"It hasn't even a few days since we've gotten back and you're already boring her with your art." Rebekah walks into the room as I lay on a sofa as Klaus paints me from across the room. Earlier, I woke up to him painting me so I decided to pose for him as he continues to do so. I was kind of used to it at this point. All he does is draw or paint, but I don't mind.
"Good morning, sister. What do you need?" Klaus asks, but you can tell he's not bothered to know. He takes the point of the paintbrush and dips it into a paint jar, dragging the pointer across his canvas. He looks up as she answers for him, "I need Maya. I'm planning a girls day out."
"No."
"Come on, Nik! You can't hog her forever." Rebekah whines, looking at the both of us as Klaus continues to eye me and his canvas.
"No, because Marcellus has developed an infatuation with her. I will not allow her or him near each other." Klaus states and I mentally roll my eyes, waiting for Rebekah's response.
"Of course he has a crush on her. Everyone does. She's Maya!" she says and I give her a questionable look. "Actually, you know what. Fine, go out." Klaus tells us, putting down his brush and takes the canvas off the easel.
"What's your sudden change in mind?" Rebekah inquires as I sit up from the sofa, wanting to know as well. "You and I wonder who and where the witch girl is and surely Marcel won't tell us. Maya is the only way to get the answers."
"So, you want Marcel to trust me enough to tell me all his dark secrets about his teenage witch?" I ask sarcastically, crossing my arms, "It won't work."
"You managed to distract me back in Mystic Falls. Surely he'll be fooled by you." he tells me and I sigh, "Fine. What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to go to Rousseau's. I am sure he'll be there." he answers and I nod, letting my arms fall off my chest. I take the robe off of my body and throw it on the bed. My hands skim through my hair and Rebekah lets out a huge exaggerated sigh.
"What if he's not there?" I ask him, waiting for scenarios to appear out of his mind. "That blonde girl, chit chat with her if he hasn't arrived."
"Camille?" I question and he raises his eyebrows at me with a questionable look. "You know her?"
"Kind of, we met at the party. She told me to come to that bar one day, so I guess today is that day." I mutter and he sends me a smile. "Well, then. I suppose it's settled."
"Are you bloody kidding me? The one day I actually get to hang out with her, you give her a job to flirt with your so-called enemy. Maya, we'll postpone this play date another day." Rebekah groans and walks out of the room.
"You know, she's right." I tell Klaus and he raises his eyebrows at me. "Right about what, love?"
"You do hog me." I reply and he shrugs, pulling me to his chest. "And that's because you are mine and I intend to keep it that way."
I look up at him, "Even when Marcel tries to kiss me for a second time?" I tease him and he gives me a look. "I trust you won't let that happen."
His hands travels down my waste as he spins me around. My back presses against his chest. "And if anything does happen, just remember what happened last time."
§
My hands twist the door knob of Rousseau's and I slowly step into the semi empty bar. I take a look around the bar, stumbling upon the bar countertop where Camille is wiping a cleaning cloth against the wood.
She looks up and gives me a smile, putting her cloth somewhere else in the table. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Would you like a drink?"
I shake my head at her offer, but wondering if she thought I was over twenty-one. Clearly I'm not. I just graduated high school, but hopefully she won't ask for an ID when I'm in a drinking mood...
"You totally look like you dreaded coming here." Camille states with a smile that showed her pearl teeth. I furrow my eyebrows and before I could reply, she cuts me off. "Sorry, forgot to mention that I took a degree in psychology. Didn't mean to freak you out, haha."
I throw a fake laugh and she walks over to a costumer that walks in. I look around the room and of course, Marcel is nowhere to be seen. I debated whether to ask Camille if she has seen him, but I didn't want to make it seem like I was interested, so I decided against it.
I pull out my phone and text Klaus that he is not here. After a few seconds, he tells me to talk to Camille because Marcel asked her if she could take the witch girl to a festival that's happening tonight.
I turn off my phone and plop it back in my purse. I lean forward and Camille walks over to me, pouring me a glass of water. "So, what brings you here?"
"Just wanted to look around. This is the only place I knew the title to." I respond and she laughs, "Yeah, most people come here when they have nowhere else to go."
I grab the water and take a sip of it, exhaling as I put the glass back down. "What made you decide to come to New Orleans?" she questions and I quickly make up a lie, "Um, well I was getting bored of my old town and decided to turn to the next chapter in life." I respond and she nods.
"Where did you last live? Sorry, I'm being too pushy. You don't have to tell me." she says and I shake my head, "No, it's fine. I used to live in Virginia. I kind of miss it, but at the same time I don't."
"I'm guessing you didn't leave on the right foot with your friends and family." Camille states and I slightly widen my eyes, "Yeah. You're really good at your psychology."
"Well, what can I say? The brave bartender can read people's minds." she chuckles and I stifle another fake laugh. One thing she does lack is humor.
I look down at my almost empty glass of water, not really sure what to do at this point. By now I knew Marcel wasn't coming in and there's no point in me waiting. I chug down the rest of my water and get up from my seat, but Camille calls out my name.
"Hey, before you go, I was wondering if you wanted to come to this dauphine street music festival with a friend and I. We could show you around New Orleans and have you meet new people?" she asks and a huge smile forms across my face. "That would be nice. Thank you."
"Just meet me here tonight and we'll go on from there." she tells me and I nod in response. I pay for the water and tip, grabbing my jacket and quickly exit the bar.
§
I throw my jacket on the edge of a chair and step into the family room where Rebekah is on her laptop and Klaus is behind her, laughing. "Please, sister, tell me you're not still at it with the internet search. How does one begin, anyway? Just type in anonymous attic?"
Klaus sees me and flashes me a small smile as he pours himself a glass of scotch.
"Someone has to find Elijah, even if I have to search every bloody attic in New Orleans." Rebekah responds, not looking up from her laptop. I sit down next to her, watching as she types and skims on the digital map of New Orleans.
"Like looking for a needle in a rather large pile of needles." Klaus says and Rebekah shakes her head, "I remember details about the attic Marcel took me to. There were shutters on the windows behind Elijah's coffin."
"Well, that should narrow it down immensely. Myself, I prefer actual strategy as opposed to mind-numbing labor. Marcel's delay in returning our brother makes me suspect he's no longer in charge of the situation. If Davina's loyalty to Marcel is strained, perhaps the young witch will be open to discussing a new alliance."
She smiles bitterly up at her brother. "As usual, your power grabs are more important than rescuing your brother."
"I prefer to think of it as killing two birds with one stone. Rob Marcel of his secret weapon, bring our brother home." he smirks and Rebekah, who's still unimpressed, smiles tightly at him as he sips his drink.
"How did it go with Marcel?" Klaus turns to me and I breathe in, shaking my head. "He wasn't there. However, the blonde girl Camille invited me to this festival and she's bringing a friend, who I'm sure is Davina."
"Perfect. I'll just compel your blonde friend to do the job and you can start an alliance with Davina. Surely Marcel will introduce you nicely." Klaus says, frowning at the end of his sentence and I roll my eyes. "Stop, he probably still thinks I'm captured by you."
"Well, then it's best you make an entrance."
§
I step into the now very crowded Rousseau's and immediately spot Camille and Marcel. They both notice me and wave me over. I give them a small smile before standing next to Camille and Marcel is besides her.
"You finally managed to escape Klaus for the second time, I see." Marcel whispers besides me and I throw him a smirk, "Well, he's not the only one who can master charm."
"Hey, D! There's someone I want you to meet." Marcel calls out to a teenage girl in a white dress. Her eyes peel away from the band that is currently playing a fiddle and she slowly walks over our way.
"Davina, this is Maya. Maya, this is Davina." Marcel greets us and she firmly shakes my hand with a huge smile. "It's nice to meet you."
She didn't seem much younger than me, maybe two or three years younger. She also seems really eager to be here, and I would be too if I was locked away in an attic.
"I'm almost done here until clean-up, so the three of us girls can hang out if you need to go shmooze, or whatever." Camille tells Marcel and Davina leans in, "You know, he was supposed to stop hovering like, ten minutes ago."
Marcel looks at Cami, exasperatedly. "See what I mean? Authority issues! I'll go talk to the mayor—he actually knows how to show some respect!" he jokes and soon walks away from us.
I felt a light tug on my right arm. Looking up, I see Camille pointing to Davina, who is staring at a boy preforming on stage. She walks over to Davina and I soon follow.
"Soooo, what's his name? Hot guy with the fiddle?" Camille asks and Davina smiles shyly, not keeping her eyes off of him. "Tim." she answers.
I have no idea what Klaus has planned for her, but in a way I didn't want him to use her. Because, as if right now, she seems like a normal teenager having a normal crush on a boy.
"I knew he would be here, he always performs at these kinda things." Davina continues to look at him and I decide to join in on their conversation. "How long have you two known each other?"
"Since we were ten." she replies and I furrow my eyebrows, letting her continue. "I had to leave school, and I didn't get to say goodbye. So, I was just hoping to talk to him tonight."
The band finishes their song, and all the patrons of the bar whoop and applaud them. Davina continues to smile and watch Tim play.
A long time has passed and the three of us got to know each other more. I didn't say much, because most my life revolves around the supernatural and I'm sure Camille knows nothing and I want Davina to believe I know nothing.
However, Davina and I seemed to be getting closer in such a small amount of time if that makes sense. She seemed to really enjoy my company and I returned the favor.
Suddenly, an imagine passes through my head showing a small clinic in the Bayou, automatically knowing it's location. I unfold my arms, a sudden rush of dizziness flows over me and something told me I needed to be at that location.
The band is ending, and I knew I couldn't stay with them long since Klaus will probably be here soon to start whatever plan he has going on.
"Hey, guys. I think I might head home.. It was nice meeting you, Davina." I quickly say and rush out of the bar without their responses. I have no idea why that image came through my mind and why I have the sudden urge to be there.
Driving there wasn't hard at all. For some odd reason, I knew exactly where to go, but I didn't question it. All I knew was that something was in danger and I need to be there.
I stop the car to a halt when there were other cars surrounding a small building I recognized earlier in my head. Slowly, I step out of the vehicle and pick up a stick that is laying on the dark grassy ground. I lightly close the door and cautiously walk over to the small building.
I look through the window, my breath hitting against the glass as a small fog appears. Nobody seemed to be inside, so I make my way to the back of the building.
Next thing I knew, two pair of hands are on my shoulder and a blonde I knew is staring right in front of me. She flashes me a quick smile, a hint of worry in her eyes. "Rebekah. What are you doing here?" I whisper, confused.
"Hayley texted me. I assume she did the same?" she asks and I shake my head, not going into detail. "No, she didn't. Why was Hayley here?" I ask once more, and she furrows her eyebrows but continues on anyways.
"She was overdue for a baby check. I thought you knew." she responds and then her head snaps the other way into the forest that's only a few feet away. "Stay behind me."
I didn't listen to her though. I stand beside her, tossing that useless stick to the ground. I hear a feminine voice ahead and there was Hayley, fighting off a man. Few men lay on the ground, dead. Did she kill them all by herself?
Hayley grabs the guy's shotgun and knocks him to the ground, and possibly kills him as she kicks him and beats him in the head with the rear of the gun. As Hayley crouches into a defensive position on the ground, her eyes flash gold, just like Klaus' eyes from a few weeks ago, only this time her eyes weren't full of anger, they were full of cautiousness.
Another man comes near her, but before Hayley can react, his neck is snapped by Rebekah. I quickly run over to them, making sure Hayley isn't injured. I don't know why I suddenly care about her safety, but I kind of just did. She seemed to not have a scratch on her.
"Have to say, I'm impressed." Rebekah says after a long moment of silence. "How did you find me?" Hayley inquires, asking the both of us but Rebekah answers.
"Your text got me halfway, vamping here did the rest. Who are they?" she asks her. "Witches. Warlocks. Whatever." Hayley replies.
I turn my heads quickly once I see men with flashlights in the distance. Immediately, I go over to the men that Hayley killed, and throw on their weaponry. They had bows and an arrow with them, so I quickly grab one of those.
"What do you think you are doing? You're not going to fight them off." Rebekah whispers to me but I chose to ignore her. "There're more of them. You two need to run!"
Rebekah mutters something and not even a second later, two arrows are pierced through her heart and she collapses. I widen my eyes, hiding behind a tree in hopes of avoiding being shot. I knew Rebekah was only temporarily dead, but it still hurt to see her half-die.
Hayley screams her name and I watch as she gets shot in the shoulder with an arrow and she soon collapses. I step away from my hiding spot and begin to shoot as many warlocks or witches that are coming near me.
I felt the arrow release from the bow and I could instantly tell that they're coated in wolfsbane, which I then come to conclusion why Hayley passed out in the first place. After hitting the first couple people that were near me, I felt as if I was in the clear for now.
I stumble upon the witches and warlocks I shot and steal their arrows without a question and wander around the forest. A branch underneath my foot cracks, which causes my heart rate to increase. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay out here and I felt bad for leaving Hayley and Rebekah out in the middle of the forest, but I can't leave without a fight.
After wandering around the forest for sometime I find myself back to where I started. Only this time, Rebekah's body remained on the ground and I have no idea where Hayley is. I spin my head around in hopes of finding her and instead, my eyes land on something else entirely. A wolf.
Five men come charging at me with their arrows. One hits my stomach and I fall to the ground as pain consumes me. A single tear falls down my cheek and I hear the wolf growl from behind me. The wolf lunges at one of the men and starts to tear him apart. Then the next and the next after that until all five men were ripped to shreds.
A gasp escapes my lips as the show ends and the wolf howls before running off. Slowly, I begin to close my eyes when a hand shakes my weakened body.
"Maya. Maya." I hear Hayley's voice and I slowly open my eyes, looking for her wounded shoulder, but it seemed to be healed. "Your shoulder..."
She completely ignored what I said and helped me up, but I hiss in pain. She was ready to take out the arrow that was impaled into my stomach and I stop her. "Stop, I don't want to bleed out."
"Blood is literally spelling out of your guts, Maya." she says and I weakly roll my eyes, standing next to her as most my weight piles up on her side.
"Did you see the wolf?" I ask low as a whisper and we begin to walk. "Yes, but don't talk and use up the rest of your energy. I don't want to carry a corpse around me all night."
I chuckle lowly, "Nice to see that you care."
My eyes are barely open and I felt as if my legs were going to snap. I have no idea where she's taking me, but I hope it's back to that small building so I can at least sit and at least put pressure on this wound.
What seems like forever, I finally recognized my car. I stop walking and lean onto the car, feeling the coldness hit my skin. Hayley walks away from me as I close my eyes and hear different voices. Klaus and Rebekah.
I come out from the side of the vehicle and feel three pair of eyes on me. I take a step forward and feel my body fall down. Before I could feel the ground below me, arms grab me.
"Shh. I got you, love."
Klaus sits down on the ground and pulls me closer to him. My back is pressed against his chest. "I'm taking this out in a count of three. One. Two. Three." He pulls the arrow out of my stomach. I yelp in pain, but my mouth is covered in an instant by his wrist.
Warm liquid comes down my throat and I begin to feel stronger and the pain vanishes. I blink a few times and he takes his wrist from out of my mouth. We didn't say anything, but continued to sit in this position for quite some time.
"Hayley! What happened? Tell me what happened." Klaus demands and I can feel his voice vibrating throughout my whole body.
"I can't remember." Hayley groggily responds. She sits next to us and Rebekah soon joins us.
"You've completely healed. There's not a scratch on you." Klaus says and Hayley shrugs, "One of the perks of being a werewolf, remember?"
I feel his body move slightly. "No, not that fast." Rebekah moves over to Hayley and wraps an arm around her protectively. "Leave her alone! It's the baby. The vampire blood—Klaus' vampire blood—in your system. It can heal any wound."
A small smile forms on my lips at the thought of my unborn child.
"How did you escape? You were outnumbered, unarmed? Those men were ripped to shreds!" Rebekah asks and I answered for her. "I managed to kill most of them, but..."
"I think it was the wolf. I think it's trying to protect me." Hayley finishes and I agreed. There's no way the wolf was there for me. After all, Hayley is a dog not me.
Klaus' body tenses underneath mine and anger pools our of his voice. "The witches were supposed to protect you! When I get my hands on Sophie Deveraux—"
"It wasn't Sophie. It was Agnes." Hayley corrects. "Fine! Agnes, Sophie, it's all the same to me! I'll slaughter the lot of them!" Klaus retorts and I put my hand on his in order to calm him down and it seems to be work, judging by how his body relaxes.
"Not if Elijah gets there first." Rebekah states and I give her a questionable look. "Elijah? Did you find him?" I ask her, knowing that Marcel has him tucked away in an attic.
"He's been in touch, and he has a plan. All he asks is that we take care of Hayley." she says and I breathe in, taking notice how Elijah cares for her in only a short amount of time.
"How did you manage to find Hayley, anyways? You said she didn't text you." Rebekah asks and I shrug, not knowing how to them that I had some weird feeling that made me come over here.
"I don't know. Something drawn me over here." I answer and a huge smile appears on her face. "It's the baby, I bet."
I shake my head. "The baby barely has a brain. I highly doubt it." I say and this time Rebekah shakes her head, "There's no other explanation. Before I caught up with you and before we met up with Hayley, I could see it in your eyes you were ready to fight and you had no idea what you were fighting for. And it's the baby."