"Where are we?" I heard Hope ask when we finally got to my town. I saw it how it was, and how it is now.
"We are where I grew up." I said looking back at her. Klaus was driving, I was beside him, Hayley was in the back and Rebekah and Freya were behind them.
"Look familiar?" Hayley asked and I looked at her now and I turned to see some of the old buildings still up.
"That is where I was given a coming out bash, across the street in the small park is where Stefan snapped my neck. That empty lot is where the Orphanage was." I said and took a breath. "Happy to say I burned that to the ground after everyone was gone." I said and shrugged when I felt everyone's eyes on me. Even Klaus looked incredulous.
"Where did you live with Damon?" Klaus asked and I sighed. I gave him directions to the old house and when we pulled up I was the last one out of the car. "Who owns it?"
"I always through Damon did, but he told me he put it in my name." I said and shrugged. "I guess I do." I said and walked through before hearing curses and then Hope's giggle. "What?" I asked turning to all of them.
"You're a hybrid, still sort of human, you have to invite us in." Rebekah said as Freya just stepped in and stood next to me and Hope.
"Come on in." I said waving to the three outside before turning around.
"You legitimately lived here? In this dark, dusty-"
"I didn't have a daylight ring. So the darkness was necessary." I interrupted and she clamped her mouth shut. "But now that I can be in the sun." I stopped and turned before ripping the curtains and moving to do the same. Hope started to help and when she tugged and tugged and nothing happened she started to pout and her dad, Klaus, started to laugh.
"Your dad likes to make fun of you... let me do it and go find a broom." Hayley said taking it from her and I noticed Freya start to help and then Klaus did as well. The dust was everywhere and opening a window or 5 helped by the time Hope found the broom. She started to sweep, put it in the small dustpan and then toss it out the window. I laughed when I noticed what she was doing and moved to pat out the couch and the pillows.
"Now that I can see it, and see it clean, it's not a bag house." Rebekah approved.
"Too bad there is only 2 beds." I said and smiled when they all turned to look at me with shock. "I mean there are rooms, and bed frames, but no mattresses." I corrected and smiled again.
"Bloody hell, now we have to go into town. And get Hope food. And you other hybrids."
"I do eat too dear sister." Freya said waving her hand in the air to get her sisters attention.
"I knew I was forgetting someone." Rebekah teased and moved to capture her sisters hand and she pulled her up. "Why don't we split up. Freya and I will go food shopping since she is a food eater, Nik and Annie can go get the beds since he has the most money and she knows the sizes, and Little Hope can stay with mommy and try and make this place look happy." She orchestrated and I smiled and nodded before looking to Klaus. He was watching me with a small indecisive look and I had to look away when he started to smile.
When Hope complained about cleaning but was still trying to get all the dust off of the dining table and then smiling over at us. She had to be kidding about complaining because she kept making her hands dirty with dust as Hayley made her take a table napkin from one of the drawers near there and gave it to her to use. She was having fun cleaning, despite not knowing she was actually cleaning.
"Come on you two, we will drop you off and when Nik demands that those people deliver right away you can catch a ride back with them." Rebekah called out as Freya and her grabbed their smaller bags and I just walked towards them and was happy to go along with Klaus. He was right last night, and yesterday in the woods when he mentioned the attraction.
He and I sat in back because Rebekah didn't want to get out when we had to. I was staring outside and when we got to the intersection where the orphanage used to be. The empty lot was tall grass now, but the image of that home was still burned into my mind. I saw some people getting closer towards the lot, looking like they were conducting business. There was a couple large rolled up papers under ones arm and then I decided to listen.
"It was a great Christian act that Lenora McBarty did for the rest of her life. She took care of those kids and would have loved to have more. I think this should be the new Child Protective Services office. Build the building like the house on the outside, but make it more of a office feel on the inside." The man said and unrolled one of them. It showed off a big picture, with me as a young girl. It was huge, like they had blown it up and was going to post it somewhere.
I turned away when I felt the car moving and I focused back on where we were going, trying to get the image of that woman, holding my shoulder, out of my head. I barely remember that day, but I did remember how she hurt me. I couldn't have been more than 5, and I really had to go to the bathroom and instead of waiting 3 minutes she made us stand there and I couldn't control it. The flash of the old cameras scared me and I went all over myself. She smacked me and that was when I learned how to do laundry.
I felt someone looking at me and turned to see Freya and when we made eye contact she smiled and it seemed like she just knew what I was thinking about. I turned and was thankful that Klaus seemed to be doing something on his phone. He looked at me just after I looked away and I clenched my jaw before relaxing again. At least no one else noticed that I had zoned out to hear about the towns plans to rebuild the orphanage.
We got to the closest store that sold new mattresses and Klaus and I got out. He and I watched as his sisters went on and I went towards the front doors with him and he caught my arm and let his hand fold over mine as we walked inside fully.
We looked around for someone and saw 2 people helping a couple and a small family and I just took it upon myself to go and see the prices of the right sized beds. "That is a lot of gibberish. Why would a bed cost so much?" I asked looking up at Klaus and he came closer.
"That is for a King. Therefore, it is always that much." He told me and I shook my head. "Have you used money since you've been out and about in the world with that ring?" He asked and I shook my head.
"I mean I knew 50 dollars for a dress was a lot, especially when the dress wasn't layers and layers... but I didn't think other stuff went up like this." I said and shifted around and looked up at him.
"What kind of mattress do you have at that house?" He asked and I shrugged. "As old as you?"
"Maybe." I said and he smiled. "I like the mattress at the compound." I stated and smiled back before he waved me towards the bed. I looked around before moving around to lay down on it. I moved until I was flush and he smirked as he came around and laid beside me. He picked up a remote and started to shift the bed around. It started to conform to my back and then he did his and I just waited as he looked over at me.
"Better?"
"Yes." I admitted and he smiled again.
"Now, let's go lay on one of those." He said pointing at the one across from the end of this bed and I got up with him and he pulled me along until I was laying back again and I just sank into it. It felt better than the other one he had fit to my body. This one was soft. I sunk into it. I sighed and closed my eyes and I didn't even feel Klaus lay down or shift to watch me. He took my hand from my side and I opened my eyes to see him beside me, hand on his wrist, elbow near my shoulder, eyes amused. "We'll get this one."
"Hello there, I see you two picked out the bed made for honeymoons!" I heard an overly eager voice and saw a man at the nd of the bed watching the both of us. I started to stand and I noticed who fast Klaus got off the bed.
"Actually, my girl and I are going to be fixing up what was left to her in a will. An old house. We got there and found out that there is bed frames, only two very old mattresses, so we and our friends, are going to need six beds altogether, in an hour at the most. Money is no issue, and I would like 3 of these, and then 3 simple ones." He said and I could hear the compel in his voice as I sat back on the bed and looked at the others wondering which were simple.
"Right away sir." He nodded and went to work on the papers and to get the delivery guys here as fast as he could.
"Now what do we do?" I asked and he looked back at me and held out his hand after a moment. I took it without hesitation on my part and he pulled me up. He pulled me in towards his chest and kept a hand on my waist as he walked towards the counter.
"We're going back into town. When things are moving along and everything is packed up, give me a call at this number." Klaus wrote his number down before nodding to the man and then pulling me backwards before turning us around and walking towards the door.
"Why do people really like those things?" I asked nodding to his phone and he looked down at me.
"Don't tell me you don't have a cell phone."
"Damon got me one when he was teaching me things about the computers and stuff like that, I don't know what happened to it." I said and shrugged and looked around.
"Speaking of your father, I did heal him before we left so he isn't dead." He told me and I nibbled my lip realizing that I did leave Damon with a hybrid bite. And that it could have killed him.
"Thank you." I said it quick and shook my head. "I didn't even remember that it would hurt him." I said and felt my emotions rise once again. "So, what did you want to do?"
"I want you to show me around the woods." He declared and smiled before speeding us to the middle of the forest behind the town.
"Oh yeah? Well, who is to say I know these woods anymore?" I challenged and smiled when he just started to take off his jacket.
"I think this place is something you would never forget." I didn't say anything after that. He continued to take his shirt off and then give me a look when he caught me staring again. "We're shifting love, unless you want to go back?" He asked and I looked at him and then at his chest before turning and giving him my back as I took off my sweater. I used a branch to hold up the cloth and then I pulled the shirt over my head. I heard bones breaking and though he didn't make a noise I knew it was still unpleasant for him. I stayed facing away from him as I completed undressing and shifting. I rolled around in the dirt trying to ease the ache away without pressure.
Klaus was sniffing the air and I stood back up and sniffed as well until I caught a familiar scent. Algae and pond scum. There weren't any ponds in the forest, which meant we stopped near the well Damon first found me at. I took off with a slow trot towards the smell and I felt Klaus beside me before seeing him. He watched where we were going, sniffing the air every few feet to make sure we weren't in danger.
I got to the pond and sniffed around until I could smell something almost metal like. I used my paws to get the dirt out of the way before seeing a box, and it used to be my box. I dug around it before getting it up so I could take it in my mouth. I felt more like a dog than a wolf, but I carried it back to where our clothes were and I shifted not caring that Klaus might see me as I tugged things back on.
I pried the box open and a couple things went everywhere. I moved to get it all, picking up the earrings, the old papers, the picture. I saw the rings and the small doll I had made with the maid. I saw a lot of the small writings Damon was so proud of and I couldn't help but let the tears fall. He kept them, kept them safe and buried them where we had first met.
"What is it love?" Klaus asked sitting beside me and pulling me in for a hug as I continued to cry.