Chapter 43: The Hybrid
June 23, 2010
They had been on the road incredibly early to get to the spot where the wolves would be gathering. Ray was still dead, stuffed uncaringly in the trunk. Ellie had glared at Klaus for it, but he'd simply rolled his eyes at her. Now, they were trekking through the woods with Ray slung over Stefan's shoulders. Klaus, at least, had been considerate enough to let Ellie bring a backpack filled with water and enough food for her to snack on during the day. "Do you even know exactly where you're going?" She sassed as she used a tree to pull herself forward.
"Oh come now, I thought you were supposed to be athletic. I had worse treks as a human." Klaus said easily. When he saw her annoyed look, he turned his attention to Stefan. "You ok? Is Ray getting heavy?" He asked somewhat sarcastically.
"I'm fine." Stefan replied.
"You sure about that?" Klaus replied. "You know we've been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or a little sit-down…" In truth, Ellie would love to take a break. She'd never hiked like this before. But she was stubborn and Klaus was an ass and she refused to show weakness.
Stefan wasn't impressed either. "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." Stefan retorted.
"So much brooding." Klaus stated. "Your self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend."
"Maybe it's cause I'm a little tired of hunting werewolves." Stefan replied without missing a beat. "We've only been at it all summer."
"Thanks to our pal Ray, we found ourselves a pack." Klaus said as they spotted a large group of people with tents and other camping equipment. They were setting up and had yet to notice the intruders. "There."
As they made their way into the camp, the wolves seemed to finally spot their scents. Several people stopped what they were doing at once, rising as they locked onto them. Whispers broke out in the group as they spotted Ray dangling from Stefan's shoulders. When Stefan lowered Ray onto the ground, one of the women dashed forward. "Ray! Oh my god! What's going on?" She asked as a man rushed to her side at the sight of Ray's blood covered shirt. "Who are you?" She asked Stefan, focusing on him undoubtedly because he'd been the one holding Ray.
"The important question is who am I." Klaus said as he stepped forward. "Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus."
The woman stood warily and the man tried to pull her behind him. "You're the hybrid." She deduced.
"You've heard of me. Fantastic." Klaus said, clearly pleased with that turn of events. All of the wolves were on edge as Klaus casually sat on a large rock. Stefan sat down next to him. He shot Ellie a look, clearly he was aware that she was worn out from the trek and nodded to sit next to him to rest. She hadn't wanted to seem as rude as Klaus, but she was tired and gave in.
"What do you want?" The man asked. Ellie could practically feel Stefan switching himself to the Ripper he was pretending to be as she drank heavily from her water.
Klaus took no offense to the man's tone as he replied, "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." The woman who had originally rushed to Ray had started to shake where she stood. Obviously, word of Klaus had traveled quickly. Ray let out a gasp as his body contorted, it reminded Ellie of how Elijah had reacted when she'd undaggered him. "Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic."
"What's happening to me?" Ray gasped.
"Stefan."
He rose from his spot and scanned the crowd. "Are any of you human?" Stefan asked, and instinctively, Ellie reached out with her magic, feeling for a human. "Your friend here, he 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." Klaus said as he also stood. "Anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend, along for the ride?" When no one answered, he turned to Ellie. "Well?" It would have been harder to spot had they been mixed in with the crowd where she couldn't count heads, but the man that had rushed over was right there, obvious and in the open. She reluctantly nodded towards him. "You."
Klaus had bitten into the man's arm and slung him towards Stefan before the woman could react. "No!" She screamed as the man was forced to the ground by Stefan. To Ellie's horror, Klaus shoved his hand into the woman's neck to keep her in place.
Ellie was on her feet in an instant as she watched the scene play out before her. "If you don't drink it Ray, I will. Problem is I don't know how to stop." Stefan warned him.
"It's the new order, sweetheart. You join us, or you die." Klaus told her.
"I'd rather die than be a vampire." She hissed.
"Wrong choice." Klaus replied, biting into his wrist and then forcing her to drink. "Darling, make sure none of them try to run." Klaus called over his shoulder to her. It didn't seem necessary. All of them were frozen with fear for their friends. They were loyal, werewolves always seemed to be awfully loyal to one another. They would not abandon their pack. Ray's desperation to protect them all, even at his own expense, was proof enough of that. "She'll thank me for that later." Once the woman dropped to the ground, he turned to the others, "Ok, who's next?"
Ray had drunk heavily from the man before pulling away. Ellie, along with the pack, seemed to be frozen as Klaus forced them all to drink before snapping everyone's neck. As it turned out, the only human among the bunch was the man Ellie had pointed out. "Ray, Ray come here." Ellie said as she offered him her hands to help him up. He was shaking as he took them. "Come sit down here." Once he was sitting, she looked over him. "Are you ok?"
He looked a little dazed as he focused on her. "I don't know. I don't feel too good." He confessed. "Why are you with them?" He whispered as he shot a fearful glance at Klaus.
She gave him a sad little smile as she admitted, "I traded my life for someone I love. Klaus spared them only because I agreed to come with him. I had no other choice." She brushed his hair away from his face.
"Why is he doing this to us?"
"He wants to make more like himself. He's the only one of his kind. But it shouldn't be so bad, even if you do have to work for him. Ray you won't have to shift anymore." She told him optimistically.
Ray's attention flickered back to her. "No more shifting?"
"Not if you don't want to. Klaus, he can control it. He can shift whenever he wants, day or night, full moon or not. And if he can do that, you and your pack never have to go through that pain again if you don't want to." She told him.
"Was it like this for him?" He asked.
Ellie gave him an apologetic shrug. "I'm sorry, Ray. I wasn't there when he turned for the first time. I don't know what it was like for him other than he could remember everything and stayed a wolf for a couple days. And maybe it's different because his wolf side was activated after he was turned into a vampire. I don't have the answers. I'm so sorry."
"There." Klaus said as he fed his blood to the human of the pack. "Good as new. Now you relax, ok, mate? We're gonna need you when the rest of them wake up."
"They're dead." Ray said as he looked around at his pack. "They're all dead."
"Well, he's through his transition." Klaus commented as he took in Ray's appearance. Ray was shaking as he wrapped his arms around his torso trying to warm up. "He should be feeling better soon." Ellie noted that he didn't sound malicious for once. He actually wanted Ray to feel better.
Ray almost looked to be in tears as he tried to calm his breathing. "So is this your master plan?" Stefan asked sarcastically. "Build an army of hybrid slaves?"
"No, not slaves." Klaus corrected immediately, if Ellie didn't know any better, she'd think he'd taken offense at the suggestion. "Soldiers, comrades."
"For what war, might I ask?" Stefan almost seemed amused.
"Oh, you don't arm yourself after war has been declared, Stefan. You build your army so big that no one ever dares to pick the fight."
"What makes you so sure that they'll be loyal?"
Klaus grinned. "Well, it's not difficult to be loyal when you're on the winning team. That's something you'll learn once you shake off that horribly depressive chip off your shoulder."
Stefan actually laughed at that. "That's why you're, uh, you're keeping me around? To witness my attitude adjustment?"
Ellie looked over at Ray in alarm as blood started to seep from his eyes. "Klaus." She called as she reached out and tugged on his hand for his attention. "Something's wrong."
"You'll know why I'm keeping you around when I've decided that I want you to know." Klaus replied as he tilted Ray's face up to inspect whatever was happening to him. "You're right, something is wrong." He confirmed.
Ellie stood and went over to a tent one of the wolves had set up, snatching up a large blanket and bringing it over to Ray, wrapping it securely around him. "That shouldn't be happening should it?" Stefan asked as Ray looked over at him.
"Well, obviously." Klaus replied.
Ellie moved back to the same tent and pulled out some of their supplies. She watered a small cloth and carefully dabbed away what looked like bloody tears. "Ray, can you tell me what you're feeling?" She asked softly, her voice thick with worry.
"It hurts." Ray told her. "I'm cold." He added. No matter how much of the bloody tears she wiped away, there were more to take its place. "I don't feel good." He sounded almost like a child, and her heart ached. This hadn't been Klaus' plan. She couldn't imagine that this, whatever this was, was what Klaus had wanted.
"Klaus." Ellie said worriedly as he stood back up. His full focus was on Ray, trying to figure out what was happening. At the moment, Ellie had nothing to help. No grimoires, no easily accessible ghosts to talk to. Even if she had, it was highly unlikely that she would even find anything to begin with. The witch that had put the curse on Klaus had been dead for a thousand years. Klaus, at the moment, was the only successful and living hybrid. They had nothing to go off of on what it should look like for a werewolf that had already turned before to transition.
"You said it was gonna feel better." Ray said as he shook. "Why doesn't it feel better?" He looked up to Klaus for help, but Klaus refused to maintain eye contact.
"Some master race." Stefan sassed.
"Stefan." Ellie warned.
"Lose the attitude." Klaus added. Ellie wouldn't have minded Stefan's sarcasm had Ray not been suffering like he was. But Ray was clearly in pain and Ellie was more than a little worried. The girl, the one that had originally rushed to Ray's aid and the first to die, finally jerked awake. "Derek, come feed your girlfriend." Klaus called casually.
Derek, the compelled human, rose and didn't object as Klaus took a hold of his arm. For whatever reason, whether it was the sight of a bloodied arm or something else, Ray growled at the sight. Ellie flinched back into the dirt in surprise as Ray ran off. "Holy shit." She gasped as she watched him disappear into the distance.
"Go get him." Klaus sounded unconcerned as he instructed Stefan. He looked like he wanted to protest the order, but he just made a face and ran off after the rogue werewolf. Once Stefan was gone, the man who's name was apparently Derek, dropped down and fed his girlfriend.
"Klaus," Ellie said softly as she stood next to him. "Whatever's happening to Ray… is it going to happen to all of them?" She wasn't ashamed to show him she was worried, especially when she had a sneaking suspicion that he was too.
He didn't reply for a moment before he confessed, "I don't know. All we can do is wait and see." Just in case, Ellie picked up the heavy blanket that Ray had dropped when he ran off, and draped it around the other girl. The girl had already drunk from her boyfriend, and Ellie carefully wiped the blood off the girl's face. The girl seemed unaware of Ellie's presence, staring blankly ahead.
Derek, the human, was feeding another person that had finally woken up as Ellie looked over to Klaus. "What is it?" She asked him as she stood. "Klaus?" Ellie made a face as she stepped towards him.
"Come now, let's go see if Stefan has caught our good friend Ray." Klaus said.
"What about them? Are they gonna be ok for us to leave them?" Ellie asked worriedly. Another person was slowly pushing themselves up and Derek was heading for them.
Klaus nodded. "We aren't going far, I'll still be able to hear them." He assured her. "We won't be gone long." Ellie, though somewhat reluctantly, agreed and followed after him. The two of them found Stefan staring at something in the distance. "Where did he go?"
"He uh, he got away. Forget him, let's go." Stefan said as he tried to walk off.
He didn't get far before Klaus caught him by the wrist, turning his arm to reveal an awful looking werewolf bite. "A fatal werewolf bite." Klaus commented. "Ouch."
"Stefan are you, ok?" Ellie asked worriedly as she observed the bite. The last time she'd seen one was when Klaus had bitten Katherine back in Mystic Falls. Katherine's bite hadn't looked as bad as Stefan's currently looked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just gonna need Klaus' blood to heal me." Stefan assured her.
"Well, I'll tell you what. You find Ray, and then I'll heal you." Klaus replied.
Stefan scoffed. "You can't be serious."
"You better hurry, cause that bite looks nasty." Klaus said as he walked back towards the pack.
Ellie looked over the bite. "Are you gonna be ok long enough to find him?" She asked. Something was up, because Stefan was staring over her shoulder. But when she turned, nothing was there. "Stefan?"
"Yeah, yeah. I should get a move on. Go back to camp. The longer I wait the farther away he gets."
She didn't like the idea of Stefan running around the wounds already injured, but they had no choice. With a sigh, she released his wrist and headed back to camp. When she returned, Klaus was grinning at the sight of several more people groaning as they woke up. "You can't be serious about not healing Stefan if he doesn't find Ray in time, right?" She asked worriedly.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Klaus raised a curious brow at her.
"Just doesn't make sense that you'd drag us all over creation just to let him die like that." Ellie told him. She spotted Derek getting fed on by yet another person. "Klaus, you should probably give him a bit of blood. If any of them drink too heavily and he dies, a whole lot of them will die from not being able to transition properly."
He turned to see the blonde man swaying on his feet. If they didn't know better, he would have just looked incredibly drunk, but his arm was covered in bite marks as the blood trailed down in little rivulets. "I suppose you're right." Klaus agreed as he made his way over to the man.
The small watch secured on Ellie's wrist confirmed her suspicions that it had been hours sent Stefan had been on the hunt for Ray. It would be nightfall soon, which made Ellie's guts twist with worry. She hadn't made much mention of it, but she was incredibly worried about what was happening with the werewolves. None of them seem right. There were several that were showing symptoms just as Ray had. They were shaking constantly no matter how many blankets Ellie passed out, and had blood streaming from their eyes.
She'd seen several horror movies, and somehow the real life scene before her was far more unsettling. Klaus hadn't seemed to notice how bad some of them were doing. Instead, he was relishing in what he seemed to think was success. "What's happening to us?" A young woman with dark hair asked.
The girl was one of the ones without a bloodied face. She did, however, look a little on the pale side, as though she might get sick. "I don't know." Ellie confessed as she brushed the girl's hair out of her face. "Are you cold?"
"No." She replied. "I feel hot."
"What's your name?" Ellie asked.
"Lucy." She introduced herself.
Ellie nodded as she sat down next to the girl. "How old are you?"
She suddenly seemed smaller. "Fifteen. I'll be sixteen next month." But you had to kill someone to trigger the curse, how had a child done that? As if she read Ellie's mind, she confessed, "My mom's boyfriend was hurting her. I didn't mean to kill him. I just wanted him to stop it. She was scared."
"You were trying to protect your family, there was nothing wrong with that. It was an accident." Ellie assured her.
"My mom knew what was going to happen when she realized he was dead. She'd never wanted me to find out." Lucy said sadly. "At least when the pack comes here, we don't have to chain ourselves up. We aren't so miserable." She looked around at her bloodied pack mates. "We were supposed to be safe here."
"Can you tell me what else you're feeling?" Ellie asked as she tried to distract the girl from the mangled looking bodies of her friends.
Lucy was silent for a while, thinking about how to describe what she felt. "I feel… I feel lightheaded and kinda like I'm gonna throw up. Uh… I don't know, it feels like something is itching under my skin. Like pins and needles maybe?"
The younger girl looked nervous at her explanation. "You did good, Lucy. Here let me get you something to eat." Ellie said as she stood and went to one of the tents, pulling out a bag of jerky that had been brought. "Maybe this will help."
She took it gratefully. "Thank you."
"It's no problem. I'll be back to check on you in a bit." Ellie replied as she gave the girl a small smile.
It seemed that by nightfall, everyone had already woken up and fed from Derek. Ellie was approaching him as Klaus spoke, "Bad news, my friend. End of the road for you." Klaus drank heavily from Derek's neck, before letting his lifeless body drop to the ground. Derek's girlfriend was one of the one's with blood running from her eyes and tried to approach Klaus in a near zombie like state. "Careful, love. There's only one alpha here." He finally seemed to realize that something was wrong as he looked at how many of them seemed zombie like. "Bloody hell."
"Klaus this is bad." Ellie whispered softly as she stepped closer towards him.
"How many are like this?" Klaus asked as they stepped away from the wolves.
"A lot." Ellie confessed, but not all. "I've tried to help the ones that are bleeding, but the blood just keeps coming. If this is tied to them being in transition, I don't know how to help them. There wouldn't be anything in any grimoires anyways."
"How many aren't bleeding?" Klaus asked as he started to keep a more careful eye on the wolves around them. Some people weren't standing anymore. Instead, they were laying on the ground, very still. Were they dead? Surely not. Klaus had done everything right.
Ellie shrugged slightly as she looked around. "I'm not sure. But one of the ones that aren't bleeding said she felt sick and hot. I gave her some food to see if that helped her stomach." She replied. A low groan of pain rang out sharply across the camp. Ellie looked up to see Lucy doubled over. "That's the girl I was talking to earlier. Hang on, let me go check on her." She moved from Klaus to the girl quickly. "Lucy?"
"It hurts." Lucy whined as she rolled her neck around in a nearly violent manner. "Make it stop." She begged. "Please make it stop."
"Let me see, Lucy where does it hurt?" Ellie reached out to try and help, but Lucy's head snapped up, eyes dark and distorted as she growled. Ellie screeched in surprise as she fell back away from the wolf. Lucy was a snarling mess, snapping violently towards Ellie. "Lucy, stop!"
The young werewolf lunged for Ellie and with a scream, Ellie magic slung the girl back. "Ellie!" Klaus called and was beside her in an instant. He pulled her to her feet and lunged at the same time Lucy did, snapping the girl's neck.
"No!" Ellie yelled, but it was too late. Lucy's eyes returned to their natural state as her expression went slack. She had wanted to yell at Klaus for killing the poor girl so carelessly, but Ellie's attention was drawn to a big man whose eyes were dark like Lucy's had been. "Klaus." She whispered slowly. He followed her line of sight and in an instant, the man lunged for Klaus.
Ellie had the air forced out of her lungs as a woman tackled her. She looked over to Klaus for help, but he had three wolves of his own to deal with. She didn't know what else to do, so she focused and the woman recoiled in pain, scratching at her head to try and make the pain Ellie was causing to stop. Klaus was there, snapping the woman's neck, before Ellie had to do anything worse. "Get up." Klaus said as he once again pulled her to her feet.
Some of the other wolves were now starting to circle around Ellie and Klaus. They seemed lucid enough to be enraged at the murder of their friends. "What's happening to them?" Ellie said as she looked to Klaus.
"They've gone rabid. We have to kill them."
"No!" Ellie hissed. Her eyes were wide and pleading as she told him, "Klaus I can't kill them." She told him desperately. "Klaus please."
Klaus nodded once, sharply, "Just hold them off until I can deal with them." Then, there was no more time for talking. Several wolves lunged at once and Ellie flung up a magical barrier between them and the wolves. She had to sling several back rather violently as Klaus went through them like it was nothing. One wolf tried to attack Klaus from behind, but Ellie forced pain onto the wolf long enough for Klaus to deal with them. While it felt like a lifetime, the whole ordeal probably only lasted a minute or so.
Broken bodies were all around their feet as Ellie tried to slow her breathing. She looked around to see if anyone else was a threat, but all of the wolves that had been covered with bloody tears were all very still where they laid on the ground. "Klaus." Ellie called as she stepped closer towards him.
He turned quickly, his eyes shifting back to their natural state. "Are you injured?" He asked.
She shook her head. "I'm a little freaked out, but I'm not hurt." He moved to sit down on the large rock in the middle of the camp, and Ellie gingerly took a seat next to him. When you weren't on the receiving end of his wrath, his strength could be a bit comforting. Her shoulder was pressed against his as they sat in silence. She reached out with her magic, trying to see if there were any survivors. "They're all dead." Ellie told him.
"I know." There was something in Klaus' voice. He was upset about the outcome. Even if she hadn't been able to tell by the sound of his voice, the way he was guzzling beer would have given it away. They sat in silence for a while, waiting for Stefan to return. When Stefan arrived, he was carrying Ray's dead body. "They went rabid." Klaus told him. "Some of them I killed, the others just… bled out." He stood and added, "In the end… they're all dead."
Ellie had stood and moved to walk closer to Stefan and Klaus. She hadn't expected the frustrated scream that tore from Klaus' throat as he slung his beer bottle. It crashed against the rock and shattered violently. "Klaus…" Ellie whispered, almost afraid of him directing that rage towards her.
"I did everything I was told!" He screamed and Ellie let Stefan pull her towards him. Neither of them had ever seen Klaus so angry. "I should be able to turn them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelgänger." There were so many emotions going across Klaus' face. In that moment, Ellie actually felt a bit bad for him. A thousand years he had waited and he had done everything right, only to be the only one of his kind, unable to turn another. Was it because Elena was still alive? But Klaus had technically killed her. "You look like hell."
"Last I checked, I'm dying and you don't want to heal me." Stefan said as he held out his arm. It looked so much worse than it had before, and Stefan seemed like he was struggling to breathe. Klaus spared a glance to Ray's dead body. "I had to take him out." Stefan explained. "I didn't have a choice. I failed you. I'm sorry." Stefan moved towards Klaus. "Do what you have to do."
"It should have worked." Klaus said bluntly. He turned and picked up an empty beer bottle and after a tense moment, he bit into his hand and let his blood pour inside it. Stefan let out a breath of relief as Klaus offered him the bottle. "Bottoms up." When Stefan took it, he told them. "We're leaving." He started to walk away before he stopped and turned back, observing the multitude of bodies. "It appears the two of you are the only comrades I have left."
Ellie felt an unexpected wave of sympathy for him as he walked away. Stefan downed the contents of the bottle and gave her a look. "Let's go." He said and once Ellie watched the bite fade away, Ellie nodded and they followed after Klaus. She didn't know what their next move was, but at least she wasn't alone.
Author's Note:
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and as always please leave a review and let me know your thoughts! Also, I'm fairly certain I'm going to post an extra chapter for Christmas. Would you guys like an extra one for New Years as well? As a way to kick off 2021 which, god willing, is a much better year than this one was. Please let me know.
To xenocanaan: I'm so glad you liked it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
To Aryabloodlust: Yes, I'd like to think that the longer a witch has been in tune with her magic and the more she uses it, the stronger it gets. So she'll definitely get stronger as the story goes on. Plus, I also think that some witches are just stronger than others, like how the Bennett line was used for a lot of heavy magic. Klaus is definitely studying her. A chapter on Christmas seems like a nice present to give everyone lol.
To brigitcharlesmattew: Agreed. I always wanted to explore the Ellie/Stefan dynamic, but Elena just kind of got in the way of that. You got a little more Ellie/Klaus this chapter, and I hope you liked it. Yeah, I think a lot of what's influenced her to try and understand Klaus is how much Elijah loves, or at least loved, him. The Mikaelsons are hilarious. I think after a thousand years of living they just don't see a reason to hold their tongue anymore. I didn't even watch the end of TO, so just go ahead and assume I won't be allowing that stupid ass ending to happen. Yeah, I'm gonna have to figure something out since Elijah bailed after they were linked. I hope that Ellie/Hayley's relationship will do them justice.
To Reader: Thank you for reviewing!
To Rose1414: Thank you so much! That means everything to me.
To AB0918: Thank you so much!
To Oz: I'm incredibly excited for the ball, and for all the Mikaelsons in general. Ellie's still going to be close with Care and Bonnie, of course. She's going to have an odd sort of friendship with Klaus, though it's going to take time because of everything. I'm really looking forward to see how you guys react to Ellie and Bekah interacting. Plus, there's stuff between Ellie and Elijah that I'm really excited to get to.
To afralmazouei: Oh, I hope you guys had a good holiday! I really like their friendship too. Honestly, I can't believe we're on season three either, it's insane.
To Guest: Well, to be fair, she's close with Katherine and Katherine's done a lot of bad stuff. I think you can do bad things, questionable things, and still be a good person. Plus, they're both in the same boat and since they don't trust Klaus a whole lot, all they have is each other. Going through something like that, it's not shocking they got close. Plus with Vicki, he killed her because she was attacking Elena and he thought Dr. Martin was attacking Bonnie.
-Madame Magic
Posted: 12/5/2020
