Chapter 26: The Pain in his eyes

Red's P.O.V.

All I could see were trees, trees, and more trees. It ended up being quite nauseating. That was the one thing that I hated about hiking. Everything looked that same, thus making hiking annoying, pissy, and and Klaus was being his usual assy self. He spent the whole hike trying to make Stefan and I converse with him. We had both had it up to God only knows where and were about ready stake him again and again.

Stefan was stuck with Ray unconscious on his shoulders. Ray wasn't heavy to a vampire, it was just annoying.

"You ok? Is Ray getting heavy?" teased Klaus as we kept getting closer and closer to the camp.

"I'm fine," spat Stefan.

"You sure about that? You know, we've been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or a little sit-down..." I was forced to roll my eyes. As if Klaus actually cared.

"You know, I get that we're, uh... we're stuck together, but if we could maybe just skip the chit chat, it'd be great."

"So much brooding. Your self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend."

"Maybe it's 'cause I'm a little tired of hunting werewolves. We've been at it all summer."

"And we've been stuck with you all summer. And last time I checked, you were and still are a pain in both of our asses. If only you knew how to make real friends, then maybe we wouldn't be stuck with you in the first place. But you don't and you're afraid to be alone," I said to Klaus, causing a faint smile to form on Stefan's lips as anger and frustration boiled inside of Klaus.

"Thanks to our pal Ray, we found ourselves a pack. There," said Klaus as he pushed aside my comment and we all looked over at the camp.

Stefan and I entered the camp, causing all the wolves to look at us. As soon as Stefan put Ray on the ground a woman rushed over to him and panicking. "Ray! Oh, my God. What's going on? Who are you?" she asked.

With that Klaus decided to make his dramatic entrance and appeared next to me. "The important question is who am I. Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus."

This caused the woman to get up and coward to her boyfriend for comfort as she said, "You're the hybrid."

Of course that caused the ass hole to smile. Some people just need so much attention and to be known, it was sickening really. "You've heard of me. Fantastic."

I was about ready to shoot myself.

Klaus then decided to continue with his dramatic shenanigans and so he took a seat on a log. Stefan followed and sat as well shortly after. I, however, decided to stay standing and was leaning against a tree.

All eyes were on Klaus as he continues to shpiel because he could never just simple get the job done, that was the problem with most villains. They usually spent so much time talking about God only knows what, that their plans usually failed.

"It's fascinating, actually... A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun. A true hybrid." Suddenly, Ray woke up. He was gasping for breath and filled with questions. "Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic." Just like Klaus, very dramatic and full of shit.

"What's happening to me?" he asked.

"Red?" My que of course.

I left my position of leaning against the tree and took a few steps forward. Then, I began to circle around the area of the camp of which everyone was gathered. "Are any of you human? Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition to vampire. If he doesn't get it, he will die. And that would be a crying shame, now wouldn't it? If any of you possess any true code loyalty, then I'd stand up I were you or let you innocent friend die. It's your choice really."

"Doesn't take much," chimed in Klaus as he got up. "Just a sip. Anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend, along for the ride?" Then, he spotted the human man. "You."

In a flash Klaus bit the poor lads forearm and threw him into Stefan. Stefan then threw him to the ground and as hovering over him, holding him down.

The woman tried to protest, but I caught her when she tried to run to the injured. In an effort to keep her still I did end up strangling her a tad, but she kept moving.

"If you don't drink it, Ray, I will. Problem is I don't know how to stop," said Stefan.

Then, Klaus, who was sadly right next to me, looked at the girl and said, "It's the new order, sweetheart. You join us, or you die."

"I'd rather die than be a vampire," she spat at him.

"Wrong choice," he replied as I throw the girl into his arms. He bit his wrist and fed the girl his blood.

Ray then gave in a drank from the human.

"She'll thank me for that later," said the monster as he tossed her back into my arms. I then snapped her neck and let her fall to the cold, hard, forest ground. "Ok, who's next?" he asked as his eyes turned yellow and his fangs came out. He was a monster.

He then proceeded to feed every last werewolf his blood and then ordered Stefan and I to kill them all, which we did.

Klaus then gave the human his blood and compelled him as he lay there on the ground, "There. Good as new. Now you relax, ok, mate? We're gonna need you when the rest of them wake up."

Ray was shaking and bleeding like a crazy person when he started talking. "They're dead. They're all dead," he said.

"Ah, he's through his transition. He should be feeling better soon," said Klaus and I was forced to let out a little laugh, which earned me a glare from him.

"So is this your master plan?" asked Stefan. "Build an army of hybrid slaves?" Oh dear sweet baby Jesus, why the fuck did Stefan have to go there.

"No, not slaves. Soldiers, comrades."

"For what war, might I ask?" asked Stefan and once I again I couldn't help laugh a little.

"Oh, you don't arm yourself after war has been declared, Stefan. You build your army so big that-"

"No one ever dares pick a fight," I finished his sentence. I had heard the shpiel one hundred too many times before.

"What makes you so sure that they'll be loyal?"

"Well, it's not difficult to be loyal when you're on the winning team. That's something you'll learn once you shake that horribly depressive chip off your shoulder," he said which caused Stefan to laugh.

"That's why you're, uh... you're keeping me around? To witness my attitude adjustment?"

"You'll know why I'm keeping you around when I've decided that I want you to know," said Klaus as he examined Ray's face which only continued to bleed. "Something's wrong."

"That shouldn't be happening, should it?" asked Stefan.

"Well, obviously," I said.

"You said it was gonna feel better. Why doesn't it feel better?" asked Ray as he continued shaking and looked to Klaus for the answers.

"Some master race," said Stefan.

"Lose the attitude," replied Klaus sternly.

Suddenly, the girl from earlier woke up and Klaus said, "Derek, come feed your girlfriend."

Next thing anyone knew Ray snarled, made a few jumps, and bolted.

Klaus looked at Stefan and said, "Go get him." He waited a few moments until Stefan was gone and the said to me, "Come on, lets go make sure he knows how to capture a hybrid."

I didn't say anything in reply, I just followed him as we went after Stefan.

We caught up to Stefan when I asked, "Where did he go?"

"He, uh... he got away. Forget him. Let's go," said Stefan as he tried to lead us in the other direction, but Klaus stopped him by grabbing his bitten arm and truth be told I knew exactly why he was leading us in the other direction.

"A fatal werewolf bite. Ouch."

"Yeah. I'm gonna need your blood to heal me."

"Well, I tell you what. You find Ray, and then I'll heal you.

"You can't be serious."

"You better hurry, 'cause that bite looks nasty."

Stefan then took off, which once again left me with Klaus. "Go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid... again. Then, come back to camp when you know he has the situation under control. I'll be need your help later, so hurry."

"Sure thing, Master of all Hybrids," I answered with my usual sarcasm, thus earning a glare from Klaus before taking off to follow Stefan.

It was night and I finally found Damon on his own. I needed to talk to him.

"Damon," I said causing him to turn on his heels. "What the fuck in fucking Hell are you doing here? And why the bloody fuck did you bring Elena and Ric? I told you to stay away and let me handle this. I told you that I would figure it all out and get Stefan to you as soon as time allowed and as soon as he was better. Didn't you get my damn letter!"

"Well, you see... I did, but-"

"But fucking nothing! I don't care. Just get out of here and let me-" I was cut off by Ray jumping on my back and biting me on my bare skin near my collar bone. I swiftly threw him off of my back and onto the cold, hard, forest ground. "Fuck," I muttered under my breath as I pinned Ray down on his back and ripped out his heart, only throw it aside.

I stood up, looked Damon dead on in the eye, and said, "And that is how you take down a stupid, fucking, little hybrid. Okay?"

"Thank you," he said.

"Damon, you owe me one now. So, can you please try and stay away?"

"Only if you send me updates."

"Fine. Now, try not to get yourself killed anytime soon, cause I won't be there to hold your hand again," I teased because I knew he could handle it.

With that I left to head back to camp. As soon as I left Damon, Stefan appeared in front of him and I thought it best not to interfere with their brotherly moments to come. So, I kept walking and left Stefan to deal with bringing Ray back.

The only problem with going back was that I had gotten bit. It didn't make any sense. How could a hybrid bit affect me? The only conclusion that I could come to was that since Ray was a rabid hybrid, the bit could affect me. So, I fixed my jacket by poppin my collar to hide the wound. Because at that moment, that was exactly what I wanted, to die and be gone forever. I wanted to be rid of my problems and I didn't want to have to think or worry anymore. I want things to be simple again.

I marched back to camp and by the time I had gotten back all hell had already broken loose for Klaus as I had expected. Every single one of the werewolves were dead. He seemed more lost than ever, and so I allowed myself this one time to be nice to him and sat down next to him.

He handed me a beer, which I chugged, and he asked, "Is this the part where you laugh at me and spit in my face?"

"No, not this time." He seemed relieved.

"How did it work for you, but not for them? It doesn't make any sense," he said quietly.

"We both know my case was different. If only you could let this hold hybrid army thing go. Then, maybe then, things could be different."

"Things... Like things between you and I?" he asked. His eyes were full of forgiveness and his voice full of hurt.

"Maybe," I answered softly.

The whole mood suddenly changed when Stefan appeared with dead Ray on his back. He tossed Ray to the ground and was groaning in pain as he held his bit. I on the other hand, could stand pain and knew how to mask my emotions.

"They went rabid. Some of them, I killed. The others just... Bled out. In the end... They're all dead," he said softly and walked over closer to Stefan. He then took the opportunity to tell us both how he really felt. He yelled and then throw his beer so that it smashed into thousands of little pieces, just like his heart. Stefan was then made uncomfortable, but I was use to it. "I did everything I was told!" he yelled with a broken heart. "I should be able to turn them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelganger... You look like hell," he said to Stefan.

"Last I checked, I'm dying... And you don't want to heal me... I had to take him out. I didn't have a choice." Stefan didn't have to take the blame for me, but he did. It wasn't necessary, but I was still thankful. "I failed you. I'm sorry. Do what you have to do." He then took one step closer to Klaus.

"It should have worked." No it shouldn't have. Good Lord, sometimes I thought Klaus was stupid. Did he honestly think that anyone would make it that easy for him?

Klaus turned his back on Stefan and grabbed a beer. He gave Stefan a stare down to cause him to stir and question before he bit his wrist. He then squeezed his blood into the bottle. "Bottoms up," he said and handed the bottle to Stefan. "We're leaving. It appears you two are the only comrade I have left."

Klaus walked off and I followed right behind as Stefan drank the blood and tossed it aside.

As much as I didn't want to, I felt bad for Klaus. Everything in his life had just been going wrong and the look that he had in his eyes pained me. I didn't want it to pain me, but it did.

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