CHAPTER SEVEN | HIGH WATER AND A DEVIL'S DAUGHTER

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IT CAME TO LIGHT THAT THE THING THE HOLLOW'S DISCIPLES HAD CAME FOR WAS THE TUNDE BLADE. Klaus had opened the safe in the study to learn that the blade was missing and they managed to decipher that they were looking for four bones in order to resurrect The Hollow. Hayley had a jaw bone, the Mikaelsons had the Tunde blade, they were just in search of the others.

"Ugh. O-Positive." Elijah crinkled his nose at Klaus' choice of blood bag as he stepped into the dining room. "You heathen." 

"Uh, actually, I admire him for that. We've decided no bloodshed in the house and around the girls." Riley interjected as she followed after Elijah, leaning on one of the dining table chairs. "So, thank you."

Klaus sniffed the blood and then sighed. "Hm. Perhaps I'll go out for dinner."

"Oh, no, no, no, no. We have no way of knowing who will take Dominic's place at The Hollow's right hand." Elijah interrupted Klaus' attempt at leaving. "There could be any number of disciples out there."

"Yes, yes, yes. All who may have the means to kill us." The Hybrid set his sights on his brother. "You know, if you hadn't been so hasty to kill him, we'd be dealing with the devil we know."

"He did what he had to do. Dominic threatened not just us, but Hope and Avery." Riley shrugged. "Best he's dead."

"I take it you have a plan." Klaus called out to his brother just before he was able to leave the dining room. 

"Freya will place a barrier spell on the compound. No one gets in or out."

"Oh. So, we're to stay here whilst our enemies seek to resurrect this monstrosity, and let me guess, you won't be confined here." 

Riley noticed the atmosphere between the two brothers begin to rise. "Okay. I'm gonna go check on the girls. Chat amongst yourselves." She brushed past the Mikaelson men and headed upstairs, where she could hear the two girls were playing in the attic. "Of all the places you two could've chosen to play. What's that?"

"An old book of rhymes. Hope's been reading them to me. Some are really cool." Avery mused as she listened to her best friend read aloud. 

"I'm sure it is really cool, but it's dusty up here. Perhaps you guys might wanna come downstairs and grab some ice cream?" Riley asked as she watched Avery's face light up. "Hope?"

"Aunt Riley, was there a little boy who used to live here?" The inquisitive Mikaelson witch asked. 

"Uh—" 

"Come along, sweetheart." Klaus interrupted from the doorway with a smile. "I'm sure Riley offered you guys ice cream, did she not? We can discuss ancient history another time."

With Hope and Avery feasting on desert and playing somewhere Klaus deemed more suitable, the two headed upstairs to the study where Hayley was going through some of her parents belongings. It seemed she was flicking through a photo album full of pictures of herself as a child and her parents. 

"You hosting a yard sale?" Klaus admired as he glanced around at all of the cardboard boxes that surrounded the mother of his child. 

"I just figured while we're stuck here I may as well figure out which stuff to keep and which to donate." 

"Oh! I wanna have a flip through that." Riley dropped down onto the armchair opposite Hayley as she took hold of the photo album the Hybrid was previously looking through. 

"Listen, I found the girls exploring the rubbish in the attic." Klaus hummed. "They're restless."

"And, I've already told you— they're not restless, they're bored. You realise they're at the age where they would be at school, making friends their own age. They only have each other." Riley told him, sparing a glance as she looked through the photographs of Hayley. 

"Well, Hope will be powerful beyond measure. She won't need friends. She'll be worshipped."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "She doesn't want to be worshipped. She just wants someone to hold the other end of the jump rope. They both do."

"She will be above such things. She'll have power enough to protect herself from anything." Klaus gazed out of the window and gently placed his hand against the barrier spell. "We won't have to trap her in bloody boundary spells just to keep her safe."

"Thank you, by the way. I know it's not in your nature to keep violence out of this house."

"We'll protect Hope's innocence for as long as we can. You and I both know the importance of that— no one protected ours." Klaus dropped down onto the armchair. "And, as for Avery, she deserves to feel safe and protected. So, she shall."

"Well, while the two of you are here, you may as well help me go through all of this stuff. You might find something useful." Hayley gestured to the dozens of boxes around the study.

"Oh! Look at that. How To Defeat The Hollow Volume One." Klaus mocked with a sarcastic smile whilst the two girls rolled their eyes. "Hidden in here amongst these old Guns N' Roses records. Oh, sweet child of mine."

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"Your Dad didn't seem like we wanted to tell us." Avery whispered to her best friend as the two slowly made their way down through the tunnels underneath the compound. "Maybe we should go back."

"You've heard them, haven't you? There's someone down here." Hope told Avery as she led the way, moving further into the tunnels until they reached a large gate at the end. They saw an unfamiliar man on the other side of the gate. He stared silently at the girls with surprise in his eyes before Hope shoved the gate open. "Hi. I think this is yours?" She spoke, holding a small toy solider up. 

Marcel tilted his head and swallowed thickly. "Hope?" He asked, his eyes flickered to the brunette beside her. "Avery?" As the girls nodded, Hope tossed the toy into Marcel's hand so he could examine it. "I haven't seen this in a century."

"Were you the one who used to live here? The little boy?" Avery asked in a shy tone of voice. She was quieter, much more cautious than Hope. 

Marcel nodded. "Once upon a time, I lived her with your Dad, Hope."

"He keeps you down here because he thinks you want to kill him. Do you?"

"Listen, I will tell you girls anything you wanna know, okay?" Marcel kneeled down almost so he were the same height as the girls. "If you get me some blood from your Dad's stash." 

"We're seven, not idiots." Avery narrowed her eyes cautiously to Marcel before she tugged on Hope's hand. "We should go. We aren't even allowed down here."

"Right. But, you both are pretty courageous to come down here and talk to a stranger."

"I'm not scared." Hope shrugged with a confident smile. "I'm a Mikaelson witch."

"I tell you, what? Let's start fresh, alright? It is very good to see you again, Hope Mikaelson. And, it's lovely to finally meet you, Avery." Marcel shot the two girls a warm smile that immediately put Avery at ease. "My name's Marcel. You know, I'm surprised your parents haven't stormed down here looking for you."

"They trust us." Avery softly answered back as she and Hope sat on the floor just outside Marcel's boundary. 

"Yeah. But, Klaus has never trusted anyone in his life."

"If he took care of you when you were little, why do you hate him?" The youngest Mikaelson asked with a raised eyebrow. "What did he do to you?"

Marcel took a breath and readjusted his seated position. "Your Dad, he raised me. He made me who I am. Now, you ask if I hate him? Well, it's hard to hate the person who made you what you are, you just end up hating yourself. The truth is, I would like to hate your Dad, I really would, it would make things a lot easier. But, um— you can't hate someone who you've loved for so long. Now, enough about me, I wanna know more about you guys."

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"I'll go and make sure the girls are ready for bed." As soon as Hayley started toward the staircase, a man came behind her and snapped her neck. Riley noticed, sped over and yanked the man's heart out from his back. She tossed his heart to the ground, and glanced over at Klaus just as Dominic entered with the rest of his disciples. 

"Impressive boundary spell. Unfortunately, it only lasts as long as the witch who cast it." Dominic grinned sadistically before Klaus and Riley glanced at each other— they knew what they had to do. 

A roar left Klaus' lips as he tossed Dominic across the courtyard, whilst Riley paid attention on the rest of the disciples. One by one, she took them down with ease until one managed to stab a piece of wood through her back. 

Dominic extended his hand and caused Klaus to fall at his knees. "Marcel's in the tunnels. Find him!" The high priest ordered, leaving him alone with Riley and Klaus. "The Hollow's gonna have a feast tonight. We can sacrifice the whole family. Your daughters are around here somewhere, aren't they? How conv—"

Klaus lifted himself up to his feet and stabbed Dominic through the chest just as Riley managed to remove the stake in her back. Before Riley could even think straight, she sped down to the tunnels with Klaus, noticing that Marcel had disappeared the Hope's bracelet laid on the ground beside the circle.

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Riley was thankful that Hope and Avery had decided to be inquisitive about Marcel's identity because he saved them. He managed to whisk them out of the tunnels before they even knew what was going on. At first, Klaus was furious that that had disobeyed him, naturally, but even he was thankful. 

"I'm sorry." Avery whispered as Riley pulled the blankets cover her body. "I— I know it was wrong."

"Sweetheart, you have apologised more than enough. It's okay." The Evans girl gently sat on the side of Avery's bed with a smile. "You and Hope were curious. Though, a little bit reckless. curiosity isn't always a bad thing."

The brunette fiddled with her fingers, anxiously. "Is Klaus angry with us?" 

"Klaus is always angry. But, not with you girls. Now, just try and get some sleep, okay?" Riley pressed her lips against Avery's forehead. "Night." The strawberry-blonde pulled the bedroom door up before she stepped down into the courtyard upon Elijah's arrival. "Hey, you."

"Vincent restored the link to the Ancestors. We now have the means to put The Hollow back in its cage." Elijah thankfully replied as he dropped down onto one of the couches, whilst Freya sat with a laptop on her lap. "How was your day?"

"Uh— Yeah, maybe we should skip mine and go for yours?" Riley chuckled, nodding her head toward Freya.

"Dominic had the name of a werewolf bloodline: Apisi. They were entrusted to be the guardians of a bone, like Hayley's family. I've been tracking the linage and the last of the modern family died a couple years ago. Under dubious circumstances." Freya turned the laptop around to show a familiar. 

"Tyler." Riley whispered softly. She recalled hearing that Tyler had died from Caroline— that Damon had killed him. "So the bones are in Mystic Falls. Lovely."

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