Hidden | Elijah Mikaelson |

1.0 Peace

My eyes suddenly opened and I sat up with a gasp, looking around. My eyes tried to adjust to the bright light around me and soon I realized I was lying in the middle of the woods. I slowly pushed myself to stand, still weak from whatever Celeste did to me. I had absolutely no idea where I was. Did she really just dump me out in the middle of nowhere and leave me here to die?

I searched for my phone, but it she must've taken it when I was knocked out. I looked down at my torn clothes and winced at the sight of a nasty scratch just above my knee. I had no idea how that got there, but I'm guessing Celeste was to blame for that, too. I swear, whenever I got the hell back to New Orleans, I was gonna kick her ass.

There were leaves and dried blood in my hair, and I only imagined how dirty I looked right now. I went to take a step, but my leg throbbed in so much pain that I almost fell down. This was going to be rough trying to get out of here while my leg felt like this. Regardless, I took off my jacket and tried it around the top of my leg, trying to stop some of the bleeding so I didn't die. I wasn't sure if that would actually do anything, or if it didn't even matter because it could've been infected and I was about to die anyway. But I wasn't going to just give up and wait out here when my friends were in trouble.

I picked a random direction and started walking in it, having to limp because of my leg. The pain was terrible at first, so much that I almost had to stop and lie down again, but eventually, I grew numb to the feeling. My adrenaline took over and I realized that if I didn't keep walking, I might die out here.

Eventually, I came up to a lake that expanded for what seemed like a mile. Either this was a good thing and I maybe could find someone who lived out here, or I was just walking even further into the bayou. I decided to walk along the edge of the lake, hoping it would bring me to a house or cabin or something.

The sky slowly started to get darker and I tried to pick up the pace, not wanting to be out here by myself at night. It felt like I had been walking for hours. I guess Celeste thought it was funny to leave me out here to wander around and eventually die. I just hoped that Elijah and the others were okay. Who knows what they could've been going through while I've been out here asleep?

I heard a twig snap in front of me and slowed to a stop. A black and white wolf walked out from behind the trees, stopping to stand a few feet in front of me. His orange eyes stared back at me, and I felt a strange sense of relief. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. He eventually turned around, wanting me to follow him. I started walking again, feeling a little better that I wasn't out here by myself. My leg still burned and my entire body was achy, but at least I wasn't alone.

We continued walking for a little while until I could hear people talking in the distance. Oh, thank God. I picked up my pace, completely ignoring the pain in my leg, and broke through the tree line to see a few people surrounding a fire. There was a cabin on the lake behind them, and there were some others on the dock. I had actually found people! I wasn't out here by myself, just wandering around lost and waiting to die.

"Addie?" I heard someone call my name, and I refocused to see Hayley running towards me. I cried out in relief as she crushed me with a hug, her swollen belly pressing against my torso as she pulled me close. "What happened? We thought you were—"

"I don't know," I shook my head as we broke apart. "Celeste put some kind of spell on me. I just woke up and started walking. If it wasn't for him, I probably would've never found you guys..." I turned around so she could see the wolf standing behind me.

"Thank you," she told him with a smile. He must've been able to understand her, because he nodded, then trotted off into the darkness. "That was Jackson. He and the others have been out looking for you," she explained, turning back to me.