The Doppelgänger Mikaelson

The night air was thick with the stench of blood. The railyard was dead silent now—except for the sound of Klaus' slow, measured footsteps.

Hayley stood frozen in the middle of the carnage, her breath shallow, her mind refusing to accept what she was seeing. Twelve bodies. Twelve lives, ripped apart like they were nothing. Because of her.

Then—

"Hayley."

Her stomach dropped.

That voice.

Slow. Low. Like a predator that had just finished its kill and was looking for more.

She turned, and there he was.

Klaus.

His blue eyes burned with something beyond rage—something darker, something that twisted deep inside him like a hurricane of hate. Blood dripped from his fingers, staining the ground in lazy drops.

Hayley barely had time to move before—

CRACK!

He was on her.

A hand wrapped around her throat, slamming her back against a rusted train car. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs, pain exploding down her spine.

She choked. Struggled.

But Klaus' grip only tightened.

"You did this," he growled, voice trembling with fury. "You turned them against me."

Hayley's hands clawed at his wrist, but it was useless. He was stronger. Faster. Angrier.

"You led my hybrids to their deaths!" Klaus snarled. "MY hybrids! The last of them, Hayley!"

She gasped, her vision blurring.

"Klaus—"

His grip crushed tighter, cutting off her words.

"You betrayed me."

His fangs bared. His whole body trembled, barely holding back the urge to rip her apart.

"I should kill you for this."

Hayley's pulse pounded in her ears. This was it. This was how it ended.

Then—

"KLAUS!"

A voice cut through the night.

Henry.

The boy ran toward them, eyes wild with panic. He skidded to a stop just feet away, his hands raised like he was staring down a rabid animal.

"Stop!" he pleaded. "Please, Klaus! Let her go!"

Klaus didn't even spare him a glance. His fingers only tightened around Hayley's throat, watching with detached amusement as she struggled.

"She turned them against me," Klaus said, his voice eerily calm. "She destroyed what was mine. And now, she thinks she can just stand here and—"

"I'll do anything!" Henry burst out. His voice cracked, raw with desperation. "Please—just spare my sister! I'll do whatever you want!"

Hayley could barely focus now. Her lungs screamed.

But Klaus?

Klaus was too far gone.

"You'd trade your life for hers?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. "How noble. But tell me, Henry—what's a life worth, when it means nothing to the one who takes it?"

Henry's breath hitched. "Please—"

"NO!"

Another voice.

Kol.

Klaus barely had time to register it before—

THUD.

Kol's hand slammed down on his wrist, forcing him back just enough for Hayley to suck in a desperate gasp of air.

"That's enough, Nik!" Kol snapped, stepping between them. "You're angry, I get it. But this? Killing her? You don't want to do this."

Klaus let out a low, dangerous chuckle.

"You think you can stop me, brother?"

Kol didn't flinch. Didn't back down. His dark eyes burned just as fiercely.

"If I have to," he said. "But I shouldn't have to."

The silence stretched.

Klaus' jaw clenched. His breath came heavy. His fingers twitched at his side, still stained with blood.

Then—slowly, painfully—he let go.

Hayley collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, coughing violently.

Henry was at her side in an instant, grabbing her shoulders, whispering her name over and over.

Klaus just stood there. Chest rising and falling.

A storm still raging behind his eyes.

Kol sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Bloody hell, Nik. We're already at war. Do you really want to start one with your own family too?"

Klaus didn't answer.

He just turned—stalking off into the night, his shadow disappearing into the darkness.

But everyone knew—

This wasn't over.

The night still smelled of blood. The air was cold, heavy. Thick with something unspoken.

Henry knelt beside Hayley, his chest rising and falling, eyes searching hers. His hands trembled where they gripped her shoulders. He was still in shock, still trying to process everything.

But there was one thing he needed to know.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" His voice cracked, raw with anger, with disbelief. "What were you thinking, Hayley? Going against Klaus?"

Hayley wiped at her mouth, her throat burning from Klaus' grip. She couldn't meet Henry's gaze.

"I had to do it," she whispered.

Henry's expression twisted. "Had to do what? Get everyone killed?"

Hayley's fingers curled into fists. Her nails dug into her palms.

"You don't understand," she said, voice tight. "I didn't do this for me."

Henry's face darkened. "Then who? Who the hell were you willing to sacrifice all of them for?"

She finally looked at him. Her eyes—tired, broken—locked onto his. And then, quietly, she said:

"Our parents."

The world seemed to still.

Henry blinked, his breath hitching. "What?"

Hayley exhaled shakily. "I'm working with someone. A man named Professor Shane."

Henry's stomach dropped. "Hayley… what did you do?"

"He knows something," she continued. "Something about where our parents are. Where they really are. He promised me answers."

Henry shook his head, stepping back as if the space between them could erase what he'd just heard. "And you believed him?"

Hayley swallowed. "All I had to do was—" Her voice faltered. She forced herself to say it. "Twelve. He needed twelve hybrids dead. Right here. Right now."

Henry felt like the ground beneath him had disappeared. His pulse pounded in his ears.

He stared at her, as if she was someone he didn't recognize.

"You…" His voice was barely above a whisper. "You set them up."

Hayley's jaw clenched. "I didn't want to! But if it meant finding out what happened to our parents, I—"

Henry's hands balled into fists. His entire body trembled. "Twelve people, Hayley! Twelve of our own kind! You let them die!"

Tears burned at the edges of Hayley's eyes. "I know!" she snapped. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't see their faces when I close my eyes?"

Henry took a step closer, voice low, shaking. "Then why? Why would you still do it?"

Hayley's breath hitched.

"Because," she whispered, "they weren't coming back for us, Henry. No one ever does. So I had to do whatever it took to find them myself."

Henry stood there. Frozen.

A long silence stretched between them, stretching into the night.

Finally, Henry let out a breath. It sounded more like a laugh. A bitter, hollow laugh.

"You don't even realize what you've done."

Hayley opened her mouth, but Henry just shook his head.

"You didn't just betray Klaus." His eyes darkened. "You gave him a reason to come after you. And when he does?"

His voice dropped, cold.

"Not even our parents will be able to save you."

The night swallowed them whole.