Promises
For her own good, I believe it is time for my niece to leave town.
He let the priest's voice wash over him. If he stopped and let himself think of the ramifications of these words, of what he had to do, he would have no answers to why there was suddenly a dull ache in his chest. So he let the words repeat themselves over and over in his head, much like a broken record.
For her own good. For her own good. For her own good.
He'd entered her apartment that night, catching the last minutes of this morning's conversation playing from her recorder. She'd wasted no time since they saw each other last, already surrounded by numerous books about his kind. The priest was right. She was already in too deep and she would not stop digging until her curiosity was sated.
"You are tenacious," he observed, causing her to jump in alarm. "It's one of the things I like most about you."
Those green eyes flashed in anger. "Klaus, you can't keep—"
"But you're searching for truths you don't want to find. Monsters are better left as fiction. It's time for you to leave this place, Cami. For your own good."
"You are such a coward!"
He tilted his head at her in question.
"This isn't about me. You have kept me here for weeks, just so someone, anyone, would see who you really are. And now that I have, it scares the hell out of you, doesn't it!"
He felt his anger rising to the surface at her words. "If you knew even a fraction of who I am, it would break you in two!"
She took a step towards him. "Then show me."
He turned to leave before she goaded him into saying something he would regret. Before he could take another step, she forcibly grabbed onto his arm, and he felt the strongest memory bubbling forth from his mind.
Let her see it.
He did nothing to stop it, allowing it to flow into her so she could see the horror that was him. To make her run screaming from this town. Perhaps then she could have a better chance to be safe and live her life as she was meant to.
He allowed her to glimpse the scene of him turning the first time. She heard the breaking of his bones and the agonizing screams as his body reshaped itself. He'd meant to stop the memory right there, but she held on longer, witnessing Mikael's disgust at the discovery of his monstrosity, witnessing Elijah's betrayal and his pathetic pleas for his brother to help him.
He broke the connection off in shock.
"Oh my God," she uttered.
He stood before her, feeling as if he'd been stripped raw, laid out to be seen and judged at his most vulnerable. He anticipated the horror, the screaming, and the eventual rejection that inevitably followed upon the revelation of his true nature.
Her eyes searched his instead, filled with so much pain.
For him?
Instead of running away, she stepped closer to him and whispered, "No one should have to experience things like that."
He stared at her, stunned.
Of all the ways she could have reacted, of all the things she could have said, that was the last thing he expected to hear. There were not a lot of things that managed to surprise him in his thousand years of existence, but this human girl had once again managed to yank the rug from under him and tilt his world.
Remember your promise. For her own good.
He reached out to tenderly cup her face, doing his best to ignore the painful throbbing that started in his chest. "Knowing what you do about this world will only get you killed. And I cannot allow it."
He could sense she knew what was coming from her eyes, the way they wordlessly begged him not to take anything away anymore. It was the last thing he wanted to do. But he had to do it to honor the priest's request. He had to do it to keep her safe.
This human girl who'd seen the worst of him…
"Leave New Orleans," he said quietly, looking deep into those eyes, now full of unshed tears.
This human girl who'd listened and felt sympathy for him…
"Forget everything you've learned here."
This human girl who saw him as a man rather than a monster…
"Forget me."
He never expected this to be easy…
"You have no reason to stay."
…but he never imagined it would be this painful.
"I have no reason to stay," she murmured, dazedly repeating his instructions.
With one last glance, he left her apartment, feeling a deep sense of loss he'd never quite felt before.