𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐄 | KLAUS MIKAELSON

𝖥𝖨𝖥𝖳𝖸 𝖳𝖶𝖮

┏━━━━•❅•°•❈ - •°•❅•━━━━┓
𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝟑, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑
┗━━━━•❅•°•❈ - •°•❅•━━━━┛

IT WAS a constant fight. Always a constant, never-ending brawl between me, myself, and I. What I was and what I wanted to be.

It was Everly, the poor, heartbroken sap, versus Everly, the rage-fueled beast clawing to be unleashed. It was a constant battle between eight-year-old Everly, who got dumped like yesterday's trash, and nineteen-year-old me, who was still being mentally pummeled by everyone and their grandma.

Every day feels like a struggle to keep from being swallowed whole by the tidal wave of emotions I've buried deep inside.

Thud, thud, thud. The only thing my ears were tuned into was the thudding of my glove-wrapped fists against the punching bag.

Each punch was aimed at the smug face I was imagining, my knuckles crashing into his irritatingly self-satisfied smile. Oh, how I wanted to wipe that grin off his face permanently. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ella's voice jolted me back to reality as she grabbed my shoulders, pulling me back to Earth. "Calm down, girl. You're going way too hard for a human."

I blinked, my vision clearing from its momentary haze back to the normal sight of the blue and black punching bag swinging like a pendulum. My chest heaved as I stared at it, trying to reign in the storm of emotions swirling inside me. Ella's hands remained firmly planted on my shoulders, her eyes wide with a mixture of concern and amusement. I could practically hear her inner monologue screaming, Did I just interrupt a murder in progress?

"Sorry," I muttered, finally breaking the tense silence. "Got a little carried away."

"A little?" Ella raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching with suppressed laughter. "Girl, you were two punches away from landing yourself in jail. Who's the unlucky soul in your head that you've already sentenced to a beatdown?"

Your hybrid master. The words hovered on the tip of my tongue, but I clamped down on them hard. "I'm just not used to all this self-defense stuff. Maybe I got a tad overwhelmed."

Ella's grip on my shoulder eased, her expression softening as she observed me. "It's okay. No need to stress. I don't know who you were picturing, but the look on your face was almost..." She paused, searching for the right word.

I supplied the options, dripping with sarcasm. "Murderous? Psychotic? Homicidal?"

"Shattered, isolated, broken," she corrected, her tone gentle.

I shook my head dismissively, as if her words were mere annoyances, not reflections of my inner upheavals. I slipped the gloves off my hands and tossing them onto the table. "Where's Jayden? Aren't we supposed to be learning how to stake a vampire today? You promised," I reminded her.

"I'm not sure. He mentioned he'd join us shortly, then he messaged saying Klaus sent him to his pack to convince them about the hybrids," Ella explained.

My grip tightened on the gloves at the mention of his name, the fabric almost tearing under my fingers. Swallowing my anger, I met Ella's gaze with a mask of composure. "Oh," I replied flatly. "When is he going to join us, then?"

"Hopefully soon," Ella replied with a shrug.

I unscrewed the cap of the water bottle, downing its contents in one gulp, the cold liquid soothing my parched throat. My eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. Three days. Three damn days had passed, each one bringing a fresh hell of its own. Three days since yet another lie had slithered into the light, mocking me with its deceit. Three days since I made the decision to claw my way back to freedom, to reclaim my magic---no matter what it took. Screw playing the victim; I was taking charge of my destiny, no fucks given.