Clair de Lune - K.M.

c h a p t e r n i n e

"Where are we going?" I ask as Klaus leads me off my front porch and out into the driveway. I shut the door behind me and glance around, wondering how he got here considering there's no car in sight. "And how are we going to get there?"

"Stella, love, you ask too many questions," he says as he begins to move towards the woods that stretch deep into my families property.

"You haven't told me anything," I say, stopping in my tracks. "Klaus!" 

Klaus turns and notices that I'm not following him, pausing to smirk at me. The playful glint in his eyes takes me by surprise.

"Don't look at me like that," I tell him. "I'm following an immortal hybrid, who tried to kill my friends and actually killed me, into the woods and I don't even know what we're going to do. Any rational person would be suspicious. Actually any rational person would get as far away from you as possible but-"

"But you're not a normal person," he interrupts me. "You're a hybrid."

"Yeah, but-"

"Pup," he says, moving over to me to place his hands on my shoulders. He leans in so close that I can make out the flecks of green in his eyes. "Listen to me. You're a hybrid. Don't you see that powerful that makes you? You're strong and beautiful and-"

"You think I'm beautiful?"

My words cause a blush to creep onto his face. It's faint, only lasting a few seconds, but our faces are close enough that I can't help but notice it.

"Come on," he says, stepping away from me and turning toward the woods. "Try and keep up."

And then he's gone. Klaus speeds through the woods away from me, his vampire abilities allowing him to move so fast that most people wouldn't even see him. I sigh before taking off after him, using my senses to track the hybrid's movements ahead of me.

Despite my rocky transition, I've actually been able to find some amount of peace in using my vampire abilities over the last several weeks. Being a werewolf has always been something that I'm stuck with, something that I deserve. I've viewed it as a punishment my whole life.

Being a vampire is something different. Yes, it means that I'm stuck in this cycle of guilt forever, but it also makes me strong. I'm fast, powerful, confident. Beautiful.

It also makes me dangerous, I realize as I speed through the trees. Being dangerous can be good. It means that I can protect my family, the people I love. It also means that I'm dangerous to people around me. My mind flashes to that night in the gym, to the hunger that coursed through me that night. Dana's face right before I ripped out her-

My thoughts are interrupted as I slam into something solid. Klaus' arms wrap around me to steady me as I realize that distracted with my thoughts, I had run straight into the hybrid.

"Easy there, pup," he says, letting me go once we've come to a complete stop.

"Sorry," I say distractedly, shaking my head to clear it. I take in our surroundings, examining the miles of woods that stretch all around us. "Where are we?"

"Outside of town," he responds.

"Yeah, I can see that. Any specific reason why we just ran through miles of woods just to get away from Mystic Falls?"

"Because," he says, an excited glint in his eyes. "You're going to turn."

I can feel the blood drain from my face at his words. I scoff nervously, stepping away from him and snapping a branch beneath my feet.

"No," I tell him. "No fucking way."

"Why not?"

"Because!" I say. When the look on his face demonstrates that he's not exactly satisfied with 'because', I begin to pace nervously. "I thought the whole point of becoming a hybrid was that we didn't have to turn anymore."