◤ 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓: ❛ save
yourself ❜ ◢

✧

MEETING KLAUS AGAIN DID NOT GO AS SHE HAD EXPECTED IT TO. Really, she expected that her head would be detached from her body her or heart ripped from her chest, maybe even a kidnapping as he brought her into a torture chamber to live out the rest of her days as a punishment for betraying him, not this. Not living in his debt as he tried to reclaim New Orleans for her friend and making her go along with it and help him.

          No, that was the last thing she would expect, because Klaus Mikaelson didn't do mercy, didn't give people second chances, though she supposed that this wasn't really a second chance or mercy because he wasn't letting her get away; he was just allowing her to live while she helped him take control of the city that he once called his.

          And it was simple, really: she was his man on the inside. Marcel trusted her, but he only trusted her with so much. In his eyes, she was still a human who had a good connection with the witches and now a good relationship with the vampires thanks to him bringing her in under his wing. Maybe one day, he would be able to change her into a vampire if she was good enough. That was his thought process, probably anyway, so while he trusted her, his day walkers knew a lot more than she did.

          Maybe Klaus thought if she seemed to cozy on up to him, so would Marcel, but she doubted that would be the case either. She was close to the witches and Marcel didn't like them anymore than he had before her arrival. He still saw them as a threat to his power, and he wasn't wrong because some of them were already planning an uprising.

          God, this was all the witches' faults. If they hadn't dragged the Originals back into town then she wouldn't be in this mess. She could still be friendly and lying to Marcel but in a different way and living her life without a care because there was no way the Mikaelsons would find her in New Orleans. Yeah, right. Now, she knew how wrong she was.

          But Sophie, Amelia, and the others had a different. They wanted an uprising, they wanted the Harvest carried out, and they wanted the Mikaelsons back in town to help. The most surprising fact of it all was that Klaus was going to be a dad, not that he had told her himself.

          Well, not through words, but he had moved her to where he was staying because he wanted eyes on her at all times, so there she met Hayley. The girl was nice, young and naïve and so innocent to everything, but she was nice. She kept asking for Elijah, which was odd because Marisol didn't even know that her old flame (old manipulator who was just helping Klaus kill her in a ritual, she had to remind herself) was in town because he was nowhere to be seen.

          But even Klaus seemed to recognize that he had been there, saying that now that he had accepted his role as a father Elijah left because his job was complete. Marisol couldn't pass judgement because it wasn't like she really know Elijah at all, even if a long time ago she thought that she had.

          Really, she was just glad that he did leave because she would hate to see him. It had been centuries without him and their last meeting hadn't been the friendliest, and then her whole involvement with him ended with the death of Magnus and her subsequent cursing, so no. She didn't want to Elijah ever again.

          Seeing Klaus scared her before, it was a nightmare knowing that he would kill or torture her or even kill Magnus if he found them together. But seeing Elijah again was hell, it was her worst fear, because while she knew that he would not murder her like Klaus or the others would, Elijah was someone she trusted. He was someone she could have loved with a little more time and if she allowed herself to feel that way, and then she found out that was all a lie.

          He was just using her, betraying her trust, and for that she never wanted to see him again even if something in her heart tugged for him. No, that was a long time ago, an old manipulator of her heart, so she was glad that he decided to leave.

          Hayley seemed to be settling into her new life well. It was an adjustment, of course, realizing that you were carrying the child of probably the most feared man in the supernatural world and every vampire in town wanted her dead if they found out about her existence, but she seemed to be handling it well on the outside. And even though it wasn't part of her agreement with Klaus (or what he ordered of her, really, because it wasn't like she had a choice even if he presented it that way), she found herself helping Hayley in every way she could.

          "So, how did you meet Klaus?" Hayley asked her as she straightened up her room. If she was going to be staying there, she might as well get comfortable and make it place she wanted to stay even though she always wanted to run out of the house.

          Part of her felt like lying to Hayley, mostly because she was so used to it. She was always lying about something these days. Whether it be her name, her job, her family, or her status as a human, something was always changed from the real Marisol Bigora.

          But, as the thought passed through her brain, she had to shake it away because if she lied, Klaus would surely tell the truth and wouldn't leave any kindness towards her in it. He would be sure to paint her as a villain who thwarted his plans and wouldn't let him kill her in a ritual so that he could be a hybrid, and really she didn't want to tell with that, so she sighed before turning to Hayley.

          "I met him and his siblings about five hundred years ago," she said honestly.

          Hayley's eyes widened at the information, like she hadn't expected that to be the answer. "You're a vampire?" she whispered and Marisol cracked a smile.

          That was always the thought, not that she ever told people her age very often. She knew she didn't look a day over thirty, and honestly it was rude to ask a woman her age so she didn't get the question often. She shook her head at Hayley. "No, I'm a werewolf, just like you," she flashed her eyes to show Hayley that they were the same creature, but Hayley still took a step back.

          "Your eyes...they're blue," she pointed out, because it wasn't like you saw a wolf with blue eyes every day. No, they were yellow, but hers were a vibrant blue.

          "They used to be like yours – a yellow, I'm sure," Marisol nodded towards her, "But, well, it comes back to the same reason I'm still alive today; I pissed off a witch and got cursed. Not only did that curse make me live forever, or close enough to it anyway, it made my eyes turn blue and my scent as a wolf to wash away. It's very off-putting to others."

          Hayley nodded. "So...you don't seem like you're really friends with Klaus, but you're helping him?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to overstep her boundaries but wanting that information which Klaus wouldn't tell her.

          "You noticed?" Marisol asked, a bit of amusement in her tone, "Yeah, we didn't exactly leave on good terms. As you know, Klaus is a hybrid, and five hundred years ago he was about to break that curse. I was friends with the doppelganger, Katerina Petrova, and one night she came to me saying how Klaus wanted to sacrifice her to break this curse, which I already knew about through a story Klaus told me when I went to their house for dinner one night. I helped her escape and then I left myself because, well, Klaus needed a werewolf and here I was..."

          She smiled, motioning to herself near the end, painting the picture with as soft of a brush as she could and not getting into the details. Hayley didn't need to know about her old affair with Elijah, or how she didn't really help Katerina escape – Trevor did – because if she went to Klaus to verify he would probably say something about how the two of them helped Katerina together. Also, she really didn't want to tell anyone about how she had been tricked by Elijah.

          That was in the past, so in the past it would remain.        

          Hayley nodded. "I'm sorry, then," she said, but Marisol shook off the little bit of sympathy.

          "And after I met them I got cursed, and then here I was in New Orleans when Klaus found me. So, well, I'm really just here now because I don't have a choice. It's this or death, or torture, and I really don't feel like going through that," Marisol grimaced, remembering her own experience in a torture chamber before. It was not fun and she really didn't feel like reliving that.

          The younger werewolf moved more into the room. "So, Klaus asked you to protect me and the baby?" she asked for clarification.

          Marisol shook her head. "No, he wants me to help him take over New Orleans from Marcel, which sucks because I happen to like Marcel. But, yeah, I'm hoping at the very least he won't kill Marcel."

          "Then why have you been so kind to me? I mean, it's not he's forcing you to..."

          The cursed wolf softened, stepping forward to meet Hayley. "Even though Klaus is a dick, I'm not extending my dislike for him onto you. That's not fair and you've done nothing wrong just because you went into bed with him without protection. Big mistake, but not your fault. Plus, maybe I just remember being young like you and jumping into the world of the Mikaelsons."

          Hayley nodded at the information she gave, seeming to accept it and happy with the answer that her kindness wasn't just coming from a place of having to be kind but wanting to instead.

          Marisol opened her mouth to say something else when she heard from outside, "Elijah, if not answering your phone 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."

          "Shit, looks like we've got company," Marisol gave Hayley a grim smile, knowing just how this reunion was going to go. They left on good terms, but that didn't mean she expected a warm welcome from Rebekah.

          She went out of her room with Hayley following after her, to the staircase to see Rebekah entering the house. "Who the hell are you?" Hayley asked, taking the initiative.

          Rebekah looked at her, but didn't seem to notice Marisol hanging in the background, because she casually said, "Oh, you must be the maid. My bags are in the car – get them, will you?"

          "Right," Rebekah nodded, "You're that werewolf girl my brother, Klaus, knocked up. I was expecting to see some kind of supernatural, miracle baby bump. Guess you're not showing yet. It's Hayley, isn't it?"

          Hayley nodded, commenting, "You have your brother's manners."

          "And his temper, too, so watch it," the Original said to her.

          Marisol sighed to herself, deciding that hiding in the shadows wasn't an option anymore. "Well, if you have the same temper, then go ahead and get the choking me against the wall over with," she presented herself with a dramatic flair.

          "Marisol," Rebekah snarled, racing up to her and placing her right against the nearest wall, holding her neck just as Marisol predicted she would, "What the hell are you doing here?"

          "Ask your brother," Marisol gritted out, clawing against the vampire.

          Rebekah held her there for another moment before releasing her, allowing Marisol to catch her breath. "I know you can't mean Klaus with that, so where the hell is Elijah?"

          "Beats me," Hayley answered for her, "He's long gone."

          Rebekah looked back at Marisol for confirmation, not believing that Marisol could still be here and Elijah not. "I haven't seen him," she told the blonde, "And it was Klaus who forced me to be here, not Elijah."

          "What do you mean?" Rebekah asked for clarification.

          "Well," Hayley took it as the question was directed for her, crossing her arms as she looked up to the staircase where the two other women were standing, "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. Guess that's what I get for trusting a vampire."

          Marisol had to look away when Hayley mentioned the grand gestures and words Elijah used on her. He never did that with her, never promised her a family or a life with the two of them living happily ever after, and it made her sad to compare what was an affair with a brother helping out the woman his brother got pregnant.

          It was just further confirmation that everything between them five hundred years ago was a total and complete lie.

          "Elijah is not just any vampire, and he doesn't break promises," Rebekah shook her head, "Which means Niklaus has done something dastardly and Klaus-like. Klaus!" she began walking around the house, loudly calling for her brother's attention, "Get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!"

          A pair of double doors opened, revealing the dramatic hybrid. "Enough with the shouting. Little sister, I should have known. I assume the six dead vampires were your doing?"

          "They were very rude," Rebekah defended her actions, and Marisol had to keep from rolling her eyes at the petty attitude and killing so many vampires. That was going to put a damper on Marcel's mood and wouldn't make her job with Klaus any easier. "Trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way to the Quarter. So sorry, were they friends of yours? Oh, that's right, you don't have any friends."

          It seemed that Rebekah just loved to antagonize her brother, reveling in how he twitched at the little jab.

          "I do have friends. I have Marcel," Marisol wanted to scoff because he was currently planning on destroying his friend, though it wasn't like she was any better since she was helping him, "You remember him, don't you? 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," even though she did look particularly affected by the mention of the man, "Elijah doesn't welch on deals. What did you do to him?"

          "Perhaps he's on holiday...or taking a long autumn nap upstairs," Klaus shrugged, casually evading the question and his knowledge to the answer, "Well, go on. Take a look around. You remember this house as well as I."

          Rebekah, who was leaving the room, turned around to say, "I remember everything," before finally making it out of there.

          Marisol turned to the hybrid, "Fun family reunion right there."

          "Aren't they always?" Klaus shrugged, and she rolled her eyes.

          She didn't know what Klaus had done with Elijah, and frankly, she didn't want to. As long as he wasn't around, she didn't have to deal with him and everything left unsaid, so she had to thank him for that. While having Klaus back controlling her life was such a problem, at least she didn't have to deal with an old flame.

          She left the room herself, going up to her room again to bring in her belongings and truly move in. At least here she wouldn't have to pay rent, though it wasn't like doing so before had hurt her bank account any. She heard Rebekah and Klaus arguing a bit more downstairs with Klaus ending it as he left the house to go drink with Marcel, and she tried to quench her guilt of betraying her friend through knowing that two powerful groups were planning his demise now.

          Klaus Mikaelson, who was a force of nature by himself, and the witches both wanted him gone, and Marisol knew that yet she wasn't planning on stopping it. Instead, she was helping it, and she hated that this was yet another thing she had to lie to him about. Her identity was one thing, but this was a lot graver and a lot less forgiving.

          She left her room as Klaus slammed the door, seeing Hayley sitting on the stairwell still and Rebekah with an incredibly annoyed expression on her face. The blonde vampire looked up to them and said, "You, wolf girl, and Marisol. I'm going to search this house inch by inch until I find what my evil brother has done to my good one. You two are helping."

          Marisol almost groaned, because the last thing she wanted to do was help search for the man she wanted to avoid for the rest of her life and however long that would be, but she would play nice and not just because she didn't think Rebekah would throw her against the wall again if she disobeyed.

          Since Rebekah knew all the ins and outs of the house better than the two of them who had only been staying there for a short period of time, she led the way until they were going down a spiral staircase into a deep and dark underground area.

          "The governor had lots of secret rooms," Rebekah informed them, having mentioned before that this used to be the governor's house when they lived there before, "I'll show you his favorite."

          At the bottom of the stairwell there was a dusty, old cellar room with coffins waiting inside. "Well, that's just morbid," Marisol commented when she saw them, because she knew that this wasn't like the myth of vampires sleeping in coffins, but Klaus putting other people into them.

          "You think Klaus killed him," Hayley noted, looking at Rebekah.

          "We can't be killed, silly girl," Rebekah corrected her, "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 must be what he's done to Elijah."

          Then, she stopped in front of one of the coffins and in a bit of a strangled voice, managed, "This one's mine."

          "He keeps your coffin on standby," Hayley said incredulously, not believing that anyone could be so dark and twisted, though Marisol honestly couldn't put it past him.

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

          Marisol looked at the other coffins. "That's where Finn must've been before," she said, looking at the intricate details of the coffins differentiating them, "What did he do to disappoint Klaus?"

          "Honestly, you think I can keep up?" Rebekah asked, "And yeah, it was."

          She sounded a bit sad at the mention of her brother, and Marisol had to give her a curious look before remembering that she had heard that two of the Originals had finally been killed. Finn and Kol on separate dates. And while she wouldn't admit it anywhere near the family members, she might have rejoiced a bit (or a lot) when she heard the news that Kol had been killed. Really, it was justice just being served if you asked her.

          "I feel sick," Hayley whispered, looking at the coffins with the knowledge that her baby daddy put some of his family members into them.

          "Welcome to the family, love," Rebekah shrugged, no compassion for the young girl, "You should've run the second you realized Elijah was gone."

          "Yeah, well, the witches have put some sort of hex on me. As long as I'm carrying this baby, I can't leave New Orleans. If I do, they kill me," Hayley informed her.

          Rebekah sighed. "Well, knowing Klaus, he's planning a box for you the second you give birth to whatever's cooking in your tum. 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."

          Then, she went to leave the room, the two werewolves alone behind her. Marisol reached out calmly to grab Hayley's arm. "Come on, it's late. We should head to bed," she said softly, hoping to calm the young girl.

          She remembered how terrified she was when she was young and alone. Especially after her run in with the Mikaelsons, knowing that nothing would ever be the same for her and she couldn't be a normal person anymore; she had to run. And, if Hayley followed Rebekah's advice, so would she after she ran away from Klaus.

          And there would be nothing that Marisol could do then to help, but at least right now she could help calm the young girl and be the rock she needed in this desperate time.

✧

          THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Rebekah left the house early to go take care of some business while Klaus had left so that he could continue to woo Marcel and get into his good graces again, leaving Marisol with Hayley.

          She stuck a fork through a strawberry, scrolling through her phone mindlessly as she brought the fruit to her mouth, crunching down on it before repeating the process before Hayley came into the room and sat down beside her.

          Even before a mindless introduction, the younger wolf turned to her and said, "I need some help."

          Interested, Marisol raised an eyebrow and had to ask, "With what?"

          Hayley sighed, a shaky breath going out as if she was gathering the courage before turning back to the cursed wolf. "Do you know where I could buy some wolfsbane?" she asked in a low voice, even though they were alone now.

          Marisol frowned at the question. "What do you need wolfsbane for? You know, most wolves would want to stay far away from it, not go looking after it."

          "I've been thinking about what Rebekah said. If I stay here and have the child, Klaus is just going to kill me right after and I don't wanna die. I don't want him to kill me, and it's not like he even wants to be a dad or I want to be a mom. Having a family was never apart of my life goal, so it would just be better for everyone involved if I take some wolfsbane and, well..."

          "Kill the baby," Marisol finished gravely, "You want an abortion."

          "I want to save my life," Hayley corrected her, "I don't want Klaus to kill me and I don't want to stay in this town because this child and the witches aren't letting me. And if saving myself means killing the child...I just don't know what else to do."

          Marisol sighed. She wanted to help Hayley, she did, because it wasn't fair that she was being forced into all of this and if an abortion was her way out, she should take it. Take it and run far away from New Orleans and the Mikaelsons and never look back. But, at the same time, helping Hayley could mean the end of her own life if that angered Klaus enough.

          But, well, she had lived long enough, right? And it's not like she would actually die because of the stupid curse Ophelia placed on her. This could do more harm than good, she knew that, but it could also be Hayley's only salvation.

          So, she turned to Hayley with hesitation, "I think I know a place, but you'll have to go alone."

          The breath of relief from Hayley was enough to make it all worth it.