STOLEN | THE ORIGINALS

3.7 | Goodbye, Sister. Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye, Friend

How could Raylynn set her adrift and watch what was left of her burn away?

Raylynn had no idea how long she sat at the foot of Hayley's bed, staring at the pictures that were, in that moment, only memories. Her attention snapped to the doorway when Klaus appeared. She heard him on the phone with Freya earlier. She stayed behind at the Salvatore School with Hope and Ryan. They were to hop on a plane in the next hour to make it in time for Hayley's second line.

It dawned on her then that she failed to even ask about Hope or Ryan since everything happened. Since her world crumbled around her. Raylynn knew that she had to be strong for them. She had to appear unshaken, invincible to the horrors in their lives. She needed for them to know that she would stop those monsters from taking anyone else they loved.

But right then, Raylynn was not sure she could even stand on her own.

"Love?" Klaus questioned, less urgent than he had been the night before. He moved further into the room, his eyes set on his wife. "I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but..."

"You have to go," Raylynn said without a glance in his direction. "It's alright. I get it. You can't be around Hope, anyway."

Klaus stopped in front of her and knelt, taking her hands in his. "But, I can be around you. And once I have flushed out our problem, I will be right back here to stand at your side."

Raylynn nodded. "Right." She blinked away the haze that clouded her mind and went to meet his gaze, but something over his shoulder caught her attention. A bouquet of lilies on Hayley's dresser began to wilt at an alarming rate. Something that only occurred when more than one Mikaelson were in the same vicinity. "Elijah," she sighed as their eyes connected.

Klaus's expression hardened a bit at the sound of his brother's name. He nodded. "Yes. He and his girlfriend have finally made their appearance, along with Greta's conspirators."

Raylynn pressed her lips together and gave his hands a squeeze. She held his stare as she said, as clear as she could muster, "make them suffer as she did."

"Every last one of them," Klaus stated, before he stood and kissed her forehead. After a moment, he released her hands and turned on his heel to leave.

_______

Raylynn took her time as she got dressed for Hayley's second line. Something she never thought she would do. She was a hybrid, for crying out loud. She was immortal. She was supposed to live a long and happy life, watching her daughter grow and become the young woman she always wanted her to be.

Now, Hayley would never get to do that.

Raylynn smoothed out the black dress that adorned her body. She had to meet Freya, Hope, and Ryan at Rousseaux's in the next ten minutes for the start of Hayley's second line. As much as she did not want to allow so much as a toot of a trumpet, Freya convinced her that a lot of people loved and cherished Hayley throughout the entire city. Not all of them could attend her actual funeral, so they needed a way to say goodbye.

Although, Raylynn was far from sold on the idea. But, she figured her funeral out at the bayou would make up for it.

Raylynn pulled her long hair into a ponytail and scrunched it high on her head. She grabbed her things from her vanity when shouting erupted somewhere in the home. Not what she expected. Raylynn slipped into her wedged heels and left her and Klaus's room to find two people in the courtyard. Her husband and Marcel.

"ENOUGH!" Klaus screamed, whirling on his heel to face his adoptive son. "He let Hayley die!"

Raylynn's hearted constricted at his words. She knew who he was talking about, and she wanted to hear nothing about the man who should have been her brother-in-law. He may have had air in his lung and a beating heart in his chest, but to her, Elijah Mikaelson was dead.