꧁𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲꧂
☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎

GRACE WAS PRACTICALLY SPRINTING THROUGH THE BAYOU, trying to find elijah who wasnt really precise with his location. She just couldn't stop her mind from thinking that Hayley was dead. Elijah said he saw dead wolves, it instantly made her think one of them was Hayley. She hoped that wasnt true. Grace may not be on great terms with her but she would never want death to occur. Grace hears the distant yelling of a man who she assumed to be elijah.

"Elijah, what's going on?" She asks as she finally sets eyes on the man. Elijah just had a frantic expression on his face as he looks around the forest.

"Hayley!" He shouts out, like yelling her name was going to bring her to them. Grace just walks over to him, gripping Elijah's arms to make him stop walking as he held Hope.

"Elijah." Grace says, getting his attention. Elijah meets her gaze and she could see the fear in his eyes. Hayley was nowhere to be found.

"I can't find her. All I found was a truck full of dead wolves." Elijah tells him and Grace only stands there for a moment. She clears her throat, trying to control her heartbeat since it started to rise.

"And you think.." She trails off, not even able to finish her sentence. Grace didn't want to think that way but it was almost impossible to not.

"Let's not jump to conclusions yet. Not until we know for sure." Elijah states, although he was worrying as well, he really couldn't be sure if Hayley was even dead. It was better to have hope than to not.

"Here, I can take Hope." Grace tells him as she gestures to the child. Elijah nods his head, allowing her to take Hope from his arms.

"I didn't mean to frighten you, I just didn't know who else to call." Elijah admits, he didn't want her to worry, he just knew he had to call her. Even if they weren't on the best of terms.

"It's fine, Elijah. I'm glad you did." She replies, rocking Hope in her arms. She would rather Elijah tell her than have him leave him in the dark.

"Where is she?" They hear from behind them causing them to turn. It was Jackson who seemed to be quite hurt as he had a trap around his leg. "Where the hell is Hayley?" Jackson asks them as he breathes heavily. Grace was honestly quite surprised that he was even alive.

"Jackson, oh my god." Grace gasps as she takes over his appearance. She moves over to him, concern evident on her face. Jackson just holds his hand out towards her.

"I'm fine." He assures her, not wanting them to worry about him when Hayley was missing.

"You're not." Grace denies, clearly not believing him.

"Sit down." Elijah tells him and Jackson reluctantly does, wincing lightly. The original sighs as he starts to take fragments of the bullets out of Jackson.
The man just watches as the blood spreads across his body." Take my blood." Elijah says as he holds out his wrist but Jackson only scoffs.

"I'm good. We need to find Hayley." Jackson states, not wanting to waste a single second.

"You need to heal and rest." Grace tells him as she places her hand on Jacksons shoulder. The man couldn't do much if he was limping the whole way. Jackson looks down at her but just shakes his head.

"There's still no sign of her." Elijah admits, he had scoured the bodies but couldnt find hayley. "I've seen the bodies." He says as he felt remorse for the fallen wolves.

"Hunters set up traps all over the bayou and mowed us all down with gunfire. Any wolf that wasn't taken out scattered." Jackson explains to them as his eyes drift for a moment. Grace frowns, they never even had the slightest warning. "Elijah, how many bodies?" He asks, although he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Elijah just stays silent, which says it all.

Jackson sighs, leaning against the tree next to him. "A trap wouldn't hold Hayley after she turned back. Nothing would stop her from seeing that little girl. Somethings wrong." He tells them, knowing Hayley wouldn't allow herself to not be able to see her daughter on the one day she could. Elijah nods his head before starting to walk past. "Where are you going?" He asks curiously, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I'm taking my niece home. Then I'll continue the search." Elijah admits as he looks down at Hope who Grace was still holding. "You stay here, tend to your dead." He tells Jackson as he turns his head back towards him.

"No. No, look, I got five hours until I'm a wolf again." Jackson states as he shakes his head. He wasnt about to turn back, not knowing if Hayley was okay. "Elijah, she's my wife." He says and Grace just moves her eyes slowly over to Elijah. The man looked calm but she could see the slight pain hinting in his eyes.

"I can take Hope back, you find Hayley." Grace tells him as she knew Elijah would probably find her the easiest. But he just shakes his head at her.

"I think it's best we speak to niklaus." Elijah admits with a sigh as he glances around the woods for another second.

"He didn't take her, he's not that stupid." Grace denies, he wouldn't willingly put more distance between himself and his siblings. He may not say it out loud, but he hated how he and Elijah drifted apart.

"I wouldn't put it past my brother." He retorts which only makes Grace roll her eyes. She did not need to be arguing with this man right now.

"Fine, whatever." She mutters as she looks down at Hope who was fluttering her eyes closed every few seconds. "Let's get out of the woods, sweetheart." She says as she kisses the child's head before starting to head through the forest.

☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎

AS GRACE MAKES HER WAY INTO THE COMPOUND WITH ELIJAH AND JACKSON, she notices that Paul was stood waiting for her. She was immediately worried that something had happened with Hanna. "Hey, Paul." She says as she walks over to him, Hope still in her arms as the child slept soundly.

"Hey." Paul responds, his eyes moving to Elijah and Jackson who stood behind her. "Is this a bad time?" He asks, feeling like he interrupted something, especially by the mood he was getting off of the two men.

Grace turns to look at Elijah, gesturing for him to go on without her before looking back at Paul. "No, what is it?" She asks him as she rocks Hope in her arms. Paul sighs as he glances around, seemingly hesitant to answer her.

"I think I saw Ann this morning." He admits which causes Grace's eyes to widen. She didn't realize that her mother would be so stupid as to show her face.

"What, where?" Grace asks, becoming on guard as she didn't like the feeling of knowing Hanna may be in more danger.

"In the townsquare." He tells her and Grace nods her head slowly. "Maybe I was just seeing things but I could've sworn it was her." Paul states, not wanting to start any sort of paranoia but he also needed Grace to be on the look out.

"Did she try anything?" Grace questions, although it was clear she didn't dare even say a word to him.

"No, but I don't want to put Hanna or you in danger." He says, shaking his head. Paul would do anything to protect his daughter,  especially from the grasps of Ann.

"Yeah, no, you made the right decision by telling me." Grace says with a soft smile, it was nice that he wanted to warn her. "I can ask Marcel to have his vampires on the lookout." She states, Marcel and her friendship has gotten a bit stronger over the past few months. Klaus didn't know whether to like it or not but at least she wasn't hating his guts.

"I just hate not knowing what she has planned." Paul admits with a sigh, biting the inside of her cheek. "After what she did to Hanna.. "He trails off, still trying to process the fact that Hanna was a werewolf,  even though she had been turning for the past few months.

"I don't even understand how she did it. Unless she had a vampire friend do it for her but I didn't even know she knew any of them." Grace admits with a sigh as she was just trying to figure this whole thing out. "And why would they do her a favour?" She asks while Paul just shakes his head.

"I don't know." He replies, rubbing his chin. "I thought staying in New Orleans would be a good place for her." Paul states, never wanting to put his daughter in danger but it seemed like that was all he was doing.

"Come stay here, you'll be safe and I'll explain to Nik what's going on." Grace tells him, not wanting them to have to fend for themselves. Paul frowns, not wanting to intrude or become a burden.

"Grace, you don't have to do that." He denies, especially since they already had Hope to protect.

"Hey, I want to." Grace says, offering a reassuring smile. "I won't let anything happen to either of you." She tells him, she wouldn't allow Ann to ruin anything else for them. She had already ruined enough lives as it was.

A sudden burst of yelling from upstairs catches both of their attention. Paul just looks at her curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Uh, I'll be right back." She tells him, heading up the stairs with Hope still in her arms. Grace sighs as she walks down the hall, seeing Klaus shouting towards Jackson and Elijah. "What's going on?" Grace asks, looking between the group.

"Just Elijah accusing me of knowing where Hayley is." Klaus states as he glares towards his brother. Elijah scoffs as he just tilts his head.

"Lucien Is the one behind the massacre so it's more than just a hunch." Elijah admits and Grace was a bit shocked that it was Lucien who had the werewolves killed.

"Didn't Lucien just get in town?" She asks, wondering what else he had planned if this was just the first couple of days.

"Precisely." Elijah hums as his eyes never leave Klaus.

"I told you where he is, why don't you go bother him?" Klaus retorts, not particularly wanting to speak anymore. Elijah just scoffs, shaking his head but he leaves the room with Jackson.

"Nik, you could be more helpful." Grace points out as she gives him a stern expression.

"What else can I give? I don't know where Hayley has hobbled off to." Klaus admits with a slight scoff as he crosses his arms against his chest.

"She could be dead because of Lucien." Grace points out, raising an eyebrow at Klaus. She didn't trust Lucien, especially since he seemingly showed up out of nowhere.

"Hayley isn't that easy to kill." He mumbles as he shakes his head. Grace narrows her eyes at him, not liking his attitude.

"You don't know that." She denies while Klaus just rolls his eyes. "And you're hanging around Lucien like he's some saint when he's clearly in town for some other reason." Grace points out as she rocks Hope back and forth who had started to become a bit fussy.

"I already had Elijah berating me, I don't need you to do it too, love." Klaus admits as he looks at his daughter, running his fingers up and down her arm.

"Okay." Grace says, not really wanting to get into an argument anyways. She just looks at Hope, swaying the child in her arms.

"Is something else on your mind?" Klaus asks, furrowing his eyebrows since she usually didn't back down that easily. Grace sighs a bit as she meets his eyes again.

"Paul thinks he saw Ann today." She admits, seeing the immediate rage that filled his features. "I don't need you to do anything, I just wanted Paul and Hanna to be able to stay here." Grace explains to him, not needing him to get angry yet again. At least not right now.

"Whatever you need, love." Klaus responds with a nod of his head although she could see that his jaw was still clenched. "But, I will rip off her head if you want me to." He tells her and she can't help but smile, laughing a little bit since she knew he was being one hundred percent serious.

"It's much appreciated." Grace says as she leans up and pecks his lips before looking back down at Hope. Klaus wraps his arms around her, allowing her to rest back on his chest.

"Look, Hayley will be fine."

"I guess we'll see." She mutters as she just plays with Hope's fingers. Klaus sighs lightly, placing a kiss on her head as he holds the woman close while looking down at his child.

☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎

FREYA WAS STOOD AT A TABLE IN THE COURTYARD, trying her best to try and locate Hayley. It seemed that she was having a bit of trouble though since it had been a while. Freya shakes her head, looking at Klaus, Grace and Jackson. "I can't find her." She admits as she bites the inside of her cheek. Jackson just stares back at her.

"Just, try again." Jackson says, a little hostile but once he calmed down a bit, his eyes got softer. "Please." He needed to know what happened to Hayley, he couldn't live with himself if it was something bad.

"There's nothing. It's like she doesn't exist." Freya tells them, there wasn't a single trace of her. "Or she's.. " She trails off, not even wanting to say it. Her eyes move slightly towards Grace who just rubs her face.

"Or she's dead." Klaus finishes for her, nodding his head.

"No, no. You have to find her." Jackson tells them before letting out a scream. They all turn to him, seeing his eyes start to glow yellow.

"Klaus, the chains." Freya demands as they all rush to make sure Jackson can't get free.

"Here." Grace mutters as she takes some of them in order to restrain Jackson's right arm.

"Freya, please. Please do the spell again. I can't go a month without--" Jackson is cut short by his bones breaking. Grace flinches as the man screams in pain. But he suddenly became quiet, his head lifting. "It stopped." Jackson tells them, slight confusion in his voice.

"Why would it just.." Grace trails off for a moment, narrowing her eyes. There was a witch now powerful enough to completely cloak someone, even from other witch's. And the fact that Jackson stopped turning, proved it all. "I know who has Hayley." She admits as she looks at the group.

"Who?" Freya asks, her eyes widening slightly.

"Davina."

"Why would she have Hayley?" Klaus asks, wondering what the girl could possibly want with the woman.

"I don't know but there's a reason why you can't find her." Grace points out with a sigh as she crosses her arms. "I'll go talk to her." She says, knowing Davina wouldn't hide anything from her.

"I'll come with you." Klaus says but Grace shakes her head as she looks toward him.

"I should be alone, Nik."She admits, she knew Klaus wasn't exactly a favorite of Davinas so it was better if he didn't go with her. Klaus clenches his jaw but nods his head. Grace just plants a kiss on his cheek before leaving the compound.

Arriving at the cemetery, Grace finds Davina standing in one of the tombs.
"

Davina." She says, leaning against the stone as she grabs the witch's attention. Davina almost jumps at the sudden appearance of the woman.

"Grace, what are you doing here?" Davina asks, furrowing her eyebrows as she places down her spell book.

"Cut the bullshit." Grace didnt mean to be so harsh but she just wanted to know if Hayley was actually alive or not. "I really don't have the patience for any games right now." She admits with a sigh as she places a hand on her hip.

"You know about Hayley." Davina responds, biting the inside of her cheek.

"I suspected, yeah." Grace tells her as she tilts her head. "What are you doing with her?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. It was curious to see what Davina even needed her for.

"I just needed her to send a message for me. In return, she is free from her curse."  Davina explains to her and Grace's eyes widen lightly at the news, a small smile on her face.

"You found a way to get rid of it?" Grace asks, knowing it had been difficult for the past few months to able to even relatively find a spell that would do it.

"Restrain it, to say the least." She corrects, since it wasn't fully gone as of right now.

"So, she is alive?" Grace questions, knowing Elijah was very worried that Hayley was one of the killed wolves.

"Yeah, she's alive."

"You could've told me." Grace says as she crosses her arms. She wasn't necessarily mad at Davina, she just wished she knew that's the reason why Hayley had disappeared.

"I'm sorry. But I just needed to focus, I wasn't even thinking." Davina admits with a sigh, tilting her head. She never intended got Grace to feel hurt, she just needed Hayleys help to keep the witches in line.

"Thank you, for helping her." Grace replies,  although it might have been for a different reason, she still brought Hayley back to her human form.

"I would say it was all in good faith, but that would be a lie." Davina admits with a sigh but Grace just shakes her head.

"Either way. She'll stay out of her wolf form?" She questions the young woman who smiles, nodding her head.

"She should, yes." Davina responds and she is instantly enveloped in Grace's arms as she pulls her in for a hug. Davina laughs lightly but hugs her back, holding the woman tightly.

☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎

GRACE WAKING UP TO SCREAMING WAS HONESTLY NOT SO SURPRISING TO HER ANYMORE. She just hated that her nap had gotten interrupted. Stretching her body, she makes her way out of the bedroom, only to hear Hayley's voice. It also didnt take a genius to know who it was directed towards. "My parents left me! Yours turned their backs on you! Look at us now, Klaus!" Hayley shouts at the man as she pushes the man back. Klaus just allows her to, not fighting back.

Grace just sees Hayley covered in blood as she glares towards Klaus. 'Niklaus!" She hears Elijah's voice shout from the courtyard. Which in Grace's mind didn't make sense since Hayley was the only one who was being physical right now.

"She deserves something better than what we had, and all I've ever wanted for her is something better!" Hayley explains to him as she punches the man, continuing to hit him. "Fight back! Fight back!" Hayley screams, becoming a bit out of control. Grace just shakes her head, moving over to the pair and grabbing a hold of Hayley's shoulder.

The sudden movement caused Hayley to turn abruptly and send her flying into the shelf beside them. Hayley gasps and covers her mouth as she sees that it was Grace who she had attacked. Klaus was now pissed, moving towards Grace quickly. "I-i--" Hayley starts to apologize, her words coming out erratic as her eyes were wide with shock.

"I'm fine." Grace responds as she brings her hand to her head, feeling pain whenever she touched it. Klaus had bent down besides her, his hands softly gripping her waist to help her stand up.

"Grace, I didn't know it--"

"Hayley, just stop." Grace snaps towards her as she shakes her head. She really just didn't need any apologies right now. Hayleys eyes go to something behind her so Grace turns her head, seeing that it was Hope walking towards them.

"She's walking. When did she start walking?" Hayley asks, her voice seeming broken as she moves over to her daughter. Grace felt bad that Hayley missed a few months of Hope's life but her behaviour was still out of control. "I missed it. I missed everything." She cries as she holds her daughter in her arms. Klaus just puts his hand on Grace's cheek, turning her head towards him.

"Love, are you okay?" He asks, his voice full of concern as his eyes look over her for injuries. Grace just nods, not really wanting him to worry about her.

"I'm okay, nik." Grace responds but it didnt seem like he believed her. He frowns as he goes to look at her head but she moves back. "Seriously,  I will live." She mutters before moving past him.

"What happened? Is the curse broken?" Jackson asks as they come down from the balcony. Hayley sighs as she just looks towards Jackson.

"I'll explain later. We're safe for now." Hayley tells him and he nods a little bit. Klaus just clasps his hands behind his back.

"Good for you. I'll have your bedroom made up." Klaus tells her and Grace could only sigh as she looks towards her fiance.

"Nik, please don't provoke her." She pleads, really not wanting to be in the middle of yet another turf war between the two.

"The only way that I will stay under your roof is if I'm in a coffin." Hayley snaps back as she holds Hope closer. Klaus only glares at her, narrowing his eyes.

"If you think I will allow Hope out of my protection for a second--"

"What you'll allow doesn't matter, Klaus. Welcome to a twenty first century custody battle. Moms win them now." Hayley retorts as she takes a step closer to the man, clearly not afraid of him or his threats. Grace rolls her eyes as she rubs her face, getting fed up with them.

"If I may." Elijah interjects, deciding to try and come to a peaceful agreement. "The apartments across the street have recently been renovated. I might pay a visit to the management. The fact that Hope will never be out of earshot should assuage your incessant paranoia." He explains as he looks towards his brother who only scoffs.

"So, we are to listen as my daughter is raised by savages?" Klaus questions Elijah, not liking his idea at all. But right now, Grace didn't care what idea they all liked or didn't like, none of this was helping.

"Enough!" Grace shouts at them, gaining all of their attention. She just scoffs as she shakes her head. "God, can you just listen to yourselves? You are fighting over a literal child who deserves both of her parents. You keep saying how you don't want it to be like how you were raised but that's literally how this is going." She snaps at both of them as her eyes flicker between Hayley and Klaus.

They dont dare say anything since they both knew never to interrupt Grace when she was angry. "Have neither of you heard about co-parenting? It really isn't that hard. But both of you can't bring down your ego and anger enough to decide what's best for Hope. You only ever care for yourselves." She tells them as she places her hands on her hips. Both of them think they are the better parent when it reality, it was neither of them.

"It's selfish and it's egomaniacal and it's affecting everyone in this goddamn family. So why don't you just get over yourselves?" She asks, fed up of the constant arguments between them over Hope. Neither of them were making a safe environment for their child. "Cause everything you're doing to make it better is actually making it worse, so please, stop." She sneers, glaring at the pair. They both just glance towards each other before looking down at the ground.

Grace lets out a sigh as she brushes her hair out of her face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go to the hospital." She tells them as she goes to walk past the group. Hayley stops her, grabbing her arm.

"Just let me-"

"Hayley, I swear." Grace snaps at her, ripping her arm from the woman's grasp. "As much as I have tried to help break your curse and was heartbroken thinking you were dead. That does not just make everything forgiven, do you understand me?" She asks the woman who reluctantly nods her head, although the pain was clear in her eyes.

Grace could only shake her head as she pushed through the group, leaving them to decide what to do about Hope since apparently everyone was the enemy.

☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎☕︎