Moonlight | Lucien Castle

Chapter 17

"I can't go in there."

She was on the verge of an anxiety attack. She'd never had one of those before, but she had heard of them, and she had a feeling that she was about to experience one for the first time. She was trembling, struggling to breathe, holding her head in her hands and wondering if the world was slowly turning upside down.

"What are you talking about?" asked Cami, feeling incredibly confused. "What do you mean he killed you?"

"That man," said Amaris, her voice cracking as she gestured to the building. "His face... I could never forget his face... he's the one that tore out my throat. He's the one that sent me to the Other Side."

Cami urged her to sit down on a nearby bench. "Breathe. Talk to me."

Amaris's lip trembled. "I couldn't find my siblings... no matter how hard I tried. It seemed that there were multiple leads, trying to guide me different ways. Italy then France then Germany, and when I returned to my Pack's settlement, I thought there was a lead in America and I followed it... I heard someone mentioning Klaus Mikaelson's name but when I came upon the man that was supposedly him..."

"Good evening," she said, arriving behind an abandoned building to meet the man who she'd been tracking. The one called Klaus Mikaelson. He had his back to her, and she moved closer, heart pounding in her chest in anticipation.

He turned to face her, and she frowned. He didn't look like the drawings of Klaus that she'd found in Ansel's journal. She had procured paintings made by Klaus, depicting the faces of his siblings using berries. This was not what Klaus Mikaelson looked like.

The man could smell her blood, and she jumped back when the blackened veins appeared under his eyes. "Wait," she said fearfully. "Don't—"

She tried to fight for her life, but it wasn't enough. He'd pinned her to a wall, beginning to feed hungrily, as if he hadn't had blood in quite awhile. She was going limp in his arms, and the last thing she remembered was a very painful sensation throughout her whole neck as he finished her off by ripping out a large chunk of her throat.

"I need to go home," said Amaris shakily. "Whoever that is... that vampire... he's a thousand years old." She gazed up at the sky, which was starting to darken. "It's a full moon, if I don't want to turn, then I need to get to the Compound to meditate. Elijah took Hope to see Hayley, Kol is with Davina dealing with some problem she had with the witches, Freya is partying... the place is empty, I should head there n—"

Klaus suddenly appeared in front of them. "I thought I heard you both out here," he said, beginning to lead them inside, not noticing how Amaris was trying to resist. "I suppose later is better than never, but you are late, indeed."

They entered the venue, and Amaris immediately turned away, trying to wiggle free of Klaus's grasp so that his vampire pal wouldn't see her. "Amaris," he said sharply. "What are you doing?"

"Let me go," she pleaded. "Klaus, please, I would like to be here to support you, but I can't be here!"

"Why?" he demanded, keeping a firm hold on her. She could sense the man at the bar was looking at them. Would he recognize her? She doubted it. She would have just been another victim to him. One of many.

"Who is that man you were talking to?" asked Cami, noticing that he seemed to be considering coming over to them.

"An old acquaintance," said Klaus hesitantly. "Nothing more."

"'Old acquaintance?'" asked the man at the bar loudly. "You wound me!"

"We can discuss my discourteous friend Lucien another time." He raised a brow at Cami. "I thought you weren't going to come."