Chapter 4- Unlocking Mystic Falls


As they reached Mystic Falls, Klaus insisted that they take a trip to the Grill for some lunch so Kurt could acquaint himself with the vibe of the town. According to Klaus, it would help his magic or something, so Kurt was in no mind to deny it.

They had both slept soundly, though Kurt had to be compelled to sleep through the night. Per his own request, of course. Klaus pointed out a loophole in his magic that allowed compulsion if he desired it for any reason. Kurt had made a quick and predictable joke about his other desires, but Klaus was trying his hardest not to think about that until his mission was complete. He wasn't about to let anything get in the way of his ultimate goal, something that he had longed for all his life. It was now possible and Klaus would stop at nothing to achieve it.

As the door of the Grill closed behind them, Klaus noticed something that made a wicked smile curve his face. This was certainly going to be interesting.

So he and Kurt approached the table, looking into the faces of four very unhappy residents.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kurt heard the moody-looking one ask and he suddenly sensed that Klaus wasn't very well liked by these people. As much as Kurt himself had taken to Klaus' no-nonsense personality and occasional bouts of kindness, he could definitely understand why some personalities wouldn't react the same way.

Klaus shrugged. "Can't a man return to his hometown, one which he occupied before any of you were even born?"

Kurt stifled a smile, wanting to see how the rest of this situation played out without a word from him. He didn't think that Klaus needed any of his input. The man was about as snarky as Kurt himself was.

"Who's the pet?"

Then again, Kurt couldn't really hold himself back sometimes.

"Lose the tone, please. I could probably outclass you in every situation which doesn't involve you beating your chest and dragging your knuckles across the ground. I would imagine, should I closely peruse the skin covering them, I would find them to be calloused and scratched from the rough state of the Mystic Falls sidewalks."

"With a mouth like that, you could peruse anything you wanted to."

Klaus flashed his teeth menacingly. "That's quite enough of that, Damon. I guess introductions are necessary. Kurt, this is Damon and Stefan Salvatore, Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes. You lot, this is Kurt Hummel."

"I would usually say it was a pleasure to meet you all, but your simian friend over there has made quite a bad first impression on me."

Caroline stood up promptly. "I'm Caroline, it's really nice to meet you. Even if you are conspiring with Satan, anyone who wears this season's Prada is okay with me."

"Might I say you're very beautiful."

"Yes, yes, Kurt is fashionable and Caroline is beautiful, must we linger on such menial issues when there's clearly something larger at the table. You four are hiding something and I will find out what it is."

"What makes you think we know something?" Stefan asked.

"The fact that Elena has the worst poker face I've ever seen. It's almost like she wants me to know and is desperate to tell me. I'll leave you be before the big mystery is ruined. Oh and just a note, if any of you even think about harming Kurt in any way, I'll have your heads. Got it? Okay. Let's go, Kurt."

Kurt left with Klaus, sending a glare to Damon and a conversely sweet smile to the rest as he walked away from them.

As they let the gentle Mystic Falls breeze wash over them, a tentative smile crept onto Kurt's face.

"So clearly there's history between you and Caroline."

Klaus froze, stopping dead in his tracks. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh come on, it's obvious. Elena has no poker face, but you're equally as readable. At least to me, anyway. The way you were looking at Caroline, there are obviously feelings there. Or at least there were."

"Caroline is a very special girl." That was all he said.

"And that tells me all I need to know on that matter. You fell for her and she had no time for you. Correct me if I'm mistaken."

Klaus' eyes turned sad and Kurt regretted bringing it up. It was quite insensitive of him. "Do you really think a girl like Caroline would entertain someone like me even for a second? For a vampire, she's surprisingly considerate."

"Don't discount yourself, Klaus."

"I'm a cold-blooded killer and I have no qualms with that. It's not like I deserve good things after what I've done."

"Think about your past, everything you've been through. If all of that hadn't happened, think about where you might be. We certainly might not have met."

"And wouldn't that have been a true shame. I'm surprised you're sticking around."

"When I look at you, Klaus, I see so many things. Yes, I see the monster in you, but that's a part of you that's as equally important as all the others. Beyond that, I see a man who loves and cares about people. I think you just have a hard time distinguishing between the two."

"Has your telepathy come through already?"

Kurt shook his head quickly. "Think about it. If you're capable of an intricate, complex emotion such as love, then don't you deserve it?"

"I suppose you may have a point. Anyway, let's put a stop to this introspection, it doesn't do well to linger on such feelings. That only breeds self-doubt and that's the last thing anybody needs right now."

"I didn't think you were even capable of self-doubt."

Klaus appraised him seriously. "Everyone is capable of self-doubt, Kurt. Even me. Though I'm not surprised you think such a human emotion is beyond me."

"I didn't mean that, I just…you have such a confidence about you that it's hard to imagine you doubting yourself. In hindsight, I suppose everybody has a façade."

"You're certainly right about that."

"So what are we doing today?"

"Well, I'm going to show you around the town and then there are a few people I'd like for you to meet." Klaus smirked at the thought, which made Kurt a little uneasy.

"Not to worry, love, they're good people. I think you'll like them just fine." Klaus paused for a second, reading Kurt's expression. "Ah, I see. It's not that you're worried about."

Kurt shrugged. "People don't really take to me too easily. Most never really try, but those that do find themselves not wanting anything to do with me."

"And there's that self-doubt. Trust me, Kurt, you have nothing to worry about. You're an exceptional person. You'd have to be to be accompanying me on a journey as personal as this one is. I don't just pick anybody for these tasks, you know."

"I guess not. Anyway, let's put this conversation in a tightly-sealed box and continue on with our day, okay?"

"That's good with me. You know, I'm always ears for a conversation, though. If you have something on your mind, you should say it."

Kurt paused for a moment. "Maybe another time, but thank you for the offer."

In that moment, Klaus knew that there was something about Kurt that was going to come out sooner or later and he had a distinct feeling that it wasn't anything good. He could sense fragility within Kurt that was completely masked by his air of strength and confidence. He knew that there was something eating away at the witch that was going to consume him if he didn't deal with it sometime soon. Klaus hoped to be there when he did.


Kurt stepped into Klaus' home, surprised by the lack of simplicity. There was art on almost every wall, ones that seemed particularly selected for the space it inhabited. Kurt's favourite one was of a beautiful ocean landscape, two people looking out over it. It was so meticulously painted that it had to be very personal, Kurt could tell by just looking at it.

"You have good taste."

Kurt chuckled. "Says the guy with about a dozen beautiful paintings hanging in his house. These are gorgeous."

"Thank you. I happen to know the artist very well."

"Wait, you mean…did you?"

"It's a hidden talent of mine. I like sitting and creating something from nothing. A blank canvas with no colour or no life suddenly turns into…well, anything you want it to be. Do you paint?"

"Me, absolutely not," Kurt laughed. "I just appreciate good art. When it comes to creating it, I'm not the greatest."

"So what do you do? You don't strike me as the type to spend your time doing nothing."

"I'm a performer. Singer, dancer, actor, all of the above."

"I can definitely see that."

Klaus' next words were interrupted by a low female voice that crept through the house.

"Is that my least favourite brother in law?"

Klaus rolled in his eyes. "Devil spawn," he muttered.

When she entered, Kurt's mouth fell open.

Klaus chuckled amusedly, leaning into Kurt's body. "Doppelgangers. Whatever you do, don't call her Elena," he whispered. "Katerina, how lovely to see you."

"Always a true pleasure, Klaus. And I take from the bemusement, this one's already met Elena."

Klaus nodded. "He's new to this world, Katherine. Cut him some slack."

She smirked. "He's very pretty."

A man entered at those words, standing behind Katherine. He was tall and sophisticated and familiarly attractive, his suit immaculately clean. Kurt wondered if there was an impossible beauty quota in Mystic Falls that had to be filled to live there. He hadn't seen one person who didn't look like a god or goddess.

"I hope you're playing nicely, Katherine."

"I always do," she shrugged in a way that told Kurt that she did not always play nicely.

"Is this him?"

Klaus nodded. "This is Kurt Hummel. Kurt, this is my brother, Elijah and his devil girlfriend, Katerina."

"I go by Katherine," the woman said, glaring at Klaus, as she reached over to shake Kurt's hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. It's about time Klaus took an interest in someone with standards."

Elijah stepped forward suavely. "It's lovely to meet you, Kurt. I hope you'll be sticking around for a while."

"I'm not really sure what my plans are yet."

Klaus nodded. "We haven't set out a timeline for anything just yet."

Elijah's eyes flashed with something Kurt couldn't quite make out. "Niklaus, a word please?"

Klaus rolled his eyes but followed Elijah out into the kitchen.

Kurt took a seat as Katherine sat opposite him.

"Get used to this, they're forever having private conversations about really serious shit that nobody really cares too much about."

"Are they close?"

Katherine shrugged. "Sometimes. They care about each other more than they let on to other people, sometimes even each other. But when it boiled down to it, they would protect each other over anything else. Getting involved with a Mikaelson can be tricky, so I'd be careful if I were you."

Kurt blushed fiercely. "Oh, no, I'm not—."

"Oh, cut the crap. Listen, the twenty seconds I've been in this room, I've sensed more sexual tension that I do between most actual couples. You're both interested in each other. I'm right, aren't I?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to him, but that might be just a Mystic Falls thing. You're all gorgeous. I've never really been able to separate feelings from just…guys being nice to me."

"Sounds understandable. It can't be easy going through that stuff in a small town. Klaus mentioned it to Elijah a couple of days ago. I have to say, I've never really trusted many witches before, but you seem okay."

"I don't really know what I'm doing, if I'm honest."

Katherine smirked. "I tell you, kid, nobody really does."

"Klaus hasn't told me much about what he's doing."

"So how do you know you want to be a part of it?"

Kurt sighed. "There's something about him that makes me trust him. I mean, I could tell how disliked he is by others just by walking into the Grill, but I don't know. He saved me from my own life, which sounds incredibly dramatic but it's true. Nothing was really adding up back in Ohio. Going to New York showed me that there was more to life than what I had."

"And then that was what flipped you on your ass when you realised you could manipulate magic," Katherine drawled.

"I sense animosity against witches."

"I haven't had a great experience with them, that's all. You don't seem awful."

"Strangely, that's one of the nicest things I've ever heard."

Katherine clapped his back, not patronisingly. "That's pretty sad, Kurt."

He laughed. "I suppose it is. I never really thought about it before."

"I wouldn't think about that too much."


Somehow, Kurt found himself alone in the kitchen with Elijah. Klaus wandered off to talk to Katherine and left Kurt wondering what all the private conversations were about today.

Kurt liked Katherine quite a bit, though he got the impression she was a lot more similar to Klaus than she liked to consider herself. Maybe that was why they were enemies, keeping it civil for the sake of Elijah.

"I'm glad we've got the chance to talk for a while."

"Me too. The more people I know here, the better."

"Not just that. It's slight…but I've noticed a change in my brother already. Not many people have such an effect on him. Actually, not many people have an effect on him at all."

Kurt grinned. "I can imagine. He's very…unique."

"Unique isn't the word," Elijah smiled back. "He can be difficult. I understand a problem arose with his feeding…disposition."

Kurt shrugged. "I didn't really think properly about it before. Klaus has to feed to survive and be strong so he can be who he is. It just seemed so…savage that I was blinded by it."

"Or blinded by my brother?"

Kurt's face was hard. "I am not blinded by Klaus."

Elijah nodded sarcastically. "Sure, okay, let's go with that."

"How are you two so different but yet so similar?"

"The familiar resemblance is one thing, but we were raised very differently. I'm sure Niklaus will tell you the story sometime. Though I will say one thing about the two of you: if you're thinking of pursuing something, make sure that you are absolutely certain that it is what you want. If you later decide it isn't what you want, it'll hurt him. He'll pretend it won't, but he'll be lying."

Kurt nodded promptly. "Noted."

As he and Elijah continued talking, Kurt couldn't help but think about Klaus the entire time. He would be lying if he said he wasn't interested, at least a little bit, but he wasn't sure he wanted anything further, not for right now. Maybe sometime in the future, yes, but he barely knew Klaus. There was a lot of ground they both had to cover with each other before anything was even an option. There was a lot Klaus didn't know about him, too, secrets he had concealed from even the closest of his friends.

That struck a chord, but not for the reasons he thought it did. It had been a few days since he had disappeared from New York. New Directions would be leaving for Ohio the next day. Surely his absence had been noted and his father informed. People would be looking for him. Authorities, possibly. How would he be able to keep himself hidden when he had already been seen by people in Mystic Falls? Not many, but he was pretty recognisable.

Suddenly Kurt knew what he needed to do.

"Kurt?" Elijah spoke quietly. "Is everything okay?"

It wasn't going to be pretty, but it would work.

Kurt nodded convincingly, keeping away the anxious quiver of his lips. "Yeah. Everything's just fine."

He was going to fake his own death.