Dark woods surrounded her. The painful cold biting into her skin like the thirsty wolf had just hours ago. Or was it minutes ago? She really couldn't tell how much time had transpired. It could even be seconds.
She tried getting up from the cold ground. The smell of the newly rained grass invading her nostrils causing an eery calmness she didn't appreciate. Was she dead? Was this an afterlife for vampires? Dark chilly woods and loneliness? Was what she hated the most what would become of her from now on?
Maybe this was the punishment for those who seek immortality. Maybe loneliness is the torment bestowed upon the creatures who existed only by stealing the warmth and blood from all living creatures, so the can feel alive for a few hours.
She shivered once again, making her way through the woods.
Here she comes!
She whipped her head around to see from where the eery whispers came. It was a hushed whisper that started by one person, spreading and multiplying by thousands, until they echoed all around her louder and louder, to the point they hurt her ears, before they hushed and went silent again.
It's her! The voices said again. She's the girl!
Caroline closed her eyes tightly and covered her ears with both hands. Her ears hurt and so did her head at this point.
Who is she? Why her? They continued whispering.
Their hisses intertwined and got louder pulling the last strings of her nerves. Her head throbbed her ears hurt and her body shivered from the creepy eeriness touching it.
"Stop!" She yelled to the voices finally having enough. "I can't stand this anymore, stop it!"
Can she hear us? The voices asked again.
"Ugh!" Caroline cried out once more covering her ears. "Yes I can fucking hear and you're hurting my eardrums so kindly shut it!"
There was no other sound than her worked out breathing for an elongated pause and Caroline wondered if she had imagined the whole thing.
A ghost of wind blew towards her and the blonde vampire raised a hand to cover her eyes. As if a thousand grains of sand gathered by a hurricane, a figure materialized in front of her. It was a middle-aged woman with long brown her and stern look. She was dressed in a deep green gown that belonged to the Middle Ages and had her hair loose aside from a loose braid tying the hair in the back. There was a deep brown leather belt amplifying her small waist and bringing out that very color in her eyes.
"Don't be frightened child," she reassured. "They mean no harm. They're peaceful ancient spirits that happen to be a little bit too curious about you!"
Caroline gaped at her. The authority in her tone, the classy British accent, the strong demeanor. Don't know about you, but to her, this whole thing screamed Originals.
"Why would they be curious about me?" She wondered still not understanding. "I'm not even that old of a vampire. And who are you?"
The woman raised a perfect eyebrow. She stared her down, contemplating how to answer her until she seemingly finally found the way to speak.
"My name is of no importance," she concluded. "Just like yours isn't. What's important is the role each of us have to play in the demise of one Niklaus Mikaelson."
Caroline stared not being able to comprehend for a second.
"Is this a dream or something?" She questioned. "I thought he was invincible after the sacrifice. We all did."
The woman smiled.
"Nothing really is undead," she explained calmly. "Nature wouldn't allow that sort of imbalance. Not to mention it'd be impossible. How could there be light without darkness? There can't be an endless life, death is part of everyone's life, no matter how many years they manage to count before they die, the end is unavoidable."
Caroline thought about it for a second.
"But, why are you explaining all this to me?" She wondered honestly. "What's your angle?"
The woman stared her down as if stripping her soul bare so she could see what it was made of.
"I told you, you have a role to play in his demise," she said again. "And I need to fix the mistake I made centuries ago. Creating the vampire species was my biggest sin."
Caroline had a feeling she was being pulled into a web of that spider-like woman and she doubted any of her words had the meaning she took from them. However, she decided to speak again.
"You're the Original witch aren't you?" She asked earning a dumbfounded stare from her. "You must be!"
"I am," she said as whispers started breaking all around until the witch raised a hand and shushed them all. "Has Niklaus told you about me?"
"Just a little bit," she said crossing her hand in front of her chest. "He's not very talkative, you know!"
Her sarcasm earned her another smile.
She's the one!
For sure!
She must be!
Ugh, what do they want?! Can't they just hush?
The woman frowned understanding her discomfort.
"Forgive them, they're a bit excited. It is not every day that you get to meet a She-Wolf," said the woman. "Especially one that belongs to the Original Hybrid himself."
Caroline's throat was dry. Did that woman actually said what she had heard?
"A what?!"
The leather cover was worn out from how often it was opened and closed. The once brown color now having shades of dark coffee. The pages soft and barely readable at parts.
Klaus trailed his fingertips on the words written in bold letters;
CRESENT
Maddox has highlighted the word writing Niklaus in Aramaic so not everyone could understand what it said. He got that he had the connection with the CRESENT wolfs from the brief interaction he had with them a few hours prior.
There was a tingling sensation that he felt when he was connected to the wolves, as if he had always known them, as if he always belonged with them and didn't know it. It irked Klaus to the point he wanted to murder them all.
He had lived a thousand years as a lonely wolf, an alpha without a pack. He belonged nowhere, with no one. And now he felt the pull in belonging to that pack. Now, that he was on his way to create his own master race. Now that he had become a creature of darkness that not even the devil himself could defeat.
He wanted them. He wanted the CRESENT wolves to be part of his pack. Maybe they would be the first ones to turn. He had crossed paths with their - for now - alpha they had come to an agreement that he would allow their livers attach It they stayed put of his way.
He smirked remembering the submission he felt coming from their Alpha. It wasn't easy to resist the hybrid scent as it turns out. It took a bit to convince him he wasn't in NOLA to kill them all and the leader agreed to look out for him if they looked out for them.
He had to admit, he loved taking the wolf's form and run around freely. The sensation was equal to nothing else he had ever felt. The pain of transformation was excruciating, but he's been through worse and at least this time it was worth it.
Klaus read carefully through the old book, rereading the notes Maddox had kept in the ancient language. He tried to make sense of what it was saying, but it seemed too impossible for him to believe it. He grew angrier as he kept reading, unsatisfied with the content.
"This can't be!" he kept telling himself reading over the text a couple of times until he had it memorized. "I can't be happening, not to me!"
He roared, throwing the book away in a fit of anger. It crashed with the wall, tearing one of his favorite paintings before taking it down with it. It crashed on the floor with a loud thud making the hybrid, if possible even angrier. His eyes glowed in a yellow shade, his wolf ready to take control. It seemed the beast within wasn't satisfied with last night's outing, it wanted to come out and play once more.
"Why would he tell me no to kill her!" he growled angrily as he takes the stairs to the second floor, where he could hear Caroline sleeping peacefully.
He grabs his phone, texting to one of his many minions, before barging into the room where Caroline was with the poisonous toxin dripping from the sharp hybrid canines. His murder instinct subsides the second his eyes land on the resting girl. So young, so innocent, and yet not quite naive. Caroline Forbes was as much an open book as she was the biggest mystery he had encountered. That combination of light and darkness she maintained drove him mad, fueling his impulse to own her.
She couldn't be owned though.
Spirits like hers, couldn't be tamed they could only break. And though he was tempted to do that when he first encountered her he had a hard time doing that now.
He growled, wondering if that feeling of kinship was real or just an illusion.
He grabbed the suitcase tearing it open. He searched through the endless pile of clothes, makeup and a metal thing he assumed was the curling iron. He reached the bottom, he looked past the distracting undergarment and ugly pajamas to find there was nothing there. He then took to searching her. He found what he was looking for in the back pocket of her jeans, his anger growing when he couldn't open it.
He growled throwing the phone on the bed, next to the sleeping girl.
Without thinking twice, he let his beast take over and he ripped into her neck, drawing blood mercilessly until there was barely any left inside her. He could hear her breathing slowing down, a part of himself mocking her for not having dropped the mundane human habits like that. Her conscious self slipped away with every gulp of the vervained blood he took until there wasn't any more left to take.
He let go, staring at her unmoving form, she had slightly struggled as he attacked, causing some of her hair to fall down around her face. With a soft caressing gesture, Klaus chased the strands of hair away, his eyes glued on her unmoving form.
"Now, Caroline Forbes, you're at my mercy!"
He whispered before ripping into her mind.
"I am not a wolf!" Caroline giggled not understanding what this madwoman was saying.
The whispers broke ou, this time to a level that didn't bother Caroline, only to an extent that it left goosebumps over her skin, but it was bearable. She wondered if the ancient witches lowered their tones on purpose as to not hurt her, or so she couldn't hear them. She thought the second was more logical.
The witch weighted her up and down, unfazed by her response. It seemed she had already known, but she stilled looked confident in her previous words.
"It is impossible for a vampire to become a She-Wolf," the witch stated. "Only a wolf can be claimed by another wolf!"
Anomaly.
Another imbalance of nature.
Unnatural.
This is your fault!
Curse on earth is what they are.
The hybrid needs to die.
This can't happen.
You need to stop it!
"ENOUGH!" the woman yelled shushing the voices at once. "Quite down sisters, fighting amongst ourselves won't solve an issue like this. We need the girl to understand her role."
"And what is my role exactly?" Caroline asked crossing her hands over her chest. She wouldn't let Klaus Mikaelsong boss her around, let alone this woman who thought she was the Queen of the world. She wouldn't be a pawn in anyone's game of chess.
"You are the she-wolf, Caroline Forbes," explained the woman. "Whether you're a wolf or a vampire, it doesn't matter. Not when you are mated with an Original Hybrid!"
Caroline's expression was blank.
"For some reason, you were chosen by Niklaus's wolf as a mate, for lack of better words," the woman continued her story. "It is a first, for a werewolf to chose a vampire as a mate, as you realize, werewolves are uncontrollable beasts. When they turn into wolves they lose all consciousness and mindlessly attack all these that cross their path, no matter how close they are to them. The only authority they listen to at that state is their Alpha and the only ones they would never hurt are their mates. Which is why he immediately recognized you when he turned and why the Cresent wolves backed off once they saw you were marked as his."
"Hold on a second," Caroline frowned chuckling humorlessly while raising a hand to stop the witch from talking any more. "Are you saying that I'm Klaus' mate! And what d you mean by marked?!"
The disdain was evident in her tone.
"I know this might be a lot to take in-" she started saying.
"You think?!" Caroline smoked raising both eyebrows. "How is it even possible to... have a mate?"
"It's nothing new for werewolves or wolves in general," she continued. "Werewolves are mortal, so their mates can be other werewolves or on very rare occasions it can be humans. Niklaus is a special case. His entire existence is a unique imbalance of nature. A hybrid is not something this world can host. He shouldn't be able to have a mate, or his mate should've been a hybrid like himself."
"But there aren't any hybrids aside from Klaus himself," the girl said watching the woman in front of her sight sadly. "Are there?"
The witch shook her head.
"No there aren't," she clarified. "But have you wondered what that ripper is doing with Klaus when they go ou and leave you in the solace of your room?"
Caroline's eyes widened.
"Wait, what? How do you know that?" she demanded to know.
"I've been watching him from the other side for centuries now," the witch admitted. "I know his weakness when I see it, even if it's extremely rare for him to have one, you are one. Naturally, when I realized it, my interest was directed to you also. That is of no matter now, though. While you were busy analyzing Tolstoi for an exam in literature you don't have to study for, the boys were chasing after clues for werewolves they could use on a fool moon."
"I don't understand, use them for what?" she wondered.
The woman smiled.
"Niklaus' plan was never to just break the curse," she clarified. "He had a more elaborate cause for it. You see, the Original's plan was always greater, he wanted to create a superior race, one that would only be controlled by him, one that would not be vulnerable either to wolves nor vampires. A cult of hybrid servants, sired by him, serving him as a master for the rest of eternity."
"Sired?" she whispered half afraid to ask.
The woman nodded.
"The sire bond would force them to obey him and serve him as their master and their Alpha," she clarified, "And because of their hybrid nature, they can't be defeated neither by wolves nor vampires, as they would be superior species. "
Caroline chocked not knowing what to say.
"But in order for him to do that," she took a hesitant step forward. "He needs to kill the last doppelganger."
"Elena," she whispered in horror, eyes watering.
"He won't be able to create any werewolves otherwise," she said. "He doesn't know that yet, but once he tries to turn the Cresent Clan into his first hybrids, he'll figure it out."
"I need to warn them, I need to - UGH!" she screamed, falling to her knees.
The world around her started to crumble. The once unfazed witch seemed to shaken by what was going on. Caroline grabbed her neck, feeling the pain radiate through her body. The all too familiar toxic venom spread inside her like wildfire. It was funny how she always got surprised by that burning feeling, she should've been used to it by now, but she wasn't each time it felt more painful than the one before.
"What's going on?" Caroline yelled through greeted teeth, pain radiating inside her body. She felt someone touching her mental barriers, she tried to fight it off but couldn't concentrate with all the agony her body was going through. "Someone is trying to get inside my head!"
"It must be-" before the witch could finish her sentence a dark figure appeared behind caroline.
Dirty blonde hair, dark ocean blue eyes, mischievous grin.
"Niklaus," the witch whispered in terror.
The man grinned.
"I should've known it was you!" he spat with disdain. "After all, you've always tried to take what's mine in one way or another!"
"What did you do to me?" Caroline yelled getting to her feet and glaring at the hybrid.
Klaus turned his gaze slowly at her, his eyes throwing flames.
"You better keep your mouth shut love, I'll deal with you shortly after I put this witch in her place," he then turned to the Original witch and giving her a killer look he spat once more. "As for you, Ester, you better keep your hands away from what belongs to me, or I'll make sure every single witch that supports you on the other side no longer has a descendant left alive!"
The witches around started hissing loudly again, in an unsufferable volume that started hurting Caroline's ears once more. She tried not to scream, covering her ears, blood pouring down from them as the witches continued their chant. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping that it would all stop.
And suddenly, it did.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in an unfamiliar room, on an unfamiliar bed with a very pissed off Klaus sitting next to her on the bed.
She quickly sat up backing herself until her bach was touching the headboard. Eyed glued on him, her rigid breathing cutting the silence of the darkroom like sharp knives piercing through a thin fabric.
"What did you do?" she started saying as if she was choking, her voice shaking more than her trembling body.
Klaus didn't answer, just gave her death glares, watching her and trying to control the urge to kill her.
"What did you do?" he spat emphasizing the word. "I can't turn my back to you even for five seconds and you're already conspiring against me?"
"I-" Caroline started to say but was cut off.
"Silence!" yelled the hybrid. "Perhaps I gave you more freedom than you deserve, more trust than you asked and yet, it seems like it's not enough!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered looking away from him, her lower lip quivering as she resisted the urge to cry. Her eyes fell on the small item on the bed next to her. It was her cellphone. Her eyes widened as she saw her suitcase, he had searched for it. and had found it. Maybe even saw what was on it.
Caroline felt the panic rise inside her like the tide on a windy day. Her mind went blank and she followed her first instinct which was to run, out of the room and away from the beast roaring under the skin of Niklaus Mikaelson.
She tried to rush out of the room, but the hybrid was too fast for her. He grabbed her by the throat pinning her down on the bed, his angry eyes piercing holes in her baby blues.
"Klaus," she whisper-pleaded.
"You really think you could hide this from me," he growled as he climbed on the bed on top of her.
She struggled to escape, turning her head away, pushing his unmoving frame away, but the hybrid wasn't having any of it. He grabbed both of her small wrists tightening his grip around them and glaring down at her teary eyes.
"I've known you're on vervain ever since I couldn't see your dreams," he said in his husky tone, eyes hard and unforgiving. "My confirmation came on that night in Mexico when I tasted your blood. Do you remember that night? The one you were all over me?"
Caroline looked away ashamed but Klaus wasn't done tormenting her yet. He lowered his head, grazing his lips on her ear as he talked, smiling when she shivered as the heat of his breathing tingled the sensitive skin underneath.
"The night you claimed I was yours?" he whispered again ignoring the girl's efforts to escape. "I still feel your lips on mine, your hands all over my-"
"Stop!" she groaned through gritted teeth.
"No," he groaned. "I won't stop, Caroline! You are mine, you belong to me, and I won't have you disobeying me again ever!"
"I am not yours!" she yelled to his face.
"You are!" he spat back. "Didn't Ester tell you? You're the She-Wolf. My mate. The mate my wolf chose for me, I want you and so you are rightfully mine!"
"I don't care if your wolf wants me!" she yelled. "I don't want you!"
Klaus smirked but it never touched his eyes.
"That's unfortunate for you," he said in a fake sad tone.
"Let go!" she yelled, scared for the first time in a long time about what he would do. "Let go of me! Let me go!"
Klaus let her struggle underneath.
"You aren't going anywhere, Caroline," he said. "Deal with it!"
Caroline continued fighting against him, relentless, she was hurting herself more than she was hurting him but she wouldn't stop. Giving up was just not in her nature, nor was surrendering to a tyrannical bastard. Klaus finally had enough.
"ENOUGH!" he yelled catching her eyes and letting his ocean blues dilate. "Stop fighting!"
Caroline froze in horror as she felt the compulsion take over.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no, no, don't! Please don't!"
"I didn't want to have to do this," he said with genuine sadness "I wanted to keep you around as you but you are really not leaving me any choices!"
"No, please, I won't do anything else, just don't," she begged, tears appearing on the corners of her eyes.
She couldn't end up under his compulsion. If she did the entire plan would be ruined. She wouldn't be able to protect Bonnie, Elena, Stefan. She would put them all in danger including the girl she had sired and, as shocking as it sounded, she'd even put in danger, Katherine. She needed to protect all of them, she needed to maintain her free will.
"Please, Klaus, don't do this to me! I'll do whatever you want, I promise, but don't do this, just not this!" she begged through teary eyes and for a second there it seemed that she had convinced him.
"I'm sorry love," he whispered at last.
"No, please!"
"You will do as I say when I say it, no questions asked!" he compelled.
"Please don't!" her voice broke and so did his resolve.
He caressed her chin tenderly, wiping the violent tears away hushing her as if she was a little kid making a fuss for no reason.
"Hush now, love," he whispered. "From now on you'll have nothing to fear. You will be under my protection and you will do as your told. You won't anger me, or defy me. You will simply, just, obey!"
A few more tears slipped past her eyes as the compulsion made her surrender to his will.
"Say it!" he commanded sternly.
"I will obey," she whispered back, going limp in his hands as her voice cracked at several points.
Klaus relaxed on top of her, smiling sadly down at the once feisty blonde vampire.
"Good girl," he replied not quite liking this outcome, himself. But if it was something he had learned over the centuries it was that you won't always like what you'll have to do to achieve your goals.
"Now," he whispered with a sinister look that would make the devil wince. "Let's test the boundaries of your obedience!"
Caroline looked up at him, with a puzzled look.
"Show me exactly how much you want me," he whispered. "And do not stop, unless I tell you to. That's a command!"
Don't hate me!