Enigmatic Departures: A Klaus Mikaelson Love Story {5}

Chapter 29: What Tomorrow Entails

~Cami POV~

"Wow." Cami said as she entered her apartment with Klaus. "Everything looks so different."

"One of the perks." Klaus murmured in response.

"I miss him." She said as she picked up a frame of her and her uncle. "He just wanted me to be happy. Get married, have a few kids..."

"I guess the great O'Connell line endeth here." Klaus said, unsuccessfully trying to make light of the situation.

"I never really got the comfort he got from his faith. But right now, I wish I believed in an afterlife." Cami confessed.

"Vampirism in itself is an afterlife." He replied with a weak smile.

"But which one is it? Is it heaven or is it... Hell?" He opened his mouth to answer trying to find the words to say.

"The longer you wait, the more you'll suffer." He told her gently, deciding there were no right words.

"Maybe it'll be better this way. My corpse will be absolutely gorgeous. You could even have an open casket." She told him with a bitter laugh.

"Cami—"

"Speaking of, I'm putting you in charge of my wake." Cami said, making Klaus go pale. "It has to be at Rousseau's. I want it to be epic. An open bar, with dancing, and no one cries, or I come back and I poltergeist the hell out of this town."

"Stop it!" Klaus yelled. "I will not entertain this kind of talk any longer. You must feed."

"Klaus—"

"No." He continued. "Do you think this is fun for me? I get a kick out of watching you talk about your death like it is a thing of simplicity? Do you understand how insane this is? You want to be with my wife and here I am walking around with you and actually wanting you to live! Had you been any other person I would have killed you myself, or at the very least attempted to! I can try and tell myself that I'm here because Fiore wants me to be, but I know I'm here because I want to be. Because you are my friend. So drink some blood and be done with it! You can mourn your life as a human later."

"This isn't about you, Klaus!" She snapped angrily and he looked back in shock. "This is about me. I like who I am now. You think you're my friend? Then maybe don't treat my literal death as something that is gonna affect you the most! I've seen what vampirism does to people. I don't want to be a—a monster."

"But you aren't a monster and you never were." Klaus countered. "I know you. You'll be an extension of the person you are now. You'll be annoying and snarky and a pain in the neck!"

"You have said it to me yourself." Cami rejected. "Always and forever isn't a gift, it's a curse. If I become a vampire—the darkness wins."

"I won't let it."

"You?" Cami scoffed. "You can't even contain your own darkness, let alone mine! Keeping you even mildly sane takes me, your wife, your brother, your sisters, your son and your daughter! And that's not even talking about the glaring elephant of Fiore going haywire now."

"And what about her?" Klaus asked. "Are you really okay just leaving her like this?"

"Don't." Cami said darkly.

"She blames herself for what's happened to you." Klaus told her. "If you died she would be besides herself. At least if you stay as a vampire, she'll feel somewhat at peace."

"That was a low blow, Klaus."

"It's just the truth."

"At least I can die proud of who I am now. It's better that way." Cami said with a long sigh.