Chapter 2
Thank you everyone for reading my first ever published words. It gave me a lot of confidence. I hadn't seriously planned on expanding this one beyond what I already posted, but a few things floated into my mind, and I wrote them down. This chapter will take place sometime after Klaus and Marcel's confrontation in 1x08. The storyline of the Originals is going great right now, and I really felt for Klaus in 1x07 when Elijah alleged he knew about his baby's abilities. Joseph Morgan's expressions were bang on… and that momentary vulnerability of Klaus did in fact inspire this chapter. Bear with me as it's a tad bit long. Hope you all enjoy reading it. Do leave your reviews, comments, suggestions, any ideas for going forward or any critique. Happy Reading
Oh and… needless to say, the characters (ex the new ones), the premise and backgrounds all belong to the creators of The Originals.
It was a pleasant evening, with clear skies and a pleasing mellow breeze. She could feel the nip in the air. She liked it, since she was a baby. She liked to see her breath fog, she liked it when the cold air brushed against her face, with a slight sting, and she loved it when her nose-tip turned red almost instantly. She laughed softly to herself thinking about her nose and how her dad used to call her Rudolph.
She was in a merry mood today. Her project had launched, and she had been able to tackle the difficult client fairly well so far. She was slowly fitting into her new surroundings, and was happy at her success… She had just had a heart-warming phone call with her parents back in New York, and she was feeling quite laden with emotions. It had been a long day though, and she wanted to unwind before calling it a night, and what better way to do that, than to take a nice quiet walk.
She continued ambling down the stretch of the French Quarter, humming a tune, gently.
"Someone holds me safe and strong, Horses prance though a silver storm….."
It was an old song from a movie she had seen when she was 10, 'Anastasia'. She loved the melody. It was hauntingly beautiful. Between the notes of her song her mind drifted to the movie and she recalled how she had poured over the real history of the Romanovs after watching the movie. Russian history was so intriguing…
Russian…..
-"And I'm not Russian by the way,"
the thought of Russia reminded her of her encounter with…what was his name… yes.. Niklaus Mikaelson, a few days ago.
She recalled their brief exchange….
'He had seemed so different… strange even….' She thought to herself. 'Well, he sure as hell was an eyeful though….A very attractive weirdo', she thought cheekily as she recalled the handsome visage and those deep blue eyes, and a school-girlish giggle rose up her throat. She bit her lips to keep herself from actually chuckling aloud.
Immersed in her song and her thoughts Natasha continued walking. She was in a happy place in her mind today….
Across the street a few blocks away, Klaus was seething. He was burning with anger, and it showed in his eyes. He staggered down the road, clutching a glass bottle in his hand, inebriated by the liquor he had been downing, in an attempt to calm himself, but it had had no effect whatsoever.
He felt as if he was being torn apart inside. He had been deceived, by everyone around him.
His own little sister included, How could she… He had trusted her, and she hated him so much that she went and sided with that vermin Marcel, the vermin who owes his very existence to Klaus.
'She will never learn… Rebekah' he muttered.
Marcel and his minions had had the audacity to rise against him, to bind him, to try to bury him. Him…. Niklaus Mikaelson… the Original Hybrid, the most powerful creature on earth, the invincible, the immortal…
He smiled a bit in pride as he recalled how he had foiled the coup against him and proven that he wasn't any other old vampire who could be overpowered. He was Klaus… and he had the power.
But neither the smile nor his momentary feeling of glory lasted long, as his thoughts immediately drifted to other things. He thought of Elijah and Hayley, and how they had alleged that he had wanted his daughter to be born only for downright macabre and selfish motives.
His heart and mind hurt as he thought of all this. His vision blurred as his eyes started to tear up in anguish and pain. He had been hurt. Deeply hurt. His family thought nothing of him, they deceived him when they could, they all despised him, his father did, his mother did, all his siblings did, Caroline did, Hayley did, and….they would make his child despise him too…. She would hate her father as well….. They wouldn't let her love him either…
This mere thought made Klaus feel constricted. He smashed the bottle on the sidewalk, and he let out a growl, he couldn't keep his raging feelings inside him anymore. His scream echoed in the alleyway, it echoed with fury, with hurt… with frustration. He thrashed about like a wounded tiger. He was breaking down inside, and though too proud to acknowledge the fact, he knew within that he was all alone, abandoned….
_
Natasha was lost, cocooned in her own bubble of thoughts, when she thought she heard a scream at a distance. She shuddered due to the suddenness of it. She wondered who it was. The sound was agonizing. Natasha's inner urge was to go and see, and help the troubled person, but her left brain stopped her in her tracks. Her self-preservation instincts kicked in. She was scared. It was late into the night, and she was alone in this labyrinth of dark deserted alleys. She kicked herself mentally for drifting here absentmindedly. What if she got herself into danger, what if it was some trap… a thousand questions ran through her mind.
After staying frozen on her spot for a few seconds, her instincts won. She had to see what it was, she had to help. She half ran towards the source of the shriek, muttering a silent prayer under her breath.
She reached the spot, and in the dim yellow light issuing from the street lamp, she saw Klaus kneeling in the middle of the street, panting, tears in his eyes, face contorted in a mixture of agony and frenzied wrath.
She felt really scared at that moment seeing him like that. His blue eyes that had enchanted her the other day seemed lethal and manic. She was visibly shaken, and with unsure steps she closed the distance between them.
She knelt beside him, and put a shaky hand on his shoulder. "Mr. Mikaelson ?" Klaus didn't respond.
"Err Niklaus ? Are you o-okay ?", "W-what's wrong, Wha—"
Klaus finally registered her presence and turned to face her. The intensity with which he gazed into her eyes scared her a bit more, but she tried her best to maintain a calm demeanour.
"They tried to put me down, ME…" He ranted looking at her
"They tried to trample Niklaus Mikaelson" he continued in a high guttural pitch, echoing in the deserted lane.
Natasha was shaken by now. She had no idea what Klaus was talking about, and how she should react. She looked deeply dismayed and confused. Her mind was debating whether she should abandon this madness and run, or if she should stay back and try to help this strange man. Just then she heard Klaus mutter something, in a softer tone, sounding deeply upset.
"They all hate me, they despise me" he whispered slumping to the ground.
"My family loathes me", he told her,
Natasha gazed at Klaus. The man who till now was full of fury and was gripped by a near mania, was suddenly transformed. His eyes, crazed with anger so far, now seemed forlorn and empty…. hollow…. hurt…..
"Oh what the hell, I've officially lost it"-Natasha muttered under her breath and sat down next to Klaus. She had to find out what was bothering him so much. She had to help him. She had made up her mind.
She glanced around and saw a smashed bottle of alcohol lying by the sidewalk.
She turned to Klaus and said "Hey… Niklaus… Look at me, what's wrong ? what happened to you ?"
She didn't get any response and so after a minute she added,
"Hey I think you've had too much to drink. Let me call you a cab back home okay " she proceeded to take her cell phone out of her pocket, when Klaus looked at her and said angrily, "I don't want a cab or any god forsaken thing. You don't have to worry about me. I don't need your concern or sympathy"
Natasha was taken aback, and a bit peeved. "I'm just trying to help you okay. You are drunk and clearly distressed about something so I just ….."
He leaned in close to her interrupting her mid sentence, inches from her face and said in a near sinister whisper, "Why do you care huh ? My own family wants me dead. Who are you to me ? Why do you care ?"
This angered Natasha. Here she was, genuinely concerned about this stranger's plight and he had the audacity to tell her off.
Eyebrows crinkled together, and her button nose flaring ever so slightly, she said strictly,
"Well I am an idiot I guess. That's why I care. You were screaming like a fanatic in the middle of the street at night, drunk as a fish, clearly disturbed and rattled, I should've walked straight past you. It was a stupid idea stopping by, because clearly you dislike being assisted."
Klaus just huffed. She proceeded to get up from his side, when she stopped midway and knelt before him again, and said gravely after a pause, "Well you know what, actually, someone helped my parents today. They… they would have been in a terrible car accident had this stranger not played the part of the Good Samaritan and helped them out. I was terrified to even think of the consequences had that person not been there." Her voice quivered slightly as she said the last part, she was staring into oblivion beyond Klaus, but he saw her large eyes were glistening with tears.
She blinked her tears away, composed herself drawing in a deep breath, and looked him straight in the eye and said, "I thought it was my duty to help someone in need of it, my way of at least trying to thank God for protecting my parents, and that's a reason why I came to you…. but you're good on your own, so well... Good night"
She got up, and turned to leave when Klaus beckoned her to wait, acting on pure impulse.
"Wait, Natasha…", he said.
He had been anguished, tormented and enraged today, and he was trying to escape these demons within him to no avail, and here came this girl, he barely knew, and a few mundane words that she spoke seemed to have been working a charm, as if loosening his synapses ever so slightly, he had begun feeling his inner fiends recede, an inch or two. He wanted her to stay a bit, and though a part of him was irate at this realization, he proceeded to stop her nevertheless.
"Don't be offended… I am not in my right mind today" he said with a flicker of an ironic smile, as he got up and walked towards her.
"Yeah, I can see that", Natasha responded, looking at him with a stern expression on her face.
Klaus looked at her, the breeze was ruffling her hair and she was trying to pry them away from her eyes. Standing alone in this lonesome plane, with a dangerous 1000 year old beast, she didn't look the least bit afraid, not that she knew what Klaus was capable of though, yet, she exuded a queer sort of fearlessness and poise.
Klaus laughed…, Natasha looked at him bewildered and said, "I'm sorry, what's so funny? pray tell"
Still laughing lightly Klaus proceeded to go and sit on a slightly raised platform off the sidewalk.
"You're awfully brave don't you think ? or incredibly foolish !" He said in his cheeky, teasing intonation. "Wandering alone around midnight, lured by a stranger. I could be dangerous you know… A criminal, a beast, a demon…" he said darkly
"A drug addict, a rapist… yeah I know. I thought about all those." She completed his sentence
"And yet…" he said.
"Yeah…because I'm barking mad I guess, proven beyond doubt today" she said and went and sat next to him.
"You're a strange girl you know" Klaus said
"Hah…. Look who's talking…." She laughed.
"You're very attached to your parents" Klaus stated
"Attached doesn't even cover it. They mean the world to me, they mean everything to me." Natasha said fiercely. Klaus noticed how her eyes twinkled and her face lit up at the mention of her parents.
Natasha continued after a minute's pause, "And today, when I got to know about their brush with disaster, I hated myself you know… I hated that I wasn't there with them, that I could do nothing to help…. I was crushed when I contemplated what could've happened if…" she looked away to flick away the tears that had started building up in the corner of her eyes again.
"I'm sorry" she said.
"No don't be… it's okay..It is extremely rare to see such devotion in a family you know…" Klaus said.
She smiled at him… "It can't be that rare…"
"Oh believe me love it is… Family is perhaps overrated if you ask me" Klaus said.
"Oh c'mon… don't be a cynic now" Natasha chided him playfully
"My family would rather I died… they hate me to such extremes." He stated darkly.
Natasha was stunned into silence. She didn't know how to react.
"I…I'm sorry…I.." she stuttered.
Klaus smiled sarcastically…
"We swore an oath to each other… that we'll be together, Always and Forever…." Klaus said
"empty words they were from them" he said with gritted teeth.
"Now they will believe anything any streetrat comes and tells them about me. They'll betray me, they'll think I'm incapable of caring for my own blood…." He said, his temper rising again.
Natasha felt uncomfortable. The changes in Niklaus's temperament and their intensity disconcerted her. She was normally very good with people, a fantastic orator, she was never short of words given any situation, but she was at a loss here…
She couldn't figure out this man sitting beside her. What was his problem, who was he….what was he….
But she loved challenges didn't she… well here was one for her.
She held his shoulder and said, "Hey, hey… listen…calm down… you're going to wake up the entire neighbourhood… and besides, it won't help… you'll only feel worse. So there… take a deep breath and try to calm down."
He tried… because he could sense that Natasha was feeling flustered too, and he didn't want that. He tried to ease his tensed being, loosened his fists and leant back
"If you had my memories, you would understand what I mean"
Natasha giggled, and immediately apologized.
"Now you find me funny ? Pray tell" he said imitating what Natasha had told him earlier.
Still smiling, she explained, "No nothing… It's just that when you said, 'If you had my memories'" she said trying to imitate Klaus's deep voice, "It reminded me of this book I'd read, and one of its characters."
-"Now which book would that be ?" Klaus asked.
"It's called Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier, heard of it ?" Klaus flinched slightly on hearing the name, his thoughts drifting to his sister, and her recent deception.
Natasha continued, "The male protagonist, Max De Winter, says these exact words to the girl narrating the story, and you know… he was quite in your present situation when he said that." She laughed again.
"Brooding and hurt", she completed, giggling,
"And why was he behaving so ? this Max De Winter?"
"Well, he had killed his wife, because she had been exceedingly deceptive and obnoxious, and this guilt was eating him away, haunting him." She narrated.
"Well just to be clear, I hadn't meant you both were similar in that regard okay" she laughed again, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
When she turned to look at Klaus, she found him gazing at her with an intense expression. Her laughter wilted. She became silent,
"Perhaps we are indeed more similar than you think. Perhaps I have done much worse things, unspeakable acts, killed many more people, perhaps…." Klaus nearly whispered.
Natasha felt a strong chill which had nothing to do with the weather. She was scared, she was nearly terrified.
The atmosphere was tense, and Klaus sensed he had rattled the girl.
He snorted and flashed his dimples, and casually asked her, "You like reading huh? That's a good hobby to have"
Natasha was still too stunned to respond.
Regaining some of her composure Natasha said, "Have you ?" Klaus looked at her quizzically, and she continued, "Have you done such things?"
"I've scared you. Apologies. I didn't mean to" Klaus said.
"Well, you speak of your feuding family as if you belong to the Corleones and you speak about yourself in a manner befitting Jack the Ripper, so I guess a scared reaction is just about justified." She said.
Klaus laughed, "You are exquisite"
She smiled slightly too, though she was still on edge.
"Well my family history has been more intriguing than the Corleone's actually" he winked.
"Look, there clearly have been issues between you and your family, and I'm not going to pry that out of you, but if you were to consider my two cents, I'd tell you, if you have a family, you ought to treasure it. There will always be differences and difficulties, but you ought to try to make it work. You never clap with one hand, so try to figure what was it you did that might have hurt them…Treasure them…There's no love greater than that your family can give you" she said
He smiled sardonically and said, "You know what my two cents are ? That love is a v-… Love is a man's greatest weakness."
"Love and family, can never be weaknesses. They are the greatest strengths there can be, given you respect them and tend to them." She said quickly.
Natasha looked at him for a few seconds and smiled, as she continued, "You said your family loathes you, and don't believe you can care, don't you think not loving has become your greatest weakness ?"
Klaus looked at her in silence. He didn't have a retort for what she had just said. He just stared at her. She seemed to be reading him even though she hardly knew him.
She proceeded to get up from their perch, and looked back at him and said, "Think about it"
Klaus was silent, ruminating over the conversation he had just had with this inscrutable human girl. The girl who revered family, and clearly adored her parents, and had an eerily calming presence.
She continued smiling, and after a pause added, "Look Niklaus,"
"Klaus, call me Klaus" he said breaking free from his train of thoughts and assuming his mischievous being.
"Yeah, I remember you'd said this before too"
"You don't like my name" Klaus said in jest
"No, I don't like your short form … Klaus… forgive me, I don't know why but it sounds a little….strange" she said.
"Everyone knows me as Klaus though" he tried to defend his name.
"Yeah…. but I won't. How about I call you Nik ? That's smaller than your full name and sounds better than Klaus. You okay with it ?"
Klaus laughed and nodded in agreement.
"So Nik, It's really late, and I have to get myself to work tomorrow, so I'll get going. You….take care." Natasha said.
"I can walk you to your place, it's late and dark…" Klaus offered.
She laughed, and said "Thanks, but I'd rather you took care of yourself now. I'll manage."
She waved a goodbye and turned on her heel when Klaus held her hand and stopped her.
She turned back and looked at him with a question in her eyes.
"Thank you ! Thank you for coming here and staying this long." Klaus said in earnest.
She smiled, "You're welcome" she responded. "Good night"
"Good night" Klaus said, and gently let go of her hand.
She began walking away and started humming her song again to clear her brain which was bursting at its seams with so many questions and thoughts.
"Far away, long ago"
Klaus heard her humming and called out bemused, "What is this song?"
She turned to him and answered him walking backwards "Oh it's from my childhood, my mum and I used to sing it together when I was little…" she waved and turned back, humming again.
Klaus could still hear her even as she walked away, thanks to his super auditory skills.
She hummed….
"Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart used to know
Things it yearns to remember
And a song someone sings
Once upon a December"
He waited and saw her walk away till she was out of his line of sight and hearing.
They both walked in opposite directions, both full of questions and overwhelmed with thoughts. Both struck with each other's enigma. Her humming stayed with Klaus.
The song made him feel stirred inside, because somehow it spoke of his innermost feelings… just that he himself wasn't completely aware of them…yet…
The alley was now deserted again, the only remnant of the conversations and happenings of the last hour was the smashed glass bottle shards of which now glistened in the yellow light of the street lamp
