The Element *A Klaus Mikaelson love story*

-Chapter 9-

I was making my way back through the woods after my encounter with Elijah, the nice Mikealson as I now call him, when I saw it. A fox lying on the ground. I normally didn't like foxes—or any predatory animals— but even I had to admire its sleek fur and muscular little body. It looked so fit that if it ran past you, you would only see a passing phantom —if it weren't obviously dying. It gave a halfhearted shake, and I went closer to see what was wrong with it. After closer inspection I saw that it had bite marks near it's neck and I realized that I'd just found Elijah's latest 'meal'. And what a poor, sympathy-worth, cute meal that was. Its coat was reddish-orange, tinged in white. It looked so soft and cuddly that it could have been a pet, perhaps a cat, something you'd hold in your arms and snuggle with. I felt so sorry for it, I wanted to help it but it was practically dead, so there was nothing I could do to help it now. Except..

I slowly passed my hand on it's soft fur, trying to soothe it and help it peacfully 'Cross over' or whatever.  The poor thing shuddered one last time before it finally went still. I had started to pull my hand away when an unfortunately familiar voice echoed inside my mind.

'Keep your hand there.'

On impulse, I shrieked and removed my hand instantly. It was the same creepy soft whisper calling to me again, not nearly as strong as it was in my dream.

'Touch the fox, Melody.' It cooed again.

I silently weighed my options, Why would the crazy psychotic voice in my head want me to touch the fox? It had said before that it can help me with my abilities, and I couldn't help but feel a tinge of curiosity. Besides what harm would the fox cause me when it's dead? I knew I shouldn't, but slowly and reluctantly, I re-applied my hand on it's fur and squeezed my eyes shut, pained by the sight of the poor dead animal, which, fifteen seconds later, didn't seem to be dead anymore. In fact, it looked quite vibrant as it jumped on it's four legs in an instant, gave me an intense long stare which looked far too intelligent for an animal, then disappeared into the woods leaving me to wonder what the hell had just happened.

I made it up to my room and slammed the door behind me, hands shaking. The fox was dead, I saw it die. I'm sure of it..or am I? I sank onto my bed and before I had a chance to go over the events of this fruitful morning and go crazy trying to make sense of it, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, remember when I told you I had lots of cool friends and that I'll introduce you so that we'll all be besties?"

"Hey, Caroline. I'm doing great, thanks for asking." I rolled my eyes.

"Can I introduce you to them tonight?" She didn't even skip a beat.

"Thanks for totally disappearing on me at Klaus's dinner by the way."

"Well, then let me make it up to you! Tonight, 7 o'clock at the grill. I'm having a small get together for you. I even told them all about you and they like you already!" 

"Uh...why do I have the feeling that you don't take no for an answer?"

"Because I don't. Besides, why would anyone say no to me? So, you're coming?"

"Depends. Can I bring a friend?" I'm going to need Vaughn for this.

"Course!"

"Then it's settled! See you at 7."

Later that evening at the grill my phone chirped in my pocket, surprising me enough that I dropped my fork. It clattered noisily onto my plate, but that wasn't enough to interrupt Caroline, who was in the middle of monologuing about how she managed to get everyone together.