Claudia Lockwood-Mikaelson

Chapter 18 - Car Crash

After agreeing to have dinner with Nik tonight and giving him a quick kiss I climb in the car with Maeve. I haven't had my hair done in months and I'm quite looking forward to it. I think Maeve is too. I've started to feel at home in this city, just as much as I do at Stanford. It must be due to how welcoming the Mikaelsons are to me. Interestingly enough, they seem very closed off to everyone else I've seen in the compound. Day walkers, nightwalkers and who knows what else, they've all been scared to approach them. I don't really understand why, although I suppose I don't see much of their meetings at all. I'm just grateful they're nice to me and let me stay. Especially Nik, he's been wonderful.

The car starts and I gaze out the window. The sun is shining, strong beams of light hit my legs warming them on the seat. I realise I don't have any sunglasses, maybe I'll suggest to go shopping for some after lunch. I lean my head against the glass and close my eyes, the driver mentioned it was at least a 15 minute drive and I'll take all the extra rest I can get. Nik and I have been up spending time getting to know each other together in the evenings and all the late nights have been draining me. Maeve hasn't attempted to start a conversation so I allow myself to relax and soak in the warm rays.

"Shit," the driver mutters and the car suddenly breaks harshly to a stop. My eyes fly open as I jolt in my seat and I see a taxi has just pulled out ahead of us, forcing us all to stop. Nothing to worry about, just a distracted driver. Honestly you'd have thought people would be more careful, particularly on this busy road.

"Nearly there," Maeve informs me before her eyes widen dramatically. "Claudia!" She gasps.

Out of the corner of my vision I see another taxi flying towards us at great speed. This one doesn't stop and almost as if in slow motion I watch it smash into the side of our stationary vehicle, the side where the driver is. And me. The force at which it hits us causes us to spin, nearly off the road and I'm thrown in Maeve's direction, feeling a crushing weight slam into me.

I can't hear Maeve's shouts through the loud buzzing in my ears. I squint my eyes to stop my field of vision from blurring and look across at our driver only to see him sprawled out, blood pouring from his head. He's dead. It's a gruesome sight and I force myself to look away. I'm made aware of my own injuries, that I'm unable to feel due to the adrenaline racing through my body, as Maeve grabs my hand in her own concern on her expression.

I touch the side of my head and neck to find it wet. Blood. Maeve asks me something but I feel so woozy I just stare blankly at her in shock. I think she's uninjured but I can't be sure. The acrid smell of burning hits my nose and I realise smoke is coming from our engine. I know we have to get out but I can hardly move a muscle, this feels like a dream.

Maeve is shouting at me now gesturing with her hands. She climbs out of the car and turns back to me encouraging me to follow. I can't. I can't move my legs. I finally look down and see them trapped under small part of the taxi that had crashed into us. The heat radiating from the metal is burning into my flesh, deeper with each passing second. Yet I can't move. I'm trapped.

My eyes close for a moment as I swallow down the panic rising inside me. There's nothing I can do, I'm too weak to lift the metal. A crackling sound draws my attention to a fire quickly spreading over our vehicle. Maeve backs away hurriedly at the scorching heat and my eyes sting.

I don't know how much time passes as I sit there, unable to free myself, unable to save myself. I know I'm going to die here. I don't want to die, I've hardly lived at all. My hands press down on the side of my head as I apply pressure to where I think my head wound is. My only hope is that they can cut me out of the burning car and if so, I need to stop myself from losing so much blood.

There is still no pain as I push against the hot piece of metal trapping my legs. I start to feel dizzy and I cover my mouth over with my t-shirt to stop from coughing at the thick grey smoke entering my lungs. I wish I told my dad how much I love him. I don't think I'll ever see him again. I hope Maeve is okay.

My eyes flicker shut but I fight the sleepiness dredging up ever last ounce of strength from within. I can't give in now. I just can't. Even though it's likely no one can help me in time, I can't give up hope.

I'm too injured and drowsy to notice Maeve working as subtly as she can. The flickering blaze around me diminishes in size and disappears completely and the weight suddenly lifts from my legs, allowing some limited movement. But I allow the all-encompassing tiredness to put me to sleep. At least I won't die in pain.

A hand clamped over my nose brings me back to consciousness as I gasp for air drawing as much as I can into my lungs from one deep breath. Only my mouth is covered too and I toss my head from side to side to get free, causing a sharp pain to shoot through my neck. My weary, unfocused eyes see a face hovering above mine but I can't make out who it is.

"Drink," Nik demands in his rough tone and I want to cry in relief at being in his arms. I'm safe. Maeve's safe. He's here. He's here.

He holds my head still and brings his wrist over my mouth once again putting his blood in my mouth. When he is satisfied I have drunk enough he removes it and I look around to see we are lying on the side of the road. Passers by surround the cars but we're away from all prying eyes.

"Claudia, Claudia keep your eyes open for me," he pleads but I can't. I'm too exhausted to even smile up at him. I'm safe knowing I'll heal now I have his blood in my system. He will make everything okay. My heart rate slows and I fall asleep again knowing I will be okay. Nik is here, everything is alright now.

I'm woken up by angry shouting and I take in my surroundings. I'm shaken up from the accident but I recall Nik was there and gave me his blood. Maeve and I are safe now. I must be nearly healed.

I'm back in my room although I am alone and still in the clothes I was wearing earlier. All bloodied and ruined. The stench of smoke and blood causes my nose to wrinkle in disgust. Where is Nik? I can't believe he would have left me for anything less than another life threatening situation. Where is he?

I wiggle my toes and then my legs as feeling starts to come back to me. Thank the Lord.  Tentatively I stand up and, on shaky legs, take slow steps towards the door. It's Nik's voice I can hear, Nik and occasionally Elijah shouting downstairs. Maeve is nowhere to be seen.

When I make it far enough I realise the compound has been ransacked. Glancing into all the rooms I walk past yields the same result. Drawers empty, locked cabinets forcibly opened and contents strewn all over the floor. Someone has either wanted to unsettle us, proving how close they can get to hurt us, or they were looking for something. My bet is on the latter. If they wanted to hurt us, they wouldn't have left the place instead waiting for our return.

Nik doesn't notice me as I walk up to them. He is furious, the air thick with tension between the brothers. I watch as Nik's body suddenly goes rigid and he disappears within the blink of an eye. Elijah just stands calmly and waits. Maeve appears at his side, unharmed luckily and I'm thankful she seems uninjured.

A loud crash sounds from another room before Nik appears in front of us again, a murderous expression on his face.

"The white oak stake is missing," he roars.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter! ❤️

Where do you think the white oak stake has gone?

Ceryn x