Youth ☽ ☾ Klena

16.

The day ended early for Elena. She had called Klaus, the usual fluttery feeling in her stomach no longer there as he spoke to her. She tried to stay calm but her tapping foot and cracking knuckles told a different story.

After minutes of waiting, Klaus pulled up in a battered car. 'Elijah took mine.' He stated, his eyebrows drawn down in anger. Elena nodded aggressively and slammed the door behind her as she threw herself into the seat. Klaus looked at her curiously but knew it was best to wait until they got home. He hoped that Elena was annoyed at anyone but him, he was wrong, so, so very wrong.

They pulled up at the large estate and Elena sat down, watching Klaus get out. He was about to open the door for her when she pushed it open, slamming it into his legs. He winced but simply stared her down. He was trying to solve something but he couldn't find a conclusion. He hadn't heard a word from her apart from 'can you pick me up? Now.' Klaus was beginning to fear what was about to take place but led Elena into the house nonetheless. The furniture could be replaced later.

They stepped over the threshold of the house and Elena finally broke. Without realising it, she had opened the floodgates and her cheeks were glistening with tears. She turned to Klaus who could only mimic her expression. He failed at empathy on so many levels that he had found it best to match what the other looks like. That was the last thing he should have done. 'How could you?' She spat, approaching him, matching his eyes. Elena was only slightly shorter than him now but she didn't think she would ever match him. 'How could you lie about someone so important to me?' She cried out, the speech amalgamating with a sob. In that moment, Klaus clearly knew what Elena was talking about it but did not elaborate. He watched Elena break. He would see it sooner or later so why not now.

He made to move away, his face expressionless.

'Don't you dare leave me like this.' She growled, running after him, clutching his arm painfully hard. The strength she had, for a human, was vast. She had clearly learnt a thing or two from Klaus and she was ready to show it off. 'Not when I need answers.' She growled, her tone lowering with each word.

Klaus stood tall, not wanting to back down, yet the state Elena was in did change something somewhere in him. He had never cared about other's emotions but his families and even then, he was often blind to what they thought. Elena, it seemed, he cared for more than any of them. He didn't want to; he wanted to do anything but that. But, Elena was part of the family now and seeing her crying made him swallow thickly and turn around to see what she wants to say.

'Why did you say that Jeremy was dead?' Her voice was deadpanned, bored. She had taken Klaus' efforts to use and mimicked him. She was impassive to the situation despite her tear-stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes.

'I did because I had to.' Klaus stated. That was no excuse.

'Try again.' She spat, leaning on the balls of her feet to reach eye level. Her attempts at threatening Klaus were failing. Klaus cared for Elena but that hadn't stripped him of his power. He was the most powerful being in the world, a little girl wouldn't intimidate him.

'I couldn't bring him here and it was the only way to keep you quiet.' He admitted, his face not moving. He stood by what he said and in that moment, Klaus was back. The weakened version of him that Elena had revealed was gone. He had brought his walls back up and they were now more impenetrable than ever.

'What?' She asked, stunned that he had said it so bluntly. Klaus said nothing and waited for the realisation to set in. She knew Klaus had done it for his own good but her curiosity was more important than her anger.

'I'm going to use you in a ritual that could kill you. Your brother has no use to me, only you.' The statement was blunt and wasn't thought through. Yet, in his blind rage, Klaus didn't care that he had revealed his secret. He knew that Elena wouldn't run, couldn't run. She would think it through and stay to learn more. Klaus smiled as Elena's face fell.

'I want to know what this ritual is.' Her voice was shaky but she stated it without stumbling.

'Not today.' He stated and walked off, not caring what Elena thought of him now. He was a monster, even in her eyes and that made the statement all the truer. You only are what people believe you are. And, if they believed he was a monster, he would be a monster.

Elena was left in the parlour, shocked. Her mind was reeling, she had no explanation for what had just happened. It felt like a de-ja-vu. It felt as if they had this argument before, in another life. She felt as if they were enemies and that she hated him for more than her own sacrifice. Her hatred ran so deep that it could be mistaken that he had killed a family member. He almost did, he had said Jeremy had. And, as I said before, you are shaped by what people think of you.

Elena's stomach fell and she felt jittery. She hadn't noticed that Elijah had now walked in, Rebekah at his side. She hadn't noticed that they had brought her to her bedroom. She hadn't noticed that she didn't sleep that night. She didn't notice getting out of bed the next morning. She noticed nothing. She felt empty and she had no explanation why.

Klaus had destroyed her in just a few words and neither of them were sorry. That was what is was. She didn't regret a thing and she didn't know what to feel in its place.

word count: 1020

published: 12.03.17