Last flame | Hayley Marshall

𝟷.𝟼: 𝙵𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝙾𝚏 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚛𝚎𝚎 (6)

-Narrator's perspective-

Nervous. Nervous was how Danielle was feeling. She's spent years learning how to seal her feelings away- hide it from her siblings, who had more urgent problems. But now, despite her best efforts, She's pacing left and right inside her room.

Danielle hasn't slept, kept up most of the night because of Hayley, who was reading Elijah's journal. Her mind and thoughts were all over the place while. Even so, that she didn't notice the sun rise up.

Now who knows what Hayley was doing. All she could hear was her soft breathing, steady heartbeat, as well as the baby in her stomach. That was all she could hear day and night.

Who knows what Klaus has been hearing all night. The occurring footsteps that was going back and forth, coming from his sister's room. He didn't ask and decided to just deal with it the next day.

For Elijah, however, he couldn't sleep with the rapid footsteps. It almost took every ounce of his strength not to go and ask Danielle what was occupying her mind. But, he did hear everything about Hayley and his sister's conversation.

He didn't mind that they were reading his journal. Elijah was more worried about what Hayley will read about the female hybrid. It was all horrific things, some good, but mostly very violent things.

New Orleans, 1919

Today, this very date, has now been one of the most terrifying night my family has experienced. I found Saraphina in the compound with many dead bodies surrounding her. Nobody knows why she massacred half of New Orleans. Not even Niklaus, Not even Me. Why is she like this? Has Kol not taught her anything about losing control in the bloodlust? However, I saw something beneath my sister's eyes. An ask for help. She was pleading behind that cold and stern look she always wore around us. Saraphina will still be saved. I know it. But I don't know who and when.

Danielle sighed, stopped walking when she heard reoccurring footsteps about to go to her. She flinched and waited in front of her opened curtained window until whoever it was came to her.

"Saraphina." The voice was familiar, and only one person called her by the second name. Elijah opened the door, seeing his sibling by the window.

She looked more energetic yet, restless at the same time, which confused him.

"Yes, Elijah?" She asked, hands behind her back while she narrowed her eyes down to her brother who looked at her with a skeptic look.

"Have you not slept?" He questioned, closing the door behind him, and made his way to her bed to sit down.

Danielle hummed, not really knowing what to say to those words. "That depends on what night you're talking about." She snarked half heartedly causing Elijah to frown.

"What kept you up at night?" Elijah asked, watching how Danielle kept looking around, refusing to meet his gaze. "Saraphina?" He questioned, called moreover.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Elijah." She assured, not exactly lying, since it does not need to concern Elijah of this one.

"If anything that makes my little sister up at night, is my concern." He stated as a matter of fact, looking at how Danielle's eyes flickered to him and back to the ground for a split second.
"If you want to know, Hayley told me wonderful things about what you've done for her."

Danielle exhaled, knowing that Elijah knows of her latest problem today.

"I've done everything you want me to do. I protected her, okay?" She said, and a certain memory of Hayley getting shot by an arrow lingered in her head. "Except for that one night when the witches jumped us."

"So I've heard. The baby's blood healed her." Elijah said, still didn't know why his sibling looked pissed. "What's wrong? You did everything you could to help and protect Hayley."

She shook her head, sitting down on the opposite side of the bed from where he is. "I watched her take an arrow. I couldn't do anything- Nothing, at all." She frustratingly said, closing her eyes for a second to control her anger.

"That wasn't your fault, Danielle." He counteracted, seeing how the hybrid was fighting inside her own thoughts. "There are some things we can't do and some things we don't have control over. The latter has always been our number one problem."

She sighed, putting her pillow against her face, even so she spoke. "But I am powerful, Elijah. I've taken many hits throughout our lifetime- I could have prevented that." Danielle stopped, tossing the feather of the pillow besides her.

"Trust me, dear sister, Hayley does not blame you for that." Elijah did his best to comfort the girl, which only did so little so much. "I've never seen you like this before." He said with full amusement in his tone, clearly interested in more of this.

"Like what?" She retorted, oblivious to the vampire's looks that was sent to her.

"Like you care for her. Deeply than what you thi-"

"-I'm gonna have to stop you there, brother." She interrupted, a huge flush of denial hit her so hard. "I only... I only felt the need to protect her because you said so."

Elijah furrowed his eyebrows, taken aback and confused. "Sister, you and I both know that's a lie." He said soothingly, eyes narrowing to the female Mikaelson who stayed silent. "It's okay to care. I know that these centuries of us living in this world has been hard for you. Our family has stuck by each other- more so than you. I wished that you found someone to comply on, someone of you to cherish with. But it didn't
happen until today."

This time, Danielle's mind went blank. She shook her head, pushing herself to stand up.

"Saraphina." Elijah called, standing up as well when he saw how lost the girl looked.

"I need breakfast. Not entirely craving for eggs and bacon this morning." She said, grabbing her jacket that hung on the chair and wearing it. "Do you wanna come?"

With no hesitation, Elijah opened the door for her to go first, and the two left.

"So this is what you do the first time we're back together as a family. Vampire book club." Rebekah came in the room, finding her three siblings reading books and sitting on the couches.

With Elijah having a simple smile on his face while he read, Klaus looking at him with pure amusement. Only Danielle was too unbothered and sat beside Nik, reading one of her favorite copy of Elijah's collection of books.

All in while, two dead bodies are on the coffee table, one on the ground, drained of blood.

"Reading edifies the mind, sister. Isn't that right, Danielle, Elijah?" Klaus simply asked the two.

"For once, you're right, Nik." The female hybrid chimed in, not bother looking up to see how Klaus reacted because he grinned, as expected.

"Yes. That's quite right, Niklaus." Elijah said as well, but this time he looked up to look at Rebekah, who looked done for all of them.

"And what's this business?" She pointed at the dead bodies, clearly long gone by now. No more use of trying to shove their bloods in their system to heal them.

Elijah held his index finger up. "This is a peace offering."

"I presumed, after so much time desiccating in a coffin, that my big brother might be a bit peckish." Klaus snarked.

"So I explained to my little brother that forgiveness cannot be bought. I'd simply prefer to see a change in behavior that indicates contrition and personal growth..." He trailed off, continued to flip a page, and looked back up. "...Not this nonsense."

"Well, I couldn't very well let her go to waste, could I?" Klaus spoke of and turned to Danielle, who was silent the entire time. "I'm not always one to blame."

Danielle simply waved her hand off him, continued to be unbothered and crossed her legs, reading further into her book.

"Well, I suppose I'll fetch the rubbish bin because she's staining a 200-year-old carpet." Rebekah said simply and took the book off her sister's hand. "You're helping." She took the book with her, tossing it somewhere.

Danielle still had her hands in the air, confused but still, stood up to help. She did what she could, placing a very deceased girl by the collar of her shirt while dragging a whole mess.

When she washed her hands in the sink, clearly done her part of cleaning the mess she made, she heard footsteps occur behind her. Danielle secretively glanced side wards, seeing Hayley open the fridge.

"Good morning." Elijah greeted the wolf, not missing how Danielle ignored the both of them and dried her hands using a nearby cloth.

Hayley smiled, looking towards the original vampire as a greeting before continuing to rummage in the fridge.

"Listen. I know I'm the only one in this house that actually drinks milk, but would it kill any of you to make sure it's on the grocery list?" She asked as soon as Rebekah entered the kitchen using the backdoor outside.

"Speaking of, add bleach." The blonde retorted, swinging a wash cloth before disappearing again to go clean that carpet in the living room.

"You know, I do hope my siblings were hospitable toward you in my absence." Elijah excused, also had his back turned around Hayley while Danielle gave her a stern look side wards.

"In your absence, as you like to call it, which is a way-too-polite way of saying that your brother put a dagger in your heart." Hayley started, looking at a box of biscuits and closed the fridge door. "I have been attacked by French Quarter Vampires. I've had to live in a house with a secret dungeon full of coffins, and I was nearly murdered by witches who are convinced my baby is Lucifer."

While she ranted, Elijah was already pouring her a bowl of cereal and milk. Just to test a theory and was right when Danielle turned to leave the kitchen, exhaustion inside her lungs when she saw the interaction of the two.

"Oh. Milk." Hayley muttered, looking so done. As Danielle left, she looked back to Elijah. "They've been fine. Your siblings are weirdly protective- especially Danielle. I know I have you to thank for that."

"I'm just happy to see that you're in one piece." He assured, giving Hayley a spoon. "Though, Danielle already vowed to herself she'll protect you, long before I had the chance to tell Rebekah to do so."

The words escaped Elijah's mouth caught Hayley off guard, but still, acted like she was still unfazed. However, Elijah had many years to sense these kinds of stuff.

"So, back to the murderous witches, I have some concerns." He added, looking at the wolf.

"They're evil, and my life is still magically linked to Sophie Deveraux, which is not comforting." She shook her head, unamused.

"Yes. I think it's time we took care of that little problem."

They both looked at the door when Rebekah spoke up, dragging a dead body, with Danielle helping her by holding the girl's ankles in support.

"And we are all up for it. As soon as they're unlinked, we get to leave this crap town." She said, looking over her sister, who just wanted to leave this godforsaken room. "Who do we have to kill?"

"Probably no one." Elijah informed, Danielle looking at her seriously, making him budge. "All right. Potentially everyone."