The Rarest Rose

The Birthday

Two months. That's how long they had been traveling, on their search for werewolves, and it had finally led them to here, tonight, in Tennessee. A woman walked outside the house from the kitchen door, calling out.

"Rudy!" She Whistles. "Rudy. Come on! It's too hot to make me come looking for you."

She bent down and picked up a toy. When she turned around, Klaus suddenly appeared in front of her. Juliet had remained back at the car.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Klaus said, with a fake American accent.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, her voice cautious.

"Yeah, my car ran out of gas a couple of miles back. I feel like I've been walking forever, and yours is the first house I've come to. I was just hoping I could use your phone?"

"Don't you have a cell phone?" she questioned.

"Yeah...," Klaus pulled his phone from his pocket, "Battery died. Look, I promise I'm not a serial killer. I just wanna use your phone."

The woman sighed. "Sure."

"So, I can come in?"

"No, I'll get the phone and bring it out to you."

Klaus's expression turned annoyed. "I thought you country folks were supposed to be more trusting," he said, dropping his fake accent.

"I'm from Florida."

"Well, that explains it." He grabbed her throat and compelled her. "Now show me a little southern hospitality, sweet pea."

In the kitchen, another woman was frying food. She walked over to the counter with the frying pan.

"I bet you a hundred dollars that dog ran off to a house with air conditioning," she joked. She turned around and saw the first woman and Klaus entering the kitchen, Klaus holding the nape of her neck with one hand. The first woman was sobbing.

"What's going on?" the second woman asked, alarmed.

"Please don't be alarmed. I was told Ray Sutton lives here," Klaus said smoothly.

"He's almost never here. He's on the road mostly."

"But I expect he makes it home once a month," Klaus inferred. She didn't answer. "Where is he now?" Still no answer. "If I have to make you tell me, it's going to be infinitely more painful for you," he threatened with a smile.

The other woman ran out of the kitchen and opened the front door, but Stefan was standing in the doorway.

"Aaaah!" she screamed.

Klaus and the first woman came up behind her. "I love it when they run!" Klaus exclaimed.

The second woman gave up. "He's in Toll. It's near the border. A bar called Southern Comfort. It's on Highway 41."

"Thank you, love," Klaus said, touching the first woman's hair. "Now, may my friend come in?"

"Yes," the first woman cried.

The second woman looked terrified as Stefan entered. Klaus pushed the first woman toward Stefan.

"Kill this one quickly," Klaus ordered, looking at the second woman. "And make that one suffer. I'll be back at the car."

Klaus left with a grin as the women began crying.

"Please don't!" the first woman begged.

Stefan just looked at her and transformed, biting her. She screamed, and so did the second woman. Outside the house, Klaus walked back to the car, smiling. As he approached, he found a sight that made him want to groan. Juliet was sitting on the hood of the car with a small puppy (External link below) in her lap, licking her chin as she laughed lightly. She looked up at Klaus with a smile as he approached, a smile he could never deny.