Back To The Beginning {Alternate Version}

Discovery

With Rebekah in the lead, Hayley decided to let Malia go ahead of her so she could be at the back of their little group. She glanced around, her guard already up in case they came across who knows what down here, but still remained calm given that she was unsure of how Malia was handling this current situation.

Malia followed behind the blond vampire, still not liking her very much but seemed to be alright at least for now knowing that she was the aunt of Hayley's daughter. She didn't really mind the silence, but eventually decided to speak up causing a sigh to escape from the woman in front.

"Do either of you even know what's down here? How do you even know if we're going the right way and not heading towards people who may want to hurt us?", she said, glancing over her shoulder at Hayley who met her eyes briefly, an array of emotions showing but none that she quite understood, and then looking back at Rebekah.

Rebekah stopped and said, turning around to stare at the coyote who had already seemed to be a bit of an annoyance to her and also oddly reminded her of Hayley in a way, "For bloody sake, you really struggle with being quiet, don't you? Hayley and I have dealt with far worse things than you can begin to comprehend little girl. I've seen things that would even scare you in all of the centuries that I've been alive. We know what we're doing. If you want to run away, then go now. Otherwise, keep that little coyote mouth of yours shut and let us continue on our way."

Malia growled and her body instantly tensed up, but before she could even think of attacking or saying something harshly back to Rebekah, Hayley had grabbed her by her arm and pulled her away from her daughter's aunt rather quickly.

"Look, we're all on edge down here because none of us are certain about where we're headed. But the quicker we check this entire place out, the faster we can leave, alright? So just...just try to trust us, Malia. Like Rebekah said, we've gone through a lot of things in our lifetimes...somethings that nobody should have gone through. It'll be a lot easier and less hectic if we all just work together so we can get the hell out of here.", Hayley said, slightly looking up at the were-coyote even though she held onto her arm.

Malia seemed to calm down at Hayley's words and she sighed, saying, "Okay, but if she tries to kill me, I will defend myself against her. And you two aren't the only ones who have had to deal with things. I dealt with things in Beacon Hills that I didn't like, but I still got through it with my pack. I'm not as weak as you may be thinking."

Hayley blinked and looked at Rebekah who rolled her eyes but said nothing for once since the three of them had been together. She looked back at Malia and let go of her arm, stepping away and taking the lead, walking briskly further until the tunnel they had been following opened up into a catacomb; bones stacked high were on either side of the stone walls which all appeared to be very old and ancient.

Most of them were humans, she realized, but was a bit surprised to find werewolf skulls and teeth down here as well as vampire ones and other creatures that she didn't recognize. One of the werewolf bones in particular got her attention and she hurried over to it, kneeling down as she saw a piece of fabric next to it.

Her blood turned to ice and her body completely froze as she stared at the bones and the clothing piece, her fingers actually shaking a little bit. Slowly turning her head back to Rebekah and Malia, she couldn't even form words in her mouth as she was still in shock out of horror.

"You reek of fear. What's wrong Hayley?", Malia said as she walked over to her and looked at the bones as well, kneeling beside her to examine them more closely. Her eyebrows creased together, and she decided to use a technique that Scott had taught her, not thinking at all about the possible consequences. Her claws came out of one hand, and she stuck them into the back of Hayley's neck, right at the base of the hybrid's head where the skull met the spine. Her body went still like Hayley's, who was still frozen in place.

"What in the hell? How lovely. I'm down in some catacombs in another place with my niece's mother and some damned coyote girl whose got her claws literally in her neck.", Rebekah said dryly as she walked over and stood by them, looking down at the bones and the piece of clothing that Hayley held in her fingers. The crescent mark was very clear on its fringes.