Youth ☽ ☾ Klena

11.

Klaus and Elena, who was now eleven, sat in the living room together staring mindlessly at the screen. Some violent cartoon was on, which Klaus seemed more invested in than Elena, that was quite good for learning some classic vampire techniques.

Klaus laughed at Elena's distorted face, thinking that an eleven-year-old should be more immune to gore like this, especially knowing he's a vampire- a strong one at that. Elena, on the other hand, wasn't even staring at the TV. Of course, every time an eyeball had been pulled out she did flinch but ignoring the exception, she was thinking.

She was thinking about a lot of things but it seemed to focus around one subject: her brother. She didn't remember much of her old family but despite not caring much for her parents as a usual five-year-old does, she cared a lot for her brother and she missed him deeply.

Images of him flashed in her mind as she wondered what, now nine-years-old, Jeremy would look like. She could see his messy hair and the colour of his eyes that weren't so far from hers.

She wished that her brother would return. She loved her new family but she couldn't forget her old life entirely. She knew something was wrong and that this arrangement wasn't consensual. She had heard of kidnap before but she had never thought she would experience it.

She had never seen herself on the news and it made her curious what had happened at home. She had never thought of it before now and she couldn't seem to understand why. A family was as important as anything in one's life, maybe more, but somehow, she had managed to forget it all.

She felt much more like an adopted child than a kidnapped one. Nothing bad had happened to her, had it? 'Klaus...' she whispered, drawing his attention from the TV '...what happened to bringing my brother with us.' She was timid, nervous, and she couldn't hide the tremble in her voice as she spoke.

She was a brave child but she was still eleven and there was no way a child of her age, especially as they had only gone to school for a year and had little to no friends, to know much about the world around her.

Klaus' jaw clamped down and he could feel himself becoming irate already. He hated how the little girl brought up her brother. He had taken this child for a ritual and had managed to persuade her whole family of her death...yet he had done nothing to the

'Elena, I didn't want to tell you this...' he paused, taking in a breath, hating the severe lie he was about to tell her. 'Your brother died not long ago.' He shut his eyes, looking in pain. Elena could only assume that he mourned her brother to- he cared just as much about him as he did her, did he not?

It was worthy of a laugh at the irony of the situation. Klaus had never met her brother nor had he ever cared about her brother. He wasn't in agony over his death but the lie he had forced upon a child.

He had just told a child that he brother- who was still alive –was dead. The guilt bore over him, heavier than anything had before. He had lived a thousand years and it seemed just seconds after he told this lie, which was so small in comparison to some he has said, he wouldn't be able to keep it up.

But he did, for his sake. He cared about this care too much to put into words but Klaus would always care about himself more- most people would. People put others behind them not out of selfishness but out of fear. It is a human being's – a vampire's too – natural instinct to survive and that means that they themselves come above all.

It weighed him down like a tonne of bricks were on his back when that first tear spilt. He wanted to wrap her in his arms but he couldn't help but feel he should leave her. He had just told her some of the most devastating news of her life. How would he be compensation for a loved one's death?

He didn't know just how much she needed him in that moment until she clambered into his lap and wrapped her arms around his waist. 'I can't believe it. I loved him.' She choked out, her tears staining Klaus' shirt.

'I know you did, love, I know you did.' He soothed, rubbing her back, trying to keep the strain from reaching his voice. Not once that night did he ever tell her that he was upset too nor did he show any care for Jeremy but Elena didn't care, didn't even notice.

Klaus was giving Elena the comfort she craved so often now. Elena had no other friends, hardly any other family and she needed the attention. She wasn't seeking it but she was alone in this house and Klaus simply sitting with her and soothing her sent a smile to her face even through the dark times.

'I love you, Klaus. Just as I loved him.' She murmured, a smile creeping its way onto Klaus' face. Klaus too was ashamed to smile at such a time but it didn't matter. Elena loved him, as much as her brother. It meant the world to Klaus and he wouldn't forget that line.

Klaus hated that he let Elena in but in times like those, he didn't care. Klaus was selfish and wanted Elena, he wanted the love that Elena gave him. He knew that as she got older that this would become harder but he enjoyed the moment, as he had done all his life.

There was no point in focusing on the future or the past when you live for so many centuries. Klaus had always enjoyed the moment and he could tell that the ones with Elena would stick in his memory forever.

And for him, forever was a very, very long time.

word count: 1003

published: 21.02.17