"You have called me 'Mom' for the last ten years," Hayley held his shoulders, "But, trust me, she took you in when no one would, she raised you, she protected you, she loved you...…."
"It doesn't matter, she stole my identity!" He threw the rock he was holding.
"She cried the day she did that." She shook her head, "I was there….I remember her words, she said, 'I feel like someone ripped out my heart, and forced me to hold it.'"
Hayley waited for a moment.
"You have to come home, Zach." Hayley told him. "To your mother, to Caroline!"
"I can't…"
"Zach, we all knew of your lineage." She told him. "We have always treated you like our own."
"I can't come home…" She took her hand off his shoulder. "Not any more!"
"Fine…." Hayley told him, "Just so you know, you'll regret it, Caroline has been there for you when she could have left you to die taking revenge from your mother for killing her…..and this is how you repay her!"
Hayley started to walk away. She stopped, she turned around.
"Zach, this is not what Stefan Salvatore would have done to Caroline Forbes." She smiled,
Zach felt as if she had tears in her eyes. "He loved Caroline. The best friendship I ever saw, if I ever saw one."
She walked away.
Zach Salvatore stood there, in one moment he hated Caroline for stealing his identity from him.
His parents,
His family,
His legacy,
Even his name.
In the same moment, he loved Caroline more than anyone.
She had given him parents,
A family...….The most powerful family in the world.
She had given him a sister. A Tribrid.
She made him the legacy of the Mikaelson Family.
She gave him love,
support,
hope, and above all....protection.
She gave up her town, her friends, her house for him.
Hayley was right...…...she was his mother. She was his support, she was his protector, she didn't give birth to him, she was his mother, but he never became her son.
Klaus Mikaelson was right…...Caroline Forbes had a heart of gold.
He owed her everything. She was his family, his mother, his everything. She had given up everything for him.
Klaus Mikaelson and Hope Mikaelson tried to console Caroline, when Freya Mikaelson came inside the house,
"You should see what the hell happened at Vincent's...….." She stopped,
She looked at Caroline, then at Klaus, and stopped Hope. Both Hope and Caroline were crying.
"What happened?"
"Zach left." Hope said, stiffly.
"He what?" Freya yelped, "But why?"
Before they could answer anything, Caroline heard footsteps, she zoomed outside,
"Zach….?" She whispered.
But it wasn't Zach Salvatore. It was a girl, almost seventeen years old.
"Hi, I am Cassie." She looked at Caroline, "Is Hope in?"
She asked.
"Inside.." Caroline didn't look at her, her eyes on the road, her eyes scouring the street for her best friend's son.
The girl disappeared inside. Caroline looked outside.
"Come home, Zach." She whispered, "Sweetie, come back to me."
She stood there for several minutes, in deep thought. She jumped, startled by a scream.
"Hope.."
It was Hope. Screams like she hadn't ever heard before. Every ounce in her body shook. She had just lost one child, she wasn't ready to lose the other.
"HOPE!" Klaus's shout followed.
Caroline zoomed back inside.
She saw Hope Mikaelson's eyes, deep blue. Sharp like shards of glass. Hope was holding her head.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Klaus held Cassie by the throat.
"I...I...Don't know…" She murmured.
Caroline pushed Klaus away, she helped Cassie up.
"A child, Klaus….and Controlled." She compelled the girl.
She left.
"No...No! NO!!" Freya shouted.
"What?" Klaus and Caroline said together. "What happened?"
"The thing.." Freya told them, "A thing got released from the other side, a possessor."
"A possessor…?" Caroline asked, confused.
"A spirit, Vincent called it the Hollow." Freya's face looked drained of color. "Vincent said it would come for a powerful....."
Her voice trailed off, she couldn't finish her sentence.
"The most powerful witch?" Klaus completed her sentence.
Freya nodded.
"I am going to kill that Vincent!"
Klaus headed for the door. Freya held Hope,
Caroline stood in front of him.
"No.."
"What no?" He snapped, "My daughter is being possessed by a spirit."
"That's right." Caroline reminded him, "Focus on fixing it, not killing people."
Klaus nodded,
"I'll kill him later."
"Freya…" Caroline told her, "Do something….Kill it."
"I can't." Freya sat down. "It is too powerful."
Freya Mikaelson put a sleeping spell on Hope.
"After a few hours, she'll be able to resist my sleeping spells."
"That means we have a few hours," Caroline told her, "There is something that can be fixed!"
Klaus nodded,
"Do something." He looked at Freya…. "Please, sister, save my daughter."
He told his sister, tears in his eyes.
"Please…."
Freya Mikaelson was frantically going through the grimoire, Hayley came inside,
"Freya…." She looked at Freya Mikaelson, they hadn't always seen eye to eye, but at the end of the day, they were family.
"Save my daughter…" She whispered, "I lost my son today, and I can't lose anyone else."
"I am doing my best." Freya told her, "I am doing what I can….But Hope is much more powerful than me, and the spirit that is possessing her is much more powerful than her."
She bit her lip, nervously. She didn't know if any of them could come out alive from the situation.
"Freya!" Caroline's shout came inside,
Hayley ran, and Freya followed.
"What?"
Caroline was standing over Klaus, who had been knocked out,
"Where is Hope?" Hayley asked.
Caroline pointed to the street, she could still see Hope Mikaelson walking out.
"I'll see Klaus." Freya said hurriedly, "Watch Hope, don't get too close, ask her to fight the spirit."
Hayley nodded, Caroline stopped at the door, she looked back, at Klaus,
"Come on!" Hayley growled.
She ran ahead.
Zach Salvatore saw the sun setting, he got up. He knew he owed apologies to Caroline. He had Stefan Salvatore's conscience, he had to apologize no matter if she didn't forgive him. He needed a chance. Just once.
He was walking towards the Mikaelson Compound, when he saw several people on the streets. Fires, broken houses, streets as there was an earthquake.
"What happened?" He asked a passer by. "What the hell happened here?"
"Hope Mikaelson..."
"What happened to her?" Zach asked quickly.
"You know her?" The man asked.
"She is my sister!" Zach said quickly, not realizing he had accepted Hope as his sister. "What happened to my sister?"
"She is possessed by the Hollow."