act three, chapter two: the hybrid

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They had been walking in the mountains for hours now. Stefan was carrying an unconscious Ray on his shoulders, while Klaus enjoyed the sight of him, making him annoyingly chipper for someone who had spent his entire summer looking for a pack.

In Klaus' arms, Buffy was cradled carefully, her head resting against his chest. She had twisted her ankle earlier after stepping on a loose rock, and though she'd stubbornly insisted she could walk it off, Klaus had silenced her protests by scooping her up without warning. He had offered her blood, but Buffy had refused, muttering something about not wanting to risk him killing her and making her a vampire.

"This is ridiculous." Buffy grumbled, glaring up at him. "I'm not a damsel in distress, you know."

"I'm well aware of that, love." Klaus replied, his smirk never wavering. "But even you have to admit, you're not exactly mountain-ready with that ankle of yours."

"I can manage." she shot back, though her wince betrayed her. "And this is just giving you another excuse to act all smug."

Klaus chuckled, adjusting his hold on her as he stepped over a particularly uneven patch of ground. "You wound me, Buffy Summers. I'm simply being chivalrous."

"This is so not what I signed up for." Buffy muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she crossed her arms against Klaus' chest. "If anyone ever asks me, I'd say werewolf hunts are overrated."

Klaus smiled amused at her before turning his head to the Salvatore.

"You okay?" Klaus asked, glancing sideways at him. "Is Ray getting heavy?"

Stefan adjusted the weight on his shoulders, his expression blank. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure about that?" Klaus pressed, his voice mocking. "We've been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or, I don't know, a little sit-down..."

Stefan cut him off, his voice sharp. "I get that we're stuck together, but if we could maybe just skip the chitchat, that'd be great."

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

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

"For real! We could've been at a beach right now!" Buffy commented.

"Thanks to our pal Ray, we've found ourselves a pack." Klaus stopped walking and gestured ahead. "There."

Stefan followed his gaze, his eyes narrowing. A clearing came into view, dotted with tents and a campfire. It was the werewolf pack they'd been tracking. Without a word, Stefan stepped forward, carrying Ray into the camp. As the werewolves smelled a vampire entering their camp, they turned to look at him just for Stefan to dump Ray's body on the ground like it was a garbage bag.

"Ray, oh, my God!" A worried woman rushed by his side. "What's going on? Who are you?" She asked, looking up at the two men.

Klaus put Buffy down on the stone, before joining Stefan again. "The important question is who am I. Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus."

The woman's eyes went open wide as another man pulled her back. "You're the hybrid."

"You've heard of me." Klaus said, not exactly surprised. "You've heard of me. Fantastic."

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Klaus and Stefan sat down on either side of Buffy, as if to shield her from the werewolves who, as the moon would soon rise higher in the sky, would transform into their feral forms. Buffy sat stiffly between them, her arms crossed as every person's eyes was on them.

"It's fascinating, really." Klaus began, his tone almost conversational. "A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun. A true hybrid." A groan interrupted him as Ray stirred and woke up. "Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic." Klaus said with a sly smile.

Ray clutched his chest, his expression pained. "What's happening to me?"

Klaus turned to Stefan. "Care to explain?"

Stefan stood up and addressed the group. "Are any of you human? Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition. If he doesn't get it, he'll die."

"What about her?" The woman who had rushed over to Ray a few minutes ago, pointed at the blonde by Klaus' side.

Buffy's eyes snapped to the woman, narrowing with defiance. "Excuse me?"

Klaus let out an amused chuckle, his gaze shifting lazily to the werewolf. "Her? Oh, love, I wouldn't recommend that. She's... off the menu." Klaus scanned the group. "Doesn't take much, just a sip. Anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend, along for the ride?" His gaze landing on a man, but before Klaus could mutter another word, a woman pointed at the blonde on the rock.

"What about her?" She asked, sensing that Buffy was human.

"She's off-limits." Klaus simply shrugged as a few veins appeared under his eyes as everyone's attention switched to Buffy, feeling protective off the girl who didn't look anyone in the eyes because she knew what Klaus was gonna do.

"You." Before anyone could react, Klaus grabbed the man's arm and bit down, forcing him to the ground in front of Ray. The woman from earlier cried out in protest, but Klaus silenced her with a hand around her throat.

"If you don't drink it, Ray, I will." Stefan said, his voice low and menacing. "Problem is, I don't know how to stop."

Klaus released the woman, addressing her with a chilling smile. "It's the new order, sweetheart. You join us, or you die."

"I'd rather die than be a vampire." she spat defiantly.

"Wrong choice." Klaus said, his tone devoid of pity. He forced his blood into her mouth before snapping her neck. "She'll thank me for that later." Klaus muttered as Ray drank the blood offered to him. Klaus' yellow eyes glowed as he surveyed the horrified pack. "Okay." He said, his fangs bared and the veins under his eyes noticeable. "Who's next?"

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"There. Good as new. Now you relax, okay, mate? We're gonna need you when the rest of them wake up." Klaus spoke to the human on the ground who he had just fed his blood.

Meanwhile Ray was seated on the rock, clutching his body and shivering violently, his breaths coming in uneven gasps. Blood dripped from his nose, and his skin was pale, his veins darkening unnaturally. "They're dead. They're all dead."

"Ah, he's through his transition. He should be feeling better soon." Klaus spoke, taking a look at the man, who looked around at the bodies of his pack.

"So is this your master plan? Build an army of hybrid slaves?" Stefan asked Klaus, leaning against a tree.

"No, not slaves. Soldiers. Comrades." Klaus simply replied.

"For what war, might I ask?"

"Oh, you don't arm yourself after war has been declared, Stefan," Klaus replied smoothly, his tone almost patronizing. "You build your army so big that no one ever dares to pick a fight in the first place."

"And you're so sure they'll be loyal?" Stefan countered, his voice cutting through the tense air.

Klaus chuckled darkly, stepping closer to Ray, who was now groaning and gripping his chest. "Loyalty isn't difficult when you're on the winning team. That's a lesson you'll learn, my friend, once you finally shake that horribly depressive chip off your shoulder."

Stefan let out a humorless laugh. "So that's why you're keeping me around? To witness my attitude adjustment?"

Klaus crouched next to Ray, tilting his head as he studied him. Blood was now leaking from Ray's eyes, trickling down his face like tears, but just red ones. Klaus frowned, his usual smugness giving way to confusion. "You'll know why I'm keeping you around when I decide you're ready to know."

But as Klaus examined Ray more closely, his frown deepened. "Something's wrong." He muttered.

"That shouldn't be happening, should it?" Stefan asked, standing up more straight.

"Well, obviously." Klaus snapped, irritation flickering in his voice.

Buffy, who had been sitting next to Ray, finally broke her silence. "Hate to say it, but your 'master plan' is looking a little... off-brand." She said with a dry, sarcastic tone. "Maybe this hybrid thing isn't as foolproof as you think."

Klaus shot her a sharp glare, his frustration now evident. "Not helpful, love."

"Not trying to be." Buffy replied with a shrug.

"You said it was gonna feel better." Ray asked with a shaky voice. "Then why doesn't it feel better?"

"Some master race." Stefan spoke with amusement as he saw Klaus' plan to make more hybrids failing right in front of them, sharing a smirk with Buffy.

"Lose the attitude." Klaus warned him as the woman who had offered Buffy to be the human whose blood Ray would have to drink to become a hybrid, woke up with a loud gasp.

"Derek, come feed your girlfriend." Derek stood up as soon as the words left Klaus' lips. And since the original hybrid wasn't focused on him anymore, Ray snarled before making a few jumps over other rocks, before leaving the camp at a quick pace/

"Well, go get him." Klaus looked at Stefan, expectedly.

"Be careful!" Buffy called after her friend as he disappeared. "Don't get distracted by any squirrels, Stef!" She snickered as she saw Stefan glaring back at her.

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It was night time and Stefan still hadn't returned. It kind of gave Buffy a déjà vu to the day in the bar, where Stefan left to deal with Damon.

"Bad news, my friend. End of the road for you." The human didn't move or even try to save his own life as Klaus killed him by drying him off his blood. He pushed Derek's body into the fire, and quickly took notice of Derek's girlfriend staggering closer to him. "Careful love, there's only one Alpha here." He spoke with a smirk, but that quickly faltered as he looked around to see all the other werewolves off the pack, looking like Ray had done before he left and now like the girl in front of him. "Bloody hell."

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Stefan walked back to the camp, Ray's limp body draped over his shoulders. The rest of the pack lay scattered on the ground, lifeless, their blood soaking into the earth. Klaus was standing near the center, his expression tense as he watched Stefan approach.

Stefan dropped Ray's body to the ground with a thud, his face grim. Klaus glanced at the lifeless werewolves before turning to Stefan. "They went rabid. Some of them, I killed," Klaus said, his voice laced with frustration. "The others just... bled out. In the end... they're all dead."

Klaus's anger flared as he yelled and threw the bottle of beer in his hand, watching it smash against a rock. "I did everything I was told!" He shouted, his voice raw with emotion. "I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelgänger!"

Stefan shifted uncomfortably as he mentioned Elena, his gaze flickering from Buffy to Klaus. Klaus finally turned to Stefan, his eyes narrowing. "You look like hell."

Stefan's expression hardened, but he didn't flinch. "Last I checked, I'm dying and you don't want to heal me."

Klaus didn't respond. His eyes then flickered back to Ray's body, still lying lifeless on the ground. "I had to take him out. I didn't have a choice." Stefan continued, his voice quiet, almost regretful. "I failed you. I'm sorry. Do what you have to do."

Klaus's gaze darkened. "It should have worked." He said. Then, without warning, Klaus turned around, grabbed an empty bottle of beer from the rock, and bit into his own hand. Blood began to pour from his wound as he clenched his fist, the blood pooling into the bottle.

He held it out to Stefan. "Bottoms up. We're leaving." Stefan took it from Klaus's hand without a word. He brought it to his lips and drank the blood. "It appears you're the only comrade I have left." He said, before picking up the blonde from the rock and making his way back over to the car.

"I'm sorry, Klaus." Buffy muttered. She knew why it wasn't working, but something about his outburst did make her feel a bit sorry for him, because she knew he wanted those hybrids so badly. She wasn't sure why, but hearing his frustration made her feel a pang of sympathy for him and she hated herself for feeling that.

Klaus shot her a brief look, his gaze softening as he wasn't used to this side of her. His jaw tightened, but his voice was low and steady when he spoke. "It's not your fault, love." he replied quietly. "I just don't understand why it isn't working. I did everything. Everything they told me to do."

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Katherine x

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WORDS: 2114

POSTED: TUESDAY 21/01/2025

WRITTEN: TUESDAY 21/01/2025