Ayla wasn't expecting to see the door left slightly ajar when she returned from her run and preparation for the full moon that morning. Her heart pounded in her chest, not knowing who or what laid behind the door. So with a burst of emotion, she slammed the door open with her power, already feeling exhausted. It had always been more difficult and consuming for her to do magic leading up to the full moon, almost as if her body was trying to hold onto all of the strength she possibly had.
She looked around, preparing for a fight, but all she saw was her step mother laying face down on the ground in the foyer with blood pooling by her mouth.
"Carol!" She ran over to the older woman, immediately trying to locate a pulse. After feeling the faint heartbeat, Ayla dialed for an ambulance and spoke quickly into the phone.
She didn't know what had happened to her step-mother, but she was scared that whatever or whoever had done this would come back again for her.
Ayla sat at the bedside of her step-mother. The doctor had come in a few minutes before and said that she was going to be okay, just that she had a concussion. Though the two were not close, Ayla still refused to leave the older woman's side, wanting nothing more than to protect the only family she had left. She held her hand, trying to focus her powers to see what had happened, but she felt nothing. No visions. No emotions. There was nothing.
Her head jolted to the door at the sound of it opening slowly, only to see her brother standing there. She jumped up and ran into his arms, hugging him tightly.
"Tyler." She muttered, and he hugged her back. She felt his relief at the sight of his mother and sister.
"Is she okay?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "She had some crazy fall, I don't know."
"I know, she called me."
"She did? When? She was unconscious when I found her and she hasn't woke up since." Ayla swallowed hard at the realization of what had happened, instantly putting two and two together. "Someone must have compelled her. I can't feel what other people feel when they're under compulsion."
"Someone used her to get to me." He came to the same conclusion that she did.
"Then you need to leave here, Tyler."
"Tyler?" Carol called out to her son, sitting up slowly. She saw the smile on her step-mother's face at the sight of her only child.
"I'm not going anywhere." He shook his head and walked over to his mother. He kissed her on the cheek as Ayla watched the two of them before walking out of the room, wanting to give them both some time alone together. But she couldn't help but feel an ounce of jealousy at the smile they both held on their faces as they reconnected.
Her stomach was grumbling as she realized that it was already nearing five in the evening and she had yet to eat all day, aside from a piece of fruit for breakfast before her run. With her nerves of the full moon and then her trip to the hospital, she had completely forgotten to eat anything. So instead of driving back to the Lockwood mansion, she headed towards the Mystic Grill.
Ordering her usual veggie burger and French fries, she sat at a table by herself in the middle of the restaurant. She wondered how she looked to outsiders. She probably looked lonely, with no one but her sketch pad sitting in front of her. So as she slowly drew and ate, she felt more at ease, trying to relax herself for the full moon pain to come later that night.
She drew a wolf roaming freely throughout the woods and wondered if it was herself. She wondered if maybe she would break free of the chains tonight. Or maybe it was someone else, she was unsure. But she knew that she was going to tighten the chains even more so than usual. Regardless of how much she wished she could roam free, her fear of hurting someone, or worse, would never allow her to. So once again, she would be bound by the moon and bound by chains.
"Gentleman." She heard a voice so smooth that it broke her concentration from her drawing pad. She looked up at the handsome man who resided near Alaric and Damon at the bar, just a few feet from her. She stood up as if she had no control over her body or her actions, leaving her sketchbook and burger on the table as she inched across the restaurant and closer to the man with the voice like honey. "Why so glum?"
"Ugh." Damon groaned. "Klaus, I presume."
"In the flesh." He smirked again, looking to Alaric. "Thanks for the loaner, mate."
"Any reason you stopped by to say hi?" Damon looked at him with wide, angry eyes. But Ayla wasn't paying any attention to him. Her sole focus was the man who had taken up her dreams, except now he did not have teeth so sharp it could cut through glass or eyes the color of the whiskey he was drinking.
"I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppleganger. Just thought I'd remind you to not do anything you'll regret."
"Ha." Damon chuckled, sarcastically. "Thanks for your advice."
"You're Klaus." Ayla called out to him and he looked at her, with an even bigger smirk on his face. Ayla thought she would be afraid at the sight of him, but she wasn't. He felt familiar to her and she couldn't help but feel intrigued by the magnetism that pulled her towards him.
"Ah, Ayla." He reached his hand out to her, and for some bizarre reason that she couldn't explain, she took it without question. As her hand touched his, she felt the spark of his interest piquing. She felt residual arrogance and hubris, but there was an overpowering feeling of fascination as he gazed into her eyes. "Always the most beautiful girl in every room."
"The other day you were terrified of him, now you're holding hands with him?" Damon asked, confused and disgusted. "He melt your witchy brain or something?" Ayla just glared at him, but didn't respond because truthfully, she didn't have an answer for him. "I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?"
"You are kidding." Klaus looked to Ayla, with an adoring but serious look. "He is kidding, right, love?"
"I don't think he is." Alaric muttered, sipping his bourbon. But Ayla couldn't respond, all she could think about was the endearing term he had reserved for her.
"Can witch-bitch talk you into a postponement by any chance?" Damon pointed at Ayla and her eyebrows furrowed at him, wondering why he would think she would ever be able to talk Klaus into anything. "I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?"
"Let me be clear- one… Ayla will no longer be doing your lots bidding." He looked at Damon with a humorless look. "Two… I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up."
Klaus leered threateningly at the two men before putting his hand on the small of Ayla's back, walking her back to her table. His finger grazed her drawing of the wolf curiously, before looking back up at her with a small smile.
"You draw, do you?"
"Sometimes." She muttered quietly, suddenly self-conscious of him seeing her artwork.
"You are… quite the artist." He grinned at her. "And is that supposed to be you, little wolf?"
"I don't know." She looked at the drawing of the werewolf roaming free. In all honesty, she wished it was her. She wished it was her who could feel the wind through her fur as she ran through the woods, feeling free and unburdened. But the last thing she wanted to do was accidentally hurt someone by not locking herself up. And as if he knew what she was thinking he spoke again.
"The sun is starting to set." He told her, and she looked out the window seeing the beautiful orange and pink hue overtake the sky.
"Yeah, it is." She sighed, packing her sketchbook and pencils into her bag before picking up her wallet. She could still feel Damon's glare on her as she stood in the dining area of the restaurant, Klaus not giving any inclination of leaving her side. It confused her, but it excited her as well.
"My treat." He told her, putting a hundred dollar bill down. She just looked up at him, their eyes connected again and she could barely separate hers from his. He felt so familiar, yet so unlike anyone she has ever met. She was unnerved, yet captivated in the most extraordinary way possible. She couldn't even begin to explain it.
She couldn't 't help but wonder if Elijah was right. If somehow, she had formed a connection with Klaus through her visions and her drawings. And perhaps, he felt the same.
"Thank you." She tossed her bag over her shoulder and he held his hand out, telling her to lead the way. As she walked with him to her car, he opened the door for her and she smiled at him. She didn't know what had gotten into her. Maybe it was his charm. Or maybe Damon was right, maybe he had melted her brain. But she continued smiling at him anyway as he leaned his lips close to her ear.
"I'll see you again soon, love." He whispered before vamp speeding off. She just watched, mesmerized yet bewildered by the allure of him. The melody of his smooth words and the feeling of his warm breath had caught her so off guard that she didn't even feel the wolfsbane being injected into her neck.
It was already dark when she had started to slowly regain consciousness. She could see the bright full moon right in front of her eyes. It had been months since she had been able to see the moon light up the darkness of a pitch black sky and it calmed her for a moment, before she realized that she wasn't chained up. And then she realized that she was in the arms of someone, she blinked away the blurriness of her vision and met his face.
"You really have a death wish, don't you?" Ayla asked him in a raspy whisper, still subdued from the overwhelming amount of wolfsbane in her bloodstream. She looked out to see that he was entering an apartment building with her in his arms. She tried to move but she had barely any energy.
"The concentrated wolfsbane is gonna keep you down until I get you in there." Damon spoke as he walked up the first flight of stairs slowly. "If Klaus wants to do his sacrifice, he'll have to sacrifice you too."
"The wolfsbane will not hold me down." She said through clenched teeth. "I can feel it, you know. The… the subtle ache in my bones before they start to break."
"Well you're not wolfing out just yet, you have another hour or so. Plus, we're almost there and I saved the other sacrificial wolf… your brother, by the way." Ayla's eyes widened slightly at the thought of her brother being killed in the sacrifice too.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Ayla asked him, unsure of why she was being targeted by him. He just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I haven't done anything to you or any of the other vampires in this town, Damon."
"Do you trust me?"
"Not one bit."
"Exactly. And I feel the same way about you." Damon sneered. "You brought more wolves into this town and almost got me, Stefan, and Elena killed. Plus, you refused to help us fight against him. Since I saved your brother, you're welcome by the way, Klaus will need another wolf to sacrifice. So let's see if he uses you."
"Why wouldn't he?"
"Elijah said you have some sort of… connection with him."
"It doesn't matter." She groaned in pain and annoyance. "He'll do anything to break this curse."
"Then we'll kill two wolves with one stone. You and Klaus will be dead together."
"And what about Elena? In order for you to weaken Klaus, he'll need to do the sacrifice."
"She'll come back. You won't." He said, apathetically.
"You really love her, don't you? So much so that you would risk her hating you for the rest of eternity just so you can protect her." She looked up to see his eyes filled with remorse, passion. "It's romantic, really. I just wonder how your brother feels about it."
"Shut up, dog." He spoke angrily as he kicked Alaric's door in, throwing her onto the ground as he vamp-sped into the apartment. She whimpered in pain and Klaus turned around in his chair with an unamused expression.
"I wasn't aware you'd been invited it." Klaus spoke with a clenched jaw.
"I've come here to tell you that you have to postpone the ritual."
"Didn't we already have this conversation?"
"Yeah, but that was before I rescued your werewolf and vampire and killed your witch. I'll kill your little witch-bitch here, too."
"Excuse me?" Klaus stood up angrily, moving closer to Damon.
"And you can kill me for it. I don't care." He spoke with a boldness that Klaus did not like. "It was all me."
"Katerina, help Ayla off the ground. Then give us a moment." Katherine nodded her head in agreement, not that she could actually refuse anything he demanded of her. Katherine picked Ayla up, causing the wolf to flinch and whine in pain. "Gently, Katerina." Klaus grumbled, Ayla looked up to see Klaus staring at her with a look that she couldn't decipher. Katherine gently picked her up off the ground and carried her into the single bedroom of the apartment.
Ayla was gently placed on the edge of the bed where she sat, focusing on her hearing so she could still discern their conversation, wondering why Klaus would force her and Katherine out of the living room. She could tell that Katherine was focusing on their conversation as well.
"I've heard about you. The crazy, impulsive vampire. In love with his brother's girl." She heard Klaus' footsteps as her bones began to shiver, she knew that she was just a few short minutes away from transitioning. "I knew one of you would try to stop me. It was just a 50/50 guess on who." He played a video on the laptop and there was a woman screaming in pain. "The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs."
"Not that one." Damon pointed to Ayla who was in the other room but Klaus ignored his comment.
"Need a closer look?"
"Jules." Damon said.
"When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse… you learn a thing or two." Klaus whispered. "First rule— always have a back-up. Back-up werewolf. Back-up witch."
"Back-up vampire."
"I've got that covered, too." Klaus broke Damon's neck quickly. As Damon fell to the ground, Klaus opened the bedroom door and picked up Ayla who could no longer focus on anything except attempting to keep the pain at bay.
"It hurts." She whispered, grabbing onto him tightly to try and relieve some of the pain.
"I know, love." He ran a hand through her hair, which had sweat dripping through it from her forehead. "We'll get you somewhere. Don't worry." Klaus started making his way out of the bedroom. He saw that she was nearly delirious as she writhed in pain, her head pulled tightly into his chest.
"What about your backup vampire?" Katherine pointed at Damon who was still out cold on the ground.
"Him? He's as good as dead. His blood is impure."
"What? Why?"
"Werewolf bite." He pointed to Damon's arm. "Looks like someone got to him before she did."
"Then who?" Katherine's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Elena..." He smirked. "You should really call your Aunt Jenna."
Ayla was screaming in pain as Klaus sped through the woods as quickly as he possibly could. Even with the amount of wolfsbane in her system, her transitioning was still moving quickly and somehow more painfully than it usually was. Maybe because it was her first transition without her uncle or her brother, and she knew that she would be alone for it. She was unsure, but all she knew was that it pained her, physically and emotionally.
Klaus had quickly pulled the chains off of Jules and injected her with wolfsbane, before putting the same cuffs and chains on Ayla except much looser. Ayla shook her head, her eyes pleading with him as she breathed heavily.
"Tighter." She begged him. "Please, I-I can't get loose, Klaus. I can't hurt anyone."
"Okay, love." He tightened them hesitantly, not wanting to hurt her. But he followed her instructions tightening them as tight as he could before he looked at her. "You're a witch, a hybrid. How is it you can't fight your transition?"
"It hurts even more when I fight it."
"The first time." He told her, looking down at Jules who was passed out. "You need to learn to control it."
"I can't!" She screamed at him and cried out, just wanting relief. Relief from the pain, the curse, the loneliness.
"After I break the curse, I will teach you all there is to know about being a werewolf hybrid." She screamed out in pain again, not being able to respond anymore. She could barely even think at this point. But as she looked up at him with her now beautiful amber eyes, he felt his heart beating in his chest for the first time in nearly ten centuries. He stared at her for a moment, relishing in her strength and spirit as she quieted down and calmed for just a moment. There was a rush of something he hadn't felt in a very long time; compassion. "I will be back for you, love."
AN: I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying this story! Thank you for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews so far. Thank you to Blu3b3rryT3a, mrs. morgan 35, BlueBloodsSVUOrder, Kipppling, surgeonlaw, vancabreuniter, Lala Maryama, tashiolove, and Guest for the feedback! It means so much. BlueBloodsSVUOrder & tashiolove - welcome to this story! So excited to see you guys over here. Thank you for supporting both of my stories, it seriously makes my day seeing that you enjoy my writing. And for those of you who are also Sons of Anarchy fans, I have a Jax Teller x OC story called Chasing Ghosts.