02 | The Homecoming Queen

     𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 intently, his eyes tracing the features of Dakota's face and recalling Mary's in his mind. They really were quite similar. They just have a few differences.

"We knew her when she was about to be and finally the Queen Consort of France. When she went back to Scotland, we lost touch. The next time we saw her again was, well..." Klaus trailed off. He proceeded to examine the girl before him, the exact copy of the woman who once reveled in power.

"The Queen was way prettier. Although, I suppose it has something to do with her grit and the fact that she has a crown on her head. Such a shame her head wasn't up for grabs when they executed her." Klaus said. Dakota seemed frightened by the fact that the man before her did not so much as flinch as he talked about the severed head of the Queen of Scotland. "You look...weak."

"I didn't know weakness could affect looks." Dakota managed to reply.

"Well, she was less damsel in distress, and it made her admirable." He replied. "You should try to do the same."

"How can I when we're talking about severed heads?" She said, her voice shaking in the process.

Klaus sighed deeply before taking the young woman's face into his hands, his touch gentle and careful. He caressed her cheeks with his thumbs while he stared into her eyes.

"Calm down, love. We'll have a chat later on." Klaus said.

The redhead didn't break eye contact as the trembling of her body slowly dissipated. Her breathing returned back to normal, she could think straight again without worrying about her lungs bursting.

"Hmm." Klaus narrowed his eyes at the redhead before pulling away from her and turning towards the others. "Is she a friend to you lot?"

"Yes." Bonnie shortly answered.

"Then, I suppose you're not very good friends if you're letting her walk around in a town crawling with vampires without vervain." Klaus pointed out.

"Oh, wow, now we're talking about vampires." Dakota whispered to herself, a sarcastic laugh escaping her lips. She was quite certain that she was losing her mind.

"You're clearly incapable of keeping her protected so I shall hold on to her until further notice." Klaus said with a smile on his face.

"No—" Bonnie tried to get to Dakota only to get blocked by Klaus speeding towards her, stopping just in front of the witch.

"You." Klaus said. "I assume you're the reason Elena is still walking around alive?"

"That's right. If you wanna blame someone, blame me." Bonnie answered.

"Oh, there's no need for blame, love. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem, I'm gonna have you find the fix." Klaus explained.

Not a second later, the double doors of the gym burst open and in came Tyler being dragged by Rebekah.

"Get off me!" Exclaimed Tyler, trying to break free from the original vampire's grasp as she pulled her towards her brother.

"Hush now." Rebekah replied.

Dakota watched as the woman reached them, her body remaining calm yet her mind screaming profanities that would make God Himself disown her.

"I'd like you all to meet my sister, Rebekah. Word of warning, she can be quite mean." Klaus introduced.

"Don't be an ass." Rebekah replied with the same thick English accent before shoving the werewolf towards Klaus.

"Leave him alone." Elena demanded, worried for the safety of another of her friends.

"I'm gonna make this very simple." Klaus dragged Tyler slightly away from the other for enough space while he presented the werewolf to his friends like his own slave. "Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition."

"Vampires, werewolves, witches, hybrids." Dakota recited to herself. She ran her palms down her face in frustration. She wished she was dreaming. She wished this was a nightmare. Those things were a myth. They don't exist. But it is hard to deny that when it is right in front of you.

"It's quite horrible, actually." Klaus added before bringing his own wrist to his lips, biting down on his own flesh before pushing it to Tyler's mouth, forcing him to drink the original hybrid's blood. The werewolf struggled in Klaus's grip as he was forced to down his blood.

Dakota took a step forward with a shocked look on her face, but still calm. It was like she was stuck in a body that did not have a care in the world.

"I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler's sake," Klaus gripped both sides of the werewolf's head. "You better hurry."

And he snapped Tyler's neck.

• ─────────────── •

It's been days since the Senior Prank Night went terribly wrong. Dakota did not exactly know how her friends were after that incident since she was temporarily removed most of the night. When she woke up, she was already lying on a soft mattress, a Queen-sized bed. Klaus appreciated the irony, Dakota didn't.

Unlike Klaus, Rebekah took one look at the doppelgänger and decided that she was not worth entertaining. Dakota noticed the smirk that appeared in Klaus's face at the sight of her and Rebekah's exchange—or lack thereof. He hasn't told her why.

She had been dragged around by Klaus, recently to Portland. At first, Dakota thought that he was planning on doing something to her as she was a doppelgänger as well. But as it turns out, Dakota's sole purpose on being pulled into this trip was to be Klaus's companion. Someone to listen to his stories (mostly about the Queen), someone to rant to when something didn't go according to plan, and someone to annoy. He never really touched her. The only rules were: don't attempt to run, no phones, no asking too many questions, and simply obey.

All Klaus told her is that he will hold on to her for the meantime. He planned to have her there when he'd finally decided to wake Kol–or rather, if he'd finally decided to wake him up. He said it was to lessen Kol's anger towards him since it will be diverted to the woman who had the face of his archnemesis.

Now, after Stefan phoned Klaus as they were strolling around Portland, he was informed that Mikael, his so-called father and the vampire who hunts vampires, was dead. Or rather, daggered. They were now back in Mystic Falls, temporarily and secretly residing in the Lockwood Mansion.

"Quit moping." Dakota whirled around and her eyes landed on the original hybrid that stood on the doorway of her bedroom slash prison cell. Klaus was leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and his face contorted into a frown. Seemed someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

"It's not a good look on you. Never actually seen your face like that before. All...whiny and helpless. I'm starting to see more differences between you and her." He added before pushing against the doorframe, straightening his posture once again and entering the room completely.

"Well, last time I checked, we are two different people. So yeah, we have our differences." Dakota answered.

All the days that she has been stuck with the same man, it's uncertain if she had lost the fear she felt when she first encountered all of this, or Klaus did something to her that's keeping her from screaming bloody murder.

"I've already missed a few days of school. It's my senior year." Dakota added, voicing out her reason why she was in a grumpy mood.

"You are the doppelgänger of the most powerful monarch I've ever met. Why would you concern yourself with silly human things like high school?" Klaus questioned. He had stopped just right in front of Dakota as she stood beside the window. She was looking out when Klaus had come in–wondering what her friends were up to, or if they were even doing any effort to rescue her from the madman.

"Because like you said, I'm just the doppelganger. I really can't stride into the Palace of Scotland and say 'Hey, I look like your dead queen from nearly five centuries ago. Perhaps, you should give me a crown' now, can I?" Dakota argued.

It was remarkable how Klaus hadn't already cut the life out of this girl with that feisty tongue of hers.

"You have humor." Klaus pointed out the obvious.

"And you have problems." she fired back.

"We all have problems, love." He retorted.

Dakota simply rolled her eyes and averted her attention towards the window. There she saw the number of hybrids that scattered around, setting up the party. Tonight was their Homecoming Dance and Dakota has still not attended any of her classes. Klaus assured her that he was going to fix that, and it was her only proof that she would still be alive after this whole thing is over.

Later, after arriving in Mystic Falls, the gym where the dance was supposed to be held was flooded—which Dakota thought was quite unfortunate. Not coincidental though. So there they were, preparing for the party that probably celebrates the death of his father.

"Get dressed, the party starts in an hour." Klaus ordered her.

Dakota arched an eyebrow. "I haven't attended any of my classes but you want me to go to Homecoming?"

"The Queen had never been able to resist a party." He mentioned.

"But I'm not the Queen, remember?" She pointed out.

"Well, the least you can do is try to be like her!" Klaus said, his voice slightly raising in frustration. Dakota was taken aback by the mini outburst of the original hybrid. He seemed to notice the surprise on Dakota's face that it made him compose himself quickly before speaking once again.

"When I leave this wretched town, I will also leave you behind. But I intend to leave you fearless and strong. Because no matter how ordinary you are, no matter how ordinary you want your life to become, as long as you're in Mystic Falls, your life will never know peace." Klaus said, taking a few steps forward as his voice sounded like it dropped an octave lower. "That face of yours can launch an entire army, it can build and destroy nations, it can command a whole civilization, it can make anyone kneel before you. Use that to your advantage, Dakota Grant. Your friends will not be there to help you. They've barely helped you all this time."

Surprisingly, the redhead never broke eye contact with him. Now that she was aware of the whole situation in Mystic Falls and beyond, she was always gonna be in harm's way—either because of being friends with the local supernatural gang or because of her face. The least she could do was prepared.

"Now, wear the dress I bought. Tonight, you're Homecoming Queen." Klaus said before turning around and walked out of the room, leaving Dakota to her thoughts as she got ready for the party.

• ─────────────── •

If Dakota didn't know better, she'd think that the dress Klaus picked out for her was based on his own taste, not Mary's at all. She would think the white homecoming dress that he bought resembling Mary's wedding dress when she married her first husband the late King Francis II was a coincidence.

That's if she didn't know better. And she did.

She understood Klaus trying to make her as close to Mary as possible, but she wasn't going to lie, being constantly compared to her was annoying. Not to mention his non-stop reminder that he should try to be like her because being the normal Dakota Grant is not enough. In a way, it felt degrading.

But he was right. The only way to survive all this was to have at least a fraction of the Queen's fearlessness.

Her dress was white and cut down to just below her knees. It had a sweetheart neckline with a tulle strap tied—the excess tulle fabric flowed down each shoulder like a cape. The top part of the dress was patterned with lace flowers, hugging her figure. The skirt was layered tulle that mimicked a ball gown, only with a much shorter length. It was moderately puffy and flowy, which Klaus thought the young woman would enjoy.

Her dress was matched with modest pearl accessories—pearl necklace, pearl earrings, and pearl bracelet—and a pair of cream stilettos with straps running up her calves. Her hair remained down, effortless curls of flame falling down her back and front. The front pieces were pinned behind her ears, giving a neat and sleek middle parting on her hair. To top it all off, diamond hair gems.

The cool silver and blue tinge of the diamonds against her flaming auburn hair looked like what Dakota imagined to be an epic blood moon, with little bright and shiny stars decorated upon the blanket of the red sky that stretches even beyond the horizon. It was a dream.

"Do you know what wearing white means in France?" Dakota gasped at the sudden arrival of the original hybrid. She didn't need to turn around to see Klaus, she could already see her through the mirror that she was standing in front of.

"You have got to stop doing that. Human heart here." Dakota said to Klaus's reflection before turning around and facing the man himself. "And why?"

"Mourning." Klaus entered the room completely and stopped a couple of feet away from her to take in the beauty of the woman before her. "Queen Catherine de Medici was absolutely enraged when she saw Mary walk down the aisle in her white wedding dress as she was about to be wed to her son. It was quite a scandal."

"Who are we mourning?" She asked.

Klaus took a few steps closer and took her face gently into his hands. "The old Dakota Grant."

Dakota's red lips parted. The original hybrid pulled away and sighed. "Oh, if only my brother Kol could see you now."

"Will he fall in love with me?" Dakota joked, doing a curtsy.

"Definitely not." She rolled her eyes at his response. "Mary's beauty was never an issue to him."

Klaus walked away from her and towards the nightstand beside her bed. Opening one of the drawers, he pulled out a vial of vervain.

"He really hates her that much, huh? Can I ask why?" Dakota said while she watched the original hybrid make his way back to her holding the box.

"The whole thing was a never ending cycle of revenge plans, to be quite frank with you. Kol just felt humiliated the first time they met. He aimed to return the favor. Next thing we knew, they're doing it over and over again." He explained.

Klaus opened the vial and held it out towards the redhead. "Drink."

"What is that?" She asked, eyeing the liquid contained inside.

"Vervain. Keeps you from being compelled and used as a human blood bag." He elaborated.

Dakota raised an eyebrow before taking the vial. "Took you long enough."

"Oh, stop it. It's not like I compelled you again after the night we met. I even reversed that." Klaus defended.

"Well, still not having vervain during the times after that made me feel like at some point, you will." She replied after downing the liquid from the vial. "The party has already started. Aren't we gonna join them?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Klaus smiled.

• ─────────────── •

I took a break from my schoolwork to publish this, now I need to get back lmaooo. I hope you liked this chapter!