02. The Hybrid

Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

"Are you okay?" Klaus asked Stefan, as the trio climbed up smoky mountains, the place Ray had told Klaus his pack met up for full moons, a dead Ray across Stefan's shoulders, "Is Ray getting heavy?".

"I'm fine" an annoyed Stefan replied.

"You sure about that?" Klaus asked, loving annoying Stefan, "We've been walking for quite some time now, do you need some water or a little sit-down?".

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

"Amen to that" Lily mumbled.

"So much brooding" Klaus taunted, "Your self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend".

"Maybe it's because I'm a little tired of hunting werewolves" Stefan snapped, "We've been at it all summer".

"Thanks to our pal Ray, we've found ourselves a pack" Klaus informed, just as the trio arrived at a campsite.

Stefan walked forward and dumped Ray's body on to the ground.

"Ray, oh my god" a shocked woman called out, rushing over to the dead werewolf, "What's going on?", the woman then looked at Stefan, "Who are you?".

"The important question is, who am I?" Klaus corrected, standing next to Stefan while Lily stood behind the two, leaning against a tree and just observing the scene, "Please forgive the intrusion, my name is Klaus".

The woman stood up and looked at Klaus in shock, "You're the hybrid" she realised.

A smirk formed on Klaus's face, "You've heard of me, fantastic".

***

"It's fascinating, actually" Klaus said, as him and Stefan sat on a log of wood while Lily stayed standing, "A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun, a true hybrid", suddenly Ray eyes opened and he let out a gasp, "Excellent timing Ray, very dramatic".

"What's happening to me?" a confused Ray asked.

"Stefan?" Klaus called out, ignoring Ray's question.

Stefan stood up, "Are any of you human?" he asked, "Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition to vampire, if he doesn't get it, he will die".

"Doesn't take much" Klaus assured, "Just a sip, anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend along for the ride".

"Klaus" Lily called out, causing the hybrid to look at her, she then pointed towards a man, letting Klaus know he was human.

Klaus looked at the man, a smirk formed on his face, realising Lily was right, the man infront of him was indeed human, "You", before the man could even think about running away, Klaus speeded over to him and bit into his arm, causing the man to let out a loud yell, but Klaus ignored the yell and pushed the man towards Stefan, who shoved him to the ground.

"No!".

Before the woman could help who seemed to be her boyfriend, Klaus stopped her by grabbing her by her throat.

"You don't drink it Ray, I will" Stefan threatened, holding the man's wrist near Ray, "Problem is, I don't know how to stop".

"It's the new order, sweetheart" Klaus informed the woman, "You join us or you die".

"I'd rather die than be a vampire".

"Wrong choice" Klaus stated, as veins appeared under his eyes, he then bit into his wrist and forced his blood down the woman's throat, while on the other side Ray also bit into the man's arm, completing his transition to a hybrid, "She'll thank me for that later" he said, after snapping the woman's neck and throwing her body to the ground, he then licked the blood off of his fingers, "Okay, who's next?" he asked, with his eyes glowing yellow and veins underneath his eyes.

***

"There" Klaus said, healing the one human in a camp full of werewolves, "Good as new, now you relax, okay, mate?" he compelled, "We're gonna need you when the rest of them wake up", Klaus stood up and looked over to a shivering Ray, Lily stood near him leaning against a tree while Stefan walked over to her.

"They're dead" Ray cried, "They're all dead".

"Well, he's through his transition, he should be feeling better soon" Klaus said.

"Why are you doing this?" a confused Lily asked, "Why are you building an army of hybrids Klaus? Armies are build for war, but as far as I know, we're not in a war".

"Well, you don't arm yourself after war has been declared Lily" Klaus replied, "You build your army so big that no one ever dares pick the fight".

"What makes you so sure that they'll be loyal?" a curious Stefan asked.

"Well, it's not difficult to be loyal when you're on the winning team" Klaus replied, "That's something you will learn once you shake that horribly depressive chip off your shoulder".

Stefan let out a bitter chuckle, "That's why you're keeping me and Lily around?" he asked, "To witness our attitude adjustment?".

"You'll know why I'm keeping you around when I've decided that I want you to know" Klaus said, as Lily's attention was suddenly taken by Ray, she bent down and looked into Ray's eyes and to her horror, blood was coming out of his eyes, "And about me keeping Lily, that is none of your business".

"Of course it's my business" Stefan snapped, "She's my best friend, I'm not going to let you hurt her".

"My intention is not to hurt her, Stefan" Klaus defended.

"Could of fooled me" Stefan taunted.

"Guys!" Lily called out, stopping Klaus and Stefan's argument, "Stop arguing and look at Ray", Lily looked at Klaus, "Is bleeding from the eyes normal when becoming a hybrid?".

"No" a worried Klaus said, putting his hands on Ray's face and forcing him to face him and seeing the same thing as Lily, "Something's wrong".

Stefan bent down and looked at Ray, "Huh" he said, "That shouldn't be happening, should it?".

"Well, obviously" Klaus said.

"So, now what?" a confused Lily asked.

"I have no idea" Klaus admitted, not knowing what to do next.

***

"You said it was gonna feel better" a shivering Ray told Klaus, "Why doesn't it feel better?", but Klaus had no answer for him, as even he didn't know what went wrong.

"Some master race" Stefan taunted, making Lily shake her head at him.

"Lose the attitude" a frustrated Klaus snapped.

"Maybe you missed something in the how to make a hybrid guide?" Lily suggested.

Before Klaus could say anything to Lily, another werewolf woke up with a gasp, feeling extremely out of it.

"Derek" Klaus called, "Come feed your girlfriend".

A compelled Derek stood up and Klaus grabbed his arm, but before he could bit into it, Ray took the opportunity of the trio's distraction to growl and then speed away.

"Go get him" Klaus ordered Stefan.

Stefan nodded and quickly speeded after Ray, Lily went to follow but Klaus quickly grabbed her wrist and stopped him.

"Klaus, let go of me!" an annoyed Lily yelled.

Klaus pulled Lily against his chest, "You're not going".

"Ray is out of it, what if he bites Stefan?" a concerned Lily.

"Well, lucky for Stefan, even if Ray does bite Stefan, the cure to a werewolf bite is near him" Klaus reminded.

"I can help him" Lily argued.

"No, Lily" a stubborn Klaus stated.

"Why not?" Lily challenged.

"Can you for once not be stubborn?" an annoyed Klaus asked.

"Can you for once stop trying to get everyone to live their lives by following your orders?" Lily retorted.

Klaus opened his mouth to say something, but the two werewolves argument was cut short when one by one all the other werewolves also started to wake up.

***

As the sun set, Klaus turned to the human who had finished feeding all the werewolves his blood, "Bad news, my friend" he said, placing his hand on the human's shoulder and forcing him to face him, "End of the road for you", Klaus then bit into the human's neck and drank his blood till he dropped dead.

"Klaus" a worried Lily warned, seeing a werewolf make her way towards Klaus, a murderous look on her face.

"Careful, love" Klaus warned, standing infront of Lily protectively, "There's only one alpha here".

Lily looked around and saw all there werewolves Klaus turned in a zombie like state, some bleeding out, some turning aggressive.

"Something is seriously wrong, Klaus" Lily said.

Klaus looked around and realised Lily was right, something had gone wrong with all his hybrids, "Bloody hell" he whispered.

Suddenly, a werewolf attacked Lily from behind, but before he could cause serious damage Lily flipped him over her shoulder and on to the ground, and Klaus ended up ripping his heart out.

"Klaus, they're all going rabid" Lily realised, as her and Klaus stood back to back and watched as all the werewolves started walking towards them.

"Don't hesitate, kill anyone who tries to harm you" Klaus ordered.

Lily nodded, "Don't have to tell me twice" she said, before snapping the neck of a werewolf. 

***

Stefan came back to the camp with a dead Ray over his shoulder and immediately he was shocked seeing the state of the camp, dead bodies were everywhere, a devasted Klaus sat on the log, drinking beer, while Lily leaned her against a tree, feeling her transformation coming, both Lily and Klaus's hands were covered in blood.

"They went rabid" Klaus informed, standing up as Stefan placed a dead Ray on to the ground, "Some of them me and Lily killed, the others just bled out, in the end, they're all dead".

Suddenly an angry Klaus threw his beer bottle to the ground and started shouting frustration, "I did everything I was told!" he yelled, "I should be able to turn them, I broke the curse, I killed a werewolf, I killed a vampire, I killed the doppelganger".

A shocked Stefan looked at Klaus, he knew why Klaus's hybrids had failed, it was because the doppelganger was still alive, something neither Klaus or Lily knew, but before he or Klaus could say anything else, their attention went towards Lily, who let out a scream and fell to the floor, clutching her stomach in pain, her transformation had officially started.

"Go" Klaus told Stefan.

"I can't leave her like this" Stefan protested.

"You can't do anything to help her Stefan" Klaus reminded, "Go sit in the car, I've got this".

Stefan looked at Lily, who looked at him and gave him a small nod, "Go Stefan" she said, groaning in pain, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt Stefan.

After giving Lily one last glance, Stefan finally left and Klaus walked over to Lily and kneeled infront of her, Lily looked at him with her eyes glowing yellow.

"You really need to stop fighting the transformation" Klaus said.

"I can't help it" Lily snapped, "I love being a werewolf, but I hate the pain".

"Most werewolves feel that way" Klaus teased, making Lily glare at him, in return Klaus simply chuckled, "Come on Lily, stop fighting it and just let yourself transform".

"I'm trying, Klaus" Lily cried, as the bones in her back started breaking.

"There you go" Klaus said, standing up and taking a step back from Lily, "Stop fighting and let it takeover".

Lily followed Klaus's instruction and stopped fighting the pain and just let it consume her, Klaus watched in fascination as Lily transformed into her black wolf, after she had finished transforming, Lily looked at Klaus, with a slight tilt to her head.

"Are you gonna attack me?" Klaus asked, kneeling infront of Lily's wolf, he held his hand out, "What's it going to be Lily? Am I your enemy or friend?".

Lily's wolf stared at Klaus for a second, she then placed her paw on Klaus hand, making a smile form on Klaus's face but before he could say anything, Lily had turned around and ran into the woods to enjoy her wolf form before she turned back into human, leaving behind a smiling and fascinated Klaus behind.

***

Presenting 2x02 of Fire & Flame!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Lily, Stefan and Klaus in Smokey Mountains for Klaus to create hybrids?

Thoughts on Klaus and Stefan's brief argument about Lily?

Thoughts on Klaus and Lily killing the failed hybrids together?

Thoughts on Lily and Klaus's small little moment after Lily's transformation?