Klaus's Pet Book 2

35

Hayley's POV:

I stand in Rebekah's elegant open style living room with Hope. She's sitting on the floor, painting the beginnings of an art piece while I wait for Rebekah to come back. I opened up to Rebekah about how guilty I feel for not staying in the city, helping find the Missings but Rebekah cut me off. She says that I had nothing to feel ashamed of, I was spending my time with my daughter.

I watch as Hope continues her painting and as she continues swirling the brush, I realize it's a butterfly that she's creating. A beautiful Red admiral, white dots on the tips of its wings and a red stripe down each wing.

"That's gorgeous sweetie." I tell her

"Thanks Mom. It's for Aunt Rebekah. Don't tell. It's not done."

I give her my word as Rebekah makes her way back into the room. She looks concerned.

"What is it?" I ask now worried

I stand up and we move to another room, out of earshot of Hope.

Whatever she's about to say, it isn't good.

"A werewolf has now gone missing. I just got word from Nik."

I let out a frustrated sigh.

"How bad has it gotten?" Rebekah asks

"Don't worry-"

"New Orleans is still my home Hayley. It always will be. How bad?"

"A few witches, a vampire and now, a wolf."

"What does Shawn want with them?"

"What use could they be to a guy like him? Leverage? 'Give me this or else?'" I suggest

Rebekah shakes her head.

"For the brief time I knew Shawn, he changed drastically, almost overnight. Once a sweet boy, next, a man who killed for his own amusement. He became power hungry, wanting to rule the city where we lived...It was awful."

I nod, taking this in.

"I was the first to suspect he was using dark magic. I'd brought it up with Nik. Elijah had gone missing at the time. Nik had daggered him and stowed him away. He was the only one I could turn to. So I did. Let's just say he didn't handle it well. I was daggered as well, woken 8 years later along with Elijah. Nik had killed Shawn and we'd moved halfway across the States." Rebekah says

"So...he wants power. Could he be channeling them?" I ask after a long pause

Her story reminds me of another witch we had faced. He channeled Elijah, using the power of an Original to make him stronger.

"I'll call Freya." She says and pulls out her phone

I go check in on Hope.

She's staring out the window, looking a bit down when I spot her. She gives me a small smile when she sees me standing there but I know her well enough that she's faking.

"What's going on sweetie?" I question as I move to sit beside her

"Mom when can we go home?" She asks

"Not for awhile honey. We can't go back quite yet. It's not safe." I tell her

The last thing I want is for her to feel like her life is in danger. She's been through more than enough. Everything was finally going smoothly.

Until this.

"How about I see if your dad is free to call and talk to you?" I ask

She nods and I finally see a flicker of joy behind her eyes.

Hope is having a rough time, not being able to go home. Can you call and talk?

I get a reply a few moments later.

Of course. One moment.

The phone starts to buzz and I answer. I hand the phone to Hope and spot Rebekah making her way back towards the room.

"Here honey. Talk to your Dad. I'm going yo go talk to Aunt Rebekah. Stay here." I tell her and I walk off

"Freya spoke with Vincent. It's highly likely that's what happened to the last group of people Shawn took. Unlike standard magic, black magic corrupts the mind and body. None of them would have survived."

"They never found the bodies." I point out

"No. They didn't."