A/N : Trigger Warning for mild description of attempted sexual assault. Please proceed at your own risk. The text has been changed to Italics, so you can skip it if you wish to.
They were back in the room adjoining the study, where she was reading a book for her english essay, while he was on the other couch, lying down comfortably.
Once she shut her book, he gave her a look.
"Paying attention to me now, love?"
"I guess." She looked around the room, the couches, bar, another fireplace at the far end of the room. "Did you design this house?"
"Yes, of course I did."
"Oh."
"So what happened to that murder investigation?"
"Nothing yet, they don't have any new leads though."
"So, on paper, you are still a suspect. You should probably get a lawyer."
"I won't need one." She said frowning.
"Planning on asking someone to compel the evidence away?"
"I won't need to, because I didn't do anything."
"Plenty are wrongly convicted darling, is been going on for centuries now."
"Well, I'd rather not think about it. What was your favourite century?"
"Oh It's this one. For one, I don't have to be bloody formal all the time. There's also the benefit of indoor plumbing. The streets of London in the earlier centuries were disgusting and filthy. Nothing suitable for a romance novel." He said, pointing to her book.
"Ugh." She turned around to look at the forest outside the window. "So, can I ask you something?" She asked cautiously.
"Hmm.."
"Rebekah told me about your family. I mean, about you and Elijah. But nothing about your other siblings."
"Ah, there's not much to say to be honest. Finn was too dull, always bemoaning about being a monster, and Kol was so chaotic, I had to keep him in check."
"So, if Kol is undaggered..."
"He'd wreck havoc on the streets Mystic Falls yes. Last time we daggered him -"
"We?"
"Oh, me and Elijah. Kol had just killed an establishment full of people, about sixty of them, and had terrorised a child."
"A child?"
Klaus sighed. "Marcellus."
"Who is that?" She asked wondering why Klaus knew about the child at all.
"He was... my ward. I raised him as my own." Elena couldn't keep the shock off her face.
"You raised.. you have a son?" She couldn't imagine Klaus raising anyone.
"Had. Mikeal killed him when he burned New Orleans."
"I... can you tell me what happened?" She didn't know why she had asked, but she had never seen him look so sad about anything.
"When I first saw him, he was being whipped. He was a slave, made to work on a plantation. His father was the man who owned the plantation, the governor, but he never accepted Marcel as his son. In him I saw a kindred spirit, a child beaten like an animal, paying for a parents sins. So I took him in, I raised him, made him in my image. I never wanted to turn him into one of us, didn't want him to struggle with our bloodlust, but when he was shot, I had no option left."
She looked at him in fascination, wondering what that was like. Imagining, Klaus saving someone who didn't mean anything to him at the time, taking him in. It was almost too much for her, but she wasn't anything if not adaptable, and took it in stride.
"And then?"
"Well, we spent a hundred years in peace, of course there was his affair with Rebekah, and then Mikeal came."
"Mikeal killed him?" She asked softly, biting her lip.
"Yes. We were going to the opera, Mikeal compelled the entire audience to behave as if they were watching a comedic production." His relaxed tone from earlier was gone now, he sounded tense and on edge and hurt. She wondered why he was even telling her this, if it was bringing back old memories, but she found herself unable to stop him. She wanted to know more about him. "He strung up everyone, Marcel, the alpha of the werewolf pack, all of our allies. I attempted to save Marcel, but there was nothing that could be done. In the end, it was Elijah who had saved the day."
"Klaus, I'm sorry, what happened was horrifying."
"Oh, you don't have to pretend anything love. We both know you hate me."
"It doesn't matter, what or how I feel about you. You shouldn't have had to go through that. He was like your son, and your father killed him. That is... it's terrible." She could see he was frozen in his place, and wondered if he would even acknowledge what she'd said. Just when she thought she had crossed some boundary she shouldn't have, he turned to her.
"Well, that was macabre, perhaps we'll talk more about it some other time, love. Right now, it seems I've got some information I need to follow on." She saw the phone in his hand and wondered if it was just an act.
He was kicking her out. She was sure of it. She sighed as she put her book back in her bag and got up to leave.
He sighed.
"Would you like to join me?" She turned around to see he was sitting up, and was shrugging on his leather jacket.
"I..."
"You don't have to, I just need to go meet with a witch about a particular pack of werewolves I'm looking for. You can come if you like."
"Where will we be going?"
"Ever so cautious. We'll be going to Charlottesville. We'll be back before midnight."
She couldn't believe she was considering it. He was only asking her, there were no threats, no strings, just a road trip. She wondered if there was some secret agenda he wasn't revealing to her, but he seemed comfortable around her, and he was being open. She shouldn't go.
But then she thought of going home, Jenna was busy in the final stages of completing her thesis, Jeremy was in Denver visiting family friends, and she'd be alone and bored. She was also sure the rest of her friends were in on a plot she didn't know about. And she knew she'd spend the whole evening worrying about them.
And then, there was the real reason. Some part of her wanted to go with him, especially since he wasn't pushing her away.
"Okay but only if you're not going to kill anyone."
"Well, I'm not planning to, sweetheart, but I will improvise were the situation to present itself." It was the best she could get, at least he hadn't taken her while she was unconscious.
"Okay."
"Really?" He sounded surprised, she was too.
"Yeah, I'll just let someone know where I'm going." She said, whipping out her phone and deciding to text Matt. He was the least likely to ask questions, and he would tell everyone where she was in case she needed rescuing.
"Done?" She nodded. "Let's go then."
It wasn't entirely like her road trip with Damon. For one, they were being driven by one of his hybrids, she hated that she didn't know his name, but didn't know how to ask. Another thing was that Klaus wasn't exactly talking to her much. Instead he was reading from a book.
She wondered if it was because he had opened up more than he'd meant to.
"Is that a grimoire?" She asked leaning against the rich leather seats of the Range Rover.
"Oh, yes. My mothers."
"Oh, that's right. The Original witch."
"Yes, she was quite an artist, not to mention powerful, and while I don't understand a fig about it, I'm sure Olivia will."
"That's the witch we're going to meet?"
"Yes, she's an old friend."
"Ugh," he looked up and turned to face her, "I know what old friend means by this point." She said, surprising herself with the jealousy in her voice as Klaus smirked at her.
"Her wife on the other hand does loathe me, so it'll be good if she isn't there." Elena flushed in embarrassment as she realised he told her that particular fact because he could hear the jealousy in her voice.
Which was ridiculous. She had no reason to be jealous. She wasn't jealous over Klaus. Of course she wasn't.
She kept to herself after that, trying to read her book, but couldn't really focus, not when he was sitting so close to her.
She got a call soon after.
"Hey Caroline."
"Elena, where are you? No one knows where you went after school."
"I um, I'm going out of town."
"What?" She squinted as she held the phone away from her ear, Caroline's shrill voice filtering through. "Where are you going?"
"Richmond." She lied.
"Why?"
"I uh, wanted to...buy a new dress." She squeezed her eyes shut as she realised how terrible her lie was.
"What? You know I'm not falling for that Elena."
"Caroline..."
"You haven't done this kind of rule breaking since we sneaked into a Whitmore party and you danced on top of the table." She groaned closing her eyes, as she realised Klaus was looking at her curiously, turning a page.
"Caroline, don't."
"Elena? Are you with someone? No, wait, with two people? I can definitely hear two heartbeats." Her voice was louder now, and excited for some reason. "Decided to ditch Damon and Stefan for two guys. Elena Gil-"
"No, what? Care, of course not." She was fully blushing now as Klaus was openly smirking at her.
"Uh huh, don't worry, I'll cover for you. But, just tell me, what brought this on? And why didn't you tell me?"
"Nothing Care I.."
"I want details, who does what, what-" she hung up as her friend was talking.
"Now, that wasn't very polite, was it?"
"It was just Caroline being herself. She didn't know I was with you." She saw the hybrid driving them giving her a look, as he met her eyes in the mirror, and she looked away.
"Didn't think you'd be the type to dance on a table."
"I was different."
"How so?"
"Well, for one, I was a lot younger and a lot more fun."
"Might want to stay away from Kol when I wake him then. Just take that left Mike, second house on the block." He said before they came to a halt in front of two storied house.
She got out of the car, leaving her bag and her phone in the car, and made her way behind Klaus as Mike stayed back.
He was watching her with that same expression again and she wondered if there was something wrong.
"Olivia."
"Klaus, you've come to collect your debt, very well, come in." Klaus moved inside the house and Elena followed him, giving a small smile to the woman they were meeting.
She was tall with flaming red hair, freckles, and an expression of wariness on her face.
"Is she-"
"Yes. Allow me, Elena, this is Olivia Perlman, Olivia this is Elena Gilbert."
"Nice to meet you." Elena said with a smile as Klaus laid the grimoire on a table and opened to the page he wanted.
"Really, this?" Olivia asked frowning as she looked at Elena and then back at Klaus. "But-"
"Yes, this spell, you don't need to know much else." Klaus told her, jaw set.
"But why?" He looked at Elena then, and she realised what he wanted.
"I can wait in the car." He looked like he was about to protest, but then nodded at her.
"Fine, but stay in the car. And with Mike, you understand?" She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, simply for the sake of her dignity.
"Yes." She walked out, noticing that the sun had gone down, and that the moon was rising.
It was almost full.
The car was parked a few houses over so she walked to where it was.
"Mike?" She called softly into the night, to no response. "Mike?!"
She could feel the hair on her neck rising, as goosebumps erupted all over her flesh. She wondered if something was wrong and noticed the woods at the end of the streets. She started walking towards them, thinking the hybrid had maybe gone there. It was better for her to look for him than to stay alone by the car.
Before she could get there halfway though, she felt someone tug at her elbow and turned around to see it was Mike.
"Oh thank God Mike, it's you. I was wondering where you'd gone. Klaus said you had to wait with me."
"Did he?" He asked seriously like he was trying to confirm the truth.
"Yeah, we should get back to the car." She said, trying to move around him but he pulled her back by her elbow. "Is everything okay?"
"You know, I belonged to a pack in Washington. Klaus turned us all into hybrids, and now we follow his every command."
"I...I know, Tyler is a friend of mine, he said-"
"When he turned us, all our pain was gone. We don't have to turn every full moon anymore. I thought it would be amazing. So I went to tell my girlfriend. We had a great time that night, dinner, dancing, candle light, until she hurt herself."
"Oh...I..." She had a feeling she knew where this story was going.
"That was the first time I felt the bloodlust." He was lost in his own world, she realised. She could feel her fear spiking.
"Mike?"
"I killed her. And then Klaus told me to come here, and instead of mourning her, I did what Klaus asked me to."
"Look-"
"I thought you were a victim in his schemes, just like me." He said as he pulled on her elbow, dragging her with him. "But you're not, are you?" She swallowed, as she moved her free hand to her back pocket where she had kept the little bit of wolfsbane they had left.
"I am a victim."
"A victim wouldn't talk to him like you did, wouldn't be comfortable with him. No, you care about him."
"No, I-Klaus killed me, and he made my boyfriend -"
"And he cares about you." Her mind froze at his words. "He only trusts one hybrid with your safety. Only one who's allowed to be near you. No matter what he's doing or who he has to go up against, you and your family should never get caught in the crossfire. That is what he says." Elena was surprised at his words.
"He just needs my blood." But he carried on talking as though he didn't hear her.
"And today just confirmed it. He cares for you, and you, you care about him too, don't you? Despite what a monster he is."
"No, I-" She wrapped her palm around the small vial of wolfsbane and hoped it was enough, but before she could do anything with it, he grabbed her elbow, forcing out her hand.
"Klaus wants you to protect me." She said as a last effort.
"No, he only wants Derek to protect you. The rest of us are just told to make sure you don't get caught in the crossfire. And there's no attacks here, you aren't getting caught in crossfire."
"You found a loophole."
"Exactly. Klaus took everything from me, my family who won't see me anymore because I'm a vampire, my pack are only loyal to him now and my girlfriend, she died Elena, and it was not painless. She died at my hands and now I want him to pay for it."
"Look, I would normally agree with you, and he should've taught you how to control your bloodlust, but this-"
"See, defending him, even now." He ripped the wolfsbane out of her palm as he sped them over to the nearest tree.
"If anything happens to me, Klaus will-"
"Kill me, yes, I know. But it wouldn't bring you back. No matter what he did, nothing would bring you back. All he'd be left with is loss. It's almost enough payback for what he did to me. But there are more ways for him to suffer."
"Please...you don't... you don't have to do this."
"Oh, I do. I'll kill you and then, no more hybrids. But first," here, he ran her hands down the side of her body, pulling her hips flush against him. "I'm going to torture you in a way that would torture him to even think about. He will be consumed by thoughts of what happened and how it happened, how helpless you were, and how helpless he was, as you didn't just die, but suffered first. Just like I suffer when I think of my girlfriend."
She felt fear unlike ever before grip her as she realised what he was doing. He thought she was...with Klaus, so he was going to do some animalistic thing where he marked her. To torture him.
She choked as she realised what was pressing against her stomach, feeling the bile rise in her throat as he pressed kisses down her neck.
"This is what you're friend thought you were doing, huh? You probably let him do this to you after he takes your blood, don't you? Like his little bitch."
She couldn't stop the tears as she pushed at his chest, a vain attempt. "No, please."
He used one of his hands to palm her breast, as he rolled his hips against hers and then leaned forward and bit down on her neck. She let out a yell as he did.
It was nothing like when Klaus had drank from her, he had been careful, made it painless, but now, it was excruciating, he kept tearing into her sensitive flesh over and over again, making the wound larger. He pulled back, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her on to the ground. She blindly reached around for something, anything to use against him as he stalked towards her.
She could feel the dust and dirt digging into her palms as he smiled at her. It sent warning bells off in her head as she felt fear go down her spine.
And then suddenly it was over.
"When I said keep an eye on her mate, this isn't exactly what I meant." She heard him before she saw him, and suddenly, Mike was a bloody, heartless pile on the ground as Klaus stood over him, heart in hand.
He dropped it then, and moved towards her, slowly, as if she was a wild animal he didn't want to spook. He extended a hand to her and she slid her palm into his as he pulled her up, letting go immediately.
He carefully moved his hand to her face, tilting it so he could see the wound better, and she felt fresh tears stinging her eyes, even as they met his.
His face was set, and she had never seen him look at her like that, it was something so similar to fear and care, she couldn't allow herself to dwell on it.
She looked down, and realised it was a mistake.
His body was still there, and she felt the bile rise in her throat again as she recalled how he had trapped her, ground his hips against her. She shrugged out of his hold as she turned over and spilled the contents of her guts onto the grass surrounding her.
"Here." She looked up to see that he was offering her a bottle of water and sighed in relief as she took it from him. She wondered where he had gotten it from.
She rinsed her mouth and straightened, feeling something warm wrap around her. His jacket.
She felt safe now.
He was there now.
And he had protected her.
"You need blood to heal." He said as he bit into his wrist and offered it to her. She sighed as she wrapped her lips around the wound, that same inexplicable feeling of...des- something, that she had grown accustomed to in his presence.
She pulled back just as the wound closed, and felt stable immediately.
"Let's go." He said softly. She turned to look at him and wished she could read the expression on his face. At least she wouldn't feel so confused.
He led her back to the car, and she sat in the passenger seat this time, as he joined her in the drivers seat. She pulled his jacket closer to her pulling it on, ensconced in his scent.
It made her feel safe.
Like it was doing something to her, and she couldn't help herself.
That's when she knew just how much trouble she was in.
A/N - Thank you so much for reading, do let me know what you think about this chapter!
