Blood Enemies • The Vampire Diaries [2]

II. SWEAR BY THE MOON

Klaus, Stefan and I walked through the forest of the Smoky Mountains, in search of some wolf pack, in silence. That was the entirety of my life after seeing Stefan ; complete silence. I didn't know what to say to him, and it seemed as though he felt the same. Most of the quiet was filled with Klaus talking, making demands, telling us which way to go, little things like that.

I was now - just as Stefan - under Klaus' control, though he didn't compel us. But, it wasn't exactly like I had a choice.

I glanced over at the younger Salvatore brother who was walking to my right, Ray - the man that had been on the pool table - dangling over his shoulders. I wondered if he thought I was angry at him for compelling me, wondered if he felt guilty for that too, on top of everything that Klaus had made him do.

As he gently turned his head, he caught my gaze, and I could see the hurt in his eyes, the pain, and all I wanted to do was tell him that it was going to be okay. It would be okay, maybe not that day, or the next, maybe not in a year, but eventually everything would get better ; it had to.

Becoming a vampire, my emotions were so heightened, but there was also this part of me that could hope for a better and happier, future, because my future was now infinite.

He was my hope.

"You okay?" Klaus spoke up from beside me, glancing over at Stefan, who quickly took his eyes off of me. "Is Ray getting heavy?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure about that?" Klaus continued. "You know, we've been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or a little sit-down..."

"You know," Stefan said. "I get that we're, uh...we're stuck together, but if we could maybe just skip the chitchat, it'd be great."

"So much brooding." The hybrid commented. "Your self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend."

"Maybe it's 'cause I'm a little tired of hunting werewolves." Stefan responded, as neared a clearing in the woods where there was a campsite set up. "We've been at it all summer."

"Thanks to our pal Ray, we found ourselves a pack. There." We stopped for a second, looking out at the camp, before Stefan walked into the site, dropping Ray down to the ground.

"Ray!" A woman gasped, hurrying over to Ray as Klaus and I joined beside Stefan. "Oh, my God. What's going on? Who are you?"

"The important question is who am I." Klaus spoke up, taking her attention from the Salvatore to the hybrid. "Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus."

"You're the hybrid." She realized, as everyone else in the camp walked over to us.

"You've heard of me." Klaus smirked. "Fantastic."

___________________________

Klaus, Stefan and I were sitting on a large log by the campsite, as Klaus spoke and explained what he wanted from them, about himself. "It's fascinating, actually..." He said, and I thought back to when I'd first met him, all that he'd told me. "A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun. A true hybrid."

I thought back to New Orleans, to the stories he told me that seemed so real, and I wondered if he'd been lying about them, too. I mean, why would anything he told me have any truth to it?