Endgame ⚜ Sweet but Psycho

50. impossible

2026 

Meridian, Mississippi

A Gas Station 

Rain drops pattered gently on the roof of the payphone hut, and rolled down the glass it was made of. The rain made tiny splashes in nearby puddles, and landed on the leg that stuck out from inside the hut. The clouds covered the moon, which was nearing its fullness, making it a dark night. If it weren't for the single lamppost, the gas station and the payphone would be blanketed in darkness. Inside of the hut on the ground laid Poppy, who was leaning against the glass wall, the phone dangling near her sleeping body. The tribrid had collapsed in exhaustion, in pain, and couldn't get back up, she couldn't even keep her eyes open. Her chest rose and fell in an uneven manner as she slept.

Pulling into the parking lot with a screech and harsh turn was an expensive looking car, whose headlights aided in lighting up the area of the payphone hut. The door swung open and heavy feet landed on the pavement, splashing up a bit of rain water as they did. The figure rushed to the little hut and knelt down beside the sleeping body, their eyes wide in horror and sadness. 

"Don't touch the tribrid." A voice said with the cock of a gun, his hands trembling. 

The figure kneeling stood to his feet, their jaw clenched with fury and pain. They turned to face the man, a mere cop, more than likely compelled to confront the figure. "Let's not be foolish." He snarled, taking a step forward, prepared to attack. No one was going to get between getting Poppy. He stopped when the cop's eyes began to bleed, and he began to choke on his own blood. The figure furrowed his eyebrows and looked around in confusion. He was alone with the now dead cop, who fell limp to the ground. 

"There are more coming." Poppy's voice was heard, though it sounded as an echo in the wind, but also loud in his head. He looked back at the sleeping body, which had stopped breathing. Her skin had become grey, but not veiny. She hadn't died, and she was savable, but she had simply abandoned her body. Tears glistened in his eyes, and he watched as a blue light glowed from behind him, illuminating the area he stood in. He turned back around to see the spirit of his the tribrid. She appeared as black smoke, giving off a blue light. He could make out her general features, which became more and more recognizable as the light died down and the smoke dissipated. She was a bit wispy, her curly hair moved with unfelt breezes of wind. There was very little color to her body, as she was still made of the black smoke. "I did a locator spell to find Hayley."  Poppy told her dad, walking around him and to her body, kneeling down. It was an awful sight, her physical body. After closing her eyes for a moment, she looked to the map on the ground. It had become crumbled and pushed into the glass wall, the dirt pooled in the middle."It's gone. I lost it." 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

The Mikaelson Compound 

Poppy stood in the courtyard of the compound, invisible to those around her. She watched as her dad and her brother argued, both full of heavy emotion. In her bedroom laid her body, a blanket covering her bottom half. Marcellus opened his mouth to speak. 

"I have been a phone call away whenever Hope needed me." He said. "I am trying to talk you out of making the biggest mistake of your life. To protect you from yourself so you don't have to tell Hope that you're the reason that her mother is dead and her sister is close to it-"

Klaus interrupted, yelling this time. "He knew! Okay? Elijah knew who he was and he still told me to leave. I begged him. He didn't want anything to do with any of us." Marcel fell silent, watching as the tears pooled in the Original's eyes. "He's gone, Marcellus. He's gone." 

"I understand." His son spoke gently. "I do." The vampire placed a hand on Klaus's shoulder, looking into his eyes. "Look, I understand the pain, but you got to move through it, okay? You can't let it cloud your judgement, not with Hayley and Poppy's lives on the line."

The pair then turned their attention to the open entry way, furrowing their eyebrows after hearing a clattering sound. In the orange glow of light on the floor sat a small box. Marcellus walked to it and picked it up, then placed it on a table so the pair could investigate together. On the top of the box was an envelope, and inside the envelope was a note, written in marker. 

Per Your Request. 

Klaus looked to the vampire. "What's in the box?" He asked, and when Marcel didn't give an answer, as he didn't know, he lifted up the lid to open it. Laying on a bloodied white cloth was a chunk of Hayley's flesh, her Crescent Wolf birthmark. He let out a heavy sigh and looked away. "They mutilated her." Clenching his jaw in fury and pain, Klaus turned and began to march away. 

"Klaus, no." Marcel called after him. "They're goading you!"

"And they will pay."

Marcel sped to him, grabbing his arm and turning him around. As hurt as he was, he had to keep a level head. "If you kill those hostages, then what do you think-" he grunted as Klaus shoved him across the room, immediately appearing back in front of Klaus as he hit the ground. With a great deal of force, Marcel sent Klaus into the next room, then followed him there. 

Poppy appeared as her smoky spirit form, standing beside the table, looking down at the open box with teary eyes. It was her fault, she had lost Hayley's location. She didn't escape fast enough to save her. Hayley was going to die and it would be her fault. There had to be something she could do to help. Turning around, she noticed Marcel's temporarily dead body on the floor, and her father was nowhere to be seen. She clenched her jaw tightly, her breathing becoming sharper and more intense. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She spun back around and swatted the box across the room, not caring where it ended up. It hit the wall and broke, the pieces fell to the ground. 

Invisible to those around her once more, the tribrid went up to her bedroom, where her body laid. She closed her eyes and sat on the floor against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks. Poppy tilted her head back to relax it against the cold surface, letting her mind follow her train of agonizing thoughts, even after it derailed. 

The air around her became cold and crisp, and her breath became foggy as it escaped her lips. She rocked back and forth, hugging her knees close to her body. Poppy wasn't warm as she was a week before, and it seemed nearly impossible to recover.