Chapter 1: Her tower of strength

Hey guys! This is my first fanfic, so please let me know what you think! The first chapter is a bit short, but a second one is already on the way. Thanks for reading xxx

Disclaimer: sadly, I do not own any characters in the Originals.

The silence felt like a heavy blanket, it surrounded her, taking her breath away. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. In her mind, one sentence was always repeating: "I'm so sorry".

She's lying down on the floor in her own place; she doesn't even remember how she got there. It seems impossible to ever get up. Every movement takes so much effort, every thought hurt. She doesn't ever want to open her eyes again. Breathing seemed so hard; it felt like someone was throttling her. Jackson, he was her tower of strength, her home.

She opens her eyes and hoists herself up to her knees. "I loved him, he was such a good man". Her field of vision narrowed. Hayley was about to explode. "Why?" she yells desperately to the empty house. She drove out something that sounded somewhat like a howl or a scream. It was the wolf inside of her that reacted to the pain. Her anger took the upper hand. She started to punch the wall manically. This house, this wall… everything was Jackson. The memory of him felt like a knife to her already damaged heart. A red haze clouded her sight. The wall began to crumble.

Suddenly somebody held her arms in an iron grip against her body. Hayley tried to thrash around wildly but the arms didn't move an inch. She weakened. A voice she recognized whispered into her ear: "Sssshhh, Hayley. Hurting yourself won't bring him back". Elijah. It was only then she started to notice the blood dripping from her fingers. Her vision blurred and finally tears started to flow. She clung to Elijah while he lifted her. Protesting wasn't an option; she drowned the world with her tears.

Elijah takes her out of the house and crossed the street. He carries her inside his room and lays the beautiful woman carefully down on his bed. Kicking off his shoes, he hurries to take the woman he loved in his warm embrace. Hayley cried into his shoulder while he caressed her hair. She cried 'till her eyes ran dry and she fell asleep. "I couldn't leave her alone like that, could I?" He thought, while noticing how perfect her body felt against his.