Part 14

'I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for all of this.' Hope sobbed on her mother's lap. 'It's not your fault. Hope, this... this is all Greta.''I just, I thought that I was actually gonna fix it by doing the binding spell.''You weren't really gonna do it, were you? No, I was. But Dad stopped me at the last minute.''You dad does have timing.' A whisper of a smile bloomed on Hayley's face. 'Hope, promise me that you won't try again, that you won't ever deny any part of yourself. Promise me.' 'Aunt Freya said that you didn't want me to trigger my werewolf side.' A line appeared between Hope's brows. 'It's... complicated. And having all bones crack in your body sucks, it really does. But when you're running through the woods, under a full moon, with no thought of pain or... or trouble, just freedom... there is no greater feeling in the world.' 'I am so stupid.' Her shoulders sagged. 'I... I actually thought that he liked me. Hope, if... if we all judged ourselves by the mistakes we've made with the men in our lives, we would never, ever get any peace.''Nowhere to go but up, I guess. I just, I hate that I can't get us out of here. I'm sure Aunt Freya is looking for all three of us by... I cloaked Roman and me, so there's no way for her to find us. And I can't do magic with these stupid chains on.' ~'Who'd you call?' Hope asked coldly. 'My sister.' Henry answered moving uneasily, his shoulders lined with tension. 'Oh, there are more of you? Great.' Hope quipped.'Listen, I don't know what's happening here.''Then let us go.''I can't.''Then we'll give Greta what she wants.' Hayley met Henry's eyes, full of determination. 'Call your witch. We'll do the binding spell.'~The witch was called and there in no time. Hope watched as the witch took out of her bag the moonstone, the tongs, powder and all sorts of stuff. Hope recognized some of the things because of her failed attempt to bind herself with Freya. [CHANTING]The witch took some of Hayley's blood and put the already heated moonstone in it. The burning moonstone would be covered with Hayley's blood and be put in her palms, the soles of her feet and her forehead. And Hayley had to be conscious and breathing all throughout it. [Chanting].- Right hand.[Chanting].- Left hand. Hayley's pained moans echoed on the bare walls. [Chanting].- Right foot. Her lungs couldn't get enough air in. 'It's a... piece of cake.' She smiled weakly at Hope.

'Liar.' Her daughter answered, eyes glistening with unshed tears. The chanting continued as the witch stopped to give the moonstone another coat of blood and heat it again. [Chanting]'Look away, Hope. Hope, look away!' Hayley pleaded. [Chanting]Hope looked away as the moonstone now red from the heat and blood was getting near her mother's forehead. Yet it didn't hurt less when the sizzling of burning flesh and Hayley's scream filled the room. With every scream it felt like a steely fist was wrapped around Hope's heart until it was crushed and bleeding.[Chanting]It worked. Hayley was simply a vampire now.⚜️With the witch and Roman down Hope rushed towards the door, but stopped abruptly. The satisfaction from her plan working left her body as if someone had reached inside her body and taken it with force.'You can't go.' She mumbled.'No, but you can.' Hayley looked pale, barely standing straight but her face was filled with determination to protect her littlest wolf.'I'm not going without you. I cloaked you as a hybrid. The second you finished that spell, Freya's beacon started flipping out. They know where to find us now.''And I will be fine, Hope. But it all makes sense now. They could have killed me at any time, and they didn't. It's you that they want.' Hope opened her mouth to say something but Hayley didn't let her. 'No, I can take care of myself. No. It's not your strength that they're afraid of. You are a Mikaelson witch with a werewolf mother and an Original father. You are the one that could finally unite all the factions. And that goes against everything that they believe in. They thrive on hatred, and you...' Hayley's hands caressed Hope's face and hair. '...you, my sweet girl, are their worst fear. Which means you have to go.' Hope tried to refuse.

'Yes, you have to go. You have to leave now. I love you. Now. Go.' Yet the moment Hope turned around she felt something blow into her face and then nothing. Greta strode in with a face full of hatred but the moment that Hayley lunged at her, weak as she was, Greta pushed her in the corner and pulled a curtain open, creating a barrier between Hayley and Hope.'If you lay one finger on my daughter...''I'd say you're not in a terribly good position to make threats.'~Greta is about to run a stake through Hope's chest when she's thrown across the room out in the corridor. Hayley. She heard shouts and a fight going on outside. Klaus was there, she assumed. He'd save them and if not her then Hope would be safe.Hayley knew. So she threw herself on Greta as her motherly instincts compelled her to tear Greta apart. Yet she'd overestimated her strength. Greta quickly won the upper hand by slamming Hayley on the corridor wall. The door was kicked open and Klaus entered like a raging storm. A silver of hope bloomed in Hayley's heart.Which wilted as soon as it bloomed.

Elijah came out of nowhere, stabbing Klaus on his back. Hayley watched half-numb from the pain or from shock, she didn't know, as blood spurted of Klaus' mouth causing to fall to his knees.'Elijah.' Hayley pleaded.Yet Elijah was cold, unfeeling as he plunged the wooden stake deeper into his brother's body all the while holding Hayley's eyes. 'No.' A whisper came out of Hayley's mouth, but maybe no one hear it. No one but Greta, who was still holding Hayley with a death grip, enjoying every second as disappointment overcame Hayley's face. With Klaus on the ground and Hayley with all her guard down, she seized the opportunity.Hayley let out a blood-curdling scream as Greta shoved her hand in Hayley's chest, gripping her heart. Time stopped as the throbbing in her heart hurt and hurt. Hayley looked at Klaus kneeled on the floor with a pool of his own blood beneath him. Then she looked at her littlest wolf, sleeping peacefully without an idea of what was going on. Hayley was happy for that. She knew what she had to do. What would be her last fight. With a last glance at Klaus, she closed her eyes...And turned it off. ~The stake in his back hurt like hell but hearing Hayley's scream shattered Klaus' heart in thousands of pointy shards and those shards dug deep into his lungs. Making him unable to do anything. Hayley,the one he'd been searching for, the one he turned New Orleans upside down for, was right there. She hurt. She hurt and he couldn't help her. Klaus regretted a lot of things. And maybe the one he might regret best was not breaking Elijah's neck the moment he said that "they" were his family now.

The pain subdued a little. Just enough for Klaus to be able to get his head up. Hayley's eyes were fixed on his for half a moment and then she closed them, breaking the link. For a beat Klaus thought that was it. That she'd never open her eyes again. She did.Hayley suddenly moved.Greta screamed. A whirl of back cloud passed by Klaus.The door fell. Sunlight flooded the room. Silence.'NO-' Klaus couldn't trust his eyes.His lying eyes that saw only one lump of fire on the ground. And close to it, so close to the sizzling fire -Klaus moved his eyes ever so slowly as if afraid of what he would see- there was this bat-like creature with blonde curls. Klaus blinked and then he blinked again. The panic and numbness in his brain was beginning to crawl away leaving space to composure and calm.The blonde head, that was Caroline. Elijah snapped her neck as soon as she and Klaus arrived. On her knees she was holding the sides of her black jacket open to provide shade. Her head stood just on the side to give the most shade. And beneath her, shaking like a leaf, was her.Hayley.

Her legs curled up, her arms wrapped around them, trying to take up as little space as possible. She dared raise her head a little and her eyes met Klaus'. She fell backwards on Caroline. That brought Klaus back to his senses. He whooshed right to Caroline and made to remove his daylight ring. He didn't need it, for being a hybrid meant he wasn't affected by the sun, yet he kept one. Klaus safely put the daylight ring in Hayley's ring finger. 'It's all right now. She's safe.' Looking at Klaus' face convinced Caroline, she saw something there, radiating in his face, something like a new kind of strength. Slowly, still weary of the sun, Caroline let go of her jacket as Klaus took Hayley in his arms. 'Hope is inside, that boy also.' He said dismissively while arranging Hayley's head on his shoulder. Caroline got the memo. Elijah was there as well and Klaus didn't want to deal with him right now. Caroline walked towards the house as Klaus headed to the car, putting Hayley on the backseats safely. 'Klaus.' Caroline came out of the house carrying a sleeping Hope. Klaus rushed to Caroline taking his precious littlest wolf from her. When Klaus had just finished tucking Hope near her mother another car came into the horizon. Freya.'You know what Caroline.' She turned towards him, listening intently. 'I can't be near Hope for longer.' Freya parked her car right behind her brother's. 'Sister. Give me your keys.' Then he turned to Caroline. 'I trust you can take Hope safely to the boarding school. Freya will be coming with you.' Reaching out Klaus grabbed Caroline's arm softly. 'I can never thank you enough for today.' She smiled softly at him. Taking Hayley in his arms again, Klaus walked towards Freya's car without answering any of her questions.