Singing Blood

Klaus

"What kind of curse?" I whispered, giving him a worried expression.

He sighed.

"To explain the origins of my curse we'll have to go more than one thousand years back in time to the very beginning of our story."

I stared at him open-mouthed.

"More than one thousand years? I mean, I knew you were old but...wow. You're walking history books."

Elijah chuckled.

"Then it is indeed quite fitting that our mate turned out to be a historian, isn't it?"

I stared at them, still in awe.

"I have questions. And I mean many questions. But not today." I turned back to Klaus. "You wanted to tell me your story. I'm listening."

He nodded.

"Yes. But first, you might want to go and fetch Jenna. My brother says she has proven herself as a trustworthy ally and since you two seem to be quite close she should hear this as well."

A few minutes later, Jenna, Elijah, Klaus and I were sitting together in the living room. Jenna and I were huddled into a blanket together with wine glasses in our hands while Klaus and Elijah sat across from us, sipping on the bourbon they had found in the kitchen, probably Alaric's.

"Our father was a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe," Elijah started his tale, staring into the distance. "Our mother bore seven children."

"Wow," Jenna commented, sipping on her wine. "That would be my absolute worst nightmare. I mean, nothing against children, but seven of them? I would die."

"Well, back then people had more children in general," I told her. "Protection wasn't really a thing and many of those children were taken by the plague or war. The more children you had the higher the chance of someone surviving and continuing the family line." I turned to my mates. "So you have more siblings."

Elijah nodded.

"After their firstborn was taken by the plague, our parents left everything behind and came to the New World. They settled down in a small settlement that would later be known as Mystic Falls."

Jenna and I stared at them wide-eyed.

"You lived here one thousand years ago?" Jenna asked.

Klaus nodded.

"Most of us were born here."

"My dad had been right all along," I whispered. "He had always suspected that this town was a lot older than a mere 160 years."

Elijah took another sip of bourbon before continuing.

"We lived here happily for many years, or at least as happy as we could. Our father was...a difficult man. Harsh, strict. He rarely ever showed us affection and instead would beat us into submission." He looked at his brother. "Niklaus suffered the most under him."

Klaus averted his gaze and inspected the books on the shelf to his right, hurt flashing across his face, well Alaric's face, but still. Anger flooded through me as I gripped my wine glass tighter. I had never wanted to be able to time travel as badly as I wanted to now. I wanted to travel back in time and save little Klaus, Elijah and all of their siblings from their father's violent tendencies. But I couldn't. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't change the past. But I could influence the future. As I looked at Klaus, I swore that even though I wouldn't be able to erase the years of abuse he had suffered at his father's hands, I would make it up to him by showering him with all the affection and love I could give him.