Enigmatic Finales: A Klaus Mikaelson Story {8}

Chapter 6: This Family Is Not Whole

~Hayley POV~

It had been three weeks since Grace had gone on the dreaded trip and every aspect of the compound had been shaken by its effects. Elijah had resorted to awkward mode and just interacted with Grace as little as possible, hoping he could just avoid being a part of it at all. Klaus was turning to his old friend—unbridled anger—and was doing very little in his attempts to curb it. Amelia wasn't good at calming him down either so the strain on their relationship only became more evident. And Hayley was just finding it difficult to cope with the idea that the child she had literally died for spontaneously disowned her.

"Hey Gracie." Hayley leaned against Grace's door, happy that she was at least taking her schoolwork seriously. She was at her desk going through some sort of magic homework and turned to Hayley with a warm grin.

"Hey, what's up?" Grace asked.

"Well I figured you've been so cooped up in this house you might want to go out and see the outside for a little bit." She offered. "I'm craving hot dogs and slushies, you want in?"

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm grounded." She said with a raised brow, seeing right through Hayley's gesture. "Which means those hot dogs and slushies come with strings attached."

"Well they are very reasonable strings." Hayley sat down beside her daughter and Grace sighed in exasperation. "You have to stop this Fiore thing."

"I can't just stop the truth." Grace told her with a shrug.

"You can't seriously think this is the truth." Hayley insisted.

"I know it sounds crazy, but this is the Mikaelson Compound, damn it!" Grace huffed. "I am the only biological child of a vampire—correction the Original hybrid—but when I say my mom compelled everyone to forget her, that's a step too far?"

"I know even you can see the effects it's having on everyone around here." Hayley continued. "Are you really okay being the cause of it?"

"I am not the cause of anything. Anastasia is."

"Elliott's girlfriend Anastasia?" Hayley inquired.

"Yeah, she's also Fiore's half-sister." Grace explained. "It's a whole thing."

"So this is because you don't like Anastasia?" Hayley muttered with a depleted sigh. "Look, I don't like her too and I miss Elliott more than anything, but this is not the—"

"I don't care that Elliott is gone. He picked a side, and it wasn't ours." Grace snapped. "Anastasia made him do his bidding and if he can hex me then he can sure as hell keep my mom locked away."

"I am your mom!" Hayley shot back, her own anger coming through. "Your birth literally killed me! And now you went on some trip, and you want to throw all that away."

"I'm not throwing anything away." Said Grace with a quiet sigh. "I am so lucky that you are one of the many parents I have been gifted with...but you're not my mom."

"Fine. Whatever." Hayley got to her feet and huffed out of Grace's room, feeling heavier than she did when she left.

"This family isn't whole." Grace said, causing her to turn around. "I haven't felt whole in a long time. There was an ache in my heart where my mom used to be. I know you feel that too."

Hayley was taken aback by this admission. She had felt that something was missing but there was no way this could be because of some story Klaus used to tell.

"When my grandpa fixed the memory...I've never felt so alive." Grace continued. "I felt like me. And I have a lot of feelings towards my mom—confusion, upset, anger...but a lot of love for her too."