The Howling ▹ Klaus Mikaelson

17.

THE HOWLING.

17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN : there is no happily ever after for people who aren't people

     "Aren't you supposed to be working on your history paper?"

     "Our history teacher's dead. Does it really matter anymore."

That was the last sentence Rowan had said before she left the Lockwood residence and made her way to the high school to help Caroline. Alaric Saltzman's death was tragic. It was devastating to most. He was a good man, an upstanding man who had a bit of a drinking problem, but overall he was good. Rowan wasn't attached to him like everyone else. Sure he was kind, but she'd lost every father figure she'd had. Mason and her own father. So she was careful. She didn't get too close, but that didn't mean Alaric's tragic death didn't make her heart ache.

Her heart was aching now. Because the man who stepped up for Elena and Jeremy, who became a father figure to the group, a brother to Damon, was looking at her like she was his prey. She was the wolf. She was an alpha. She was the prey; she was the predator.

Rowan could see Caroline in her peripheral vision, crying likely from the shock of Alaric being a vampire stuck in his alter ego and the pain of the vervain soaked rag in her mouth. Or maybe it was the pencils jabbed through her hands and into the desk. Most likely: a combination of all three. Rowan forced herself to breathe through her nose, the wolfsbane still burned her skin, but it could be worse. Her hands mirrored Caroline's, but her eyes did not. Caroline was scared, scared for her life but also if anyone came for them. Rowan's, on the other hand, were dry. She'd been tortured before. She was tortured by her curse every full moon before she learned to tame it. She could do this. She'd endured worse by far.

"Who else would it be?" Alaric spoke into the phone. His voice was different. Colder, deeper, and he didn't sound like the man they all came to know. "Listen closely. I'm at the school. I have Caroline and Rowan. And if you want to keep them alive, I need you to get in your car and come down here right away. If you tell anyone where you're going I will kill Caroline first and then I will kill Rowan."

Caroline let a sob slip through, closing her eyes whilst Alaric stared at the two of them, cold and calculating. A moment passed before he moved to sit, and pulled out the white oak stake, twirling it around in his fingers.

Minutes passed, and Rowan's eyes fell shut and shook her head when she heard a familiar heartbeat enter the building. Alaric must've heard it too, murmuring, "Right on time."

Caroline was gasping and whimpering as she did when Elena made it to the doorway. Rowan's head was lifted defiantly and Elena felt a swell of admiration for the Lockwood. Even trapped and hurt, she still forced a brave face.

"Let them go, Alaric," Elena spoke with a harsh tone, turning her attention from her friends to the man sitting the desk chair.

Alaric gestured to the two girls. "Free them yourself."

Elena was hesitant, Rowan noted, as she should be. The doppelgänger met the werewolf's eyes as Rowan shifted her eyes to Caroline before shaking her head ever so slightly. She didn't trust Alaric, not this version.

Elena knelt down in front of Rowan, rubbing her arm in hope to give a sense of comfort. Rowan winced when Elena's touched the pencil in her hand. It was nearly halfway out before Alaric stabbed in right back in. That time, Rowan didn't try to hold back and she screamed.

"You said you would let them go!" Elena snapped, backing away from Alaric.

"How many time do I have to tell you?" Alaric asked. "Stop trusting vampires!"