CHAPTER 18 - THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS
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I WALK INTO THE COMPOUND AS HAYLEY PACES AROUND the room and Elijah dials a phone number on his phone and puts it on speaker. Klaus answers.
"What's going on?" I ask him.
"It appears our wolves have gone astray," Elijah tells me.
Hayley cuts in. "They should have been back hours ago," I look at them in shock.
"We need to find them," I say. Those stones are very hard to find. And if someone has them, that means they have the stones.
"Well, that might be a bit tricky. You see, we've located their car on a back road in the middle of nowhere. I suspect they've been shanghaied," He tells us. Elijah and I look at the phone in disbelief.
"And you didn't feel the need to share this information?" Elijah asks him.
Klaus shrugs. "It was my intention to present you with a problem only after I had found an appropriate solution,"
"Do enlighten us," Elijah says and Klaus continues.
"I'm closing in on it as we speak. The only person who would be bold enough to snatch my wolf allies is the one who has the most to lose," Klaus explains.
I sigh. "Marcel"
Hayley looks at us with a scared expression. "No, he'll kill them!"
"Genevieve assures me that Marcel has procured a cloaking spell. The only witch who will aid Marcel is Davina. I just need to get one last bit of leverage before I pay her a visit," Klaus was silent for a while before he speaks again. "And there it is,". He then hangs up.
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Klaus found out where Jackson and Oliver were so Elijah and I met him there.
We walk into Thierry's warehouse to find Jackson, still bound to his chair, left with a black hood over his head. The chair next to him had some blood on it and was empty. Marcel and Diego are gone and they probably took Oliver with them.
I walk up to him and pull the black hood off his head. Jackson flinches when he's found until he realizes he's being rescued.
Klaus grabs Jackson's face in his hand. "Accolades to Marcel, he did quite a dance across the bridge of your nose," Klaus smirks. I roll my eyes.
"Where is he now?" I ask Jackson. He looks around and then looks down at the floor to find that there is an explosive rigged to the legs of his chair, which is connected to a crate.
"Nowhere to be found," Elijah says as he follows the wires to the crate. He opens it. "Although, he did leave us a delightful parting gift." I walk over to him and look inside the crate to find a big explosive inside. My eyes widen.
"Wow, he sure does know how to leave epic gifts,"
Klaus looks at us before turning to Jackson. "What about the stones?" He asks.
"I don't know. Untie me, I'll help you find them!" Jackson starts moving around in his chair.
"Sit still!" Elijah tells him " You'll be freed as soon as it's safe," He kneels down to examine the triggers on Jackson's chair, while Klaus and I look into another crate, which holds yet another bomb.
"Our focus should be the stones. Considering Jackson's competition for Hayley's affection, I think you'd agree," Klaus says.
I roll my eyes before turning to Jackson. "Disregard Nik. Over the course of the last Millenium, his capacity for tact has somewhat diminished," I say, smiling at Nik.
"Well, that's typical, isn't it? Marcel fills a room with dynamite, and yet, I'm the tactless one,"
I look at the explosives within confusion as they looked familiar. Then it clicked. The Bayou! "I recognize these explosives from the attack on the bayou," I say and look at Klaus. "Remind me again why you believed that Marcel was innocent?"
Klaus shrugs. "Remind me to ask him before I pull out his innards," He walks into another crate. "Okay" He gestures around him. "exercise extreme caution in this general area. Bit of a mess,"
Elijah's cell phone rings and he answers it. "Impeccable timing,"
"What's going on?" It was Hayley.
"Jackson is fine. He's...a little tied up right now. Can we call you back?" I snigger at Elijah's joke, and flip open another crate. Inside are another handful of bombs, with a folded slip of paper on top. I frown and look at Klaus who walks up to me, just as the red blinking light on the bombs turn green.
"Oh, that doesn't bode well," I whisper.
Jackson looks at us angrily. "Are you trying to kill us?"
"Elijah, tell me what's going on, now!" Hayley shouts from the other side of the line.
I move and picks up the folded paper, as Elijah and Klaus watch me. I sigh and read the note out loud.
"This is for Thierry" I look at Klaus and Elijah as we realize they've been set up. I quickly Vamp-speed and grab Jackson and we all vamp-speed out. Outside the warehouse, we can see the building explode in huge bursts.
I stand next to Elijah and hand him the small letter. "I believe this belongs to you"
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When we walk into the study in the compound, Hayley stops pacing around. She looks at us in shock but I have to say, I don't blame her. We were all looking very disheveled and covered in ash.
Jackson groans, and turns to Elijah. "I got it,"
Hayley runs toward us. "Thank god you're alive!" She gives Jackson a hug and looks at Elijah over his shoulder and whispers a small 'thank you'. Elijah nods at her and watches as Hayley and Jackson sit down to tend to his wounds.
"I'm fine, too, thanks for asking," Klaus says. I roll my eyes and bump his shoulder playfully.
Hayley looks at us. "What about the stones?"
Elijah sighs. "Scattered across the bed of the Mississippi, I'd imagine,"
"Marcel's not a fool," I say. "He knows an empowered werewolf army would mean the end of vampires in New Orleans. The explosion is his way of saying he means to prevent that. For all the good it'll do him," I explain.
"Well, it did him pretty damn well, didn't it?" Hayley looks at Elijah, who frowns.
"This is my fault. I'll find a way to fix it," Jackson says.
Hayley frowns and rubs his shoulder affectionately. "No, Jack, you're hurt. No one's blaming you," She says.
"I'm blaming you! Those stones will be hard to replace," I tell him.
Klaus looks at me with a smirk. "Fortunately, I always have a backup plan,"He says before walking out of the room, the four of us following him downstairs. Francesca walks in with a few people.
I groan. "Nik, please tell me this is not your plan B," I say, gesturing to the girl.
"I see her more as a means of procuring rare items at short notice," Klaus says before turning to Francesca. "Greetings, Ms Correa! I see you've brought company,"
"These are my brothers," She says, gesturing to the guys behind her. " I always include them in delicate business matters." She looks at her brothers," Fellas, meet Mr Mikaelson,"
Klaus smile. "Please, call me Klaus. All my friends do," He says.
I snort and roll my eyes. "What friends?" I whisper.
"I don't know if I'd call us friends" Francesca reaches into the briefcase her brother is holding and pulls out a small black drawstring bag" But, if you and Marcel are planning on having a little throwdown, I'd prefer my family to be on the same side as the inevitable victor"
"Of course"
"Then, you have what I asked for?" Klaus asks her.
She holds out the bag. "Not enough for an army, at such short notice, but it's a start,"
Elijah then joins the conversation. "Strange, I wasn't aware that she was familiar with our plan"
"Yeah, I'm shocked too"
Francesca looks at me and Elijah. "My price for doing business is full disclosure. Your brother complied,"
"And what does the Human Faction stand to benefit from all of this?" I ask her.
"I only want us to solidify our allegiance to the ruling class. It's good for business," She explains.
Klaus examines the stones. "If only everyone shared your capacity for reason,"
"Sadly, they don't. Marcel is being especially vindictive. I'm worried he might come after me, or my family, just for meeting with you" She says and takes a deep breath. "It might be in our best interests if we combine our efforts,"
"So be it! The more bodies we have to defend the compound, the better. Let's get started, shall we?"
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We make our way to the dining area where Genevieve has everything arranged to start the moonlight ring spell.
Klaus walks into the room. "I trust you're ready?"
Genevieve sighs. "The last ingredient is personal. As the spell is designed to control transformation, I need the blood of a werewolf who doesn't turn on a full moon. My first thought was Hayley, because of the pregnancy-" She starts explaining but Klaus cuts her off.
"Out of the question. I'd just as soon limit the mother of my unborn side to the side-effects of your witchery. I am half-wolf, I control my form--use my blood," Klaus holds his hand out to her, but when she grabs a knife to use to cut his palm, he grabs her roughly by the arm. " If you fail to hold up your end of the deal, the consequences for you will be apocalyptic,"
Genevieve looks at him nervously. "You say the most romantic things" I roll my eyes. Genevieve takes his hand and uses her knife to cut his palm. She drips the blood over the stones and it hisses as she begins the spell.
Genevieve continues to cast the moonlight ring spell in the Mikaelson compound, while Klaus, Hayley, Elijah and I watch carefully.
Genevieve holds her hands out and chants. "Tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse"
Francesca then rushes in. "My people say Marcel is on the move, and he's bringing friends"
Klaus turns to Elijah and I. "Get Hayley to safety," He says before rushing away.
Elijah walks over to Hayley and grabs her arm. "Come with me,"
Hayley shakes her head. "No. Someone needs to watch her." She gestures to Genevieve.
"You two should help Klaus. My brothers and their security detail won't be much against a vampire army. I'll stay with Hayley," Francesca tells us.
Hayley nods. "Go. Both of you" She walks over to Elijah and looks him in the eye. "And don't hold back"
Elijah reluctantly agrees to this plan, and we leave to help Klaus.
Elijah and I join Klaus in the center of the room as the vampires surround them on all sides.
Klaus smirks. " I thought this lot had learnt their lesson!"
"Well, they're not exactly renowned for their genius," Elijah says.
"So, where's the ringleader of this circus?" Klaus shouts to the crowd of vampires. He turns to face the other side of the crowd. "Too afraid to show his face?"
Marcel appears on the balcony. "I'm here! And I'm gonna offer you one last chance to pack your stuff and get the hell out of my town"
"You're really going to let your men rush to their deaths. Again?" I raise a brow at Marcel. He shrugs. "Wow, then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought," I say.
"Look around. Every vampire in the Quarter is coming out! They want their city back. No surrender this time. You're gonna have to kill us all," Marcel says.
Klaus seems unfazed. "Okay! I think I'll start with you."
"Fine. Then, come get me" Marcel smirks before he vamp-speeds away.
Elijah looks at Klaus. "If you don't kill him, I will"
"He's mine. This won't take long" Klaus says before vamp-speeding away, leaving Elijah and I with the rest of the vampires. Elijah confidently unbuttons his jacket as I stand by his side with a smirk playing on my face.
"Gentleman" Elijah holds his arms wide. "Shall we?" Elijah and I share a smirk as Vampires start jumping down from the balconies and lunge for us.
I jump up and kick two vampires mid-air before landing on my knees and my hand. I swipe my foot under the five vampires around us, all of them falling to the floor. I then get up and rip out the hearts to two vampires and kick my leg out in vampire-speed behind me, snapping the necks of three vampires behind me.
Elijah and I fiercely fighting against all of the vampires, and despite being severely outnumbered, we're still winning the fight. Many of the vampires try to stake me with regular wooden stakes, but I simply steal them and uses the stakes on them. Another vampire comes with a stake and tries to plunge it into my chest but I stop him and twist his hand before grabbing the stake and staking him before pulling it out and throwing it with my vampire speed and it goes through six vampires who all drop dead.
I sigh boredly as I look around the room at all of the severely injured and dead vampires laying around the room. "Are we done yet?" I ask.
Diego lurks in the corner, injured but braced for another fight but stops when Francesca enters the room.
"Well, nice job! Saved me the trouble of killing all these vampires myself!" Elijah and I look at her, confused, and overwhelmed by two of Francesca's brothers, who viciously bite Elijah's neck. I gasp and Diego stares in horror at the Correas, realizing that they've finished the moonlight rings. Elijah is finally dropped onto the ground.
Diego looks at his vampire friends, terrified. "RUN!" He shouts at all of the wounded who can still run do so.
Francesca looks at her brothers. "Kill as many of them as you can,"
One of the werewolves runs up to me and before I can fight him, he viciously bites into my neck, leaving a nasty werewolf bite.
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After the werewolves left, half the vampires died with the werewolf bite and Hayley was nowhere to be found. Elijah and I enter the compound
Elijah runs over to Marcel in rage. "MARCEL! WHERE IS SHE?" Elijah throws a chair in anger, and Cami throws herself between Elijah and Marcel.
"Where's Hayley?" I ask calmly, looking at Marcel and Cami.
"He doesn't have her! Please! I know you don't trust him, but you know I wouldn't lie. He doesn't have her," Cami says, protecting Marcel.
"Someone does," Elijah says.
I look over at Marcel. "Where is Klaus?" I ask him worriedly.
"I left him in the street. He was gonna kill me. And then, he got jacked up by some witch's spell," Marcel explains. I look over to Elijah as realization dawns upon us.
"Genevieve"
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AUTHORS NOTE: Hey guys! Sorry that I haven't updated for a while. We just started school and I've been really busy with a lot of things but I promise I'll try and update as frequent and possible😇.
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~Nas👑