SHE PROMISED
( part three, chapter seventy-five )
ELLE ALMOST SCREAMED INTO her pillow, efficiently knocking over the extinguished candle off the table. It rolled across the floor, hitting the leg of her desk before stopping. Once again, her spell had failed. Even though Hayley had asked her two months ago to stop trying 一 not because she wanted her to, only because she realized how much Elle was suffering under the weight of her own guilt and frustration 一 the young witch continued to try and find the spell that would undo the spell on the Crescent wolves. Six months had passed since Hayley and her pack had been forced into their canine forms, and that meant six months of failure.
Honestly, it didn't even help that there were mysterious murders and bodies popping up throughout the city. Vincent and Cami had informed her that, so far, two mangled bodies had been discovered. Both bodies had been men, looking like they were bled out and they had simply taken it. She wasn't sure how she could help, but she offered it anyway. Elle knew that her trying to help would momentarily distract her from all the bullshit that was her family drama, but there was still a part of her that desperately wanted to help. It was like she had this innate feeling to be needed, and she hated it. She absolutely hated that, the need to be needed. It made her feel like she had a certain level of worth and anything above that, she wasn't needed.
Slowly pushing herself away from the table, hands clasped against the edge, she let out a small huff. Her stomach growling snapped her out of her thoughts, and she let go of the table to pat her stomach. How long had it been since she'd eaten? Looking over at the clock, she realized it was already in the very late hours of the night, and she nearly winced. Now that she thought about it, she didn't even have dinner...
She pushed open the doors of her bedroom, making sure it shut behind her with a click before walking down the stairs. Her sock-clad feet bound their way against the wooden steps, and she paused when she saw Klaus and Freya standing in the middle of the courtyard.
"Not three months ago, you utterly despised me, and now you're playing protective brother," Freya said, smiling at her younger half-brother.
Despite her anger, Elle rolled her eyes as her hand dragged alongside her against the bannister of the stairs. "You'd be surprised how quickly he goes from hatred to adoration," Elle said with a smirk, finally reaching the ground and heading towards them.
Klaus nodded, almost in agreement. "I'm sure you're quite capable of protecting yourself against the scourge of Fraternity Row." He paused for a moment, hands clenching and unclenching, before he turned to look at Elle. "I'm glad you're here. I need you both to perform a locator spell. Hayley's missing."
Elle immediately blanched at the information, her eyes going wide. Her arms wrapped protectively around her midsection, and she took a step forward in surprise. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked. The hybrid looked like he was avoiding her gaze, so she moved to stand directly in front of him, gently hitting his arm. "Hey, what happened? Where is Hayley?"
"I'm not sure," Klaus said, "but I do prefer to know the whereabouts of my enemies. Besides, Hayley has a history of taking what's mine." He started to walk away, just as Elle opened her mouth to shout at him. Seriously? That is what he had to say? No explanation, just a bitter response and storming away to sulk and be bitter?
Luckily, Freya grabbed his attention, speaking much quicker before Elle could snap at him. "No," she said. "You're afraid she's truly lost." At that, Klaus turned to look at his sisters with an unamused look. "I'll need the best connection to Hayley. You'll have to wake Hope."
☆ ☆ ☆
After gently waking Hope up from her slumber, with Elle kissing her cheek as an apology, the two Mikaelson witches prepared themselves. Elle stretched the map out, placing candles on the corner so it wouldn't roll up as Freya spread a circle of black sand around it. Slowly, they reached out, crossing their arms at their wrists and locking hands with the other. They shut their eyes, the incantation slipping past their lips.
"Vinde val tratunderes," they chanted quietly. "Vinde val tratunderes."
Instead of seeing the image in her head, like she usually would, or the sand moving to lock onto a location, there was nothing. Nothing happened, nothing moved. Both Elle and Freya gasped loudly, hands flying back to their sides as their eyes widened with surprise. Fear struck deeply in Elle's heart, and one of her hands tightly gripped the edge of the table. She shook her head, brown hair falling from past her ears. This couldn't be happening. "No," she whispered, "no, no, no. She can't be, she can't 一"
Klaus spoke, still cradling his daughter. "What is it?"
"We can't find her," Freya whispered, gulping quietly. Her voice shook with tremors, anxiety spreading through her bones. "There's nothing... it's like she doesn't exist."
She failed to see Klaus' eyes widened in alarm, for Elle was still looking at the map in shock. The witch pressed both her hands against the map, once again chanting the spell but failed. Nothing was coming up, no matter how hard she pushed her magic, and it was killing her. She couldn't accept it, even if it was the truth. Hayley couldn't be gone. She had to still be here, alive and in New Orleans. There was no way that she'd be gone; knowing the hybrid, she'd never leave her daughter willingly. Elle could feel her hands start to shake, her vision blur.
There was one other reason why Hayley would be missing, and she hated when Klaus said it. "Or she's dead." Those words echoed in her head, eyes widened in fright and Elle shook her head faster. While she wasn't her blood, Hayley was the mother of her niece and her friend, she was family. She may not be a Mikaelson, but she had made herself a part of Elle's family, as a part of her always and forever.
"No!" Someone shouting brought her back, and she looked over to see Jackson of all people storming into the compound. What the hell was he doing here? He should be out in the bayou with the rest of his pack, not here, surrounded by people he barely tolerates. "No, no. You have to find her." He suddenly cried out, and Elle winced as she audibly heard his bones start to break and snap. She took a snap back in surprise; she'd never seen a werewolf turn before, and it was pretty gruesome. Right before Hayley and the other wolves would turn, Elle had always taken Hope back to the compound, knowing that it was something a baby shouldn't see. Of course she'd heard about the transformation plenty of times 一 it was complete agony, bones breaking and rebreaking to form shapes it was never meant to be naturally shaped into.
But she didn't freeze, instead moving around the table to pull Hope out of Klaus' hands. "Get the chains, quick," Elle ordered, with her niece instantly latching onto her. "Now!" She chewed on her lip, gently running her fingers through Hope's feathery blonde hair as she cried.
Her and Freya watched helplessly as Klaus chained Jackson up to the pillars, arms stretched out. His eyes were glowing the familiar gold of a werewolf's, and he let out another shout. "Freya, Elle, please!" he begged, his voice getting rougher by the second. "Please do the spell again. I can't go a month witho 一 AH!" Once again, his pleas were cut off by his own groans of agony. She didn't know Jackson very well, but she still felt guilty. This was her friend's husband, and yet she was just doing nothing but watch as it happened. What could she do? Elle had been trying to stop and undo this spell for six months and was still failing; she had accomplished literally nothing.
Then, almost as quickly as his transformation had arrived, it stopped. Jackson stopped writhing in the chains, his groans quickly silenced as he gasped in relief. His eyes darted around to look at the three Mikaelsons. "It stopped..."
A/N: now we are officially into
season 3 yay!!! so i haven't written
anything in a HOT minute & you
can probably tell haha
also the last of us 2 completely
taking over my life? more likely
than you think