THE EMOTIONSSSSSS
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Chapter One Hundred & Fifty-Five
When Marcel called me later that night, I was admittedly a little surprised. Why he called me of all people was beyond me. Even more so when he told me to come to a dumpster outside one of the buildings on the other side of the Quarter.
"Marcel?" I called out once I spotted him at the end of the alley. I used my speed and appeared in front of him, making him jump a little in surprise. "What's wrong? You sounded... Concerned."
Marcel swallowed, then nodded. "You remember I told you earlier about how some of the Strix were missing?"
I nodded.
"Davina found them."
He lifted the lid of the dumpster, and there they were. The mutilated bodies of the missing vampires.
"They were tortured, and then torn apart..." he trailed off, then looked to me with a furrowed brow. "Rose, Jackson was killed just around the corner from here. I think we both know who did this, and the Strix are gonna want their head if they find out."
I thought about it for a few moments, then nodded again. "Burn the bodies, please, Marcellus."
I turned and walked away, prepared to hunt down the person I knew for sure committed this act. When I did find her, she had an axe raised at the neck of a woman who clearly belonged to the Strix.
"Hayley, stop!" I shouted.
She turned, looked at me, then went back and swung the axe as hard as she could. She cut off the woman's head, and it rolled on the ground with a sickening thud.
"This has to stop," I hissed at her, stalking into the room.
"Why are you defending these people, Rose?" she questioned. "Oh, that's right. Because they are the only people that can protect your beloved Elijah from the white oak. Guess what? I don't need their ptoection."
She was angry. That much was clear, but it wasn't just anger. It was rage. I had never seen this much in her before, and while she was not showing it to its full extent, I could see it as clear as day.
"This is a list," she said, holding up the paper in her hand. "It's a list of the members of the Strix that came for us. They attacked us, they tortured you and I, and they killed my husband. They are the ones that are responsible for his execution which I was forced to watch!" she shouted angrily.
I took the paper from her. "I know that you are angry and I know that you want someone to blame, but this will be an act of war, Hayley! If you will not stop because I ask you to, then stop because of your daughter."
Her jaw clenched. "Don't you dare use Hope in an attempt to tame me, Rose. I have taken risks for the Mikaelson's and my daughter. It's about damn time that I do right by Jackson. Sorry if that inconveniences you," she growled.
She brushed by me, and I held the paper a little tighter.
If there was anyone the Strix would blame, it would be me.
*
It wasn't difficult to find them. Hunting them down was easy, killing them was even easier. When I told Klaus what had happened with Hayley, and what I done, he then told me that he was planning on leaving and the bodies of the Strix would actually be beneficial to him. He needed to leave because his sires were coming after him. They wanted him dead, and he figured that if he went into hiding, he could at least wait them out.
I burned the bodies as Klaus asked me to, then went into Hayley's room. I had taken a shower before I did, but the scent of the blood still lingered on my hands.
I walked over to where she had taken a seat in front of the fire. She was staring into the flames, her eyes almost in a daze.
I held the folded paper in front of her, and she seemed surprised. She didn't respond for a moment, then took the paper from me. She unfolded it while I sat down on the bench beside her.
She stared at the four names I had crossed off when I had gotten home. A few blood splotches had gotten on the paper from my hands, but she clearly didn't care. She crumpled the paper up and tossed it into the fireplace.
"Thank you, Rose," she said quietly.
I didn't respond. I watched the fire as well, the flames feeling hypnotic.
"I loved him, you know," she said. She didn't wipe away the tears that fell. "That's why I acted the way I did, I think. I couldn't protect the man I loved when he was alive and so I wanted to defend his honour at the very least."
"And you did," I told her. "We could not save him, but we did avenge him."
She didn't reply for a long time.
"Will it ever get better, Rose? Easier?"
"Yes," I assured her. "Eventually, it will."
I didn't quite know what else to say, so I asked the question that had been on my mind since the moment Klaus told me of his plan.
"I'm going to go with Klaus. I want to help keep him safe. But I don't feel comfortable leaving Hope here, and I know for sure that Klaus wouldn't leave without her either. Do you want to come with us, Hayley?"
She looked over at me, and nodded almost immediately. It seemed that she wasn't the only one that wanted to get away for a while.
An hour passed, and then I was in the front seat of Klaus' SUV. Hope and Hayley were in the back, and it wasn't long before Klaus was slipping into the driver's seat.
"I trust you've said your goodbyes," he said after his eyes lingered on me for a long time.
I didn't answer him, and just continued to stare out the windshield.
Klaus had a sad tone in his voice. "We may be gone for quite some time."
"We need to keep Hope safe. It's worth it."
Klaus nodded one or twice, and then I felt his hand slip to encase mine. He squeezed it, and I turned to look up at him.
"He doesn't forgive you because there isn't anything to forgive, Rose. He just doesn't know what to do and I don't think that you do either. Perhaps time away is best."
I nodded to him. "I think it is."
With that being said, he started the car, and the last thing I saw was Elijah and Freya watching us from the balcony of the compound.
I didn't look back at them.