Anger surged through Klaus as another hybrid fell with blood leaking down their face. Gloria had told him about the wolf pack that resided just out of Chicago in the Blackwell Forest. Knowing where the pack had been, all well and good until their transitions had started to fail. Klaus surveyed the clearing littered with the bodies of the fallen werewolves. He had done everything he was told, yet he still failed to make more hybrids. Without them, his mate would never be completely safe. He wouldn't be able to reunite his family either, as he needed the hybrids to stop Mikael and his enemies from being a threat to them.
'No,' Klaus shook his head as he stormed away from the clearing, 'I'll figure this out. Nothing can stop me from making hybrids and creating my army.' As his feet hit the road's asphalt, a yearning feeling encompassed him. Klaus stopped in his tracks as a black-haired, blue-eyed face appeared in his line of sight. "What are you doing here?" Klaus growled as he stormed forwards, only for the face to disappear.
His head whipped around, searching for the man who had just disappeared from his sight. "Damon! Get the bloody hell out here!" The sound of crickets and chirping birds met his ears as he searched for his mate. Yanking his phone free from his pocket, Klaus dialed the number of his most trusted warlock. "I need you to track Damon!" Klaus shouted into his phone. "Track him? Why? He's still in the bedroom of the apartment." "Are you certain?" Klaus paced beside the car, anger forgotten as he was filled with worry that his mate had managed to get away from him. "Yeah, would you like to speak with him, sir?"
"Put him on the phone." Trying to control his voice, Klaus listened as the warlock moved to give the phone to Damon. "Boss wants to talk to you." Silence was heard on the line, and for a second, Klaus was ready to murder his warlock for lying to him about Damon's whereabouts. This second passed relatively quickly as Damon finally spoke up. "Yeah, well, tell the bastard to go to hell. I'm not talking to that asshole." Anger could be heard coating his voice, but something else was there. His voice seemed weaker as if he had suddenly fallen sick while Klaus had been gone; that was impossible, though; vampires didn't get sick.
Forcing himself not to panic, Klaus spoke firmly, "What exactly is wrong with him, Samuel?" A door being shut could be heard as Samuel walked away from the bedroom. "He hasn't been eating. We keep giving him blood bags, but they're untouched when we go to retrieve them." His stubborn mate was going to be the death of him; Klaus was sure of it. "I'll be there soon." Klaus informed him shortly as he fought to control the emotions warring inside him.
'Great,' Klaus thought as he slammed his car door behind him, 'Just another bloody problem I have to deal with. As if finding out why I'm having trouble creating hybrids wasn't pressing enough.' First, Gloria's, then he would deal with his stubborn mate. Klaus didn't care if he had to shove the blood down his throat; Damon was going to feed if he had anything to say about it.
'Bring her Rebekah,' Klaus snarkily thought, 'As if that would be so easy and simple.' If he was being honest, he was about done with all the little side projects he was being given. Striding up to the coffin, Klaus ripped the dagger from her chest and waited, watching for the moment she would open her eyes. "Come on, Rebekah. Stop being so dramatic." He didn't have time for this; he still had to deal with Damon before bringing Rebekah to see Gloria. Growling, he grabbed the security guard by the neck, "When my sister wakes up, you are to offer her your carotid artery and let her feed till you die." Strolling out of the warehouse, he tried to control his temper; the last thing he needed was to lose it on Damon.
His mate already hated him; the last thing he needed was to give him more reasons to despise him. Then again, his mate seemed to hate him simply because he was in the same room. Why couldn't Damon see that he was trying to protect him by keeping him locked up? It's not as if the young hybrid could protect himself; his lack of control over his magic had been proof enough of that. Still, Damon's hatred of him was another matter entirely. No, he had to focus on the matter at hand, which at this moment was Damon's refusal to feed.
That stubborn, foolish vampire couldn't have picked a worse time to throw a bloody temper tantrum. Klaus slammed on the breaks as he pulled up alongside the chosen apartments that Damon resided in. It was an all brick building four stories high with businesses lining the street on either side. Normally, Klaus would go for something more private. However, Samuel had managed to cast a privacy spell around the apartment, ensuring no one would bother them.
'Well, it seems time to put that spell to the test.' Klaus strode into the apartment and immediately made a beeline for the kitchen. As he entered, he made note of Samuel standing at the island preparing a blood bag. Samuel was a fairly young warlock as he was only 16; however, he stood at an impressive 6'5 with chestnut brown locks covering his grey eyes. When Klaus had picked him up, he thought the boy was much older than he was. He would normally have returned Samuel; however, the boy's power was something Klaus had believed unmatched until Damon. So, after much deliberation, Klaus had decided to keep the boy by his side.
Samuel had agreed instantly; to Klaus's surprise, the boy did not wish to return to his home. He had his suspicions as to why that was, but Klaus had too many matters to handle before delving into his warlock's past. "Here, I will take it to him, Samuel." Klaus held out his hand to the boy expectantly. Samuel hesitated as he laid it flat in Klaus's palm, "You're not gonna hurt him, are you?" His voice was soft and sounded unsure as he stood watching his boss. Surprise colored Klaus's face at the question; he had not anticipated Samuel becoming attached to Damon. He had honestly expected Samuel to detest him, especially with how impertinent Damon was acting.
"You care for him?" Klaus's voice held a slight edge as he questioned the young teen that stood before him. Samuel shrugged his shoulders as he made eye contact with Klaus before dropping his gaze. "He's not that bad. He just seems angry and maybe a little upset. Figured once he was feeling better, he wouldn't mind talking about magic with me." Samuel stared at the tiled floor beneath his feet, trying not to gain his boss's ire that up until now had seemed to be reserved only for Damon. Klaus felt the surprise he had been feeling leave him as he registered Samuel's words.
What he wasn't saying was speaking just as loudly as what he had said. Samuel had been hoping that Damon would be open to being friends with him. Klaus could not honestly blame the boy; Samuel had been keeping to himself ever since he had joined Klaus. He wouldn't even join Greta and Maddox in conversations preferring to stay hidden in the shadows. It was as if the older warlock and witch intimidated him, but
Klaus failed to see why he was so comfortable with Damon. He had expected the boy to avoid Damon just as he had avoided everyone else in the past. Klaus was shaken from his stupor as Samuel's eyes caught his own. The boys' eyes were filled with fear and worry as Klaus realized he had never answered his question.
"It wouldn't due me well to harm him." Klaus walked away, quickly striding towards the bedroom of the apartment. Just because it would not do Klaus well to harm him did not mean he would not if he had to. His hand hovered over the door to the room for a moment as he attempted to formulate a plan. What was he to do against a vampire attempting to starve himself? For the first time in a millennium, he was unsure how to progress forward. What he did know, however, was that he wasn't leaving before Damon consumed at least one blood bag.
The last thing he would allow his mate to do was starve due to his own stubbornness. Pushing open the door, he felt his breath catch as he watched Damon sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room. His mate was a sight to behold as he sat there in only a pair of dark-washed jeans and a simple black V-neck. Damon's hair was stuck in every direction while his eyes were softly lidded, giving off the illusion that he was asleep. Klaus cleared his throat as he stepped closer to Damon, clutching the blood bag softly in his hand.
Damon's eyes flew open frantically, searching for the source of where the noise had come from. His eyes filled with anger and contempt as he stared at the man who was supposed to be his mate. "What the fuck do you want?" Damon growled as he sat staring at Klaus. Klaus's eyebrows raised in indignation as he slowly walked closer to Damon. "How about an explanation as to why you aren't feeding?" Klaus demanded as he stood in front of him.
Regarding Klaus apathetically, Damon shrugged before he closed his eyes again. "Not hungry." Klaus shook his head, glancing around the room before focusing on Damon again. Vampires could go longer without feeding as they got older, and while it wasn't healthy, it was very much possible for a vampire to go weeks without feeding. Damon wasn't old enough to not be able to feed for that long, however, so Klaus knew he was lying about the lack of hunger. Ripping into the bag gently, Klaus watched as the familiar lines of a vampire's face became prominent upon Damon's. "I thought you said you weren't hungry," Klaus spit out as he watched Damon try to control his blood lust, "Now drink it." He shoved the blood bag towards Damon's face, only for him to turn away as it got close to him.
"I said I wasn't hungry." Damon growled as he fought against the burning sensation in his throat that told him to tear into the blood source being given to him. "I don't care." Klaus lunged forward, shoving the bag against Damon's mouth. Blood splattered against the floor as Damon struggled to escape Klaus's grip. After a few minutes, Klaus finally released Damon satisfied that his mate had to have consumed some of the meal he had provided.
However, that was not the case as Damon turned toward Klaus and spat a mouth full of blood in his face. "YOU BLOODY ARSE!" Klaus screamed as he got a face full of blood. Damon bolted towards the bathroom and immediately rinsed all the blood out of his mouth. He knew his limits and how much blood he would need to consume to keep from desiccating. As long as he had a few drops a day, he would be fine and still be able to access his magic once he managed to get the block removed. Klaus glared at Damon, anger filling his eyes as he finally managed to get the blood cleared from his eyes.
Striding towards the door, Klaus growled, "If you want to starve, then starve for all I care." Slamming the door behind him, Klaus hissed at Samuel before heading out the door for the warehouse he had left Rebekah in. "Don't even bother giving him any more blood bags. There is no point in wasting them if he is not going to even bother drinking them."
Samuel stared at the door as the apartment seemed to echo after Klaus's abrupt exit. Turning towards Damon's room, he hesitantly opened the door to look at the vampire he was in charge of guarding. Damon lay on the bed, his arm laying flat across his face as if attempting to block out the world. "Are you okay?" Samuel's tone was gentle as he gazed at Damon. "Just leave me alone." Damon whispered to the boy. Samuel felt pity run through him at the sound of Damon's voice. Klaus may not be able to see it, but Samuel could hear from the tone in his voice. Damon was hurting badly, and Klaus only seemed to make it worse. Samuel just wished there was something he could do to help that wouldn't put him on Klaus's kill list.