Damon's Daughter
Chapter 21
Klaus: The Antihero
A/N: I am an awful human being who sucks at updating. I'm so sorry! I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway! ^_^
I woke up around 2:00 a.m. the next morning to the sound of my cellphone ringing like an alarm. I winced at the sound and blindly reached for my phone in the darkness of my room. The dim light of the moon barely pierced the black curtains that covered my windows. When my hands found my iPhone I glanced at the screen and winced. I remember the light burning my eyes, but that didn't matter. Especially when I read the caller I.D. Esther. I hurriedly pressed the phone against my ears.
"Hello?" I whispered.
"Emma," the motherly voice answered. "I'm so sorry to wake you, but it is very important that you come see me. I think…" Esther faltered for a moment. "I think I've found your mother."
For a moment I thought my heart had stopped beating. I gasped and nearly dropped the phone. A million thoughts raced through my mind at the speed of light; so fast that it seems as if they were not multiple thoughts but a single thought. Motheralivemymotherestherhasfoundmymother. I felt my legs give out as my body slid to the ground. For a moment I stayed there on the cold wooden floor willing my voice to return to me. After a long pause I heard Esther's voice crackle through the phone.
"Emma? Are you still there?"
Her voice brought me back to Earth and I found myself blinking tears out of my eyes. "Y-yes. I'm still here," I stuttered.
"Good. Please come to the Witch House as soon as you can. I don't think these things should be said over the phone, and I know you and Elijah are not on excellent terms right now. Do you understand?" Esther's voice sounded urgent, almost nervous.
I dumbly nodded. "Yes. I understand. I'm- I'm on my way," I distractedly replied before pulling myself off the floor and running to my closet. I tore off my pajamas and shoved on a pair of knitted leggings and an old band T-shirt. As I pulled my TOMS out of my shoe basket I felt a wave of unease wash over me. At the time I thought it was nervous energy, but as I think back I realize it was my instincts trying to warn me that something was going on. Something bad.
When my shoes were on my feet and my hair pulled back into a messy bun, I walked to my window and slid open the small glass doors. I sat on the window pane, took a deep breath and jumped without a second glance. That's what I regret most, I think. Not looking back at my bedroom. Because as I sit here in the dark, chained to an old chair in the Witch House I think back to that night and can't remember what my room looked like. I can't remember the exact color of my walls or the pattern of my bedspread, or even the pictures on my desk. That's a pretty stupid to be upset about isn't it? Not being able to remember what your bedroom looks like? Except it isn't. Because to me it was more than a bedroom. It was the only room that has truly ever been mine. I covered that room in posters of my favorite bands and musicals and pictures of people I cared about. And now I can't remember exactly what poster is on which wall and which photograph is of my mom. I feel a tear graze my cheek and wipe it away with more force than necessary.
When I heard the sound of shoes on the wooden floor I sighed in disinterest. For a moment I thought Esther had come for another torture session, but her steps are much heavier. Slower. These steps were light and rushed. Whoever was coming towards me was running. Definitely not Esther. She always took her time. The doors creaked as they were pushed open and I winced at the sudden light that filled the normally dim room. I craned my neck to look at the figure in the door frame and when my eyes meet theirs I gasped. The blue eyes staring back at me were Klaus's.
I can't help but feel like I should backtrack a bit. When I arrived at the cursed Witch House the first thing I saw was Esther standing on the old porch. As I rushed to her I could hear the autumn leaves crunching under my feet. It never crossed my mind that this could've been a trap. Of course it didn't. I didn't have reason to believe it was simply some ploy to capture me. The only thing I was thinking about as I raced to Esther was my mother. And that was probably my first mistake.
When Esther spotted me she smiled and took a step toward me.
"Emma! Thank goodness! I was beginning to believe you weren't coming," she said. I remember her smiling, a wide and false smile that I should've been able to see right through.
"Not come? You're kidding, right?" I breathed and put a hand to my forehead. It was damp with perspiration, which surprised me. I didn't realize I had run fast enough to work up a sweat.
Esther held out her hand. "Come. I'll explain once we're inside."
As we walked towards the door I shivered. Those stupid dead witches gave me the creeps. When we entered the old house Esther sat down on a moth-eaten couch and gestured to the chair opposite her. The moment I made myself as comfortable as possible in the ancient chair I felt cold chains wrap around my legs and arms.
"What the hell?" I exclaimed and struggled to loosen the chains.
Esther sighed. "I am sorry, Emma. Truly. But I assure you this is completely necessary."
"Necessary?! How the hell is chaining me to a goddamn chair necessary?" I shouted.
I quickly saw Esther's motherly façade fade away to show who she really was. A monster.
"Oh watch the language, Emma," she crooned. "And there's no need for shouting. I brought you here to have a nice little conversation, nothing more."
"Then why am I chained?" I fumed.
Esther smirked. "Well, maybe a bit more than a conversation. I need you to stay here for a while. I can't have you mucking up my plans."
"Plans? What plans?
A grim smile found its way to Esther's face. "My plan to right the wrongs I created long ago."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Wrongs?"
Esther's cold eyes scanned my face. "You look just like your mother," she deadpanned. "And you sound like her too. Just looking at you… well. It brings back memories." She turned her head towards the window and for a moment I thought I saw a flicker of feeling across Esther's face but when her eyes met mine once more they were stony and cold.
"Esther… what wrongs?" I hesitantly repeated.
"My family. You."
I narrowed my eyes. "I don't understand."
Esther sighed. "Of course you don't," she muttered and stood up. She paced my chair as she spoke. "You and my family are abominations. Creating all of you was a mistake. My mistake. Whenever any of you murdered an innocent I was there, watching. Feeling your victim's pain. Their blood is on my hands. After I put an end to my children's lives I will do the same to you. Do you understand now?" she said, condescension seeping through her voice.
Fear overwhelmed me. Not only was Esther a conniving bitch, she was a bitch with goals, and that's dangerous. As I thrashed in the rickety chair I was chained to, Esther used some of her witchy voodoo to keep me still. That was when I realized how strong she really was. But strong enough to kill four Original vampires, one hybrid, and a pureblood? That was something I seriously doubted.
"So," I started. "I'm going to assume you never did the locator spell to find my mother."
She sat on the couch and crossed her ankles. "Oh, Emma. You know what they say about assuming."
"Is that a yes or no you bitch?" I spat.
Esther wiped the smirk off her face and shot me a glare to match my own. "You know what Emma? I did perform the locator spell and I found your mother. I found her and I attempted to speak with her, but your mother didn't want to be found. She doesn't want anything to do with her little girl. Your mother has been free of her coffin for nearly one hundred years now, and not once did she ever come looking for you. So as you sit here calling me every vile insult on this Earth, remember who the real 'bitch' is."
My blood ran cold in my veins. Esther wasn't just a monster. She was a lying, manipulating, evil, witch. And for a moment I wanted nothing more to strangle her with her own intestines. I felt my eyes fill up with angry tears.
"You're lying," I rasped. My bottom lip trembled as my fists clenched and unclenched.
"I am many things, Emma, but I am not a liar. I am sorry." Her blue eyes burnt into mine and her false sympathy angered me even more.
"Stop lying to me!" I raged.
Esther's ever-present frown deepened. "Oh you poor thing," she whispered, unfazed by my shouting. "I am sorry. Really, truly sorry, but I have to fix what I created. If it was up to me you and your mother would be living happy lives far away from this hell."
Before I could react Esther had stood up and left the house. It would be hours before she returned, the majority of which I spent screaming obscenities at anyone who had ever done me wrong. I also mulled over what Elena and Elijah were talking about before I interrupted them at the ball. For some reason I felt like I was missing an important detail. Maybe Elena knew something. She had talked to the Wicked Witch that night. As the hours flew by I thought back to that night. That of course turned into me thinking of Elijah, the last thing I wanted to do. While this was going on the real action was happening at the Boarding House.
Apparently when Damon learned that my bed was empty he freaked out, which was what I expected. And who could blame the guy? Because not only was I missing; so was Elena. She was taken hostage by Elijah when he learned that she was working with his mother to kill his family. Whether or not she knew that I was included in Esther's plan is still unclear to me, seeing as I haven't seen or heard from Elena for nearly a week. Or at least I think it's been a week? You lose track of time when all you do is sleep and get tortured.
I was longer in Mystic Falls; that I knew for certain. Esther's plan to kill her family and I obviously didn't pan out. That night something went wrong with her witchy voodoo, and the dead witches helping her vanished. And when they vanished, so did Esther, Finn, and I.
Esther was pretty upset when she failed, and it's safe to say that she took her anger out on me. The day we left Mystic Falls she practiced her worst spells on me. It hurt more than I would like to admit, both mentally and physically. Esther is very skilled at the art of torture. My limbs and head ached and I can't recall a time when my nose wasn't bleeding. I'm still replaying Esther's vindictive words in my head. How long has my mother been alive? How long has she walked the Earth, knowing that I've searched for her? The possibility that my own mother didn't even want me cut like a knife.
I often thought of Damon. I missed him and the possibility that he might not be okay made me shiver. Finn let me know that his mother failed at killing his siblings, but never told me who was wounded in the aftermath.
Sometimes I missed Elijah, but only sometimes. He found his way into my dreams, but they turned into nightmares. I remember being scared to close my eyes sometimes because the fear of seeing Elijah's hard, disapproving stare was almost too much for me to handle. But then I remembered that I wasn't the only one who made a mistake. After all, Elijah did crawl back to Katherine.
My thoughts were interrupted by my growling stomach. I was starving and my cravings for human blood had reached new heights. The thoughts of feeding didn't make me guilty anymore. I flipped the switch on my feelings during the first torture session. Maybe that's why I didn't care when I heard footsteps coming towards me. I didn't care when I thought it was Esther coming, and I certainly didn't care when I figured out it wasn't Esther. But I did care when Klaus's blue eyes met mine.
"Klaus?" I rasped.
He put his pointer finger to his lips, indicating for me to shut up. Klaus rushed to me and started to break my bonds in half, similar to the way humans break twigs. I couldn't help but notice his eyes rake over my body and I shifted in the chair I was shackled to. Once my hands were free I self-consciously ran my fingers over the scars on my arms and the brand on my wrist. I shivered.
"Please hurry," I whispered, as quiet as I could. I knew how weak I sounded and I hated myself for it. Since when did I need a savior?
Klaus nodded and quickly broke the chains on my ankles. As soon as I felt the absence of the cold metal on my feet I stood up. I had barely taken two steps when my legs gave out. I mentally prepared for the fall on the cold floor, but instead two strong arms caught me before I hit the ground. I felt my chest against his and I shuddered. He noticed and ran his thumb over my forearm to calm my breathing. Unfortunately, the contact made me tenser than before, and I started to take a step back.
"I- I think I can make it."
Klaus rolled his eyes and didn't lessen his grip on my arms. "I'd love let you live out your fantasy of getting out of this hell on your own, but unfortunately I don't want to risk getting caught," he whispered into my ear. When I felt his breath on my neck my toes curled. "You're not walking," he continued, and abruptly pulled me into his arms and cradled me to his chest.
"Klaus-" I began to protest, but he shushed me once more.
"Stop wasting your energy and be quiet. You'll be able to talk all you want in the car."
I hesitantly nodded and kept quiet as Klaus carried me through a maze of dark hallways. It seemed as if he'd been walking for years and I started to have trouble keeping my head up. Klaus noticed and he leaned towards my ear and whispered "Emma, you may lay your head on my chest if you're tired. We still have a long way to go and you need to save your energy." He almost sounded concerned. "After all," he continued, "I can't have you passing out. You're much easier to carry when you're not dead weight." I could practically feel his smirk.
At this point I had no shame and happily laid my head on his chest. I began to focus on the rhythm of this heart. Was his beating as fast as mine? When my eyes started to flutter I began to notice how much different he and Elijah were body-wise. Klaus was smaller, but no less firm. In fact, I feel as if his chest was even more toned than his brother's. He was also warmer than Elijah, probably due to his werewolf half. Despite the vervain burnings on my skin I fell into a pleasant sleep in Klaus's arms.
I woke up in the back of Klaus's SUV, my entire body aching. I groaned and saw Klaus glance at me in the rearview mirror. "Good morning, sunshine! Lovely day, isn't it?"
I glared at him and tried to raise my head to get a better look out the window, but even that was too difficult.
"Klaus," I breathed. "I can't move."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. My mum's a bitch," he said. He then reached into the small cooler on the passenger's side and threw me a blood bag. "That should help, but don't drink it too fast, and don't you dare spill it. This car is new."
I barely heard half of what Klaus said because I was too focused on ripping open the blood bag and draining it of all its contents. I was finished before Klaus could finish his sentence about his stupid SUV.
"More," I panted. "I need more." Klaus started to reach for another blood bag when I shook my head. "No, no. Not blood bags. Something... something alive."
Klaus narrowed his eyes and pulled over on the side of the road. "Sorry," he started, turning his head towards me. "I didn't get that."
I shifted in my seat and rubbed my neck. "I need to go hunting. Please. I haven't had anything fresh in weeks."
"Emma, I have absolutely no problem letting you run wild and feed to your little heart's content, but I'm afraid my brother simply wouldn't approve," he smirked.
"Screw Elijah," I scoffed. "I want to feed. I'm hungry."
"Then I'll come with you."
"No, you won't," I glared.
"Emma, I'm not letting you go hunting by yourself. You can barely walk and just about every single paranormal entity is after you."
"Not every single one," I muttered and grabbed another blood bag.
Klaus chuckled and climbed into the back seat with me. "You'd be surprised how many people are on my mother's side. There are literally thousands of vampires after you and I."
I momentarily stopped sipping the blood. "Why? We're not the bad guys… I mean I guess you could be considered a villain, but all I've done is have a lot of sex and drink a lot of blood. I rarely kill anyone."
"These vampires seem to think they'll win favor with my mother if they help end us. Of course, they've been misinformed. My mother hates all vampires. If it was up to her she'd end the entire species."
"How fantastic," I deadpanned and began sucking the blood out of the blood bag once more.
"Isn't it?" Klaus smirked.
When I finished with my blood bag I tossed it out the window and sighed. "I still feel like I've been run over by a semi. I really need to go hunting, Klaus. It's the only thing that'll make me feel better." I tried to not sound like I was pleading, but I'm sure that's not how it came out. After all, I could barely move.
Klaus started to push his shirt sleeve up to his elbow. "Oh, I'm sure that's not true," he smiled and offered me his arm.
I narrowed my eyes and squirmed a bit. "Klaus, I don't know if-"
"Emma, just drink. I promise it'll stop the pain."
I sighed and hesitantly sunk my fangs into Klaus's wrist. The moment his blood touched my tongue I felt a strange sense of euphoria. I'd never tasted anything so satisfying and I needed more. As I drank Klaus ran his fingers through my hair, which caused me to moan in contentment.
"Easy, love. Easy," Klaus breathed as I sunk my fangs deeper in his skin. His blood was similar to mother's milk and it caused shivers to run up my spine. It was almost sensual. Drinking another vampire's blood was an extremely intimate thing, but at the moment I didn't care. All that mattered was Klaus and his orgasmic blood. I forcefully pulled Klaus closer to me and curled my toes as I drank as much blood as I could. Klaus suddenly tugged his arm away from me and smirked.
"Careful, love. Can't have you drinking me dry."
I leaned my head against his shoulder, panting.
"Sorry," I rasped. "I just… I was really… thirsty."
Klaus laughed. "I noticed. You're an incredibly messy drinker. You got blood on your shirt."
I sat up and shrugged. "I don't care. It's already soaked with blood. I'll probably toss it anyway. I don't know if I'll ever be able to wash it out." I glanced at the dried blood on my shoulder and caught a whiff of myself. I nearly gagged. "Jesus Christ, I smell. Where's the nearest hotel?"
"Hopefully not too far from here. You desperately need a shower," Klaus smiled and climbed into the driver's seat. "You do realize you're allowed to sit up front with the big kids, don't you?" He asked when he noticed I hadn't moved.
"I'm good back here."
"Listen, unless you want the thousand-year old Original controlling the radio, I suggest you get your butt into the seat next to mine," Klaus smirked.
"Good point," I laughed and climbed into the front seat.
I've always liked Klaus. We became friends the moment we met. Probably because at the time I was exactly like him: hotheaded, insecure, lonely, and completely out of control. If it hadn't been for Elijah, Klaus and I probably would've ended up together. But of course, Elijah came along and was all perfect and noble and you know what they say, "Opposites attract." Of course, you also know how well that turned out.
Honestly, Klaus was always a huge strain on me and Elijah's relationship. Maybe because Elijah knew, deep down, that I would always have feelings for Klaus, even if he was a monster; because, although Elijah hated to admit it, I was also a monster.