Endgame ⚜ Sweet but Psycho

51. i broke

2026

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Mikaelson Compound

The sun was just rising, creating a light golden glow upon Poppy's bedroom, upon her mangled body, which she had yet to inhabit. The night everyone had spent was long. Klaus had been torturing a vampire Greta for information on where Hayley was, Marcel had been watching Poppy, waiting for her to wake up. Poppy had spent the night sitting in the corner of her room as an invisible spirit, shaking from the cold and hugging her knees close to her body. Her thoughts were only driving her mad. The grief, the pain, the memories, were a lot to bear. She watched Klaus and Marcellus discuss their plans, their speech muffled by the veil that separated their worlds. The plan so far was to not let Hope become, in Greta's words, purified.

With Hope came a darkness Poppy never wished to experience. Being separated from her family after so many losses, being tugged back, being shoved in a box, being tortured for countless hours, watching Hayley suffer, being unable to save Hayley. She wondered how her kids were doing, especially with their father. She didn't doubt Silas would treat them well, but deep down maybe she did.

Poppy wanted to wake up, to be free of the cold, to finish the wretched bitch and her cult. However, the pain would be horrible. And while her body will heal, her heart won't. She let out a trembling breath and pushed herself to stand up off of the cold floor. She had to wake up, for her kids, for Hayley, for her dad and brother. Slowly she approached her bed and took her own hand. She closed her eyes.

The first breath she took was agonizing, her lungs felt like they were on fire. The hybrid and vampire both rushed to her side, relieved to see her awake, but saddened by her pain. Klaus took her hand, which was sore but bound to heal. While she was in spirit form, Marcellus had taken the time to straighten her bones and remove the splinters from her skin. The words were still etched in her skin, and the blisters still remained, but time would see those gone. Almost immediately the tribrid went into a seizure, but not as intense as previous episodes. Her body jerked and turned, and a few moments later it repeated. Marcellus stood up and left the room, unable to watch his sister any longer, it had hurt him too much.

He entered one of the many bathrooms of the compound and took a rag off the shelf. Ignoring the reflection of himself in the mirror, he turned on the cold water and put the rag under the running water. His phone began to ring.

"Caroline," he greeted when he brought the phone to his ear.

"I'm calling to check in. Has she woken up yet?"

Marcel sighed and turned off the faucet. "She's alive. As soon as she woke up she was thrown into a seizure."

"And Hayley?"

"We're still working on that. How are the kids?" He inquired, attempting to change the subject.

Caroline sighed on the other end of the call. "They're holding up..Freya has been keeping Hope calm. Archie and Melody have been spending time off of school with their father. They're at the grill right now. I don't know what to do or what to say. Everyone's been asking about her."

"Tell them we're working on it."

Xxx

Poppy rushed down the stairs to the courtyard, hoping to catch her father before he left the compound. She had changed into clean clothing, a loose white tshirt and black leggings. Her hair, still bloody and matted, was pulled into ponytail. She had cleaned her skin and face, but she couldn't wash away the pain and exhaustion, the dark circles beneath her eyes and the paleness of her color. "I'm coming with you." She said once she got to the bottom of the staircase.