𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 36

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Annalise sat at a chair in Rousseau's at Father Kieran's wake. The heretic watches Marcel grab a bottle of scotch and turned towards the crowd.

"I know I haven't been around these parts lately. It's a testament to Father Kieran that we could come together and share a drink, and a story or two. Kieran rolled into town on a rusty old cruiser after his daddy died twenty-five years ago. And damnit, that guy could party!" Anna let out a chuckle as did multiple others as the vampire continued, "That was, of course, before he took his vows. But, even then, he was committed to the Quarter. He knew that this town needed him. And, we still do." Marcel raised his glass into the air, "To Father K!"

"To Father K."

Annalise turned towards Hayley who was drinking seltzer water. "How are you doing?" the werewolf questioned.

"I'm doing fine, why the question?"

"I know you tried to save his life, I'm guessing it's a little hard on you knowing it ended up being for nothing." Hayley truthfully told the heretic. Annalise pursed her lips as she glanced over at the table Klaus and Elijah were stationed at, her gaze went towards Niklaus who was sulking in his seat. "I'm more worried about Klaus, he's the one who had to kill him knowing how much he meant to Camille."

Hayley glanced over at the Mikaelson brothers, "Speaking of..." she trailed off as she got up from her seat and began to walk over to them. Anna furrowed her brows but followed after her.

Annalise sat down between Elijah and Klaus as Hayley sat beside the hybrid.

"I will warn you two, Niklaus is in a spectacularly foul mood today." Elijah announced to them making Klaus roll his eyes, "Sod off."

"When isn't he in a foul mood?" Annalise grinned making the hybrid further agitated. "A thousand years and he still can't keep his temper in check." Elijah sighed, Anna laughed as she spoke up, "He's like an angry grizzly bear."

"I'm not moody, I just have a violent reaction to stupid people." Klaus shot back with a grin. Anna's jaw dropped.

"May both sides of your pillow be uncomfortably warm." she huffed.

Klaus scoffed, "What a real curse."

"You wanna see a real curse?"

Hayley threw herself into the conversation before things escalated, "What's the deal with these moonlight rings? Oliver's trying to set a revolution every five seconds. People are scared, angry, and frankly, I'm tired of stalling."

Klaus rolled his eyes at the middle finger Anna had directed towards him before turning to answer the werewolf, "It's a day of peace, Hayley. Try and enjoy it. And, in the meantime, with all manner of unknown enemies conspiring against our family, you'll move back in with us."

Hayley crossed her arms over her chest, "Awesome! Then, we can do that thing where you lock me in the tower, I escape, there's drama, and then you realize I'm very capable of looking after myself." Klaus groaned in frustration, "The rings are in progress. I will live up to my word. We will find and punish whoever launched the attack on the Bayou, and you will return to the compound for your own safety!" Hayley sighed and rolled her eyes at him, "But, right now-" the hybrid grabbed the bottle of scotch, "I'm gonna finish this bottle and the next, in the hopes of drowning the demon who has chosen today to haunt me." Klaus looked up at the ceiling as he began to chug the alcohol from the glass bottle, "Cheers, Mikael. Impeccable, Freudian timing."

Annalise furrowed her brows at the mention of Klaus and Elijah's abusive father. Elijah seemed stunned as he spoke up, "Elaborate. Have you dreamt of our father?"

"Go ahead, have a good laugh." the hybrid dramatically said. Elijah frowned, "I can assure you there is no piece of this that I find even remotely amusing, Niklaus. Especially considering I've been dreaming of him, too."

Klaus gaped at his older brother, "What?"

"Oh, a little family reunion. That can't be good." Anna blinked at the original's. Elijah looks deep in thought as he speaks, "If you are also seeing him..." He stopped mid-thought when he noticed Genevieve enter Rousseau's. She caught his eye and smiled, Elijah clenched his jaw, "Perhaps our elusive, unknown enemy is orchestrating a further attack?"

Klaus followed the vampires line of sight that was on the witch, "Well, then. What better way to punctuate a day of peace than by killing someone?"

Annalise looked at the brothers as if they were aliens, "Good riddance, the both of you."

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Annalise walked with Elijah back to the compound since the heretic had to work on the moonlight rings that Klaus had so nicely asked her to create.

The Martin heir clutched her jacket tighter around herself as a cold breeze flew by.

"Annalise."

Anna whipped her head around at the sound of the voice. No, how was she hearing him?

"The past will always come back to haunt you."

The heretic began to breathe quickly, where the fuck was the voice coming from? Was she hallucinating it? Had she finally gone insane?

Elijah tilted his head in confusion as he watched Anna nervously glance around their surroundings. He also noticed how she was beginning to hyperventilate.

"You called me a monster, but look at you. Exactly like myself."

Anna clenched her fists until her knuckles became white as paper, "No."

The vampire quirked up a brow, why did she just mutter no?

What the brunette didn't understand, was why she was hearing her dead father.

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Annalise sat on the couch reading through her father's grimoire as Elijah sat across from her sipping on a glass of whiskey.

"Genevieve." Elijah sensed her presence as she entered the room. The witch glanced at Annalise who was now glaring at her before looking over to the original.

"I asked around. It's not just your father. The purgatory where supernatural souls are trapped is disintegrating." The red headed witch explained after the two Mikaelson brothers had accused her of putting dreams of their dead father in their minds.

Anna's lips parted as she took in the new found information. She hadn't been hallucinating her father, he was calling out to her before he disappeared forever. Even dead her father was tormenting her.

"What do you mean, 'disintegrating?'" Elijah furrowed his brows needing to know more. Klaus entered the room and jumped into the conversation, "She's right... more or less. It's actually imploding. I made a call to a rather reluctant Bennett witch in Mystic Falls who said the same thing. The dead are being torn away into nothingness. And, they're not interested in going quietly."

Annalise's eyes widened as fear struck her, "What?" her voice came out a hoarse whisper. Elijah and Klaus noticed the horrified tone in the heretic's tone. Both of them immediately looked worried for the brunette.

Elijah glanced away from his soulmate to ask his younger brother, "So, you're saying that our father, faced with permanent extinction, has decided to spend his remaining tormenting us? How delightful!"

Klaus pursed his lips, "Well, on the plus side, we'll soon be rid of his abhorrent soul forever. And what a good riddance that will be!"

Anna's thoughts immediately went to her beloved mother. The heretic would no longer be able to contact her. Her mother, who despite all the ancestors wanting her killed for her actions, always stood by her. The witch always helped her daughter. Even dead.

Genevieve sighed loudly as she looked over at the brothers, "So, am I in the clear, Elijah? Or is there a new conspiracy you two would like to threaten me over?"

"You being a witch is good enough for me." Anna shot the red head a smug smile. The witch rolled her eyes at the heretic and turned to leave before stopping in front of Klaus, "I have to get back to the girls. Perhaps tomorrow, after the funeral, you and I could spend some time together. Alone?"

The hybrid merely shrugged, "I suppose we'll have to see."

Genevieve looked annoyed as she walked out of the compound.

"Please tell me you've designed a stronger method to control the witch than playing hard-to-get?" Elijah crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at his brother.

"Well, I've always been partial to the classics..." Klaus trailed off. Anna sighed in annoyance, "Permission to rip her head off of her body and string it up for all the witch's to see?"

Klaus looked mildly disturbed as Elijah glanced at the heretic, "Permission denied. Niklaus seems to have a plan for the witch."

Annalise looked at her friend, "Why the bloody hell would you need her?"

"Reasons." the hybrid vaguely answered.

"Fine then. Don't come running to me when she sticks a knife in your back, figuratively and literally."

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Annalise walked between Elijah and Hayley as Klaus stood by the pregnant werewolf's. The four were currently near the end of the parade that was talking place for Father Kieran.

Anna noticed Hayley continuing to have coughing fits, "Are you alright? You look-" but before she could continue the werewolf cut her off, "A hundred months pregnant and pissed off at the world?"

The heretic grinned, "Precisely."

Hayley chuckled before looking ahead to see Francesca a couple of yards away from them, pretending to wipe her tears away with a tissue.

"Goodness gracious she is not a good actor. She didn't even try and look like she was actually crying." Annalise disappointingly shook her head. Elijah hid a smile as Klaus chuckled lightly.

Hayley pressed her lips into a firm line, "Do you think I was the target of those bombings?"

Klaus scoffed, "Of course you were the target! Were I to wage a war on the wolves, you'd be my first kill! I would string you up, for all your worshipers to see."

Anna used every strength she had to keep from bursting out in laughter. Elijah noticed this and amusingly shook his head, "I believe that was my brother's way of telling you he'd like you to return home with us." The vampire turned to look at his brother, "Perhaps try a different approach, Niklaus, with fewer references to murder?"

Annalise glanced up at her soulmate with a quirked up brow, "Have you met him?"

"As much as I would hate to throw you over my shoulder, and drag you kicking and screaming to the compound, we both know I will," the hybrid smiled at the woman carrying his kid, "For the sake of my child."

Hayley grit her teeth, "One bad dream, and suddenly, you want to be a responsible daddy!"

Niklaus wrapped an arm around the werewolf pulling her close to himself making Anna and Elijah look anywhere but the two parents.

"Let me put this into perspective, my father lived to torment me. It is not my intention to become him. This cycle of misery ends with my child." the hybrid hushed into her ear.

Hayley yanked her arm from his grip and gave Klaus a fake smile, "You forgot one thing in your little attempt to plead your case she's not your child. She's ours." the werewolf stormed away from the three and began to go down the sidewalk.

"You always did have a way with words." Anna sarcastically told the soon to be father.

"I bloody hate funerals."

Anna glanced at the hybrid, "I'd be very concerned if you did like them."

"You're always concerned."

"I am not."

"Anna, stop lying to yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"You are excused, just make sure it doesn't happen again."

"I can't stand you."

"Yet here you are, standing and talking to me."

"I am going to rip your tongue out."

Elijah decided to intervene, "Let's not make this funeral bloodier than it already is."

"I wasn't the one threatening her." Klaus muttered, Anna turned to glare at him, "If you don't have the balls to say it loud enough for it to be coherent to the human ear, maybe shut the fuck up."

"Bloody hell you have a temper."

"Are you seriously telling me that?" The heretic gaped at him.

"I just did."

Elijah stepped between the two friends, "Alright, that's enough of that."

Annalise huffed and turned to look back at the street ahead of her, the heretic narrowed her eyes when she caught sight of Hayley, who seemed to have passed out. Genevieve was beside apparently helping her.

"Nik." Anna called out to him, the hybrid followed her line of sight and his expression flushed with worry. The hybrid rushed over at gently picked up the werewolf as Anna and Elijah followed behind.

Klaus rushed back into the compound and set Hayley down on a table. Anna rushed to check the werewolf's temperature and her gaze became murderous as she noticed the red witch that entered shortly after them.

"I can help-"

Anna quickly pushed her away, "Do not lay a hand on her. I know a spell to help her now get the fuck out."

The heretic turned back towards the werewolf and took in her condition, "She's trembling. Klaus, your jacket."

The hybrid quickly shrugged it off and laid it over the barely conscious female. "She's not breathing, I can hear the baby's heartbeat, but not hers." Klaus' lower lip trembled in complete fear.

Anna shook her head, she needed complete concentration. The heretic checked for her pulse and found a weak one that could barely even be recognizable. They were losing her.

"Elijah, get chamomile from the pantry."

The vampire sped and not even a second later, returned with the herb. Annalise pressed the damp bundle of chamomile against Hayley's forehead as she began to chant, "Cor vulneratum, cor tundens mwen."

Klaus paced in worry and began to look anxious before biting into his wrist and placing his blood on the werewolf's lips hoping that it would heal her, "Come on!"

Elijah gazed at Anna who was chanting her spell and glanced down at Hayley who looked like she was slowly slipping away.

The hybrid clenched his jaw, "She's still not breathing. It's not working!" he threw a table against the war in frustration. He couldn't lose his child.

"Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen." Anna continued to chant using every ounce of her power she had in the spell.

"What about a hospital?" Elijah suggested, he was worried it wouldn't work and the baby would be lost.

"If you move her from here, my spell will break. There won't be enough time to get her to a hospital." Annalise told her soulmate who nodded trusting her judgment and magic.

Klaus at this point, looked frantic, "Will the baby survive if delivered now?" He lunged for Hayley's body, "I'll rip it out of her myself!"

Elijah swiftly blocked the hybrid from doing any harm.

"Hayley will bleed do death!" Anna shouted at him.

"I won't lose that baby."

Annalise grit her teeth as she glared at Klaus, "I won't lose either of them." she had grown to care for the werewolf. Yes, she was a pain the ass sometimes, but she also had the parts to her. She was caring, kind and overall tolerable. So, the heretic now saw her as a friend. One she would protect as well.

"Pugna cum mwen. Corde saucio, tunde mwens." Anna continued to chant. The Martin girl felt realization wash over her as a vision of Monique flashed into her mind. The little witch was using the poppet to cast the spell on Hayley.

Anna peered open her eyes and glanced at her soulmate, "Elijah, in my room top drawer in my dresser. I need my gris-gris pouch. Now!"

The brunette dabbed a wet cloth on the werewolf's forehead as the vampire returned with what she had asked for. Annalise opens it and begins to spread the salt around Hayley while she still gets flashing images of Monique performing the original spell.

Anna grasped a mix of herbs and crushed them in her palm before spreading them over the pregnant girl's body.

The heretic pursed her lips as she muttered one last phrase in Latin, "Surgit."

Hayley awoke with a loud gasp and Anna let out a deep breathe before helping the werewolf sit up.

Elijah looked relieved and Klaus rubbed her shoulder affectionately. "You're alright, love. You're alright."

Hayley glanced around the room as her eyes were widened in fear, "I saw him. He tried to kill me. I saw Mikael."

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Annalise gazed out into the New Orleans street from her balcony. She clutched her cardigan closer to her body as a chilly breeze flew into her room.

The heretic glanced up and softly smiled seeing the constellations. Such a beautiful sight.

"Watching the stars?"

Anna sighed contently knowing who the voice belonged to.

"Always a sight to see."

Elijah smiled as he walked over to her. The vampire stepped into her side and followed her gaze that was set on a certain set of stars.

"Centaurus. Such a bright constellation that brightens up the night sky."

Elijah chuckled, "I just learned a new one then."

Anna glanced over at the vampire, "Did you need something?"

Elijah's lips slightly parted, "I just... wanted to see how you were doing."

The heretic glanced back out into the view, "I'm fine. No need to worry yourself over me."

"I'm always going to care about how you are. No matter what." Elijah gazed down at the brunette who turned to look up at him once again.

"Why's that?"

Elijah didn't know what he was doing before he did it. The original gently cupped Anna's cheek making the girl lean into his touch, the tiny gesture made Elijah's chest tighten. He loved knowing she enjoyed his warmth.

"You have become a part of me that I cannot not seem to live without." His gaze flickered down to her lips and Anna silently pleaded him.

"'Lijah?"

Damn it all.

The vampire pulled her body flush against his and leaned down capturing her lips with his own. Anna was surprised but wasted no time in kissing him back as she slipped her arms around his neck as the original's hands went to her waist. The feel of his hands on her made the heretic's knees grow weak.

Sparks erupted everywhere they touched. Elijah almost groaned just from the feel of her lips on his. He had never felt so complete and whole just from a kiss, a simple kiss. This woman in his arms, he knew he wouldn't be able to last a second without her, her touch, her words, and that smile, that gods damned smile that made him fall quicker than he ever thought was possible.

Anna moved her lips in sync with his as she kneaded her hands into her hair. This was all she needed. Him.

Elijah lifted one of his hands to rest on the nape of her neck, bloody hell was he loving the mini fireworks that were tingling their skin.

The two reluctantly pulled back after a short moment. Anna breathed heavily as Elijah leaned his forehead on her own.

He mentally cursed himself knowing the urge to touch her, feel her, be with her had grown to a mass amount that he wasn't sure he would be able to keep himself away anymore.

A second passed and Elijah mustered up all the strength he had before speeding out of the room.

Annalise seemed to have broken out of her trance as a smile etched itself onto her face. The heretic brushed her fingertips against her own lips that had just been kissed.

Bloody hell.

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

a/n:

so.... how'd I do?