♡ 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 ♡
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 sixty-nine

meet me in the afterglow.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

DALLAS KNITTED HER EYEBROWS TOGETHER WITH LITTLE FORCE, PRESSING HER HANDS AGAINST THE SHIVERING METAL OF HER FATHER'S HOOD AND LOOKING UP BETWEEN THE FALLEN STRANDS OF HAIR BETWEEN HER EYES.  

Klaus shoved his hands in both pockets while cocking his head gleefully to the side. His demeanor had a dark, sticky coating and soul a rotting stench that infected his aura with nothing but love for sickness. There were voices, both singing and screaming, for her to turn the other way. 

Dallas had lost her life to her own curiosity once before. And when she took another step forward, it was clear she hadn't learned at all.

"You're not one of Theo's friends, are you?" The teenager spoke with confidence. The car keys dropped between her knuckles as her fist tightened around their rusted metal and silver overcoating. 

"Friends? Oh, no, love, I wanted to meet the family." He leaned forward over the hood and crept his eyelids into slits. "Friends aren't on my agenda."

Dallas swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. There was a scent to him that she couldn't quite decipher. A hint of werewolf.. and.. something else. Although, one entirely different to Theo's. Darker. More steady and controlled. "Then who are you?" 

His eyes trickled to the scar on her neck before dallying towards her eyes. "My name is Klaus." He beamed a smile - one that housed sharp teeth and a hue of washed-away red over the tongue. "What's yours?"

"Kimberly." Her voice remained steady as she lied. Smooth as the soft wind that danced around the parking lot and soaked up the silence. 

Klaus waited a moment before he spoke again. His lips parted in another wide smile that was a lot more sinister than the last. His eyelids were heavy with each blink while he reached closer to her face. "Kimberly," he repeated - tone unchanged. "Well, Kimberly, if you want that heart of yours to remain ever so homely in your chest, I better not hear it rise again." 

He slipped his hands from the hood and crept around the side to tower over her instead. "You're Dallas, I presume." Klaus didn't give her the chance to respond - and actively ignored the tight grip she balanced between her knuckles. "The new Siren."

Dallas cradled her arms around herself and blew the hair out of her face. "If you knew my mother-"

He shook his head in dismay before pulling one of his hands out of his jacket pocket and gripping her jaw with it. "Insanity," Klaus mumbled while forcing her face from one side to the other. "You have his eyes." 

The Siren pulled her jaw from his grip - flashbacks of Void burying in the crevices of her brain and creeping out to make her think of him more than she'd like to. However, his grip was a lot stronger than hers and forced her head to the side to expose the pulsating veins that strung along her neck. 

Elijah took minimal steps from the blood drive, wiping the drips that settled at the corners of his mouth slyly. He ducked the cap back over his hairline and brought the puffer jacket up to his chin to avoid the looks of pedestrians. The cold air hit him in an instant while a thick werewolf scent coated the entire town and captured his hot breath. 

He rose his head as he stepped out of the Hospital and pressed the italian leather against the wet gravel. His eyes stared out to meet Jim's impatient ones, but instead, they reflected in the glint of Klaus Mikaelson's jesting gaze.

The Mikaelson stepped forward in a blind panic - just as he did, though, Dallas felt Klaus' hands pull her against his chest and place his claws above her throat. "Don't you think?" He watched as his sibling became alot gentler in his steps. "Elijah?"

Dallas didn't feel a heartbeat against her back. Or breathing gliding upwards and downwards. Yet, she felt the warmth of her own sticky blots of blood coat her neck and graze the tips of his claws. Her eyes flickered to where he glared - and coincidentally, in the eyes of Elijah Mikaelson.

"Dad, don't-" The Siren gasped out when he took another step forward. The words barely left her lips before Klaus pulled the back of neck and adjusted his grip on her throat.

"There's no point in killing her, Niklaus." Elijah, or James, spoke calmly. A little too calmly for her liking. 

Klaus clenched his jaw before meeting his brother's eyes. He split a smile before erupting in a laugh that rumbled up her back. "Why, 'cause it'll tug at your little heartstrings?" He placed his lips beside her ear to emphasise his words. 

Dallas scrunched up her nose and pulled her ear away, peeking a glare at him while he kept his eyes locked on Elijah. "If you wan't to play house, Eli, that's fine by me." He snickered. "Just don't expect me not to follow, brother."

"Dad," she swallowed harshly mid-speech while dubiety coated her throat. "Dad, what is he talking about?"

Elijah met her eyes. Only for a split second. And wore a frown above them. "I'm sorry to be the burden of bad news, but you can't have a life like this." He tightened his grip around her throat and while Dallas scratched and tore at his arms - somehow, he was just that much stronger than her.

"You're sentimental. I get it." Klaus plastered a bored look across his face. "But lucky for us, I'm not."

Dallas felt his nails etch deeper into her throat and throw her sideways to drag them across her neck. As she looked up to meet her father's eyes, though, her own deceieved her. She'd never seen him move so fast. As his hands grabbed her forearms and tried to shove her away, Dallas managed to catch a glimpse of his face once more. 

His had changed. Veins of black and blue soaked the colour from his skin. Teeth pulled at his lower lip with traces of inhuman hunger and ferocity tinting his features. 

Klaus hadn't killed her. Atleast, not yet, but allowed her to stare horrifically at the man before her. 

"Is this dear old dad, Kimberly?" He glid his nails from around her throat and tilted her head upwards in one-swift motion. 

Elijah frowned at the last sight of her terror-stricken face. "I don't want this type of life, Klaus." He then tore his eyes upwards and remained emotionless. "I just don't want to be responsible for the death of some stupid kid."

The Original cast a reign of silence. While his eyes met Klaus, the Hybrid easily saw through the tinted facade. "Where's the fun in keeping her alive then?" He leaned closer while scrunching up his nose to spit out the words. 

Dallas stared down at the keys between her fingers and held a shaky breath. She knew nothing of what surrounded her. Why he was so persistent of killing her. Why he'd call her father Elijah so many times. Why Klaus had called him brother-

"You're Elijah." She spoke up, catching the attention of both the Mikaelsons. The reality had dawned on her a lot later than she had liked. Her father didn't ignore her pleas for help and cradled hugs because it was never her father to begin with. 

Elijah pressed his lips together and didn't bother to respond. Klaus, however, did. "Now she's just a liability." 

Dallas felt him slither his hand around her throat one last time and grit her teeth together. Using her free hand, the Siren jabbed her elbow into his sides and tore her other arm from his grip. WIth a quick swing over her own arm - her metallic fist dug into the side of his cheek and keys rhythmically shred at the skin.

Dallas felt the sticky liquid drip on her fingers and Klaus stumble back with his hand pressed firmly against the fresh wound. "Not that much of a liability, it seems." She spat before taking a few steps behind Elijah and watching the Hybrid settle ferocious eyes on her. 

Klaus split a sinister grin while the shreds of fresh skin stitched themselves back together and eyes held wolfy yellow tint. "We're not done here." 

Elijah noticed how she stood behind him - whether it was out of blind trust, or habit to seek safety behind her father's figure - he didn't mind it.

Although, she didn't help by continuing to taunt the Hybrid. "Yeah, we are."

Klaus corrected the cufflinks on his wrists and tore his eyes between the two. "This town is much smaller than Mystic Falls, brother, you don't have many places to hide." He then turned to Dallas, "As for you goldie, I'll be seeing you very soon."

From the split second of birds shuddering their wings, to leaves barely beginning to snap from the trees, to even a steady breath working its way down the throat - Klaus was already gone before it. 

He moved swiftly between the miliseconds behind a blink. 

Dallas felt her boots grit against the gravel as she took a step back. Elijah's head was lowered to the floor, marinating in self-depricating thoughts or resisting the urge to drink her blood, the teen wasn't sure. 

Although when he threw his head upwards and breathed out a response - she realized it was neither. "Elijah Mikaelson," He held his hand out to her adorned with daylight rings and mid-century memorbilia. "Original Vampire."

She felt her throat grow watery and nausuea prick her skin. 

"It's nice to finally meet you, Dallas."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Lydia felt the lakewater rush against her thighs as she swayed through the water. The overhanging of the dead pinewood trees whistled a breeze over her wet shoulders that clung to her drenched clothing.

Dr. Valack's voice echoed in her fragile ears. "Tell me where you are, Lydia." He urged. "Tell me what you see."

Her cardigan swayed around her torso and carried the current with it as she moved. Goosebumps littered her bare skin and moonlight brightened up her sorrowful features. "The bridge," Lydia mumbled, mind awake but body asleep. 

"Keep moving."

Lydia felt the current move her legs for her and an undeniable force pull her forwards. "Describe what you find." He spoke once more. "Tell me what he did."

The Banshee fell in and out of conciousness. One moment, in a lake surrounded by dead leaves and dirt, the next, strapped to a medical table and injected with all sorts of bloody medical instruments. "Something that might just save the lives of your friends."

Her breath shook and eyes remained motionless. 

Dr Valack leaned forward while cleaning the wounds that scratched her temples. "Now focus on the bridge." He whispered. "On Theo. Why'd he let his sister die?"

"I don't know."

He shook his head in dismay. "You just don't see it yet. Search for it, Lydia." His voice echoed once more. "Keep looking."

Lydia fished through the dirty lake and clenched her jaw with each stone-ridden step. "Why'd he let his sister die? What did he want?"

Lydia dropped her eyes to the lakewater and ran her hand across the waves. From beneath the surface, a hand grabbed hers and a banshee scream erupted from her lungs. There she was, Theo's sister, with a half rotten ribcage and molding skin. 

"Her heart." The Banshee cried. "He wanted her heart."

Lydia stared up at Valack. 

She watched as he rooted through medical records and paper files. "There's no record of a heart condition." he paused. "But a transplant.. would make Theo a genetic Chimera like the others."

Lydia saw how his sister froze and called her brother's name. "The hypothermic conditions would keep the organ viable." 

She saw flashes of her death, the transplant, the surgery. "But why him?" he questioned. "Why choose a ten-year-old willing to kill his own sister?" 

Lydia whimpered out. "Why do you care?"

"Because there was a first step in the right direction for the Dread Doctors. Think of who they are. Para scientists who have prolonged their lives and twisted the laws of nature in pursuit of one goal."

"The creation of the perfect killer," he mumbled. "And now they've done it."

"But Theo doesn't know who the success is," Lydia whispered out. "The last Chimera." Her words became breathless and sentences harder to form. "He still needs Siren blood to form the perfect pack."

"It doesn't matter." He hissed. "There's a reason they chose him, a reason he failed, a reason they changed their methods.. and a reason they finally succeeded. It all starts with Theo."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Stiles Stilinski tapped his fingernails against the wooden reception desk as worry ached his padded shoulders. His gelled hair had lost form from worried scratching and fell before his eyes in disgruntled fashion. "Stilinski, right?"

He glanced up at the receptionist. "You said his insurance was with the county? He's a Deputy?" 

His teeth gritted together and hands slammed against the nameplate. "No! - No, he's the Sheriff, he's the county Sheriff, okay?"

She nodded firmly while avoiding the eyes of the stressed teenager. "He's covered.. I mean, he should be covered-"

He felt a hand firmly place itself against his back and coax his worries with a gentle squeeze. Head tossing to the side and brown hair soaking up his sight, Stiles felt his shoulders relax a little. 

"I'll take care of it." 

Melissa McCall met his gaze and his shoulders stiffened once more. She slipped the clipboard into her grasp and felt the Stilinski wander beside her with shaky breaths. "I texted Scott," She placed a gentle smile atop her lips. "He's coming as soon as he can."

Dallas ignored how Elijah Mikaelson followed behind her and squeezed her eyes shut at the sound of her father's voice - his voice. 

"I expected some vulgar language, I'll admit, but running away from me wasn't apart of your father's quota." He easily matched her pace. 

"I am not running away from you, you big.. stupid.. vampire guy." 

Dallas froze in her spot while turning to him. She watched as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and rose a bored brow. "I just don't have time to deal with this.. and it's really freaking me out." 

She avoided his look as she continued walking through the swarms of nurses as he followed once more. "Yes, I can imagine how too much partying and shopping mall expenses can really drain the spirit." His voice tinged with annoyance. "I'm doing your father a favour. One that becomes a little bit less worth it by the minute."

Dallas spun her head at the mention of James. "And what favour is that? Get some english guy to stick his nails in my neck?" She couldn't look at his face. It stirred uncertainity and nostalgia in her stomach. The fact that someone so vile - capable of such mayhem ran around the world with her father's face dizzied her. "Sorry if i'm a little untrusting." 

"He asked me to flip your switch." Elijah clenched his jaw. "That you were so overcome by your own emotion that you abandoned your humanity. He seeked me, and me only, and begged me to force it back on."

She shook her head from side to side before turning back to her rampage down the hall. "And bringing your homicidal brother with you was part of that plan?"

He followed persistently. "It wasn't." He ran a hand over his freshly-shaven face. "It'd be safe to stick by me while I figure out what he wants."

Dallas felt laughter erupt from her chest. "Yeah, okay, like I need you to protect my - Stiles?"

Stiles Stilinski tore his eyes from Melissa McCall and widened them at the sight of Dallas Garcia. "Dallie?"

She took gradual steps forward to meet his side, however, when she reached out for his hand - Elijah stood between them. "Are you okay?" Dallas ignored the presence of the vampire and fixated her doey eyes on her boyfriend. "What's going on?"

Stiles dropped his jaw to speak but Melissa's words came out instead. "His father's in surgery."

Dallas felt her face twist and turn into a sick look of confusion. Meanwhile, Stiles gave the nurse a deadpanned look. With Elijah towering over her shoulder and Melissa clutching her clipboard tightly to her chest - The Siren formed a sullen frown. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The words got caught up in his throat while her gaze made him shift dazily. "I didn't want to worry you." He spoke honestly. It was true. He'd seen Dallas overload herself with everything happening around her and did not want to bury her in more problems he could fix himself. As he pulled at the Wendigo bite atop his shoulder - it was clear he hid more from her than he'd like to admit. 

Dallas scoffed. "Well consider me very worried, Stiles." 

Melissa took it upon herself to step back and fixated her gaze on the vampire to ease some of the tension. "Hi, James." She cleared her throat. "It's good to see you back in on my shifts, I was wondering when I'd see that face next."

Elijah kept a midjudged stare on Stiles. "Yes, very."

The Nurse furrowed her eyebrows at his disinterest and short answers as she watched the couple bicker beside her. "Yeah, and so am I, Dallas. Sorry if I wanted to spare you from that."

"Lying isn't a great foundation for a healthy relationship." Elijah leaned forward from behind her shoulder and silently scolded Stiles who responded with a bizzare look. 

Dallas felt the eyes roll to the back of her head before turning to the vampire.

 "Can you go find Klaus, please, dad?" Her tone slightly annoyed and eyes glaring towards him. "While I talk to Stiles?"

He stood up straight and flickered his eyes between them. "A human teenage boy, really? Are you trying to tempt fate?"

"Dad." She warned.

"Okay. Bye.. child." He awkwardly murmured before disappearing down the same hall as Melissa. 

Just in time for Dallas to blow out a breath of fresh air. To allow the stiffness of her figure to ease and lean into her boyfriend's. 

"What's up with your dad?" He scratched the back of his neck while keeping his eyes trained on the vampire. 

"Switched to decaf." Dallas mumbled the lie out ratherly quickly while begging to change the topic. "Stiles, why didn't you call?" 

He dropped his eyes to his sneakers. Something he only really did whenever he didn't want to tell her the truth. Dallas noticed it and waited patiently before he gained the courage to look her back in the eye. "It's mine to deal with."

Dallas knew that temperment all too well. Pushing people away and forcing yourself to deal with things alone never worked as well as it sounded. She caught his gaze and held it until it physically hurt him to look away. A breath caught in his throat as she remained silent. His proclivity to protect her commanded his every thought, every move. Even if in reality, he wasn't the protector between them. It was her. 

Stiles didn't indicate himself into the conversations around him. Not the incessant chatterings of the receptionists or the meaningless curses of doctoral trainees as he sat down. He hated the sight of it all. He hated how people spent their time bickering over things that didn't matter. He hated how nobody bothered to ask-

"Are you okay?"

Stiles snapped his eyes back to Dallas. Pushing the hair from her face, hand placed gently atop his shoulder and eyebrows creased just gently enough to cause a fold between her skin, she whispered against his ear. "You can stop acting tough for two seconds, Stiles, I promise I won't tell."

He spoke a language of averted eyes and rubbed his hands together. "You shouldn't be here."

Dallas nodded her head and slumped forward gently. "Yeah." She kept her stare ahead. "I hear that alot. I could leave right now If i wanted to."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows and propped his clutched fists up to his lips as he waited. 

"But who's gonna tell you everything's gonna be alright if not me?" 

The Siren flickered her eyes to his morbid look. "And who else knows exactly what you're thinking.. even when you don't wanna say it?" Dallas kept her voice low as she leaned into his shoulder. Her fingers traced along his knuckles and woven her hand in his. "Who's not going anywhere?"

The Stilinski clenched his jaw while he ran one hand down her thigh and held his own shaky breaths captive. It was excruciating to see him so low. The smile that always dawned his stupid golden-retriever face doused in mellow blue. Dallas placed her own hand atop of his arm and watched as he parted his lips to speak.

"What if it's not fine?"

His words trembled. The grip underneath his fingertips stiffening as he held onto her for dear life. He couldn't look back at the hospital room - barely even keep his teary eyes open. Each breath tightened his heartstrings and made it that much more difficult to breathe. The coming and going of patients dizzied his stimulated mind while his fingers dug deep into the fabric seats that pricked his skin. 

"I'd never let you go through that alone." She stared down at his strained knuckles and thumping kneecaps. "I promise that more than anything."

The waiting room was silent around them. The everlasting ticking of the clock echoing in his ears to the endless bouncing of his jittery legs. Dallas helped. He wouldn't lie - not even if he had the strength to. Stiles finally tore his eyes back up at hers and flickered between them ever so carefully. 

Dallas felt his hands slither around her shoulders and carry the shuddering warmth across her bones. His face buried in the crook of her neck while murmuring against her skin in a low tone. "Dallie.. I'm terrified." He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "I can't lose my dad."

Breathing in his musky colonge, Dallas shook her head and clutched desperately at his flannel. "You won't." Her eyes settled on the medical room while her eyes clouded with thought - and her nose with vampire blood. 

"I won't let that happen."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Klaus Mikaelson gripped the outside bannisters of the Garcia family home. One hand placed firmly against the knocker and the other pushing flower baskets away from his face. 

"Hello?" He called out. "The longer I wait out here, the longer and more agonizing your deaths become." Klaus hissed. 

While the Hybrid sensed movement, the door remained closed and the lock edged firmly in place. Mischief boiling his tainted blood - the man spoke once more in a much deeper tone. 

"Fine." Klaus frowned. "How about I come back and replace these hanging baskets with Dallas Garcia's head?" 

He took gradual steps back and sank his hands into his deep pockets while whistling a merry tune. Only once did he hear the door creak open and a face peek out from behind the chipped oak. Marilyn's heart beat steadily in her chest until the face of the Hybrid sent her into a breathless frenzy.

She opted to hide behind the safety of her walls and ignore his persistent threats. Although, she couldn't ignore the ones containing her family. "And James Garcia could go right here," Klaus taunted some more while swinging the other hanging basket with his fingertip. 

Marilyn pressed her eyelids shut while Sybil's hands pressed firmly against the door to keep it closed. "Don't." She mouthed out, her head shaking almost as much as her shivered skin. 

Klaus quirked a single brow. Flames of mischief and mayhem blazed iridescently across his features. A holy hummanness eroded through his fleshy bones while he paced back and forth. Klaus Mikaelson was a paradox to begin with. He who spent his younger years climbing for grace only to fall the hardest. To become a concotion - a supernatural mishmash of humanity's worst fears balled up into a body that only wanted to be loved.

Klaus Mikaelson wanted people's hearts.

Either in his hands or in his soul, it didn't really matter which.

"Don't you want to say your goodbyes first?" He murmured once more. An uneasy tone settled across his words like veiled darkness. He grew more agitated by the minute. Fists clenched at his sides and fangs tore at his bottom lip with each snuffed spit. He turned around momentarily and fiddled with his daylight ring.

The door creaked open - much louder this time. A face began to creep towards the light and fingernails started to etch in the wood. 

"You're bluffing." Marilyn ignored the begging of her sisters beside her and stood in the sunlight that lit up her path. 

Klaus twisted his head to meet her merry gaze. Pursed lips that spat holy hell stretched into a half-grin, his eyes curled upwards until crows feet folded at the skin and his hand raised to swipe something out of view.

"Am i?"

His hand then snatched someone's collar. Shoving them to their knees and ignoring how their head bled heavily from the impact. Their kneecaps scratched against the gravel and head bowed his exhaustion. 

Marilyn felt her chest cave. As if Klaus had snaked his hands underneath her ribcage and pulled out her still-beating heart then and there. 

James Garcia looked up. Blood gushing from his fresh wounds and eyelids heavy from compulsion. His fresh suit remained tattered with gouges while he struggled against the ripes tied around his wrists. "Marie, I made a huge mistake-"

"Quiet, Jim." 

His irises pulsated alongside his voice, the compulsion sewing his lips together and gluing them into a permanent frown. Klaus pressed his hand firmly against the back of the doppelganger's collar before bringing him back to his feet. "So," He beamed a wicked smile. "Are you gonna let us in?"

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Dallas Garcia traced her eyes over Stiles Stilinski's sleeping position, his head leaning backwards on the chair and his hand still wrapped tightly around hers. He slept soundly while endulging in the only flicker of peace he had left. It made Dallie's stomach twist and turn to realise the boy could only find comfort in unconciousness. 

Her hand pulled from his before running up and down her legs with tilted breaths. The brunette wanted nothing more than to kiss his troubles away and kill anything that presented them, but it wasn't so easy anymore. Their biggest problems had evolved from petty highschool popularity - to the basic human instinct of survival - to the endless heavy hummanness of life. 

Inhaling sharply, her gaze wandered back to Sheriff Stilinski's medical room. Oh, how she had been exactly in his position. Wondering if that day she'd lose another parent too. Waiting for the doctors to deliver the devastating news. Waiting for her life to change forever. 

Dallas took a buckled stance. He'd probably be all groggy when he woke up. He would've  needed something to help clear his head and wash away the overwhelming grief.

And she needed an excuse to talk to Elijah Mikaelson.

He stood outside, soaking up the shriveled wind and the heavy hanging of the moon above. For a split second, Dallas had forgotten he was not her father. Not only did they look the same, but acted as such. Implemented a safe atmosphere whenever they were around and made her body stiffen just a little bit less. 

"I thought you were looking for your brother." Dallas appeared at his side. Her hands cradled around her arms but not a single goosebump arose.

Elijah turned his head to her slightly. His daylight ring slithered down the bone before slamming back down to his knuckle while he brushed the hair from his face. "I am, but I'm also standing watch. Just incase."

Dallas nodded her head before rubbing her hands together. Her face held a conflicted look as she silently thought - something Elijah noticed. "You're a vampire right?"

He quirked a brow. "Last time I checked."

She gave him a deadpanned look. "No, I mean, is what they say about you true?"

"Is what they say about you true?"

Dallas quickly grew tired of his mirrored questions before dropping her hands to her side. "Elijah." His name felt foreign on her tongue. Although, his cold demeanour warmed slightly at the sound of it. "Does vampire blood heal people or not? 'cause, the garlic thing doesn't work. You don't seem to cower from crosses and last time I checked, daylight doesn't seem to be a problem-"

"Dallas," Elijah copied her tone. "It does..." His eyebrows folded into confusion. "Why, are you hurt?"

She shook her head no but took a glimpse back at Stiles Stilinski who remained soundly asleep in the waiting area. His flannel tucked underneath his arms and gelled hair slowly loosing its grip in every snoozed breath. 

Elijah followed her gaze before realisation coated his irises and head began swinging firmly side-to-side. "No." He stated. "That's reckless -- and pointless. I don't care whether this town's Sheriff lives or dies."

He turned to leave but stumbled back as she snatched his shoulder.

"Hey!" she snapped while digging her nails into his leather. "You said you were here to help me, right? So help me. Prove atleast one of you vampires still have a shred of your soul left, cause right now, I don't see much difference between you and your brother."

Dallas knew what she said must've hurt. Especially since his chest winced silently and eyes avoided hers. Yet, it was nothing but the truth.

"If he dies with it still in his system, he'll turn." Elijah's tone remained still. 

"He won't."

He frowned at her persistence. She was toying with elements she knew nothing of. So trapped by her own guilt she never bothered to take into account the dangerous of her situation. Dallas was acting foolishly upon instinct and love. 

Elijah remembered when he used to be the same.

"Fine." He lowered his voice as nurses and doctors passed by. The faint stench of blood coated the air and made it hard for both the supernaturals to meet eachother's eye. "On one condition, though."

Dallas quirked a singular brow before leaning forward. "What?"

"You're gonna help me find Klaus.. and you don't tell any of your friends he's here."

"Why, cause they'll kill him?" Dallas snickered while staring upwards. 

"No, cause he'll kill them."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Elijah Mikaelson stood patiently outside the hospital room, hands patting at his sides and eyes gradually making their way back to Dallas Garcia.

Her fingertips toyed underneath her jacket as the other ran circles against Stiles Stilinski's back. A pearlescent glow emitted from her palm and dainty white irises hid underneath her sunglasses. Elijah had never seen mind-control so controlled - so forceful - but he didn't have time to admire it. The Surgeons slowly began to stiffen above Noah Stilinski, their eyes glazing over into a dazed white and bodies freezing in their spot.

Dallas winced at the strain it put on her. She had never had much experience with her mind-control. Nevermind capturing the will of multiple people at once. It was difficult to manage with such a clouded mind.

Yet, she grit her teeth and inhaled through the crevices of enamel. It was for Stiles. She told him she'd never let his father die - and she wouldn't break that promise.

Elijah Mikaelson waited for the pained nod of her head before slipping through the doors and shrugging off the shrubs he had stolen. The scent of blood was so strong it had almost sent him into a frenzy. Almost. He composed himself and grit his own teeth while powering through - although, not for Stiles, but because he had promised Dallie. His eyes wavered over the surgeons who stood lifelessly still and frozen in spot; with scalpels still in hand and gloves still stained with an intoxicating red liquid that Elijah could smell from miles away.

Veins begged to creep underneath his eyes but he forced them away with the shake of his head. The premium leather of his shoes became the only audible sound in the room aside from the ticking of the clock and slow breathing of the motionless surgeons.

Elijah stood over the Sheriff's dying body. Whatever he had been through, it had left him scratched and scorned all throughout his uniform. Elijah knitted his eyebrows together as the stench of werewolf overcame the scent of blood. Then fragments of Wendigo. Then it all mixed together and created a scent he had never smelt before.

Chimera.

Elijah took a glimpse back at Dallas through the glass panels of the door and chewed on his lower lip. What else was she hiding?

Overcome by his own thoughts, Elijah washed them away with a singular blink and rolled up his sleeves as controlled veins slowly met the tides of his eyes. Fangs pulled at his lower lips and his skin falling much paler than usual. 

His teeth sank into flesh, but a flesh that wasn't Noah's, but his own. His wrist dotted with impure redness before he pressed it against the Sheriff's unconcious lips and coated his tongue. It trickled down his throat and stained his teeth, conjoining itself with his bloodstream and swimming through his veins like a dreaded disease. Elijah stepped backwards as he watched the man's body stitch itself back together - he watched as his body become a vessel for vampire blood. 

Dallas cursed under her breath as she felt her control slip little by little. Her hands began to cramp up and chest tighten as heartstrings had wrapped around her ribcage, crushing the bone beneath. 

Dallas wasn't sure how long she could hold on. She wondered if it'd kill her in the process, it hurt that much. If hurting herself to please those she loved was worth it. 

But as Elijah slipped from behind the door and met her look, Dallas decided it was.

Stiles jumped up beside her, so quickly that Dallas had forgotten she had already let go, and instantly placed her hands atop her shoulders. Seemingly awoken from a nightmare, the teenager placed his hand atop hers and breathed heavily. 

Her hands traced the veins up and down his arm while muttering comforting words beside his ear. Stiles slouched forward while rubbing his eyes and nodding along with her voice. Dallas wanted to ask what he had dreamt about - and that he could tell her anything - but the figure of Melissa McCall caught their attention. 

"He's okay." She smiled warmly. "Dr Geyer is stitching him up right now. His wounds healed nicely, a little quicker than expected, but they're responding well to treatment. 

Stiles turned to Dallas with wide eyes before sitting up. "Well, I wanna see him-"

"The anesthesia needs to wear off. It's gonna be atleast another two hours."

He slid back into his seat before nodding along. "Okay, yeah, but everything's gonna be okay though. I mean, he's okay?" 

Melissa met the two teenager's gaze. "Mhm. He's gonna be just fine."

Dallas found her boyfriend's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. His eyes remained on Scott's mother but she felt him squeeze back as he spoke. "Oh, thank God."

The Siren watched her leave with relaxed shoulders and her hand snaked between Stiles' fingers. The tips of his fingers tracled her nails while he kept his stare down at her hands. She sat up to mumble out a few words before they got caught up in her throat. "I'll go get you some coffee-"

He pulled at her wrist gently. "Don't."

Pulling her back to her seat, Stiles placed her hand atop his waist before pulling her closer to his chest.  "Don't go anywhere." he mumbled while snaking his arms over her shoulder. "Ever."

"Stiles-" 

"I mean it," His voice spent from exhaustion. "Promise me?"

Dallas leaned into chest before stretching her jaw upwards to look him the eye. "Okay," she pressed her lips together while cherry lipgloss sat atop. "Only if you do."

Stiles stretched a genuine smile before lifting his pinky and tracing his free fingertips over her hips. "Okay, I promise I won't ever leave. Not even if you send me away."

"I promise too," Dallas proclaimed while raising hers. "Like you ever would."

He rolled his eyes before softening his expression for her. She linked her pinky with his before  cocking her head to the side at it. "It's not very binding, is it?-"

Dallas didn't have much time to finish before he pulled at her pinky and pressed his lips against hers. The promise locked between their hands while his free one ran up towards her jaw, pulling it closer to his and gently carressing his thumb against the tip of her chin. 

He took a minute to breathe. "I'm cashing in that kiss now, by the way."

She hummed. "You can cash in as many as you want."

Stiles pushed a strand of hair behind her ear while brushing his knuckles against her cheekbone. "Oh, I'm planning on it."

While Dallas melted into Stiles' frame, she didn't bother to notice how Elijah stared down at his phone with wide eyes and parted lips.

ONE NEW MESSAGE. 

He ducked out view as he opened it.

KLAUS MIKAELSON SENT AN IMAGE. 

James Garcia's face appeared next to Klaus', bandaged and bruised from their latest encounter. Klaus wore a virtous smile whereas the lawyer sent glares towards the camera. 

MEET ME, OR THEY ALL DIE.

Elijah eyes flickered up to the teenage girl caught in the middle of it all and frowned. He opened the keypad and began typing against the glass keyboard. 

FINE, BUT I GO ALONE. 

☆ word count: 6,292. ☆

a/n: lemme know if yall see any mistakes! also a 6k word chapter who AM I