Danielle
The night was quiet and peaceful and I couldn't help but savor this moment of serenity. It was as if everything was normal and nothing crazy and supernatural was happening in my life. After that little torture game in that bar, Klaus decided that we spend the night in some motel and we set out to Smokey Mountains early in the morning tomorrow. I currently sat beside the motel's pool while gazing at the starry sky.
Looking at all of the stars just somehow for a minute made me forget every single problem in my life. It just took my breath away. But even in this peacefulness, I couldn't help but let my mind drift back to the nightmares that I had a while ago. I never had one decent night of sleep for the past two months. Since this so-called journey started, the images of the people, who were killed because of us, have been haunting me. Their screams would always ring in my ears and blood always stained my hands. Also, those people would taunt me to no end.
What piqued my curiosity the most was that in every nightmare I had, there was always this woman behind every image. The woman had long curly blonde hair and was dressed in a green tunic dress from what I guessed was the 10th century. The weird part was that I couldn't figure out her face. Every time I tried to, I would either wake up or the woman's image would get blurry. It was like something wouldn't let me know who she was. What was her connection to my nightmares?
"What are you doing out here, love?" A very familiar voice asked from behind me.
Great. Why was my luck at dodging people always suck? You could say that after our conversation at the bar, I had been trying to avoid being alone with him. I couldn't deal with it right now after seeing those raw emotions in his eyes.
"Just enjoying the peace. I can't sleep." I said without looking away from the sky.
Klaus sat down beside me and I could feel him staring at me. I tried my best to ignore it and continue gazing at the starry sky.
"Why can't you sleep?"
"It's none of your concern."
"Danielle, you look tired no matter how much you try to hide it and you haven't been sleeping that much for the last two months. So, it is my concern, love."
This made me look at him. Why was he being persistent about this? Even the other day, he was also being persistent about what was wrong with me.
"Why are you doing this? You're acting as if you actually care."
"I do care about you, love."
"Stop. Don't do this. You're just making me more confused on who you exactly are!" I looked at Klaus in frustration. "One second you're this guy who just keeps on telling me these sweet and heartwarming words and then the next, you're this big bad hybrid who does whatever it takes to get what he wants."
"I don't know which one you are. You say you care about me but you don't even know me. Before you say that, at least make an effort to know me. Show me who you truly are. Show me that there is actually some kind of humanity in you. Because the way I see it now, you're just this big bad hybrid who doesn't care about anything but himself."
Klaus still hadn't said anything and he just stared at me in the eye with all those emotions that frustrated me so much. His eyes also showed that same loneliness that I saw a while ago at the bar. I still couldn't deal with this right now. With all that said, I stood up and left him again. Entering my room, I leaned against the door and slid down. Many things were running through my head. What on earth just happened between Klaus and me?
~~~~~X~~~~~
All of us were currently trekking in the mountains, looking for the pack of werewolves. Stefan was carrying the still dead Ray on his shoulders. I sighed in frustration because we had been walking for about an hour now and there was still no sign of this annoying pack.
"Are you all right, love?"
"I'm fine." I murmured while looking away from Klaus and adjusting my backpack.
Because of last night, it was really awkward for me so I was trying my best to keep my distance. But for some weird reasons, Klaus was being more persistent and just kept on bugging me whenever he got the chance. He was staring at me again and I could feel it. It was really uncomfortable and annoying. Finally, he left me alone but decided to mock Stefan.
"You okay? Is Ray getting heavy?"
"I'm fine." Stefan grumbled.
"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..."
"You know, I get that we're, uh... we're stuck together but if we could maybe just skip the chitchat, it'd be great."
"So much brooding. Your self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend." Klaus smirked at him.
"Oh, I don't know… Maybe, just maybe it's 'cause we're tired of hunting werewolves all summer." I retorted, making the Original look at me.
We reached a small clearing in the woods and there were tents set up everywhere. The people were going about with their tasks without knowing that we were here.
"Thanks to our pal Ray, we found ourselves a pack. There." Klaus looked at the camp with delight dancing in his eyes.
Stefan entered the camp with me following behind him. Everyone stopped with their business and looked at us with wariness. Stefan dropped Ray on the ground and a woman immediately rushed over to the dead werewolf.
"Ray! Oh, my God. What's going on?" The woman looked at Ray before turning to Stefan and me. "Who are you?"
Klaus walked over to us and said, "The important question is 'who am I'. Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus."
I rolled my eyes at this. Show off.
"You're the hybrid." The woman cautiously stood up and backed away from us.
"You've heard of me. Fantastic." Klaus grinned in anticipation and glee.
All of the werewolves were surrounding us, alerted by our presence. Klaus moved to a big stone and sat on it. Stefan and I followed him. I was supposed to sit on the other end to keep a distance from Klaus but Stefan sat there. I ended up sitting in between the vampires with Klaus seated on my other side. Great. Just great.
I leaned my head on Stefan's shoulder and he let me. Knowing Stefan, he was already figuring out that there was something wrong with me. Sleepiness and fatigue was slowly hitting me again. Because of my encounters with Klaus yesterday and my nightmares, I couldn't sleep at all.
Klaus broke the silence and said, "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."
Ray suddenly gasped awake, making Klaus smirk.
"Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic."
"What's happening to me?"
"Stefan?" Klaus turned to Stefan and I saw something change in his eyes when he saw me resting my head on Stefan's shoulder. What the heck was wrong with him? After I sat properly, Stefan stood up and looked at the werewolves.
"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."
"Doesn't take much, just a sip. Anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend, along for the ride?" Klaus stood up before looking at a man beside the woman, who rushed over to Ray a while ago. "You."
Klaus rushed over to him and bit his forearm before pushing him to Stefan. Stefan caught him and threw him onto the ground in front of Ray.
"NO!" The woman was about to help her boyfriend but Klaus stopped her.
"If you don't drink it, Ray, I will. Problem is I don't know how to stop." Stefan told the werewolf while I watched in the sidelines with discomfort.
"It's the new order, sweetheart. You join us, or you die." Klaus told the woman.
"I'd rather die than be a vampire." The woman snarled.
"Wrong choice." Klaus bit his wrist and forced the woman to drink his blood. On the other hand, Ray finally drank blood from the man.
"She'll thank me for that later. Heh." Klaus snapped her neck before dropping her dead body onto the ground. "Okay, who's next?"
Klaus' eyes turned golden yellow as he smirked wickedly, baring his fangs at the pack of werewolves. Some of the werewolves fought back while the others tried to run away from the hybrid but all of their efforts were useless. One by one, Klaus fed the werewolves his blood before killing them all. All I could do was look at what was happening in front of me with disgust and pity. Once he was done killing everyone, Klaus went to the human lying on the ground and fed him his blood.
"There. Good as new. Now you relax, okay, mate? We're gonna need you when the rest of them wake up." Klaus compelled the man before standing up and walking towards the newly turned hybrid.
Shivering, Ray sat on a nearby rock while wrapping his arms around his body.
"They're dead. They're all dead." Ray looked at his dead pack in fear.
"Ah, he's through his transition. He should be feeling better soon."
"So is this your master plan? Build an army of hybrid slaves?" I questioned the hybrid, making him look at me.
"No, not slaves. Soldiers, comrades."
This time Stefan decided to speak up and ask, "For what war, might I ask?
"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." He smirked at Stefan.
"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."
Stefan merely chuckled at Klaus' answer and said, "That's why you're, uh… you're keeping me around? To witness my attitude adjustment?"
Something caught my attention. Looking at Ray, I sat beside him and examined his face. Blood was coming out from his eyes. Something was definitely wrong.
"You'll know why I'm keeping you around when I've decided that I want you to know."
Closing my eyes, I muttered a spell to stop this but nothing happened. The bleeding only stopped for a while before it came back again.
"Klaus." I called, making the said person turn to me. "Something's wrong. His eyes are bleeding and he's burning up."
This made Stefan come closer and examine the hybrid as well before saying, "That shouldn't be happening, should it?"
"Well, obviously." Klaus retorted before looking at me. He then asked, "Do you have any idea what's wrong with him?"
"No. I can't tell. This is beyond my knowledge. He's already part vampire so his blood should've cured whatever disease he has but nothing is happening. I've also tried to stop it with a spell but nothing happened." I glanced at Klaus before examining Ray again.
"You said it was gonna feel better. Why doesn't it feel better?" Ray shakily looked up at Klaus.
"Some master race." Stefan's snide remark made Klaus scowl at him.
"Lose the attitude."
Our conversation was cut short when the female wolf gasped awake.
"Derek, come feed your girlfriend." Klaus turned to Derek as the latter stood up. The Original was about to bite Derek's wrist when Ray snarled and ran away.
Klaus looked at Stefan and said, "Go get him."
Stefan left to follow Ray and then, Klaus proceeded to bite the human's forearm. He then forced the woman to drink from her boyfriend.
"Come on, love. Let's go find Stefan."
"Stop calling me that too!" I glared at Klaus and he just innocently grinned at me. God! I hated this man!
Klaus walked to the direction where Stefan went while I followed behind him.
Once we found Stefan, Klaus immediately asked, "Where did he go?"
"He, uh…" Stefan started walking to our direction and tried to push pass us. "He got away. Forget him. Let's go."
Stefan was acting weird. I wondered what happened. Klaus suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"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." Klaus smirked at the younger vampire.
"You can't be serious." I looked incredulously at the Original while his smirk just got bigger.
"You better hurry, 'cause that bite looks nasty." After telling Stefan that, Klaus left the two of us alone.
I turned back to Stefan and whispered in a very low voice, "What's wrong?"
He then mouthed the words "They're here". I immediately paled after hearing this. Did they seriously have a death wish?
"You better hurry. Be careful, please?" I looked Stefan worriedly and he hugged me for assurance before speeding away.
Stefan had to get all of them out here fast. It wasn't safe here mostly because of Klaus but it was also because of these failed attempts of turning the werewolves into hybrids. The sun was setting and who knew what these failed hybrids were capable of. I went back to the campsite and saw that the werewolves were all awake. Klaus was making them drink from the poor human. A few of them had blood on their lips. I was guessing that they were almost done transitioning into hybrids.
"Welcome back, little wolf." Klaus smirked at me, which pissed me off again.
This time I quickly picked a rock using my werewolf speed and aimed for his forehead. Of course, he easily dodged it.
"Easy, love." Amusement was dancing in Klaus' eyes. "Come on now. You knew that wouldn't hit me."
"Shut up before I decide to burn you alive." I glared daggers at the hybrid while he just chuckled and gave me a bigger smirk.
Ignoring the annoying hybrid, I sat on a rock and watched Klaus make each one of the werewolves feed human blood. I looked at the newly turned hybrids. Just now, I noticed that the all of them were bleeding and the blood was coming out mostly from their eyes. What the hell was happening?
I tried to think of any possible reasons why this was happening. Then, it suddenly hit me. Now, I thought I could guess the answer to this.
After a while, the sun has fully set as the last werewolf drank from the human. Klaus was currently standing in front of Derek beside the campfire.
"Bad news, my friend. End of the road for you." Klaus flashed his fangs and bit Derek, drinking every bit of blood in the human's body. He then dropped the dead body on the floor.
My attention was focused on the hybrids. They were only bleeding a while ago but now, they were all staggering and acting like mindless zombies.
"Careful, love. There's only one Alpha here." Klaus told Derek's girlfriend as she glared at him and staggered towards him.
Then, I heard some twigs snapped near me. When I turned to the source, two hybrids were looking at me like how a predator would look at its prey. Without wasting anytime, they lunged at me but I was able to stop them using my magic. The two hybrids groaned as they fell onto their knees before I finally snapped their necks. My actions must have alerted the others because all of a sudden, someone tackled me to the ground.
"UGH!" All I felt was pain when a hybrid tore his teeth in to my neck. My screams rang in my ears while more of my blood was being drained out of me. I was about to try to get the hybrid off of me when he just suddenly dropped dead beside me.
Klaus immediately helped me up and examined my wound. His face was filled with unmasked worry as he looked at my bloody neck. He quickly bit his wrist and held it in front of me.
"Danielle, you have to drink."
"No, I'm fine. It'll heal on its own."
"Stop being so stubborn and drink… Please."
I couldn't help but oblige to his request. How could I say no when he looked so desperate while begging me to drink his blood?
The metallic taste of blood immediately spread in my mouth. Once I drank enough, I pulled away from Klaus. Klaus brought his hand to my lips and gently wiped a drop of blood with his thumb. We stared at each other in the eye and I couldn't look away from his dark blue eyes. His eyes held something that I never expected to see. He really did care and I didn't understand why.
All of a sudden, my right leg snapped, making me lean on to Klaus for support. He held me by my waist to keep me from falling.
"Danielle, what's wrong?" Klaus immediately asked me with a hint of worry in his voice.
"AHH!" This time my right shoulder painfully cracked. "It's starting…"
Our attention was suddenly diverted when we heard multiple twigs snapped. The hybrids were slowly staggering towards us while looking at me with the eyes of a predator. I felt Klaus' hold tightened on my waist as he slightly placed himself forward.
"Bloody hell." He showed his hybrid eyes after seeing the state of all of the hybrids. Klaus then turned to me and said, "I need you to run. Get away from here as fast as you can."
"I can't. It's happening so fast… UGH…" I leaned my head on Klaus' shoulder in pain.
"Yes, you can. You have to, love." Klaus grabbed my shoulders and looked at me with serious eyes. "When I say run, you do so. Do you understand?"
All I could do was nod while feeling another bone of mine break. A hybrid suddenly lunged at us but Klaus stopped her by plunging his hand in to her chest, ripping her heart out.
"Danielle, run!" Klaus yelled as he killed another hybrid.
Despite the pain, I quickly ran away from the campsite. I didn't get away that far before I fell onto the ground because my transformation was nearing its peak. My transition was happening so fast. My eyes turned golden yellow as my fangs protruded.
I hated this. Even though I already turned a few times, the pain was still unbearable. After a while, I finally turned in to my wolf form. The sounds of panting and quick footsteps filled my wolf ears. I quickly ran to the source before I heard them stop.
"Don't move." The very familiar voice of the older Salvatore filled my ears.
When I got there, Elena raised her head only to be scared by the werewolf in front of her. Growling menacingly, I quickly lunged at the other werewolf, sending him a few meters away from the trio. Damon and the others were still on guard. I looked at Damon in the eye and something just clicked in them.
"Danny?" Damon merely sighed in relief after I nodded at him. He then turned to his other companions. "Get out of here. We'll buy you some time so go."
Ric dragged Elena away from us despite her protests. The werewolf finally got up and growled threateningly at me. The wolf lunged at me and I managed to dodge it. It was faster than an average wolf so it was probably one of the hybrids. The wolf attacked me again but this time I wasn't fast enough. It was able to scratch me with its claw.
"Danny!" Damon looked at me worriedly before calling the other wolf. "Here, doggie, doggie."
Damon ran away as the wolf followed him. Damn it. I was weaker right now because of blood loss and fatigue. Quickly standing up, I followed Damon's scent and thankfully, he was okay.
Ray was lying on the ground dead while Stefan stood in front of Damon with a bloody heart in his hand.
"Fancy meeting you here." Damon told Stefan before turning to me. "Nice to see you again, Danny."
"What part of "Don't follow us anymore" got lost in translation, Damon?" Stefan glared at his older brother while throwing the heart to the ground.
"Might want to take it up with your girlfriend. You don't want her chasing you. I'd stop with the late-night phone calls."
"I didn't call her." Stefan lied.
"Sure you did. She's not gonna give up on you."
"She has to. Because I'm never coming back. Why don't you get her home? See if you could keep her there this time."
With that, Stefan quickly picked Ray's corpse up and sped away. I glanced at Damon one last time before speeding away to a different direction. Running through the woods, this was the only time I somehow felt free- free from everything. Free from all of my worries, my problems and most of all, free from this crazy and brutal reality.
Klaus
I sat on a rock while staring into nothingness. Nothing made any sense. All of the hybrids lay on the ground dead. All of a sudden, the sounds of heavy footsteps filled my vampire hearing. Stefan came in to view with a dead corpse over his shoulder. He then dropped Ray on the ground.
"They went rabid. Some of them, I killed. The others just… bled out." I grabbed a bottle of beer before standing up. "In the end… they're all dead."
In frustration, I yelled and threw the bottle of beer, shattering it to pieces. I turned back to Stefan and screamed, "I did everything I was told!" Regaining a bit of my composure, I continued, "I should be able to turn them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelganger."
After a while, I finally looked at Stefan and said, "You look like hell."
"Last I checked, I'm dying… and you don't want to heal me." Stefan told me as my eyes darted towards the dead hybrid on the ground.
"I had to take him out. I didn't have a choice." Stefan walked towards me, making me turn back to him. "I failed you. I'm sorry. Do what you have to do." He stood tall, prepared to take any punishment that I might do to him.
"It should have worked." I turned around and grabbed an empty bottle of beer. Biting my hand, I clenched it into a fist and let my blood drip in to the bottle. I then held it out to Stefan. "Bottoms up. We're leaving."
Stefan took the bottle and then, I took a familiar backpack and got out a blanket from it. I turned around to look at the dead bodies on the ground before saying, "It appears you and Danielle are the only comrades I have left."
I then left Stefan to look for her. It was time for me to look for Danielle. The night was still, too still for my liking. I sniffed the air for any signs of Danielle's scent. My senses were alarmed when I smelt a faint scent of dried blood. I knew this scent very well. It was hers.
I quickly followed the scent of blood and the sight before me sent an uncomfortable feeling in my gut. Danielle was covered with dirt and dried blood as she lay under a tree. Soft snoring filled my ears. She must have been too tired after losing so much blood a while ago.
I slowly wrapped her in the comforts of the blanket and gently picked her up. With that, I started walking to get out of these mountains. Danielle stirred and slightly opened her eyes, stopping me in my tracks.
"Shh… Just rest for now. It's all right, love."
Danielle slowly closed her eyes once more and snuggled closer to my chest. Her breathing quickly became even and she was out as a light. Her actions sent an unknown feeling in my stomach but I could tell it was a good one.
Once I gazed at her face again, she looked so peaceful and fragile that any moment she would break if I weren't careful. It just felt right with her in my arms. All I wanted to do was to protect her and cherish this moment with her. Then, I did something that was out of my control and I softly kissed her forehead.
"Sweet dreams, little wolf."
HERE'S A NEW CHAPTER GUYS! I'M SO HAPPY! THIS STORY HAS SO MUCH FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS FANFIC! :D As promised, this chapter has more Klaus and Danny moments. I hope you like this new chapter! Please write me a review if you have time. I want to know your thoughts about how this fanfic is going. Thank you! :D Can you guess who that woman is? Find out in the next chapter! ;)
