They woke late in the morning, Klaus seeming to be in no particular hurry. Stefan impatiently paced around the small motel room, anxious to reach Elena. When they finally packed their meager gear and left, they drove deep into the nearby forest, pulling off onto dirt roads, that resembled old logging trails. When they could go no further Stefan parked the jeep. Stefan's qualms had risen the further into the forest they drove. He felt certain Elena wasn't here and feared whatever Klaus was up to. The hybrid looked over at him. "Time to walk."
Stefan traced a pattern on the steering wheel with his finger, shading part of his face with the other hand. He offered without much conviction, "I'll wait here for you."
Klaus merely smiled and got out of the car. "Lame, Stefan, really lame."
Stefan sighed, resigned to his fate. He met Klaus in front of the car, watching as the hybrid lifted his face to the wind and turning his head from side to side. Suddenly he pointed his chin to the North. "There."
Stefan didn't bother asking what was there, just followed the eager hybrid as he took off.
Klaus, all cheerful and friendly, walked into the clearing holding a rudimentary campsite with three tents. "Hello there! Come out! Come over! I have something to say to you."
The four people sitting around the campfire jerked their heads up in surprise while the flap to one of the tents flipped back, and two more heads peeked out.
Stefan hung back while Klaus walked right up to them, smiling. "My name is Klaus, and you are going to be the entertainment for my friend and I tonight." He beamed at them.
The young man and woman in the tent had come out, and the three girls huddled together, the three men forming a barrier between them and Klaus. They muttered among themselves thinking they were whispering, not knowing that their words were perfectly audible to the two vampires.
"This guy's a loon." "We can take them." "Easily," the biggest guy added sarcastically. The other two nodded as they gazed at the unimpressive figure Klaus presented. His slender rather than muscular form consistently caused people to underestimate his strength.
He thought their comments amusing, and he swaggered and smirked at Stefan as they listened to the campers.
Klaus walked up to the biggest guy and looked him in the eyes. "You will do nothing until I tell you." He quickly confronted the other two and then walked to the cringing women, one of them breaking away from the group to run for it. Klaus easily swept in front of her sending her scurrying back to the others. He quickly compelled each woman. Assured that no one would escape, he planned his next step. He looked them over. They were all the athletic, outdoorsy type, and their equipment indicated they had backpacked in. He anticipated good sport.
Klaus, looked up to see the moon starting to rise. "Hmmm." He rubbed his chin looking from the girls to Stefan. Suddenly,, he smiled and walked over to the tallest girl and commanded, "Scream in terror." She obeyed, and he frowned. "Nope." He went to the next one, a pleasant faced blonde, and repeated the command. He wasn't pleased with her either.
He went to the next girl, a petite brunette. "Scream for me, darling." She let out a high pitched piercing shriek. Klaus smiled and said, "Impressive. It's just like they do it in the horror films. You're perfect!" He put a hand at the back of her neck, guiding her over to stand in front of Stefan.
Stefan just shook his head. "Don't do this, Klaus. Let me go back to the car."
"Don't be a spoilsport! Play with me. She'll get you in the mood." His eyes turned sickly yellow, and he opened his mouth to reveal his double set of fangs. He punctured and ripped down her neck several times allowing a good flow of blood to run.
He whispered in her ear, "You're going to die unless you scream as loud as you can. If you scream loud enough and run fast enough you'll live, but if you stop running or screaming you're going to die."
The girl's eyes went wild, and she screeched repeatedly as Klaus watched Stefan's face. He noted with satisfaction the veins around Stefan's eyes engorging and collapsing. The hybrid, still holding the girl by the neck with one hand, dipped the pointer finger of his other hand in the blood trail and sucked it off, making loud smacking sounds. "Delicious."
Stefan stood still, looking away, but little quivers shook him, nostrils flaring ever so slightly as the scent of hot fresh blood assaulted him. He fought for control, begging the girl, "Don't scream, please you don't want to scream." As she continued, and his senses were assaulted by the enticing coppery smell a tiny smile, just a slight upward turn of the lips, threatened to emerge, was suppressed, and finally materialized.
Klaus, spotting it, smiled victoriously, and pushed the girl away. "Run . . run . . . run!" he ordered. She obeyed, dashing into the woods, tripping over exposed roots, bumping into trees, but always screaming.
Stefan disappeared in a blur.
Klaus laughed uproariously and started stripping off his clothes as he walked over to the compelled victims. "Take off, all of you being as quiet as possible. Hide the best you can without leaving these woods. Don't contact anyone . . . if you see someone not in this group, avoid them. Once we find you, then run or fight screaming as loud as you can the whole time." He looked them all over and then commanded, "Go now."
The remaining five dashed off in different directions while a naked Klaus stared up at the now full moon, a huge orb hanging in the sky. His mouth opened wide, as he felt the first bone crack. He embraced the change allowing the transition to complete.
He was not an overly impressive human, but he was a magnificent wolf, with huge paws, muscular shoulders, a brushy full tail, and a sleek coal black coat.
He heard a scream abruptly cut off and howled in response. Inhuman speed allowed him to reach Stefan and his victim in mere seconds. He found the vampire kneeling on the ground, worrying her throat, noisily gulping down her blood, his face smeared red. Glittering green eyes spotted him, and the vampire froze, growling a warning deep in his throat. The wolf returned the growl, stalking forward, stiff legged. The closer he got the faster the tempo of the vampire's growls. Klaus reached the girl's foot and gingerly reached out to grab the girl's ankle. He felt the blood still pulsing in her veins, and she weakly kicked as his teeth latched on. Stefan raised his head from her throat to growl, "Mine."
She tried to scream, but her throat was too ripped and she just spurted blood bubbles. The wolf, yellow eyes gleaming, attempted to run, dragging the body, but Stefan refused to give it up, and held on to an arm. The body couldn't withstand the pressure and the arm and leg gave way, the shock finally putting the poor girl out of her misery. Both the wolf and the vampire dived for the torso, Stefan getting there first and disappearing in a flash.
The wolf circled, trying to pick up the scent, but it led nowhere. The confused wolf sat on his haunches, tongue lolling out of his surprisingly red mouth, only to finally look up and see Stefan, his lips curled scornfully, perched on a tree limb, cradling the now blessedly dead girl possessively against his chest.
The wolf alternated whining cajolingly and threatening with guttural growls, all to no avail. Stefan refused to come down, sucking on the neck, his gleaming green eyes never leaving the wolf. He started breaking off nearby branches, hurtling them like spears at the dodging wolf.
Annoyed now, the wolf ran back and forth, finally leaping up, hitting the vampire, dislodging him from the tree. They fell in a tangled heap; body, vampire, and wolf.
They both scented the next victim at the same time, vanishing in a dash of superhuman speed. The wolf flushed the victim out, dutifully screaming according to the compulsion. As Klaus went for him, the vampire snarled and pounced on him, preventing the wolf from getting to the victim first. The insolent youngster was challenging him for dominance! Klaus twisted his body out of Stefan's grasp, slashing his shirt over and over again, leaving red gashes.
Stefan dashed away, and the wolf ran down the man, slashing his hamstrings so he couldn't run anymore. The man desperately tried to crawl away, but the vampire was back, sinking his fangs into the man's neck at the same time the wolf did. They were nose to black wet nose, Stefan ignoring the snot spray from the wolf. They each drank deeply, trying to intimidate the other with their low guttural growls.
Stefan tried to pull the now dead man away by the throat, but Klaus refused to give up, and they ended up severing the head. Stefan opened his mouth to catch the blood spray from the faltering, but still pumping heart while Klaus playfully chased the head. He caught it by the hair, shaking his head and body from side to side, tossing it and then pouncing on it. Meanwhile, Stefan transferred his bite to the femoral artery.
Klaus came back to drink, and Stefan pulled the body away. Klaus immediately bowled him over grabbing him by the back of the neck, putting pressure on the spine. When Stefan growled refusing to submit Klaus increased the pressure on the vampire's spine until Stefan finally gave way, lowering his hips to the ground and allowing his head to hang loosely. The wolf hooked a hind leg over him and ceremoniously humped him, establishing dominance. When the vampire made no objection the wolf loosened his grip on the neck and stepped off him.
Together they tore the man's body apart and set off to find the next prey.
The wolf herded the next man like a horse cutting cattle, always in front of him, blocking his retreat. The wolf also kept the vampire at bay . . feint . . sidestep . . . loop . . dart . . dash . . backup . . until the vampire surprised him by leaping over his head and grabbing the screaming, flailing man and sinking his fangs into his neck. The wolf quickly joined in, crushing bone and tearing flesh while the vampire drank.
They didn't stop until the last three were hunted down, toyed with, and finally killed.