~Hayley POV~
Hayley continued walking past Elijah's memories before stopping in front of the one door she had hoped she would never see.
"Not the red door. Please don't be in the red door."
She hesitantly opened the door and entered the darkened hell hole. Dead bodies were scattered around the whole place and finally she came across him, feeding on an innocent.
"Elijah." She called out. "I'm here to help you."
He discarded the body he had been feeding on and stood up, leading Hayley to believe that he wasn't here. She turned away but he was now standing right in front of her.
"Elijah. Hey." She said nervously. "Elijah wake up! It's me!" She began backing away but each time, Elijah stalked menacingly towards her, getting increasingly closer and closer. "Elijah! Stop! STOP!"
She burst through the door and into the woods, with Elijah hot on her tail, praying that this was not how she would meet her end.
~Fiore POV~
Marcel held the last thorn in his hand before Rebekah sped and snatched it from his grasp, taking him by surprise.
"And that is the last one." She said examining it in her hand. "I suppose I should say thank you for your hard work."
"Don't make me fight you, Rebekah." Marcel told her.
"If you want this, you'll have to." She spat back. He dashed towards her, but she was more than prepared.
"Let it go." Marcel demanded.
"You know I won't." Rebekah told him. I prepared to pull the two apart only to be beaten to it by Nik.
"If you desire a weapon that can kill us, then you're a threat." My husband told him.
"That's just your paranoia! Not everything is a plot against you." Marcel shot back.
"Then why do you want the thorns at all?" I asked him. "I don't understand, you don't need them to kill an Original, so why would you want them in the first place? You can tell me Marcel."
"I can't tell you that right now." He told me.
"Why not?"
"There is a lot more at risk than just your family." He continued. "The magic in those thorns can save someone that I care about! You can burn the other ones, just give me that one!"
"What's her name?" Rebekah asked him and Nik and I immediately felt the devastation that dripped from Rebekah's voice. Nik turned to face his sister with a sympathetic look, and I pulled him away so that the other two could talk out their issue.
"Her name is Sofya." Marcel told her hesitantly. There was a long pause, and I didn't even have to see Rebekah's face to know that she was crumbling.
"There was a time when you would go to these lengths for me." Rebekah replied before holding out the thorns to him.
"Rebekah—" Nik began but his sister quickly silenced him.
"I know that look well." Rebekah said with a bittersweet smile. "He's fighting for love."
"When you're done saving your precious Sofya—" Nik said angrily.
"Yeah, of course." Marcel said quietly, his rage having been quelled by his interaction with Rebekah. "I'll burn it myself."
~Hayley POV~
Hayley continued to sprint through the woods, tears slapping at her face as she feared what Elijah would do to her, should he catch her.
"FREYA!" She cried out, hoping that the witch would hear her and take her out. "FREYA!" she looked back and tripped, landing in front of a bonfire. She got up and noticed the surrounding dead bodies that lay beside it. One of them hers, one of them Fiore's. As she examined them, she came face to face with Elijah. He stood opposite her, and Hayley wondered if she would be able to bring him out this time.
"Elijah, please. STOP!" She screamed as he neared her.
~Elliott POV~
Elliott had continued to maintain the spell with Freya when he noticed Hayley's body convulse slightly. He ignored it and continued with the spell, until it did so again, sending Hayley into a complete and full fit.
"HAYLEY!" He yelled before letting go of Freya and rushing to his mother's side.
"Elliott! Stop!" Freya commanded.
"Freya! Do something! NOW!" Elliott fired back as he tried to steady his mother's body.
"Elliott, listen to me." Freya told him sternly. "You need to focus on the spell."
~Hayley POV~
Elijah walked towards her and crouched down in front of her helpless body as she lay defenceless on the ground.
"I'm not trying to fight you." She told him. "I'm just trying to bring you home."
He used his hand to brush her cheek and Hayley smiled, she had finally done it. Only for him to grab her by the throat and smash her against a tree. She did her best to fight against him, but Elijah was stronger and Hayley was beginning to think she wouldn't come through on her promise to her son.
~Elliott POV~
"Damn it, Hayley! Wake up!" Elliott said as he tried to wake Hayley, only for one of the candles to flicker out. "Freya, listen to me—"
"No, you listen to me!" She snapped. "You are not thinking properly! If we don't maintain the spell, we will lose her in there!"
"I can save her!" Elliott told her.
"Now you sound like Grace." Freya scolded. "You need to trust me, Elliott. I have never steered you wrong before, do not let Hayley's efforts be in vain!"
"Okay." Elliott told her, calming himself down.
"Good." She told him. "Now here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna put you inside the pendant, and when you're in there, you call out to your mom, okay? But when you're in the hallway, do not open any doors? Do you understand me?"
"Yeah. Just let me save her." Elliott pleaded.
"Good, now lay down, okay?" Freya instructed and Elliott did as he was told. She gave him a small kiss on the top of his head and sighed. "I'll see you soon."
When Elliott opened his eyes, he found himself in a white hallway and remembered his Aunt's instructions.
"Ellie, where are we?" He turned around and he saw his sister there, looking terrified.
"Grace, how the hell did you get in here?" Elliott asked her bewildered.
"Don't curse, Ellie!" A roar was heard from one of the doors and Grace jumped and clutched tightly to her older brother's hand. "I heard Aunt Hayley was in trouble and I wanted to help."
"Grace! You can't do stuff like that!" He told her.
"I wish I didn't." She told him. "I'm scared."
"Don't worry, you don't have to be scared." He assured her, whilst trying to reassure himself. "I'm here. You're here. You're strong enough to beat the bad guys, right?"
"Right." She told him, her face breaking into a small smile.
"Now, just stick close to me, we're gonna get Hayley to come to us." Elliott told her.
"Okay."
"MOM!"
"AUNT HAYLEY, WHERE ARE YOU?"
"HAYLEY, I'M HERE!" Elliott continued.
~Hayley POV~
Hayley continued to struggle against Elijah when she heard the last two voices she would have wanted to here.
"HAYLEY! HAYLEY WHERE ARE YOU?" Her son called out to her.
"AUNT HAYLEY, WE'RE HERE TO SAVE YOU!" Grace had added.
"ELLIOTT!" Hayley screamed. "STAY THERE! WATCH YOUR SISTER!"
She broke free of Elijah after hearing their voices and knew she had to work quick. The minute she was out of his clutches, she sped away from him and headed straight for the door. She was just about to unlock the door when Elijah grabbed her from the shadows and slammed her head against the doorpost. She jabbed him in the ribcage and thwacked him against a post before trying to leave once again, only for him to grab her once again and force her on the table.
"Please don't do this, please don't do this!" She begged but to no avail as he dived straight for her neck and began to bite viciously at it causing her to scream out in pain.
~Elliott POV~
Elliott had heard his mother scream and knew that she was behind Elijah's red door and he was going to finish her off.
"Grace, I need you to do something for me." He told her quickly. "I need you to close your eyes, and no matter what you do, do not open them, okay?"
"Okay." Grace said as she held her eyes tightly shut.
"Hayley! I don't know why you were dumb enough to go into the red door, but I am coming for you! Keep your eyes shut!" Elliott called out to her. He raised up his hands before slamming them down on the ground, causing a great white light to engulf the place. He got up and saw that Hayley had stopped screaming, but she hadn't come out.
"HAYLEY PLEASE! WHERE ARE YOU?" He cried out, increasingly worried for the state of his mother.
~Hayley POV~
Hayley opened her eyes and Elijah had stopped feeding on her. She gingerly sat up and caught her breath at the sound of her son's voice.
"MOM! WHERE ARE YOU?" He called out again.
"Elliott." She said worriedly. "STAY THERE! I'M COMING!"
"Hayley." Elijah said in shock of himself. Hayley paid no mind to him, scared that he was still volatile and ran out to find her son standing in front of the red door.
"Oh thank God!" Elliott said as he engulfed her in a tight hug. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay." She assured him holding onto him tightly.
"Aunt Hayley!" Grace said as she hugged her too. "I'm so happy you're okay."
"Thank you for trying to help me." She told her.
"You're welcome." She said with a smile. "Where's Uncle Elijah?"
"I'm right here." At the sound of Elijah's voice, Elliott swiftly stood protectively in front of both Hayley and Grace.
"You need to take your sister and leave. Tell Freya, it's safe to fix the pendant, okay?" Hayley commanded, not taking her eyes off Elijah.
"I'm not leaving you here." Elliott told her. "Not with him."
"Elliott!" She said sternly. "I said take your sister and leave! I am your mother, damn it, and you will listen to me! It is not safe here, now go!"
Elliott looked taken aback by his mother, but nodded, knowing that trying to appease her would be pointless. He took his sister's hand and the two of them were sent away from the pendant, leaving just her and Elijah.
"It's okay. It's me." He assured her. He took a step towards her, but she took a step back just as quickly.
"Don't come any closer." She told him. "Please."
He looked distraught, but nonetheless he abided by her wishes and stayed in place. "Please forgive me."
She didn't answer as she was brought back into the real world, clutching her neck instinctively.
"Aunt Hayley!" Grace said as she ran to her saved Aunt.
"Hey sweetie." Hayley told her. "Where's your brother?"
"He's in his room." Freya told her sheepishly.
"You were so scary when you yelled." Grace told her. "I was terrified, I think Ellie was too."
"Don't feel bad. Not after what you did for Elijah today." Freya comforted. "You did it. You saved him."
But that only made Hayley feel worse.