His Muse (Klaus Mikaelson/The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter Seventeen

Klaus, Stefan and Bethany found themselves in a small cafe just inside of Memphis. They were meeting one of the Original Hybrids lackeys there, with information on an address for Ray Sutton's family.

Bethany was eating a burger and fries, while Stefan and himself had coffee (spiked with waitress blood).

"Are you going to kill this one, Nik?" Bethany asked, "You did the last one."

"Depends if the information he produces is good enough, sweetheart." He responded easily, "Why? If you would like to do it, all you need to do is ask."

She ignored him, and Klaus couldn't help but grin at the disapproving frown that pinched her eyebrows together.

He looked up then, when the bell above the main door chimed. Signifying that someone had entered the cafe, and Klaus waited expectantly for the vampire to take notice of him. When he continued to look around, Klaus sighed in disappointment.

Why did he hire such imbeciles?

"Gareth, over here, mate."

The vampire shuffled forwards, and took the empty spot in the booth beside Stefan. The Salvatore grimaced, as the vampire had brought in a distinct smell of manure with him.

Awkwardly, Gareth got back to his feet. "I found his family." The vampire said, "His mum and aunt live a few miles from here, they have a farmhouse up in the woods." He dug into his pocket, and placed a handful of things onto the table before searching through the lot for a sweet wrapper; with an address written on it.

As Klaus looked over the address, Gareth put his spare button, few coins, and half a tube of polos back into his pocket.

"This is it?"

"Yes, Sir." Oh, he liked the sound of that!

"Thank you, Gareth." Klaus motioned him to leave with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Go and find yourself a shower, mate, you stink."

The chiming of the bell signified that he had left.

"You're letting him go?" Stefan asked.

"He did as he was told." Klaus replied, "His reward for his hard work, is his life."

Bethany finished the last of her meal and the Original Hybrid placed some money on the table, before they left.

The three drove a 'few miles' out of the bustling town, to a more secluded area where farmland stretched as far as their keen eyes could see. Not wanting to ruin his car by driving through the sticky mud, Klaus pulled up at the bottom of a dirt track.

"We'll pretend we have car trouble." He said, "Ray's a mechanic so it'll coax him out. If he's not there, we will be invited inside to use the phone. And I'll compel the information I need."

He ordered Stefan to go round the back of the house, just in case Ray decided to leave before they could snag him.

"Rudy!" Klaus heard a whistle, and he watched as a woman stepped out of the house to pick up a dogs' squeaky toy. "Rudy, come on! It's too hot to make me come looking for you!"

"Now, sweetheart, show them how much you love me."

"What?" Bethany snapped.

"Excuse me!" Klaus called out, placing his arm around the stunning artists slim waist, like a doting boyfriend. "We're really sorry to bother you, but our car broke down just down the hill. Do you happen to know a mechanic?"

"No, sorry."

"Then would you mind if I borrowed your phone?"

"Don't either of you have one?"