It was dark outside when three Originals, a pregnant werewolf and a witch was sitting outside the plantation. Hayley had a towel around her shoulders, her arms wrapped loosely around Khalia's waist and the female brunette Mikaelson had an arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively as Hayley's head rested on her chest. Worry and concern swirled around in Khalia's frozen heart, the pit in her stomach deepening as Hayley's temperature continues to rise. Rebekah was standing behind the sitting duo, her thoughts swirling around in the conversation she had with Marcel while collecting the herbs. '
"How's her temperature?" Sophie asked, again, while Elijah assists Sophie in helping with the herbs. Khalia glared at the witch harshly. Elijah saw the look on his sister's face and decided to answer before Sophie got a stick thrown in her neck as soon as the spell was broken.
"She's burning up! We need to do this now." The noble Original shouted.
"Get her in the water!" The Deveraux girl yelled.
Khalia scooped Hayley up into her arms - the werewolf wrapping her arms around the vampire's neck - before getting into the pool carefully stepping that she doesn't slip and drown the pregnant girl in her arms. Sophie mixes herbs in a cup and follows them into the water as well. The witch sees the dangerous and warning glint in Khalia's eyes as she approached the two. It was a look that read, 'Hurt her and your death will be slow and painful.' Sophie gave a nod, indicating that she wouldn't hurt her.
"I don't see how a midnight swim is supposed to help." Rebekah said frustratedly.
"I have to agree with, Rebekah, I do not see the relevance." Elijah quipped, watching how his sister's eyes doesn't waver from the wolf girl even once.
"Her temperature is sky-high. The water, with the help of the herbs, should cool us down."
"Should?" Khalia growls out, flashing her vampire eyes at the witch.
"It's not an exact science." The witch defends quickly, a glaring Khalia Mikaelson was scary, but a glaring Khalia Mikaelson with her vampire eyes out is something so downright terrifying that it would give her brother Klaus Mikaelson nightmares. She holds out the herbal concoction to Hayley, who untangles her hands from Khalia's neck and takes it with shaking hands. "Drink this!" She orders the werewolf before she turns to Khalia, "You're going to have to get her heart rate down."
"How do you suggest I do that?" Khalia asked the witch, seriously for once and not sarcastic or uncaring.
"Well, you holding her is what I'd recommend. It's a natural human remedy to slow the heart rate and reduce blood pressure. But since you are already doing that, I'd suggest talking to her."
The brunette female Mikaelson shot Sophie a disbelieving look. "Talk to her about what?"
"I don't know, tell her a story or something." The witch retorted. Okay, Khalia thought, that is something I can work with.
"This is never gonna work." The worry in Rebekah's voice was as clear as daylight.
"Davina will break the link, we just need time." Elijah assured her, but neither of his sisters believed him. The fear around Khalia's heart intensified as Hayley clinged tighter to said vampire and groans as she gasps for breath. The vampire didn't like all this feelings, she didn't like that she was so weak around this wolf girl that could stop her heart with a smile.
Pushing all that to the back of her mind, Khalia thought for a second before she found something to tell the werewolf. "Okay, sweetheart, I'm going to tell you a story. And I need you to listen to my voice, concentrate on it and nothing else, Okay? Nod if you understand."
When she received a weak nod from Hayley, she began her story. Both her siblings did a double take when they heard the first sentence. "When I was little and human, Kol, Henrik and I used to sneak out to the waterfalls. We loved swimming together there. We'd swim for hours on end and made mud castles, chase each other around the forest. One day, we came across a deer. It was hurt and-"
She didn't get to go further with her story as Hayley begins hyperventilating. "I can't breathe!" If the fear was bad before, it was unimaginable now. Khalia didn't know this type of emotion, this raw, bad, hurting, paralyzing, powerful emotion. Not even Kol's death woke this emotions in his twin.
"Okay, long deep breaths, Hayley! Look at me, sweetheart. Long deep breaths, just focus on the sound of my voice." She lowers her voice to a whisper. "You'll be okay. You'll be okay. You have to be okay." The last sentence was so soft that even Rebekah and Elijah had to strain their ears to hear it.
Hayley screams in pain and thrashes in Khalia's hold, making the Mikaelson tighten her grip on the werewolf as her eyes started to burn, "AHHHH! AHHHH!" Each scream felt like a stake to the heart for the vampire that was holding the pregnant girl. Sophie starts to gasp as the linking spell begins to lift. Hayley continues to groan in pain and Khalia's eyes got blurry for a reason she couldn't understand.
In the pool, Sophie looks up at the sky, looking almost disappointed. "I just felt it lift." Sophie informed the group and Rebekah sighs in relief. It was only when Hayley starts to calm down, that Khalia lets out a breath of relief and a laugh of relief leaves her lips. When Hayley wiggles her legs, the vampire lets go of them and wipes at her blurry eyes. She frowned as her hands felt wet as she wiped her eyes, her elbows and half of her upper arms was submerged in water, but not her hands. A thought hit her but she shook her head, no she couldn't have been. Was she about to cry?
Hayley stands up on her own, but still leans against Khalia, still weak from the spell. Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind, the Mikaelson girl wrapped her arms around the werewolf's waist and pulled Hayley flush against her - not caring about their audience. Hayley was surprised, but certainly didn't waste any time in wrapping her arms around the usually cold and distant vampire's neck.
Sophie, Rebekah and Elijah watched the two hugging woman with soft smiles on their faces. When they broke apart, their hands linked underwater, the witch removes one of her earrings and pokes her palm with it. Hayley looks at her palm, the one that wasn't holding the immortal girl's under water. She and Khalia both look relieved when she's not injured. Khalia takes that hand in her free one as well, and she and Hayley stare at each other for a long moment, absorbed in their own word. The trio around them notices their shared glances, so the Mikaelson girl quickly takes back her one hand and leads Hayley out of the pool.
"Come on, sweetheart, let's go and get you dried up." Her words were soft, warm and gentle, something that surprised everyone, even herself.
"Elijah..." Sophie called out, her voice had a pleading tone to it. "...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." She was begging the Original and she knew it.
At her words, Khalia let go of Hayley's hand and sped in front of Sophie with a wicked and crazy grin on her face. "On second thought, looks like I have other plans." She turned back to Hayley, "Sorry, sweetheart." The werewolf didn't even bother to hide her disappointment.
Elijah pulls his phone out of his jacket on the table. "Elijah! She's our only access to the power we need to survive. Promise me that you'll stop him!" Khalia scoffed as Elijah ignores the witch and dials a number into his phone before raising it to his ear.
"Here's the part where you tell us why we give a fuck? That bitch of a witch has done more than enough for her death to be justified." Khalia growled out before grabbing Sophie by her neck and speeding her to the nearest wall. "Hayley is off limits. If one of witches so much as glance in her direction wrongly, I will kill a whole coven, just to make a point." She smirked, and it was scary how much she looked like her twin in that moment.
Letting go of Sophie, she sped back to Hayley, but not by her side. Khalia was positioned in a protective manner in front of the werewolf, making it clear to anyone that if you wanted to get to the pregnant girl, you have to go through Khalia first.
It's Klaus that the oldest Mikaelson calls, but Khalia doesn't listen into the conversation. She only hears Elijah's side of the call. "It's me, where are you?" He waits as Klaus answers. "Don't hurt her. I'll be there shortly." He hangs up and turns to Sophie. "I'll make you one last promise. I won't let my brother or Khalia kill Agnes."
A loud and angry growl ripped from Khalia's chest as Sophie nods at him gratefully. She sped forward and took Elijah down, his back hitting the floor with a loud thud, arm wrapped tightly around his throat and her legs straddling his thighs. "And who, pray tell, gave you the permission to make promises on my behalf?"
"Khalia!" Hayley yells out, horrified by the female vampire's actions. Kol's twin calmed down at the sound of Hayley's voice calling her name but she still didn't let go of Elijah. She did loosen her grip a little to allow her brother to speak.
"I only promised her neither you or Niklaus would kill her." There was a double meaning behind Elijah's words that, luckily for him, Khalia caught. Her eyes widened in realization and she grinned wickedly at her brother. After a thousand years together Khalia has learned that her eldest brother chooses his words very carefully when making a deal. Thus she and Klaus won't kill the elder witch, but he will.
"As long as you don't do it again, it's fine." She told him and when her brother nodded, she let go of his neck and got up. The female Mikaelson extended a hand to her brother and pulled him to his feet. Elijah walks to the table, picks up his jacket and shoes and walks away. Sophie turns to walk away as well when the werewolf grabs her by the bicep harshly.
"I know you were just using me to save your people, but try it again, and I'll kill you." Her voice tone was something short of a growl and Khalia was proud as hell. So proud that she didn't even object when Hayley walked to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the house with her. Hayley finally stopped in the kitchen and Khalia finally became aware that she is still holding hands with the werewolf.
Quickly she pulled back her hand and her body went rigid. Now that Hayley is fine and not in any danger, Khalia was finally able to think clearly. She was able to think with her head and not with emotions. And she made a decision that she needs to leave. The emotions that Hayley is awakening in her, the control she has over her is something that she doesn't want. She controls herself. No one else.
"I guess this is goodbye." The Original said sharply and coldly. Hayley took a step back as if someone hit her in the stomach. The wolf's eyes clouded with tears and it felt as if someone was squeezing her heart with an invisible force.
"W-why?" Hayley stammered, biting her bottom lip not to cry.
"I came to town to help Elijah free you from the witches and now that, that is done, I have no reason to stay." She told the werewolf, feeling bad when she saw Hayley flinching and taking another step back. Before Hayley could convince her to stay, Khalia spun on her heel and left the kitchen. She used her vampire hearing to find her siblings and sped to their heartbeats - which lead her to outside Elijah's door.
"I guess it is. I only came to New Orleans to make sure you were safe. You are. I thought that I might be able to convince you to come with me, but here you are, rushing into whatever Klaus and Marcel and the witches have cooked up. And I finally get it." In the room, Rebekah starts to tear up. "You'll never leave this city. You'll never leave Klaus."
"I will." Khalia announced herself as she walks into her brother's room. "I'm leaving with you. I just need to pack my bags." Now this was something that Rebekah wasn't expecting, but Elijah was. He saw how much it scared his oldest sister to see the werewolf like that and he knew that she wasn't ready for that type of feelings. She is still grieving and healing from her twin's death. He had hoped maybe Khalia would allow the wolf girl to help heal her broken heart, but looks like he was wrong.
Elijah looks at his sisters back and forth sadly and Khalia decides to walk to Rebekah's side. "Then you should both stay. New Orleans is a big city, there is plenty of places you can stay if you don't wish to see someone." That last sentence was directed to the twin girl and she knew it, she just chose to ignore it.
"Right now, I want to disappear. And New Orleans is not big enough for that." Khalia told her brother, only a part of the truth.
Rebekah shakes her head. "This thing that you and Klaus and Marcel have, I want no part of it." Tears fall down her cheeks as she cries. "I just want to be free."
Elijah's voice had a sad tone to it as he said, "Well, then, go." He kisses her on the cheek. "You are free!" He made his way in front of Khalia, "Should you ever find yourself healed enough, do return. We'll be here waiting for you." He didn't say it, but all of them heard the true meaning of his words, 'She'll be here waiting for you.' Elijah leaves, and Rebekah tries to compose herself as a small, sad smile played on Khalia's lips and she looks at the spot where her brother stood.
***
About two hours later, after Rebekah made a trip to where the twin girl could only guess was to Marcel, the sister duo was packing their luggage into Rebekah's red convertible. After loading the last bag into the car, Khalia turned back to the house. She spotted Hayley on the porch and offered the werewolf a wave. Hayley returned it with a watery smile.
"As you sure you don't want to stay?" Rebekah asked softly, soft enough that Hayley wasn't able to hear.
Khalia nodded. "I need to leave. Right now, I'm hurting. And I need to grieve. I-i need to heal. On my own. Maybe," She paused to take a deep breath of air. "Maybe one day I'll take Elijah up on his offer and return. One day when I'm better." Accepting this for now, the blonde nods and gets into her car with her sister following.
Khalia and Rebekah made it just past the New Orleans town line when Khalia's phone rang. She rolled her eyes when she saw it was her oldest brother, but picked it up anyways. "Didn't we just say goodbye, big brother?" Her tone was slightly teasing as she put the call on speaker-phone.
Rebekah turned to grin at her sister, "Yes, goodbye means goodbye, Elijah."
Elijah's voice was worried, "Is she with you?" Confusion filled both the Mikaelson sisters and the amusement left them both immediately, but there was a certain dread that build within Khalia as she had a horrible suspicion she knew exactly who her brother was talking about.
"We are way out of town, Elijah." Khalia informed her brother.
"What the hell are you talking about?" It was Rebekah that finally asked the million-dollar question.
"Hayley's gone. Where is she?" The second those words left Elijah's mouth, Khalia felt her heart stop. And when it started beating again, her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. Rebekah slammed on the brakes and Khalia braced herself by placing her hands on the dash board.
"WHAT?" Rebekah thundered over the phone as Khalia sat in shocked silence. She couldn't move, she couldn't think anything other than Hayley was in danger. Again.
Klaus anxiously walks into Hayley's room and joins Elijah, "Marcel was here." Khalia's body was paralyzed with fear as she dropped the phone, stunned. Realizing that she needed to do something, Khalia jumped out of the car.
"I'll meet you at the abattoir." And then she sped off, running faster than she's ever ran in her thousand years old living, hoping that Hayley is okay and ready to kill anyone who is going to try and stop her from finding the pregnant werewolf girl.
***
Okay, so I hope this long chapter is an apology enough for almost not updating in a month. But if any of you read some of my other stories, you'll know that I'm so busy with school work. Senior year is no joke guys.
I hope you still enjoy my stories, despite of the lack in updates. Please leave vote and comment, it does brighten my day.
-Mixie