The Afterlife

•|Chapter I: The Resurrection|•

TALISMAN HEAVEN

Hayley had been in the talisman for four years. An empty world with no one but herself and her thoughts. She spent every day in Hope's nursery, wandering the Mikaelson Mansion and studying Klaus's paintings. Day after day. It did not feel like peace. It felt like she was mourning and wishing and like the feelings of grief would never go away. But on the day Freya had merged Klaus and Elijah's soul into the talisman, something shifted. She felt like she was being watched, like someone else was there with her in a place she believed to be hell. The scent of the stranger felt familiar. She knew who it was.

In the quiet city of New Orleans, Hayley walked the lonely streets with her hands in the pocket of her trench coat. She looked like she was enjoying the air, like it was her first time out of the house in years. It wasn't her first time out, but it was her first time out in the city. She began to think of all the times she walked the streets with Klaus and Elijah at her side. How much they all bickered about protecting Hope and how they all gave each other hell over that little girl. Klaus was the worse. A stubborn horrible man with good intentions. Hayley was happy that he improved, and she wondered how Hope was doing without her parents? She wondered if Klaus thought as much of the broken promises they made to their daughter. All they had wished was for Hope to have a family at her side at all times. Maybe she got a portion of that, but in truth Hayley wanted her and Klaus to be that family. They never had their parents in their lives without reaching for power and dominance, they didn't want Hope to be orphaned like they were.

Hayley entered the cemetery where she followed the familiar scent. The place gave her chills, but she kept on through the maze of headstones. There were no good memories at the cemetery. Even rescuing Hope from execution was horrific. Hayley made a look of disgust at the thought and followed the stone path through the cemetery. She turned a few corners and she saw Elijah staring at one of the headstones. She doesn't say anything for a moment, only wondering if the moment is real. He's wearing a white button tucked into dark gray slacks and he held his blazer over his shoulder as he stared. He took a deep breath then turned to his left. Elijah and Hayley make eye contact after years of being apart. No one acts. Elijah looked defeated and Hayley looked like she felt more than just his pity. Elijah looked away and stared down to his feet.

"What did you do?" Hayley asked. Elijah clinched his jaws and kept his eyes on the ground. "What did you do, Elijah?"

Elijah looked up to Hayley, despair and remorse in his eyes. "What needed to be done." Hayley furrowed her brows and vamp sped over to Elijah. He dodged her feisty attack and walked in a separate direction. "I did everything I could to protect that little girl. The cost is quite unfortunate." Elijah stared opposite of Hayley, and she stared at his backside. He could not look at her in his regret any longer. He could not feel her presence and he wished he had not followed her and grabbed her attention.

Hayley vamp sped towards Elijah again. He dodged her again and they locked eyes. Hayley was angry, more angry with the fact that she hadn't lied a finger on Elijah yet. They stare to each other for a moment before Hayley vamp sped again. She ambushed Elijah into one of the headstones. The stone shattered loudly as Elijah's body thudded on the other aisle of the cemetery. Hayley jumped over the column of headstones and landed near Elijah. She kicked him across the cemetery, and he slid across the cement. He quickly got up from the ground, dodging each of her punches until she knocked him with a clean right hook into another headstone. The stone shattered and Elijah was on the ground again.

"Klaus sacrificed everything for that little girl," she kicked at him, "but one thing he never sacrificed was his integrity!" Hayley kicked Elijah again.  He's coughing now with each kick to the torso. Hayle is beating his ass. "No matter how many times we stood against him, he lived by a vow you made with your family!" Hayley got on top of Elijah and started to punch his face. "And you chose to wipe it all away while he suffered in a dungeon for the mistakes you made together-"