Heart Of Darkness (Editing has been put on hold))

Chapter 17: Praise or Disdain?

"Klaus? Klaus?" Katherine called out walking down the seemingly endless hallways of the mansion. As a vampire she always loved to pick out lavish homes whenever she was in a town for longer than a few days. But now as a human, she couldn't think of anything more exhausting. "Damn it Klaus. You have vampire hearing. I'm pretty sure you can hear me."

"Yes, I'm certain the entirety of New Orleans can hear you as well, even without enhanced hearing." Klaus suddenly spoke up, appearing behind her. "What? Why are you shouting?"

She jumped slightly but quickly turned to face him, doing her best to appear unaffected. "I was just...well I didn't know where you were for one." She grumbled crossing her arms. "And two, I want to take Hayley out tonight." Ever since that day in the nursery, Katherine made it her mission to avoid Klaus as much as possible. She didn't like the strange nervous feeling that came when he said the things he said that day. Therefore she decided to do what she did best as a vampire, ignore it. It had been working great so far and Klaus hadn't seemed to notice or mind for the past month.

"Are you joking? Because that's what it sounds like to me."

"I'm serious. She's been cooped up in here for almost two months. The one time you let her out was to go grocery shopping with Elijah a month ago. That's not exactly a recipe for a good time." During the time she had been here, Katherine started to get closer to Hayley. It was weird at first, talking to someone without having some type of self serving plan in mind. But soon she got used to it, and now the two were actually friends. At least she thought so. She never actually had a real friend before.

"No matter the case, the answer is still no. Not until I resolve everything I need to resolve." And even then, Klaus knew he would probably not let her go out alone.

"She's expecting. It's not healthy to-"

"Katerina. I said no. Now if you'll excuse me, I was busy before you interrupted me."

"I'll tell Elijah about our deal." Katherine spoke up, mainly in a desperate attempt to get him to agree. Hayley owed her big time if it actually worked. So far the fact that he stopped in his tracks seemed like a good sign.

"Are you blackmailing me?" Klaus questioned, slowly turning to look at her. "Because I assure you that would not end well for you."

"I'm not blackmailing you." She said and crossed her arms. "I'm simply reminding you, that we have a deal."

"Yes. We do. One that involves you staying here and me purchasing clothing and other vain things that fuel your shallow personality." He confirmed as he glared at her.

Katherine narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating his wording in the slightest. But she knew she couldn't get caught up in that. Her pride would have to be wounded if it meant she could get what she wanted. "Right. Except you referred to it as anything I desired. And I desire to go out with Hayley tonight."

Klaus sighed heavily. He definitely wasn't in the mood to be dealing with all of this. He had enough trying to sabotage Marcel. He couldn't be dealing with an obnoxious doppelgänger as well. "One condition. You take Rebekah or Elijah with you." It was the only way he slightly trusted Hayley to be out of the house.

Katherine wrinkled her nose, naturally displeased with the idea. "Do I have to? I mean I was planning on going to a club. We both know Elijah would sooner die. And, Rebekah hates me last time I checked."

"Oh well, what a shame then. It appears you'll be staying in tonight."

Katherine glared at him, already knowing he had done that on purpose just by his response, and the smirk that now coated his lips. "Not so fast. I just asked a question. If that's your condition then I'll take it. But good luck convincing Rebekah or Elijah to accompany Hayley and me to the club." She snorted and moved past him. "I think you'd have better luck teaching a monkey to dance but you know, knock yourself out."