I was sitting in a big crowded room among the fat cats and collectors, looking quite presentable in a black short sleeved tight dress, with my hair in one of those fashionable large buns and wearing my grandmother's diamond setting. I knew I looked stunning, if Nik's gobsmacked expression when he first saw me was telling something. To be honest, I too had a hard time pretending I hadn't had the same expression when I saw him all dressed up for our outing. Let's just say it was the first time I saw him wearing a tux and he looked delicious.
The auction had just started and me, Niklaus and Mr. Cooper were yet to see our lot. Several items have already been sold, a few paintings, an ancient vase of the Ming Dynasty, a few jewelry settings and with each sold item I was becoming more and more nervous. I tried to relax knowing that the most valuable items and the items of questionable or only historical value would be auctioned near the end, but I couldn't wait. My family had been waiting for this day for six centuries, if I hadn't known for sure that my ancestors weren't on the Other Side I would assume that each and every one of them was watching me at the moment.
In my nervous state I didn't notice that I was digging my nails into my own hand nearly puncturing my skin, until I felt someone's hands on mine, squeezing them gently. When I looked up startled and saw Nik's worried expression, I forced myself to calm down, which was surprisingly easy as he brought my injured hand to his lips and gently kissed it before putting our entwined hands on his lap. He did it so effortlessly as if without thinking, as if he'd been doing it all of his life, and didn't even notice that I was having a hard time breathing, almost choking on the feelings that were overwhelming me.
He distracted me enough, making me think only about his hand caressing mine, so when Mr. Cooper told me that our lot was coming next, I was calm and ready.
I really didn't like the way the auctioneer presented my Grimoire. I understood that it was his job, but in my opinion he was praising it far too much, attracting the unwanted attention. And that's exactly what happened. Except for me, there were two other historical geeks that looked ready to put up a good fight.
The auctioneer called the starting price and started the bidding. I was sitting calmly, watching as my two opponents took turns raising the price and waiting till one of them gave up so I could interfere. The tension was quite strong and the price was becoming higher and higher, but I wasn't worried about money, my family gathered enough exactly for a situation like this.
As soon as one opponent gave up, I waited for a few seconds till the auctioneer asked if there was someone going to offer a higher price, and put up a sign with my number.
To say that everyone was surprised would be an understatement, well everyone except for my opponent who looked quite pissed. He offered the higher price and I did the same, and again and again until I decided that enough was enough and helped myself a little bit. The fact that I had enough money didn't mean that I should spend it all, so I did the only thing that would make my opponent give up. I hexed him. The poor man must've been frightened when his body stopped listening to him. I paralyzed him just in time and when the auctioneer asked him if he was going to offer the higher price, he couldn't answer.
And I won.
I haven't realized that while trying to look calm I was squeezing Nik's hand far too hard, but he didn't show any signs of being in pain. Instead he looked so proud of me, kissing my hand while looking at the people around us as if saying "yes that's my girl". It was such a proprietary gesture, and I probably shouldn't have liked it that much, but I did. Immensely so.
I only realized that it was over when I was standing in front of the entrance with Niklaus, waiting while Mr. Cooper completed all the nuances. I realized that I've been too passive and Nik was giving me some time to gather my thoughts, just standing near me and gently caressing my back. I looked up at him, and probably did it too abruptly cause he even flinched a little bit, and engulfed him into a hug. He hugged me back instantly, and we just stood there for a while, enjoying each other's warmth.
"Thank you," I murmured quietly into his chest, without breaking the hug.
"What for? I didn't do anything. Even my compulsion wasn't needed after all, he backed off himself."
"Actually... I may have hexed him a little bit..." I was really happy that he couldn't see my face at the moment, cause I was probably red from embarrassment.
"If you could do it, then why have you asked me to come?" He asked quietly and his hand on my back stopped moving. It seemed like all of his attention at that moment was focused solely on me and my reply.
"I just wanted you to be here, with me. You make me feel calm and... safe," I whispered, finally looking up at him just to be melted into a pile of goo by his intense gaze. He was so close, his blue eyes filled with tenderness and another expression that I couldn't quite identify. I wanted him to kiss me so bad. He probably had read it in my eyes as he started leaning closer and closer, and when I was almost feeling his warm breath on my lips we suddenly heard someone clearing their throat right next to us.
"Ms. Black, Mr. Mikaelson. My apologies for interruption. It's done." He probably saw our not so friendly expressions as he quickly added passing me the briefcase. "All formalities have been fulfilled, the Grimoire is yours now. Congratulations."
My expression immediately softened as I took the briefcase with slightly shaking hands.
"Thank you Mr. Cooper, for all that you've done for my family and me. I don't think I would've ever been able to do this without you," I said gratefully shaking his hand and he nodded accepting my gratitude proudly
"Well it's quite late already, I should probably go until my wife kills me," he said with a hint of amusement.
"Send Caren my best." I smiled at him hugging the briefcase with my precious possession tighter to my chest.
"I will. Goodbye Ms. Black, Mr. Mikaelson." He shook Nik's hand and headed to his car.
Nik then turned to me with a small smile on his face.
"Now we definitely should celebrate. Come, I know a great restaurant." He gestured me in the direction of his car and opened the door for me.
"Good, because I'm starving." I said almost moaning, completely forgetting about my ladylike behavior, making him laugh.
The place was really great, he knew my tastes already, so it wasn't too luxurious and crowded. It was quiet and the atmosphere was very sensual with its dimmed lights and unobtrusive jazz music playing in the background.
"I really like this place," I smiled picking up the menu. "I hope the food will be as great."
"I've been thinking of introducing you to this place for a while now. Don't you worry, love. The food is equally incredible."
The waiter just left after taking our order when I noticed his serious expression.
"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked quietly, putting my hand on top of his and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I was just thinking about what you've said to me earlier, about feeling calm with me." I nodded, giving him a soft smile and he continued. "Whenever I'm with you I too feel very peaceful, as if this little paranoid voice inside my head, which always whispers in my ears making me doubt everything and everyone, finally shuts up. I haven't even realized that it was actually there until I met you."
His words were so sincere and heartwarming, I felt my eyes filling with tears and started rapidly blinking to prevent them from falling.
"You are thousand years old, Niklaus. I can't even imagine what you've been through, but I don't doubt that you had thousands of enemies and you were betrayed more times than I could even imagine. Your own mother cursed you, took away the part of who you are, just to cover her infidelity and the man that raised you, that you called father, tried to kill you for as long as you live, hunting you down, destroying everything and everyone that you cared about. Your paranoia is totally understandable. But you are strong, stronger than anyone I've ever met, and when you'll kill your father I am sure you will be able to breathe a sigh of relief, and let a bit of that paranoia go, giving people a chance to know you, the real you, not the mask that you put on to make everyone fear." With every spoken word his expression was becoming more and more vulnerable, making my heart ache for him I wanted to hug him, to tell him that everything will be okay, that he could trust me, but I couldn't. We weren't alone.
"I'm tired of being alone," he whispered quietly.
"Hey, you are not alone," I said entwining our fingers. "You have me, and your family, don't forget that they love you, because that's what family does, loves you no matter what you do, just for who you are."
He was looking into my eyes, with his soul piercing blue eyes, and I felt myself drowning. He bared his soul to me and there was so much in it, so much sadness, loneliness, anger, pain and... hope. It was beautiful. Later I will always say that this was the exact moment when I fell in love with him, completely and utterly.
"Thank you, love," he said bringing my hand to his lips and putting a gentle kiss on it. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
Our moment was interrupted by the waiter that brought our food I waited till he finished serving and quickly put a little attention scattering spell around our table. For the last hour my hands were itching to open the briefcase and look at the Grimoire for the first time. So, after making sure that no one was paying attention to us, I did just that. As soon as my fingers touched the book I felt a rash of happiness tingling up my fingers, telling me that it recognized me. I gently opened it, feeling Nik's curious gaze following my every move.
"I know many different languages, and I assume it's written in Ancient Greek, but it makes no sense," he admitted leaning a little forward so he could read more easily but by the looks of it he couldn't understand a single word.
"It's because there's a powerful spell on it, only a Black witch can read it. Nefeli wasn't the strongest of my ancestors, but she was a genius. She was more of a theorist than a practitioner and created so many powerful spells and rituals that it's not even funny. Some of them she taught her daughter, that's why I know them, but most of her work is here. This book is priceless. But only for me." Seeing his interrogatory expression I decided to explain. "Other witches can't use these spells as they all require the magical core, if they could this book would've been one of the most wanted grimoires that ever existed. I can't wait to read it."
I gently stroked it, before putting it away and starting to eat. I was really hungry. We were both enjoying our food in pleasant silence until he decided to continue our conversation.
"I am curious. Have you ever tried to find your father?" He asked carefully and I was totally unprepared for this question, but was able to pull myself together rather quickly.
"Um, no. Not at all. I had a father, the best father that anyone could ever wish for. And to be honest, I always had this feeling that I would be very disappointed with what I could find, and I always trust my feelings, so... no, I didn't try to purposefully search for him." He nodded showing me that he understood. "But I created this little thing," I said then, showing him a tiny silver bracelet with a little red stone on my wrist. "It contains the drop of my blood and should glow if someone related by blood is near me. You know just in case. I will never gonna search for him, but if he's anywhere near me I would like to know."
The rest of the evening passed in the same relaxing manner. The food, the company, the conversation, everything was perfect.
It was already late when we got home. I was drained emotionally and seeing that, he walked me to my room, kissed me on a cheek wishing me a good night and left.
I took off my dress, heels and jewelry all the while feeling burning sensation where he kissed me. I took a long relaxing shower, changed into shorts and crop top and blacked out as soon as my head touched the pillow.
I woke up in the middle of the night, disoriented, my hands shaking slightly. I was breathing rapidly, feeling like someone was blowing up a balloon inside my chest, and it was getting bigger and bigger threatening to burst any minute. It was exactly how I felt every time when I was about to have a vision.
But the problem was, I hadn't had them since that terrible night, and the fact that I was feeling like I was about to have a vision was showing that I was making a progress recovering my magic, but that was still not good enough. I felt like I took a deep breath and suddenly forgot how to breathe out. It was getting more and more painful with every passing second.
I don't remember how or when I left the room, guided by my magic. When I was able to pay attention to my surroundings once again, I found myself in Nik's studio, looking at the white canvas with a paintbrush in my shaking hand, before I started to paint.
I felt like I was in some kind of a trance, my body moving on its own, while I was passively watching as my hand spread paint on the canvas. I was vaguely aware of the voice calling my name, but couldn't react, trapped in my own body. My hand started moving faster and faster, my breathing became more rapid and I felt my eyes rolling.
Then everything stopped. I felt myself falling like I was a puppet and someone suddenly cut my strings. I was waiting till my body hit the ground, not having the strength to even brace myself, but it never did. Instead I felt strong hands pulling me up to a standing position. I opened my eyes and saw Nik's panic-stricken face inches away from mine.
"Thalia, hey, look at me. Are you alright? I was calling your name but you didn't react. I didn't know if I could interrupt you, you were in some kind of a trance." I was vaguely aware of his fingertips smoothing a lock of hair away from my face, but my mind and body were still slightly numb.
"I'm so tired," I managed to whisper, the urge to close my eyes was too strong.
"Don't close your eyes, love. You hear me?" I heard him curse when I didn't respond, then a second later I felt something warm against my lips. "Come on, love, drink."
As soon as I realized that he was giving me his blood, I forced myself to open my mouth and take a gulp and immediately felt better enough to keep on drinking. After a few more gulps I felt good enough and stopped. I looked at him with gratitude and put my hand on his shoulders to steady myself.
"Thank you," I murmured licking the blood from my lips, but apparently it wasn't good enough as his gaze darkened slightly following the trail of my tongue and tracing his thumb along my lower lip, wiping the remains of his blood.
"You gave me quite a scare there, love," he said, his hand now cupping my cheek caressing it gently with his thumb.
"I think I scared myself more. That never happened to me before," I admitted with a frown and seeing his worried expression decided to elaborate. "I woke up suddenly, feeling like I was about to have a vision, but I haven't had them since I started having problems with my magic. I think your blood is helping me, I'm improving lately. But this vision was so strong and important apparently, that my magic found another way to show it to me."
I tried to turn and look at the painting, wanting to see what was so important about it, and only then realized what state we were in. I was almost half naked in my short shorts and crop top, all covered in paint and he was still holding me so close to him, that I could feel his bare chest falling up and down against my own. When I realized that I had no bra on and my nipples were hard because of cold, which he could probably feel on his bare skin, I thought I would die from embarrassment.
I could feel his burning gaze on my face but couldn't make myself look him in the eyes, so I broke the hug and took a step back heading to the painting. He didn't let me to go away though, hugging me from the back, wrapping his hands around my bare waist.
"I'm not letting you go, sweetheart. You are not steady enough yet. I can't let you fall now, can I?" He whispered in my ear, and the mixture of his husky voice, warm breath caressing my ear and hot burning hands on my waist made my knees weaken and I almost stumbled. "That's exactly what I am talking about," he said with a hint of amusement. The bastard knew exactly what he was doing to me.
In attempt to ease the sexual tension between us I finally gave my painting a proper look and felt him doing the same.
Though it was dark in the room, as my zombie ass forgot to turn the lights on, I could see the painting very clearly. It was dark, painted with only black color, showing two figures standing between gravestones. The one on the left looked younger, though I couldn't see his face, I somehow knew that he was around my age, and I could feel the danger radiating from him. The second figure looked a little bit older with what looked like a crow sitting on his shoulder.
"That's interesting," Nik murmured. "Are they going to be a threat?"
"No. I think It's just a warning that these... people would play an important role in my future... or in the future of my family. They are dangerous indeed, but not to me. Because even if I interpret this wrongly and they turn out to be a threat, I can handle them. But I don't feel that they would do any harm to me or my loved ones."
"I don't know, the guy with a crow looks quite dangerous to me," he said with a mock seriousness.
"Between those two, the one on the left feels more dangerous. He's giving me these vibes, like he's a little bit unstable," I said looking at the said figure with a frown. "But still, nothing I couldn't handle."
"I fancy your confidence. It's sexy," he whispered making butterflies stir in my stomach.
I turned to look at him, but felt a little wobbly and had to close my eyes to prevent the room from spinning. Apparently I wasn't recovered enough yet.
"You definitely need more. Drink. And this time take more than a few gulps," he ordered sternly, putting his bitten wrist to my lips once again.
I took it without hesitation and started to drink. The taste of his blood sent shivers down my body. I almost forgot how tasty it was, and even though I was drinking it for a month it was nothing compared to drinking it directly from his vein. With each gulp I could feel the shockwaves of pleasure that were traveling through my body, feeling more and more turned on.
I put my hand on his forearm pulling his hand closer. As if sensing my condition his right hand moved to my exposed stomach, caressing it, making me moan.
"Yes, sweetheart, just like that," he whispered adding more fuel to my already burning soul, with his raspy voice.
I finished drinking, feeling that I drank more than ever before, and turned to him still holding his forearm. I don't know what came over me, but I pulled it to my lips once again and started licking the blood from his skin, my eyes never leaving his. He breathed in sharply, his eyes dark with hunger and passion. After I finished, I made an attempt to wipe my lips with my hand, but he caught it.
"Let me help you with that," he whispered and second later his lips were on mine.
Finally.
He buried his hand in my hair as if trying to prevent me from breaking the kiss, but I wasn't going anywhere, not this time, not ever. I kissed him back with the same passion, hugging him around his neck.
It was like all hell broke loose. The sexual tension that was building up for a month now, suddenly exploded, lighting up our bodies with burning desire. I forgot that it was my first kiss, that I just had a big breakthrough in recovering my magic, heck I think I even forgot my own name. The only thing I could do was give him my all.
His hands moved to my hips to pick me up and I immediately wrapped my legs around his waist, moaning at the intimacy of the gesture, while it made him growl and pull me even closer. Second later he pushed me into a nearby wall, grinding his hips and pulling small whimpers from me.
I moved my hand that was wrapped around his neck to his chest and down to his abdomen, while his mouth moved from mine down my neck, nipping and sucking it, making me shiver at the thought that tomorrow I'll be covered in his hickeys. My nails dug into his chest, enough to draw blood, but he didn't mind, growling in approval instead. He pulled back for a second ignoring my confusion, and teared my crop top off of me, giving me his signature smirk, before I pulled him back to me, our lips meeting once again.
I moaned feeling our bare chests meeting, when he pulled away from my mouth once again, his lips moving down to my breasts, taking my right nipple into his mouth and sucking gently, while his other hand massaged my left breast I could tell that he was enjoying the noises that I was making, and I rolled my hips against his, biting my lip as he released a loud groan.
Second later I felt myself falling, and before I could let out a surprised cry, I felt my back hitting something very soft, and assumed that we were in his bedroom. He was on top of me second later, his hands on the both sides of my head, and I immediately pulled him into another kiss, pulling him down by the necklaces hanging around his neck.
I buried my hand into his soft hair, my nails digging into the skin of his head, making him release a loud growl. I freaking loved when he growled, there was something animalistic in it, and it was calling to something deep inside of me, something primal.
He broke the kiss and before I could protest reached down and ridded me of my shorts and panties as well as his own sweatpants and boxers. He moved back again devouring my lips hungrily and I wrapped my legs around his waist once again, dying to feel his naked flesh against mine.
He moved to kiss my neck, grazing it with his teeth, then down to my breasts leaving small bites and kisses. But he didn't stop there for long, suddenly moving further down to my stomach leaving purple marks, making me whimper every time, then further down to my womanhood. I realized what he was about to do, and tried to protest, but knew it was too late when he groaned as he found out how much I wanted him. Instead of moving his head away with my hand as I intended to do, I found myself pulling him closer to my core by his hair, shivering from the shockwaves of pleasure that his tongue was sending through my body. The mixture of his tongue and fingers rubbing and sucking on my soft flesh, was enough to sent me over the edge, and I experienced my very first mind blowing orgasm.
While I was coming down from my high I felt him line himself up against me, resting his forehead against mine and looking into my eyes, as if asking for permission. But in that moment all I wanted was him. I wanted it to be with him and only him. There was so much tenderness in his eyes, so much love and passion and hunger, and I'm sure he could see the same mixture of emotions in mine too, because he smashed his lips against mine once again nibbling on my lower lip gently, before he pushed forward filling me up in one swift movement. I moaned at the pain mixed with pleasure, feeling tears rolling down my face, that he instantly started to kiss away. He waited, buried deep inside of me, giving me time to adjust.
When I felt that I was ready I kissed him once again, wrapping my legs around his waist, silently asking him to move. I could feel him smile into the kiss as he complied. He moved in and out of me agonizingly slowly at first, pulling small whimpers and moans out of me, till I couldn't take it anymore.
"Nik, please! Faster!" I moaned as he moved from my lips to my jaw and I felt him smirking against my skin, still going slow and killing me with his agonizing pace, until I growled and dug my nails into his back enough to draw blood. He growled back, and I suddenly found myself restrained, as he took both of my hands and pushed them into the bed above my head.
He looked me in the eyes and I saw his face changing, dark veins appearing under his bloodshot eyes, and I remembered that he told me that their faces changed not only when they're hungry for blood, but when they're hungry for something else as well. And the realization that a thousand years old vampire lost control because of me, made me want him even more.
He was so fucking gorgeous in all his predatory glory that I whimpered and tilted my head slightly, offering him my neck, making him throw control out of the window. He growled moving in and out of me swiftly, his hips meeting mine forcefully and I loved every second of it. He held my hands with one hand, when moving to stretch my thighs wider with another, allowing himself move even deeper than before. I could feel myself about to come undone once again, I'm sure he felt it too when he suddenly bit my neck so fast that his image got blurred for a second. That was all it took for us to reach our highs together, my head thrown back as I screamed his name, as he shuddered in pleasure with a satisfied groan.
He turned us over making me lay on his chest, as we waited for our breathing to go back to normal. He was gently caressing my back as I turned to kiss him putting my hand on his cheek, when I suddenly went blind.
"Nik!" I only managed to whisper in a panicked voice, before I was hit with a vision.
I was in the woods, in some kind of a meadow, it was nighttime but there were torches everywhere and I could see three circles of burned grass with bodies lying in them, but couldn't tell who they belonged to. Then I heard someone chanting a spell and tried to turn around to see what was going on but realized that I couldn't move. I looked up to the sky and noticed that it was the full moon, when I heard a man's voice. I felt my blood running cold for some reason when I recognized the voice, and I was proven right when second later he appeared in front of me. He looked a little disoriented with blood dripping from his lips.
"l can feel it," he said quietly, excitement could be heard in his voice. "It's happening"
Then suddenly he cried with pain as his bones started to break, and I screamed trying to rush to his side but couldn't move. He fell to his knees then tilted his head back in a silent scream and I gasped, seeing that his eye color changed to wolffish yellow, and his fangs somehow became more dangerous and animalistic.
I gasped when I came out of my vision, and found myself lying on my back on Niklaus' bed, while he was hovering above me with the mix of shock, worry and excitement on his face.
"Are you okay, Love? Your eyes suddenly turned white and then..." he fell silent unsure of what to say.
"You saw that too, didn't you?" I asked weakly, knowing that I was right even though I had never shared a vision with someone else before.
"Yes. Is it the future?" He asked with so much hope, that it almost broke my heart. He had been waiting for it for so long.
"One of the possible ones, yes." I answered with a gentle smile, caressing his cheek, when I felt it happening again. All I could do was gasp when I fell into another vision, followed by Nik's worried voice.
I appeared in the woods again, but this time it was the late afternoon. It was another meadow, larger and more crowded this time. It looked like a camping place, people were wandering around preparing everything for the night. They were smiling and chatting, and everything was peaceful until a man appeared out of nowhere, carrying a body on his shoulder, making everyone freeze. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't see his face. He put the body on the ground and the woman rushed to it, screaming.
"Rey! Oh my God! What's going on?" She exclaimed in a panicked voice, examining the body, then looked at the person who brought it. "Who are you?"
I wanted to hear the answer to that question as well, but suddenly Nik appeared right next to the intriguing stranger.
"The important question is, who am I?" He smirked looking down at the woman, then at the crowd behind her. "Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus."
As soon as he introduced himself the woman stood up in fear.
"You are the Hybrid," she said cautiously.
"You've heard of me. Fantastic!" Niklaus said smirking smugly.
The scene changed a little bit. Now he and his companion, whoever that was, were sitting on a huge rock as he explained the perks of being a hybrid, and only then it hit me that all those people were werewolves. As he was talking, the body that all this time was lying unmoving, suddenly gave a jolt, and the man woke up breathing rapidly.
"Excellent timing Rey," he said, amused. "Very dramatic."
"What's happening to me?" The man, Rey, asked, slowly sitting up.
Then Nik looked at his companion and said something, but I couldn't hear it, so assumed it was his name. The man stood up and spoke to the crowd.
"Are any of you human?" He asked, his voice emotionless, almost robotic. "Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition to vampire. If he doesn't get it, he will die."
The said man was writhing in pain on the ground, totally out of it.
"It doesn't take much," Nik continued. "Just a sip. Anyone? A girlfriend, a boyfriend along for the ride..." Then he suddenly turned to a man standing nearby. "You!"
He flashed to him and bit into his arm in a second, then threw him to his companion who brought him to Rey, while holding the woman who rushed to protect the human by her neck.
His companion put the man's bleeding hand in front of Rey and said, "If you won't drink it Rey, I will. The problem is. I don't know how to stop."
"It's a new order, Sweetheart." Nik said to a woman. "You join us, or you die."
"I'd rather die, than be a vampire," she spat out looking at Niklaus with disgust and fear.
"Wrong choice," Nik shrugged, biting down on his wrist and feeding her his blood. "She'll thank me for that later." Then he snapped her neck.
At the same time I could see Rey finally started feeding too, completing his transition.
"Okay, who's next?" Nik asked smiling deviously.
The scene changed once again, this time the meadow was filled with bodies lying everywhere. Then I searched for Nik and found him kneeled down beside human, feeding him his blood and compelling him to relax. Then he stoop up and went to a rock where he was sitting earlier, where Rey and his mysterious companion were standing. I noticed that Rey didn't look well, he was sitting on a rock, hugging himself and swinging from side to side.
"They are dead," he whimpered quietly. "They are all dead."
"He's still through his transition," Nik said trying to hide his concern. "He should be better soon."
"So this is your master plan?" His companion asked. "Build an army of hybrid slaves?"
"No, not slaves," Nik answered. "Soldiers. Comrades."
"For what war may I ask?"
"Oh you don't arm yourself after the war has been declared, my friend. You build your army so big, that no one dares pick a fight."
"What makes you so sure that they'd be loyal?"
"Well it's not difficult to be loyal, when you are on a winning team."
His companion said something but Nik wasn't listening, as Rey started to bleed from his eyes.
"You said I will feel better," he whined, still shaking. "Why don't I feel better?"
Then as Nik was distracted by another werewolf coming alive, he ran away.
The scene changed yet again, and it was nighttime now. Nik was sitting alone on the same rock looking at the fire, with a bottle of beer in his hand, surrounded with dead bodies, when his companion came back yet again carrying Rey's body on his shoulder.
"They went rabid," Nik said quietly, pain and sadness could be heard in his voice. "Some of them I killed, the others just... bled out. In the end they are all dead."
Then he suddenly snapped, throwing the bottle in his hands away while screaming in rage.
"l did everything I was told!" He yelled. "I should be able to turn them. I killed a werewolf, I killed a vampire... I killed the doppelgänger."
In the end his voice was nothing more than a whisper. He looked devastated.
I came out of my vision once again, desperately trying to breathe but failing. My visions were never this intense, clear and draining before. And they sure as hell didn't come one after another after such a short time. I was trying to take a breath, tears rolling down my face, when I felt myself being lifted up.
"Breathe, love. You should breathe." He said panicking, stroking my back.
I tried to look at him but realized that I couldn't as I went blind, hit by another vision once again.
"No!" I squeaked but wasn't able to hear my own voice.
This time it wasn't the forest. I appeared in some kind of a bar. Nik was there with two women, one of whom I recognized as his sister, Rebekah, but the other one was unfamiliar to me, but she was chanting a spell so I assumed that she was a witch.
"l killed a werewolf, I killed a vampire and the doppelgänger. I broke the curse, I'm a hybrid now. I should be able to create hybrids."
"Well then you definitely did something wrong," the witch snorted, stopping her spell. "Now please let me concentrate."
He went silent, impatiently watching the witch doing her job with his sister. They sat for a while like that until the witch stopped chanting once again.
"You need the doppelgänger's blood to create hybrids," she said with a small smile. "You shouldn't have killed the doppelgänger."
I came to my senses but this time I wasn't even able to move, lying numbly on the bed. My breathing was shallow, face soaked with tears that kept falling on their own.
"Thalia, love. Please look at me." I heard Nik's worried voice and opened my eyes but couldn't see him. Panic rose in me as I realized that I couldn't see anything.
"I can't," I managed to whisper. "I can't see."
"Here, love. Drink," he said putting his wrist to my mouth and I started to drink immediately, hoping to get my vision back.
Slowly but surely the darkness dissipated and the first thing that I saw was Nik's worried face. I stopped drinking, indicating him that I was fine, not having even an ounce of strength to remove his hand myself. He pulled away his wrist, and gently wiped the remaining blood from my lips and chin.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just tired," I answered and felt my eyelids getting heavy.
"You should get some sleep, love. We will talk about it tomorrow."
I heard him move and suddenly got scared that he would leave me.
"Please, stay with me," I managed to whisper.
"Of course, love. I'm not going anywhere." He lay down beside me, hugging me to his chest, and covering both of us with a blanket. "I'm never going to leave you." I heard him whisper as he kissed my hair before I blacked out again, but no draining visions came this time, just blissful nothingness.