The wait was killing her.
Being cooped up in the St. Louis Cathedral bell tower was almost as bad as being stuck in her cabin in the woods for six years. Freya was working on spells nearby, and Keelin was resembling a dead person on a nearby cot, apparently so hungover that she needed to sleep continuously. It didn't make for fun conversation.
Ibeth was having a hard time comprehending why Keelin came to New Orleans willingly with Freya. Sure, the moonlight ring was useful, but Freya had held her captive despite Ibeth and Hayley's insistence she should be released. Hayley had even tried to free her and Freya had just gone to capture her again. Why the two were now drinking together and apparently inhabiting the same room was beyond her understanding.
"I can't just sit here, I have to do something," Ibeth pleaded. "My kids are out in the Bayou with Hayley, Cami, and Elijah. They're waiting for Klaus and I to meet them there but he's out with a knife that could kill Marcel... he could do anything while The Hollow is festering in his mind."
"It isn't safe for you to go after Klaus or Marcel," said Freya. "And leaving this space now without anyone with you is also a risk. I gave him an hour... he should be back soon."
"Klaus won't abide by a curfew if he thinks he can gain something from looking back into The Hollow. Freya... what spell are you even working on right now?"
She'd used small twigs to craft the image of a serpent eating its own tail, similar to drawings Hayley found in Hope's journal, made when she was infected by The Hollow. "Anything strange happens," said Freya, stepping back, "just wake me up, okay?"
"That's not comforting," said Ibeth quietly.
Freya extended her hands, starting to chant, "Din montre otimo sekre. Din montre otimo sekre..."
As she chanted, a blue light started to fill the room. Then, suddenly, Freya just stared ahead, as if in a trance.
"Okay, now you look possessed," said Ibeth, standing between Freya and the figurine, waving her hands in front of her face. "Freya? Freya." She smacked her across the face. "Freya!"
The witch snapped out of it. "You were right," she said shakily. "It wants Klaus and Marcel to kill each other. And when they die, it will absorb their power, and then we'll never be able to stop it."
She rushed back to her table, spreading a map of the city. She cut into her palm, letting her blood drip over it. Then, she began to chant as Ibeth messaged Elijah and Hayley, informing them of what was going on.
"It says Klaus is in the Bayou," said Freya. "Why would he—?"
Ibeth peered over at that map. "There's an abandoned house in that area, slightly North of where it shows him now. It must be luring them there. Most of the houses in the Bayou except for the cabins in our area are abandoned because murders or strange deaths happened there. It's like when Dahlia was looking for a site marked by death to attack Klaus and Mikael."
Freya and Ibeth drove there quickly after telling Elijah and Hayley where to meet them. The group met at the steps of the house. They could hear a muffled conversation inside, along with some thuds, but it was difficult to know what exactly was going on in the house. Ibeth didn't know if it meant Klaus was already dead or still alive.
Elijah reached for the handle, and found himself unable to make contact with the door. Freya extended her hands outward, starting to chant, "Repo oma dal most. Repo oma dal most. Repo oma dal most—" she gasped as her nose started to bleed.
"Need a hand?" offered Elijah. Freya took it, then held onto Hayley as she appeared on the other side. Ibeth put her own hand on Hayley's shoulders, hoping her power could also flow through and be sufficient to overpower it.
She began to chant again, concentrating the power right on the door. Ibeth was getting more and more anxious as she kept hearing the thuds grow louder and louder. Marcel could be dismembering Klaus for all they knew. Or Klaus could be destroying the house in anguish after having been forced to stab Marcel. Either way, one could already be dead.
"There!" said Freya as she felt the spell lift. Hayley lifted her leg to kick open the door. Elijah sped in, pulling Marcel off of Klaus and shoving him against the kitchen counter. With ease, Marcel flipped them around and pinned Elijah down, one hand in his heart.
Klaus let the dagger in his hand fall, snapping Marcel's neck. A bright blue figure appeared at the end of the hallway, with a dark shape in the middle, flowing lines around the top resembling hair as a bony hand began to reach out.
"Leave my family alone!" snapped Freya, reaching into her pocket for the purification potion she'd made and tossing it at the ghost. It emitted a high-pitched wail before vanishing.
Ibeth and Hayley picked Marcel up carefully while Elijah kept a firm grip on Klaus, leading him back to Ibeth's car. They laid both men in the back seat. Elijah tucked the dagger into his chest pocket, out of Klaus's reach.
They returned to the Compound, where Freya had them both ingest the potion, and then began to chant over their bodies to begin the purification.
Hayley pulled Ibeth aside. "I learned something today," said the hybrid. "You know how your grandfather, Richard Xavier Dumas, killed my parents?"
"Yeah," said Ibeth. "What happened, did my grandma say something?"
"I was telling her about what happened yesterday and she showed me his journal." She held it out for Ibeth to see, watching as she flipped through it. "He filled it in the months before he died. Most of it is revolutionist garbage. Plots for an uprising. But there's stuff about my parents in there. Ramblings about how they were traitors for dealing with vampires. His writing starts to deteriorate and then suddenly, there's nothing... in the end, he can't even form coherent sentences. I think The Hollow made your grandfather kill my parents. Ibeth, I did terrible things to find my family. And when I did, they were already dead. And now I find out that the same people who killed them are the ones who hurt Hope. I don't know how to feel."
"That can't be a coincidence," said Ibeth. "Going after Hope, going after your parents. As far as we know, your parents were regular wolves. Our bloodlines never united and were always competing for who got to be Alpha. But this has to mean something. There's got to be more to this story."
"There has to be, and we need to find out," said Hayley. "Jackson always told me that tragedy followed my family around. My family. Not yours. That's strange, isn't it? Considering we've always coexisted together, why is it only the Labonairs that are put through executions, people dying in floods, fires, or just vanishing? If The Hollow is behind those deaths... if it's going after Labonairs specifically..."
"Well, we've seen it happen before," said Ibeth. "Anyone who is constantly going after a certain kind of creature within a supernatural world with the extent of exterminating is trying to eliminate a weakness they have, to make sure they are always in power. Lucien knew the venom of the seven pure packs could be used to make a cure, maybe it could have even been used to unmake them if Davina hadn't been sacrificed. So he hunted down the pure wolves and did his best to exterminate them so it couldn't be made. Labonairs have to have some ability against this thing or some knowledge, some sort of edge that The Hollow is trying to eliminate."
Hayley hummed. "I think Freya might be able to help us figure that out. Would you be willing to come with me?"
"Of course. Wait, what are they—?"
She saw that Elijah and Freya were heading toward the dungeons with Marcel's unconscious body. "Hey!" she shouted from the balcony. "What are you doing to him?"
"We need to keep him somewhere that he can't hurt any of us," said Freya.
"But you purified him! If you trap him where he trapped Klaus, that's not going to make things any better. He'll be angry and bitter and won't that just make him more prone to being possessed again?"
They ignored her, as she expected they would. "Great," she said, turning her head as Klaus walked out onto the balcony. "Klaus..."
"I have an idea," he promised. "He won't remain down there for long. Just enough for me to explain it to him. If he accepts, he will be freed. If not, then, for all our protection, he will remain where he is."
"What's the idea?"
He wiggled his eyebrows. "A party."
"A party sounds fun."
"Unfortunately, love, it's best if you don't attend."
"Knew it," she said, facing away. "Cockblocked from the fun as per usual."
"You both ought to go to the Bayou and keep our children company. I don't want The Hollow attempting to infect either of you. We intend to invite New Orleans' most influential creature to weed out those in league with The Hollow. Ibeth..." he raised a brow when he saw her pouting. "Really, love, there will be countless opportunities for parties once this beast is defeated."
She cast him puppy eyes, causing him to avert his gaze. "Our children can win me over with that, but you will not."
"Fine," said Hayley. "Ibeth and I have a mission of our own anyway. Think Vincent can help us?"
"Sure," said Ibeth. "Let's go."
They found him staring at the wall of his house, where he'd pinned maps and different newspaper clippings, connecting events with push pins and strings.
"Look at you," said Ibeth as she approached. "Very fancy."
Vincent smiled. "The similarity of the events and rituals, to me, suggests a possible connection to The Hollow. And it started a long time ago... look, 1953, cluster of violent rituals in four different locations, all in the span of two months. 1992, more violent clusters, this time in Algiers, Tremé, the Bayou, and Marigny. Again, four different locations. This thing has been haunting the city for a very long time. And before today the only thing I knew about it was that it was a spirit, practiced some very dark magic, and it was trying desperately to get back into this world. And that's why it tried to sacrifice those kids. That's why it tried to do the exact same thing to Marcel and to Klaus. Because if it kills them, if they die, it absorbs all of their power." He drifted to another map. "This is the history of the city. This is the ebb and flow of violence and tragedy. Look, this is, um, Madame LaLaurie, this is uh, The Axeman. I mean the list goes on and on and on and on and on and sometimes it's hidden, but if you know what you're looking for, right, there's always a sign it's The Hollow. And when it does bubble up, it always do so in a pattern of four. This ghost, it wants access to this world. So it reaches out and it whispers to the desperate."
"Can I see some of these?" asked Ibeth, reaching for the files he'd organized. She pointed at where 'DUMAS' was marked on one page.
She started to flip through them, arranging them based on surnames she recognized, and who the crimes had been committed against. "Look, Hayley," she said. "There are reports of previous Labonairs being killed, under different family names they've had. The Labonairs, unlike the Kenners, actually know what their original name was. Ours was lost a long time ago. I worked hard to memorize our bloodline and the different names they've had. Jackson and I are only Kenners because of my dad, who wasn't part of the original bloodline. We get that from my mom's side."
She wrote out a rough lineage of what she could remember. "Jayden is Mikaelson-Kenner. I'm Kenner. My mother was a Dumas. Further back it goes Schafer, Bertrand, Landry, Prejean... and I didn't memorize further than that. Look..."
She pointed at different areas of the articles. "Each time someone from your bloodline died in a mysterious way, someone from my bloodline was involved. Fliss Labonair, drowned in the lake, and coincidentally Amanda Landry gave a testimony and was suspected to be the last person who saw her alive. Thomas Strauss— also a Labonair— killed in a car accident while Cassidy Bertrand was driving. Joseph Labonair, stabbed to death by Cyrus Prejean. And Richard Xavier Dumas killed Andrew and Lisa Labonair."
She sat back. "You know, Lara is more closely related to me than any other wolf in the Pack aside from Jayden. We share a great aunt, or something. This... this is weird. Your bloodline is always the target. And my bloodline is the one who does the killing."
"There must be an inherent weakness," mused Vincent. "Something genetic or supernatural in your bloodline that makes you all more susceptible to being controlled by The Hollow. If you read further into those reports, look, I marked it without knowing they were related to you... almost all the killers or suspected killers end up going mad, to the point where it manifested as physical illnesses... infections that couldn't be stopped. Ibeth, you and Jayden might be more naturally vulnerable to The Hollow's magic. It won't try to kill you but it will use you. You need to stay away from this at all costs. If The Hollow makes any sort of contact with you, it could go very badly. It could make you do something awful or just drive you mad."
"What about purifications?" asked Ibeth. "Could that help?"
"It might. But this weakness your bloodline inherently seems to have... I don't know how well purification will work if The Hollow seems more able to take a deep root in you."
"It has to mean something," said Hayley. "For her to be able to control your bloodline so easily in order to destroy mine... we're her weakness and you're her strength. But why? Vincent, I admit, we came to ask a favor. I learned today about the man who killed my parents. This man, Richard, Ibeth's grandfather. He was connected to The Hollow. I was just a baby when they were killed, I don't remember it, but I... I do know where they were killed. I was hoping maybe with your spells, and your witchcraft..."
Vincent nodded. "A reading of the site. Well... I can do it. But violent death, especially associated with The Hollow, is going to have a very dangerous and volatile energy. I can help you remember what you may have witnessed as a baby, but it will take a toll on you. Are you sure about this?"
Hayley sighed. "I don't think I have a choice. We need this thing gone before it tries to kill Hope. If it were to try and use Ibeth or Jayden to do it... I don't want them infected, either. If what you say is true and it can't be cured once people of their bloodline have The Hollow within them... it has to be done."
Ibeth drove them back into the Bayou, where Hayley led the way to another abandoned house. Ibeth recalled visiting once as a kid, just out of curiosity. Together, they walked inside, and Vincent began to set up for the spell inside the living room, which was filled with broken furniture, dust, leaves, and cobwebs.
"Ooh," said Vincent, placing his hands on the ground. "I can feel the energy. Chaos, pure chaos. Darkness. Just like The Hollow. Are you sure about this, Hayley?"
She nodded. "I've always wondered what my parents might've been like, what they might've thought of me. Missing these people I never even knew. But if this can help us fight the thing that came after my daughter, then let's get it over and done with."
She sat across from Vincent, linking her hands with his. He began to chant, rhythmically bringing Hayley's hands together, then tapping them to the floor, over and over. Ibeth watched fearfully as Hayley's eyes widened and started to dart from side to side.
"Vincent, I think she's had enough," said Ibeth in a small voice when Hayley started to hyperventilate, tears filling her eyes.
"She's not letting me pull her out," said Vincent. "She's seeing something... wait..."
Hayley gasped, ripping her hands away. She ran to the next room, punching the floorboards and reaching in, withdrawing a key that read 'EXTRA ROOM - MINI STORAGE.'
"He told them they needed all four of them," whispered Hayley, closing her palm around the key. "All four of something. Four again. The number four means something. Ibeth, what's the closet storage facility?"
"I'll drive us there," said Ibeth.
Once parked, they walked until they found unit thirty-nine, the number written on the back of the key.
"This is the one," said Hayley, unlocking it. When she tried to pull the door up, she couldn't. "What the hell?"
"Locking Spell," said Vincent, blowing his hands then waving them over the door. There was a click, and Hayley was able to open it. "A weak one at that. If this was put in place when you were a baby, it's been almost thirty years. It was starting to fade. Surprised the city let it stay with no payments going through. Though, if they couldn't open it they probably gave up."
"I think I need to do this part alone," said Hayley when she turned on the light and saw a box labeled 'ANDREA'S NURSERY.' "Thank you, Vincent."
"Of course," he said, checking his phone. "Hey, looks like they want my help at the party. Marcel says he's... free?"
"I'll drive you back," said Ibeth, smiling when she realized Marcel must have agreed to Klaus's plan. "Then, I'll come back and wait for you in the car, Hayley. In case there's anything you want to bring."
Hayley smiled. "Thanks, Ibeth."
The wolf dropped Vincent off at the Compound, then returned to the storage facility, putting on some music while she waited. Eventually, Hayley returned with a box in her arms, bearing a small object on top.
"Is that a mandible?" said Ibeth when Hayley climbed into the passenger's seat.
"Hidden inside one of my old teddy bears," said Hayley quietly. "This is what he was looking for that day."
Ibeth put her hand on hers. "I'm sorry, Hayley. For everything."
"It wasn't your fault, Ibeth. This is all The Hollow's doing. And we're going to kick its ass before it tries to hurt our kids again."
The Compound was quiet when they got back. The party was clearly over. As they parked the car, they could hear a conversation inside.
"Did you retrieve all of the weapons?" Elijah was asking Klaus.
"Well, I don't know," replied the hybrid. " Let's confirm with Dominic, shall we? Oh, wait, we can't. His corpse is currently burning in a dumpster. I try to avoid bloodshed, you become the town executioner."
"Let me handle this."
"Why exactly should I do that?"
"Hope and Jayden."
"You see, it's precisely because of them that I have to assert my involvement. So, brother... Tell me what you know."
"This thing wants to be reborn. Vincent said that whenever it resurfaces, it does so in four distinct locations. I can't tell why."
"It's looking for something," said Hayley as she and Ibeth walked in. "Four things, by the sound of it. And I'm pretty sure that I have one of them." She held up the mandible. "My parents were killed protecting this from one of The Hollow's followers."
"We've seen this time and time again," reasoned Klaus. "When a witch wishes to be reborn, its remains are required to complete the spell. You've just found a piece of our enemy."
"Lucky me," said Hayley. "Who has the other three?"
Elijah blanched. "Dominic. Dominic said that he had found something here."
"Dominic, who was apparently killed?" asked Ibeth. "If he did find anything, he must not have gotten too far with it. And on that note, do you guys have a collection of bones?"
Klaus's jaw went slack. "No. But there is one."
They followed him upstairs, where he opened a hidden safe in his study. It was empty. "Dominic's death was a distraction," he said angrily. "They took Papa Tunde's blade."
"They used our own deception against us," said Elijah angrily.
"This thing has followers everywhere," said Hayley. "They've infiltrated the entire city. If they get to the other bones before we do..."
Klaus nodded. "Then they may well try to raise this monstrosity. And it will come for us all." He motioned to Ibeth. "Come. Let's go bring the children home."
He stayed in the car while Ibeth went to retrieve Cami, Hope, and Jayden. Klaus sat in the back seat so Jayden could sleep comfortably in his arms. They dropped Cami off first before going to the Compound and putting them to bed.
"Mama," said Jayden sleepily before she could leave the room. "Is the bad blue dragon going to get me?"
"No, sweetheart," she said, though she wasn't sure she should promise it. "You'll be safe. Hope will be, too."
"I heard Uncle 'Lijah saying that Papa needs to destroy a jaw bone."
"He does need to try, since he's very strong. We're going to stay home tomorrow... your Uncle Elijah has a plan of some sort to try and fix things. Your Mama Hayley and I are finally going to get to cleaning this house. And you and Hope can do whatever you'd like. I've prepared some things in the ballroom for you. Coloring books, some paper and some art supplies, board games, some movies I think you might like... I'll see if your Papa wants to set one of his paintings up so you and Hope can try to replicate it."
Jayden pouted. "She's gonna do it better because she's had more time to practice."
"I'll let you in on a little secret. Knowing your Papa, he'll say you're both winners. Don't worry about who is better at it. Do art because you want to. Grandma Mary always told me, 'Do what you love and love what you do.' If you spend your time performing a hobby only because you want to win and be better than others, you won't enjoy it the way you would if you did it because it's something that brings you joy and relaxation."
He smiled sleepily. "What hobbies do you have, Mama?"
"Well, I like training to fight and training other people. I did it for a long time. I was never really artistic like you, your sister, and your Papa. Maybe you can teach me one day, hmm?"
"Okay. I'll teach you and my Mama Hayley so we can all be artists."
"That sounds wonderful to me, little prince." She dipped down to kiss his forehead. "Try to get some sleep. Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight, Mama," he said, blowing her a kiss as she left.
She went to find Klaus. "So, did Freya end up doing a Barrier Spell on the Compound?"
"Yes," he said. "And the deed is once again in her name. It should keep unwanted guests out."
She sat on his desk, causing him to scoot forward and lean down so his head was against her tummy. "We're set to have a boring day tomorrow," he murmured. "I don't want to be trapped in here. We won't accomplish anything if I'm not out there."
"I know," she whispered. "It isn't fun to feel powerless and stuck when you know how dire the situation is. But The Hollow wants you and Marcel most of all. It's okay to let Elijah and Freya handle things for one day."
He sighed. "When I was in that dungeon... the water in the pipes acted like nails on a chalkboard. I was starving. I could smell the blood from the people on the street above me, I could hear their heartbeats. My own mind turned against me. It was taunting me. It was relentless. The first few weeks were the worst. Being here brings it all back. Trapped, unable to go. I would have allowed Marcel to suffer the same fate. But he was useful today. And civil. It was because of him that we retrieved all the weapons The Hollow's followers had. Thorns made from his blood. They could have killed us with one scratch. I still despise him. But, knowing my children will be briefly living and playing here... leaves me satisfied with the decision to allow him a choice in helping us. I would not want him trapped there where Hope or Jayden could discover him and ask questions."
He sat up to place his chin on her tummy. "Where will we live, after this? What does your heart desire?"
"I don't know," she admitted, "I've never lived anywhere other than New Orleans. There's so much of the world to see, so much I don't know. I'd like somewhere with a forest. Lots of trees. I don't really like big cities. You can pick from there. Both kids we have were born here. If we do have another, it needs to be born somewhere just as special and meaningful."
"Only one more?" asked Klaus sweetly. "Perhaps we might have twins."
"Perhaps. Do you want more than three kids?"
"If it were up to me, I'd have seven."
"You try pushing seven kids out of you and see how your answer changes."
"I'm going to be there the next time you give birth, love. That's a promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
_
A/N: Happy 400 pages! I don't anticipate there being many chapters left. We're nearing the end! I'm excited >:)