Should I have called Marcel before going out into the Bayou to save Hayley alone? Yes. Should I have called Elijah or Klaus as well? Yes. But what did I do? I went alone. Because I really felt like kicking Tyler Lockwood's ass.
"Long time no see, wolfboy." I walked up to my old 'friend' from Mystic Falls with a grin. He did a double-take when he saw me and stopped in his tracks. There was no one else around us, but I smelled wet dog in the air everywhere I turned.
"Juliette Walters?" Tyler widened his brown eyes, before breaking into a smile. He nearly ran up to me before engulfing me in a hug. I was surprised, but hugged him back. "Is that really you?" I saw a movement from the corner of my eye and realized that we actually weren't alone. A man was watching us from the shadows of the trees. A werewolf. Might as well play nice to begin with.
"What, have I changed so much?" I chuckled, but did a mental double take as well when I noticed Tyler's smell. He had the same smell to him as Klaus. "You're a hybrid."
"And you're a vampire." Tyler raised his brows, before crossing his arms. "Shit, I can't believe it's you." He shook his head while breaking into a smile again. I stood there silently, watching him in fascination. "You were the big talk in Mystic Falls after you left, you know."
"I was?" I said, raising my brows. As I have mentioned, I hadn't been the most loved teenager in my old town. Most teachers had hated me, my parents hadn't cared about me, and most of my friends had secretly hated me for being so outspoken.
"Yeah." Tyler said, before silence settled between us. I sighed before walking up to him.
"Although I would've loved to catch up with you some more, I'm here for a reason." I stated, crossing my arms while staring the dark haired man down. "Where's Hayley?"
Tyler gaped for a few seconds, before closing his mouth and clenching his jaw. I saw his eyes flick over to the man hiding in the forest, and I didn't even need to look to know that the werewolf was approaching me. Shit. I should've thought this through, as usual. And the fact that Tyler was a hybrid changed everything.
"I'm sorry, Walters." The hybrid shook his head slowly, anger suddenly appearing in his eyes. "I liked you. But I can't let you ruin this." Those were the last words I heard before my neck was snapped and everything went black.
I was in a large hall with high ceilings. Perhaps a cathedral of some sort, I wasn't sure. What worried me the most was Klaus standing before a large group of people. I spotted Sofia and Rachel among them.
"I have gathered you all here for a reason." Klaus spoke with a sly grin. His hair was long and tousled, and he was only wearing a loose white shirt and black trousers. The group of vampires watched him in silence. "You all know my condition for making you immortal. You are to become my soldiers." He turned clasped his hands together before glancing at a man to his right.
"This is Emmanuel. He will be your commander and trainer." He motioned for the young ampire to step forward. He had curly black hair that flowed down to his shoulders, and a lean body. Personally, I wouldn't have thought that that guy was a training coach. He was frankly quite small. At least if you compared to guys like Otto.
"Claire, please step up." A young woman with long, black hair walked up to Klaus with a feline smile. I could see the ferocity in her eyes, even if she looked like an innocent snow white in appearance. "I want you to help Emmanuel with his first lesson." Klaus touched her shoulder slightly before stepping back. It wasn't until then I noticed Elijah, standing in the corner with a straight face.
"Alright. The first rule to learn when it comes to fighting is that you always have to seek out your enemies' weaknesses." Emmanuel spoke with a thick accent. I recognized it instantly as french. He turned to Claire with a wide grin. "Now Claire will attack me, and I will let all of you guess what her weakness is."
Claire didn't wai a single second before jumping on Emmanuel. He quickly dodged her attack and speeded up behind her. The female sneered and swiveled around, veins visible under her eyes. She tried to land a punch on Emmanuel's face, but he jumped right into the air, once again appearing behind her.
"That's good for now." Emmanuel said, and Claire (very reluctantly) snapped back her fangs as the veins under her eyes disappared. The french man turned back to the crowd of people. "Does anyone want to tell me what Claire did wrong?" He asked the soon-to-be soldiers. At first the group was silent, but then someone spoke up. To my surprise, it was Rachel.
"She was too slow. She should have assessed from the begin that your strength is your flexibility and your speed. She should have relied on the fact that your lightweight and used force." Rachel spoke calmly, and I noticed her gaze flicking over to Klaus. He smiled at her with pride in her eyes, encouraging her. The blonde beauty turned back to Emmanuel. "That is my guess."
"Very good. What's your name, miss?" Emmanuel said with recognition, bowing her head at Rachel. Claire was glaring at her from beside Emmanuel, fire in her beautiful blue eyes.
"Rachel Vaughan, sir." Rachel replied, her brown eyes showing nothing but strength.
"Well, I am impressed, Rachel Vaughan." The trainer spoke, his smile making his eyes crease. I thought I saw a faint blush appear on the blonde vampire's cheeks before the vision faded away.
"Juliette?" I opened my eyes slowly to meet a familiar pair of green ones.
"Hayley?" I answered, looking around me. Where was I? Oh right… It all came back to me. Tyler Lockwood, kidnapping... Yeah, that.
"What are you doing here?" Hayley asked me with a low voice while I slowly realized that I was tied up next to her. Well that was it for my rescue plan.
"Long story short–" I started while trying my best to get out the uncomfortable position. "–I managed to put my power to good use, and with the help of a friend of mine, I saw you out here. And Tyler Lockwood."
"You know Tyler?" Hayley asked me, still speaking in a hushed tone. We were alone in the room, but I knew that Tyler and the other dude could barge in any second.
"I'm from Mystic Falls. I grew up with that dickhead." I told Hayley. I finally stopped struggling in my binding and turned to her completely. "I'm starting to think I should have brought your two boyfriends as reinforcement."
"My two– Wha–" She went quiet when Tyler suddenly entered the room. He glanced between Hayley and I for a few seconds before walking up to her. "Tyler, there's been a wolf watching me lately. Protecting me like it instinctively knows that I'm part of its pack." Wait how did they know each other?
"You're a hybrid. You can turn into a wolf whenever you want. Was it you?" Tyler shook his head, while I watched the two of them with curiosity.
"No." Was that– Holy crap, was that actually humanity in Tyler's eyes? Remorse? When I had known him, he'd just been a fuckboy who was fun to drink with. "But you're right. Hybrids can control when they change. And I'm the only one left besides Klaus. Which is why we're here." I wouldn't have minded if Klaus barged in then.
"Whatever you think you're doing, you should know the whole Original family has made some sort of pact or something to keep me and the baby safe." Hayley shot back at Tyler with fierceness.
"I second that." I said, only to remind them of my presence in the room. "Dude, you have no idea what they'll do to protect her." I said while shaking my head. Tyler only stared at me emotionlessly before Hayley started speaking.
"Exactly. So if you hurt me, they'll kill you."
"What exactly makes you think I'm afraid to die?" He said, with so much pain in his brown eyes that I was actually taken aback. Wow, he really had changed since I had left Mystic Falls.
The door opened and closed as the other werewolf walked in, and the hybrid in the room turned to him.
"You ready for this?" Tyler asked, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Hold up, ready for what?" Needless to say, they both ignored me. I had a bad feeling about this.
"Let's do it." The werewolf muttered, looking at Hayley. Tyler gave him a small nod as he took something out of his bag. A syringe. What the hell was up with people and syringes? I hated needles. I always had. Wolfboy started moving toward Hayley and his werewolf friend followed. I instantly put myself in front of Hayley. Well, as well as I could.
"Get the fuck away from me, or I will kill you." I told the other dude while snapping my fangs out. I'd rather he bit me than Hayley. Klaus would heal me anyway. Who knew what damage a werewolf bite could do to a baby? Hybrid or not.
"Step away, Juliette." Tyler commanded, but I stayed where I was. When his friend tried moving me, I struggled hard against his grip. "I don't wanna hurt you."
"I won't let you touch her." I growled. SNAP! Everything went black again.
"Are you happy with your training?" Klaus asked Sofia with a small smile as they sat on a bench beneath an apple tree. I still didn't know where they were, but it seemed to be a couple of days after the last vision I had had.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Sofia chuckled, earning a small smile by Klaus. However, I could see that it wasn't genuine. I wondered of Sofia could. "I have a big advantage with my strength."
"Being a farm girl isn't all that bad, then." Klaus teased. Sofia's ears flushed red behind her mass of strawberry blonde hair.
"Are you insinuating that being a farmgirl should be bad?" She retorted with a huff. Klaus brushed a hand through his hair with a grin, picking up red apple from the ground.
"Not at all, love." He spoke, before biting into the apple.
"Oh please. Don't you think I have spoken to the other women in your so called army?" Sofia scoffed, looking away from Klaus. "They're all upperclass fancy ladies who were to be married to dukes, had they not been terminally ill." She paused and turned back to Klaus, a new sort of vulnerability in her blue eyes. She blushed deeply before laughing it off, whatever had been on her mind.
"What is it?" Klaus asked, this time genuinely curious.
"No, it's nothing." Sofia answered, obviously ashamed at what she was thinking. The flush was still there on her creamy skin.
"Come on, tell me."
"Well, I just… Why pick me?" She looked up at the vampire. Klaus tossed away the apple core before turning back to the flustered woman.
"Because I like you. I like how you speak your mind, regardless of whom you speak to." He spoke with a buttload of charm in his voice. I could see right through it, knowing Klaus for quite some time now. But obviously, Sofia couldn't. Oh poor girl. She was falling right into the trap. "You fascinate me, Sofia Thompson."
"I bet you tell that to all the girls." Sofia blushed and looked away, but Klaus brought his hand to her cheek, turning her head back towards him.
"No. Only you."
I awoke to Hayley shaking me by the shoulders. My first reaction was that I smelled blood, and a lot of it too. I sat up immediately and widened my eyes when I took in the sight before me. Hayley was frantically trying to tell me to grab one of the bits of broken wood a few feet away from me, blood running down her neck. She looked back and forth between me and the door with meaningful eyes, and I understood that Tyler would be back any second. I quickly lunged for the wooden stake and barely had the time to sit back into my old position when said fuckboy walked in again.
"It worked, didn't it?" Hayley asked Tyler silently, dread in her voice. "He's a hybrid." Okay, clearly, I had missed a lot. How could he be a hybrid?
"If Klaus gets a hold of you… If he gets that kid… He wins." Tyler spoke calmly. Too calm. And I didn't like the way he spoke to Hayley.
"Then help me hide the baby from him." Wai–What? Why would she want to hide from Klaus? How fucked up was their relationship, really? "Help me run."
"He'll find you. Take your kid away, and make more hybrid monsters." Tyler picked up his dagger from the floor and started walking towards us slowly. I stayed quiet this time. I figured I'd rather not want my neck to be snapped again. "Slaves who do everything he says."
"Tyler." Hayley warned, looking at the knife. I felt her nudging me slightly as he moved closer. Oh, right. I had a weapon, Now was probably the time to use it. Although I reeeeaaally didn't want to get my neck snapped again.
Alright, take one for the team. I lunged for Tyler with the wooden stake, plunging it deep into his flesh. However, I missed the heart and hit him in the stomach instead. Great job, Juliette.
"That was stupid." He sneered at me. I was just about to kick him right in the gut when he speeded over to me and bit down at my neck. I screamed out in pain as the werewolf venom penetrated my skin, burning through my veins. Not again. When Tyler pulled back, his eyes were full of shame.
"I'm sorry–"
"YOU DICK!" I screamed, clutching my bleeding wound. I was used to healing quickly, and that hurt like hell. "We grew up together! I'll kill you for this." Tyler backed away and moved over to Hayley. He picked up his dagger again, and started moving towards her. He was going to kill her. He was going to kill Hayley and her innocent child. Holy cow, why hadn't I called Elijah and Klaus first?
