The Butcher and The Butterfly

Chapter 1 Cold Black Days

Hello everyone. This Klaus story had been dancing in my head for quite some time now. And there aren't enough Klaus/OC stories out there, so let's give this a go and see how things turn out.

Soft, white fluffs of snow the size of cotton balls drifted down in Mystic Falls park. Earlier today, the snow died and melted away once touching contact with the ground or anything else in its way. But now, it decided to stick and what was once green grass had turned into an endless supply of pristine snow. It was an abundance of it; stretching out as far as the eye could see. What a Winter wonderland this must've been for everyone. If only I could've taken a part in all the merriment and cheer December brought. If only this Winter wonderland wasn't a frozen hell to me.

Thick heavy clouds stretched their gloom throughout the sky, while my long deep breaths provided temporary clouds with every exhale. Snowflakes clung to my skin, dampening it as the crisp, harsh wind froze it onto me. And while on the outside I felt like I was slowly being dipped in liquid nitrogen, inside I felt like a volcano was erupting, burning anything and everything in sight. But I was acclimating quite quickly to this feeling. To the feeling of starving myself. To the feeling of my organs trying to feed off themselves while my brain shouted at me to go feed. I'd experienced hungers before, but this was the longest I'd gone without relapsing. And this was the worst hunger of them all.

It all started with the humans. Each had their own personal taste that complimented their personalties. Some were sour, some were spicy. Some savory. Some decadent. They were like opening a Christmas present. You knew what you wanted, but after you played around with it, you saw that it was above and beyond expectations.

Next came the witches and the weres. I had thought humans were delicious, but these two, were unimaginably mouthwatering. A better creation than their human counterparts. Humans 2.0. They had an oomph to them that I hadn't had before. If humans were a cheeseburger, then weres and witches were steak.

But I found myself getting bored with their taste, and was soon looking for more. Which is where the vampires came into play. I could taste the hell in them. The fire and brimstone that awaited after their demise. It was dark, lush, and all consuming. But with a rare few, a prime select of vampires, I could taste sin and salvation. A mixture of the evil that they were, and the goodness that they yearned to be. And it took me completely by surprise. As I relished in their fiendish flavor, bang! A sweet aftertaste crept its way onto my taste buds. Humans were cheeseburgers. Weres and witches were steak. But vampires, were the entire cow. And I was a greedy girl.

I found myself unable to stop. My cravings became the only thing I could think about. Flesh ripping from muscle. Tissue sliding down my throat. Organs bursting in my mouth. The different sounds bones made as they snapped in your mouth. It was the only care in the world I had. Who'd be my next meal? Where would I find them at? And how would they taste?

But as years turned into decades, and decades turned into centuries, living a life as a monster wasn't something I wanted. I didn't want my addiction to overpower me. (Which it has in the past.) So I tried to wean myself off when I felt my sanity slipping away. Each time I prayed that I beat my addiction. And each time I was let down. But these three months, despite being a torturous period, have proved to me that if I keep at it, I'll be able to live my life flesh free.

My hands encircled the chains of the swing set until my wrists looked like they were shackled. Another pang wrapped around my intestines and tied them into an unfathomable knot. I sucked in a breath, putting all my faith into the frigid air to extinguish my burning soul. But it was nothing but mere gasoline. Through clenched teeth, and eyes squeezed shut, my head slumped against the chains my hands were tied around. Maybe I could sleep off this pain.

"Hello there, love." A mouth pressed gingerly to my ear breathed and my eyes popped open. This was the man whose voice made Winter feel like Summer in Mexico. It made the snow feel like acid against my skin. He placed a small kiss on my cheek. "How goes my favorite zombie?"

"Klaus?" I said, head turning around slowly to make sure this was really happening. That this man was really Klaus. I got all the affirmation I needed. Pale skin, strong chiseled jaw, pink lips the color of rose petals, and cobalt blue eyes that faded to baby blue as you approached his pupil. His outward appearance had so many people fooled. He didn't seem like the type who could murder cities just for the hell of it. But there was something different about him now. Something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I felt myself frown once I figured out what it was. "You cut your hair."

A smile grew on his face. His hair, once chin length and dirtiest shade of blonde was now barely an inch and slightly curled. His chin, once smooth like satin now had stubble planted on it. "I needed a change. I thought to myself 'new millennia, new hairstyle'."

"I don't like it." His smile grew wider. I wasn't in the mood for his shenanigans. Not today. "Why are you here, Klaus? We had an agreement remember? You take Europe, I keep the Americas, everywhere else is fair game. I suppose I must've been sleeping when Virginia was appointed a country in Europe."

"Not happy to see me? It's been over a century, Lucinda and you haven't thought of me once?"

"No." Of course I thought of him. He and I both knew I did. But us together meant trouble. It meant us frolicking over the corpses that laid rotten in the streets like we were in a field of flowers. And even though Klaus may have found that fun, I grew bored and grew up.

"Well If it means anything to you, all I could do is think of you."

More lies.

Ignoring his comment, I turned my head back to the desolate park. My gaze then began to shift upward to the night sky before falling back onto the empty slides and monkey bars, as Klaus pushed me on the swing set. I wasn't going to fall for his cheap tricks this time. This always happened. Things would be really good between us for a while, before we were at each others throats screaming the most hurtful comments we could think of. A few years would pass, or in this case about a century, and the vicious circle began once more. But I wouldn't fall weak to Klaus again. Not this time.

"Anything interesting happen during my absence?" Klaus said casually as if we hadn't seen each other in a few days.

"Nothing." I didn't want him to think that my life was boring without him, even if it was. Klaus had been the only person who I could have a conversation with without wanting to bash my skull in. "Except I found out that decapitation and electrocution don't work."

"Really? You're still trying to kill yourself? Not even going to take into consideration how I'd feel about that?"

After the many encounters I had with death, heart ripped out, neck snapped, setting myself on fire (which hurt like fuck, I might add), I came to the realization that I couldn't die. At least not any of the crafty ways I thought of. And no, I didn't care about how Klaus felt about it. He of all people should have understood why I didn't want to live anymore. Five hundred years of being a living corpse, of being so close to death that I could see it from my backyard was getting tiresome. Life began to become a routine. Eat people, grow disinterested, starve myself, relapse.

"What about you, Niklaus? You're always up to something. You even smell different." I said, trying my hardest to not scream out in pain as another pang crashed throughout me.

"Do I?"

"Mhm." I wasn't talking about his aroma, which was crisp and clean with a whisper of citrus in it. Like a seabreeze gently blowing linen in the wind. But I was talking about his body chemistry. It was darker, and powerful. Sinister and malevolent. Appetizing."What have you gotten into?"

"I did it, Lucy."

That was all he needed to say for me to get it. And if I hadn't known Klaus for as long as I did, I would've thought he was a liar. But this didn't come as a surprise to me. When he put his mind to something, it always got done. He was crafty like that. "So how's life like as a hybrid?"

"Bloody fucking brilliant."

Of course it was. Klaus was always looking for ways to be the best at everything. The best vampire. Best werewolf. Best original. But now there was nothing left for him to be the best at. So there was only one more question for me to ask. "What now?"

"Build a hybrid army. Take over the world. That kind of stuff." He said, as if taking over the world was just some simple plan. He'd wake up, have his tea and a couple of muffins, take a shower, and then take over the world. What an ingenious plan. "And you can be queen of it all."

"Oh how wonderful! Because that's exactly what my life's been missing; to be queen of a mindless pack of hybrids."

"Just a thought. You don't have to be rude about it."

I tried to contain the scream that was bottled inside me, but it exploded and tore from my lips until there was no more air I could push from out of me. If my hands weren't gripping the metal chains, I would've keeled over onto the ground. I couldn't stand the pain. It was unbearable.

"Lucinda, what's the matter?" Klaus was no longer pushing the swing, but was in front of me, hands cupping my chin. With concerned eyes, he examined me moving my head left and right. Up and down. But all the concern that once filled his eyes was now replaced with disgust. He tossed my head away as he figured out what was wrong. "You're on the fucking wagon again, love? Really?"

He never approved of me wanting to stop eating people.

"Klaus, you've got to leave." I said, beads of sweat sliding down my brow. "I don't know how much longer I can-"

"Oh shut up, will you?" Klaus said, lifting me up and turning around so that my back rested again him. He slipped his dark grey, just above the knee, wool jacket onto me. He then tied his scarf around my neck, to further shield me from the wretched weather. Without the addition of his clothing, I only had on a thin, loose fitting red dress. "We're going to fix this little problem before it gets any worse."

Anything worse than this was death. Hell, what I was going through made death look like pansy. "Where are we going, Niklaus?" His hands found their way home onto my hips as he guided my footsteps. Without his guidance, I surely would have fallen.

"To find you something to eat."

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