♡ 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 ♡
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 seventy-four

anti-hero.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

DALLAS GARCIA sat swung back and forth on Stiles' computer chair,  pulling the sleeves of her lavender jumped pulled tightly over her knuckles and tapping her silver heart-shaped rings against the wooden desk as she listened to both the boys bicker.  

"He's a what?" 

"Hybrid, Scott." Stiles waved exasperatedly with his hands. "Half-this half-that kinda hybrid."

"So.. like.. Theo Hybrid?" Scott blinked confusedly while the maneater stared blankly at the boys before her. It was as if the two shared a braincell, frequently passing it between eachother in order to mutter out a simple sentence. 

"No, Scott, not Theo Hybrid." Stiles huffed. "Hybrid Hybrid. You know? Hybrid-y." 

The werewolf shook his head. "No, I don't know because Hybrid-y isn't even a word!"

Contuining to bicker, Stiles narrowed his eyes first. "There's serial killers in town and you're slating me for malapropism?"

Pausing momentarily, Scott copied. "What the hell is malapropism?"

"Looks like someone obviously does not know the english language as well as he pretends he does." The Stilinski hummed smugly before wincing at the glares that potruded through his head from the werewolf infront of him. 

Meanwhile, Dallas watched the two converse back and forth like a disastrous ping pong ball match. It made her dizzy. Each quip of her head made her feel like her brain was sliding around her skill, begging to escape rather than listen to either of them for any longer. 

 If her fate resided in the hands of the boys before her, it would seem her chances of survival had reduced from slim to none. So, instead she swallowed her pride and interjected with the worst line possible. 

"He has a cure." She spoke loudly over their voices until they dimmed. 

Scott turned to her with wide eyes. "A cure for what?"

Her eyes climbed up his figure before settling at his iris. "For whatever it is that makes us.. like this." She chewed on her bottom lip. "He told me he'd give it to me... for the fork."

There was a growing silence that clung to their skin like toxic mold. Each breath oxidized their lungs and poisoned the flow of air from within. Dallas couldn't understand exactly why but the more she spoke, the guiltier she felt. 

"And?"

The Siren fiddled with her heart-shaped rings once more. "I told him no."

Scott didn't seem to understand it. Dallas had complained about being a Siren from day one. From the insatiable hunger, to the painful transformations, to thoughts she didn't want to hear echoing loudly in her ears - it seemed blasphemous she'd want to choose a life like that. 

But she did. 

"It's hard to believe." Dallas flickered her gaze to him just as he opened his mouth to speak. "Isn't it?"

Scott locked eyes with Stiles. Then forced them back onto the teenage girl. "Kinda." He huffed. "I mean, why has Derek never mentioned a cure before if it existed? Even if it did, what'd happen if you'd take it? Your human body is dead."

Dallas had never thought about that before. Her body had began rigormortis before she was shocked back to life with bolts and curses. A little more frankenstein-like than she'd prefer, but that was the black and white jist. 

Stiles, however, did not seem to agree. "Let's not completely rule out the idea of a cure here, kay?" he practically leapt forward, snaking his arm around Dallie's waist and pulling her closer to him while further away from Scott. "She almost got sliced open yesterday cause of this Siren stuff."

Dallas flickered her eyes between the two boys. So they were butting heads. Again. Dallas appreciated Stiles' concern. His undeniable affinty to be the one in her corner no matter the circumstance -- but Dallas didn't have a corner at the moment. Her mind had puzzled all of them into once circular room that kept spinning and spinning around until she felt sick. 

It was true that she hated what Peter had done to her. It was true that being a Siren ruined her life. It was true that it made her feel like a monster rather than a matyr. 

Yet, it was also true that she enjoyed the power. She enjoyed the complexity of her relationship with the earth and it's core element. She adored the way lakes filled up the empty hole inside of her. She'd miss how the sickly sweet taste of blood easily cured her broken bones like chicken soup would feverent fevers.

The expectation that she'd easily flock to the idea of a cure had hurt her. Dallas had tried hard to love herself despite her maneating and monstrous flaws - and half her family wanted her to throw it all away for a chance to have regular bloodstreams flow through her veins and fresh air purify her lungs instead of the saltwater she'd had grown used to tasting.

"Peter made this decision for you, Dal, now it's yours." Stiles clipped her forearms and gently coaxed her to look at him. "Just don't choose something just to please everybody else." 

Dallas felt sick. The world around her had been planted on a spike and slapped into a never-ending spin. Clouds peeled from the planet and settled before her dizzy eyes. Oceans split from their seams and rummaged down her back in a single stream of chills. Volcanoes erupted in her head with each blast of lava screaming at her to make a decision and to make it now.

How could everybody else possibly know her answer before she did? Dallas didn't know what she wanted. A part of her didn't even want to make the choice at all and hide underneath the covers until it all went away.

"Dallas, you have no idea what that cure could do to you. If he is telling the truth." 

They both stared at her intently. Both awaiting an answer she couldn't give. Stiles gave her hand a comforting squeeze and wore a smile that made her worries flee. But then Scott clenched his jaw and gave her a look that made her want to choose her cards carefully - it was all or nothing. 

"I-" She forced her mouth shut as quickly as it had opened. "I'm late for class." 

They had both tried to protest but had their voices echo back from the slammed bedroom door instead. Her back pressed against the wood and her chest rose and fell with each diluted breath. 

Everbody's voices began filling up her skull and repeating in different tones what they thought she should do. She heard the opinions they voiced. And the ones they kept hidden in their mind. The pressure kept building and building and building until the surface began bubbling in a way she couldn't hide.

Hoping to calm the tides of her mind, Dallas let out a steady breath and forced another swallow. 

Then, again, there it was. Something she hadn't heard in months. A faint humming pulling her in. Dropping her bag to the floor, Dallas followed it like a moth to a flame. She could've sworn she heard Stiles call out her name behind her but the footsteps didn't cease. It was a metaphysical string tightening around her waist and dragging her in whether she liked it or not.

Carpet turned to gravel beneath her feet. Gravel turned to mud and mud turned to leaves. Leaves fizzled out into sand and sand hardened into pier wood. 

There was a blink. And then another blink. Until Dallas was surrounded by rock, quartz and lakewater.  

She had remembered walking there. Remembered the need to be there. Yet, she couldn't remember why it had been so important. That was, until her eyes glimmered across the lakes shoreline and burned the back of Marilyn Garcia. Her hands fumbled beneath the sand and wiped away the particles from cloth she retrieved from it. 

"Mom?"

Marilyn jumped, tossing her head sideways and allowing threads of slightly damp hair to drape down her shoulders. Her eyes widened, then softened, while glittering underneath the sunlight in an unreadable expression. "Dallas?" she stood up, hand still gripping the handle of something covered. "Dallas, what are you doing here?"

That was another question she couldn't answer. There had been alot of those lately. Perhaps Dallas should start asking more and answering less. "I.. I don't know." she furrowed her eyebrows and squeezed her eyes shut at the blistering headache. "I heard-"

Marilyn visibly slouched. "Oh, Dallie." She answered for her. "I didn't mean to call you. You shouldn't be here."

Intriguied, Dallas pulled at her hand - and coincidentally, watched as the cloth she had wrapped around it fall to the floor to expose the Tuning Fork gripped beneath her fingers. Marie flickered her gaze between her daughter and it with wide eyes.

Dallie stepped back with a scowl. "I hid that for a reason." 

Marilyn lifted her hand and offered it to the girl. "Dallie, I know. I know, okay? I never should have pushed you into taking the cure. It was stupid -- and controlling of me and I always wanted you to choose your own path. Whatever that is, I don't care. I just need you to take my hand and trust me."

The Garcia eyed it like it was solid poison. 

"Dallas, please." Marilyn begged. "You can't give Klaus this fork."

Curiousity, that had killed her more times than the cat, pricked her tongue. "Why?"

Marilyn clenched her jaw and blinked her glossy eyes. Her hand, still extending, balled up into a fist that exposed the veins that poked out from underneath her strained skin. Teeth clattered from either fear or the cold - Dallas wasn't sure which - while her eyebrows sewn together with a string of gloom. 

"Because he killed your father." 

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

"What?" Dallas laughed out, perplexed. Her heart raced in her chest and words spilled from her mouth. "Shut up, that's not funny."

Marilyn didn't laugh with her. "Dallie.."

"No. Shut up." Dallas shook her head so quick it made stars blot her vision. "Why.. why would you even say that?-"

Dallas felt her shoulders squeeze underneath Marilyn's hands. "Dallas, I saw it." She choked. "The night you left? Of the dinner? Klaus.. he.." She winced as if the memories hurt to recall. "James. He wanted to go after you. Said it wasn't fair that Klaus ambushed you like that.. god, he was livid with him."

"Elijah wanted to stop him." Marilyn blinked away the gloss covering her pupils. "Klaus was riled up. Upset over the comment you made. So Klaus got up from the table. Elijah tried to hold him back. To reason with him.. but Klaus isn't someone you can reason with." Marilyn clutched her hands to spare her the gory details. "He went straight for James." 

The hole in Dallas' stomach widened. She could hear the wind whistle through it and sting at the exposed organs. It felt like two pairs of hands had slithered their way in and broke her in half. 

"I am not giving this to that.. monster." Marilyn wiped the sand from the fork and tucked it in her back pocket. "Not after what he did to my husband."

"Don't be coy, Marilyn." Marilyn froze. As did Dallas. Who immediately recognised the voice. "It was ex-husband, wasn't it?"

Dallas felt her mother glare over her shoulder. A large shadow overhung the pier and splattered across the wood like outlined body chalk. Grabbing her by the wrist, Marilyn forced her daughter by her side - and then protectively behind her - before spitting out the harshest words she could muster to Klaus Mikaelson.

"Come any closer and I break this." 

He split a daring smile. "Go ahead." Klaus shoved his hands into his pockets. "You can barely drop the thing without a bloody headache."

Dallas pushed past her mother and took a step closer to Klaus. "Where's my dad?"

He didn't respond. Not that one was needed. Instead, he beamed a toothy smile and ran his tongue over his lips. "You have his guts, kid." He murmured. "Fortunately, so does your dining room floor."

Those words alone made Dallas want to shove past him but felt him snake his hand roughly around her arm. The Hybrid's fingernails dug into her skin and trembled the bone beneath until she hissed outwardly. 

"Ah, ah, ah." Klaus tutted, tightening his grip around her shoulders and forcing her to stand beside him - in a proud parental stance - and face her mother with him. "I tried to play nice. But my patience is worn thin." 

 He lifted his head and faced Marilyn with compulsion lacing his tongue. "Give me the fork."

The Siren blinked heavily and mustered up a scowl, yet, her hands leaned forward and bones moved robotically. There was no sign of the resistance she once had. Only obediently keen on delivering right where it needed to go. Right into Klaus Mikaelson's left hand.

Klaus lifted the Tuning Fork to the sun's beam. His ravenous smile grew several times wider as sunlight glittered the sharp edge. Dallas had done exactly what he had told her -- and she had no idea why.

"It's a weird feeling, isn't it?" Klaus didn't bother to look her in the eye. "Being controlled? When you're usually the one controlling others?"

Dallas allowed her hands to ball into fists. 

"Is this it?" Klaus spoke out.. but it wasn't to her. "Doesn't look like much."

Another figure emerged from the shadows. "It is. Witchcraft is funny like that. The things you can do with a bit of magic and sharp tools."

Dallas didn't recognise that voice though. Nor the face that accompanied it. The man reached for it but Klaus pulled it from his grasp. "We had a deal."

HIs face darkened, although, he didn't dare disagree. Instead, he pulled out a clip of rolled up paper into the Hybrid's hand. "Yes, I do all your complicated little spells in return." He let out a small tsk. "With a little help of the Gemini Coven's magic."

Dallas felt the words overtake her. "Coven?"

They both met her eyes. The skinnier, darker haired one using the time to stretch out a smile. "You're Dallas."

She scowled. 

"You're weird."

He didn't seem offended. He actually spluttered out a laugh. Turning to Klaus, he nudged him with his shoulder. "You know, I never really met my nieces. Probably because I sliced right into their mother like a shish-kebab."

"Make me regret this and know you'll suffer the same fate." He turned to Marilyn. "Now, what to do with you two?"

"Give the compulsion a rest and find out." Marilyn spat.

Dallas hated the way the compulsion felt. So much so, that she wondered if those she had mind-controlled had suffered the same way. She wondered how he'd even managed to do it. How fickle her own mind must've been to order it in such a way. 

But then it dawned on her.

Klaus Mikaelson was an original vampire. He had lived many years. She had only lived the mere eighteen. He had mastered his skill set. She was barely accustomed to hers. He was a creature of no mercy - and Dallas liked to believe she was still human beneath the floorboards of scales in her homemade heart. 

When she did the very things he asked without question, it became evident that somehow, she still was. 

"Well, Cade was genius at making Sirens." The other guy stepped forward. "But Hell? Not at all what I was expecting. A little shabby on his part. Granted, thanks to your sisters he's been dead for thousands of years."

Marilyn avoided Dallie's look. Cade was described as an 'old mischevious god' to her. One that cursed Seline, Sybil and Marilyn the moment they tasted human flesh. That Dallas could sort of wrap her head around. She had definitely seen weirder things.   After all, she had unknowingly dated a demon for a handful of weeks.

Yet, The Devil and an Old Mischevious God were two very different things - and the more Dallas learned about her mother's life, the more she wished she hadn't even asked in the first place.

The man beside Klaus swung the fork over his shoulder like a baseball bat and gave her a smug look.

Dallas wanted nothing more than to wipe it from his stupid face. "And you are?"

There was a long pause. Like he allowed the question to simmer and burn at her insides before replying.

"Kai Parker.. obviously."

☆ word count: 2,826. ☆

a/n: this isnt the chapter i promised but will instead be next chapter! adding more and more tvd characters while the whole dread doctor storyline is going on is *stressful* but ill make it work <3 and bc kai deserves his own cameo.