Hellfire | Hayley Marshall

Chapter 7

The wolf stopped her from locking herself in her room.

"Eisa," she said gently. "Eisa, it's okay, I'm fine with letting Davina do the spell, it'll help her learn, right? If you learned from Esther's grimoire, so can she."

The Original groaned, rubbing her forehead and letting out an exasperated sigh as she held back from making any sudden moves that might seem threatening. "I need alcohol," she said, making her way back downstairs.

"What is it about Davina that concerns you?" inquired Hayley, following after her. "Why don't you trust her?"

Eisa stopped in her tracks, leaning against the wall and covering her face before she could tell her to fuck off. "I had the power of one witch inside of me. Davina has the power of four. She can't control it. It'll take her longer to concentrate and without someone mentoring her—"

"Then why don't you mentor her?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T TEACH CHILDREN!" she hissed, smacking the wall so hard that a painting crashed down nearby. "I don't teach children magic anymore. I haven't done it for a thousand years. And when I did it, I made an exception because it was my brother and sister I was teaching. It was before everything. I had more patience, I had more drive, and now, I don't. I will not be wasting my time hoping that she'll be dedicated enough, when I have a witch who could do the spell within minutes without needing to practice."

Hayley had the gall to come and put her hand on Eisa's shoulder. If it were anyone else, even one of her siblings, Eisa would have grabbed her arm and snapped it in several pieces. The gesture wasn't even fully comforting, it just made Eisa more tense.

How could Hayley continue to be this gentle and understanding when Eisa was clearly demonstrating her short-temper? When she was being violent, as usual? It only further convinced Eisa that her feelings were going to bring doom. Hayley's doom.

"I trust you," whispered Hayley. "But I also trust Elijah. And I know that, either way, it will work. So I'm not scared. I'm not worried. I'll be unlinked from Sophie Deveraux by this time tomorrow, and all will be well. Don't take this the wrong way, but you and your siblings are a bunch of pessimists. Let me be the optimist to balance it out. You all want to protect me, right? I know you'll all do whatever it takes to keep me and my baby safe. So I don't worry that anything will go wrong. At the end of the day, you all have my back, and whether Davina does it, or another witch does, the spell will get done, because you are all focused and dedicated."

Eisa wasn't sure why this made her want to cry. Maybe it was because only two people in her life history could really calm her down once her anger was flaring up a significant amount. Maybe because those two people had been Lexi and Aya. No wonder Hayley's face was appearing in her memories of them. She was like a perfect blend of Aya and Lexi.

"Eisa, how long has it been since you talked to someone about what you feel?" asked Hayley, rubbing her arm. "I notice it will all four of you. You don't let it out unless it's through violence, and after awhile... that's not really enough, because that's not bringing any real comfort. I can see Klaus bottles it up. Elijah distracts himself from it. Rebekah focuses on something happy to pretend nothing is wrong. You... you put it all into your work. I can see that's taken a toll on you."

"I talked to someone today," she muttered, straightening up and shrugging Hayley's hand off. "I'm fine."

"Who was the person you used to talk to most, about your problems?"

Eisa wasn't sure why she answered. "Before he was daggered... Finn. He was my best friend. He and I were basically parents to the rest of our siblings. He could be insufferable, but whenever he saw I needed to let something out... he'd sneak us both out, and we'd spend hours in the forest just listening to each other complain. Then, after Finn wasn't around anymore, it became Elijah."