"So this is what you do the first time we are back together as a family? Vampire book club?" Rebekah's voice was heard the moment I entered the house.
"Reading edifies the mind, sister. Isn't that right, Elijah?" Klaus replied calmly.
"Yes, it's quite right Niklaus."
"And what's this business?" Rebekah asked. I came closer to the room they were in, so I could see the dead body of a girl on the table. Typical.
"This is a... peace offering." Elijah replied, his tone indicating that he couldn't care less.
"I presumed that after so much time desiccating in a coffin my big brother might be a bit peckish." Klaus explained.
"So I explained to my little brother that forgiveness cannot be bought. I'd simply prefer to see a change in behaviour that indicates contrition and personal growth. Not this nonsense."
"Well, I could let it go to waste, could I?"
"Do you make any sense?" I said to Rebekah stepping into the room.
"Cassandra!" She exclaimed seeing me. "You are back." She said smiling. I shrugged.
"I hope everything here is ok."
"Well, since Elijah is in charge how could be happening the opposite?" Klaus replied.
"Well, whoever is in charge Niklaus, we are glad to have you back Cassandra." Elijah said leaving the book he was reading and standing up, approaching me. I glared at him and turned around heading to the kitchen. I heard Klaus making a not very appropriate comment about the situation, but I chose to ignore it.
Shortly after I had entered the kitchen, Hayley showed up. "Oh, hey!" She said surprised to see me.
"Hello to you too." I replied looking at her startled expression.
"You disappeared. I thought you had left."
"I made an oath and I have to keep it. I left because I had an obligation towards a friend."
"And what will that be?" She said approaching the fridge and taking out some stuff.
"You are asking too many questions. And seriously ice cream and cake leftovers for breakfast?" I said seeing what she had left on the counter.
"What?" I sighed annoyed and started putting back the things in the fridge. "Hey!" She protested.
"Milk and cereals is your breakfast. And if you are still feeling hungry eat an apple." I ordered taking the milk out of the fridge.
"But-"
"I think Cassandra is right on the matter." Elijah interrupted Hayley.
"Good morning." Hayley said to him with a smile.
"Well, since the good Elijah is agreeing with me I guess, you have no choice in the matter." I said ironically, while handing her a ball and some cereals. "Bon appetite!" I said and exited the room, leaving Elijah and Hayley alone.
I returned to the living room, where I found Klaus at the same position and Rebekah on the floor trying to clear the blood from the carpet. She was wearing those yellow protective gloves and was that leach that I smelled? I looked at her with a shocked expression.
"Don't look at me like that! Somebody had to clean this carpet!"
"Nevertheless, I never expected to see you on your knees playing the good housewife." Klaus laughed at my comment, while Rebekah remained silent and glared at me.
"Poetry about poisoned apples from dead trees. Looks somebody is worried about impending daddyhood." Rebekah commented.
"Nonsense. Elijah is back. In his presence all problems turn to pixy dust and float away." I smirked at Klaus humour.
"Strange. I don't recall any pixy dust from the darkness of the coffin I was recently forced to endure." Elijah replied to Klaus words, entering the room.
"What are you going with mother's spell book?" Rebekah asked Elijah, seeing him cutting a few pages from what seemed to be a very old book.
"In exchange for my freedom I promised the witch Davina that I would share a few pages from mother's spell book. It will help her to control her magic. I thought we should begin with a little unlinking spell." I scoffed. Of course Elijah wouldn't help somebody, if he didn't have any benefit from it.
"If you have something to say Cassandra, say it." I turned to him, trying to control my temper.
"It's just that every time, I'm impressed of how manipulative you can be." Elijah was about to reply, when Rebekah interrupted, probably giving an end to an epic fight before it begins.
"You want to use her to unlink Hayley from Sophie Deveraux?"
"Sophie brought us to this town after false pretences. She doesn't just want us to take down Marcel and his minions, she wants to take Davina back. So, she yanked her own cause with ours with magic, threats and half truths. Well, no more. As of now, our deal with Sophie Deveraux is ovoid." His words brought smiles to his siblings' faces.
"Oh, I quiver with fear." I commented, but Elijah chose to ignore me.
"Niklaus, I need you to come with me. I need five minutes alone with Davina, you need to make certain that I'm not interrupted. You stay here and watch Hayley." He said the last part turning to his sister.
"How did I get elected super nanny?" She shouted pissed off.
"More importantly..." Klaus said standing up. "Who put him in charge?" I laughed at his question, gaining a smile from him and a glare from Rebekah.
"I'm going to see how Hayley is doing." I said to Rebekah and headed to the stairs.
I found her upstairs, in one of the thousand living rooms this house had. "Aaaa!" She suddenly exclaimed holding her neck.
"What happened?" I asked alerted, examining her neck. It had a simple stain of blood.
"I wish I knew. I felt like I was being stabbed."
"This is definitely Sophie related." I concluded. "Come on, sit." I urged her, leading her to an armchair.
"Well, it's time for the demon's snack!" Rebekah said carrying a bowl full of apples.
"I wish you didn't call her that." Hayley said, while I sat on another armchair.
"I'm sorry, have you picked another name yet? Take one. Plantation is full of them."
"How is your neck?" I asked.
"I feel fine, which is weird. I think you were right about Sophie being involved with it."
"Well, do me a favour and don't die on my watch. I'll never get the end of it." Rebekah pointed out. I laughed.
"You know when I first met you I thought you were a real bitch." Hayley said to Rebekah.
"What changed your mind?"
"Oh, I still think you are a bitch. I'm just grown to like that about you." Hayley said causing Rebekah's laughter.
"That's sweet of you to say. Remember it when I'm gone."
"Gone. Where are you going?" Hayley said startled.
"I only came to town to make sure everything was ok with Elijah. He is fine and hasn't punished Klaus for daggering him, so as usual, they will be thick as thieves and I'll be left to clean up the mess. It's time for me to fly the coop."
"Too bad. We could use another female in this fold." I commented.
Hayley was about to say something, but stopped having a weird expression on her face. "What's wrong?" Rebekah asked, taking the words from my mouth.
"I don't know. Probably morning sickness." She replied. Rebekah touched her face.
"You are burning up, actually."
"What?" I exclaimed, standing on my feet and rushing to Hayley. Rebekah was right. She had a fever. "Come on, let's get you to bed." I said and with Rebekah's help, we carried Hayley to her room.
A few minutes later, Hayley's condition hadn't improved at all. On the contrary, she was getting worse. "Stop whining. Elijah will be here in any minute." Rebekah reassured Hayley.
"I feel like I've been microwaved." Hayley pointed out.
"Hey, just because you are carrying a baby, doesn't mean you get to act like one. I'm sure my little niece is healing you up, as we speak."
"I don't think so." They both turned to look at me. I passed my hands over Hayley's body. Something very wrong was going on here.
"What do you mean?" Rebekah asked suddenly worried.
"The fever is not normal. It's... magic." I realized shocked. Rebekah and Hayley exchanged looks. "I'm going to find something to make you feel better." I said leaving the room.
I rushed in my bedroom and started searching my belongings for a very old and special book. My Granny had given it to me, the last time I saw her. It was a book that contained certain 'spells' that could be performed by vampire hunters for the protection of their protégé. I hoped it would work on Hayley, since I was protecting her child. The book was well hidden in the closet, under my clothes. When I found it, I quickly stood up and rushed to Hayley's room, while searching the pages for the spell I needed.
"I found it." I announced when I bumped into Rebekah who was exiting the room. Elijah was there along with Sophie.
"What's that?" Rebekah asked from behind me.
I didn't bother to reply and jumped on Hayley's bed, sitting next to her. "Where did you find that?" Sophie asked. The shock was pretty obvious in her voice.
"What's going on?" Elijah asked after that. I ignored all of them and focused on Hayley who was looking as curious as the others.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm trying to help." I said adjusting the book, so that I could see the words and put the one hand on Hayley's forehead and the other on her tummy. I took a deep breath and I did my best to focus.
"This is a very rare book that contains spells that could be casted by people who are not witches. Probably vampire hunters had one of those. I'm guessing you are casting the shifting spell?" Sophie explained to the others, saying the last part to me.
"Yes."
"Have you done this before?" She asked again.
"No."
"You know this spell might kill you."
"My problem."
"But, Cassandra-" Elijah tried to protest, but I cut him off.
"Will you all shut the hell up and let me concentrate?" I yelled. Nobody spoke after that. I took a long, deep breath and started chanting.
Elijah's P.O.V.
I was watching Cassandra, being in some kind of ecstasy, performing a spell I had never heard of. "What is this shifting spell?" I asked Sophie with fear never leaving my heart.
"With this spell she is transferring her energy to Hayley and the baby. Since she is the protector of the baby, she will be able to help Hayley too. She is gaining us some time."
"But, you said this spell might kill her."
"If she overdoes it, then yes, she might die."
"Can we stop her?"
"That would kill her instantly. She has to decide when to stop the spell."
"Let's just hope she does so, in time."
It had already gone dark outside and Cassandra hadn't stopped. I was so worried. I didn't want her to die. Even the idea of living in a world without her made me go crazy.
"I brought them!" Rebekah announced entering the room.
"She has been like this, since the moment I left?" I nodded not taking my eyes off Cassandra. Suddenly, she stopped chanting. We all turned to look at her.
"Now it's your turn." She said to Sophie and got off the bed. She stabled and I rushed to her side to help her, but she pushed me away. Sophie didn't give me time to say something, as she ordered me to take Hayley down to the pool.
Cassie's P.O.V.
I was feeling so damn weak. Rebekah's timing was perfect. I don't think I would be able to perform the spell much longer. We all descended to the pool and I could hardly stand on my feet.
"She is burning up. We need to do this now."
"Get her in the water!" Sophie ordered, while she mixed the herbs Rebekah had brought.
"I don't see how midnight swim is supposed to help." Rebekah said. I was watching them from a distance, sitting on the floor. I hadn't seen any vision, so I suppose everything will be fine, in the end.
"The temperature is high and the water with the help of the herbs should cool it down." Sophie replied to her.
"Drink this." She said to Hayley stepping into the pool, where Hayley and Elijah were.
"You have to get her heart rate down." She then said, turning to Elijah.
"And how do you suggest I do that?"
"Hold her. It's a natural human remedy to slow the heart rate and reduce blood pressure."
"This is never gonna work." Rebekah commented.
"Have a little faith..." I whispered more to myself than anyone else.
"Davina will break that link. We just need time." Elijah replied to his sister, now holding Hayley bridal style.
"I can't breathe!" Hayley said in difficulty.
"Take long deep breaths." Elijah instructed. "Hayley, look at me. Long deep breaths. Just focus on the sound of my voice." He continued. "You'll be ok." He reassured her and put her in the water.
It was nine o'clock when Hayley started screaming, holding her tummy. Oh God, please don't do this! I pleaded. For the first time I started to question my prophetess's abilities. But, then the screaming stopped. I looked at Hayley who was trying to breathe.
"I just felt it lift." Sophie said. I exhaled relieved. I wasn't that faulty, after all.
Sophie took her earring and pinched her palm to confirm that the link was broken. Elijah checked on Hayley's hand. There was nothing there. Elijah and Hayley looked at each other for a moment. I remembered that look. We used to look at each other like this, a long time ago.
"Come on." He said, leading her out of the pool.
"Elijah!" Sophie shouted. "As soon as your brother finds out that the link is broken, he'll kill Agnes. I know you don't owe me anything, but please, don't let him kill her." Elijah turned his back to her and got out of the pool. "Elijah!" She shouted again. "She is our only access to the power we need to survive. Promise me that you'll stop him!"
Elijah ignored her again. He dialled a number to his phone and wait for the receiver to reply. "It's me. Where are you?" He was calling to Klaus.
"Don't hurt her. I'll be there shortly." He said and hung up.
"I'll make you one last promise. I won't let my brother kill Agnes." Elijah said and disappeared.
Sophie nodded pleased. She was such an idiot. Elijah was very careful with the words he used. He said he wouldn't allow Klaus to kill the gipsy witch. That didn't mean of course, Agnes wouldn't die. I bet he would kill her himself. Sophie was getting out of the pool, when Hayley grabbed her elbow and whispered to her threateningly.
"I know you were just using me to save your people, but try it again, I'll kill you." I admired her. I had to admit that.
After that, I escorted Hayley inside to change her clothes. "Hey, I never thanked you for what you did for me tonight. You put your life in danger for me and the baby." I smiled.
"Don't worry about it. It was my duty."
"I'm still glad to have you here. I feel safer."
"Well, that's my goal."
"It's the first time, I see you smiling."
"Take a picture. It doesn't happen very often, lately." I'm sure she was about to ask why, but I cut her off, before she could say anything. "Excuse me for a moment." I said a descending the stairs, catching Rebekah the moment she was leaving. "You are leaving without saying goodbye?" I shouted. She turned to look at me.
"Cassandra."
"So, you are leaving." I said reducing the distance between us.
"Yes, although I feel sorry for leaving you with them."
"I'll survive." I said sighing.
"You always do. You are the toughest girl I have ever met."
"Have a good life, Rebekah. You deserve it."
"You deserve a good life too, sister." I was a bit surprised by her calling me sister. "Don't look so surprised. You will always be my sister, whether you are with Elijah or not. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, sister."
Author's Note: Hello guys!!!! I'm so terribly sorry for the delay in updates! I'm just studying for my exams, which are next week and I still have some many errands to do. I don't know how often I will be able to update for the next three weeks (that is until my exams are over), I hope though that I can update once in a while. I'm not giving up on the story, that's for sure. So, this was a nice, big chapter and honestly one of my favourites. Tell me what you think in the comments below!!!!! Love you all!!!!