Rebekah's POV
Yelling I expect.
Killing I expect.
Anger, furious and hot, I expect.
It's the silence that cuts me to the bone, chilling my core until I'm left shivering.
Holding Maxine's limp body so close to my own isn't the hardest part. No, the hardest part was discovering her still-warm body with a metal rod — a crowbar — sticking out of it. Her heart had been pummeled to mush under the forceful blow she'd received and blood pooled below her weight. That white shirt she'd gotten in Chicago many days ago, carelessly choosing to throw on today was covered neckline to hemline in dark blood, soaked through so heavily that it clung to her pale complexion like a second skin.
I'd taken it upon myself to rip the ungodly metal bar from Maxine's chest, knowing that the sight of the weapon used to end her short life would be too much for my brother to bear. His precious mate was here one day and gone the next, slipping through his fingers like sand.
Maxine has only been in our lives for a short period of time, but the weight of her death is a travesty.
If only she was actually dead.
She is — dead that is. Fortunately, she won't be for long. Nik had drank his greedy fill of Maxine just this morning and healed her with his blood. If I understand clearly what Klaus has explained to me from his previous hybrid trial and errors, Maxine will turn... and then she'll permanently die.
As if Klaus' thoughts mimic my own, his eyes go straight to Maxine's pale, slender neck, the same neck he'd unabashedly feasted upon for days at this point.
"Take her someplace safe," Nik orders, although it lacks it's usual underlying intimidation. He turns his back on Maxine, whereas the others present in the room disrespectfully stare. I'm less than surprised by my brother's detached response. He has always been callous when faced with pain. It is when Klaus is alone, free from what he perceives to be judgment, that the tears and screaming will come.
It won't be the surprise death that will haunt Nik's nightmares. It'll be the death he'll provide for her. The swift snap of her neck that will knock her out forever, never forcing her to experience an ounce of undeserved pain.
Following Niklaus' orders, I leave the gymnasium, finding an empty classroom in the science wing, secluded by other hallways lining the school.
I lay Maxine across a desk, one of the large laboratory station tables. I brush my hand through her silky strands, raking through any knots. Unwarranted tears well up in my eyes before I can tell myself to stop.
But maybe it's because I don't want to stop.
I weep silently over Maxine's temporarily deceased body, crying for the loss of my newest friend, my future sister. It doesn't matter that she will wake up again, for the young girl will still die soon after. I haven't even known the girl a full week, but she already holds a place deep within my heart, the heart I keep guarded and isolated like Rapunzel in her tower.
There is only one person who could have done this.
Stefan.
The bloke has been a tyrant since my awakening. When I left Stefan behind at the moving truck earlier, he had been the one with a crowbar in his chest, but when I came back, Maxine lay in his place.
That, in my book, is no coincidence.
Removing my mourning body off of Maxine's, I wipe away the tears that sit on the apples of my cheeks, along with smeared blood that transferred from Maxine's wound. Rubbing my tender skin until no wetness or staining remains, I come to one very lucid conclusion.
If Stefan is going to take something I care for, then maybe I should return the favor. Maybe I should hurt his precious Elena? I should make him feel as weak and helpless as I do right now.
I might even kill the bastard myself.
Leaving Maxine alone in the cold room, I find a blonde girl and dark-haired, brute male in the deserted hallways, sloppily making out. I trail closer, measured steps be damned. Sniffing, I catch a whiff of a scent.
Werewolf.
Smirking to myself, I allow my footsteps to become bolder, intending for the pair to hear me, wanting to see just how terrified I can make them, how much fear I can inflict before they're begging me to stop.
Time to play.
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Niklaus' POV
Dead.
Dead.
She's... dead.
The four-letter word sounds surreal as it floats like a bubble through my head, swirling until it flushes all the way down, until I can feel it poised on the tip of my tongue, ready to spit out, but unable to make my mouth form the correct position needed: teeth bared, ready to pronounce that one lethal syllable.
Dead.
I want to say it, to know I didn't dream it. But the reality is a far cry from the pleasure of fantasy. Saying it will make it factual. Suppressing it will make it a bitter pill to swallow, one that starts dissolving halfway down your throat, getting stuck in the mucus lining your pipes. It'll get stuck and it'll taste horrible, but in the end, you gulp down a hearty sip of water and the pill is washed away.
Suddenly, my mind is alight with rage. I was simply frozen until now. I had seen the murdered body of my mate and felt deep sorrow. My wolf cried out, seeking her own muted one.
I want to hurt someone. I want to hurt the person that hurt my mate. But the realization hits me like a baseball to a bat.
Stefan.
I had sent Maxine out to retrieve Stefan. All the grief, guilt, and horror replace my anger. Why did I ever put Maxine in such danger? I was wrong. With me, Maxine is in more danger than she is on her own. I should have never let her leave my side.
Suddenly, there's a commotion. Walking in through the door is my sister with a — sniff — werewolf.
"Get off of me!" I hear a baritone male growl loudly. Peering closer at the boy held in my dear sister's clutches, I realize now that the wolf is none other than Tyler Lockwood, struggling to free himself.
Rebekah scolds him for his outburst, hissing, "Hush now." My sister throws the werewolf at me, expecting my arms to catch him. They do, only because I glimpse a familiar wild glint in her eyes.
"Rebekah..." my voice trails off, a question hanging heavily in the air.
Rebekah, what are you up to?
Rebekah smiles, satisfied the more Tyler struggles. My grip becomes tighter, firmer, more painful. I feel the young boy wince. "Don't you think these brats need to be taught a lesson about messing with us, with one of the people we care about?" Rebekah suggests, gesturing to the Lockwood boy.
She wants me to turn Tyler.
I knew there was a reason we were siblings besides an unfaithful mother.
I briefly register Elena yell at me, saying, "Leave him alone!" Ignoring the doppelganger, I turn to the group of teenagers. "I'm going to make this very simple... Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible, actually," I explain, pausing to bite the inside of my wrist. I force the blood down Tyler's throat as he uselessly resists the entire time. Elena and her friends all horrifically gasp, unable to stop, only forced to watch. "My little wolf is dead because of Elena's uncontrollable soulmate," I sneer, spitting out that awful eight-letter word. "If Maxine doesn't survive, neither does your little friend here. I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler's sake... you better hurry."
Twisting the young werewolf's head to an unnatural angle is simple. It breaks with a sickening snap, killing the boy instantly. I allow his limp body to fall to the ground carelessly. Looking up at the shocked expressions on his friends' faces makes the smile that comes to my face even wider.
I make my way over to the bleachers and take a seat. My mind, still running rampant with thoughts of Maxine, feels as if it's about to implode. When is she going to wake up? I should be there with her. She shouldn't be left alone.
From the corner of my eye, I watch Matt Donovan and his friends scuttle closer to Tyler, the human leaning down to inspect the werewolf better. "He killed him," the blonde announces, stating what is already very obvious, triggering my blatant eye roll.
Elena, always the optimist, says, "He's not dead. Klaus' blood will turn him into a vampire."
That's right, Elena. Convince yourself by saying it out loud. Make the words seem real. Nobody will call you a liar if they don't notice how anxiously you're pacing back and forth.
I push myself off the bleachers, walking over to the other occupants in the room again. Rebekah follows me like a lost puppy, her obnoxious heels clacking against the flooring. "And if Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition. Go on, then. Go and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and what-not. I'll hold on to Elena... for safe-keeping," I assure the witch, though I know the tight hold I wrap around Elena's arm does nothing to comfort the young girl in the slightest.
Bonnie, reluctant to leave her friend with two angry Originals, gives Elena a wary pair of eyes. However, Elena nods her head, telling Bonnie to go on, which she does. Matt follows.
Rebekah walks up behind Elena and looks the young girl up and down. Unimpressed, she says, "So this is the latest doppelganger. The original one was much prettier."
I roll my eyes at my sister's blatant attempt to showcase her petulance. "Enough, Rebekah. Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?" Rebekah follows my orders, dragging Tyler's limp body behind her by his arm and leaves. I turn to Elena and say, "Just ignore her. Petty little thing."
I leave Elena, choosing to take position on the bleachers once again, this time the opposite side. Elena runs to Dana's side, running her hand through a lock of the brunette's wavy hair, comforting her.
It must only be seconds and those damn doors are opened once again. I just can't get a break tonight, can I? But this smell is all too familiar.
Stefan walks with sure-steps, though his face remains wary, nervous. Rising up to her feet, Elena says, "Stefan..." Instead of acknowledging her, Stefan addresses me. "Klaus."
As far as hating someone goes, he is on the top of that list. The very top, above Mikael. But I humor him. I'll get my revenge soon.
"Come to save your damsel, mate?"
"I came to ask for your forgiveness. And pledge my loyalty."
As if I'd ever forgive him for anything now.
"Well, you broke that pledge once already," I point out.
Stefan takes steps closer to my direction. "Elena means nothing to me anymore. And whatever you ask of me... I will do," he promises, sparing a glance at the girl.
"Fair enough." I push myself off of the wooden bleachers and take steps down them, walking to the other three here with us. "Let's drink on it," I propose, pointing to Dana and Chad. "Kill them." The two ignorant humans scramble to their feet. "What are you waiting for? Kill them."
"No! Stefan, don't. He's not going to hurt me. He already said—"
Cutting her off, I give a harsh slap to her across the face and she goes flying. Now, I've never been one for violence against girls, but this particular girl has been an awful lot of trouble and she rightfully deserves what she gets. Dana and Chad look appalled, but it isn't them I'm focused on.
Stefan rushes over to me, fangs bared. Some pushing and dodging ensues, but I finally grab the younger vampire by his throat.
"She means nothing to you?! Your lies just keep piling up!"
"Let her go! I'll do whatever you want, you have my word!" he promises again, though I'm not thoroughly convinced, especially by his most recent stunt.
If I really want his loyalty, then I'm going to have to take it for myself.
I'm going to have to compel him.
"Your word doesn't mean much." I tighten my hand on his throat and he struggles to breathe. The satisfaction of hearing him grapple is pure bliss. I'll get my turn at Stefan, but I know Maxine and Rebekah will want their chance one day as well and I'll make sure they get it. "I lived by your word all summer, during which time I never had to resort to this..." I ominously trail off. "Stop fighting," I compel him.
His hands cease their pulling of my own. "Don't do this, don't do this," he begs.
Pathetic.
Truthfully, I reply, "I didn't want to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I'm going to have to take it."
"Don't... Don't..."
"You will do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey."
Elena, still thinking her measly feelings, wants, and needs have control over Stefan, says, "No. Stefan!"
"Now kill them, Ripper," I order the younger vampire who follows my command like an obedient dog.
Now, what is that saying?You mess with the bull, you get the horns.
———————————————————
Rebekah's POV
There isn't much to do when you are waiting for two werewolves to awaken from the dead.
When I'd snatched up Tyler, I'd managed to break his Barbie girlfriend's neck. Once he was killed, I had dragged him into the hallway where his girl's temporarily lifeless body still lay on the floor where I'd left it. There was no way I was putting him or her in a room with Maxine. They can lay on the floor like the rubbish they are.
I'd snatched the little gadget from the blonde's back pocket and decided to amuse myself with the device. It is white and has a bright box on the inside. You can press arrows to scroll or click on things and the numbers on the keypad are as simple as a push of a button — literally. None of that ridiculous spinning of a finger wheel like on the ancient candlestick phones. The only downside is the ridiculous amount of numbers consisting for one phone address, but even then it isn't a complete problem because the phone saves those ten comprised numbers for you.
I really have missed a lot.
I situate myself against a tall set of skinny, beige lockers. I flip through the compartmentalized phone looking for any sort of words or images to grab my attention and stumble upon a little box labeled Notes. It seems to be a place where you can type and save multiple lists to your phone, so like the nosey person I am, I go through them.
The first note is about possible cheerleading songs and the techniques that can be applied to them in a dance. The second note is ideas for helping Tyler, her boyfriend, with his werewolf side. She'd written a little p.s. at the bottom that read: Leaving him in those chains is just so awful and barbaric.
Spare me.
Her last note is about none other than my hybrid brother. She'd bullet-pointed a list of ideas to help her dear friend Stefan escape Klaus' unforgivable hold over him. She even threw in ideas involving the increasingly-annoying and ever-boring Elena.
Barf.
I grow rather bored of her ridiculously long and ultimately futile schemes, so I turn to her installed games. There are only a few on the tiny phone, ranging from unfamiliar things called TETRIS to Frogger to Solitaire.
I have no clue as to what the games are or how to play them, but I read the directions given and amuse myself anyway.
I can't move my fingers fast enough across the tiny damned arrow keys and decide to give up on each game after about six or seven failed attempts.
In a last-ditch effort to evade boredom, I turn to something labeled Camera. I know what a camera is, but back in the nineteen-twenties, cameras had looked a lot different. Now, they still have the same qualities, but you can take one of yourself on a digital device that holds multiple other things. You don't need help or have to deal with some big flashing light that will temporarily blind you. I used to hate looking bad in my best outfits. Now, I have multiple tries before I get a good one.
Just as I go to delete a photo of my now-known bad angle, the blonde on the floor begins to stir.
"We didn't have mobile telephones in my day. Would have made life a whole lot easier, I suppose," I tell her out of sheer boredom rather than to make actual conversation.
I snap another picture of myself just as the girl groans in a disgustingly thick voice, "Where's Tyler?"
My hand freezes. "He's dead..." I let my hand with the phone fall to my lap and turn to the girl whose eyes are wide with concern. "Ish."
The girl turns over onto her back and then onto her other side where she sees her boyfriend's body lying limply beside her. "What did you do to him?"
"Think of it as he's having a nap. When he wakes up, he'll be a hybrid."
The girl spares me a glance and then presses her ear to Tyler's chest, hearing for a heartbeat. How utterly dumb are girls my age nowadays? I just told her her precious beau is dead as of right now and she still checks for a pulse.
After deleting every picture I'd managed to snap — I decided they were all crap — I'd gotten curious and started looking through pictures already on here. There are pictures of the blonde and Elena wearing cheerleader uniforms, pictures of the blonde and Tyler — kissing, hugging, and smiling. There are even pictures not containing the blonde at all, such as pictures of a middle-aged woman in a sheriff uniform who I assume to be her mother, a photo of that little, brunette witch and the human I'd seen earlier, and a photo of Elena and Stefan together, which immediately causes a grimace to rise to my face.
"Ugh. Vomit," I sneer, expressing my distaste out-loud. Studying the photograph of Elena, I just can't understand what makes her so appealing. She is utterly bland at best. Her clothes are drab, her hair is flat and mostly dull, her—
Wait a minute.
Tapping twice on the screen to zoom in on her upper chest, I see a necklace — my necklace around her skinny, easy-to-snap throat. "Is that my neck..." Furious, I glance up at the blonde and scramble to stand. Looking down at the young girl I demand, "Why is that doppelganger bitch wearing my necklace?!"
The blonde provides me with no answer, just looks up at me like an innocent doe at the mercy of a ferocious and starving cougar. Displeased with her lack of answer but too annoyed to deal with her any longer, I march myself straight for those distasteful gymnasium doors.
I don't even waste the time to walk at a human's pace. I push one of the metal doors wide open and storm through the squeaky floors, yelling, "Where is it?! Where's my necklace?" My anxious questions are directed toward the doppelganger, but it's my brother intercepts and asks, "What are you talking about?"
I shove the phone into one of his hands and say, "She has my necklace. Look."
I don't have to watch to know he does as I instructed him to. I keep my wary eyes on Elena as Nik says, "Well, well. More lies."
"Where... is it?" I demand to the lanky brunette.
"I don't have it anymore."
Not good enough.
I feel veins appear under my reddening eyes and my fangs extend. I sneer, "You're lying!" I rush toward Elena and sink my fangs into her neck, effectively biting her.
Before I can even get a taste, Nik pulls me off of her and drags me aside. Elena falls to a miserable, crumpled heap on the floor. "Knock it off!" he commands me.
"Make her tell me where it is, Nik!"
Nik sighs and looks at Elena. Her hand is pressed against her bloody neck and her eyes are squeezed closed every few seconds in pain. Nik clasps his hands together as if to pray for a bloody blessing and then crouches down to get Elena's full attention, not that he really has to work for that. Intimidation is all he needs. Lowering his voice from the boisterous, angry tone that he used with me to a soft, crooning one, he says, "Where's the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest."
If Maxine could see her mate now she'd be ripping his head off for being so bloody nice to the little bitch.
Elena, cowered down still, whimpers, "I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it."
Why am I not surprised that the other doppelganger bitch is a part of the thing causing me the most stress?
Nik places both hands under his chin and resignedly whispers her given name, "Katerina." He deeply inhales. "Of course. Well, that's unfortunate." Nik stands up and his voice begins getting louder once again, angered by our continuous dead-ends. "If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?" he suggests.
Nik walks over to the clock sitting on an unstructured table and slaps a hand on it. A buzzer sounds off and the clock appears on the board with the numbers 20:00 on the countdown. Walking over to Stefan, Nik compels him by saying, "Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again. Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to."
Elena stands up and begins walking toward Nik, whispering, begging, "No, Klaus! Don't do this to him!"
Nik spares her a glance but doesn't acknowledge her words with any of his own. Instead, he says, "No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine."
Nik begins walking in the direction of the doors, a clear sign that he's leaving. I follow behind him, but just when we're close enough to walk out, a gust of wind pushes us back and we nearly fall flat on our backs. I turn around to see what could have possibly been that strong.
But it isn't a what. It is a who.
Maxine.
———————————————————
Maxine's POV
Different.
That's the only way to describe how I feel when my eyes finally peel apart.
Maybe I'd also add hungry in there. Insatiable hunger if I'm going to be exact.
It's a hunger I've never felt before, one that strikes me deep in my bones, making them ache and stiffen under the pressure. I sit up and a tidal wave of vertigo consumes me, dragging my body under the surface, drowning.
It's then that I hear it. A girl. She's speaking. I can see her thin lips move but no sound can be heard. There's a ringing in my ear, like hearing a siren off in the distance. I blink once. Twice. Rapidly in quick succession. My foggy vision becomes clear and I'm able to focus on the girl even better, this time able to make out the words she says.
"Don't worry," she assures. What would I be worried about? "You're going to be fine. We just need to wait for Klaus or Rebekah to come."
Wait?
Her face morphs into one I recognize. Her bright, golden blonde hair a few shades darker than my own, a set of blue eyes that are big and comforting. Caroline Forbes; organizer and planner extraordinaire, peppy cheerleader, and snobby know-it-all.
Sounds about right, my inner voice snorts.
My rampant thoughts come to a halt when I feel a cold, small hand placed over one of my own. I react without thinking and my hand, no bigger than the one touching me, lashes out and wraps around the blonde's slender neck, choking.
She gasps but doesn't fight back. Huh. I feel her press both hands on my wrist soothingly and, attempting to placate me, says, "I know you're scared and confused, but I'll let you know everything if you just let me go."
I still have no clue what the hell she's talking about, but I honestly don't care. I want her out of my way. The sudden apathy I sense running through my mind doesn't register fully. I don't feel. I'm starving and if I don't get whatever it is that I'm craving — for some reason I can't pinpoint what that is — now, then I'm going to rip my own hair out.
My hands seem to have a mind of their own when I almost expertly snap her neck. She falls to the floor, dead, but I don't think twice about it, too overcome with hunger, as I step over her flaccid body. Peering around at my surroundings for the first time, I see desks and boards, fluorescent lights and windows, as well as counters and laminated posters.
I'm in a classroom.
Not just any classroom. Mystic Falls High School.
Why am I here of all places? And where are Klaus and Rebekah?Surely, they are here, even Caroline said something about them coming back.
Instead of figuring my endless questions out, I follow my aching need. It leads me all the way through the hallways, past the cafeteria, past the office, past multiple classrooms. And then I'm at the gym.
I can hear voices... I can hear them well, really well. In fact, I don't think I've heard anything quite this well in... ever.
I step closer, curious. Then I smell it. Something sweet and coppery, something a lot like blood. I begin running, but realize by the time I'm sinking my fangs into some girl's neck, that I have never ran so fast in my life.
The only thing that registers is that whatever I happen to be drinking, I want more. I hear shouts to stop or not do it, but I continue. I moan in divine delight, ecstasy is the high I ride. I drink so much that I begin to feel it thin, begin to feel it stop flowing as fast, begin to hear that steady thrum in my ears goes docile.
It's over all too soon when I'm wrenched away. I fall back into someone's hard-planed chest. Their arms surround my torso, holding my body in place. I lunge for another taste of that sweet nectar, but that strong, impenetrable hold doesn't let me stray even an inch. I'm locked firmly in place.
I feel a growl rip from my chest, something that shocks even me through my hazy fog of hunger. My bones start popping and breaking. Now those arms let me drop to the floor, but I don't even feel the pain of my fall, too overcome by the familiar transition I can feel coming on.
Only... it doesn't happen.
Instead of fully transitioning, my bones stop breaking and everything suddenly becomes so perfectly clear. I can see and hear everything without a hitch. I smell the, what I now know to be, blood, but it's not all-consuming.
I feel the panting in my chest. I feel the fingers grasp my chin, lifting it to stare up. I see those beautiful, blue eyes that draw me in so much. They turn to gold, so fierce and lively.
They look angry. They looked wretchedly scorned, betrayed, sad, pained.
But when the eyes of my mate connect with my own, they widen ever so slightly. Klaus stumbles back from me, letting my chin fall from his grasp. I can hear him breathing in gasps of greedy air. I can hear his hurried footsteps stomp over the wooden planks. I can hear him scream, then laugh, then cry.
"It worked. It worked. She's okay. She's... a tribrid. The first."