From Ashes To Embers(Klaus Mikaelson)

Chapter 36

   I stay at the car, standing out for some fresh air while Klaus and Stefan go to talk to the two women staying in the house we're at. They're going to try and find out the location of the werewolf they've been told about. I don't want to be apart of this. I know those women will probably end up dead and I don't want to be apart of it.

   It's been almost 3 months since we've left Mystic Falls and Stefan is getting worse by the day. He's only barely hanging on. I myself am growing evermore tired of this long and tedious hunt for werewolves. Klaus is also growing more impatient. Every time we get to a dead end, his anger is sky-high.

   I look up as I hear screams from inside the house. Klaus is walking back out of the house, to the car. "Is this really necessary?" I ask him as the screams continue. "It's disgusting. And cruel."

   "You look ravishing tonight, as always," Klaus says with a smirk on his face, completely ignoring what I just said. I almost huff in annoyance, but stop myself as I don't want him to know that he has successfully annoyed me.

   I sit into the back of the car, planning to take a nap once we start moving. "Well were you at least successful?" I ask.

   "Indeed," he smiles at me through the rearview mirror. "We have ourselves a werewolf. We'll return to the hotel tonight and then set out tomorrow."

   I don't bother replying. Stefan finally walks out and sits into the car. The painful near-silence only to be disturbed by Stefan's heavy breathing speaks volumes. He's not ok. Suddenly, I'm not very tired after all. I had planned to lay across the backseat and rest but I don't think I want to anymore. I sit up and look out the window into the starry night.

   If I ever get away from here, away from him, I'll never be the same. Something in me changed when he came back into my life, I don't know what, I can't really explain it. But it feels dangerous. It scares me.

***

   After twisting and turning in the not-so-comfy hotel bed for the last hour or two, I'm not entirely sure how long it's been, but I decide to abandon the idea of sleep. Throwing on my silk robe, I open the sliding door and slip out onto the dainty little balcony.

   I welcome the slight breeze that ruffles my hair and blows across my face. I look up at the stars in the sky, remembering the times I used to slip out of the house as a young girl in the night. I used to climb onto the roof of the stables and gaze at the stars until the sun started to come up. They were some of my only true moments of peace, solitude. The day brought the regular chaos and non-stop hustle and bustle of life.

   My sisters and I worked for what we got, that was how it went, that is how I grew up. Despite our family being relatively wealthy, our parents kept us humble. So our days would be filled with many chores, we had many roles to fulfil. That and our education. We were some of the few lucky children that got to be educated.

   I had no time for anything else, as when I wasn't attending to my household duties or sitting through tedious lessons, I was off riding, or shooting, or doing whatever a teenage girl shouldn't really have been doing back then.

   So I sought time to myself at night, with only the stars for company, and sometimes the odd fox or badger wandering around close by, hunting for food to feed their offspring with.

   "Couldn't sleep?" a voice coming from somewhere close by almost makes me jump out of my skin, pulling me from my daydream. I look to my right to see Klaus sitting on a chair on his balcony, which is very close to mine seeing as his room is next door. 

   He has a sketchbook on his lap and a pencil in his hand. I notice that he's shirtless, with his pants hanging low on his hips so that I can make out the v shape going downwards. Multiple chains hang around his neck and my eyes linger on his toned abdomen and muscled arms, before I remember myself and look up.