Chapter 27

The Butterfly Effect

Mojave Desert

Thunderstorm was rising. When the first lightning stroke, it made the Earth shake. There were bodies lying everywhere. Their blood had painted the ground red. It was the price of betrayal. They had all paid, all of those who had turned on her. And yet she felt nothing. No joy, no sadness. There was nothing but emptiness inside of her. They had broken her heart. She walked around among the body piles. She had known all of them, care about them. Not anymore. There was only one person in this world besides herself who she could count on. He had never lied to her. He hadn't deceived her. He had simply accepted her just the way she was.

"E…excuse me, ma'am."

She turned and saw one of those vampire lackeys who were always buzzing around her like bees around their queen.

"Yes?" she asked coldly.

"M…m…master would like to see you."

"Hmm."

She didn't say anything else. The poor vampire didn't dare to ask what she meant. He just disappeared. They all knew it wasn't a good idea to make their queen angry. It didn't take long before she saw someone flying to her. He landed next to her.

"Sweetheart", he said smiling. "This is quite a ravage you've done here."

"Yes it is. Is that a problem?

He smirked.

"No, no, on the contrary. This is just beautiful."

"Thank you darling", she said and kissed him. "So, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes I've got some good news. Our hybrid army had destroyed what was left of our enemies. It's all over now."

"Good", she said emotionlessly.

"What's the matter, love? You don't seem happy about it."

"There's not much reason to be happy. They were our friends and family. People we once cared about."

"Yes and how much did they care about us? They betrayed us, tried to kill us."

There was no denying that. She had past the point of no return a long time ago. He was the only one she had left.

"Do you love me Klaus?" she asked.

He smiled and touched her hair gently.

"My sweet Zora, you are my queen and I love you more than anything. It's just you and me now, love. Forever."

...

California 2010

Zora walked around enjoying the beautiful night. She couldn't see the house anymore. Maybe she should turn back. Klaus and Elijah had probably finished their chat already. And she should talk with Nathan. He had acted very strange before.

"That kind of power can be intoxicating; you can never lose control, never…"

What had he meant by that? Sure, she was excited to discover what she could do but she would never hurt anyone. How could she? But Zora knew that Nathan was only thinking what was best for her. He would never do anything to hurt her. She trusted him completely. Maybe she had this connection with Klaus now but that wasn't the same. Nathan was her family, only father she had ever known. Zora was just about to turn back to the house when Klaus suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Stop sneaking like that, you scared me", she said.

Klaus smirked.

"Sorry love, but for my defense, I wasn't sneaking."

"Did you work things out with Elijah?"

Klaus suddenly seemed gloomy.

"More or less. But that's not important. I thought it would be fun to test these abilities some more."

"But we already tested them for two days and I think we both got the hang of it."

"I know but practice makes perfect you know."

Zora hesitated.

"Listen Klaus, I talked with Nathan and he told me to be careful with these abilities. I think he's right."

Klaus smiled and touched her cheek.

"Sweetheart, of course daddy would say that. I mean it's obvious that he's afraid of what you can do."

"That's not true", Zora said firmly. "Nathan only wants what's best for me."

"I'm sure he does. But just think about it, he bound your abilities and made you go through those rituals every month. And for what? For preventing you to be what you really are."

"No, it's not…"

"You are happy now Zora, aren't you? Happier than I have ever seen you."

That was something Zora couldn't deny. She felt complete, happy, as he had said. Klaus took her hand and kissed it.

"I know how much daddy means to you, love and I would never try to come between you two. But what daddy doesn't know won't hurt him."

Zora looked at Klaus. Maybe he was right. Little testing wouldn't hurt anyone. It wasn't misusing her abilities; it was just practice in case of emergency. She could actually safe people. But she needed to practice first. That sounded reasonable.

"So what do you say, love?" Klaus asked smiling.

"Ok but just one test, something simple."

"That's my girl!"

Zora looked around.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"I let you choose sweetheart."

Zora closed her eyes and concentrated. She could felt the energy inside her. Then she started to carefully feel the energy all around her. She hadn't tried that before. It was unbelievable. There was so much life around her. She concentrated on a bird that was flying somewhere above her. For a moment she felt like she was that bird. She could felt its heartbeat. Amazing. Then she felt someone touching her hand. It made her startle. The bird fell to the ground. Zora opened her eyes. Klaus was holding her hand.

"No, no…" Zora murmured and looked for the bird.

"What's wrong, love?" Klaus asked.

Zora picked up the dead bird and started to cry.

"I killed it", she sobbed.

Klaus looked surprised.

"Hey, it's ok. That's just a bird. There's no need to cry."

Zora couldn't understand why she was crying. She just felt terrible. First she had felt the life in that bird and then it was gone. Just like that. She should have been more careful. Klaus took the bird and placed it to the ground.

"Everything is alright, love", he said and wrapped his arms around her. "It was an accident. That's all. You just need some more practice."

No, she wasn't going to practice anymore. Nathan was right, it was too dangerous. And yes, that power was also too intoxicating. Zora promised herself that she wouldn't use it again. Not ever.

...

So what do you guys think? And if you have some suggestions, like more flashback scenes or something, please let me know.