𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 38

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"Ahhh. Let go of me, you bitch!" Hayley continued to thrash against the witch's. The werewolf was moved over to lay on top of a table.

Hayley cringed every time she glanced over at Anna. They were torturing her. The heretic had regained enough consciousness to know what they were doing to her.

The werewolf physically flinched as another knife jab went to the side of Annalise's ribs, the heretic let out a wince as more blood poured out from her wounds. Her clothes were now tattered and seeping with blood.

Klaus limped into the church and his eyes widened in horror as he caught sight of his best friend. Anna coughed up more blood as a slit was created on her stomach, her vampire healing was beginning to slow down a bit due to her weakened state.

The hybrid felt more enraged than he had before, he glanced over at Hayley who looked more than relieved to see him. He was going to murder these witch's.

Klaus lunged at a witch that was near the entrance and ripped his head from his body before throwing it as a football towards another witch who collapse due to the force put into the throw.

Abigail and Genevieve link hands and telekinetically pin Klaus to the wall. The hybrid fights against the hold the spell had him on but it was no use. He was caught.

Monique and Abigail anchor the spell before going back to the tend to the werewolf in labor.

Klaus grit his teeth as he watched Hayley scream in pain as another contraction hit, he glanced over at his beloved friend and felt like his heart had just been ripped out. Her head hanged as she had no energy or strength to keep it upright, the heretic inhaled sharply as another cut was made on her skin.

The witch that had been torturing her turned towards Monique, "Monique, the bowls full."

The witch glanced back at them, "Keep going. She deserves a punishment for betraying the ancestors and not believing in them. Kill her after a while."

Klaus began to breathe heavily as panic coursed through him. They were going to kill her. No, no. He wasn't going to lose anyone today. Not Hayley, nor his child, and especially not Anna.

Klaus and Hayley watch fearfully as Genevieve grabs the ceremonial athame that was used for the Harvest. The werewolf let out a strangled cry in pain and terror as the red headed witch turned towards the two parents, "You should know this brings me no joy. I promise I'll make it quick."

One of the helping witch's covered Hayley's lower half with a sheet.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

Hayley's yells echoed through the room as she felt the last contraction hit. Klaus watched painfully as the werewolf panted, this was not how he wanted his child to be born. The hybrid glanced over at Anna and winced to himself seeing the witch begin to burn her with vervain.

Klaus clenched his jaw, "I will bring hell to your family!"

Genevieve turned towards the werewolf, "One last push! Push! The baby's almost here!"

Klaus yelled in frustration as all he could do was watch, "I will bathe in rivers of your blood!" the hybrid shouted at the group of witch's who were inflicting pain onto the three people he cared most for in this cruel world.

"No! No!" Hayley cried as she pushed one last time. "I can see the baby!" Monique told the others. Genevieve readied her hands, "Push! Gently! Gently!"

"You will die screaming!" the hybrid promised.

Hayley fell back against the table in exhaustion as the baby was born. Klaus stopped his screaming as he caught sight of his beautiful child. One of the witches helps cut the umbilical cord, and Genevieve wraps the baby in a blanket.

"You have a beautiful baby daughter."

Hayley and Klaus stare at her in complete awe and shock. Monique interrupts the heartfelt moment, "We have the heretic's blood and the baby. We must start the sacrifice as soon as the moon sets with the morning sky-" but Hayley cut her off as she spoke up.

"Please. Please, can I hold her?"

Genevieve brings the baby girl into her mothers arms. Hayley stares down into her daughter's eyes with pure love and happiness, she looks up at Klaus and sends him a small smile before placing a kiss on their daughter's forehead.

Monique suddenly grabs Hayley by the hair, yanking her head back and runs a knife against the werewolf's neck. Hayley choked a gasp as she clutched her neck.

"NO!" Klaus shouted. The hybrid watched in shock as the werewolf fell backwards, letting everyone know she was dead.

The hybrid felt tears prick his eyes as he stared at Hayley's dead body. The witch's gathered up the baby and exited the church, Monique handed the witch that had been torturing Anna a stake.

"Finish it off."

The witch nodded in understanding and watched Monique walk out the church. The spell cast on the hybrid was released and Klaus fell to the floor.

He gazed up to catch sight of the witch that held up the stake aiming it towards Annalise's heart. Mustering up what little strength he had left, the hybrid sped over and snapped the witch's neck. Klaus collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion.

The church doors burst open and Elijah ran inside, "Anna!"

He stopped dead in his tracks as he watched his brother kneeled on the ground. His gaze wandered and he silently gasped seeing Hayley's body.

Elijah looked over at the hybrid again and he felt like his heart was now in his hand, he noticed Anna, pinned up with chains as blood, bruises, and vervain burns scattered her skin. It was a horrid sight.

"No, no, no, no." Elijah breathed.

Klaus crawled over to Hayley's body and set the werewolf's head in his lap, he never knew how much he truly cared for her until he saw her screaming, thrashing, and pleading for help.

Elijah made his way over towards Annalise. He knew the pain must have been unbearable, especially because he felt everything that happened to her. The vampire winced as he realized the dizziness was beginning to occur due to the werewolf bite. The original ripped off the chains that were laced with vervain, ignoring the burns that etched his skin, and caught the heretic's limp body.

Elijah brushed her hair away from her face as he took in her beat up condition, "I am going to kill them." The vampire clutched his soulmates body closer to himself as he ushered comforting words into her ear.

Anna slowly blinked once again as she relished in the feel of the arms she was currently in. The heretic stirred in her spot and Elijah cupped her cheek affectionately as she gazed up at him.

"'Lijah?"

"I'm here, my love. I'm here."

Anna's lower lip trembled as she finally felt relieved and safe. The heretic threw her arms around the vampire and and quietly sobbed into his neck, she was terrified that she would have never been able to see him again.

Elijah felt his chest tighten at the sound of her cries. He wished nothing more than to be able to rid her of any pain. The original reached up and held her head as Anna found comfort in his embrace.

Anna slowly pulled back, tear stains now decorating her cheeks as she glanced around.

"Where's Hayley?"

Elijah's gaze saddened as he looked towards Klaus who had the werewolf in his arms, Anna's lips parted. No, Hayley couldn't be dead. No.

"She's gone." The hybrid numbly spoke out. He looked up to see the werewolf bite his older brother held, "You've been bitten." Klaus extended his fangs and sank them into his own wrist before lifting it up to offer the vampire, "Here."

Elijah seemed stunned by the sudden display of kindness but happily took the blood as he felt his vision clear up.

Anna clenched her jaw as she gazed down at the dead body, "How?"

"I was bested."

The heretic shook her head, "This-This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to protect her and I didn't-" Anna couldn't continue as a sob escaped her, Elijah frowned and pulled the Martin girl towards his chest. The vampire wrapped his arms around her figure as she nuzzled her face into his chest.

Klaus weakly pulled himself up to his feet and looked over at the two, "They took the baby. But there's still time. We can save her."

The three entered the Lafayette cemetery. They had been walking around the graveyard for at least an hour. Anna had her hand laced into Elijah's. The heretic had regained a bit of her strength but not completely. The Martin heir narrowed her eyes as she glanced at a grave, she could have sworn she had seen it before.

Klaus began to rub his temples frantically, "The tombs are empty. The grounds are deserted. She's not here!"

Elijah pursed his lips, he was beginning to get frustrated as well. His niece was somewhere out here, alone. "This is the only place they can be! We'll keep searching."

"They are not here! We are wasting our bloody time." Klaus grit through his teeth. "Nik, the ancestors were buried here. There's nowhere else a sacrifice would have been done." Anna softly explained to the father.

Elijah pursed his lips as he gazed at a familiar angel statue, the vampire sighed in frustration. "This statue, we've passed by this three times, all whilst going in the same direction."

The three of them fell into silence as they thought of a plan. Anna still hadn't regained much of her magic, at least not enough to over power an illusion spell.

"They've fabricated some kind of illusion." Elijah thought out loud. Anna squeezed his hand and the vampire gazed down at her, he placed a chaste kiss onto the crown of her head as Klaus vamp-sped to the top of the tomb with the angel statue and tried to get a better view of the cemetery. When he looked out into the scenery, there was an infinite number of tombs, stretching out to make the cemetery appear to be endless, and his eyes widened in horror, "That's one word for it."

The three continue to stalk through the cemetery as Klaus used a piece of stone to use as chalk in order to mark the tombs they pass.

The hybrid let out an annoyed sigh, "It's ingenious. I can see them, I can feel them, and yet they are not real."

Anna rubbed her eyes as her frustration began to build up, "There's no way out of an illusion spell unless you break it."

Elijah furrowed his brows as he spoke up, "We need to focus."

A distraught Niklaus scoffed harshly, "My only focus right now is my child and her safety, do you understand me?"

Elijah looked taken back at the edge in his tone, the vampire grit his teeth as he felt a sudden anger rise up in him, "This, all of this, this is the world that you created, Niklaus."

Klaus' lips slightly parted as he now realized he had no right to lash out at the vampire, "Brother-" but the older Mikaelson cut him off, "All of your scheming, the enemies that you have made every single day of your miserable life, what results did you expect? That your child would be born into a happy life? That the mother would be alive to know her daughter? That we could live and thrive as some, as some sort of family?" Elijah had plenty pent up frustration towards his brother, and he was finally letting it out.

Klaus narrowed his eyes, "That was your fantasy, brother, not mine!"

"No, brother! This was our hope. This was our family's hope." Elijah shouted feeling enraged, if that baby died, he didn't know what he would do with himself.

Anna placed a gentle hand onto the vampire's arm in hopes to calm him a bit.

"You can tell my child all about your dream family when we save her."

Elijah glanced back up to see Klaus nodding encouragingly, the original looked down at Annalise who was giving him a warm smile of reassurance.

Anna kicks through another tomb as Elijah punched the one beside her, the three were attempting to break through the illusion by tearing down as many tombs as they could. They reach a room full of candles and stop for a moment to catch their breath.

"We've passed through here twice already. We're running out of time." Elijah sighed, looking very frustrated.

Anna breathed heavily as she panted out, "Then we move faster."

"Or smarter."

The three froze at the voice that came from behind. Anna turned slowly and quietly gasped as she came face to face with the werewolf who was supposed to be dead.

"Hayley?"

"In the flesh." the hybrid dazedly answered as she blinked to clear up her vision.

"How are you here?" Elijah questioned, clearly confused with the situation at hand.

"I woke up in the church. I felt this hunger... I knew what I needed. I can feel her. She's here. I can feel my baby."

Anna's eyes widened with realization, "You died with the baby's blood still in your system."

Klaus' lips parted as he spoke up, "She's in transition." Elijah looks struck back by the news, "Which means she has to drink the blood of the child if she is to survive."

Anna pursed her lips tightly, "To be reborn a hybrid."

"I don't care about me. I'm gonna go find our daughter." Hayley strutted out the room with Annalise walking quickly to catch up with her as the two Mikaelson brothers followed shortly after.

Hayley lead the other three through the maze of illusions towards the baby. The four of them turn a corner and come across Genevieve who is holding a knife over the baby's head.

"No!" Hayley shrieked. Annalise grabbed an urn and threw at the witch's, the object hit Genevieve's hand knocking the knife out of it.

The four begin to approach them making Monique and Abagail hold each other's hands to channel the ancestors' power to telekinetically throw them backwards.

Monique grinned at Anna, "Seems as if I'll have to kill you myself."

Anna roughly grit her teeth as she stood from the ground again, "I'd like to see you try."

"You fools! To come against us in our place of power in our strongest hour? You don't face three, you face us all!"

Anna's eyes widened as she saw hundreds of dead witches' rise from the ground to help them complete the sacrifice.

Annalise cracked her neck before swiftly moving and destroying every dead body she encountered. The heretic was currently fighting against Monique and Abigail's magic while decapitating already decomposed bodies.

Annalise notices Elijah fall by her side as the two made their way through the crowd while Hayley and Klaus took the sides.

Annalise grinned wickedly as she felt her magic strengthen within her.

The heretic raised her palm and set multiple witches on fire using a non-verbal chant. All that was left was ash. She raised her other hand up and used air to push the desiccated away from their path. Monique grit her teeth, this was the power of Annalise Martin. Daughter of Harlow Martin who used to be the Elder of the Martin coven. One of the strongest witch's known to history.

"La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur... La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur..." Monique and Abigail continued to chant.

A wrought iron fence caught Klaus' eye as he broke it off one of the spikes. He throws it forcefully toward Abigail, which impales her through the stomach and kills her, breaking the connection that she and Monique had to the ancestors. The witch turned quickly to grab the athame to finish the sacrifice herself.

Monique blocked each of them using a wall of flame.

"No!" Hayley shouted in fear for her child. Annalise hit Genevieve with the pain infliction spell just as Monique is suddenly hit with the Devil's Star that embedded itself into her stomach. Her body becomes covered in cuts as she began to cough up heavy amounts of blood before collapsing onto the floor.

Annalise turned to see it was Marcel who had saved the baby from being sacrificed.

Before anyone can utter a single word, Marcel vamp sped over to the baby and sped away it her. Klaus wasted absolutely no time in following after him.

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Annalise gave Genevieve a nasty glare as she and Elijah were shacking her up to a tomb.

"Why?" the heretic questioned. "The Ancestors left me no choice-"

"Yet you were willing to sacrifice an innocent baby for more power." Anna crossed her arms over her chest. The witch shook her head, "No, not just power! It was the Ancestors' decree. It was her decree."

Anna curiously tilted her head as Elijah grabbed Genevieve's face roughly making her look at him, "It was whose decree?"

Genevieve let out a dark laugh, "I'm surprised you have to ask. After all, you were the one who convinced your siblings to consecrate her on New Orleans soil."

Elijah lets go of her, visibly disgusted, when he realizes who she's talking about. Anna muttered a curse, "That's just bloody great."

"Esther." Elijah said the name with clear distaste. Annalise rubbed her temples, witch's were always the gods damned problem.

"So, not even death can stop my mother from seeking the annihilation of her own flesh and blood." Elijah spat, of course his own mother was behind this.

Genevieve looked anxious, "This isn't the end. As long as that child lives, the witches of New Orleans will never stop coming for it. Esther will never stop coming for it. It has been decreed, your baby will be consecrated among her ancestors. She will not live."

Anna clenched her jaw as she glared at the witch who glanced at her, "I pity for what's to come for you, Anna. Stay strong."

The heretic looked taken back by the sudden comment. Elijah looked clearly angered that now Anna had been roped into all of this, "What are you talking about?"

The two soulmates watched as blood began to fall from Genevieve's eyes, "They're coming for me, I can feel it. I failed them. Understand, I just wanted to live. Tell Klaus... I'm sorry." Genevieve starts to choke up blood.

Anna grips the athame and plunges it into the witch's heart, the heretic grinned happily as she heard the red head take her last breath.

"I'm not."

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Anna stood beside Elijah while Klaus stood on the opposite side of the room.

The hybrid was not pleased to hear his mother was behind this, "We should have felt our mother's hand in this. We should have known she would not be bound by anything as obvious as death. And now she has control of the witches. They will never stop."

Elijah shook his head, "No." he merely muttered.

"Nor would I expect the Guerrera wolves to back down. Hayley and the child are wolf royalty, and as such, they are a threat to Francesca's claim to the leadership."

Unknown to the three, Hayley was in the nursery listening in to the conversation.

Klaus stopped for a moment looking beat, "They will never be safe. What was it you said to me earlier? That I have made enemies every day of my miserable life? Well, the worst of them are within these borders, brother."

Elijah sighed in frustration as he felt guilty for having uttered those words.

"I have brought into the world a weapon they can use against me." Klaus' gaze dropped to the floor. Annalise pursed her lips, "The we fight back."

Elijah nodded in agreement, "Brother, we have fought every adversary in this town, and we have won. And we'll fight them again, no matter who they are! We will make this home a fortress."

The hybrid lowered his tone as he spoke up, "I will not have her live her life as a prisoner."

"Then we leave here, together. All of us." Elijah suggested glancing at Anna for a moment.

"Wherever we go, however far we run, those who seek power and revenge will hunt us! They will hunt her. She has inherited all of our enemies with none of our defenses."

Elijah frowned as he rubbed his hands over his face, "So, whether we stay, or we leave, we condemn her."

Hayley suddenly appeared in the doorway with the baby in her arms, "There's a third option. I grew up in a warzone."

The three of them turned to glance at the mother who looked completely torn. "My parents thought they could protect me. But, in the end, they were slaughtered, and I spent my childhood alone and unloved." She looked down at her daughter and smiled while trying to fight back tears, "I made a promise, to my baby, and to myself, that she would not grow up like I did. That she would grow up safe, and loved. And yet, here she is, on her first day in this world, with a grandmother who is bent on sacrificing her-" the newly turned hybrid began to choke back a sob, "And a-a mother who has to drink the blood of her own baby to survive transitioning into a hybrid. And I'm the one who loves her the most."

Annalise frowned as she walked over and placed a comforting hand on the mother's shoulder.

The hybrid took a deep breath as she spoke once again, "I think the only thing to do is... send her away... while we stay behind and clean up the mess that we've made."

Elijah furiously shook his head, "No! This is insane. Anna you heard Genevieve, tell her. So long as she lives, that baby will be hunted."

Klaus stalked over towards his child and her mother, "Not if no one knows she lives."

Annalise and Elijah both shared a confused glance, "What is it you intend to do, brother?"

"Whatever it takes to save our family."

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Annalise plopped onto her bed as Elijah watched her from her doorway.

"It's nice to lay down and not be hung up like I'm being crucified." Anna wiggled around in her sheets. After a long day of torture, a nap sounded heavenly.

Elijah frowned as he remembered her pinned up body.

"I am so sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I should have, I really should have. Maybe you wouldn't have-"

Anna sat up on her bed as she gazed into the vampire's eyes, "What happened today, wasn't your fault 'Lijah. It was the witch's. Do not blame yourself." she sternly uttered.

Elijah ran his hands over his face as the image kept flooding into his mind. "I thought I had lost you."

Annalise frowned as she stood from her bed and walked over to him. She gently pulled away his hands from his face and looked into his hazel eyes, "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

"I can't lose you."

The heretic leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, she pulled back after a moment and smiled up at him. "I'm fine. Healthy, alive, and here. Right here with you."

Elijah returned the smile but confusion took over his features, "Anna?"

The heretic hummed a reply signaling for him to continue. "What... are we?"

Annalise hid an amused smile, "I thought I should be the one asking you that."

Elijah softly chuckled as the Martin girl actually answered, "I like where we are right now, let's take it slow. Technically, we have a lifetime ahead of us. There's no rush."

"A lifetime with you sounds like a gift from the gods." Elijah anxiously chewed his lip as he spoke up, "Am I allowed to kiss you?"

Anna laughed at his nervousness and smiled brightly, "Always."

Elijah cupped the girl's cheek and leaned down, attaching their lips together once again. Anna tangled her hands in his hair as his own went to her neck.

Peace. The two lovers felt at peace in each other's embrace. It wasn't often one had a calm time in the supernatural world, so when it occurred, it was to be cherished and enjoyed.

But where there was calm, the storm followed.

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

a/n:

season two is gonna be a shit show.