Eden was one mad bitch.
The sound of crickets and owls surrounding her were the first things she heard. She let out a small groan and swung her head around before hearing it pop with a satisfying snap. Eden rubbed her neck tenderly; she was starting to feel like one of her old barbie dolls. If she had known how painful it was to have your head twisted around, she might have been more gentle with her dolls.
Once the young hybrid was upright, she began dusting herself off hastily. Though just as she had started smoothing her hair down, the faint sound of voices caught her ear. She stopped abruptly, listening hard to find the direction of the noises. As she listened in, she was also able to hear what was definitely the sound of bones crunching. She also found-annoyingly, she might add-that she was able to pick up on the howling of her militant fiance.
"...You can hardly blame me. I find the sheer audacity of your plot quite offensive." Shaking her head, she ran off in the direction of the voices, making sure to still listen in on what they were saying.
"Eden is my family now, always and forever. And you would seek to use her for your petty ambitions." Another punch.
"We're not using her." She heard Hayley strain out. Clearly whatever Klaus was doing, Hayley had not been left out of it.
"Just admit your true intentions for this farce of a wedding and I will end this quickly." Klaus growled, his voice low and sharp.
"Eden is family now, I will always fight for her." Hayley quipped back and then Eden was able to hear what she knew to be the young werewolf fighting back. Praying that she could defend herself and Jackson for a few more seconds, Eden pushed herself faster. When finally she had the group in her sight, Eden saw Klaus' hand wrapped around Hayley's throat. Knowing what his vile intentions were, Eden aimed directly at him and rammed herself into Klaus' back. For a brief moment, the two rolled around. This was until Eden gained the upper hand and landed right on top of him. She pushed him down and punched the hybrid square in his face. Klaus, shocked by the act, tried to throw Eden off of him but the Latina sent him back with a kick before resuming her previous position. As Eden tried to throw another punch, Klaus caught her fist in his hand and pushed her backwards and off of him. Eden rolled to her feet quickly, backing up a few paces.
"I trust them, Klaus. Are you listening? You're not going to lay a finger on them." She breathed out, shaking her head. "Not unless you kill me first." Klaus' eyes widened in the slightest as Eden said those words to him. How could she so carelessly put any of her faith in them?
"You truly believe that they are worthy of your trust?" Eden glared at him menacingly.
"Do you believe that you are?" She asked him. His face crumpled up, frigid by the sentence. Klaus was quiet for a moment, rolling his eyes before a coy smile fell upon his lips.
"I can't say your stubbornness is my favorite quality about you, Kitten." He stalked forward a few paces, an icy look in his eyes.
"Go on then. Tell them your secret. Have your wedding, and save your wolves." The two stared off for one long intense moment, and Eden found that she could not keep his glare; bowing her head in submission. Klaus then turned to face Hayley and Jackson, who seemed to be almost forgotten in the midst of their spat.
"But mark my words, if you ever betray her then I'll find myself depositing your heads on a spike for all of your pack to see." With one fleeting look to Eden, Klaus Mikaelson was gone.
The three were silent for a time. Hayley and Jackson were recovering from her wounds while Eden let it sink in that the fight she had just had with Klaus was not an easy one. She let a single tear slip down her face before hastily wiping it away. Jackson and Hayley could not see that she was crying; Eden had made her choice by choosing the wolves to protect her daughter and she now had to stand by that decision.
"We should start the ceremony." Hayley said quietly after the three still had not spoken. Eden looked up at the moon and sighed, nodding her head in agreement.
"We should." She turned to face Jackson. "But I need to take Hayley somewhere first, alone." Hayley raised her eyebrows in confusion.
"Where?" Eden shook her head.
"I can't tell you, not here. But I need you to trust me when I tell you that this is something that you have to see. And I already have a witch down there to our ceremony." Hayley took a deep breath, looking from Jackson-who nodded his head-to Eden.
"Okay. But I need to get Jackson to Mary first. And I'll meet you back at the bayou in about an hour." Eden shook her head.
"No, meet me at the compound, we need to leave straight from there."
* * *
Eden had been very careful about getting from the compound and then out of the city without running into Klaus. Clearly the two were going to have to talk about the fact that they were both talking about cancelling the wedding as well as the fact that they had both laid hands on each other. Klaus had snapped Eden's neck, and Eden's revenge wasn't very better. She just didn't know what to say to the hybrid that would get them past the horrible fight they'd just had.
"What are we doing in Arkansas?" Hayley asked suddenly, snapping Eden out of her thoughts. The older woman had seen Eden get of the highway, and they had been driving through the back country for a solid forty minutes. The first hints of morning had started surrounding the car, and Eden could hear roosters crowing in the distant from some of the surrounding farms.
"The most important part of my life is here." She told her vaguely. Eden had no idea how to tell Hayley about Haven, but with every mile Eden grew even more anxious. With ever mile, Eden knew that she was also possibly putting her daughter in more danger. But this was Eden's only way to protect her, so she at least had to try. Coming up around the bend, Eden heard the sound of two heartbeats. One was steady, the normal rhythm of any human. The second, was a little irregular. It was faster than the other heartbeat, but also too slow to be that of a normal infant's.
It belonged to Haven.
As Eden drove closer to the farmhouse, she saw Jupiter sitting on the porch in one of the rocking chairs. Eden heard her humming as she looked down at a bundle of blankets that Eden knew held her daughter.
"Is that-is that Jupiter?" Hayley asked quietly, sitting forward in her seat to get a better look.
"Yeah." Eden answered solemnly, slowing the car down until it came to a stop. Jupiter looked up from the blanket, a small frown on her lips as she watched the car distrustfully when she saw Hayley sitting in the passenger's seat.
"Hayley I want you to meet someone." Eden's heart was racing but she took a breath and opened the door to the car before stepping out and waiting for Hayley to follow suit.
"Eden, what are you doing here? Klaus told me that you weren't going to be back for a few more days." Jupiter asked, standing to her feet, her eyes still on Hayley who was now watching Jupiter quietly.
"I came back. To introduce Hayley to Haven," Eden turned to Hayley, who had finally put the connection together. "My daughter." Hayley let out a small gasp as Eden walked up the porch steps and looked down at the small bundle in her friend's hands. Haven stared back up at Eden sleepily. It was clear that she must have just awoken, but upon seeing Eden, she opened her eyes wider. Fighting to get her hands free of the blanket, Haven reached a chubby arm up to touch Eden's face. Eden smiled, and the baby laughed. When Eden finally had her baby in her arms, she felt herself calm as she turned to face Hayley, who was still standing there open-mouthed.
"I thought that she died. " Hayley squeaked out. Eden shook her head.
"The first promise Niklaus and I ever made to our daughter was that we would do anything in our power to keep her safe. Even if that meant that we weren't around to do that." She explained carefully, still trying to gauge Hayley's (who hadn't yet moved) actions.
"Anyone who knows about Haven is entrusted to keep her safe, by keeping her a secret." Jupiter warned, still looking at her suspiciously. Hayley finally moved, walking slowly toward the porch and up the stairs until she was standing in front of Eden and Haven.
"She's so beautiful Eden." Hayley whispered quietly, watching the baby almost in awe. Haven saw Hayley, and she watched her for about five seconds. When Hayley waved at her her, the baby placed her own small hand out.
"Hayley I need you to know that by telling you this secret, this is now your secret as well. And that by telling Jackson about this then this will be his secret too." Eden begged. Hayley looked up from Haven to meet Eden's eyes.
"You can trust Jack with this. He'll make sure that she is safe. After all, she is a part of our pact just as much as you are." Eden smiled, her eyes watering as she wrapped her free hand around Hayley to pull her into a hug.
"Thank you." She whispered in her ear. Hayley squeezed the younger woman back and then the two broke embrace. Wiping the tears away, Eden cleared her throat and turn to face Jupiter.
"Hayley and I are also here to preform the ceremony. We need a witch to link our hearts and your the only one that I trust to do this." Jupiter hesitated slightly, her brown eyes shifting from Eden to Hayley and then back to Eden once more. Eden saw in her eyes that Jupiter was worried, and for a moment Eden regretted asking her to do this. Jupiter's one job all her life had been to protect Eden's family and Eden was asking her to do something that went against that very thing.
Slowly, Jupiter nodded her head. "Okay." She breathed out. Eden nodded her head in thanks before turning to face Hayley. "Ready to be blood sisters?"
Guys I'm back! Thank you thank you so much to everyone who checked in on me and to everyone else who was patient with me while I healed.