Immortals [Klaus Mikaelson]

32

There's no chanting needed, but the silence is deafening and is actually more distracting than a noisy room. With my thoughts busying myself away from the task, I ask Stefan to talk to Alaric. This is not only for my sake, but also to calm him down a bit.

"So, road trip, huh?" Alaric starts, obviously releasing something from the edge of his tongue.

I place my fingertips at his temples and extend my power to him. It's dangerous to give a psychotic killer an even more powerful weapon, but I don't expect him to take such pathetic bait.

Stefan sighs lightly, "Yeah, I needed to stay here."

"Why? I mean, why you?" Alaric questions, closing his eyes for me. "You know, we probably don't need you for this. Clara is a sufficient babysitter."

"I have never babysat in my life," I mutter, the tone of my voice low and focused.

"Well, unfortunately, we only have a limited amount of time."

I feel Alaric shift uneasily, "Before what?"

"Before we have to resort to other methods," Stefan states.

There's an internal shudder that repels from Alaric's thoughts to mine. His present thinking is only on the surface in which I can access, but I notice a strange magical disruption buried here that delves deeper into his subconscious. I grab onto it like a rope and attempt to follow it through his mind.

"I won't let it come to that," I promise him at a whisper in response to their conversation.

I pass a series of images that flicker so quickly that they must just be sporadic thoughts. It shows his reaction to my comment, which is basically a slight nod to me for protecting him.

His version of Claramay Carter is one very different than I would describe myself. He's kind to me in terms of looks and personality, but above all, he surrounds me with light.

"So, you're worried that you guys are gonna have to torture me," Alaric clarifies, unknowing that I am peaking in on this side of his brain. "You don't think Damon could have done that?"

There's a flash of Damon killing Alaric at the town party. I wince.

I shift my focus away from Alaric's thoughts and continue to follow the magical rope. It suddenly feels too evasive, which should have been my original thought when he was thinking about me.

"Look, Elena needed to go on that road trip with Damon." Stefan says, "No matter what I go through to get her back; fighting my bloodlust, trying to gain control of my life again... None of that matters if she has feelings for somebody else."

Everything is dark now in Alaric's mind except for the glitter of my power and the shimmering of the rope. Each step that I take becomes more and more difficult and is eventually met with so much resistance that I can't go any further. The worst thing is that I can see the end of the trail, but it's going to take using more of my energy and power to get there.

I don't bother consulting Stefan because I know what he would say; he would want me to do whatever it takes to keep Alaric from having to undergo torture. I would agree, mainly because I care about him enough to never want him to get hurt, and because this blood lusting Stefan could kill him if this lead to torture.

Pressing on, I lean on the cot with my elbows to hold myself up. I am slowly becoming physically drained, but I can still need to press on. Alaric and Stefan's conversation has ended so that Stefan can keep an eye on me, but it doesn't really matter—I'm in too deep to stop now.

Even in the freezing cold of the cell, I've broken a sweat. In the back of my own mind, which is seemingly distant, I hear a staggered heartbeat that could be mine or Alaric's, but I don't pay much attention to it. As long as there is a beat, we will be fine.