From a Cradle to a Grave

Chapter 17

Hayley's Pov

"I give up," I say, throwing the stack of papers down onto the ground. "This is impossible. You've got a millennia's worth of enemies who want nothing more than to end our daughter's life. How the hell are we supposed to root out who it was that put Hope's name in that godforsaken goblet?" I shout at Klaus.

The intimate moment that was shared between the two of us has completely disappeared, and has instead been replaced by my anger.

"Did you really have to make enemies out of everyone you ever met? You couldn't stop and think for one second what consequences your actions might bring on your family?" I yell.

"Will you please shut up!" Klaus shouts back. "I've apologized over and over again, but blaming me isn't going to help with the situation!"

I glare at him, and cross my arms. Leaning back in my seat, I glance over to the compelled stewardess and beckon her over.

We're in Klaus's private plane, on our way to Britain right now. Freya told us that there's a small village a few miles away from Hope's school, a place called Hogsmeade. Klaus and I are going to be staying there for the time being, so that we can be close to Hope in case another danger arises.

I take the stewardess's wrist, and bite into her vein. Fresh blood flows into my mouth, and after having a few more sips, I compel her to walk away.

"It's like Freya said, isn't it?" Klaus says. "You can't get into that Hogwarts place if you're not a witch. So we can cross vampires and werewolves off of my enemy list, can't we?"

I shake my head. "A vampire or werewolf could have just as easily asked a witch to perform a spell to make it seem as though they had magic. All supernatural beings are part magic, after all. It wouldn't have been that hard to trick the teachers at Hogwarts into believing such lies."

"Has Freya tried a locator spell using our Mikaelson blood? Isn't there an enchantment of some sort that allows you to see where your enemies are-"

"She did," I answer. "But she had no luck- A cloaking spell had already been put in place. Whoever's trying to kill Hope has some very powerful witches by their side."

"Witches who were alerted of Hope's presence when she awakened her werewolf gene," Klaus says.

"The person who saved Hope as a baby must have linked a cloaking spell to Hope's supernaturality or something," I sigh, my head pounding from trying to make sense of this all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts," the pilot's voice comes out of the overhead speakers. "We will begin our descent into British Airways shortly-"

Her voice is interrupted by a deafening boom. I'm knocked out of my seat as a fiery explosion shakes the plane. Fire curls around my knees, peeling the flesh off of my leg. I let out a horrible scream as I feel myself getting burned alive.

"Hayley!" Klaus roars.

I reach out to him, trying to grab his hand. But he's too far away.

Smoke fills up my vision, and my ears pop as the plane begins to hurtle down onto the earth 30,000 feet below us.

I'm thrown around this way and that, and end up landing on something sharp. This 'something', which turns out to be a metal rod, tears into my back, and erupts out of my chest. Tears leak out of my eyes, but I don't give up.

I make an attempt at pushing myself into a sitting position. Through all the wreckage, I can't see Klaus- I can only hear his faint voice shouting out my name.

Unlike him, I can die. If any of this rubble thrusts itself into my chest and tears out my heart in the process, I'll be dead. If I get swallowed up by the fire that is raging around me, I'll be dead.

"I'm not going to die!" I scream in defiance. I refuse to die, not when I haven't yet shared a single conversation with my beautiful daughter.

Hope Andrea Mikaelson. I need to survive this to see Hope.

Blinding pain shoots up and down my back. Ignoring it, I pull myself off of the metal rod, and keep stumbling forward until I see an exit.

Knowing that I can't be killed by broken bones, I fling myself off of the plane. The ground, which consists of large, empty hills, gets closer and closer... The drastic height difference continues to make my ears pop.

Halfway through the fall, I must have passed out, because I'm brought back into consciousness by a sickening crunch that knocks the wind out of me.

I've finally landed on the ground.

I try to breathe, but I can't. So much of the air in my lungs has been forced out that I can't even muster a gasp.

Apart from my neck bone, all the bones in my body have been broken. I've been through such situations multiple times before, of course, seeing as I'm a werewolf and all, but never have I felt pain to this extent.

Wreckage from the plane's explosion begins to rain down all around me. I can barely keep my eyes open as fire drops down just inches away from where I lay.

And that's when I see it. A large, clumped up piece of metal, larger than the other debris that is crashing down near me. The plane's engine. It's alight with fiery flames, and it's shooting itself down towards me at an impossible speed.

Try as I might, I can't move. How can I, when all of my bones have been reduced to nothing but splinters?

Tears stream out of my eyes as I realize... I'm never going to be able to meet my daughter.

"Hayley!" I hear Klaus scream.

I tilt my head to the side as gently as I can, to find that Klaus is staggering towards me. Blood is running down his face, and there are over a dozen shards of metal and wood sticking out of him. But his main concern at the moment is for me.

The engine flies down at me. I shut my eyes, fearing the pain that is to come-

Only it never does.

Klaus throws himself on top of me. Chunks of metal pound themselves onto his back, but he doesn't break away. He uses his leg to kick me towards the side.

And not a second later, the rest of the wreckage slams itself into him. His body disappears underneath the walls of flames that begin to rise up from the disastrous scene.

A large boom shakes the earth. The metal debris that Klaus is buried under lets out a deafening sound as it explodes into a shower of sparks.