Klaus pulled the truck into a large driveway in front of an even larger mansion that belonged to his family. They had quite a few homes around the world. This was their main one in the United States, at least since they were forced to flee New Orleans. There were a few others around the country, but this was his main base of operations.
Klaus looked over and smiled at his hybrid, who was asleep in the passenger seat. He had such plans for her. He had plans for all his hybrids, but especially her. He had a feeling she was a little something special, a little something extra, just because of the way she was created. She'd already proved she was special with her ability to help him create hybrids. He looked forward to seeing what else she could do. She was going to be magnificent. He would see to that. She would thank him for it one day. Unfortunately for her, he would have to break her first. The morals had to go. He could compel her to get rid of them, but where was the fun in that? No, he wanted to see them leave her the old-fashioned way.
Klaus reached over and shook the sleeping hybrid. "Come on, love. Time to wake up."
Elena slowly opened her eyes and turned to him. "What?"
"We're here. Come on," Klaus said before he began getting out of the truck.
Elena rubbed her eyes before proceeding to open the door and get out of the car. She didn't even make it a step once her feet touched the ground before Klaus grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the back of the truck. "Is it necessary to manhandle me? I'm not going to run."
"Oh, I know you won't, love. I'll be seeing to that shortly," Klaus said as the made it to the back of the truck. He immediately opened the door, where he, unsurprisingly, found his sister, his newest hybrid, and Stefan. "Alright, we're here."
"It's about bloody time. I can't believe you made me ride in the back while this little bitch sat up front," Rebekah fumed before getting out.
"I would've gladly traded," Elena said as she made an attempt to pull her arm loose from Klaus' grasp. Needless to say, it didn't work. He only gripped her tighter.
Tyler and Stefan came out moments later. Stefan looked at Elena sadly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Elena assured him.
"Where are we?" Tyler asked.
"Minnesota. We won't be here long, just until I can find another werewolf pack. Come on," Klaus said before leading the way to the front door with Elena in tow. He opened it and stepped inside.
Elena looked around. She found herself in a spacious living room. By spacious, she meant bigger than her entire house. There were a couple of couches and several comfortable looking chairs around. There was also a large screen TV mounted on the wall, as well as a fireplace under it.
"Wow! This place is huge," Tyler said as he looked around. It was saying a lot coming from him. His place was big too, but not this big.
Elena once again tried to pry her arm away from Klaus. "Will you let me go already?"
"Right after we take care of a little formality," Klaus told her before using his free hand to grab her chin and turn her towards him.
Elena barely got a look at Klaus' face before she realized what he intended. She immediately squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to pull away from him. "No!"
Klaus laughed as she violently struggled against him. He gripped her arm tighter and pulled her against him. "This is futile, love. Make it easier on yourself and look at me."
"Screw you!" Elena snarled as she continued to struggle. She pushed him away, which freed her for a moment, but before she could even take a step away from him, she felt his arms enclose around her. She knew fighting was pointless, but she wasn't just going to let him take away her free will without a hell of a fight.
"No, let her go!" Stefan yelled before taking a step forward.
Klaus glared at him while still contending with the struggling hybrid. "Stay out of this, Stefan. You will not interfere with me and Elena. Do you understand?"
Stefan reluctantly nodded. There was nothing more he could do. He was compelled to do everything Klaus said. He couldn't go against him, no matter how much he wanted to hurt Elena.
"Please don't hurt her," Tyler pleaded. He felt torn. He desperately wanted to help Elena, but he didn't want to go against Klaus either. He felt a deep loyalty to both of them. They had both saved him and made sure he wouldn't have to turn anymore.
"Not to worry, mate. No one will get hurt as long as Elena cooperates," Klaus said before leaning in to whisper in Elena's ear. "If not, Stefan may just pay the price. I will break every bone in his body if you do not look at me right now."
Elena stopped fighting after a moment and reluctantly opened her eyes and turned to try to look at Klaus, which was a little difficult with the way he was holding her. She didn't want to, but she couldn't let him hurt Stefan.
"Good girl," Klaus said before shifting her a little so that she was eye to eye with him. "You will not run. You will not leave the property without my permission. Should I give you permission to leave, you will return to my side once you've completed the task I've set for you."
Elena waited for the compulsion to take hold, but it never did. She'd been compelled before. She knew what it felt like. It was like something was pushing at her mind to do what she was told to do, but she didn't feel that now. She felt nothing. She felt like she was having a normal conversation. She could walk out the door right now of her own accord unless she was physically stopped. Klaus couldn't compel her, which meant nobody could.
Elena filed the information away for later. Right now, she needed Klaus to think his compulsion worked. Who knew what he would do if he thought it didn't. He probably wouldn't let her out of his sight. At least this way, she had some degree of freedom. "I understand."
Klaus smiled and finally let her go. "See? That wasn't too bad, was it?"
Elena glared at him. "Yeah, because every girl loves the idea of losing her free will."
Klaus chuckled. "Well, that's the thing, love. You have no free will. Your will belongs to me, along with everything else about you. Be grateful I've mostly given you the illusion of it. I merely compelled you to stay put. I could've done as I did with Stefan and forced you to do everything I say. It's as I said before, I like your fight, but be careful. The moment I grow tired of it, I can take that illusion away."
Stefan put a hand on her shoulder to try to comfort her. He doubted it did much, but it was all he could offer.
Rebekah glared at both Stefan and the doppelganger. This whole thing had worked out for Nik, but she was livid. The last thing she wanted was for the man she loved to have his girlfriend living with them. She wanted the girl dead.
"Are you going to compel me now?" Tyler asked Klaus.
Klaus smiled at the new hybrid. "I don't think I'll need to. Tell me, Tyler, will do what I ask without question?"
"Of course," Tyler said immediately.
"And will you try to run?"
"No. I want to help you in any way I can," Tyler said.
Klaus continued to grin in response. He hadn't been sure it would work out this way, but he'd started to suspect when the young hybrid hadn't made a fuss about going with them. Most would fight something like that. The only reason Elena hadn't was because she knew he'd slaughter all her friends. Still, she made her disdain for him clear. Tyler hadn't.
"What did you do to him?" Elena asked.
"I've done nothing, love. The transformation did it. He's sire bound," Klaus said.
"That's rare," Stefan said in surprise.
"Yes, for normal vampires. Time will tell if it's the same for hybrids," Klaus said.
"For those of us who have been vampires for less than three months, what the hell does sire bound mean?" Elena asked.
"It's something rare that happens when a human is turned into a vampire. The vampire becomes sired by the vampire whose blood they drank. They'll do anything that vampire says," Stefan told her.
"Typically, it happens when a human falls in love with a vampire. Hybrids appear to be different. For Tyler, it is likely because he is grateful not to turn every full moon. Am I right, mate?" Klaus asked Tyler.
Tyler nodded.
Elena's eyes widened. "Does that mean, I'm…"
"No, sweetheart, you're not sired. If you were, you wouldn't be able to give me this much trouble. It makes sense. My blood didn't turn you. It would be more likely that you were sired to the elder Salvatore," Klaus told her.
"No, the only thing I got from that was an unbelievably strong urge to kill him," Elena said though gritted teeth.
"It's true then. You're really a hybrid?" Stefan asked Elena. Tyler had explained everything that happened in the truck, but he didn't fully believe it until now. He knew she was definitely a vampire. The way she'd fought him at the school made that clear, but her being a hybrid seemed unbelievable to him.
"Yes, it's true," Elena said.
"How?" Stefan asked.
"Your brother shoved his blood down my throat and then Klaus sunk his teeth into me. I'm guessing all of that had a little something to do with it," Elena said bitterly.
"Why didn't you tell me? You had to have known before…?"
"Before what? Before you went off with Klaus without a word?" Elena asked.
"I was trying to save my brother," Stefan said defensively.
"I didn't say I didn't understand, but don't talk to me about keeping secrets. I didn't tell you because I was shocked and freaked out. I could barely deal with it myself. I didn't want to see your pity, the same pity I'm seeing right now," Elena said. It was all over his face. He felt sorry for her, and while her situation was probably pitiful, she didn't need it. All it did was make her feel worse.
"What's to pity? You will be spectacular. I'll see to that," Klaus said with a grin.
Elena glared at him. "Are you done torturing me for the night? Can I sleep?"
"Certainly. You'll need that sleep too. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. You and Tyler will need some training. Then we have werewolves to hunt," Klaus said with a grin.
"I need clothes too, so does Tyler. You forced us to leave with nothing but what we're wearing," Elena said.
"Not to worry. I'm not unreasonable. You'll be permitted to go shopping at some point tomorrow. I know you'll come back now. I'll get each of you a credit card at some point. You see, Elena, there are benefits to belonging to me. In the meantime, I'll show you to your rooms. Come on," Klaus said before heading towards the stairs.
"Elena, we need to talk," Stefan said.
"Well, I can't right now, Stefan. My life just turned to a level of crap I never could've imagined. I've had enough. I just want to sleep," Elena said before following Klaus upstairs.
