A few minutes later, Klaus arrived with Lisina.
Maddy was glad that Lisina hadn't had to witness what Greta was saying. She had a feeling the wolf would have just snapped, and it wouldn't have ended well. Someone would have been bitten, someone would have had their neck snapped, and next thing, a war would be declared between the supernatural communities.
"I'm taking him home," said Lisina once she learned what the vampires had come to do. "And this time, he's getting locked in."
"Good," said Maddy, a bit irritated. "He shouldn't have exited that cabin at all. Just watch your back. Those vampires are pissed, and they'll hurt you to get to him."
Henry hung his head in shame as he walked out of the house with Lisina. The vampire turned on her heels to face Hope, who was now in the living room. "Do you see why we're so upset?" she asked. "Do you see why I'm going to homeschool you together these two weeks?"
Hope didn't answer, and Maddy continued, "You need to take responsibility for the things you create. Hope, there is a reason why you and Anita's legal names in school are 'Salvatore' and 'Gilbert' instead of 'Mikaelson.' We're lucky the principal has a personal connection to the supernatural world, because otherwise, you wouldn't be safe anywhere. We are just trying to help you not be seen as a threat to this entire city. For years the witches have been insisting that you're going to bring death to them all, and we want to prove them wrong."
"Well maybe they're right," muttered Hope.
Klaus huffed in disbelief, looking saddened as he heard her say this. "Sweetheart, they could not be right about such a thing. Don't even say that."
"You two are so disappointed in me that you're hardly able to look me in the eyes," said Hope sharply. She grabbed her keys, and started to head for the door, but Klaus blocked her way.
"And just where do you think you're going?" he inquired.
Hope dodged before he could put a hand on her shoulder. "To the pasture."
"The pasture is two steps outside," said Maddy. "You don't need keys for that."
"I need space, okay? You're the ones always telling me I should be honest about what I need—"
"And where do you intend to go get this space?" asked Maddy. "Because you're not leaving this house unless another trustworthy adult is supervising you."
Hope sighed angrily. "Can you just let me go see Anita?"
"You were suspended from school, Hope, you can't just be going wherever you please, there have to be consequences."
The girl scoffed. "You can't ground me, I'm a witch, I'll just whammy myself out."
"That's funny," said Maddy, "because two seconds ago you were the one that didn't want to exit her room. What do you need to speak to Anita about?"
"Wolf stuff."
"And what wolf stuff would that—?"
"Oh my god, Mom!" snapped Hope. "You are never gonna get any of this! You're not a wolf! Stop talking about things you don't understand!"
Maddy's expression dropped, and Klaus quickly said, "Hope, that is no way to talk to your mother." She ignored him, and turned back to her room, taking out her phone and dialing a number. "Uncle Elijah, can you please pick me up? Thanks, I'll be ready in ten minutes."
Elijah, of course, called Klaus the instant Hope hung up and went to her room to pack an overnight bag. Klaus figured they ought not force Hope to stay home. Elijah and Elena would keep a good eye on her.
Once they heard Elijah driving away with Hope, Maddy burst into tears.
"Love," said Klaus sadly, going to sit beside her and placing his arm around her shoulders.
Maddy just continued to sob, covering her face. "I don't even know what to feel anymore!" she grumbled. "I want to be proud that she'd take it upon herself to help someone in need, I want to be furious that Henry would go through with it, I want to be annoyed that she doesn't get that we're just trying to help her, I want to be sad because she's right, I'm never going to understand her, or Henry, or you, but all I feel is shame because I'm a terrible mother."
"You most certainly are not," said Klaus firmly. "I haven't known, for a single moment, what to do. You've made a good plan to help her understand the consequences of her actions. I certainly couldn't have come up with that."
"Well, it doesn't feel like a good plan considering she'd rather spend the night at the Compound than here with us."
She cried for a good while, her head resting on Klaus's chest while he massaged her back and stroked her hair. He figured she just needed to let it all out.
When she felt better, she sat up, drawing several deep breaths while Klaus went to change his shirt, which was now stained with her tears. She turned to the window, where Theo was bumping his nose against the glass, wanting to be fed. Maddy sighed, and got to her feet, going to slip on her rainboots.
"Anita's hiding something, Nik," she murmured. "She and Hope... there's more to this and I just want to know why. I want Hope to feel like she can tell us anything but each year she becomes more secretive. I could have sworn we never made her feel like she had to do that! We don't check her phone, we don't ask too many questions when she goes to hang out with friends, we're honest about our feelings and experiences, and we've never complained when she puts up Silencing Spells anytime Anita is over. We let her have her privacy and we trust her but she doesn't trust us and I want to know why."
Klaus followed her outside, once he had a new shirt. "Perhaps she feels she will disappoint us."
"That's the thing, though, Nik, why would she be worried about that unless she's doing something she isn't supposed to do?" Her eyes widened. "She was furious about what was said to the school... that would make it seem like her and Henry were dating. You don't think she's maybe trying to impress someone, do you?"
Klaus frowned. "She better not be, she's fifteen, that's far too young to be having boyfriends and girlfriends."
"I had my first boyfriend at fourteen."
"That was the 1800s, love, and you were not the tribrid daughter of Klaus and Madeleine Mikaelson."
"Well, no, but I wasn't supposed to be dating people, either. My father nearly murdered me when he found out I was seeing George Lockwood, and that was when I was twenty years old."
"Hope is far too special to be courted by some commoner from the local high school. We told her that she ought to strive for someone who would respect her, someone as mature as her."
Maddy wiped her eyes as Theo leaned his head on her shoulder. "But we also made it clear that she was too young to be thinking about dating. Maybe we messed up, maybe that's why she doesn't trust us, she thinks we'll get mad, or that we'll kill anyone she calls her partner."
"Well, you wouldn't," said Klaus pointedly. "Me, on the other hand..."
"Let's be realistic, you wouldn't kill them, you'd compel them to become priests and nuns."
Klaus smirked, but this did not make Maddy smile. "Love," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "I will speak to Elijah. He always mentions that Anita will never, ever stop talking the instant she returns from school. Perhaps she will be more honest with him than she was with you. If Hope is hiding something, we will find out, and we will keep her safe. Do not let yourself believe you are a bad mother, because you are not one. It is because of you that I am here, and not halfway across the world wallowing in guilt because I turned out to be just as bad of a father as Mikael. We are good parents. As best as we can be."
Maddy dipped down to finish feeding Theo, then took Klaus's hand and walked back into the house with him. "I suppose so. What do we do now? It's the first time in a long time our daughter isn't spending the night under the same roof as us."
Figuring what she needed, Klaus scooped her up, causing her to giggle lightly. "I am going to make you a feast fit for kings and queens, and we are going to listen to music while I give you a massage. How does that sound?"
"That sounds heavenly," she said, kissing his cheek. "Thank you. You get a massage after me, though. And then, when we're both feeling relaxed, we can go back to that painting from earlier."
"The lighting is terrible at this hour, we'll need to wait until Hope is back in school. Two weeks until the painting can be finished."
"Bummer. Two weeks until you see me naked, then."
"Now, hold on, love, that's not what I said!"
She wiggled her eyebrows, and managed a laugh when he pouted at her.
_
Maddy felt better the next morning, after the food, the massages, and the hot sex the two had, making it the first time in years that they were able to have a passionate night together. Usually, they had to have quickies during the day whenever no one was at the house.
"Wake up, my Madeleine," whispered Klaus, kissing her cheek and making her squirm as she brought the blanket tighter around her naked body. "Elijah's bringing Hope in an hour."
"I'll just wake up five minutes before she gets here," she said sleepily.
"I've made breakfast. Your favorite."
She cracked one eye open. "The pancakes with whipped cream and M&M's spelling 'MM'?"
He smiled. "Exactly. Come on. Get up. If you do now, we'll have time for a shower before our daughter comes back."
"Fine, I'm getting up," she said, exiting the bed and checking her phone. "Marcel's having a little thing for Poppy at Rousseau's in the afternoon. Think you can stay with Hope while I go? Unless you want to go too."
"I do not wish to go," said Klaus, shaking his head. "They will not wish for me to be there. I will stay with Hope, and attempt to talk to her a bit more. Perhaps she will be more eager to chat once she's cooled off with Anita."
Hope arrived as moody as she'd been the day before. She ate her pancakes quickly, and mumbled a 'Thank you' to her father before going back into her room and slamming the door shut. Maddy tried not to appear so crestfallen at the fact that Hope had hardly looked at her. "I'm heading out," she told Klaus, kissing his cheek. "I'll be back later."
The vampires were filling Rousseau's. Josh greeted her kindly, but the others just glared at her. She went to sit by Marcel, who slid a drink her way.
"How is she?" he asked. "Need me to talk to her?"
"It wouldn't hurt if you did," she muttered, resting her face on the bar. "Apparently I'm the villain. Maybe you can get through to her in a way I can't. She seems to think I'm the worst mother in the world. Klaus insists I'm a good one, and I want to believe that, but..."
"Listen," said Marcel, "if you'd been my mom when Klaus was raising me, things would be very different. I would have liked to have you be my mom. Hope is probably just disappointed in herself, because she looks up to you the most. She knows that you went through hell when you were pregnant with her, she knows that you almost laid your life down for her several times. She wants to feel like she's worth all that sacrifice, and she is, but sometimes she doubts it because, well, kids doubt themselves when they've got the weight of the world on their shoulders. She has expectations for herself, and she wants to make you proud. So when she thinks you're upset with her, she takes it personally because she thinks she's not meeting her own expectations."
"She told me I'll never understand her because I'm not a wolf. Which is true, but... I just wonder if there's more I could be doing. If there's something I'm missing in all of this." She stopped as she sensed someone standing behind her. "What now, Greta?"
"Where will our justice be?" she asked. "You're here complaining about your daughter as if she is the victim—"
Maddy shot up, and Marcel only just managed to yank her back before she could hit Greta. "I am so sick of you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong," sneered Maddy. "Henry Benoit is fifteen fucking years old! The way you're demanding justice has me thinking you want to murder him! We don't murder children. I am going to be taking responsibility for this, so can you stop hounding me, goddamnit?"
Greta just glared at her, before facing Marcel. "We need a consequence for the boy. Homeschool and lessons in control aren't enough. Is it not your rule that a vampire ought not kill another vampire? That boy is a hybrid, with a bite that can kill us all." Her eyes flickered to Maddy. "You may not mind, given your husband can heal you instantly, but the same cannot be said for us. It is dangerous for him to be allowed free."
Marcel rubbed his chin, thinking about it. "I may have an idea. Henry would be punished as we usually do anyone who breaks that rule, but he'll survive it, and he'll learn his lesson."
Maddy huffed when she realized what he was implying. "What, you'll shove him into the garden? He's a child, he'll come out of there bitter and he won't have learned anything about his abilities. If you want him out of the city, I'm sure Hayley and Tyler would be happy to take him elsewhere to teach him to hone his abilities."
"He'll only do a few years," said Marcel reasonably, and Maddy could tell by his insistence that he was trying to give the vampires something they wanted so that the voices of dissent wouldn't grow louder. "Right now, he's wracked by bloodlust. He needs to dry out, take his punishment, and when he gets out, he can be one of us."
The look on Greta's face suggested this was not what she wanted, but Marcel continued, "He can be part of our community, and the werewolf community, so that he can remain connected to both sides of himself. If Lisina agrees..."
Maddy sighed, knowing that Lisina would likely comply if it meant protecting Henry. If he was in the garden, no one would go and attack him because they'd feel that he was getting what he deserved. But if he remained free, the tensions would only grow.
"Fine," mumbled Maddy. "I need to get home." She grabbed her bag. "For the record, Greta, I am sorry about Poppy. I liked her, and I never would have wanted her to get hurt. But you really need to stop butting into my family's life, because it's not any of your business. My kid made a mistake, and I am trying to get advice to fix it properly, and I can't do that if I'm hearing criticism everywhere. My daughter is not perfect but she is a good kid, and I will make sure this never happens again."
"It will not happen again," said Greta firmly.
Maddy just brushed past her and left the bar.
Hope was not pleased to hear the news, though it was clear she was glad that Henry wouldn't be there everyday. Klaus decided it was best to take her into the Bayou to talk to Henry about his punishment, before Marcel could take him to the garden. Maddy was left alone at the house, sitting by the window and caressing Theo's head as he tried to get into the house.
"Tell me, boy," she said, massaging behind his ear, "do you think we need to try something different? Hmm?"
Of course, Theo did not answer.
In the late afternoon, she learned that Lisina had agreed with Marcel's terms. The entire pack had decided that it was for the best. Maddy couldn't bring herself to go and witness as Henry was bricked up, with chains wrapped tightly around him. Klaus, however, took Hope, who wished to speak with Henry and help calm him down. As his sire, she'd be able to help him feel better. That idea, Maddy assumed, had come from Klaus. At least Hope was listening to him.
"Hey," she said as pleasantly as she could when the two came back, and she'd just finished making some chicken pot pie. "Hungry?"
"I'll eat in my room," murmured Hope, serving herself a plate and dashing away.
Maddy just closed her eyes as she heard the door slam shut. Klaus, it seemed, had had enough of this. "Hope," he said loudly. "Are you even going to thank your mother for the food?"
"Thank you," she yelled back.
"Hope," he said again. "Come out here."
"I'm eating!"
"Come out, right now."
She trudged out, making faces. "Stop this absurd behavior," said Klaus. "Your mother does not deserve for you to react this way when she is only trying to help you."
"Did anyone ever tell you why your Aunt Meredith is a vampire?" asked Maddy when Hope didn't reply. The girl shook her head. "Did you ever wonder about it?"
"Obviously," murmured Hope. "Her and Aunt Elena... doctors... and vampires. It's random."
"I turned your Aunt Meredith."
Hope's expression dropped. "Wait, what?"
"I turned her," said Maddy, her hand trembling. "It was on a day where I thought I'd lost three people in my life. Your Uncle Ric was gone, Elena was gone, and your father..." her voice broke, "I never before wanted to turn my humanity off until that day. And because of something your Aunt Meredith did, without permission, I flew into such a rage that I fed her my blood and snapped her neck. Damon begged me not to and I did it anyway. I lost control and I ruined her life. She may be okay with things now, but she never wanted that, and I forced her into it. I forced her into a life as a vampire because of my emotions."
Hope was silent, and Maddy continued, "As for your Aunt Elena, the reason she's a vampire is because your Aunt Rebekah killed her. That same day. She, too, was so filled with emotions that she did what she felt was right in the moment to save her family. To save her own life. And Elena paid dearly for it. Rebekah and I forced them into something they didn't want, something they weren't ready for. And I think, every day, about the way I screwed up Meredith's life.
"Maybe it isn't the same, because Henry was a willing participant. But you have changed the course of his entire life. He will have that same fifteen-year-old face forever. He will look like a child, forever. He won't ever have biological children, if he wanted that. He won't get the opportunity to grow old with someone. Maybe he hasn't thought of it yet, but one day, he will. And he may feel what all of us felt at one point— regret. You may have had your heart in the right place, but your emotions did get the best of you. And you can't let that get in the way when you're about to alter someone's life permanently. You can't turn people randomly, you need to think about things, how your actions will have ramifications in the future.
"I am not trying to make you miserable by being strict with you, princess. I just want you to be better than I was. Than all of us were. We all turned at least one person because we were blinded by rage and it wasn't right. You are compassionate, and that is good, and I hope you will always be compassionate, but you need to take a step back and give it more thought when you use this particular power you have. You are very powerful, and with that power, comes the need for control, and also management. You need to be wise about when you use your power, especially when it affects others. And when you've used it, you need to be prepared to confront what may come of it."
Hope was staring at her feet. "I never knew that," she murmured. "Why you and Aunt Meredith don't really seem to talk. Or why my Aunt Elena and Aunt Rebekah aren't very close." She bit her lip. "I've been such a bitch."
Maddy came to stand in front of her, cupping her face. "What did we tell you when you admitted to us that you might like both girls and boys?"
"That you'd always love me, every part of me, no matter who I love or who I become in life."
"Exactly. No matter what's happened or what will happen, we will love you. We will be proud of you. We don't enforce consequences to make you feel like crap, we do them to teach you, and to aid you as you continue to grow into a beautiful and strong young woman."
"I'm sorry," said Hope meekly. "I'm sorry I was rude."
"I forgive you. Just... don't give me that attitude again, okay? It's not fair to me." Her lip trembled. "I was fifteen when I lost my mom. So I admit, there's a lot I won't know how to do as you continue getting older because this was the cut-off point where I stopped having a maternal figure in my life. I won't know how to guide you in a lot of situations, but I'm gonna try my best, and it'll be a learning process. Just know you can trust us, okay?"
"I do trust you," murmured Hope. "Henry was just... pestering. A part of me wanted to help him, and the other part wanted to be able to get him to not hang onto us so much. He has a huge crush on Anita but she doesn't like him that way, and I guess I figured if I could use the sirebond to make him give us space..."
Klaus sighed. "Love, trust me, I learned the hard way, sirebonds are wrong. You used it in a good way, earlier, to calm him. But taking someone's free will is wrong."
Hope nodded, to show she understood. "The other part of me wanted to test it out... to prove to myself that it really was possible. You two always told me about it but it hadn't been done in a way I could witness it. I was talking to Anita, and she asked what I'll do if I ever trigger my vampire side, and she said she'd want to turn into a hybrid so we could be immortal together. And since Aunt Elena is human, my blood is the only way hybrids can be sired."
"As sweet as that is," said Maddy, "that won't happen until you're much, much older, and I hope that at that point, you'll both be able to think long and hard about it. What's done is done, that's not changing. Henry will be in the garden for the foreseeable future, and you will return to school in two weeks. As long as you keep up with your schoolwork... there's no reason you need to stay confined here."
Hope perked up. "Then can I go with Anita to sneak a look at the floats? Tonight? And can she stay the night here?"
"Of course, love," said Klaus. "I'll take you when you're ready."
Unfortunately, the night ended far differently than what they expected.
"I've been calling Hayley and she's not answering," said Maddy. "Lisina says she disappeared a few hours ago after Marcel went to speak to the pack about his idea to punish Henry. And Caroline says that Tyler was making his way here to speak with Henry, but he stopped responding."
Their phones started to ring at the same time. Maddy checked hers, and realized Elena was calling. Klaus saw that Hope was calling him. They both answered, but Maddy didn't hear anything her best friend said because she was too busy paying attention to the fear laced in Hope's voice.
"Dad!" she shrieked. "Please— you have to get to the Quarter."
"What happened?" asked Maddy immediately, keeping Elena on the line.
"It's bad, Maddy," said Elena, and Maddy could hear they were in the same place. Elena was likely with the two girls, to make sure they weren't walking around alone. "It's... it's Henry. They hung him from a building. His heart was ripped out."
The couple shared a look, and they knew, in that moment, that a new enemy had arrived.