♤ [2] An Everlasting Nightmare

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"Do you hear something?" I ask Joel.

Joel looks up from his phone and tilts his head to the side. "No. Must be some rats in the ceiling," he shrugs.

"We should get that checked," I say.

Joel nods. "Yeah, we should." 

"Alright, I get it. You three can't ignore me forever. Once this spell lifts, I'll be out of town in search of Mr. Lockwood," Klaus says, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Too bad he'll be half around the world before you get out," Joel snickers.

I conjure up a laugh as Theo suddenly begins to cry, altering my attention from the book to him. I pick him up and cradle him against my chest, patting his back soothingly as I stand up to bounce lightly on my step.

"Oh the joys of parenting. Of course I wouldn't know. I'm not a parent and mine weren't good ones," Klaus says with a sly chuckle. "Tell me, Blair, what made you decide to keep him?" 

"I'm not keeping him. I'm giving him a home until the adoption agency can find him a new one," I explain as Theo stops crying.

"Ah," Klaus says. "Do you want to give him away? Or are you too scared of yourself? Too scared that you'll just end up ruining him?" Klaus asks, knowing all too well how to get on my nerves.

"You want to zip it, Mikaelson?" Joel snaps, defending me.

"Don't get me wrong here. You seem to be doing an outstanding job Blair. But tell me, when the time comes, and they've found him a new home, are you going to be able to give him up?" Klaus asks sincerely.

I glare at him, but quickly turn away knowing he's right. I've never really thought that far ahead. It's always been about saving Theo and giving him a home. I never intended to keep him for life, nor did I ever think that was a good idea.

Thankfully the house phone rings, breaking the tension building up inside of me and directing our attention to something else.

Joel gets up and picks up the phone, greeting the other person. Several seconds later he passes the phone to me. "It's for you," he says.

"Hello?" I greet.

"Blair. How are you? How's everything going?" Stefan asks on the other line.

At the sound of his voice my heart jumps out of my chest, my eyes widening in surprise. "Stefan! Everything is going.... the best you could expect I guess. How are you? Did you find the cure yet?" I ask.

"Shane just led us to the cave and we're searching for it now. I just wanted to return your calls before we come out the other end. We should be back tomorrow morning," Stefan says.

"Okay," I say. "Hey Steff, I know there's only one dosage, so before you do anything maybe we should all talk about it here first." 

"Yeah, we figured that out. We'll think of what to do with it when we have it," he says, but I can tell he doesn't agree with me. "We came out here for Elena."  

"I know that Stefan, but-," Suddenly there's a sudden crash on the other line, making me jump slightly.

"Got to go, sorry Blair. I'll call you when it's done," Stefan says.

"Wait! Is everything okay?" I ask, but he's already hung up.

Sighing in frustration, I put back the phone and walk outside to the front patio, Joel following behind me.

"Here," I say, passing Theo off to him. "Can you take him home for me please? I need some time to think, and someone needs to stay here with him," I say, referring to Klaus.

"I know you don't want Stefan to take it, and that's perfectly fine Blair. He's your brother," Joel says, placing a hand on my shoulder. 

"Did you know James wanted to take it?" I ask. 

Surprisingly, Joel nods. "Yea, he mentioned it briefly. We brothers do talk ya know." 

"Would you take it? If it was offered?" I ask him. 

"Nah, the human life isn't for me. Being a vampire is more fun," he says, nudging my elbow playfully. 

I know he's trying to keep things light, but this is something that's been bugging me. "You've never thought about what it would be like to have to actually fight to stay alive, to actually grow old and to actually have a family?" 

"I have a family now, one that will be around for a long, long time," he says. "So no, I've never thought about it. Have you?" 

I shake my head, feeling slightly embarrassed. "No I haven't. Is that bad?" 

He lets out a small chuckle. "No, it's not a bad thing, Blair. You do what you want." 

"But what about James? He said he would take it if it was offered-" 

"You and I both know none of us are getting that cure, so all this talk about 'would you take it' is nothing but a fantasy. In a perfect world we would all be human, but we're not. We deal with the cards we've been dealt. James and I were forced into vampires and so were you. We've made the best of it. James saying he would take it is just him exploring what life could've been, not what it has turned into. I guarantee that if taking the cure meant losing you eventually, he wouldn't do it in a million years," Joel says. 

I purse my lips and nod, not wanting to say anything more knowing Klaus might as well be listening. Joel takes Theo from my arms, turning to walk to James's truck when suddenly the front door of Elena's house opens.

Klaus walks through the door, trotting like a free man as he stops in front of us. "It appears something's happened to your dear friend Bonnie," he says nonchalantly, the spell keeping him contained broken.

"Oh my god," I say, recalling the phone call with Stefan moments earlier. Something's not right, I can feel it. Something has gone wrong.

Klaus walks up to me rather urgently before abruptly stopping about a foot away from me. I stay frozen in place as Joel watches cautiously from the sidelines with Theo.

"I would like to thank you Blair for being honest with me. I know I was never in the right place to do all those terrible things to you, and I know this is no where near close to making up to it, but I sure hope it's a start," Klaus says, causing me to become confused.

"What are you talking about?" I question lowly, not daring to move out of curiosity and fear of where this is going.

"Blair Salvatore, I would like you to remember all the memories I compelled away from you all those years ago," he says, making my blank mind fill rapidly with sliding pictures of the parts of me I've been missing for 145 years.

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[completed & edited: 09/07/2021]