Outside the front of the old plantation house, a car pulls up outside, a familiar blonde stepping out of the car. Four months had passed since Rebekah Mikaelson had heard from Elijah, and four months since she'd heard from Audrey either. She assumed after the protest she had put up, they'd decided to stop asking her to join them in New Orleans, but then they stopped answering the phone when she called them, which made her worry. For the whole summer, she'd managed to convince herself they'd pick up when they were ready, and focused on travelling with Matt. But when there still no word when they got back, she knew she no longer had a choice, and she made the journey to New Orleans. 

   With her phone pressed to her ear, Rebekah slams the car door closed as she gets out. "Elijah, if you and Audrey not answering your phones is part of your clever plan to get me back to this godforsaken city, then well done. I'm here, and I'm worried. Now pick up before I kick in your bloody door." She threatened, before she hung up and stormed inside. 

   Having heard something, Hayley stands on the stairs warily, clutching a fire iron in her hands. She raises a brow at the blonde who now stood in the hallway. "Who the hell are you?" 

   Rebekah just glanced at her. "Oh, you must be the maid. My bags are in the car. Get them, will you?"

   Smiling wryly, Hayley lowers the fire poker. "Hello. Not the maid."

   Rebekah blinked, realization setting in as she looked at the girl. "Right. You're that werewolf girl my brother, Klaus, knocked up." Her glanced to her stomach for a moment. "I was expecting to see some kind of supernatural, miracle baby bump. Guess you're not showing yet. It's Hayley, isn't it?"

   "You have your brothers manners." The Marshall girl noted.

   "And his temper, too, so watch it." Rebekah warned with narrowed eyes, before she glanced around the foyer. "Where's Elijah and Audrey?"

   "Beats me. He's long gone." Hayley shrugged.

   Rebekah looked at her carefully. "What do you mean, "long gone"?"

   "Well, one minute he was here making epic promises about protecting me in this predicament that a bottle of scotch and some bad decisions got me into – he was all poetic about how we're family – and then Klaus told me he bailed." Hayley told her, her words making a frown form on Rebekah's face. "Even left Audrey here too, like an ass. She's not really been the same since."

   The frown deepened at that. "Elijah is not just any vampire, and he doesn't break promises. He would especially not just abandon Audrey, he'd never do anything to hurt her." Anger appeared in her eyes, groaning as it became clear what had happened. "Which means Niklaus has done something dastardly and Klaus-like." Her voice turned into a shout. "Klaus! Get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!"

   A set of double doors opens, and Klaus walks out into the foyer, annoyance on his face. "Enough with all the shouting." He locked eyes with Rebekah. "Little sister, I should have known. I assume the six dead vampires were your doing?"

   "They were very rude." Rebekah defended. "Trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way to the Quarter. So sorry, were they friends of yours?" A smirk twitched at her lips, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh, that's right, you don't have any friends."

   Klaus looked unfazed by her words. "I do have friends. I have Marcel. You remember him, don't you?" Rebekah's face faltered only slightly, enough to make his own smirk appear. "Yes, of course you do. He fancies himself the 'King of the Quarter' now, and he has these rules about killing vampires. It'll be fun to see what sort of punishment he comes up with for you."

   "I don't care about Marcel or his rules." She snapped. "Elijah doesn't welch on deals, nor would he just abandon the love of his life. What did you do to him?"

   Klaus kept his face blank, shrugging. "Perhaps he's on holiday..." He offered. "Or taking a long autumn nap upstairs." He gestured around. "Well, go on. Take a look around. You remember this house as well as I."

   Rebekah looks at her brother. "I remember everything." She said firmly. "I remember how the drunken fool of a governor hid away all of our vampire sins in exchange for gold. I remember the lavish parties the governor threw, as if to impress you." Her eyes glanced around as she moved further inside, looking lost in the memories. "I remember finding a moment of affection with the governor's son, Emil. And I remember that even Elijah was happy." Her looks morphed into a glare. "And I remember how you ruined it."

   Klaus just shrugged. "Well, he wasn't good enough for you."

   "No one was ever good enough for me, Nik, you made sure of that." She shot back, before shaking her head. "Now, where is Elijah? And where the hell is Audrey?" Klaus doesn't answer as his phone begins to buzz, pulling it from his pocket to check it.  As he does, he begins to move toward the front door. "Where are you going?"

   "It appears the night isn't quite over yet." He informed her. "I'm off for another drink with Marcel."

   Rebekah crossed her arms. "Elijah told me about your plan to take apart Marcel's empire piece by piece. I don't remember it involving you two drinking New Orleans dry together."

   "I know you don't have many friends, Rebekah, but what some friends do when they get together is they drink. And when they drink, they tell secrets." He began, a condescending tone to his voice. "Marcel has somehow found a way to control the entirety of witches in the Quarter, and I aim to uncover the 'how' so I might take it for myself. Finding Elijah didn't make my to-do list today, nor did dealing Audrey's current tantrum." He rolled his eyes slightly, before pulling open the door to leave, pausing to glance at Rebekah over his shoulder. "Oh, and welcome home, little sister." And then he closes the door behind him. 

   Rebekah stares at the door for a moment, contemplating his words before she turns around, spotting Hayley sat on the stair landing. "You, wolf girl. I'm going to search this house inch by inch until I find what my evil brother has done to my good one. You're helping." She ordered, before clearing her voice to shout once again. "Audrey! You have ten seconds to show yourself before I drag you out kicking and screaming! Don't think I won't!"

   After a moment, both Rebekah and Hayley hear a door open and close, and Audrey soon appeared on the landing. Rebekah quickly realized what Hayley meant saying Audrey hadn't been herself since. Her usual smile was nowhere to be seen, looking like she hadn't slept due to the bags under her eyes, her fingers wrapped around the charm of her necklace tightly. Her eyes found Rebekah's, and she glanced around, checking to make sure no one else was around. To exact, to make Klaus wasn't around, before ran downstairs and into Rebekah's open arms. 

   And in that moment, Rebekah knew she wasn't leaving New Orleans until she'd found Elijah. For Audrey's sake if nothing else.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   In the four months since Audrey woke up, she hadn't spoken a word to Klaus. When she woke up that day, she woke up in one of the upstairs bedrooms, with Hayley waiting in a chair beside the bed. The Marshall girl asked if she was okay, going into detail about how Klaus told her what Elijah had done, and how the Gilbert girl had ended up crying herself to sleep. Audrey knew it was far from the truth, but she didn't try to correct Hayley, she just placed all her focus onto trying to find Elijah. She'd searched every area of the house she could think of, but the coffins were nowhere to be found. Klaus tried to talk to her, but Audrey wasn't interested, not unless he was going to bring Elijah back. So she ignored him, and avoided being in the same room from him if she could help it, and eventually Klaus stopped trying.

   She was angry with him, and that wasn't going to change any time soon.

   Finding Elijah was one of the only reasons she stayed in New Orleans. She just kept thinking about finding him, and going to Paris like they had planned to do months ago. Deep down, she knew Paris wasn't going to happen now. They'd made a promise to Hayley, and despite what Klaus had done, Elijah wouldn't give up on his brother. But the thought helped her get through the days without him. Over the course of the four months, Audrey hadn't really spoken to anyone but Hayley. She'd ignored Rebekah's calls, knowing the last place the Mikaelson girl wanted to be was in New Orleans. She'd also ignored Caroline, she didn't want her to worry about her. She knew how excited Caroline was now they were graduated, and she knew she'd spend the summer preparing to move into Whitmore. If Caroline knew what had happened, she insist on coming down to New Orleans to help, and she didn't want her put her life on hold for her. 

   Of course, the lack of a response didn't stop Caroline trying. She got daily missed calls and messages from her, filling her in on everything that had happened in Mystic Falls since she left. In the end, Elena had chosen to be with Damon, after the brothers got her humanity back on. She'd also ended up force feeding Katherine the cure, after the Pierce woman tried to kill her the night of graduation. Bonnie had brought Jeremy back to life, though no one was sure how she'd managed to do it. Apparently, both Elena and Jeremy wanted to reach out to Audrey, but neither of them were sure if she wanted to hear from them. Audrey wasn't bothered by it. If they really wanted to reach out to her, there wouldn't be any hesitation, despite how things had been left between them, and things with them was the last thing that was on Audrey's mind.

   Rebekah turning up gave Audrey a glimmer of hope. 

   "The governor had lots of secret rooms. I'll show you his favorite." Rebekah led Audrey and Hayley through a secret door, down a spiral staircase. 

   The staircase took them down into a cellar, that was dark and covered in cobwebs, somewhere Audrey hadn't came across during her many searches. The second her eyes found the coffins, she moved forward to find Elijah's, as Hayley paused in disbelief. "You think Klaus killed him."

   "We can't be killed, silly girl." Rebekah dismissed, shaking her head. "That doesn't stop Klaus from finding ways to torture us. He has a set of mystical silver daggers. One in the heart sends us into a deep slumber. Klaus gets his jollies from keeping us in a box, until he decides to pull the dagger out. That's what he's done to Elijah." She brushed the dust off the top of the one in front of her. "This one's mine."

   Hayley blinked. "He keeps your coffins on standby?"

   Rebekah just nodded. "He likes to be prepared for when his family members inevitably disappoint him. Elijah's isn't here – he must've stashed him elsewhere."

   Audrey gritted her teeth, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "What the hell has he done with him?!"

   "Hey." Rebekah took her by the shoulders, looking at her calmly. "We'll find him."

   Hayley looked at the coffins uneasily. "I feel sick." 

   "Welcome to the family, love." Rebekah mused, glancing over at her. "You should have run the second you realized Elijah was gone."

   "Yeah, well, the witches have some fort of hex on me." The werewolf said with a sigh. "As long as I'm carrying this baby, I can't leave New Orleans. If I do, they kill me."

   "Well, knowing Klaus, he's planning a box for you the second you give birth to whatever's cooking in your tum." Rebekah told her bluntly, making the color drain from Hayley's face. "I'm leaving as soon as I find Elijah. Being daggered in a box for decades sucks, trust me. You'd best find a way to break that hex and run." She looks at Audrey. "I'll call you when I know something, okay?" She promised, before made her way back upstairs. 

   Audrey let out a deep sigh, rubbing her face with her hands before she turned to head back upstairs, Hayley following closely behind her. "Why didn't you tell me?" Hayley asks after a moment. "You just let me believe what Klaus said about him."

   "You've got enough to be dealing with, don't you think?" Audrey glanced over her shoulder at her. "I thought I would have been able to find him long before now, I didn't see the point in telling you."

   "But all of this, it--"

   "Normal." Audrey finally turned to her. "For me? All of this is normal. I've been through this before, Hayley. It nearly killed me last time." Hayley froze at that. "I know how to deal with it. You, however, don't need to. Just focus on yourself and the baby." With that, Audrey walked away, leaving Hayley to think over everything she and Rebekah had said to her. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   Klaus and Rebekah returned a few hours later, a silent Hayley with them. Audrey called Rebekah when she saw Hayley had vanished, knowing it couldn't be good after the conversation downstairs. She found the three stood outside, Klaus putting together a pile of bodies in the middle of the courtyard, Rebekah and Hayley stood watching quietly. Escaping into the Quarter, Hayley had managed to attract the attention of Marcel's vampires, who would have killed her if Rebekah hadn't got there first. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stood on the porch steps, resting against the railing as watched what was going on. 

   "This is why I told you never to leave the house." Klaus announced to Hayley, who looked down. "Werewolves are banned in the Quarter. I had a plan, and your little nighttime stroll put it all in peril! Leave him!" He snaps, stopping Rebekah who was moving toward the pile of bodies, having heard one of the vampires in it still alive. "You've done enough, don't you think? Leaving a trail of bodies like a road map to my door?"

   Rebekah scoffed in disbelief. "If I hadn't overheard this lot bragging about werewolf heads, everyone here would be screwed." She pointed out to him. "And don't give me that crap about having a plan. You've had all the time in the world to execute a plan, and no one's seen you do a damn thing! Elijah made a deal to protect your child, so that it could save you from your selfish, rotten self. But you obviously don't give a damn about the child or Elijah, because what have you done to honor it?" 

   Klaus grew quickly annoyed with her accusations. "I have done everything!"

   "What?" Audrey finally spoke up, glaring at him. "Other than dagger him for trying to help you. What have you done, Klaus?"

   "Let me spell it out for you, shall I?" His eyes darted between Rebekah and Audrey. "From the day I arrived, Marcel hasn't trusted me. From day one, he's had his vampire ingest toxic vervain which, as you both know, protects them from my mind control." He roughly grabs the living vampire, pulling from the pile to the floor, making him groan. "I needed a spy, someone on the inside with me who Marcel would never suspect. So, I created a day zero and got there first." He narrowed his eyes on his sister. "Marcel had just lost six vampires, thanks to your little murder spree, and he needed new recruits. So, I made the new one mine, before he'd had even a drop of vervain. But we all know the real way to a man is through his heart, so, I compelled the nice bartender he fancies to be my way in." Bending down, he gripped the vampire by the collar of his shirt, walking ahead and dragging him behind him. "And this one – I'm gonna drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah, so that he can explain to Marcel why he lost three more vampires tonight." The three girls follow as he drags the vampire inside, dumping him on the ground and turning to look at them. "Does anyone have any more questions? No? Good, because I have a question. Hayley, what were you doing in the bloody French Quarter in the first place?" She just looks away from him, and Klaus raises his voice. "Answer me!"

   Rebekah stepped in front of Hayley. "Leave her be." She warned her brother.

   Hayley just stepped around her, looking at the hybrid. "You wanna know what I was doing?" She challenged. "I was buying poison, so I could put your little baby out of its misery."

   Suddenly, Klaus rushes and grips her tightly by the neck, pining her against the wall. Hayley chokes for air, as Rebekah and Audrey quickly intervened. "Nik! NIK!" Rebekah shouted, as they managed to pull him off, Rebekah keeping him away as Audrey helped Hayley. 

   "You're okay." Audrey assured Hayley, rubbing her back as she coughed and spluttered, rubbing her throat. "You're okay."

   "Keep your hands off her!" Rebekah snapped in disbelief. "She is pregnant, for God's sake. All this bluster about not wanting the child, and then the second she tells you she's ready to get rid of it?" Her face softened as she saw the emotions welling in Klaus's eyes. "It's okay to care. It's okay to want something. That's all Elijah was trying to do, all he's ever wanted for you. All we've ever wanted."

   Klaus slowly sat down on the stairs, looking slightly numb at being confronted with his emotions. Rebekah silently takes a seat beside him, and after a moment, Klaus glances from her to Audrey. "I gave Elijah to Marcel."

   Audrey felt her heart drop. "What?"

   "Marcel was nervous. It's bad enough one Original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so... I gave him a peace offering." He explained to them. 

   Rebekah looks at him incredulously. "You bartered our brother?"

   "I have a plan. Gain Marcel's trust, dismantle his empire, honor Elijah's wish that that baby be born. I am executing that plan the only way I know how. If you don't like it, there's the door. See if I care." He muttered, rising to his feet to walk away. 

   "What about me?" Audrey's voice cracked, making him pause in his steps. "We were happy. We..." She felt tears fall. "You know more than anyone everything I've been through, and you've taken away the one thing that made it all worth it." She shook her head. "Not only did you give away your brother, Klaus, but you lost me too. You lost me the second you snapped my neck again."

   Rebekah looked shocked at that. "You snapped her neck?"

   "Audrey, I--" Audrey didn't let him finish, brushing past him and running upstairs, the door to her bedroom slamming shut behind her.

And we're into The Originals!

I am so excited for this book, you have no idea. What I have planned...it's gonna be a bumpy ride for Audrey. Obviously, she's not doing great at the moment. She's mad at Klaus, understandably, and all she wants is to have Elijah back. Expect a few updates for this over the next couple of days, I really enjoy writing for The Originals, and I'm ready to dive into this new journey for Audrey. 

I hope you all enjoyed!