It's early as I try to sneak out of the house and out to the Bayou. I regret biting Elijah. I blame my momentary lapse of judgment on being a pregnant hormonal hybrid. I'm almost out the door when I hear Bekah behind me.
She is standing there with her arms crossed. "Where do you think you are going?"
I sigh. "The Bayou."
She looks surprised. "What are you going to do to Elijah this time?"
I shake my head. "Nothing. I want to make sure he's okay. I shouldn't have bit him. But you didn't hear the things he was accusing me of. The way he was talking about my child."
Bekah looks at me with sympathy. "Go before Nik sees you."
I smile at her slightly before leaving the house. I head to the werewolf encampment I left Elijah at.
When I walk into the shack Hayley stands up defensively. "What are you doing here?"
"Stand down wolf girl. You know you can't win this battle." I pause for a moment. "I honestly thought you would have been gone by now. That's why I came back. I didn't want to leave Elijah alone."
Elijah is laying on the bed, tossing and turning restlessly. Hayley steps out of the way so I can approach him.
I try to feed him some water. "Here, drink this."
He looks surprised to see me, but drinks from the cup. He immediately starts to gag and cough. He's pale and sweaty and clearly miserable. "Forgive me. Please."
I laugh a little. "Elijah I think it's you that should be forgiving me. Especially since you know I can't help you or Nik will have my head."
Elijah nods his head. "I should not have accused you of having a child for..."
I smile as I cut him off, "We can discuss this later. Right now I just want to make you comfortable."
"It doesn't help that we decided to shack up in a swamp," Hayley states. She walks out onto the porch, leaving the door open to let the breeze into the shack.
When Elijah starts to cough, Hayley immediately rushes back. "Are you okay?"
Elijah rubs his hands on his face. "I'm fine. Please, just... return to your reading."
"I went through the whole thing." Hayley picks up a bible and hands it to me. I start to flip through the pages. "It's just a regular Bible..." She sits down next to Elijah. "With an entry in a family tree that may or may not be me. But, you know, I've been a little busy worrying about you."
"Hayley, please. This fever will make me unstable. And once the hallucinations begin, I'll start to see things. You must leave me here," Elijah urges before starting to cough again.
"I'm not leaving you like this," Hayley states.
I smile at her. She hasn't known my brother for more than a day but she is already willing to risk getting hurt by him. I don't know what it is about my brother that makes people admire him so much. I guess it is because he is the nicest out of all of us.
Hayley heads outside onto the porch.
I look at Elijah. "So does she know about our families' storied past?" Elijah shakes his head no. "Well I can tell you like her and I can tell that she is kind, something that a majority of our family is lacking. I'm gonna tell her about me, while we're here. Maybe I can even help her figure out what this bible means."
Elijah smiles at me softly before I head out onto the porch. Hayley is sitting out on the steps. She turns around to look at me. "I think we got off on the wrong foot."
Hayley chuckles. "You think."
I smile as I sit down next to her. "I'm Elijah's younger sister, Else."
"Is the other guy you were with yesterday your brother as well?" Hayley asks.
I nod my head. "That's Klaus, my twin."
"Are there any more of you?" Hayley asks.
I smile. "I can show you all you need to know about my family if you open your mind to me," I explain. I place my hand on Hayley's temple.
"My family are the Original vampires. In the beginning, my family was human. Although my mother dabbled in the dark arts, we were actually just a family trying to survive in a time when it was quite difficult to do so. And, for better or worse, we were happy." I show her images of my siblings and I playing around before I show her the night of Henrik's death. "That is, however, until one night, my youngest brother was killed by our village's greatest threat. It was partially my fault. Henrik had wanted to go see the men that could transform themselves into wolves during the full moon. Klaus and I took him out to the woods one full moon. One of the men lost control and killed Henrik. Klaus and I were devastated."
I show Hayley my memory of the night my family became vampires. "After the attack my father became desperate to protect the rest of us. He forced our mother to call upon her black magic in order to make us stronger. That's how the first vampires were born. But with this speed, this strength, this immortality, came a terrible hunger. No one felt this hunger more than Niklaus and I. When Klaus killed for the first time, we knew what he truly was, and what I truly was."
I show Hayley the night that Nik killed for the first time.
"Infuriated by this betrayal, my father forced my mother to cast a spell that would suppress Klaus and I's werewolf sides, denying us any connection with our true selves."
I pull my hand back from Hayley.
"Your dad was a dick."
I chuckle. "Well Klaus just recently killed him so no need to worry about running into him."
"Judging by what I saw yesterday you and Klaus found a way to reverse the curse," Hayley states.
I nod. "I finally triggered my curse after that."
"So know you and Klaus are what?" Hayley asks.
I hold out my hand and it begins to transform into a wolf paw. After a moment I return back to normal. "Hybrids, who can control when they turn."
"So what is your family doing in New Orleans?" Hayley asks curiously.
"I seem to have found my way into some trouble." I laugh slightly before placing my hand back on Hayley's temple. I begin to show her my memories from when Sophie Deveraux was holding me in the cemetery.
Hayley pulls her head back in shock. "You're pregnant? I thought that was impossible."
"Trust me in the beginning, so did I. Magic made me a vampire, but I was born a werewolf. This pregnancy is one of nature's loopholes," I explain.
Hayley hesitates before speaking, "Is the father a werewolf?"
I smile slightly. "Yeah, his name is Jackson. He is somewhere out here. His pack are the ones that live out here. They were banned from the Quarter and cursed in the 90's. They are only in their human form during the full moon. The curse put on them swapped nature around."
Hayley looks at me. "I guess I should tell you why I'm out here in the Bayou." I smile. She turns to show me a crescent moon birthmark. "I think the wolves out here are my family."
"You would be in the right place." I laugh slightly.
When we hear Elijah groaning in pain Hayley races inside to check on him. I know she wont do anything to hurt him so I stay outside. I walk down to the lake breathing in the fresh air. I can hear Elijah talking about his old girlfriend Celeste.
When I turn to head back to the shack I see a wolf standing there. I smile from ear to ear. "Jack." I want to run over and hug him but I know that's not a good idea. "I'm still trying to find a way to fix this mess. I know I already promised you once, but it's not easy. I need to find who cursed you so someone from their bloodline can reverse it." I can hear Elijah moving around restlessly. Jackson looks towards the shack. "You shouldn't be out here in the open during the daytime. I don't want anything to happen to you. Especially since I bit Elijah and he is currently hallucinating." Jack just stands there watching me. I smile. "Please go."
Reluctantly Jackson leaves.
I head back inside to see Hayley wiping the sweat from Elijah's forehead. He is shivering and groaning in pain.
"Hayley, please. This fever. My mind is flooded with these torturous memories. You have to leave. Else can take care of me," Elijah states.
"What is your deal? You don't like people taking care of you?" Hayley asks.
"There are consequences for those that care. I will not have you pay that price," Elijah states.
"So, you're having weird, retro sex dreams? Get over it, I'm staying," Hayley states.
I smile. "Better you to see that than me."
"Hayley, you came here to gather information about your family, not to play nursemaid to a vampire with a temperature. Please, find the woman from yesterday. Learn what you can," Elijah tells her.
"No, I'm staying," Hayley insists.
"Oh she's stubborn. I like this one Elijah," I tease.
Hayley sits with her hands on Elijah's forehead as he sleeps. Suddenly he starts to scream. I look at him worried.
"Elijah?" Hayley questions.
I rush over stepping between my brother and Hayley. If he is going to go crazy better I face the wrath than Hayley. I can heal faster than her and if it gets really bad I won't die either.
Elijah looks at me for a moment. "Niklaus! I'll kill you, you bastard." He then grabs me by the throat and pinning me against the wall. I can tell he is hallucinating.
Hayley watches not knowing what to do.
"Elijah!" I groan. I can barely breathe at this point. He is squeezing my throat so tight.
Suddenly the blonde woman from yesterday appears behind Elijah and stakes him in the back. Elijah falls to the ground unconscious. I begin to rub my throat.
"Thank you," I tell the woman with a smile.
I place Elijah back on the bed before heading outside with the woman and Hayley. We sit around a campfire.
The woman speaks first, "I'm sure you got questions."
"Only a thousand of them. Like who are you? Why are you following me? Where the hell is everyone? And, if the people in this book really are my family, what happened to them?" Hayley asks.
"I'm Eve. I'm following you because you brought an Original to Werewolf Country," Eve looks at me, "And you are keeping him here, which is pretty much the same reason why everybody else skedaddled. Well everyone but Jackson. If you wanna know what happened to the people in that family tree, I'll sum it up nice and quick: Marcel happened."
"What did he do?" Hayley questions.
"He killed most of them. Later, the descendants of the ones who dodged death, he strong-armed a witch into putting a curse on them," Eve explains.
"Else told me about it, she said it had something to do with the birthmark on my shoulder," Hayley says.
"We're hunted by the marks we carry. That crescent moon birthmark that's why I got rid of mine. I didn't wanna get found out," Eve tells us as she shows us a burn on her shoulder.
Suddenly, Elijah appears in front of the shack. "Good evening. Think I might have something which belongs to you." He hands Eve the stake she used to stab him earlier.
"Elijah, I've got this. Are you okay?" Hayley asks.
"The wound is healed, the fever is broken, but for some strange reason I have this sharp and lingering sensation in my back," Elijah states.
I turn to Hayley. "I have to get him home. I think you should come with us. You don't know the Bayou like Eve, it's not safe."
Hayley nods her head before turning to Eve. "But we'll be back, okay? I need to know more."
"Keep that mark covered up," Eve tells Hayley before leaving.
Elijah looks at Hayley curiously. "What happened?"
"I just met part of my family," Hayley states.
Elijah smiles at her before turning to me. "And where were you today when I was hallucinating?"
"Jackson was here. He may have been a wolf but I know it was him. No one else would dare be in the vicinity of two Originals," I state.
We drive back to the house. I leave Hayley and Elijah in the car. Whatever business they have to discuss is none of mine. I find Nik in the living room holding a dagger.
"Why is that girl from the Bayou in the car with our brother?" Nik questions.
"Because when we left him there to rot, she took care of him. She's a part of Jackson's pack. She had nowhere to go and since I can't help Jackson right now I'm going to help her," I explain.
Nik looks like he wants to argue with me, but he doesn't get the chance before Bekah walks into the room. "Elijah's home. There's only one dagger. Which one of us will you be punishing today?"
"I contemplated a game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe." Klaus vamps speeds over to Bekah and holds the dagger to her neck. "You betrayed me. My own sister!" Klaus shouts.
"Niklaus, don't you dare!" I shout at him.
Elijah walks into the room in the middle of our argument. Nik then points the dagger to Elijah. "Perhaps it should be you, brother!"
"Nik what is this even about?" I question. "From what I've gathered it's about you once again worried that you will be left behind. That our siblings are focused on me right now not you."
"Has history taught you nothing? We don't abandon you, Nik, you drive us away!" Bekah shouts.
"Is that so? What have I done lately, other than cooperate? I bow down to you, brother, to make up for daggering you. For the greater good of our plan to reclaim our home. Looked the other way, sister, while you repeat the same cycle with Marcel. Falling again for a man you shouldn't be with, while he controls the empire that we built! That he took! Now, I make no excuses for past sins. But in the one moment when you two could have chosen to stand by me to believe in me, to believe my intentions for my own niece were pure you chose to stand against me, to side with my enemies. I wanted our home back. Now I have it. So, I'm going to live there. And the two of you... you can stay here together and rot with that werewolf girl Elijah has fallen for." Nik angrily shoves the dagger into Elijah's hands. He looks at me. "But you will be coming with me."
Nik grabs my arm and pulls me out of the house. I don't protest knowing that things will be better this way. I know that I can play the middle man between all my siblings. A part of me is also excited to be heading back to the Quarter, back to our family home.