Hayley's P.O.V.
I was holding my little girl in my arms. She was sleeping peacefully after everything she had been through on her first day in this world. I still thought it was a miracle she was still with us. The witches had come very close to killing her. The moment when that bitch Monique sank the knife in her small chest... I thought my world was crushing down. But for a reason, she survived. She was still alive in my arms. I was the happiest and the saddest person in the world. I was happy because I was able to hold my daughter in my arms, after everything we had gone through before she was even born and sad because I could not keep my promise to her. That she would grow up in a safe home, unlike me.
A lot of thoughts came and went from my mind, until I felt somebody else's presence in the room. I lifted my head only to see Elijah and Klaus standing in the doorway. I smiled to them and then turned my attention to my little girl who had woken up. Once she realized she was in her mother's arms she flashed me an adorable smile.
"How is she?" Elijah asked.
"She is fine. Probably her vampire blood healed her after the stab." I said raising my head again to face them. They were exchanging looks. "What's wrong?" I asked suddenly concerned.
"Hayley, when Monique stabbed her, she..." Elijah started, but seemed unable to continue.
"She stabbed her right through her heart." Klaus finished Elijah's sentence. My eyes widened. "Although she is part vampire, she is still a baby. She wouldn't have survived that."
"Then how did she survive?" I asked barely keeping myself from yelling. I didn't want to scare her more.
They exchanged looks again. "We don't know." Elijah replied.
"It's a miracle then." I concluded, but Klaus shook his head in denial.
"There is no such thing as miracles. And there is only one person that can tell us what really happened." I waited for him to continue and so did Elijah. He didn't know either who was the person he was talking about. "Cassandra." That single name made my temper immediately to rise. I couldn't contain my yelling anymore.
"Are you kidding me?" The baby started trembling. She had stopped smiling. "That bitch that left me there to die, that left her supposed protégé to be killed by the witches? I don't want to hear her name again! She betrayed us! If I ever see her again, I'll make sure to cut her throat as the witches did to me!" I finished breathless. I meant every word I had said.
"Brother, I'm afraid, I'll have to agree with Hayley. I still cannot believe how the Cassandra I knew would leave an innocent baby to suffer a terrible death." Klaus sighed.
"Let's not condemn her, before we talk to her. As I have already explained to Elijah, Cassandra's obligation towards the child was over the minute the baby was born. After that, she is free to live her life, the way she wants, without any interventions from us. We have done already enough to her. Let's not make that pile even higher." Klaus said the last part glaring at Elijah. But his words didn't convince me. I still thought Cassandra as a traitor and I would treat her accordingly. "I'll go find her." Klaus declared and turned to leave, but Elijah stopped him.
"If what you are saying is true, brother, she might have already left town." Klaus shook his head.
"She has not. Don't ask me how I know that, but believe me. She is still here. And I'm going to find her. No matter how long it takes. I'll find her even if it means searching the whole city." He said and exited the room.
Elijah and I stared at each other for a little while without saying a single word. The baby in my arms started shifting and in the end she started crying. I did my best to calm her down, but she just couldn't.
"I'll leave you alone with her." Elijah stated and got out of the room.
Everything I did to calm her didn't work. I looked to the other side of the room where a self full of toys was. I went for an adorable little fabric doll, but when I took it from the self, a small white envelop fell from behind it. Curious, I left the doll aside and took the envelope in my free hand. There was a single word written in the front part of the envelope.
Hayley
More curious than ever I opened it up quickly and read what the letter had to say. When I finished the letter, my eyes were wide from the shock.
Oh my God...
In the mean time...
Klaus's P.O.V.
I ran out of the compound into the busy streets of New Orleans. I needed to find Cassandra. She was the only one that held the answers I needed. She was here, I could sense it. So I thought to begin my search from the last place I had seen her. The church. Maybe I could find her sent from there and follow her to wherever she had gone to.
The church was quiet when I entered. There was no one there. Yet, Cassandra's smell was so strong, as if she had never left. I went outside to try to find where she had gone, but the smell stopped at the bottom of the stairs. That was strange. I returned back to the church, but I didn't hear anyone. I made my way towards the altar, looking around for any trace of Cassandra. She couldn't have disappeared like that. I reached the bottom of the altar, thinking the events of the previous evening, that I almost didn't notice the delicate figure, lying on the floor. The red of fire caught my eye and I turned horrified only to face the young girl I was looking for, lying on the floor, her eyes staring blankly in the distance.
"No, no, no..." I murmured rushing to her side and taking her in my arms.
She was still warm, but her hands where frozen. I held her tightly on my chest, unable to believe what happened. She was gone. She was gone... How could this be possible? Only when I noticed the large scar above her left breast I realized. I held her even more tightly, burying my face in her hair, tears coming out of my eyes.
"Why? Why did you have to do that?" I murmured, but I got no answer.
Only a silence that would haunt me forever.
Elijah's P.O.V.
I was pacing back and forth waiting for my brother's return. I tried not to think about Cassandra, because there was a great possibility that my emotions for her would be back and I couldn't have that. She needed to be free and she needed to be away from me. Hayley was upstairs with her daughter. It was awful what this child had to endure since she was still an infant. And we were all to blame. We never considered the consequences of our actions would have in her life, only our personal desires at the moment. I felt guilty.
Suddenly, my phone started ringing, interrupting my thoughts. I picked it up. "Niklaus, did you find her?" I asked, but it took him a while to reply.
"Yes." Short answer. That was never good, especially coming from Niklaus.
"Niklaus, what's wrong?" I demanded, feeling my emotions come to the surface. Something was wrong. I could sense it.
"I'll bring her to the compound." He said and hung up. I remained still, looking at my phone.
I had a really bad feeling about this...
Author's Note: An update as promised. It's a small chapter, I know. I also know that you probably want to murder Hayley and Elijah right now. God, I made them seem really awful in this story..... Anyway, more to come in the next chapter. Love you all!!!!!!