The Original hated having to trudge through the Bayou in heels.
"Were the situation not urgent, I would have at least asked to go and change into boots," she grumbled as they walked. "I haven't been out here in ages."
"I didn't think you'd ever come to the Bayou," said Hayley, walking in front of her and leading the way, a careful hand draped over her belly.
"'Course I have. I had a thing with a werewolf at one point. Never amounted to anything, obviously, but she was hot, and it was hard to resist."
Hayley raised her eyebrows. "When was this?"
"The 1900s. I had a bit of a crush on Mary-Alice Claire— Davina's ancestor— but she wasn't into women, so naturally, she chose Kol. I met Vera not long before I was daggered. She was an exquisite beauty. Not a Crescent, sorry to tell you, she had married in from another pack and was left widowed."
"Do you think, if you hadn't been daggered, things would have worked out between the two of you?"
"Probably not. Vera didn't like vampires much— she really only made an exception for me. It wasn't anything serious. Just some kisses. She was helping me with some magic and I was helping her with some supplies."
Hayley smiled. "I think you should stick around and see if any of the wolves here catches your eye."
Hilda blushed. "I highly doubt anything will come from it. Wolves really don't like vampires. Especially not Originals."
The werewolf had chuckled as they arrived at a small hut near the edge of the water. Two wolves awaited them— a muscular blond male and taller male with tousled curly brown hair.
"Hayley," said the dark haired wolf. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Jack," she said, brushing her hair behind her ears. "I'll tell you two all about it..." she beckoned toward the vampire behind her. "This is Hilda, she's Elijah's sister."
The blond wolf whistled. "You Originals got all the good genes." He held his hand out to her excitedly. "I'm Oliver."
Hilda shook his hand. "Oliver... you're the wolf that kissed by sister Rebekah."
He blushed. "Oh, she told you?"
"My sister never keeps such things as secrets," said Hilda, winking at him. "I heard all about the dancing and kissing... and the wolves attacking her."
Oliver stepped back, holding his hands up. "Listen—"
"Oh, I'm not mad," she said. "I was getting a back rub in Monaco when she told me, so I could honestly care less." She fixated her eyes on the darker haired wolf who seemed intent on fussing over Hayley. "What's your name, gorgeous?"
He held up his hand to wave at her, but did not extend it for a greeting with contact. "Jackson," he said.
"Jackson," she repeated. "Lovely." She clasped her hands together. "Well, it seems you both have Hayley. Keep her safe, will you?"
"Will do," Jackson responded. Hilda took this opportunity to take off her shoes as she began to walk back through the Bayou.
"You don't want to maybe stay?" asked Oliver a bit too eagerly.
She let out a soft giggle and looked back over her shoulder. "Sorry, darling, I don't make a habit of going for men my sister already had, even if it was just a kiss."
When she got back to the Compound, she took another shower. Her dress was left hung up and she washed her body and face very well, wrapping her hair in a small towel hat. She slept peacefully in her old bed, glad to have some sort of familiarity. There was a pang in her heart thinking that Kol would have loved to be back here with her.
In the morning, after she'd had a nicely filling breakfast of sausages and toast with a glass of blood, she went up to the study and found Elijah sitting calmly on the desk while Klaus furiously tore through several bookshelves, as if looking for something.
"Can I help you locate your desired book?" asked Hilda with a cheeky grin, sitting beside Elijah. She nudged him. "By the way, excellent choice of servants, that short girl with the frizzy curls is absolutely delicious."
Elijah smirked as Klaus turned to face them. "Yes, in fact, I believe you can help me, Hilda," he said sharply. "I'm look for a book about yea big—" he gestured with his hands, "filled with our mother's most powerful spells. It appears to have been misplaced."
Hilda shrugged. "I don't see it here. Mind you, I was only in the Compound for a very short time yesterday so I haven't the faintest idea where it might be. I was under the impression you arrived late because you were protecting said book. This is a little strange, isn't it, Elijah?"
Elijah was amused. "Yes, how very mysterious."
"Indeed," Klaus agreed, glaring suspiciously at the two of them. "At first, I feared the witches had succeeded in their efforts to obtain it, but considering their last attempt ended with me relieving a rather large, tattooed gentleman of his hands, I began to wonder if the thief wasn't a bit closer to home."
He stopped to watch as Elijah began to nonchalantly scribble in a blank notebook. Klaus growled. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, brother."
"Well, admittedly, I did have a theory that your sudden interest in mother's grimoire was in some way related to whatever foolishness you've been conducting with the Crescent wolves," said Elijah, setting down the notebook. "Therefore, I took it upon myself to carefully place it where naughty little fingers could not pry."
Klaus's eyes flashed with malice and he looked at Hilda, gesturing toward Elijah as if saying, 'do you see what I have to deal with?' "And here, I thought you, of all people, would understand! I am simply trying to help those wolves! Play Samaritan to the abused. Champion to the underdog, so to speak."
"How splendidly noble of you," said Hilda solemnly, looking quite serious. "Well, I'd be happy to help you locate it if you tell me what this is all about."
"I am trying to keep Hayley safe," Klaus replied without missing a beat. "I am using our mother's magic to empower her people so that they are capable of protecting her."
"Oooh, I see where this is going," said Hilda, clapping her hands together. "You want to make them those special rings so that they don't have to turn on the full moons."
Elijah glared at his brother. "And what if they decide to seek retribution for decades held in exile, Niklaus? Hayley will find herself in the middle of an uprising. One that will only provoke further violence. You see, you risk turning New Orleans into a war zone, brother. I won't let that happen."
Hilda held her hand up. "Now, now, brother, I think he's got a point. The wolves deserve a proper chance. You're the one preaching about peace. They deserve a proper advantage. There are many spells we could add to the rings— we could make it so they have to swear that they won't attack the witches without cause. If they even try to do it while wearing the rings, it will burn them."
Klaus gestured toward his sister to show that Elijah was just being ignorant. He went over to her and put his arm around her. "Now this is a prime example of why I have always respected my sisters more," said Klaus with a wicked grin. "The drums of war were beating long before we returned. I suggest, Elijah, that you use a little less of this—" he mimed a talking gesture, "and a little more of these." He pointed at his ears before going to sit on the couch with a bottle of bourbon.
Elijah rolled his eyes. "Since you are so eager to side with him, Hilda, you will accompany me to the Bayou."
Her mouth dropped open. "Excuse me? I already went there yesterday! I don't have the right shoes to be going in that mud!"
"Then by all means, purchase some, there are enough stores to supply you with all the shoes you will need for another decade, or longer. You will come with me to speak with the wolves."
Hilda made a face. "Alright, don't get your knickers in a twist."
Within twenty minutes, she'd managed to find the best shoes she could, a pair of black leather boots that rose about five inches above her ankles. She put on a simple black tank top and some shorts, pinning her hair back with some green clips.
They arrived back at the shack from the day before, hearing two voices inside.
"I hope so," Hayley was saying. "As fun as it is to imagine Klaus changing dirty diapers, I'm pretty sure that I'll be doing this alone."
The woman with her chuckled. "I somehow doubt that."
Elijah pushed open the door. "Pardon the interruption," he said. "I wonder if I might have a quick word with the conspirators of a supposed uprising."
Hayley stood up and crossed her arms. "I'm guessing you mean Jack and Ollie? I'll get them. Stay here."
She walked off and the woman gave the two Originals a courteous nod before leaving the room as well.
"No wonder you've got your good trousers on," Hilda said with a mischievous grin. "You're mad for her."
"I am not 'mad' for her," said Elijah.
"She's gorgeous. She's assertive. You adore that. Haven't you kissed her yet?"
"No, Hilda, I haven't."
"But you want to."
"She is carrying Niklaus's child."
"That child will be born soon."
Elijah glared at her and mere seconds later, Hayley came back with Jackson and Oliver.
"I'm told you wanted to speak with us?" asked Jackson. "I assume this has to do with what Klaus spoke to us about."
Elijah nodded. "You're making a grave mistake."
Oliver scoffed. "So, you're just worried about us. Is that it?"
Jackson held up his hand. "Look, Elijah. We know all about your brother's reputation, but if there is even a chance that these rings can help us take control of our curse—"
"—our gift—" interjected Oliver.
"Then honestly," continued Jackson, "we don't care what he's really after. Won't have to."
Hilda stopped her brother from responding. "I can assure you, if I write and refine the spell myself, the rings will work."
Jackson made a face. "Excuse me? I thought Klaus said the spell was coming from your mother's grimoire."
"It is," said Hilda. "Once we acquire it, I will be double-checking everything and making a more modern version. I have full faith that you all won't act out once you get the rings. There are preventative measures that can be taken—"
"Like a leash?" said Jackson sharply. "I don't like the sound of the rings being used to keep us at bay."
"They wouldn't be," she replied just as coldly, not enjoying that he had interrupted her. "It would only stop you from doing something you'll regret and if you don't ever intend to do it, you would never experience any effects."
"The problem with these rings," said Elijah, "is that there are those in the Quarter who will consider this a great provocation."
"Apparently, most of them see us breathing the same way," Oliver muttered.
Elijah turned to Hayley instead. "You signed a pledge, and you looked me in the eye as you did so."
"We don't want a fight, Elijah," she said. "We just want a better life."
"Allegiance with my brother will guarantee you anything but that," Elijah countered.
"Listen, I can be the mediator if you children really can't work this out in a better way," Hilda noted, "but—"
There was the sound of a motorbike approaching. Confused, they went outside.
"What the hell?" said Jackson as a man rode into the encampment of the wolves.
"Which one of you is in charge?" asked the man on the motorcycle.
Jackson stepped forward. "Who's asking?"
Elijah and Hilda were the first to notice that something was wrong. The elder Original tackled the man off the bike, causing a loud explosion to go off.
The blast knocked them all off their feet. Hilda's body sailed through the air and she crashed into a tree, screeching in pain as one of the branches went through her abdomen. Her ears were ringing and her legs flailed, dangling off the ground. Her vision blurred as she tried to hear what was going on. Slowly, the sound came back and she heard screams of pain. She gasped and raised her arms, seeing they were covered in ash and blood. Her clothes were singed and the branch was sticking out of her, not even slightly broken, which was good.
She gasped as she reached her palms back, pushing herself off of the tree. She collapsed on the ground, stumbling forward.
"Hayley, are you okay?" she heard Oliver ask. Her head whipped toward where Hayley was perfectly fine. She ran to a little boy who was beside an injured man and picked him up, cradling him gently. "It's okay... here... come here... oh God... Jackson? Here— get him away from here."
Jackson, equally singed and covered in ash, took the child from her. Hilda and Elijah stumbled toward them. The injured man on the ground groaned as the younger Original knelt in front of him, lifting his shirt to see the burns. "Wolfsbane," she muttered.
"It must have been in the gas tank," said Hayley shakily. "You and Elijah are the fastest— take him and anyone else who can't walk on their own."
Elijah did not immediately move. "Are you sure you—?"
"I'm okay, Elijah," she promised. "I'm fine. They need your help."
The two Originals did not argue. They dispersed and started to assess who had the worst wounds. They did not opt for feeding them vampire blood— they knew the wolves wouldn't like that. Instead, Hilda had to resort to doing the most first aid she could.
When Hilda had done her best to tend to those who were only mildly injured, she rejoined Elijah, who was just getting off the phone with Hayley.
"Is she okay?" asked Jackson, who had come closer to them.
Elijah nodded. "Apparently, yes."
Jackson blew air hard out of his nostrils. "It's a good thing that bomb went off where it did. Could've been a lot worse. We all could've got killed."
"Most of those with minor injuries are already starting to heal," reported Hilda. "Those with worse injuries— I moved them closer to that shack, they should be okay there, one of your wolves is setting up some remedies for them."
Elijah suddenly tensed. "Get everyone out of here!" he told Jackson. "Now!"
But it was too late. Before Jackson and Hilda could reach, eight different explosions went off, one right after the other. Hilda felt herself be knocked back again, then in a different direction. Her ears were ringing once more as she tried desperately to move anywhere else. She caught sight of Elijah shielding a man as another explosion went off right beside him.
She sped forward when she caught sight of a small boy running out from one of the campers, and barely managed to pull him into her arms, bringing his face into her chest and covering his body with hers as another explosion rang out, sending them to the ground, a large piece of heavy indistinguishable debris flying off and landing onto them. It was completely crushing Hilda, who whimpered in pain. She was holding her arms enough above the ground to keep the boy from being smashed along with her. She would survive, but he wouldn't.
"H-Help!" she choked out as the little boy screamed for his mother. "Help— please—"
She couldn't even dare to try and push the rubble off of herself, because if she slipped, it would kill the child that was barely safe beneath her. "HELP!" she screamed. She could see blood all over the little boy— it had to be her blood, he didn't seem to be in pain, and it wasn't dark enough to be coming from him...
She choked for air as Jackson and Elijah tore the wall of the camper off of her. The little boy sprinted up immediately and Elijah pulled his sister to her feet. There was no time to relax— they had to run to where Oliver was trying to pull the rest of the camper off of the woman who had been with Hayley, earlier.
"Help!" he yelled, unable to lift in on his own. "Somebody, help! Hold on, hold on Eve..."
Elijah and Hilda staggered forward, lifting each end of the RV as Oliver pulled Eve's limp body out, picking her up and taking her into one of the shacks that was still standing. Jackson came over just as Elijah and Hilda dropped the RV.
"Casualties," the wolf said in a strained voice. "There— there are casualties this time... the injuries are worse..."
Hilda coughed and wiped some of the blood off her chin. "There's... there's some remedies I can try to make, I just don't know if it will do any good..."
Jackson just nodded and beckoned her into the shack where Oliver had laid Eve on her bed. The dark haired wolf opened a cabinet that was still intact, showing a stash of herbs and some equipment to make any magical concoctions. "That's all we have. Anything that was outside would have been destroyed by the explosions."
Hilda nodded and pulled out several of the herbs along with a mortar and pestle, beginning to grind them down. She did her best to ignore the movement around her as Jackson and Elijah went to gather all the injured into one safe place. Soon, she had some shining purple liquid, but it was nowhere near enough.
"A few drops in each person's mouth will help," she said tiredly. "But that's all that can be managed. Most should start healing on their own, though..."
"Thank you," Jackson told her gratefully, taking the pestle and using it to drip some of the liquid into the mouths of the injured they had laid out. Hilda felt a pang seeing that there were some children in the mix, those who hadn't yet activated their gene, meaning they were not going to heal as fast.
The problem was the same with Eve. She had never activated her gene, either, and having been closer to the explosion sites, she wasn't healing.
"My blood," offered Elijah once they had done their best to treat the other wolves. "It could heal her."
"Vampire blood?" said Oliver. "Trust me, she'd rather die." There was a pause. "Look, we can't just let them get away with this."
Jackson held his hands up. "We don't even know who's to blame."
"The hell we don't!" snapped Oliver. "And if we don't fight back, they'll just do it again."
Jackson glared at him and Oliver left the shack in frustration. The Alpha turned to Elijah. "Is this the peace you promised?"
Elijah sighed. "I gather my brother believes he can remove your curse. My sister insists the spell will hold true."
"Klaus was offering us freedom, not just from the pain that comes with turning, but from the contempt we've faced our whole lives."
"And what about Hayley?"
"I want to make this place right for her," said Jackson. "Safe, for her and the baby."
Elijah nodded. "I believe you. Excuse me, I ought to check on those outside."
Hilda sat down slowly beside Eve, who had yet to wake. "I'm sorry about all of this," the Original murmured quietly. "I didn't know it was this bad. When my siblings mentioned tension... well, they really only kept me updated on any problems that directly affected them. I should have come back sooner."
"Were you not an Original, you would have died today," said Jackson. "Don't think you're to blame in any way. We were lucky you were here. We don't have anyone who knows how to make remedies the way you did."
She half-smiled. "I was a witch before I was a beast. I study what I can, whenever I can. It comes in handy more often than you might think."
He sat beside her. "Why would you help us get rings? Elijah clearly wasn't for it. Klaus, well, we all know he has his motives."
She shrugged. "I've known many wolves in my lifetime. My brother may not have yet tuned well into that side of him, but I have seen firsthand how painful transformations can be for all of you. It's bloody terrible. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy... well, I would, but that's besides the point."
Jackson let out an airy chuckle. "You vampires have it so much easier. You drink vampire blood, you die, you wake up, you feed on human blood, and suddenly you have super speed, you can mind control people— you, especially, can mind control other vampires— not to mention you're all so... normal."
"Being a vampire amplifies a lot of negative traits. My twin brother and I were pretty calm as kids, our anger was let out easily with magic and physical training. As vampires, we became psychopaths. Blood, violence, feeling people die in our arms... it brings us excitement because we can't acquire that rush of magic anymore. We're terrible people. Actual monsters. My father made us think that the werewolves were the real monsters, especially after they killed our brother Henrik. But Kol and I never saw them that way. You all have to endure so much pain, and it's not fair."
Jackson looked down. "Is your twin going to show up anytime soon? Sounds like he might be a worse version of Klaus, no offense."
Hilda shook her head. "No, he won't... he died a year ago."
The wolf put his hand over his mouth. "Shit... I'm sorry, I didn't even think..."
"It's not your fault, you didn't know," she said quickly, rubbing her arms. "I should probably head home, I don't want to butt in much longer."
Jackson stood as she did. "Thank you, again," he told her. "What you did today... It helped us avoid more casualties. Even if you think it was minimal."
In the evening, she and Elijah returned to the Compound. It seemed Elijah had decided that he ought to concede to his brother's plans.
"First Marcel's massacre," said Klaus when he saw them. "Now bombs in the Bayou. I'll assume you're ready to give up this doomed treaty."
Elijah held out Esther's grimoire. "This alliance with the wolves, well... If it is to succeed, I believe you'll want this."
Klaus took it. "Seems our sister convinced you after all."
Elijah poured the three of them drinks. "The rifts in this city run far deeper than I even imagined, Niklaus. These tribes, these factions— they're families, families who choose to fight. Mayhem has descended upon our home, and if I'm to choose a side..." he handed the two others their drinks. "To our victory, my brother and sister."