Dark Moon | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 10

June 22, 2010

For half the summer, Esmeray was subtly planning his demise.

Esmeray had been staying at the Salvatore Boarding House since the day she arrived in her rags, looking for clothes and a bath. She kept to herself, mostly, and hardly went into town. She remained shut up in her room whenever Elena, Jeremy, or Alaric was there, because she knew they didn't want to see her after what she'd done to Jenna. If she ever went out into the main area, it was either to clean or to talk to Damon and Andie, who were the only people she consistently saw.

In the hours she spent alone, she was thinking of all the ways that she could kill Klaus. Soon enough, Damon had realized what she was doing, and had recruited her to help him track the Original hybrid and his Ripper right-hand-man, Stefan. She performed spells and made charts, occasionally traveling to different places with Damon when Alaric couldn't go, to mark down what they found and tie it to Stefan. They were getting closer and she knew that she had to be ready to use all her power to at least incapacitate Klaus long enough for them to figure out how to properly kill him.

But every full moon, she had to take a break for a few days, because she was completely useless when she was in such pain. She'd go out to the quarry by herself before afternoon set in, and would remove her clothes, preparing another set to wear once she turned back. She'd spent the entire night transforming and screaming, then wake up two days later and get dressed before heading back to the house, where Damon would usually have some breakfast prepared for her.

"You don't have to do that," she'd told him quietly after the third full moon she experienced since she had woken up from the Sleeping Spell.

"It's mostly for me, don't think you're special," he said blandly, though in reality, he felt bad seeing her in such condition. He knew she was isolating herself because she'd been conditioned to think she was a danger to others. At least Tyler Lockwood's transformations happened pretty quickly now, meaning he got to enjoy roaming around as a wolf. He'd turn back into a human with ease, and Caroline would be waiting to come forward with clothes for him to wear.

She half-smiled. "Thank you," she said, shakily sitting down and devouring the plate he'd prepared for her.

Esmeray had thought that maybe she ought to get a job, since she felt guilty living in the luxurious house without paying rent. Knowing Jeremy Gilbert had taken a summer job at the Mystic Grill, she'd mentioned it to Damon one evening when they'd been mapping out more Stefan attacks.

"You want to give up relaxation to go and work as a waitress?" Damon snorted, looking at her like she was crazy. "Lemme rephrase— you want to give up relaxation to go and work as a waitress with Dumb and Dumber, AKA Jeremy and Matt?"

She rolled her eyes. "It can't be that terrible. I have to make money of my own."

"You want a job? Clean the house whenever you want. I'll call you 'the maid' whenever I refer to you, now. There. You're paying rent. Congratulations."

"But I already clean the house because I have nothing better to do."

"Exactly. See, you already got the work experience. You've been promoted to head maid."

At the very least, Esmeray was grateful that not much was expected of her. If she ever did go out, she didn't have a curfew. The only reason she left the house was to find someone whose memories she could take, to continue learning about the modern world. She asked Damon questions and he answered without sarcasm when he realized she was being serious about wanting to know. He let her do whatever she wanted. When she accidentally broke something on the days where she got emotional, he simply told her to fix it or clean it up and to not worry about it.