A Force of Nature
Milla screamed as bodies dropped around her like buildings being toppled by the sheering force of a tidal wave. When they had all systematically fallen one by one, a man appeared from nowhere, ankle deep in carnage. Like the ground beneath him, he was covered entirely in blood, creating a dark outline in the dimming light that masked his features. Blue eyes met hers and she saw white teeth flash to a warm smile. He paused, a dark contrast against a blazing sunset, to lick away the blood dripping from a finger. Somehow she knew he considered this thing he'd done a gift. It was a gift for her.
A hand shook her shoulder and Milla gasped, opening her eyes with a start.
"Are you alright, miss?" It was the dark haired flight attendant named Darla. She was watching Milla closely, concern in her dark eyes.
Milla nodded, swallowing hard and looking around to see if there were any other witnesses to her little sideshow. She blew a relieved sigh when she remembered this was a private flight and only Darla….and maybe the flight crew, would've heard her screams.
"I'm okay." Milla answered her, forcing her face into a smile. "Sorry about that. Been watching too many horror movies, I guess." That's something normal teenagers do, right? She wondered because honestly she didn't have a clue what normal looked like anymore.
Darla smiled and said "We'll be landing soon."
She wandered away and Milla worked to sink as low as possible into her seat. The palm of one hand smacked her forehead repeatedly. Stupid. Stupid. She knew better than to fall asleep anywhere around strangers. Ever. Her face was hot with shame.
At least Dad bowed out of this trip and wasn't here to witness that, she thought, trying to find a silver lining.
He would have started again with trying to get her to talk about it. Like that was ever going to help. It wouldn't stop it from happening. Nothing would. Just like the dreams of the red eyed wolf had come true no matter how much she'd wanted to avoid it.
As the plane landed smoothly, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Elena.
"Keys in glovebox" -was all it said.
Milla was expecting someone to pick her up. That was usually how these trips went. This sounded even better.
There was a black, low slung convertible sports car waiting for Milla. The keys were bundled in a note that said only, "Drive Careful! -E". Her godmother was the best. A saint even. Best trip ever!
Milla sat down and just took in the awesomeness. Rich black leather seats and a standard transmission. She was officially smitten. She loved to drive. Elena knew that. And trusted her…with this. She dropped it into reverse and headed for the interstate moving smoothly through the gears. By the time she reached fifth and opened the engine up her mind had wandered but she was still carefully focused on the road.
Milla's life had shifted dramatically a little over a year ago. A car wreck had taken her best friend Emma's life. Milla had been the one driving. The grief had nearly eaten her alive at first. But that one mistake, that horrible accident, had literally altered her entire life.
Because of the curse she carried in her blood from her father, she now shifted periodically to wolf form. Emma's death at her hands had activated that curse – which was horrible enough. Then, to top it off, Milla's wolf couldn't be like everyone else's. She had become a freak among freaks.
Milla's wolf was bigger, stronger and faster than any of the other members of her pack, even her father. The worst part of it was that Milla wasn't forced to change with the moon. She could shift at will or not shift at all with a full moon like any normal werewolf – normal being a relative term. When her pack had discovered that, there had been whispers. Dangerous ones. Dangerous enough for her father to resign as pack leader after twenty five years.
Early on things that upset her forced the change. That very problem had nearly cost Milla the godmother she loved so much. It made her head hurt to remember how close they had all come to losing Elena. No one had ever really clarified how she had survived, because a Were bite worked like snake poison to a vamp, which was exactly what Elena was. Milla had accidentally bit her the night she changed for the first time, when she was still ruled entirely by instinct and aggression.
Her father had spent months teaching her control. He'd also removed her from school for safety's sake, joking that he was afraid she'd fail an algebra test and eat the teacher. So she'd lost her senior year of high school and all of her friends in exchange for concentrating on homeschooling online and trying not to have four legs and a tail.
Milla pulled into the long drive slowly, savoring the sight of home. When she came to a stop the front door opened. Elena and Elijah waited on the front step for her. She loved her father and the small house she was raised in. So she'd never tell him, but the truth was that this place, these people, were home to her.
After a much needed peaceful night's sleep Milla came down the hall toward the kitchen drawn by the smell of fresh coffee. Voices reached her before she rounded the corner.
Elena was saying, "Just don't antagonize him, or them….or well…anybody. Okay?"
Milla rounded the corner to find Elena facing away from her and hugging Damon. Damon looked up, met Milla's eyes and graced her with a wink.
Elena promptly smacked the back of his head. "And stop flirting with Milla! That's the last thing she needs!" Damon crossed his eyes, pretending Elena had hit him hard and Milla laughed.
He walked around the kitchen island and put an arm around Milla's shoulders with a smile.
"Mills, will you go out to the pool and entertain the old guy?" Damon winked at her again.
"Oooooh! I forgot you put in a pool. I'd like to see it anyway." Milla answered excitedly, addressing Elena.
Elena reached across the counter and handed Milla a hot cup of black coffee. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea." Her eyes were wide with concern.
But Damon's smile turned wicked.
"Awww, c'mon Elena. She's got to meet him sooner or later. It'll be fun." Damon insisted. Milla could see he was up to something. But she smiled and nodded anyway, coffee in hand, headed for the door despite Elena's protests. It would be okay. Milla actually liked old people.
Milla stepped out onto the patio carrying her morning coffee and walked around the pool. Despite Damon's urging there was only one person seated out here, and he didn't exactly qualify as an "old guy". He looked like he was thirty, maybe. He wore a navy blue t-shirt and long jean clad legs were stretched out over a lawn chair. He was watching the wind move the water on the surface of the pool with deep concentration.
He was tall with short dark blonde hair blown away from his face in the wind. He had high cheek bones over shallow cheeks and a sharp jaw line sprinkled with a shadow of whiskers. He could've been a male model…not the classic male beauty kind of model like Damon, but more like the working man kind of model in the old Marlboro Man ads she'd seen from years ago. All he was lacking was a horse and a hat. He already wore the boots and jeans. His eyes were a deep denim blue and one of his brows rose as he watched her approach.
Milla sat down unceremoniously in the chair next to his facing him, setting her cup on the concrete patio.
"Hi. We haven't met yet. I'm Milla." She met his eyes squarely and froze. Something about them struck her as familiar.
"Have we met?" The question came out without her meaning to ask it.
He blinked once before his lips twitched to a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"No. I am sure I would remember." His accent was a twin of Elijah's and although his eyes didn't smile along with him, they seemed kind to her. "I am Klaus."
Milla's mind spun. She'd heard that name. She'd actually heard Elijah say it just the other night.
"Wait. So….you're Elijah's brother." Now she understood the old man jab from Damon. He referred to Elijah the same way. Milla had no idea how old Damon's definition of old was. They were all vamps. So she had no clue how old any of them actually were. She didn't ever ask because she didn't really care, either. Growing up in a wolf pack, no one she knew ever appeared to be their real age.
She watched Klaus' smile fade with her words.
"Guilty." Was all he said, but his eyes watched her warily. He seemed to be waiting to see what she would do with that bit of information.
She picked up her chair and scooted a little closer, scraping it awkwardly across the concrete of the patio.
"Okay, I have got to know. What was it like growing up with him?" She tucked her knees together and rested her elbows on them, her hands folded under her chin. She flashed her best smile at him, hoping for as much information as possible.
Klaus blinked again and his expression shifted for a second to confused. Milla got that a lot when she smiled at people.
"You mean our childhood?" He returned her smile, but those strange blue eyes still watched her cautiously. Milla noticed on closer inspection that there were actually a few tiny flecks of amber in their dark blue depths. Maybe that was what seemed so strange to her.
"Yes, I never had siblings. I'm dying to know. Was he annoying? He's what….five years older? So…was he a bully? Always throwing you out of his room? Lectures and tattling to mom?" She'd untucked her hands from under her chin and was talking with them.
Klaus laughed. Bone deep delight, with an undercurrent of relief, rang out across the patio.
When he got ahold of himself, he saw she was still smiling at him and waiting impatiently.
"Come ooooonnnnn!" She drug the word out on an appeal, flapping a hand at him. "I'm looking for dirt here." She rubbed her hands together eagerly and it made his smile deepen.
His eyes became distant as he mentally spanned the centuries in search of bits of his childhood.
"I wish I had dirt to offer you. But he was actually a very good older brother. The best." He met her eyes and she smiled encouragingly, motioning with her hands for him to go on. "He always had dogs. So I stayed in his rooms to play with them as much as I could when I was small, especially the pups. And he taught me about horses. Taught me to ride, even." He shrugged, expecting her to be disappointed.
But her amber eyes glowed at him with warmth and her pink lips spread to a broader smile. She was tall and lean, her skin darkly tanned. Her hair was a light golden blonde with natural platinum highlights. It was long enough that it reached her waist and blew loosely around her in the wind. The fringe from her denim cut offs and the sleeves of her white peasant blouse blew in the wind along with her hair, giving the impression of her being in perpetual motion. Like the wind itself.
"That's even better. It figures he'd make a great older brother."
"You are fond of him." Klaus saw the affection in her eyes.
"He and Elena are my family." She told him, amber eyes going wide with youthful sincerity.
"I hear that word a lot here." Klaus had grown still, watching her. The concept of family didn't necessarily have positive implications in his mind.
Milla nodded, her blonde hair moving around her. "That's Elena. She's like everybody's mom." The warmth in her tone said she approved.
"A matriarch. I could see that." His voice had deepened, his eyes narrowing as he looked toward the house.
"Nah, not in that way. She just…" She paused, looking for the right words. "She loves people into submission."
Klaus laughed again, longer and louder. It echoed around them. He thought of Elena intercepting him on that sidewalk in front of the New York apartment and catching him off guard with a hug. That had been the beginning. Yes. That was exactly what Elena had done. Loved him into submission. Yes, exactly. For now, at least, he thought.
Milla watched him laugh. He didn't do it half way. He laughed with his whole body, all of him wrapped up it. His heartfelt humor made her smile along with him.
"You are very clever." His comment was a question.
She smiled a little wider but she shook her golden head.
"Of course not." - was her answer, but amber eyes told him something else entirely.
A voice across the patio drew both of their attention. "Klaus, Elijah's in the study. Why don't you join him?" It was Elena, a small hand on one of her hips and a smile on her face.
Klaus froze at the question, watching Elena closely. He'd been coming to visit his brother for months and the invitation into their home had not been reinstated in all that time. He couldn't blame either of them. He'd done damage with the last invitation, to this girl in fact. But now, it appeared there was progress. Welcome even.
He nodded to Milla and stood. Walking slowly to Elena, Klaus felt her gasp of surprise when he abruptly wrapped his arms around her in one of the hugs she was so fond of. Her eyes were smiling when they met his.
"Thank you. You will not regret this." He told her and meant it.
He leaned close to one of Elena's ears and whispered, "The girl. She does not know, does she?"
Klaus had been expecting a confrontation as the willowy blonde rounded the pool on him. He'd been braced for a full out brawl considering what he knew. After all, he'd seen her tear a car door off its hinges with her bare hands and shift on the fly to chase after him….all without a full moon.
But rather than being confrontational, she'd been warm and funny. That he'd been unprepared for. The only explanation would be that she was unaware that Klaus had already ripped through her life like a wrecking ball before they had even met.
Klaus and his conscience hadn't been closely acquainted in centuries. But the thought made it twist inside him and it was not pleasant.
Elena leaned back to look up at him and shook her head once, her dark eyes searching his face.
His face grim, he said, "I thought not."
It was a shame. It was also another glaring example of his uncanny ability to break everything he touched. Just as Father used to say.
With effort, Klaus pushed those thoughts aside
"Either way, you should keep an eye on the girl. She has your number." His voice was low, in playful warning.
Elena grinned and jabbed a finger into his rib. "And I have yours."
Hours later Elijah found Elena in the kitchen staring out the window into the darkness. The house had grown quiet and everyone else had either gone home or retired for the night. He stood behind her and wrapped both arms around her. She leaned back into his arms, one hand resting against one of his.
"What are you worrying about? The invitation you gave Klaus today?" Elijah hadn't been expecting to find his brother standing in the doorway of his study, but it had been a nice surprise. They had sat together in comfort for hours rather than Elijah joining him outside, or somewhere public, as had been their practice up until that day.
Elena ran a hand along his arm and he saw her smile in the reflection of the window pane.
"I'm not worrying. Just pondering. I'd been thinking of inviting Klaus back inside for over a month. He's been so subdued and I've wanted him to feel welcome."
Elijah hugged her a little tighter. They both knew that Klaus could be a destructive force even when his intentions were good. But Elena believed that Klaus' nature was still good. Over the last months Elijah had himself seen a kinder side of his brother. Rather than treat him with quiet caution, as Elijah had always done, Elena preferred to treat him with warmth and kindness. Her hope was that he would rise to the occasion. In Elijah's opinion, Elena's tactic appeared to be bearing fruit.
"So why the pondering?"
"Today I watched Milla introduce herself to Klaus while I stood right here. Within about a minute she had him laughing." Elena smiled at the memory. "After another two and she had him talking about his childhood, about how you were the best big brother he could have asked for." Elena turned in his arms and wrapped hers around his waist.
"You know how she is."
It was a joke between them that Milla's smile had been her super power long before she activated her curse and became a Were. The young woman was entirely unaware of how she affected other people with that smile of hers. It had taken only one of those when she was eight for Elena to lose her heart to the girl completely. Elijah, too, had fallen victim to its power very quickly.
"So you invited him in to separate them? To protect her?"
Elena met his eyes, shaking her head. "No. To protect him. And I might've been too late. She said something I didn't catch right before I went out there and he laughed so hard he nearly rolled off his chair. You know how quiet he's been for months. I didn't even remember that he could laugh like that."
Milla's smile opened hearts and doors. She had a quiet, earnest charm that overtook people like a force of nature. The young woman could break down barriers like a flood, crack a person open and making them want to thank her for it. Elena was concerned she might've witnessed her brother in law getting swept up in the tide.
To further frustrate things, Elena had withheld Klaus' role in Milla's wreck more than a year ago. Elena had decided at the time that it was wise to stay silent considering everything that upset Milla early on forced her to change. As time passed, Elena understood that Klaus hadn't intended to hurt Milla any more than Milla had intended to hurt Elena with the bite that nearly took her life. Accidents happened and really there was no one to blame. But something in Klaus' eyes earlier told Elena it wore on him.
Elena couldn't help but think that things could get complicated fast.