LITTLE WITCH ▹ THE ORIGINALS

✔︎nine; search 'n rescue

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Elijah sped to the bayou as quickly as he could, arriving there almost instantaneously. He examined every inch of the humid bog, but no one was in sight. He felt the twinge of dew in the air, the fresh, clean oxygen that felt almost ethereal as opposed to the thick city air that he was so used to. Brightly colored leaves were scattered about as autumn was just around the corner, and every step he took sent the soft crunch of a shivered leaf through his ears. But, most of all, he sensed the complete and utter emptiness that the bayou encompassed. If it were the midwest, he could've pictured a tumbleweed blowing through his path. The only occasional sound other than the leaves was the melodic chirping of birds nested deeply into their fresh nests and preparing for the impending cold. 

Elijah, knowing someone had to have intel on what the hell happened to the you, took his phone from his suit pocket and dialed an all-too-familiar number.

The phone rang for a few eternal seconds. "Yes . . . it's me. I have a favor to ask. Meet me in the bayou as quickly as you can. It's urgent," he spoke quickly, savoring the soft sound of the recipients voice, before saying goodbye and hanging up.

The original paced around aimlessly as to fill the void that managed to creep up on him once again. Suddenly, a stiff crack startled him, and he turned his gaze to the opposite direction. Elijah's eyebrows softened, mouth just barely open. 

"Hi, Elijah . . ." the woman breathed, approaching him awkwardly, almost unsure of what to say.

"Hayley, it's so good to see you," he replied, embracing Hayley in a momentary hug before hesitantly returning to his former stance. They fit together like puzzle pieces. 

"Yeah, the feeling's mutual. So, um, what's up?" the woman replied curiously, her tinted lips in a straight line. She had been wondering why the noble original called her out of nowhere, though it seemed important.

"It's a bit of a long story," he stated, walking toward a log bench with Hayley right behind him. 

Hayley took a seat next to him. "What do you mean?"

"You see, a few weeks ago, a girl lost the last of her family because of a scheme my brother was involved in. By the time we knew, there was nothing my sisters and I could do to help," he explained, pausing for a quick second with every sentence that passed. Hayley seemed to listen intently as she bit the corner of her bottom lip. Her eyebrows turned upwards, a small frown making it's way onto her face.

 "We invited her to stay with us, though Niklaus has not been as inviting, as expected. Even after the girl repeatedly shows her selflessness and will to help us, his stubbornness is unrelenting. He thinks that by pushing her away he is helping her, and I haven't a clue why," Elijah disappointedly sighed. Admittedly, Elijah was quite fond of the girl and her strength. After all, she did save Klaus and Marcel.

"That sounds like your brother all right," Hayley replied, rolling her eyes dissatisfiedly. The werewolf certainly didn't envy this poor girl. The kid had the misfortune of getting involved with the Mikaelsons, and she didn't even know just how bad that is.

 Elijah continued. "This morning she mentioned something about a friend, one that happens to be a werewolf. She seems quite attached to the boy. Finding him is the least we can do after all she's suffered," he explained, shaking his head at the end.