.

Hayley glared at her but then her gaze softened, "All my life, I've wanted to know who my real family were, and just as I find out where they are, in the Bayou, Klaus orders to have them killed. Elijah and Rebekah have already agreed to help. Please, help my people," They had approached her after the meeting and had wanted to whisk her away somewhere safe after they had deemed Klaus too unstable. Hayley had refused but asked them to protect the Wolves but she knew their chances of succeeding would be even greater if they had magic on their side.

Blair's face was a complete blank of emotion. "I do not care what is going to happen to them. All I care about is making sure the Queen doesn't get that baby," She looked down at Hayley's stomach where the miracle baby was.

"And what happens to me after the baby is born?" Hayley demanded her from tensing. She'd had a similar conversation with Klaus and it only further infuriated her.

Blair shrugged her shoulders, "I don't care what happens to you after that."

Hurt flashed in Hayley's eyes for a moment before she stormed out of the room in a huff, nearly tearing the door off its hinges.

Blair sighed, "You could have at least shut the door!" With her magic, the door closed on its own. For good measure, Blair magically locked the door. She had a feeling she had just got on Hayley's bad side, not that she cared, but she'd rather not take her chances. The sooner Hayley realised they were not friends the better.

ORIGINALS

Around an hour had passed and Blair was wandering the Quarter. Hayley had locked herself up in her room, no doubt sulking and that gave Blair a chance to get a break from the woman. She was going to head down to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat when she walked past one of the many bedroom doors and she sense a new magical signature in the house, one of which she recognised. Peeking inside the room, Blair saw Davina with loads of boxes surrounding her as if she was moving in. Seeing the Witch made her mentally groan and she felt the need to dash off before Davina saw her but she decided against it. Now, she was curious to know what the little Witch was doing in the French Quarter. The last she was aware, Davina was hidden away in the attic by Marcel but it seemed Klaus had wanted the Witch closer so he could watch her.

"What are you doing here?" Blair asked as she sauntered into the room.

Davina looked up and her eyes widened, "What are you doing here?!" She hadn't expected to see the woman again, though she really wanted to. There was no other person who could teach her magic and she would have run after Blair but she couldn't leave the Church.

Blair rolled her eyes, "I live here and it looks like you do too," She looked around at all the moving boxes with disdain. She had half a mind to move out because she didn't want to be near the young Witch but she needed to stay close to Hayley and the baby.

Davina fell silent for a moment, she seemed to be contemplating something and eventually made up her mind. "Is it true?"

"You're going to need to be more specific, kid," Blair replied back with an arched brow. She could see the tension in Davina's face and knew something was eating her up inside.

"Is Agnes dead?" Davina asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Before, Hayley had come into her room and had dropped this bombshell and she hadn't believed it. Davina had a very hard time trusting people and she thought Hayley was just there to stir up trouble and make her doubt Marcel but she needed to know the truth. Even Josh had confirmed this but she was still sceptical.

For a second, Blair said nothing. The name sounded familiar and made her think back as to why. Blair snapped her fingers when realisation dawned on her. "Oh, the Witch Elijah killed. Yeah, she's been dead for a couple of days," Agnes was the Witch that had pricked Sophie with a dark object and nearly lost Hayley her baby if Blair hadn't intervened. She was pretty certain that Elijah killed Agnes, he had heavily implied that he would before he went to join Klaus. Then, she had smelt blood on him when he came back to the mansion.

Davina paled at her words. "T-then I am safe. Agnes was the last living Elder. Why didn't Marcel tell me?" She sat down on the bed, the news had shocked her so much she felt numb to everything. She was free to leave, she didn't need to fear the Elder Witches because there weren't any.

"Because you're his secret weapon against the Witches." Blair answered bluntly, her tone making Davina flinch, "He's using you, just like Klaus is going to use you." The Hybrid had made it very clear that he planned to use Davina's powers no matter what. Blair suspected that the only reason he hadn't come for her powers yet was that she fought back whereas Davina was a sitting duck, just waiting to be manipulated by the next tyrant. She did have her suspicions it wouldn't take long before Klaus made his demands.

At her words, Davina wanted to argue back and defend Marcel but she stopped herself. The woman in front of her had not lied to her before, she'd been brutally honest to the point it stung. The woman had magic so there was no need for her to manipulate Davina. However, it was the reality of her words that hurt the worst. "I can't stay here. I am not going to be their puppet anymore," Tears stung her eyes but she tried to force them away, not wanting to appear weak in front of this woman.

With a frown on her face, Blair saw the utter betrayal in Davina's young eyes and it resonated with her. Once upon a time, she had been in Davina's position and it made her uncomfortable. Blair wanted to walk out but she found she couldn't – she didn't want to. "I'll help you," Before she could stop herself, Blair blurted this out and then she mentally cursed herself.

Davina stared at her in surprise, "Really? Why would you help me?"

Slowly, Blair smirked, "Klaus has got his way for too long, it'll be fun to mess with him," This was not the only reason but she wasn't going to spill her guts to a foetus that she barely knew. She wanted to prevent what she saw happening in her vision and she thought getting Davina out of New Orleans and Ancestral magic would do the trick. "But you need to leave this place. You'll be a sitting duck here," She began to think of places to go, wondering where Davina could hide in the meantime. She needed to be far away from Klaus and Marcel's influence.

"I know a woman who might help me," Davina said, her eyes lighting up when she remembered Camille. Camille had been really lovely to her in the past, Davina knew she would help if she asked.

Blair nodded her head, "Pack a few of your belongings, we're heading out now," The quicker she got Davina out the better. There was no time to waste, there was no telling what could happen if they delayed this any longer. If Klaus found out what she had planned then she didn't doubt for a moment that he would kill her.

At such a fast pace, Davina was up and packing a bag of the essentials she would need. One of her essentials was her precious violin, luckily Josh had brought that over when he visited her. Davina would have asked him to leave with her but he couldn't risk being seen by Klaus. As she packed, she realised she would need to leave her other stuff behind or come back for it when she was settled elsewhere. Blair watched as she did this and made a mental note to magically lock the door when she left so all the stuff Davina left behind was safe.

Thirty minutes later, Davina had lead Blair to where Camille lived using some low level magic. It was dark and now the Vampires without daylight rings had come out to play and so Blair needed to play it safe. Using her magic, Blair had cloaked them both so no one would detect that they had left the mansion. This cloaking magic gave Davina peace of mind that no Witches could see them and this made her feel safe. Eventually, they made it to an apartment and Davina knocked on the door frantically, nervously fidgeting at the door.

"Maybe she isn't in," Davina said when no one answered the door.

Blair was about to agree and take Davina to her old hotel room but then she stopped. She could hear someone on the other side of the door. "No, I think she is in." With her supernatural hearing, she could hear music playing in the background, it was soft and delicate.

Davina knocked on the door louder but still, no one answered the door.

Impatient, Blair waved her hand and the door was forced open. She couldn't be away too long from the mansion otherwise others would be become suspicious, especially when they discovered Davina was no longer there. Davina stared at Blair in shock but she just shrugged her shoulders and walked into the apartment as if she owned it. Davina quickly followed behind her, closing the door behind her.

"Camille?" Davina called out as she walked into the apartment. The woman appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties, an attractive face possessing green-blue eyes, dark lashes and blonde hair. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled back, exposing her strong jawline. Blair mentally cursed when she saw the woman, it was another person from her vision. It seemed she really couldn't escape her vision. The moment Davina saw her, she ran up her. "Camille! I need your help!"

Camille looked down at the young Witch and frowned, "I'm sorry, do I know you? And how did you get into my apartment?!" Her voice raised in panic as she stared at Blair and Davina in bewilderment. She had been packing to leave New Orleans when she heard someone calling out for her. The fact that she lived alone made her panic and she rushed to find out what happened.

"You've been compelled," Davina said, disappointment in her voice, "But I can fix it. But it's going to hurt," She raised her hand at Camille who looked at her in confusion. She didn't want to hurt Camille since she was one of the only people that had been genuinely kind to her but there was no other way to break the compulsion.

Blair stepped up behind Davina, "You can do it in a way that doesn't hurt her completely,"

Davina looked at her, "Can I?"

"Yes," Blair answered, "I want you to use that magic and peek inside her brain but don't touch anything,"

Turning to face Camille, who seemed too shocked to say anything, Davina raised her hand and peaked into Camille's mind. It was foggy, just like Josh's had been when she tried to erase Klaus' compulsion. "It's like there is a shadow in her mind," Davina said as she closed her eyes.

Blair nodded her head, it was a fair assessment. "Now, with your magic, I want you to gently touch that shadow," Blair instructed, her eyes trained on Camille. With her magic, she had silently frozen Camille in place so she didn't run or make any sudden movements. She didn't need anyone or anything distracting Davina while she was inside Camille's brain. The brain was a very fragile organ and any sudden movements could accidentally cause irreparable damage. Davina was powerful and the damage she could accidentally do was concerning.

Following Blair's instruction, Davina gently cast her magic towards the shadow and lightly touched it. The shadow shuddered under her touch but didn't move any further. "It's not working," Davina said in frustration. Before the Harvest fiasco, her control over her magic had been excellent but now she felt like a fledging again and she hated it.

"That's okay, the fact that it hasn't moved just shows how powerful the compulsion is. Add a little more force," Blair said as she watched everything with a critical eye. In the past she had removed compulsion from minds plenty of times, it had taken her some time to find a method that wasn't painful and she wanted to spare Davina that trouble of trial and error.

Taking in a deep breath, Davina pushed against the shadow and finally, it seemed to move. Camille gasped at the uncomfortable sensation in her head as her memories started to come back to her. Feeling the shadow recede made Davina feel a sense of triumph and accidentally made her push harder than she should have.

Blair placed a hand on Davina's shoulder. "Pull back," She hissed lowly when Camille screamed out in pain.

Davina's eyes snapped open as she pulled back in shock. She hadn't realised she had pushed too hard until Blair's words pulled her back. Once she felt like she was back in control, she went back to pushing back the shadow in Camille's brain.

As she did this, Blair looked at the nearby clock and noticed how late it was. She needed to get back to the mansion and cover Davina's tracks. She needed to at least give the young Witch a few hours head start before Klaus and Marcel hunted after her. No doubt they would tear up the city to look for her and she did not want to be caught up in the crossfire. As long as she stayed out of the way she would be fine. If they attacked she would handle them. "Keep going like that. I'll send Josh to you," Blair said as she backed away. Davina had mentioned the Vampire on the walk there and knew he would be the best companion for her. She couldn't stay with Davina but she could give her a chance to get out. From what Davina had told her, Josh had no loyalty to Marcel or Klaus and that made him the perfect companion.

Davina stopped and turned to her, "But I need you!"

Blair shook her head, "You're doing just fine on your own. Just remember to be patient, compulsion is deeply rooted in the brain and it cannot be rushed. To help jog her memory, grab some of the items in her apartment," She felt like she should complement the girl but it felt weird and so she decided against it. Instead, she reached into her pocket and passed her a burner phone, "Use this if you need me."

Davina watched as Blair walked out of the apartment feeling a sense of sadness. She had wanted Blair to stay, she had enjoyed the woman teaching her magic as she had been a good teacher, better than some in her Coven. But, she understood Blair wouldn't watch her constantly. Inhaling deeply, Davina turned back to Camille and pocketed the phone, determined to give back her memories that Klaus stole away. Once they were safe, Davina would call Blair and update her on what was happening.