Hidden | Elijah Mikaelson |

3.4 Rituals

I guess one of the perks about being a hybrid was that you didn't need sleep.

As soon as we got to the bayou, we walked for a couple hours, further into the woods so it would be harder to find us. It was about 2 in the morning when I decided that we had gone far enough for the night and we should rest while we can. The wolves took shifts, some sleeping while others guarded the perimeter. I told Hayley and Jackson I would stay awake and make sure everything was okay. I couldn't sleep anyway.

There was a part of me that felt broken after leaving Elijah. I knew it wasn't for good, but this was the first time that I was going to be away from him. After being around him for almost a year, it was hard to picture myself alone. But I knew that this wasn't the end and I was doing this for the right reason. To protect Hope and the pack.

So when Elijah's name flashed on my screen as a call came in, I couldn't believe it. I got up from my spot at the fire and answered the call, walking further away so our conversation would be private.

"Elijah?" I asked in confusion. I was kind of worried that he was calling so soon. It meant something was wrong.

"How are you?" he asked in concern. I could almost a hear a smile in his voice.

"We're fine," I replied, continuing to walk further away from camp. "What's wrong? Is it Klaus?"

"No, he's still daggered. But you guys need to leave wherever you are. Freya's doing a locator spell to find Hope," he explained in a serious tone. "She wants to use Hope as bait to lure Dahlia in so we can kill her."

"Well, there's no way in hell that's going to happen," I told him, knowing that Hayley would shoot down that idea immediately. "Just try to distract her. Give us enough time to get far enough away."

"I will," he promised. "Call me if you need anything. I love you."

"I love you too, Elijah," I repeated before hanging up. I was happy that he called, even if he was delivering bad news. Hopefully Elijah could hold off Freya long enough so we could leave.

I used my hearing to search for Hayley and Jackson as I began walking back to the camp. I followed the sound of their voices a little further into the woods until I walked up to see Jackson kneeling on the ground talking to Hayley, who was holding Hope.

"Elijah called. Freya's doing a locator spell on us so we need to leave now," I relayed the info to them as I walked up. I walked around Hayley to see that Jackson had dug two graves, each with a wooden tombstone on it engraved with Aiden's and Bill's initials. I stopped walking and shook my head in confusion, "Wait, you're burying them here?"

"We can't keep carrying them around forever. Just give me a minute to get them in the ground and we'll get out of here," Jackson answered.

"Isn't there some kind of ritual for this? It feels wrong to bury them here," I frowned.

"Addie's right. You said that this is how wolves bury murderers and traitors. I know that Aiden was answering to Klaus, but he was loyal to the pack in the end. That's what got him killed, Jack," Hayley agreed.

"You don't think I know that?" Jackson grumbled. "You think this is how I wanna put Aiden and Bill to rest? I don't have a choice. You said it yourself, we gotta go." He nodded at me.

I shook my head, "It's not right. Aiden and Bill died protecting Hope. How we can expect the wolves to fight for us if we can't even give them a proper burial? They deserve better."

Hayley nodded, "We'll take Aiden and Bill downriver. Give them a true Crescent funeral."

Jackson hesitated but finally agreed when he knew Hayley and I wouldn't back down. It wasn't fair to any of the wolves if we just tossed their bodies into some hole and forgot about them. I still wasn't familiar with all the pack's traditions, but I knew that this wasn't right.