THE BAYOU
[Hayley is sitting on the picnic table outside of her former lake-front shack, waiting for Jackson to return. After a few moments, he appears from out of the woods, carrying fire wood and an ax in his hands. When he sees her, his face immediately goes cold, and Hayley hesitates awkwardly for a moment before she greets him.]
Hayley: I know you needed space, Jack... But I kind of eventually thought you would come home.
Jackson: [rolls his eyes] Right. To the Mikaelson manor. In the room next to Elijah. [Jackson's uncharacteristic bitterness surprises Hayley, who blushes in shame before Jackson continues on.]
Jackson: Do you love him? [Hayley sighs, flustered and overwhelmed by this line of questioning.]
Everyone is waiting for Hayley's answer.
Hayley: Jack...
Jackson: [angrily] Just tell me the truth for once. [Hayley looks even more guilty and ashamed now, and she struggles to find the words to answer his question.]
Hayley: You knew... You knew when you married me. [Jackson's face becomes even more upset.]
Elijah smiles a bit.
"I knew it!" Said Bella.
"Haylijah all the way!" Said Layla
Jackson: It's been a year. I have stood by you. I have fought for you. I have loved you and your daughter. And do you know what the worst part is? Coming out of those woods just now, seeing you sitting there... I'll be damned if it wasn't the best thing I had ever seen. Even when I'm pissed as hell, I would rather be near you than anywhere else. [Hayley looks torn between being touched by his words and feeling guilty about how much pain she's causing him as Jackson sighs in frustration.]
Jackson: Now, what kind of fool does that make me?
"Big one." Said Bella and Klaus. Hayley glared at them.
[Hayley takes Jackson's hand in her own and squeezes it affectionately, though Jackson looks surprised by the gesture.]
Hayley: My feelings for Elijah are complicated... But that doesn't mean that I love you any less, Jack. I chose you, and I choose you again every single day. [Hayley looks Jackson in the eyes with a pleading expression.]
Hayley: Can't that be enough? [Jackson seems mollified by this confession of love on Hayley's part, and he considers her words for a moment before he speaks.]
Jackson: It's our first Christmas together. I've never had a happy one. I just want a quiet night with you and Hope-- our family. And I don't care if their house is on fire-- for one night, I will let it burn. [Hayley smiles weakly, relieved to hear that his anger toward her is waning.]
Hayley: Just please, please come home.
Jackson [takes a deep breath] Okay. I'll meet you there.
Hayley: Okay.
Jackson: Go on. [Hayley gives him a shy smile and squeezes his hand once more before letting it drop and walking away, leaving Jackson to think about their discussion.]
GAS STATION OUTSIDE NEW ORLEANS
[Bella is in the middle of filling his car's tank with gasoline when Elijah walks out of gas station's convenience store with a disgusted expression on his face as he wipes his mouth on napkin.]
Elijah: I think I prefer the bottom of the sea to that restroom.
Layla agreed.
[Bella, amused, just smiles at him.]
Elijah: is anything new about the prophecy?
Bella: Your portrait. It had blood exactly like in prophecy. [Elijah looks worried.]
Bella: And this damn prophecy does state one of us will fall by family.
Elijah: Well, I would never harm you, Freya hates traitors... [Elijah suddenly winces and rubs his arm, but Bella is too distracted by their discussion of the prophecy to notice right away.]
Bella: Yes, Freya. Let's not forget her allegiance to Finn. I do want to trust her, but...
Freya looks offended.
"I'm sorry, but see it from my side. You knew Finn longer than us, you grew up with him and loved him and after everything that happened between us and Finn... It's little suspicious." Said Bella.
Elijah: So, that leaves Niklaus. Do you think he's learned his lesson about backstabbing his family?
Bella: [sighs] Oh, I think he learns that lesson all the time. He's just a terrible student. At least, he can't dagger you now. You are the one who has the last functionating dagger. [Bella removes the nozzle from her gas tank and returns it to the station at the gas station before walking toward the driver's seat of their car. However, she's stopped by Elijah, whose eyes look dazed and unfocused for a moment before his eyes start to darken with hunger and her fangs pop out.]
Elijah: Do you ever want to just rip out his heart and see how long it takes to grow back?
Everyone looked confused.
"He was cursed." Said Emma.
[Bella immediately stops what she's doing and looks at Elijah with concern, but his vampire face quickly goes away when he cries out in pain and clutches his arm. After the spike of pain passes, he lifts his left sleeve up to reveal that he has a skull-shaped weal on the inside of his wrist. Both Bella and Elijah frown in worry as they examine the painful- looking mark. Bella looks panicked when she pulls the enchanted stake that Aya used to neutralize Elijah and holds it next to the blistery wound on Elijah's wrist, revealing that the skull symbols match perfectly.]
Bella: That's... That's cursed mark. It drives people crazy. [Bella looks at Elijah worried.] Give me your hand! Now! [Elijah give her his arm. Bella takes out her dagger mutters spell and rips the skin where mark is, Elijah screams in pain.]
Bella: Sorry. Sorry. [Elijah takes deep breath and calms down. Bella takes Elijah's hand in her hand and starts siphoning it.]
"She took out cursed piece to take curse out of his system and then siphoned him to make sure it won't spread again." Explained Emma.
KINNEY'S HOUSE
[Cami has just arrived to Will Kinney's house and is knocking on his door, though Kinney doesn't answer. After a moment, she raises her voice and calls out to him through the door.]
Cami: Will? You in there? It's Cami. [Just then, a smiling Klaus appears behind Cami. She's so startled she jumps when he interrupts her.]
Klaus: I assume you called first. I've been told turning up at someone's home uninvited could be considered rude.
Bella chuckled.
[Cami is slightly annoyed that Klaus has showed up here.]
Cami: Are you seriously following me? Klaus, I don't need a bodyguard, or some white knight trying to protect me.
"Klaus definetly isn't white knight." Said Layla.
[Klaus' face becomes serious as he stares her in the eyes.]
Klaus: I'm here as your friend. [Cami sighs, though it's clear she's not unhappy to see him, and looks back at the front door to Kinney's house.]
Cami: Vincent said he'd be home... [Klaus' eyes widen in horror when his vampire hearing senses what is going on inside, and he instantly shushes her.]
Klaus: Shh, shh. [He puts his index finger against his lips as he focuses his hearing, allowing him to hear the sound of Kinney's rapid heartbeat as he anxiously taps the barrel of a handgun against his temple, trying to muster up the courage to shoot himself under the chin with it in the living room. When Klaus realizes what Kinney is planning to do, he rushes toward the front door and kicks it open.]
Klaus: [groans] YAH! [As soon as the door is open, Cami can see that Kinney is about to shoot himself and runs through the front door toward him, but Klaus is forced to stay behind and watch Cami fearfully from the threshold since he hasn't been invited in.]
Cami: Oh, my God! Will! No! [Klaus begins to panic when Kinney instinctively aims his gun at Cami.]
Klaus: Camille!
Kinney: [to Cami] You shouldn't have come here! [Cami looks at him with alarm and concern as she tries her best to talk him down.]
Cami: Will, it's gonna be okay. Just drop the gun. [Will looks nearly hysterical as he gestures around with the gun and sneers at Cami.]
Kinney: Insert empathetic psychobabble here! It's not okay! [Klaus, worried for Cami's safety and knowing she doesn't want Kinney to be hurt, tries to help Cami calm him down.]
Klaus: Put the gun down!
Kinney: [overwhelmed] Or what? You'll save me the bullet? I'm the definition of worthless! I try and try to make a difference, but there are things lurking out there in the shadows, and... And in the face of them, I am nothing. Do you understand?
"Poor guy." Said Davina.
[Cami, recognizing that Kinney has just repeated the same words Lucien said to him when he compelled him in Beautiful Mistake, looks back at Klaus with a panicked expression.]
Cami: It's Lucien's compulsion. Is there anything you can do? [Klaus thinks about this for a moment before looking at Kinney with a serious expression.]
Klaus: Invite me in. [Kinney seems conflicted about what Klaus is asking of him.]
MIKAELSON COMPOUND
[Hayley has just rushed into the compound to find Jackson and Freya in the courtyard. Freya is weakly laying back on the couch, her broken arm bound up in a makeshift sling with Jackson's button-down shirt while Jackson paces anxiously. Hayley immediately walks over to them to find out what's going on.]
Hayley: Hey, I got your text. What happened? [Hayley sees how badly injured Freya is and walks over to the couch to sit next to her while Jackson explains.]
Jackson: She got jumped. Three vampires, all dressed like yuppies.
"Of course they were. They are Elijah's sireline." Said Kol. Elijah rolled his eyes.
Hayley: [sighs] The Strix?
Jackson: [nods] Yeah. She needs your blood. [Hayley wastes no time biting into her wrist and offering it to Freya to drink to heal her wounds. After a moment, Freya stops drinking and sighs in relief as she recovers from the attack.]
Hayley: You okay? [Freya nods, and Hayley, looking impressed, smiles at Jackson.]
Hayley: Kind of hard to ignore it when someone needs your help, huh? [Jackson makes a face, but before he can respond, Freya suddenly looks panicked as she starts to become aware of what has happened to her.]
Freya: They took it. The Serratura. [Freya groans in pain and frustration as she pushes herself into a seated position.]
"It's never peacefull with you lot, is it?" Said Layla.
Freya: I was meeting with a witch from the bloodline who built the lock. I was hoping she could help me destroy it, but it's not possible. She said the only way to get rid of it is to use it. We have to get it back and lock something else away. Anything but my family. [Hayley, realizing how bad their current situation, groans in annoyance.]
"Trap your first sires." Said Layla.
"Oh, we will." Said Freya.