Hellfire | Hayley Marshall

Chapter 41

"Nik can be insufferable, but my siblings and I have tried to be so good to you, and it seems like that meant nothing to you. Like we're only a burden. Evil, monstrous burdens that you can toss aside whenever you want. It's not fair, in my eyes, Hayley. How you left and put Hope at risk. How you didn't say a proper goodbye and just expected us to accept the fact we'd never see our niece again. I wish to hate you, but I can't. I still love you, and I can never have you."

Once more, her eyes flickered over Hayley's form. "I never knew that such a beautiful sight could bring me such pain."

She walked out of her room, swallowing back the tears that threatened to pour out of her own eyes.

"Eisa," said Elijah, finding her in the lower foyer. "I was hoping you'd accompany me downstairs, with Freya and Niklaus. I have told her about the prophecy, and am hoping she can ease our curiosities."

The elder sister nodded, following him down to where Freya had prepared some candles, herbs, and slips of paper with Norse runes bearing their names. Klaus was standing, bleeding into a bowl.

"If you fed on this prophetic witch," Freya was telling him, "her blood is still in your system. If there's a weapon that can kill you, we need to know." She took the bowl from Klaus, putting her fingers into it before starting to chant, "No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve. No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve..."

Eisa was focused on the spell she was using, at first, but frowned, her focus shifting as she noticed blood dripping out of Freya's ear. The house started to shake, and Freya's voice wavered, her body tensing, as if it was straining her to continue the spell.

"Sister," said Eisa worriedly. "Stop the spell. Freya—"

Freya suddenly let out a loud gasp, her eyes closing, as if she was seeing something in her head. The four slips of paper with the runes lit on fire, and the eldest sister's eyes snapped open. "It's true," she said slowly. "You have a terrible shadow over you. Rebekah, too. If this prophecy is fulfilled, you will all fall..." she hesitated, before adding, "one by friend, one by foe, and one by family."

"Oh, wonderful," said Eisa as Klaus stormed away. "As if we didn't have enough to worry about." She beckoned for Elijah to follow her, and the two went after Klaus, who'd gone to his study and sat down behind his desk, eyes closed as if he was trying to meditate.

"My memory of Lucien goes back to a time when our family was happy," murmured Klaus, once he sensed their presence. "Things were good... Or, as good as things could be as vampires hiding in plain sight. Everyone in Marseilles was held in the thrall of the Count's arrogant son Tristan and his sister, the Lady Aurora."

Eisa remembered that. Things had been quite different, then. She was still the mother figure, doting on her siblings and cleaning after them. She and Finn moved carefully amongst the nobles, hardly feeding, mostly observing and trying to keep the others in line. Eisa had enjoyed that time, helping to do Rebekah's hair so that she could impress the different noblemen that asked her to dance. Klaus had even been happy.

"In hindsight," continued Klaus, "I could have done more to prevent what was to follow. But then, even an endless life cannot be played in reverse. Hoping to dissuade Lucien, I told him Aurora would not accept his note. I thought the matter settled. How could I tell him that Aurora was already in love with another? But Lucien was a hopeless romantic. In his desperation, he sought her out... and well, you know how that ends."

They did indeed know. Lucien had been found with Aurora, and had been whipped until near-death. A smile had been carved onto his face, and that night, the siblings had learned that their blood could heal, and additionally, that if someone died with their blood in their system, they'd become vampires, provided they completed their transition.