I stare at my reflection in the window as some cars pass by the cafe we're at in Portland. We had been here for a few days. I was still giving Klaus the cold shoulder because of the night in the gym in Mystic Falls.
"So you're just going to become a mute?" he mumbles angrily. I take a sip of my coffee and pull my phone out.
"You're so..." he trails off. Mom texts me and I check out the message. All it says is, "Call me." Well, that's really sketchy.
"We might have a problem," I state as I dial Mom's number. Klaus' blue eyes widen.
Mom instantly picks up. "Hey, Hazel."
"'Ello, Mum. What's up?" I greet, getting right to the point.
"So I've been talking with your father, your biological one. He's told me somethings," she tells.
"What has he told you?" I ask, meeting Klaus' gaze with my own worried one.
"You have a step-brother." The butterflies in my stomach explode. "They live together in Portland, where you are. But look, they don't know that we know anything about the supernatural. So if you meet them, you can't mention anything about it."
"Alright, do you have the address?" I respond.
"672 Oak Drive. It's a cottage looking house, but you'll know it when you see it," she states.
"Thanks for the heads up. I'll text you later," I tell.
"Goodbye, Hazel." We hang up and I put my phone away.
"My guess is they're both werewolves, but we don't do anything about it until I say so," I inform. Klaus nods. "And we also need to gear up if we don't want them to recognize us," I add.
~Her Species~
I push the fake glasses up my face and readjust my beanie on my head. I glance at Klaus and laugh at the frown on his face. He's wearing a ball cap, a green button-up, blue jeans, and a brown blazer.
I fix the blazer slightly and grin. "Now smile and fake an accent," I command, faking my own American accent. His eyes widen.
"Okay, fair enough. But how come you're totally decked out in black while I'm in this?" he replies, definitely using the American accent to his advantage.
"Are you seriously complaining? I could just leave you here," I state. He shakes his head. "And you're supposed to be the guy that thinks emo girls are cute, which is why we're together," I add.
He nods. I turn to the mirror in the fancy hotel we're staying at. "I'm kinda digging this look. Elijah wouldn't really like it, but whatevs."
"You're really taking the American thing on, aren't you?" he inquires, dropping his fake accent. I grin widely and walk out of the room.
~Her Species~
"I don't know if I actually want to do this," I mumble as I walk up the steps of the porch with Klaus- and Elijah- by my side.
"Well, we're doing it," Klaus responds, using the fake accent. I sigh and glance at Elijah for reassurance. He smiles brightly at me. I take a deep breath and bring my fist up to knock on the door.
Before I actually can, I stop myself. "Nope, I don't want to do this. We're done here." I turn back to walk off the porch. Klaus stops me by knocking on the door.
"What are you doing?" I whisper-shout. He smirks.
"I'm a supportive boyfriend," he mumbles. I frown as the door opens. A gorgeous brunet stands behind it.
"Hey, can I help you?" The butterflies in my stomach flap their wings faster.
"Hi, I'm Hazel. I'm looking f-for Peter," I say, internally groaning when I stutter. The man's eyes widen.
"Hi, Hazel. I'm Alexander, but most call me Alex. I'm your step-brother." I can't help the smile that appears on my face.
"It's great to meet you, Alexander. Oh, my God, it's incredible to meet you," I state while we shake hands.
He glances at Klaus. I quickly come up with a different name for him. "This is Nicholas, my brother-in-law."
Alexander frowns. "Where's your husband?"
"Business trip in Europe at the moment," I answer. Wow, I'm a great liar.
"Well, you should come in. I bet Dad would love to meet you two," he responds, changing the subject. I carefully step through the doorway and notice Klaus does the same. Elijah walks in after us with no caution whatsoever. I roll my eyes and follow Alexander to the living room.
There on the couch is a brunette woman and a raven-haired man. "Who is this?" the woman asks. The man stands up with a look of recognition on his face.
"You're my daughter." Out of the corner of my eye, I see Elijah and Klaus sizing Alexander up.
"It's great to finally meet you, Hazeline," Peter tells me. My smile gets wider. He turns to the woman. "This is Monique, my wife and Alexander's mother."
She stands up and shakes my hand. "I hope there's no hard feelings towards me. I know I kinda took your father from you," she speaks with a strong, confident voice. I shake my head.
"No, there's no hard feelings whatsoever. I'd understand if you had hard feelings towards me. I must have been a set back in your relationship," I respond.
"Is this your boyfriend?" Peter asks. I glance at Klaus.
"No, this is Nicholas, my brother-in-law. My husband, Ethan, is on a business trip at the moment. He'll be back in the end of September," I answer. Peter and Monique smile brightly at me.
"Nicholas, come here," I command. Klaus turns to me and walks over.
"Yes?"
"Meet my biological father and step-mother," I state. He smiles warmly at them.
"Sounds like Cinderella," Alexander mumbles. I chuckle.
~Her Species~
"So what's going on with you and Nicholas?" Alexander asks me as we wash dishes together. I frown.
"I don't understand," I mutter.
"He looks at you with this heavy sense of adoration. It just doesn't seem right." I glance at Klaus to see him grinning at me.
"We're very close. He's my brother. Whenever Ethan leaves, Nicholas comes and helps me out. Sometimes we travel, like we're doing now. We're very similar. I don't know, we have a weird relationship," I state.
"How long have you been married?"
"Um, we got married around my birthday in July around two years ago," I state. He nods.
"You're twenty-four, right?" he questions. I shake my head.
"I turned twenty-five this July," I tell. He hums. "How old are you?" I ask.
"Twenty-two years old this October," he mumbles.
"I'm your older sister then. I get to pick on you," I grin. He smiles and shakes his head.
~Her Species~
"Will you visit them again?" Klaus asks with his regular English accent.
"Probably. Maybe we'll turn them," I answer, using my regular accent, too. He hums and pulls into the hotel parking lot. I pull the fake glasses off and set them on the dashboard.
He shuts the engine off and climbs out of the car. I follow him into the hotel room. I flop down on the bed. "Is there a reason you decided that I wasn't your fake boyfriend?"
I meet Klaus' eyes. "I wanted the lie to have a little truth to it. Can you blame me?"
He smiles sadly and sighs. "You're still so human." I shrug.
"I like being human. You don't have to be eternally depressed, or eternally deprived. You can die peacefully. It's nice," I state.
"You never were human," he argues. I frown as I suddenly get really sad.
"Yeah, but a girl can dream, can't she?" I mumble, itching at my wrist. Klaus sits beside me on the bed and grabs my hand.
"Forgive me; I did not mean to darken your mood," he apologizes. I sigh.
"You're as human as I," I reply before taking my hand from his and walking to the bathroom to take a shower.
~Her Species~
I follow Klaus through the woods. "What are we searching for again?" I can almost hear him roll his eyes.
"Werewolves, so we can make hybrids and see if the sire bond only works on them," he answers.
"You have the doppelganger blood," I mumble. Klaus nods. I trip over a root and he catches me.
"I thought you were agile," he tells me. I shake my head.
"You've seen me at my best," I reply. We walk into a werewolf camp. Every head turns to us.
"Who are you?" a blonde demands. I glance at Klaus, then at Elijah.
"You don't get to demand anything of me. Now, kneel," I command. Every werewolf, including Blondie, kneels. There seems to be three or four humans spread throughout the camp.
"You can do whatever you will, Niklaus," I state, sitting on a boulder. Klaus walks into the group and starts turning people.
"You are a great queen," Elijah tells me. I hum.
"What?" Klaus asks, turning to me. I glance at Elijah before shaking my head. "He's here, isn't he?"
I shake my head again. "Nope, I was just thinking. Chill." He rolls his eyes and goes back to turning people.
"Why did you lie to him?" Elijah asks. I shrug one shoulder.
"Do you trust Alexander and Peter?" I move my eyes up and down, hoping he understands my message. He hums.
"Do you enjoy what we're doing now?" I close my eyes and ignore the question.
"Hazeline, can you hear me?" I open my eyes and stand.
"Niklaus, I'm taking a walk, maybe get a snack. I'll be back in a few moments," I state before walking away.
Elijah follows me. After a while I turn to him. "No I don't like what we're doing right now. I don't like being used, but guess what? That's all I have at the moment. I'd rather be with Alexander and Peter learning about my family, but I'm stuck with a man who is literally the devil. I'm so unsure of myself too, because one second I'll hate who I am, the next I'll be embracing it. So yes, I can hear you, but that doesn't mean I'll have an answer."
He frowns. "Hazeline, I..."
I close my eyes. "You what? You hate me? Yeah, sometimes me, too." Suddenly I'm being hugged. I open my eyes to see Elijah's perfectly shaped jaw.
"I can feel you," I mutter.
"It feels nice to feel someone when I'm like this," he replies. I sigh and close my eyes, enjoying the moment.
~Her Species~
I sit beside Alexander at the nice restaurant we were at. "So Hazel, how did you spend yesterday?" Monique asks.
"I was hiking and thinking," I answer, using my fake American accent. I push the fake glasses up my face.
"What were you thinking about?" Peter questions.
"I'm indecisive about a lot in my life. I was making some risky decisions that could've been made before I got married. I still haven't chosen a career. Which is odd because I'm twenty-five years old. There's a lot in my life that I'm unsure of," I say.
"Well, did you find what you were looking for?" he responds.
"Mostly," I reply. Alexander pulls his phone out.
"Take a picture with me," he commands. I smile as he takes a photo of us.
"Send that to me," I demand. He quickly texts me the picture. "Thank you," I mumble as I make the picture my background.
"We need to just like travel the world together and take as many pictures as we can," Alexander mumbles. I chuckle.
"I wouldn't mind, but I think my husband would," I state. Alexander shrugs.
"By the way, Toby is coming," he says to Peter and Monique. My eyebrows furrow.
"Who's Toby?" Alexander grins.
"My boyfriend," he answers. My eyes widen.
"I didn't realize you were homosexual," I tell him. He frowns.
"It doesn't bother you, right?" I shake my head.
"I think it's awesome, to be honest." Alexander laughs and hugs me. I hug him back. After a moment he pulls away and turns to the door.
"I don't know where he is though," he frowns. I notice Peter whispering something into Monique's ear. I tuck my hair behind my ear and listen.
"... tell her about us and Toby. She deserves to know." Monique nods and I sigh silently. Suddenly, I notice a gorgeous redhead coming to our table.
"Ally, hey, sorry I'm late. Bad traffic and everything else," he explains before sitting down. I'm guessing this is Toby. My guess is confirmed when Alexander kisses him.
"Hazel, this is Toby, my boyfriend. Toby, this is Hazel, my step-sister." I smile and shake Toby's hand.
"Nice to meet you," I state.
"Pleasure is all mine," he replies.
"Where's Nicholas?" Peter asks me.
"There was this tourist sight he was interested in, so he went one way and I went the other for the night," I answer. A waiter comes and we place our orders. After he leaves, I speak up.
"I need to tell you something," I confess in unison with Peter. We laugh and I let him go first.
"We're all werewolves, except Monique." I nod, easily accepting the fact.
"Me too. Except I have more to say than just that. Nicholas and Ethan aren't their real names. It's Niklaus and Elijah," I inform. Their eyes widen. I drop the fake accent. "And I'm a werewolf vampire hybrid, so is Niklaus."
Alexander just stares at me while Monique and Peter share a look. Toby grabs Alexander's hand. "If you want to, I can get Niklaus to turn you all. You'll be very powerful and I can protect you," I state.
"Why'd you lie?" Alexander asks with a heartbroken look on his face. I shrug.
"I don't have an excuse that'll make me sound good, so I'll tell you the truth. I'm very similar to Niklaus. I'm dangerous and deceitful. I lie and kill to get what I want. But I refuse to actually kill my own family."
I see tears come to Alexander's turquoise eyes. "If we're willing to, would you turn us?" Toby questions.
"Niklaus would, but yes," I answer. Monique inhales sharply.
"And if we're not?"
"I am unwilling to let him touch you if so." Peter catches Alexander's eyes. He goes to say something, but the waiter delivers the food right then.
I unlock the hotel room door and let my family and Toby in. "Whoa, what's going on?" Klaus asks, using the fake accent.
"We know who you are, drop the act," Alexander commands. Klaus stands up.
"What was that, mate?" he demands with his regular English accent.
"Sit down and shut up," I command. He tries to fight it, but falls onto the bed. I grin.
"This whole werewolf queen thing is nice," I mumble. Toby gasps.
"I knew I recognized you." I smirk at him while I grab some plastic cups from the cabinet. I toss four of them to Klaus.
"Put your blood in each. Don't spill it," I order. He narrows his eyes, but complies. I turn around and cringe when I see Elijah sitting at the table watching me.
Good god, you scared the hell out of me, I think. He smiles.
Once Klaus is done with the cups, I hand them to Alexander and he passes them out. "All you have to do is drink and I'll snap your neck. You'll come back and I'll give you some blood."
Monique is the first to drink. Peter and Toby follow her lead. Alexander and I stare at each other as he drinks his cup. "Alright, who wants to go first?" I ask.
Toby steps towards me. "I'll go." I nod.
"Forgive me," I demand before twisting his head. I catch his body before he falls. I set him on the bed. Then I notice Alexander crying.
"Alex goes next," I state. He frowns and steps forward. "Brother, forgive me, please," I plea before doing the same as I did to Toby.
Monique smiles sadly. "I'll go next." She suddenly hugs me. I return the hug, placing my hands on her neck. And just like that, I snap her neck. I carefully lay her down on the bed.
Peter stares at me. "You don't have to do it. Not until you're ready," I tell him. He shakes his head.
"Just do it." I quickly break his neck and let him fall.
"Well, that was emotional," Klaus speaks up. I roll my eyes as his phone starts ringing.