Chapter Eight

Hayley Marshall-Kenner stood by the window in the reasonably large building, gazing at the lights piercing through the darkness of the night. She remembered all those years ago when this place was made as a safe haven for Hope. A place where magic was unusable. She grimaced at the stickiness of the blood coating the bottom of her jeans. Taking a deep breath, she went forward with her plan.

"Tell me where Jackson is. No more of your people have to die," She mumbled, an ax drenched with blood hanging loosely in her hands. Out of all of the witches that she had snuck up behind and snatched to bring here, this one was the most useless. She had tried, for about twenty minutes, to torture anything out of the little witch, but to no avail. She wasn't even responding to the pain.

As she turned around, her eyes glanced around the pile of decaying bodies stacked on top of each other. Some of the dismembered witches were missing all of their limbs while others were simply missing their heads. In the center of the room, however, was a witch who still had her life. Her hands were tied to the arms of the wooden chair. "Jackson is only the beginning," The witch laughed. "Your family, your daughter, will pay for the death of Noelle Griffith. Might as well turn her in. We'll find her eventually."

Hayley's hybrid eyes shone through her normally hazel ones. "You will never find my daughter." Lifting the ax, Hayley swung it and cleanly cut her off her head. The head fell to the ground with a thump and rolled until it landed near the rest of the heads she had severed.

As the hybrid made it past the tall, green trees, her hand automatically flew to her chest. As she glanced around, she could see a circle of witches and an angry Vincent Griffith in the dead center. She fell to her knees, using every single ounce of strength to push herself upwards. The hybrid could feel her heart pounding in her chest, threatening to launch out of her chest.

And that was the plan.

With tears in her eyes and blood pouring from her mouth, she looked up at her former friend as a plea. She could feel her heart about to escape from her chest.

"You, your family, your daughter, will feel nothing but grief and agony for the pain my family feels." Vincent growled, stepping closer to Hayley, his spell pulling her heart, commanding it into his hand. "My niece is dead because of your daughter. And I will not rest until the lot of you are dead along with her."

Vincent pulled his hand back forcefully and with it, Hayley's hybrid heart fell into his hands. The hybrid's body fell to the ground, lifeless as the regent and his witch walked away with her heart in his hands.

Like clockwork, Elijah Mikaelson strutted through the doors of the old jazz club, his hands in the pockets of his long, jet-black trench coat. As he continued in, his senses stood on edge. He could smell the presence of other people, about a dozen, but they weren't there anymore.

Then, that's when it hit him like a tsunami.

Blood.

Racing off at vampire speed, the original flashed through the building, tracing the smell of blood. He could tell that there were dead witches, mainly because he had seen the pile of motionless bodies in the corner. But regardless of where he went, he couldn't find the blood he was actually smelling: Hayley's blood.

Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath, allowing his abilities to work to their fullest extent. As he did, his senses dug through the strongest scents until he finally found the one he was looking for. Flashing outside of the building, Elijah found himself in front of the body of Hayley Marshall.

A pain shivered through his body and he fell to his knees, the weight of her life holding him down. For the first time in centuries, a tear rolls down his face as Hayley's skin begins to turn a dreaded grey. Hosting her up and carrying her bridal style, Elijah sped off to the Compound.

As he entered through the doors, Elijah laid her body down on the soft brown sofa. Hearing her brother enter the house, Freya came out of her study only to see Hayley's dull, motionless body lying limply on the sofa. "Oh my God... But, Niklaus' spell..."

"It couldn't have worked," Elijah vented, taking the coffee table and smashing it against the wall. His mind began to fail him as he struggled to think properly. Additionally, he was fueled by a rage he didn't know he had inside of him. Sadness never prospered for a Mikaelson, so he chose the deadlier alternative instead. "If it did, she wouldn't be decaying." the original grabbed a chair and tried to smash it.

The normally collected original didn't know whether to continue through his tyranny or make plans to annihilate his enemies and the cause of his pain. However, he dismissed the thoughts and got ready to throw his fist into the brick wall. He would do them both.

"Elijah," Freya called out, her voice as small as a whisper. Had it not been for his superior hearing, he may not have heard her call. He tensed, forgetting that his elder sister was even there. Still, he ignored her. He couldn't turn around to face her. Not while Hayley's body was rotting only inches away. "Elijah, please," She tried again, staring at Hayley's body. "Elijah!"

The original turned around to face his sister and eventually, Hayley. He was taken aback by what his eyes were seeing. The dark grey veins on her body began to lighten and her skin began to slowly rage to life once more. Elijah bit into his wrist and sped over to her, wondering if his blood would help her heal quicker.

To his aid, it did.

Freya closed her eyes and thanked whatever God existed for this. Niklaus' children had saved Hayley's life. After Jackson's mysterious disappearance, if Hayley passed along with him, Hope would be an unrecognizable kid. And even further, the Mikaelson family would be in an uproar.

A loud gasp echoed through the walls as Hayley sat up, her hands protecting her heart, catching Freya and Elijah off guard. As she looked around and realized the only people who were present were Elijah and Freya she sighed. "Vincent won't rest until he kills us all."

⚜️

Marcel Gerard chuckled as he sat back on the leather couch in front of the oval-shaped desk. He pushed himself back even farther into the chair as he got comfortable. To him, this interview had been going by quite smoothly.

Bonnie Bennett laughed along with him. "Your son is quite the character," She smiled, looking at Klaus. "Like father like son on a whole other level." As the three adults continued to laugh, Bonnie continued. "So... Marcel, why do you want to teach in this school?"

"I've never had the chance to be a part of something like this. Plus, I've seen the war the species can bring. It'll be nice to contribute to the change."

Bonnie nodded as she jotted some things down. "And why do you think that you'll be a good fit as the vampire lead?"

"I've been around vampires for as long as I could remember," Marcel replies. "I've been raised by them, trained with them, fought with them, and taught them. I think I've experienced all there is to know about em' which makes me the perfect person for this job."

Bonnie nodded again. "You went to law school correct?"

"Correct," Marcel nodded. "Howard."

Bonnie smiled even more as she flipped through the papers she had him fill out and sign. This Marcel Gerard seemed like a perfect fit for not only the Vampire Lead but the math teacher she needed to hire. "Well, I've got to admit it. Your resume is beautiful, Marcel."

'Not more beautiful than you, Marcel wanted to say. The woman sitting in front of him was gorgeous in every way possible. The way she licked her lips after she laughed or rubbed her fingers together when she was nervous. Bonnie Bennett was breathtaking and―

"We're looking for a teacher who is well-rounded in math as well as a vampire. And based on your criteria... it seems like you're a match."

Klaus smiled and looked over to the man he felt was his son. He could notice that his mind was not all the way there. Leaving him be, the hybrid turned back to Bonnie. "Hopefully, that's your way of saying he's hired."

Bonnie stacked a couple of papers together and handed them to Marcel. "It is. School starts officially on August 26th, about a little less than two weeks, but teachers are required to be here on Monday no later than seven to prepare for the kids coming."

The Bennett witch rose from her desk and motioned for the two men to follow her. As she knew, Niklaus tagged alone for the process initially to sweet talk the Headmistress, but Marcel had gotten the job all by himself. He was charming in every area.

"Our school is very diverse, Mr. Gerard. While as Vampire Lead you will have mostly only vampires, we have a couple of students who are hybrids. Of course, they will have access to your common room as well as the common room of their other species." The three adults walked down the hallway until they passed a fairly large lounge area. "This is the Vampire Common Room and luckily right next to it is your classroom."

Marcel smiled. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, Mr. Gerard. I'll see you in a week."

Marcel nodded. "It'll be my pleasure."

⚜️

'Omg, babe!' A loud, high-pitched voice shouted from the mobile device. 'You're coming to school!'

Hope giggled and fell back against her bed, the soft, squishy pillows catching her. "I know right? I am so excited. Your school seems so cool!"

'Our school now, Hope!' The girl shouted, finding herself excited too. 'I feel like this is going to be the longest two weeks ever.'

"Don't say that!" Hope argued. "Hopefully, it flies on by and school will hurry up. But I'll be right back."

Hearing the girl shout out an "okay", Hope dropped her phone on her bed and rushed out before closing her door behind her. She started to remember where everything was so she now knew where the bathrooms were. However, when she walked in, she first noticed that there was no tissue paper on the holder.

She bent down to check up under the cabinets, in the room where she knew the towels were and every place where logically tissue paper would be, and she couldn't find any. Athena had gone out to go shopping with Astrid for the new school year and her father was with Marcel.

Walking across the hall, she did the only thing left. She knocked on Henrik's door. The cracked door pushed itself open and she stepped back in shock as dozens of candles covered the floor. There were pages ripped out of a grimoire and blood covering the page.

"What the hell."

"Hope?" Henrik's voice called, causing Hope to jump. "What are you looking for?"

Hope clutched her heart in fear as it felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest. "Good God, almighty. You scared me. I was looking for some toilet paper... but what's going on?"

Henrik glanced around to make sure no one was around before taking the girl's hand and pulling her inside the room. Waving his hands, the candles' flames died and the light in his room cut on. "You can't tell anyone, okay? Especially my - our - dad." Hope nodded as she looked around the room. The shape of a skull was sitting on his dresser and bones were stacked beside it. "I'm trying to seal my vampire side."

Hope looked up at him with shock. Her hands had stilled in the pockets of her grey sweatpants she had just got back from Shein. She had looked for years for a spell that would bind her magic.

"Aunt Freya, just listen to me! If I didn't have my magic, I wouldn't keep causing all of these problems." Hope cried, holding on to the book in her hand like her life depended on it. On the contrary, everyone eles's life depended on it. "If I'm not a witch, I can be a hybrid like my mom. She can help me."

The door creaked open forcing her uncle Elijah to reveal himself. "Sister, please enlighten me why my niece is crying and shouting at four thirty in the morning?"

Freya looked over to her brother and then her tear-cheek-stained niece. "Hope wants to seal her magic."

Elijah froze in shock or fear, no one could quite tell before he began to slowly nod. Imagines of Niklaus' torment flew past his vision, reminding him of the moments his brother cried out for him and he didn't protect him as he should have. "No." He said simply.

Freya sighed in relief as her brother agreed with her. But she knew that her tribrid niece would not stand for a simple no. Quickly, her mouth matched her mind. "Hope, a witch as novice as yourself couldn't do this type of magic. Allow me to see if I have what I need and on the next full moon, we'll perform the spell."

But for the next six full moons, Freya was nowhere to be found and Hope believed that her aunt was right: that her magic simply wasn't strong enough to anchor a spell that required that much power.

And now, she's face to face with her brother, her younger brother, who was doing just that with another side of himself. "I- That's possible?"

Henrik shrugged and took a seat on his bed. "I mean... maybe. You can seal a werewolf side and people have put their magic away before. Why not this?"

She shook her real question to the side, wanting to know how he planned to seal something that's historically unsealable. "Aren't those genetic? Vampire abilities aren't genetic."

Henrik laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Aren't they? I mean look at us. Me, you, Astrid, and Elias were born a vampire. That's genetics."

Hope took a second to think about it. She had never thought of it like that before. She knew she was a tribrid, all three supernatural creatures combined into one person. But she had never realized that she was the first born vampire.

"Holy crap- wait-"

Then another thought hit her. That this was fucking crazy. Even by Mikaelson tribrid standards.

"Yup!" Henrik smiled seeing that the girl had finally understood it. And that she was looking at him as if he had grown two heads, but hey, he liked aliens.

"Do you think that could actually work. Have any of your spells seemed like they would work?"

Henrik let out another laugh before he slapped his knee. "Yeah, no. I've rewritten, remade, and tried every spell in Grandma Esther's grimoire. And nothing." He sighed. "I'm going to wait until we go back to school to ask one of my friends. Hopefully, she'll be able to help me out."

"Okay, yeah," Hope nodded, still shocked at what she had just learned. But hopefully nonetheless. "And I will help you if you need anything."

"But umm... tissue is in the hall closet."

"Thanks," She replied before getting ready to walk out of the room. Before she went on, he stopped.

"Hey Hope," Henrik called. "Dad won't like me trying to seal a part of myself. He's always been against stuff like this. Just remember this stays between us two, okay?"

"I got you," She smiled. "Always."

As she veered back to her room she smiled. She had a plan. A plan that would end all plans.

Step 1: Help Henrik

Step 2: Seal her magic

Step 3: No more control loss

Step 4: Go home to her mom in New Orleans

Step 5: Be Free

With a grim firmly plastered on her face, she walked with an extra skip. This could work. She could finally be free.