SHE PROMISED
( part three, chapter seventy-four )
WHEN SHE FINALLY REACHED THE bayou, she grit her teeth as she felt her boots sink into the mud by a few centimeters. Luckily, with a simple flick of her wrist, she could easily clean it. Elle walked further and further into the bayou, humming a Stevie Nicks song under her breath (because Stevie Nicks is the best singer, according to Elle Mikaelson, and she will not hear anything else on the matter). Hope seemed to appreciate Elle's humming; despite her still being so young, to the point where she was barely walking and talking, she was apparent that she noticed the strain within her family. It was like Hope could see the tension in the air each time she was passed between her father to her aunt to her uncle then back to her father.
The little shack was left just like it was previously, but there were newer cobwebs formed in random corners where the wall meets the roof and it appeared to be even more faded because of the sun. Three clotheslines were still tied to their respective poles, with clips attached. Looking inside the shack, she saw that there was already food packed neatly into several boxes; Elijah must have compelled someone to deliver it earlier.
Elle walked towards the bayou shack, then reached over her shoulder to unzip her bag. Her fingers immediately found Hope's blanket, the one that they often used for things like this and weren't afraid to get dirty, then put it on the wooden porch. Then she set Hope down and leaned down, pressing a kiss to her head. "Be good for, like, five minutes, okay?"
Once making sure that Hope was situated, happily munching on some baby crackers and playing with a ring of plastic keys, Elle reached further into her duffel bag. She pulled out several pair of shirts and pants for all the wolves, making sure that she grabbed just enough. Last time, because of how late she was, she had forgotten clothes for at least six of the cursed werewolves. Elle hung each of the clothes, clipping them when they needed to be. Occasionally, she'd look back and see Hope still gleefully eating and playing then turn back to her working.
A sad smile tugged at her lips as she hung another shirt, this one an extra large green flannel. Because Hayley was cursed like this, she wouldn't be able to see Hope grow up; she already missed the first eight months of her daughter's life, now she was missing more. So, in order to try and help, Elle put her photography skills to the test and would take pictures of Hope whenever she felt the need. Dressing Hope in the most adorable purple dinosaur onesie 一 you better believe Elle took a picture of this. Baby food covering the bottom half of the baby's face and dripping down her chin 一 gross, but she still took one. The first time Hope stood up all by herself was a few weeks ago 一 Elle had taken at least eighteen pictures of the same thing, and made sure to bring it with her. Elle hoped that it would bring some sort of comfort to Hayley to know that Hope was definitely in good hands and living as happy as she could without her mother, but it still broke her heart knowing that she had to do this in the first place. The hybrid should be here with her daughter but was instead cursed to remain a wolf for an entire month.
As soon as she was done setting up everything, clothes and food included, Elle sat on the porch with Hope in her lap. Her niece was tugging at the shiny pins on her denim jacket, and Elle chuckled. She nearly licked one, but Elle was quicker. The witch shoved her hand between Hope's tongue and the metal pin, cringing when Hope still licked her. "What have we talked about?" Elle looked down at Hope, then lifted one of her fingers as if she was scolding her. But of course, Hope didn't care and instead just grabbed her aunt's finger, struggling to put it in her mouth. "We don't lick weird things."
"I'm glad to see someone's teaching her important life lessons."
Looking up, Elle smiled when she was Hayley standing in front of her. A pair of leggings and a thick sweater hugged her figure, but she still remained barefoot. Immediately, Elle stood up with Hope in her arms, passing her off to her mother. The witch smiled widely when Hayley greedily held her daughter, pressing several kisses to the top of her head and squeezing her eyes shut. "I missed you," she whispered under her breath, then she opened her eyes and looked up at Elle. With Hope now balanced on her hip, she pulled Elle into a tight one-armed hug. "Hey, you. Thanks for this."
"What, you don't miss me either?" she said playfully. Over Hayley's shoulders, she could see there were several other people stumbling out of the woods, quickly grabbing at the clothes and shoving their bodies into them. Some of them had abandoned the clothes altogether, instead heading straight for the food. It must be nice to have actual food instead of squirrels and rabbits, but that still didn't make Elle squirm at the sight of naked people. "You're not going to eat?"
"I'm good." She moved over and sat on the edge of the porch, still holding Hope and her eyes darting across her people. Most of them were quiet, barely mumbling out sentences to each other. It must be heartbreaking to see her people like this... "Anything interesting happen this month?" Hayley had given up on asking Elle how her spell was going. Even though she was going directly against Klaus' orders, she was still trying to figure out how to reverse this curse but evidently was failing, and the hybrid knew this. She didn't want to put pressure on her friend, knowing full well that Elle was beating herself up about this, so she stopped asking.
Elle nearly barked out a laugh. Interesting was such a strange word to describe the past month's events. "Besides the usual intense glares from across the rooms, not really, no," Elle said with a shrug. She looked down at Hope, who was happily chewing on Hayley's pinky finger.
"Uh oh. I know that look."
"I don't have a look. I'm not giving a look."
"Yes, you are," Hayley said, moving to poke her finger against Elle's cheek. "You have this whole I'm Elle and I'm moody look, don't act like it doesn't exist." She arched one of her dark brows, giving Elle an expectant look. "Spill." She readjusted herself so that one of her legs was dangling off the edge of the porch, her bare toes nearly touching the water below. Hayley balanced Hope on her thigh.
The young witch grit her teeth and slowly reached into her bag, turning so her back was now facing Hayley. After finally latching onto the pictures, Elle pulled them out and shyly handed them to Hayley. "I took some pictures," she said slowly, seeing the smile fade on her friend's face. "I thought that since you weren't there, it'd be nice if you saw her growing... kinda."
Hayley flipped through the polaroids, staring endearingly at the sweet images of her daughter. The hybrid nearly teared up when she sees a giggling Hope standing up and leaning against her crib. It was the first time she stood up by herself, without any other assistance from nearby furniture or people. "You know, I just thought you might like it," Elle continued, "especially that one 一 stood up all by herself, like a big girl. She might be walking soon. And then I remembered why I was doing this and then I got hella upset just thinking about you and your pack are like this and how I'm literally just sitting at home doing nothing because I don't know how to fix this. And my siblings probably hate each other and I just 一" Elle cut herself off by groaning loudly into the night, ignoring the looks the other werewolves were giving her as she fell back against the wooden porch. She moved so her denim sleeve was shoved into her mouth, and she let out a muffled scream. Everything was just so... aggravating. "I feel like crying," Elle added with a sigh.
She felt a hand settle on her thigh, and she nearly jumped in fright. She wasn't completely comfortable with people touching her; hugs and handshakes made her feel strange and on edge, like they would somehow morph into Joseph Mitchell. Elle had to remind herself that he's dead, he's gone, and that the person touching her isn't him but Hayley.
Hayley is good, she's nice and kind and strong 一 everything Joseph wasn't.
"I'm sorry," Hayley said slowly, moving her hand down to gently squeeze the young witch's knee. "You're still a kid and you shouldn't have to be going through these things. You should be going to school and making friends, going on dates and stuff; not worrying about... wolf pack curses and aggravating family feuds." The hybrid adjusted Hope on her lap, then moved closer to Elle. "You shouldn't have to do this."
Elle's eyes turned glassy, and she sniffled loudly as she sat up. She rubbed at her eyes. "But if I don't, who will?"
Shaking her head, Hayley sat even closer and wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders. She brought Elle closer to her, so that her face was now resting in the crook of Hayley's neck. "It shouldn't be your responsibility." She comfortingly rubbed her hand up and down Elle's arm, shaking her head. "I need you to know that... that it's okay not to be okay."
"I know." The witch exhaled a long breath, nodding her head and shutting her eyes in discontentment. "Can we just..." Elle once again exhaled. "Can we just sit here and... I don't know, not talk, I guess? Just sit in silence..."
"Yeah, sure," Hayley said slowly, nodding her head. Biting the inside of her cheek, she held her daughter and friend. The hybrid leaned her head so it leaned against Elle's, and together, they stared out into the night.
A/N: if it wasn't clear last chapter,
this chapter takes place a few months
BEFORE season 3 takes place