sleeping beauty [the originals]

liii.

The drive home was silent. It was like Isla's mind was running on autopilot. She just had to get home. She couldn't think about the fact that she just lost her father after just getting him back. She didn't even want to think of what her mother had planned for her and the rest of the family. 

As the car pulled up outside of the compound, Isla got out. She drifted inside and walked past her brothers without saying a word. This concerned them, so they followed her up the stairs.

"Isla, are you alright?" Elijah asked. Isla said nothing, still climbing the stairs to the second floor where her bedroom was. Elijah and Klaus noticed the melancholy look on her face and the empty stare in her eyes. It was then that they noticed the fact that Isla's father was not there.

"Where is Adair?" At the mention of his name, Isla stopped dead in her tracks. Everything that she had been pushing down for the past two hours was coming back. The loss, the grief, the pain. She let out a choked sob before turning to face her brothers. 

"He's gone." The two brothers looked at each other, confused. "Esther only brought him back for a few days, and he wanted to spend his last few hours in the water. So we went to the beach, and we went in the water, and now, he's..." She didn't get to finish the sentence before falling to her knees, sobbing. The only parent that actually cared about her was gone. 

Elijah knelt down on the ground and brought her into an embrace. Isla buried her head in his neck, letting her tears flow like a river. 

"I'm so sorry." He apologized, trying to console her. "I know how much he meant to you, and how much you meant to him." They sat there for hours as Isla expressed her grief through her tears. 

As Halloween approached, Isla was getting better. Her grief was still fresh, as it hadn't been that long since her dad died, but it didn't consume her anymore.

It was a good time for her to be better, as the werewolves had declared war on the vampires. The Mikaelson compound was on high alert, and Isla sat at one of the tables just in case they needed a witch. 

All of a sudden, she heard her brother's voice echo through the compound. 

"Brother! Niklaus!" He shouted. Isla heard a sigh behind her as she turned around to see Hayley walking toward Elijah. 

"You do realize that literally everyone here has supernatural hearing, right?" Isla chuckled. Elijah, however, was not amused. 

"Where is my brother?" He asked. Hayley shrugged.

"I'll check his calendar." She answered sarcastically, checking her phone. "Wait, no, not his wife, so..." 

"Hayley, this city is under siege by an army of beasts following my mother's commands. Considering it was your people who just declared war on my kind, perhaps now is not the best time for your particular brand of sass." Hayley frowned.

"Klaus left a while ago. If you wanna find him, I can't help you. If only there was a magical device that people use to call people. I don't know. I'm out of ideas. Good luck." She turned around to walk away. 

"Oh, one more thing Elijah." She added. "Those beasts that you're referring to? They may be under Esther's control, but like you said, they're my people. So if you hurt them, your bitch mother will be the least of your problems." With that, she actually walked away. Elijah looked at Isla, who shrugged. 

Later that day, Isla joined Elijah at Marcel's apartment with one of Marcel's new recruits. The vampires were being trained by Elijah to avoid werewolf attacks. His current training was making Isla a little uncomfortable as it was clear there was some tension going on. 

Luckily, that tension was interrupted by Hayley. 

"Elijah." She announced. 

"Oh thank god." Isla muttered, turning her head to look at Hayley. 

"We need to talk." She descended down the stairs, folding her arms. A man walked into the room behind her, and all the vampires tensed up. It was the werewolf who had led the attack on the vampires. "We're not here for a fight. Just hear him out." The man walked down the stairs to join them. Elijah sneered.

"Speak." He commanded. "I suggest you be succinct." The werewolf sighed.

"Please. I need your help." Isla folded her arms.

They gathered a group including Oliver and Josh. The werewolf was explaining the situation.

"The witch wants soldiers. So now, it's either join up or pay the price." Elijah sighed.

"I've known my brother Finn to be merciless. But I'll admit, this exceeds even my expectations." Hayley clasped her hands together.

"They're just kids." She turned to Marcel. "You know the Quarter like the back of your hand. If anyone can get them out, it's you."

"And take them where?" Marcel asked.

"There are still wolves deep in the bayou." Oliver spoke up. "The ones that didn't take a ring, they can look after them." Marcel scoffed.

"The ones that never sold out, you mean." 

"If you wanna look at it like that, that's fine." Oliver retorted. "We did what we had to do." Marcel sighed, standing up. 

"You wolves have been fighting us for decades. Why trust us now?" The werewolf sighed. 

"One of the recruits is my little brother." Isla straightened up. "There's no way I'm sending him to war." This seemed to resonate with Elijah, as he walked over to him. 

"Tell us what you need." 

"The kids are being held in the City of the Dead until we bring them through the Quarter to St. Ann's Church." The man explained. "Now, meanwhile, Vincent is holding a meeting with the few humans in the know, the ones who have been reluctant to fall in line with his new leadership." 

"He'll use the children to kill opposition." Elijah observed. The man nodded.

"Activate their curse, send a message to anyone going against him. Two birds, one bloodbath." 

"Okay, so we'll hot him while the kids are on the move." Marcel stated. Elijah nodded.

"Aiden, make certain you and Oliver escort the children. We'll handle the rest." Oliver shook his head.

"Wait, wait, wait. Esther and her psycho son are already giving me the stink eye. If these kids go missing, I'm as good as dead." Isla folded her arms. Elijah sighed.

"You wanted to help your people and make amends for the past. This is your chance."