21 April, 2028
3rd person POV
The trip was over as soon as it had started yet so much had changed in such a short while. It was now time to say goodbye to New York, even though some didn't want to. The kids begged Kaitlyn to extend the trip a few more days but she wouldn't budge. She kept reminding them of how they'd already missed so much of school and how everyone else had responsibilities back home as well.
Now, they were all stood outside the airport as they decided to fly back home. Damon and Elena had come to see them off. While everyone said their goodbyes, Damon pulled Klaus away from the group.
Klaus gave him a confused look as Damon cleared his throat and glared at him.
"I know," Damon says and when Klaus still looks confused, he elaborates, "I know about you and Kaitlyn. And I just wanted to warn you. She's an amazing soul and you're lucky that she's even willing to give you a second chance because god knows you don't deserve it. But there's all this crap about you both being soulmates and although it all sounds like crap to me, I know she still does care for you and Caroline seems to think you care for her too. Last time we tried to give you a chance, you packed up your bags and left without saying goodbye and you hurt our Lyn. No, scratch that. You freaking wrecked her, broke her apart. She shut off for months on end after that. And if you do pursue her this time, I hope for your sake that you don't mess up this time. Because if you do," Damon points his finger at Klaus and narrows his eyes, "you bet I'll come for you. Not just me, Bonnie, Caroline, Elena, Jeremy, Enzo, Alaric, Ryan and even Kol will come for you. And we'll bury you alive if you even result in a tear she sheds from her eyes. You'll be held accountable for it all and I promise you, I'll make you pay. So do not dare hurt her this time! Understood?"
Klaus wears an amused look on his face but his eyes are sincere as he nods at Damon's words.
"Good," Damon says as he walks back to the group, with Klaus following behind.
Kaitlyn gives them a worried look, "is everything okay?" she asks them and before Klaus can say anything, Damon speaks up, "yep all good, Buttercup."
"Okay, well we should head in," she says sadly and Damon nods as he walks to her and gives her a tight hug.
"We'll miss you, Buttercup. Stay safe and keep in contact, okay?" he tells her and she nods.
"Hey, stop hogging her. She's supposed to be my best friend," Elena jokes as she pulls Damon away and hugs Kaitlyn herself.
The entire group laughs and everyone says their goodbye before walking into the airport, gradually boarding their flight and heading back home.
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Upon reaching Mystic Falls, as everyone walks out to get into their cars and head home, Klaus reaches out to hold Kaitlyn back by her wrist. Ryan, Hope and Josie look back but he motions for them to keep walking and they do, Ryan too although reluctant.
"What?" Kaitlyn asks him.
"Go on a date with me," Klaus says as he looks at her with his puppy eyes.
"Is this you asking?" Kaitlyn teases.
"Yes love. You wanted to take things slow, so be it. Let's start with a first date," he tells her with a smirk.
"Where?"
"That's a surprise," he replies and Kaitlyn rolls her eyes at him.
"Fine. But nothing crazy." she warns him and he nods.
"Tomorrow evening," he says but she shakes her head 'no'.
"Can't tomorrow. How about next week?" she asks in return and Klaus frowns.
"That's too late. This weekend," he retorts.
"Nik," she tries to decline but he cuts her off.
"I won't take no for an answer. Please, love?" he looks at her with puppy eyes again, knowing they always worked like a charm on her.
She rolls her eyes at him, "I know what you're trying to do. But fine, this weekend," she says and Klaus smiles widely at her.
"I promise you'll love it," he reassures her and she nods as they both walk out of the airport and meet the others outside. Kaitlyn joins the kids in their minibus as Klaus, Freya and Hope get into his car and they drive to their own residences but with Kaitlyn dropping the other kids at the Boarding House first.
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At the Lockwood Mansion- Kaitlyn's residence
Ryan had stayed back with Madeline and the rest at the Boarding House, saying he'll meet them later. Now, it was just Lizzie, Josie, Kaitlyn and Alaric seated in the kitchen, having dinner while the twins rambled on and on about how great the trip was.
"And then Sebastian showed us pictures of when mom modeled for his sister's company. Did you know about this, dad?" Lizzie ranted.
Alaric nods, "I did. There's an album upstairs with more pictures if you girls want to see them later," he tells them and they both nod vigorously, definitely excited.
"And the concert was amazing. So was the match. Hope's dad kissed mom," Lizzie says nonchalantly as Alaric and Kaitlyn's eyes widen.
"What?" he asks as he turns to look at Kaitlyn.
"It was for the Kiss Cam, dad. And it was a kiss on the cheek. You know Lizzie likes to exaggerate," Josie says with an eyeroll.
"Oh, well you kids should head to bed now. School from tomorrow, no more breaks," he orders and they groan in frustration but oblige nonetheless.
When they've head upstairs, Alaric turns to Kaitlyn, who was doing the dishes.
"He kissed you?" Alaric asks her.
"It was nothing, Ric. Really," she tells him.
"Oh really? Because a little birdie told me you both almost kissed for more than once on the trip," he replies with a raised brow.
"Elena?"
"No Damon. Apparently he gave Klaus an entire talk about how he better not hurt you this time and all," he shrugs but Kaitlyn's eyes widen.
"He did what?"
"It's okay. Apparently Klaus was very nice and understanding about it. He said he wanted to right his wrongs etc. Look Bee, you know I'm not a big fan or this guys but...but if he makes you happy and you want to give him another chance, then so be it. I just want you to be happy," Alaric tells her in a sincere manner.
"Thank you, Ric. You have no idea how much that means to me. I just...I don't know how the kids could react to this-"
She gets cut off by a third voice walking into the kitchen.
"We understand, mom. Especially, I do. He might be a diabolical bastard but he's still your soulmate and everyone seems to think you bring out the good in him while he loves you more than anything. If that's true, then we understand. Like Ric said, we just want you to be happy. And we'll totally kick his ass if he hurts you," Ryan jokes.
Tears well up in Kaitlyn's eyes as she pulls Ric and Ryan into a group hug.
"Thank you guys. I love you all so much," she whispers into the hug.
"We love you too, Bee," Ric says and Ryan nods as they break off the hug.
"Alright, we've all got responsibilities to wake up to in the morning, so goodnight," Alaric states as he kisses Kaitlyn's cheek and they all head to their rooms to get some rest before resuming their hectic schedules.
༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
Kaitlyn's peaceful sleep is interrupted by her phone's constant buzzing. Groaning, she holds up her phone to see multiple texts from Kol about her and Klaus.
After simply replying to them, she tries to fall back asleep. Not long after, her sleep is yet again interrupted by another Mikaelson- Klaus Mikaelson, himself, this time.
His text looks urgent so Kaitlyn immediately gets out of bed and freshens up. As she rushes to the front door, she sees the rest of the family already there. She gives them a confused look, "what's going on?"
"Hope called a little while ago. Something happened with her mom, she's freaking out so we're going there to console her and dad offered to drive us there," Josie replies and Kaitlyn nods.
"Okay let's go."
"Ryan said he'll meet us there after his run," Lizzie says as they drive to the Mikaelson mansion.
༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
As soon as they walk in through the front door, Kaitlyn is pulled into a tight hug by Hope, as she cries in her arms.
"Hey sweety, it's okay. You're okay. What happened?" she asks Hope in a consoling manner.
Hope pulls away from the hug and her eyes are bloodshot and puffy.
"It's mom...she's-" Hope trails off as she starts to cry again.
Kaitlyn motions for Lizzie and Josie to take her to her room and then she walks into the living room to see Klaus, Elijah and Freya seated there with glum looks on their faces.
"Hey, what happened?" Kaitlyn whispers and the three look up at her.
They all look at her with blank faces and Elijah leans his head against the table behind him, as he was seated on the floor.
Kaitlyn knew all about Hayley and Elijah and she could only imagine how difficult this must be for him, no matter what had happened to Hayley.
She sighs and walks to Elijah, sitting next to him and wrapping a comforting arm around him.
"It's going to be okay, 'Lijah," she comforts him and he half-heartedly nods as he rests his head on her shoulder and closes his eyes in order to fight tears.
Kaitlyn looks at Klaus with a questioning look since no one has yet told her what was wrong.
"It's Hayley. She's been hexed," Freya breaks the silence as Kaitlyn and Alaric gasp.
"What? Why? By who?" Alaric questions.
"Apparently it's an old hex that's just been triggered a while back. When our family was asleep for those five years, Hayley did a lot to revive us and made many enemies along the way. This clan of witches then hexed her. We still don't know the extent of the hex or what triggered it but her condition is deteriorating," Freya elaborates.
"Well, you can reverse the hex then," Alaric offers but Freya shakes her head 'no'.
"Hexes can't be reversed," she states.
"Then we transfer the hex onto someone else," Klaus suggests but both Freya and Kaitlyn say no this time.
"The hex doesn't only change the mental state of the person. It also changes the brain chemistry, so even the hex was transferred, it will never be undone to the original hexed individual," Kaitlyn answers.
"Yes and Hayley's hex is self-destructive. Even if we transfer the hex, Hayley will still be self-destructive and still be in pain," Freya chimes in.
"We'll compel her to not kill herself," Klaus states.
"Don't you understand, Niklaus? That still won't stop her suffering. This hex will slowly eat her away," Elijah speaks up for the first time in a while.
"We'll find a way, 'Lijah. Freya, call Kol and Davina. I'll call Bonnie. You're all powerful witches and I have ancient magic in me, we can save her," Kaitlyn states as Freya nods and goes to call Kol. Kaitlyn too gets up and walks away from the living room, to call Bonnie.
Bonnie doesn't answer so Kaitlyn leaves her a voicemail, "Hey BonBon, I could really use your help right now. Hayley has been hexed and it's bad, self-destructive apparently. We need a solution to save her. Call me when you get this," she says before hanging up.
Just then, she feels a pair of arms wrap around her from the back. She tenses up before relaxing again when she realizes how familiar the touch is.
"Love," he whispers.
"We'll save her, Nik," she replies without even turning around.
He rests his head on her shoulder and places a kiss there. Goosebumps erupt throughout Kaitlyn's body but she tries to hide it, as her knees start to go weak from the comfort she was feeling even at that chaotic moment.
"We might have to push back that date," Klaus whispers into her ears as she turns around to face him.
"Next week then?" she asks him with a smile as that was the time she had first suggested.
Klaus chuckles a little, "next week," he agrees and kisses her forehead.
Freya then walks into the hallway they were in. they immediately move away from each other when they notice her.
"Kol and Davina are getting the first flight home. So are Rebekah and Marcel," she tells them and they both nod.
A little later, they are all lounged on the living room couches as Kaitlyn and Freya skim through different grimoires they have and Elijah and Klaus look through their contacts to see if they can find more help.
After hanging up from another call, Elijah calls for everyone to join them in the living room, including Hope, Lizzie, Josie, Alaric and even Ryan and Madeline, who had just arrived a while back.
Elijah then brings Hayley downstairs, bridal style and lies her down on a couch.
The adults all give him a confused look while the kids look scared, especially Hope.
"Hayley and I have something to tell you all. When we went back to New Orleans a few weeks back, it was because Hayley insisted in doing so. Upon getting there, Hayley told me all about the hex. She told me how the hex was triggered and we...we then decided to get married that very day," Elijah elaborates as everyone else gasps in surprise.
"You...you got married?" Hope whispers as Elijah nods and Hayley smiles at them.
"Well, congratulations, I guess," Alaric congratulates the couple as they appreciatively nod.
"So you know how the hex was triggered?" Freya then asks.
"I do. I've known about this hex for the past seven years now. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later," Hayley answers.
"You knew for seven years and didn't bother telling us? We could've gotten rid of it before you even triggered it!" Klaus exclaims angrily.
"Nik, calm down. This isn't helping," Kaitlyn points out.
"The hex itself is pretty simple. The witches said I would trigger it in two stages. One would be when I come to face my biggest guilt and the second when I would be at the happiest moment of my life. So when I realized I had already triggered my first stage of the hex and then Elijah said we should get married, as I said 'I do', I triggered the second stage because that's the happiest I've felt in a long while," she tells them and they all look at her, shocked, even Elijah.
"Us getting married triggered your hex?" Elijah whispers.
"Don't blame yourself, 'Lijah. I didn't tell you the entire story then or even yet," Hayley replies.
"How did you trigger the first step of the hex?" Kaitlyn asks and Hayley gives her a small smile.
"You, actually. That day at the Grill when you forgave me, that's when I came to face my biggest guilt afterwards and that's how I triggered the first step of the hex," Hayley tells her.
"What do you mean afterwards?" Kaitlyn asks her, confused.
"It's what my biggest regret has been for years now. Something I hid from everyone and I wronged everyone through that, especially you. And that was my biggest guilt being triggered when you forgave me instead of hating me," Hayley elaborates.
"What is it? And why?" Kaitlyn asks as Hayley extends her hand for Kaitlyn to take.
"What if I showed you why?" Hayley offers as Kaitlyn hesitantly reaches for her hand.
"All of you deserve to know too," Hayley tells the others and they all sit in a big circle with their hands joined, as Hayley shares her memories with them.
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Inside Hayley's mind
2 x 18 of the Originals- Dahlia's first appearance
"If you lay a finger on her, I will make you suffer in ways your evil mind can't imagine," Hayley threatens Dahlia, "take one more step closer and-"
Dahlia cuts her off, "and what? What will you do, child? Besides, I am not here to harm you. I am here to offer you a deal. Freedom. Escape from all of this. There is no reason for you to get caught up in family drama over and over again. Give up the child to me and I promise to protect you and safely get you away from all the Mikaelsons. A new starts," Dahlia offers.
"You think I will give up my daughter to you and leave my family behind?" Hayley scoffs.
"Your daughter?" Dahlia asks, "Hope isn't yours. Don't tell me you didn't know this, child," Dahlia asks surprised.
"Shut up! I know you're trying to get into my head," Hayley accuses.
"I'm not. This child isn't yours, Hayley. The witches didn't tell you," Dahlia trails off.
"What are you talking about? She is mine and Klaus'. Stop lying!"
"Let me show you child," Dahlia projects a memory to Hayley.
"She is human. She can't carry a supernatural baby. She won't survive and neither will the baby," a witch says.
"No, we can't lose this baby. It's our only leverage," another witch speaks up.
"Transfer it. Transfer the baby into someone who can raise it," the first witch suggests.
"We can't do that. We can't take away her baby," Sophie Deveraux speaks up.
"This is the only way, Sophie!" Jane-Anne protests.
"Kaitlyn Hart is human. She can't raise this child. She won't survive to give birth to the child. It'll be too powerful for her. She won't survive and neither will the child. We need the child if we want to use the Mikaelsons to find Davina, defeat Marcel and not lose our magic!" Jane-Anne elaborates.
"Put a spell on that werewolf girl she's friends with," Agnes suggests.
"Hayley?" Jane-Anne questions and Agnes nods.
"Lead her to Klaus. Make it believable. And put the child in her. She's a werewolf, she'll survive and we can have the child that way. No one needs to know the child isn't hers," Agnes elaborates.
"This is too evil a length to go to," Sophie tries to reason but no one pays any attention to her.
After a while, all the witches join together and put a seduction spell on Hayley that leads to her sleeping with Klaus. Then, they channel a powerful hotspot of vampires from The Garden and transfer the baby from Kaitlyn's womb to Hayley's, without them even knowing. This magic was what actually got Jane-Anne killed, as she had taken the blame when caught.
"It is done. The girls won't even realize what happened. We can go ahead with our plan now. Lead Hayley to New Orleans and soon, have the Mikaelsons follow," Jane-Anne says with an evil smile on her face.
The projection ends and Hayley meets Dahlia's eyes, with tears spilling down her own.
"IS any of this true?" Hayley whispers.
"I have no reason to lie to you about this, child. I thought the witches had already told you," Dahlia replies.
"No they didn't. that means Hope..." she trails off as tears stream down her eyes.
"That means the child isn't yours. It's Niklaus and his soulmate's," Dahlia clarifies for her, "so I can help you get out of all this mess and lead a happy life if you hand over the child to me," she says as she takes a step towards Hayley.
Hayley immediately steps back, "no, she might not be biologically mine but I still carried her for months, gave birth to her and died for her. She still is my daughter," Hayley exclaims as tears spill down her eyes.
"And you think the Mikaelsons will still keep you around when you tell them the truth?" Dahlia questions but when Hayley hesitates, she smiles and speaks again, "you're not going to tell them, are you?"
"I...I don't know," Hayley whispers.
Just then, Elijah and Jackson rush into the corridor and Dahlia disappears.
"Are you okay?" Jackson asks Hayley, breathlessly.
"I...I'm fine," Hayley replies.
And with that, everyone gasps awake, out of Hayley's memories and back into reality. Everyone looks around to see tears in all the kids' eyes, especially Hope. Even Klaus had tears streaming down his face while Freya and Elijah looked sad and ashamed of the situation.
"I'm...I'm not your daughter," Hope whispers as she looks at Hayley and then rushes out of the room. The twins get up to follow her but Klaus motions for them to stay there as he follows behind Hope.
"Hope," he whispers as he steps towards her cautiously.
"How could she hide this from us? I... Miss K is my mother? We could've been a family...I could've been happy with my siblings I...I don't know dad I..." she stammers as she tries to hold back new tears.
"Hope, look at me, you're my daughter. My heir. My littlest wolf. I don't know what to say to you now but we'll figure everything out. I'll be by your side through it all. Always and Forever. I assure you, we're going to be fine," Klaus reassures her as he rests his forehead against her and she slowly nods.
Just then, they hear a scream from the living room, "Niklaus!"
As they rush downstairs, they see a panicked expression on everyone's faces. They move away to see Kaitlyn lying unconscious on the floor.
Klaus immediately rushes towards her and rests her head on his lap, "what happened to her? Answer me!" he demands.
"She...she didn't wake up like the rest of us. I can't get into her head either, something's blocking me out. It's like her body is here but her soul isn't," Freya elaborates.
"Bring her back, right now!" Ryan screams as Alaric pulls Lizzie and Josie into a hug. Tears are streaming down all their faces.
"I am trying to. Elijah, call Kol and Davina right now! We don't know how much time we have to figure out what's wrong and I need all the help I can get," Freya speaks.
"We'll help!" Lizzie and Josie say at the same time as Hope says, "tell me what to do."
"I'll call Bonnie and the others," Alaric says as he walks out of the room and the kids join Freya and search through the grimoires to find out what's wrong.
"My love, wake up. Please. You can't leave me now, I just got you back," Klaus whispers to Kaitlyn, who's lying in his lap as tears stream down his own face.
"Well get her back, Niklaus," Elijah reassures him and slowly nods. Hayley stands there and watches the scene before her with a guilty look on her face.
'This is all my fault,' she thinks to herself.
Author's Note
Soo....that happened. I just had to throw in a plot twist and I thought, better sooner than later. The next few chapters are going to be high on emotions so buckle up!