Hadley's POV
I walked down the stairs into the courtyard frowning when I saw a table filled with various foods varying from fruit, pastries and juices and I walked up to it picking a grape from the bunch on a fancy silver tray and put it in my mouth relishing at the fresh fruit even if I didn't really need to eat these days it was still nice.
"So which restaurant is missing a compelled chef?" I asked having heard footsteps and turned seeing Klaus walking up.
"It's certainly a card I played in the past" he replied and I smiled a little remembering his last dinning tactic quite well since it's what got us into this messed up courtship situation. "But I had no hand in this" he added making my smile drop.
"Oh well then I guess we have Elijah to thank" I shrugged grabbing another grape since they were so good.
"This wasn't my doing" Elijah quickly protested walking down the stairs earning looks from me and Klaus since if this wasn't either of them and it definitely wasn't me then...
"Where did all this come from?" I asked looking down at the food with a frown before the silver covered tray suddenly rattled and I jumped as we all stared at it in a mixture of confusion and suspicion before Klaus reached out grabbing the handle and lifted the cover off and a bird immediately shot out flying up and disappearing. "What the hell was that?" I asked turning back to the platter seeing folded piece of paper remaining, Klaus picked it up and opened it.
"An invitation from our mother" he stated after reading it and my eyes narrowed since what the hell did that mean...this was from their mother...
"Excuse me gentleman while I go sanitize my mouth" I turned and walked out of the room heading up to my room frowning at the sight of the nursery door between the two rooms was open since I had it shut ever since I'd decided to stay here again.
I walked over and slammed the door shut since it sent waves pain right through my chest every time I saw the crib that Klaus had remade and fixed after my emotional tantrum and so now I settled for keeping the door shut so I didn't have to look at the crib and feel that pain that erupted in my chest where my heart was, I turned and headed into my bathroom running my hands under the water before splashing my face then looked up into the mirror.
I still wasn't used to all these new raw emotions, I never understood it when vampires claimed that they felt things more deeply but I did now and it sucked but now wasn't the time to dwell on any of this since I needed to know more about this woman, Klaus and Elijah's mother since I haven't met her and the bitch is responsible for nearly murdering my newborn baby.
I turned and walked out of my room walking down the hall in search of Klaus spotting him out of the corner of my eyes in his own room so I stopped raising my hand and knocked seeing him turn around and I immediately knew from the look on his face that this invitation had him shaken which further increased my curiosity on the subject of their mother.
"Hey" I offered him a smile as I walked in and flopped down on my back on his bed looking over seeing him staring down at the invitation from their mother and I let out a sigh. "It is times like this I'm really glad I never really knew my mother" I speak up just to break the silence.
"We have enough enemies here and now the war for our home is to be fought against my own family" Klaus replies finally turning completely and walked in from the balcony.
"Your wretched mother and her disciples tried to put a carving knife through our baby's heart, I will happily add to the body count" I spat letting some of my anger be shown and saw Klaus smiles as I sat up.
"You will do no such thing" Elijah interrupts walking into the room. "Esther's a master in the art of possession, we know whose body she currently inhabits we must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host"
"Well her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children, I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul" Klaus argues.
"Well, then we have..." Elijah shrugs and looks down checking his watch. "...this afternoon to prepare for the worst" he then adds before he walks out of the room.
"He sure knows how to ruin the fun doesn't he?" I whispered to myself seeing Klaus smile again before he follows Elijah out and I let out another sigh as I slid off Klaus' bed onto my feet and left his room myself.
I was busying myself by sitting in my room focusing on a drawing I had started last night when I had been having trouble falling asleep when I got a call from Oliver, after taking the moonlight ring off him and letting him live we'd came to an agreement and it clearly paid off given the news he'd just told me and I knew it was something Klaus was gonna want to know so I went in search of him finding him organizing the dinner for tonight.
"Seems like letting Oliver live paid off, he just informed me your mother has a partner in crime, another witch"
"Building alliances in her quest to destroy us I imagine" he replied and I frowned since how could their mother hate her children this much.
"Why does she hate you so much Klaus, she had six kids it's not like she doesn't have the maternal gene?" I could never hate my child, from the moment I found out I was pregnant I knew my child would become my entire word.
"Seven actually" he replied and I raised an eye since as far as I'd heard from way back in Mystic Falls it was only the six Mikaelson's, Finn, Elijah, Klaus, Kol, Rebekah and the younger brother. "And I think at one time she loved us very much" he moved towards the table and picked up the napkins. "One died before I was born" he admitted and my face dropped.
"I didn't know that"
"Years later, my brother Henrik was killed by the werewolves in our village, the loss of another child pushed my mother over the edge" I lowered my eyes knowing the pain of the loss of a child, mine wasn't dead but the loss was still the same and if it wasn't for a few things I knew I wouldn't be holding it together. "So she used her magic to turn us into immortals, I think that's when she loved us the most but it was her undoing, it triggered a sequence of events that led to the reveal of her long-held secret...my birth father was the werewolf whose pack killed my little brother, of course when Mikael found out he murdered my real father and so my mother lost her lover too"
"Wow, no wonder she's crazy" I replied and he turned to look at me. "I'm out of my mind having just given way Hope, I can't imagine if she'd actually died" I admitted to him since I felt like I could just open up to him.
"You know, my siblings and I used to tell each other she didn't hate us" he argued making me look up seeing him in front of me now. "She hated herself for what we'd become, I think they believed that even after she tried to kill us all"
"What did you believe?" I asked him.
"I don't know, I just know I wanted her dead" he admitted and I couldn't help staring into his eyes especially from the close proximity as he was leaning into my face but he seemed to shake himself out of it and stepped back.
"Well...every good story needs a wicked witch" I smiled at him. "It'll be all the more satisfying when we melt her" he smiled back before I left him to continue his preparations for tonight.
I heard Klaus leave the compound after Elijah had called and said he needed to get a necklace in which Esther had given to Klaus as a child for a spell we needed to get the upper hand on Esther and while I waited for him to return I busied myself with my usual distractions when Oliver sent me another message warning me that Esther had captured the witch Elijah had spoken to who was doing the spell for us so I headed downstairs finding Elijah and Klaus to warn them.
"Marcel's witch is being held captive in The Quarter" I informed them.
"Oh perfect" Klaus replied looking towards Elijah. "Mother is a step ahead of us as usual"
"Oliver is with her, I'll go and I'll get her to do the spell but I need the necklace" I replied holding my hand out towards Klaus.
"I don't like this-" Elijah spoke up.
"No you don't get to tell me what to do after telling me that we all needed to work together, so just for once will you trust me that I'll do something and it will get done?" Elijah looks as though he's about to speak but shuts his mouth at the last moment as Klaus sighs and pulls the necklace out of his pocket and hands it to me. "Thank you" I nod at them before I turn to leave but Elijah calls out stopping me.
"Wait there's something else, a disciple of Marcel's was instructed to fetch another ingredient, ask for Gia" he tells me and I nod again.
"Okay" I share a quick look back at Klaus before I leave walking out of the compound.
I headed to the cemetery first to rescue Lenore and when I followed my ears and nose to Oliver's location where he was standing watch in front of the crypt he nodded at me and I looked inside seeing the witch chained to the walls by her wrists and I can't help the flash of memory in front of my eyes of Genevieve in the very same position and myself killing her which makes me frown and shake the memories away from my mind right now.
"They worked her over pretty good" Oliver pointed out making my frown deepen as I moved around him walking towards the witch.
"We need to get her out of here"
"What?" Oliver asked like he was surprised as I reached up and yanked at the chains breaking one of the cuffs making her fall to the side weak from what the witches loyal to this little bitch had done to her. "Well then what they'll know that I let her go, look you asked me to infiltrate Cassie's Coven, I'm not going to blow my cover for some has-been hippie witch" I turn towards him as he looks past me towards the witch. "No offensive" I rolled my eyes.
"I guess we could always make it look like you got jumped, tell Cassie that Lenore got rescued by her people" I suggested with a fake sigh.
"Let me guess, you wanna beat the hell out of me...make it look convincing?" he asked and I tried to refrain from smiling.
"Well I can't say I won't enjoy it" I nodded and he let out a deep sigh.
"Okay just...just not the face" he says and I lose the battle at containing my smile.
"Oh Ollie, I'll try hard not to hurt your pretty face" I smirked before I swung and punched him in the gut, making it look quiet convincing that I actually left him unconscious on the floor before I yanked the other cuff off Lenore's wrist and held her up. "It's gonna be okay, I promise"
"What's your dog in this fight, your not a Mikaelson?" she asked standing up.
"I sort of am in spirit" I replied stoically since she didn't need to know my emotional connections to the Mikaelson family, or my confusing relationship with Klaus.
"The werewolf mother" she suddenly said making me frown.
"Turned witch rescuer apparently" I sighed since this wasn't really want I wanted to be doing right now but the thing I did want wasn't possible so whatever I can do to slay the evil witch is all a plus right now to distract me from my tedious thoughts and feelings. "Listen, can we do this spell or not?" I asked her since that's all I really cared about.
"After what that bitch and her lackey did to me, I'll do any spell you want" she nodded at me before she walked out and I cast one look down at Oliver making sure I heard a heartbeat coming from him before I followed her outside.
We went back to her shop where she began gathering her ingredients and I quickly left her to head to Marcel's warehouse to find Gia and fetch the thing Elijah had asked her to get and it was a freaking python which I was glad was in a sack as I wasn't all that fond of snakes and returned to find her arranging her alter.
"So will this take long?" I asked as soon as I entered the back room.
"You want me to soul brand the resurrected spirit of a thousand year old witch, it's best I take my time and do it right" she argued and I could only nod my head since Klaus and Elijah was trusting me to get this done so I was determined not to disappoint. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry" she suddenly added making me turn back from looking around her shop. "No one should ever have to lose a child"
"No, no one should" I replied looking down at my feet.
"You have the talisman?" she asked and I nodded pulling the starling necklace out of my pocket and handed it to her.
"So how does this work?" I asked as she held it over the boiling pot. "You brand Esther with the spell and then what?"
"The next time she jumps into a body, she'll be marked with the distinctive symbol on the back of her hand, this way you'll always know who she is" Lenore replied pulling the snake out of the bag and I took a step back out of instinctive fear.
"We still don't know why she's here" I argued never taking my eyes off the snake which she had placed around her neck. "When Esther held you captive, did she give you any idea why she's doing all this?" I asked her still eyeing the snake off with reservation.
"Love" she replied and I raised my eyes at her.
"How hard did they hit you?" I asked in confusion.
"What besides love inspires such pain and cruelty" she replies taking the snake off her neck holding it up as she picks up a knife from the alter. "And Esther..." she slices down the snakes belly making me flinch a little before taking out it's intestines and bawling them up in her hands, the blood going all over her hands as well before she looks up at me. "Her love is very, very strong" I frowned since I couldn't believe that, not after what she'd tried to do to Hope.
I stood back when she began chanting and anxiously waited for the spell to be completed eventually taking a seat as it drew on but just as she slowed down she fell forward halting her words and grabbing hold of the cauldron making me frown as I looked at her confused especially when she began looking around like she was confused herself.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
"Yes" she replied looking up.
"You sure you..." I trailed off as I'd stood and my eyes immediately dropped to her hand as she lifted it to her face.
"Just getting my bearings" she replied but I stepped back when I saw the welted brand on the back of her hand, eyes going wide.
"The mark!" I exclaimed and she looked down at it herself. "It's you, isn't it?" I asked looking at her in shock, I was in the very same room with the woman that sought to kill my daughter and is the reason I'm a hybrid. "Esther" she smirked confirming my accusation but before either of us can speak I hear my phone vibrating in my pocket and I grab for it.
"Go ahead, you can answer it" Lenore/Esther nods at me and I remain eye contact with her as I answer the call pressing it to my ear.
"Klaus, I'm at Lenore's shop" I quickly spit out before she throws her hand out and the line goes dead.
"That'll be enough" she smiles at me.
"They're gonna come for me" I spit at her narrowing my eyes.
"My darling, it's been the idea all along" she argues making my eyes widen, I was bait...but that doesn't make any sense she had already organized that dinner with Klaus and Elijah, why did she need me to get to them unless...she wanted them vulnerable in trying to protect me, this was a trap. "It's so lovely to finally meet you, tell me do my sons ever acknowledge the good you bring into their lives?" she asks and I glare at her. "Afterall it was you who gave them hope" I had to fight hard to not react to the last word, not show any feelings despite the shock since I didn't know if she was using the word in general of if it was a threat of knowing the truth. "The promise of a child shows us all the possibilities of a future that could be, children are meant to save us from the worst parts of who we are, a truth that makes my own circumstances all the more tragic, wouldn't you say?"
"I don't pity you, Esther" I spat back glaring at her.
"It's a terrible thing for a mother fail her child, as you well know" my glare hardened since I didn't fail my child, I did everything I could to protect her...even from me. "But now I offer you freedom, the gift of a new body" I raised an eye at her since why the hell would I want that. "Freedom from being a hybrid, I have the ability to return to you all that you have lost Hadley, to make it so could have a family of your own...more children of your own" I stared at her pretending like her words were drawing me in but in reality I didn't want that, I had a family...one that wasn't perfect but it was mine and it was enough for me, I just had to pretend to keep Hope safe from her. "Wouldn't that be nice?"
"I assume I have the misfortune of speaking to my mother" I heard Klaus' voice as he barged into the room heading straight towards her but Esther threw up some powder and he stopped hitting a barrier spell. "You hide behind your spells like a coward" I frowned noticing he'd placed himself between me and his mother.
"I did not come here to wage war" Esther argued before throwing out more powder stopping Elijah's attempt at a sneak attack and clearly with their plan failed I felt Klaus move towards me, his hand outstretched in front of me touching my arm and my hand came up to grab his arm still staring at Esther who looked at this exchange between Klaus and I with an unreadable expression.
"Everything you do is an act of war, if you touch her so help me-"
"Hadley is free to go" Esther spat cutting Klaus' threat off which was leaving me stunned by his protection and so openly in front of his mother. "I've spoken my peace, she knows why I'm here" she nods at me before turning her eyes back to Klaus and Elijah. "I have come to heal our family"
"Well that's a grim sentiment coming from you" Klaus replied before he turned to me. "Go now" he ordered and I frowned looking up at him hesitating for a second before I turned and left the room vamping back to the compound where Klaus and Elijah returned shortly stating that Esther had made a grand escape and was now in the wind again and I told them about Esther's offer to put me in a different body. "Of course she used those damn birds to make her escape" Klaus seethed as he paced the courtyard.
"Besides mothers offer of rebirth, what else did she say?" Elijah asked me
"I don't now she rambled a lot" I shrugged not liking his demands right now on questioning me on every word his mother had said. "She blamed the two of you for what happened to Hope, to me" I added chancing a look over at Klaus seeing him stop his pacing for a second to look at me as I said this.
"Well I trust you're not thinking about taking her offer" Klaus said and I frowned unable to meet his eyes for a second. "Hadley!" he exclaimed and I heard him step towards me. "I'm talking to you"
"What do you want me to say, Klaus?!" I spat standing up to be level with him. "I lost my daughter and became a hybrid so yeah when your mother offered to wipe the slate clean, I was tempted for a single moment" I huffed then turned to look between them. "But thanks for saving me" I added before I stormed off heading upstairs to my room.
"Leave her, I need you with me" I heard Elijah say as I walked out and figured Klaus had tried to follow to continue this but he clearly stopped as I walked into my room alone and shut the door looking towards the adjoining one that lead to the nursery as I always did which was shut then moved towards the balcony doors stepping out of the doors and leant against the barrier looking out at the city before I looked up at the stars.
"Mason I really wish you were here, I could use your guidance right about now because I'm so confused on what the right thing to do is, I lost you, I lost Tyler, I lost Hayley and Jackson and I lost Hope, in more ways than one" I felt a tear move down my cheek but before I had the chance to wipe it away I felt a breeze come from behind me and the railing creaked as someone else leant against it and I let out a sigh. "Klaus I'm really not in the mood for-"
"I'm not here for that" he states as I let out another sigh turning my head away from him as I feel more tears falling down my face.
"I wouldn't take Esther's deal, despite everything that's happened it wouldn't feel right, I didn't go through everything that I have to cop out and I wouldn't feel like me, not that I do right now but-"
"You're more you than you think Hadley" I smiled a little especially as I felt his hand take mine pulling it from the railing, I started to wipe the tears but felt his hand cup my chin and turn my face towards him.
"Only you think so"
"Because you and I aren't that different Hadley" he replied and I smiled a little as I hadn't heard him say that in a while. "And you are still the same girl that got through my stone cold exterior from the very first time I laid eyes on you"
"When you turned my brother into a hybrid" I scoffed but through a smile and he shrugged with a smirk on his face. "You know I always thought about that night, how easily that could've been me"
"I would never-"
"Don't lie Klaus, you could have turned me that night as well and you probably would have if Tyler hadn't of turned, I was the next perfect test case but it worked and everything from that just seemed like one thing pushing us to the next...despite everything you did I was able to look past that because I honestly believed that maybe you and I were meant to meet, something always pulled me towards you, destiny was at play"
"You really believed that?" he asked and I nodded my head.
"I still do despite everything" I smiled at him squeezing his hand. "I still care about you Klaus" he smiled squeezing my hand back.
"As do I Hadley" he smiled before we both turned and looked out at the city, knowing that somewhere past all this our daughter was out there with Rebekah away from all this and I wished for the day for us to be reunited since what had thought when Esther offered me the chance of a new body was real, Klaus and Hope was my family, no matter how messed up it was it was our little family and I wouldn't change it.