Klaus approached the Angel warily. He had yet to meet one, but he had heard tales about them. They were rare beautiful and divine creatures, who had one destined mate who they searched for endlessly. They only exposed themselves when necessary, preferring solitude or being around their own kind. Which meant that there were either others around, or this one had fallen prey to some other being.
He looked around himself, studying the shadows that danced around the trees. He should leave the Angel here. Let whatever was coming after it, take it and save his own life. But he found he couldn't. One look at the Angel's face made his cold, lifeless heart clench. It had been so long since he'd felt emotion that it felt foreign and he wasn't sure whether he liked it or not. All he knew, was that it would be a weakness. If he felt anything towards this Angel, it could be used against him.
With that thought it mind, Klaus took a step away from the Angel, intending to leave it in the clearing and let fate take over. As he did, Klaus saw the Angel's wings quiver in the wing and unconsciously wrap tighter around its body. A survival mechanism. It was cold. It mustn't have the same survival traits that vampires had against the weather. He stood and watched the male shiver as the wind got colder and the leaves clung to his delicate wings.
He couldn't leave it like that.
He could take it back to the manor and study it. Knowing more about its species could help him in the future if he was threatened by them. Klaus frowned at that thought. He doubted he'd be threatened much by them. The tales that he had heard told that they were peaceful creatures who would rather run than fight. But he couldn't leave it out here. If the tales were right then it wouldn't be able to threaten him much more than a human would...
His mind made up, Klaus picked the Angel up from the forest floor being careful not to touch its wings. Its skin felt cold against his. A small trickle of emotion ran through his chest. Unworthiness. One of not being able to provide. He pushed the feelings down. He hadn't felt anything like them in centuries, so why was he feeling them now? Even though Klaus' skin was naturally cold to touch, he found that the Angel curled closer to him, its head resting against his chest. He looked down at it, noticing long lashes and a chiseled jaw. The Angel's eyes moved beneath his eyelids, so it was clearly fighting to wake. Somewhere in its unconscious mind, it was clearly aware that it had been disturbed.
Klaus hastily made his way back to the manor. He didn't want to Angel to wake in his arms in case its reaction to him wasn't pleasant. He frowned at that thought. Never had he cared about others opinions of him. Normally he would delight in the fact that someone was scared of him. But this Angel - whose name he didn't know, had changed all of that. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was thinking too much. The dream had been solved and now he was left with this: emotions he hadn't felt in centuries.
When he reached the manor, Klaus took the Angel down to the basement. He wanted it to be secure until he knew more about its species and what threat it could potentially be. He placed in on the stone floor, grimacing as it started shivering again. Closing the door behind it, he gathered blankets and a fold out bed. He'd never done this for a prisoner before. Usually they were left in the basement to rot, or to mummify if the victim were a vampire.
Klaus set up the fold out bed quickly, draping blankets over it to make it more comfortable. He lifted the Angel again, careful not to touch its wings, and placed it in the bed. It immediately curled up in the blankets. One hand clenched tightly to the corner of the blanket which its wings appeared to shudder in pleasure at the warmth the blankets gave.
He watched it for a few moments as its breathing slowed to a deep sleep. It wouldn't wake for a while. Klaus made sure it was comfortable before closing the heavy wooden door and latching the bolts in place. He turned his back on the Angel and made his way through the manor to the library.
The musky smell of old books enveloped him as he moved through the maze of bookshelves. Many of the books were faded with age, their spines dulled and worn. It had been years since Klaus had used the library for anything other than casual reading. He had thought he'd known everything about all the supernatural creatures, especially their weaknesses. But the Angel made his lack of knowledge stand out.
He flicked through some of the books, coming up empty handed until he finally found one that looked promising. He wiped the dust from its cover and quickly scanned the pages. It had a small section dedicated to the Angel species and Klaus returned to the basement with the book in his hand. Taking a seat on the sandbags which lined the room, he decided to wait for the Angel to wake.
While he waited, he read the section on Angels. There was a simple hand drawn image on the first page. It was a female Angel but its wings were the same as Damon's, only grey instead of black. The book was in Latin, which he easily translated as he read.
The human that had written the book detailed the species quite clearly, stating very early on that he had been the mate of an Angel, specifically the women in the picture. Klaus narrowed his eyes at that. Why would an Angel go for something so lowly as a human when it could have a stronger, equally supernatural mate?
Like he already knew, the book detailed that they were peaceful creatures, preferring to run instead of fight. The human had detailed his first encounter with the Angel, how she hadn't believed him to be the mate she was destined to and for weeks had refused to have any contact with him. Instead withdrawing into herself to the point of becoming ill. Klaus risked a glance at the Angel, thankful that his breathing was still deep.
He continued to read, taking mental notes as he read. They preferred nature to cold stone places. At that, Klaus had looked around the basement with a frown, only to decide that it was needed if he was to keep the Angel secure. They each had a unique, uncontrollable gift that occurred when their emotions were high. The human had written that his Angel had been able to heal people when in a positive mood, and easily kill when in a negative mood. Once again, Klaus looked warily over to the Angel. Thankfully they didn't have any unusual feeding habits. Klaus would just have to go shopping if he wished to maintain a somewhat happy house guest.
A rustling sound cause him to place the book down on the sand bags and glance towards the Angel. Its wings had become trapped in the blankets and it appeared in great distress that it couldn't get them free. Klaus moved over silently, gently pulling the blankets from the Angel's wings. But in this moment, his hand touched the Angel's wing. Its feathers were like the finest velvet and silk, so soft to touch that it made Klaus reach his hand out again.
Snatching back his hand, he watched as the Angel's eyes flickered and then opened fully to reveal startling blue eyes. Klaus stared, amazed at such a colour. The Angel was beautiful. All pale skin, dark hair and blue eyes. Once more his hand reached out to touch the Angel, as if to make sure it was real. But as he did, the Angel scrambled from the bed, tripping over blankets in his haste before stumbling to the far wall.
Its breathing was erratic and it looked at Klaus with large startled blue eyes that watched his every movement. The Angel's naked chest heaved with every breath and behind him his black wings spread out and quivered, showing his distress at the situation he was in. His blue eyes flickered around the basement, lasting longest on the door before moving back to Klaus. The Angel's body shook and he looked again at the door for escape.
Klaus took a small step forward, his hand outstretched to calm the Angel. He stopped when he saw the Angel shaking its head and pressing itself further against the rough bricks of the basement. He frowned as he noticed his own caring attitude towards the Angel. Klaus shook the feeling off, instead reaching for the blanket that the Angel had been holding tightly while it slept.
The Angel looked at the blanket in confusion, its blue eyes filled with worry. Only then did the Angel appear to notice its nudity and it grabbed the blanket from Klaus before holding it around its waist. The blanket acted as a token of trust. The Angel's breathing slowed down though he still looked towards the door.
"Can you speak?" Klaus asked. Which ever language it spoke wouldn't be a problem.
The Angel cocked its head to the side, its eyes narrowing slightly. For a moment Klaus wondered if the Angel spoke any language at all before it opened its mouth slowly. And then it shut it again, and worried its bottom lip with its teeth. Klaus watched as the pink colour disappeared from his lip, only to reappear as the Angel stopped nibbling it. To answer his question, the Angel nodded in Klaus direction.
Klaus had to refrain himself from rolling his eyes. Nodding hadn't really answered his question had it? He stayed where he was, and this time, asked; "What's your name?"
The Angel's eyes widened at Klaus question. He looked to the door once more before his shoulders slumped as he saw that there was no escape. "Damon," he answered quietly.
A sudden heat flooded through Klaus at the sound of Damon's voice. It was like nothing he'd ever heard before. So softly spoken, Klaus could only watch and hope what he was hearing was true. "Damon," Klaus repeated, as if to feel the words roll off his tongue. "I'm Klaus," he said slowly, part of him hoping he wouldn't scare Damon any further.
He didn't understand this sudden need to be careful around the Angel. Every time Damon looked towards the door Klaus would feel a trickle of unfamiliar emotion, the same one he'd felt before. A feeling of being unworthy, as if he couldn't provide.
When he looked back towards Damon he saw that the Angel had turned to the side, one pale hand resting lightly on the rough brick work. Damon's fingers trembled slightly as they traced over the wall. The Angel shut his eyes tightly before turning back to Klaus.
"Where am I?" Damon asked but he wouldn't look at Klaus.
"Mystic Falls," Klaus replied. He took a step towards Damon while the Angel appeared distracted by his thoughts. "I found you in the forest."
If it surprised Damon, then he didn't show it. He nodded his head slowly - too calm for Klaus' liking. "How did you know I was there?"
"Dreams," Klaus smirked at himself. Before he hadn't admitted it to anyone. No one knew how he thought his mind was turning on him. And now he had just admitted it to a stranger, and a beautiful one at that. "For the past month I would dream about you, each and every night. So I followed them, and I found you."
Damon's blue eyes widened and the shivers that had abated returned in full force. "No," he whispered, his eyes wide with shock. The Angel shook his head slowly, once again moving backwards to create more distance. "It can't be you..." His knuckles turned white as he held the towel tighter around his waist. Those huge yet delicate wings trembled, once again showing his distress. "It can't be you."
Klaus frowned at the Angel's words, having to strain to hear the almost inaudible mutterings. He kept quiet. From what he'd seen, Damon was fragile and being moved to an unknown location was already making him distressed. Klaus didn't know how much more the Angel could take. "What am I to you?"
He froze at Klaus' words, his own mutterings coming to an abrupt halt. A dull acceptance came to Damon's eyes. "You're not going to let me go, are you?" Damon's wings appeared to curl around his body, hiding the majority of him from Klaus' view. "Please let me go, I don't belong here." Even though he was covered by his wings, Klaus could make out the desperation in his voice.
Anger blossomed within Klaus. Not only had Damon refused to answer his question, but he was attempting to leave too. He snarled lowly, feeling his fangs extend. Even the sound of Damon's gasp did nothing to prevent the anger that coursed through him. When Damon desperately looked towards the door once more, Klaus stalked forwards, appearing in front of the startled Angel within seconds. His hands came out to pry Damon's wings apart so he could see face.
His hands gripped the ridge at the top of Damon's wings and he pried them open causing Damon to cry out in pain. They quivered beneath his touch, each feather seeming to coil in on itself to avoid his punishing hands. A substance stained his hands but he didn't look. Couldn't look or he knew he would stop. Instead he looked through the abundance of feathers as he pulled Damon's wings apart, desperate to see the eyes of the figure that had haunted him all those weeks.
Damon's eyes were clenched shut in pain and his mouth was open as he screamed in silence. His breathing was close to hyperventilating and his once pale skin was now red with pain. Cool, slim hands came to rest on Klaus' forearms as he tried to push him away. He was no stronger than a human. At his touch, a strange tingling sensation ran through Klaus' body. Heat pooled in his stomach but he fought to ignore it.
Outside a sudden strike of thunder made Damon flinch further. It came faster and faster, each clap sounding deafening to Klaus' oversensitive ears. Every time Damon's hands clenched around Klaus' arms lightening would strike the ground, causing even the basement floor to shake beneath their feet. Choked whimpers and groans of pain came from Damon's open mouth as Klaus finally pried his wings apart.
Blue eyes swimming with tears looked weakly at Klaus.
"Answer me!" Klaus snarled, his fangs extended and his eyes golden as Damon flinched and shook uncontrollably. "What am I to you? What are you hiding?"
He shook Damon's body once again.
"I can't tell you!" Damon cried out, his head hanging low and his wings drooping. "I can't tell you. You'll use it against me!" The tears that had been threatening to spill finally flowed over. Red tears stained Damon's cheeks and Klaus stared back at him in horror.
"Blood! For tears!" He would have laughed in Damon's face if it hadn't been for the overwhelming scent coming from the fresh blood. It was like nothing he had ever smelt before. So divine and beautiful. Otherworldly. It wrapped around him, making his brain foggy and without even realizing, he sunk his teeth into Damon's neck.
The Angel tensed at the pain, his body becoming rigid against Klaus'. His hands now scrambled against Klaus' arms; short fingernails creating scratches that healed instantly. Against his face, Klaus could feel every exhale of breathe that Damon expelled. Outside, the lightening stuck the ground with a bang and the thunder continued to clap.
Damon's blood was extraordinary. A divine taste which tingled his taste buds and left him wanting more. He allowed his teeth to tear at Damon's neck, ripping the skin like a knife through butter. Every thought had fled his mind. The only thing left was a need to possess and a need to dominate this creature before him.
Damon would be his.
