Savior | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 38

Klaus smirked. "Actually, my girlfriend makes me quite hard."

Maddy and Kol groaned. "Don't say that," said Maddy, covering her face and trying not to laugh, because this was definitely not the time to burst out laughing.

The hybrid looked incredibly smug as Kol walked out of the room.

"If we're not going to help the others directly," said Maddy, getting up, "we ought to do something useful here. Come on, let's clean the house."

He frowned. "That's what the hybrids are for."

"The hybrids clean up after themselves, not after us. They're not maids."

"They should be."

She tapped her foot impatiently. "If you won't clean, then I will. We did our part turning vampires. We just have to wait for news, and we can't afford to relax. Might as well get something done."

"Very well," sighed Klaus. "But you are not to clean in this room, or in my study."

"What are you hiding?" she asked playfully, though it made her slightly nervous, wondering why he'd say it so seriously.

He hesitated. "Cleaning might lead you to find... my souvenirs."

"Souvenirs?"

"You recall Stefan would write names on his wall, in the Chicago apartment. He and I had a tendency to memorialize our dead. There's the briefest of moments before we kill where we literally hold their life in our hands and then we rip it away, leaving us with nothing. So, gathering souvenirs or in his case writing names on a wall, is a reminder that in the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone."

"What are your souvenirs?"

"Letters. From my victims' to other people. It all chalks up to loneliness, love. I'd rather you not find those letters. There are... many hidden in these two rooms."

"Alright," she said quietly. "I won't look." She cupped his face. "You're not alone, Nik. I'm here, and so are your siblings. We care about you. Keep what you need to... create a balance, if it feels right for you. But know that I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here beside you, for a long time."

She wondered, while she cleaned, if maybe she did something out of loneliness, too. She never kept anything from her victims. She sometimes buried them, sometimes didn't. Most times she just tried not to kill.

Then, she realized that it wasn't necessarily actions that she needed to be looking at. It was the desire to do something. That was where Klaus and Stefan's routines came from... wanting to feel like someone was there, because the truth was, being such vicious killers often kept anyone from wanting to be near them.

Was that perhaps the true reason she wanted children? Because at least then, she'd have something to occupy her time with? Because if she did a good enough job, her kids would always come back to visit, and ensure she wouldn't be alone? Klaus could leave her. Her brothers could end up angry with her again. There was too much history and it could all go astray when patterns broke. But if from the very beginning she was a good mother, her kids wouldn't grow to resent her. They would always have fond memories of her and find solace in being near her, instead of relief being away.

She flinched when Klaus suddenly burst in while she was mopping the dining floor.

"The vampires are dead," he fumed. "I went to give them blood bags and they were all dead. Hearts ripped out, heads cut off... this was a vampire's doing."

"What?" said Maddy in disbelief. "But we hadn't even told any of them where to find the vampires because we didn't want Jeremy going over there prematurely. The only ones who might know are your siblings, if they heard us discussing it, but they haven't really been around and we just discussed it this morning and the day before yesterday..."