Elena once again found herself next to Klaus as he drove. It wasn't exactly a good time for her, but she supposed it could be worse. At least Stefan wasn't there. If nothing else, this little adventure gave her some space from him. She wanted him gone altogether though, and not just to protect him anymore. Being around him was too hard. It was hard even before she broke up with him. She couldn't stand the way he would look at her. He looked at her with pity in his eyes, when he wasn't judging her for following Klaus' orders, as though she really had a choice in the matter.
Klaus looked over at Elena. He could see the misery in her face. He could guess what it was about. "It's for the best, you know."
Elena sighed. "I guess it was too much to hope for that we could get through this drive in silence."
Klaus chuckled in response. "Come on, love, where would the fun in that? We have a long drive ahead of us. As I was saying though, it is for the best, your breakup with Stefan. I probably would've insisted on it eventually."
"What do you care? It has nothing to do with you," Elena said.
"Of course it does. Everything involving you is my concern. You are mine, and I won't have your attention divided," Klaus said.
"Is it necessary for you declare ownership of me every second?" Elena asked irritably.
"It seems so since you still don't seem to understand. Perhaps if you'd face reality, I wouldn't have to keep saying it," Klaus said.
"I've done everything you asked. What more do you want from me?" Elena asked.
"I told you, I want everything. It's true, you've made some strides, but I think a part of you is still looking to be 'rescued'," Klaus said.
"You're wrong. I may not like being your puppet, but I've accepted it. I don't want anyone saving me. What good would that do? It would only get the person killed," Elena said.
"Well, at least you're aware of the consequences of defying me," Klaus said.
Things were quiet in the truck for a few minutes. Then Elena spoke again. "What exactly is your plan with these werewolves?"
"I would think that would be obvious. I will feed them my blood, break their necks, and once they awaken, you will contribute your blood," Klaus said.
"No, that's not what I meant. I'm talking about long term. Are we all supposed to remain in your house for the rest of eternity?" Elena asked. Tyler's question had some merit. She was beginning to wonder herself.
"Perhaps, or maybe I'll turn them until I've gotten a significant number, train them, and then let them go about their lives until I need them, while keeping a select few nearby, of course," Klaus told her. He honestly wasn't sure just yet, but he did see how it might not be feasible to keep them all with him for the rest of eternity.
Elena nodded.
"But don't get your hopes up, love. You won't be going anywhere. You'll be by my side for eternity," Klaus told her.
Elena glared at him. As if she needed reminding of that. He'd made that clear from the beginning. "I'm not an idiot. I know you'll never let me go. I'm too valuable to you. I'm the only one that can help you make more hybrids, and I'm not sired to you like the rest of them. You'd never chance it."
Klaus smirked. "That's what I like about you, love. You're smart. You're smarter than both woman who had that face before you."
Elena snorted. "I guess you should be grateful it's me you used to break the curse." Moments later, she started laughing. She thought about Katherine being forced to endure an eternity with Klaus. Even worse, she thought about Klaus having to deal with an eternity with Katherine. It would be no less than either of them deserved.
"What's funny, love?" Klaus asked curiously.
"I was just thinking that under the right circumstances, it could be Katherine next to you, forced to be by your side and help you make hybrids. I don't know if the fact that it's not is bad luck for me or good luck for you. It's probably both," Elena said.
Klaus let out a small chuckle. "I confess I hadn't considered that. Having to wait an extra five hundred years is almost worth it. I would've endured it, but an eternity with Katerina by my side would've been just as torturous for me as it would be for her. I would've had to compel her to do everything I said. Katerina has no loyalty."
Elena almost wanted to tell him that he wouldn't have been able to compel Katherine just to see what his reaction would be, but he couldn't have him knowing he wasn't able to compel her. She knew he would find out eventually, but she was going to keep that secret for as long as possible. "You think I'm loyal to you?"
"Of course you are, sweetheart. Forced loyalty is still loyalty. You do as I ask because you know what the consequences are. You know someone you care about will pay the price if you defy me. Katerina had no one like that. She was loyal to no one but herself. I wouldn't even be able to give her a small amount of trust," Klaus said.
"Well, I can't say you're wrong about that. You know, there's something I've never understood. Katherine wanted to survive so badly that she was willing to become a vampire. I get that, but instead of killing herself after Rose forced her blood down her throat, why not just let the sacrifice happen? You would've gotten what you wanted, and she would still be a vampire. You'd have no reason to chase her for eternity. Of course, becoming a hybrid would've put a damper in that, but neither of you had any way of knowing that would happen," Elena said.
"I did say you were the smarter one, didn't I? I suppose she thought that if I couldn't perform the ritual with her, I'd just let her go. That was a gross miscalculation. On the plus side, it worked out for us," Klaus said.
"It worked out for you," Elena clarified.
"You really ought to get rid of the self-hatred. It does you no good. Just accept what you are and move on," Klaus said.
Elena didn't respond to his words. His statement didn't require a response.
Klaus was quiet for about ten minutes before speaking again. "We're about an hour out. Take a couple of blood bags from the cooler by your feet. I want you a hundred percent in case we're met with resistance, and I don't want to take the time for you to feed from the vein."
Elena nodded before opening the cooler and taking out two blood bags. "Speaking of, you need to teach us how to feed from the vein without killing."
Klaus smirked at her. "And why would I do that, love? I like you just the way you are."
Elena sighed and resisted the urge to glare at him. "Look, Klaus, you've made your point. You decide how I feed. If you want me to kill, I'll kill. I know I don't have a choice, but right now, I don't even have the control to stop myself if I wanted to, or should I say, if you wanted me to. That will become a problem at some point. Humans might be able to chalk it up to an animal attack here and there, but at some point, they're going to start getting suspicious if it keeps happening, especially since there will be more of us soon. That's probably why there is a counsel in Mystic Falls dedicated to stopping vampires."
Klaus contemplated her words for a minute. He supposed she was right. The last thing he needed was for his hybrids to become like his brother, Kol. Mikael was still out there after all. "Fine. I will teach you and you will teach the others. As my first hybrid, you'll be taking a leadership role with the rest. They answer to me first, of course, but they will regard you as their supervisor, so to speak."
Elena nodded. She liked that, actually. She could help them more that way. Plus, she was thinking more about Tyler's idea of her gaining Klaus' ear. She could make life better for herself and the other hybrids. "Okay. In that case, will you let me talk to the other werewolves when we confront them. Maybe I can get them to agree to the transformation without the use of force."
"Fine, but make no mistake about the fact that there is no choice," Klaus said.
"I get that," she said before drinking from one of the blood bags.
"I am pleased with the fact that you are making progress in accepting your new position," Klaus said.
Elena looked at him for a moment, trying to decide if she should press her luck. Eventually, she decided to give it a shot. "Then if things go well on this trip, can I ask a favor?"
Klaus laughed. "It's far too soon for me to even consider releasing Stefan."
"That's not what I was going to ask. I want to talk to my brother," Elena said. She never got the chance to say goodbye to Jeremy. Talking to him on the phone wouldn't be the same as saying goodbye in person, but it was the best she could do.
"And why should I agree to that? So you can give him hints to your location?"
Elena glared at him. "What part of I don't want to be rescued don't you understand? I don't want Jeremy to know where I am. That would just get him killed. It's not like it would help me any if he or anyone else knew where to find me. I just want to say goodbye. Please."
"I'll think about it, if you do well tonight," Klaus said after a moment. She made a good point. It wouldn't hurt him any to let her make a phone call, and rewarding her for good work had its merits.
"Thank you," Elena said before going back to her meal. She knew it was the best she was going to do right now. She would just have to wait and see what happened.