Immortals [Klaus Mikaelson]

32

Stefan says my name, but it's too far away for me to react to. The final step before the rope ends stops me for a moment before I make the final push forward. A locked door appears in front of me, and after a slight power struggle, my experienced magic breaks the door down easily.

"You've come quite a long way to see little, old me," Alaric smirks, appearing at the center of a dark room.

I look down at the shimmering rope and compare it to his own shimmering aura. It's magical and laced with the aura of Alaric, but one thing is for certain—this is not my human friend.

"I'm sure you know why," I reply calmly.

"Ah, yes," Not-Alaric chuckles to himself and I would be lying if I said he didn't freak me out a bit. "I'm not telling you where the stake is."

I roll my eyes, "Obviously. Can we make a deal for it?"

I think of Elijah with my phrasing. He would find it amusing that I would resort to his tactics, but it seems like the best option right now.

Not-Alaric takes a few casual steps towards me, "I'm not particularly fond of bargaining, especially with a Mikaelson."

I grimace at the relation he makes. It's a bit strange that he would know about that, but it does make sense. This may just be a version of my Alaric that was created by the ring when he died. If that is true, then Alaric needs to stop dying as soon as possible.

I take a second to listen to the heartbeat in the distance. It thumps heavily, but it's still strong.

"Did you have something in mind then?" I retort, annoyed.

"Maybe," he takes a few more steps so that he's directly in front of me, "Give me your power and I'll give you the stake."

"Excuse me?"

"C'mon. Just whatever you're not using." I try to take a step away from him, but he grabs my arm threateningly, "Ah, there we go."

The shimmer of his aura sparkles when he connects with me. I tug away from him, but he quickly has a tight hold on me.

"I'm not afraid to hurt you," I hiss, internally wondering if it would hurt Alaric.

"If you hurt me, you hurt him."

The beating of the heart has quickened, and I pray that it's not Alaric who is affected by this. He's feeding off of the little amount of power that I have left from getting here, which may mean that I never get out.

In an attempt to get him away, I grasp my hands against his arms to pry him off of me. I regret it instantly, as the contact only intensifies the connection so that some of his magical aura is flowing into me.

As my energy and magic weakens to nothing, he becomes more and more powerful against me. In the mere seconds that have passed, I have debated any repercussions that may occur from hurting him, but he has left me no other choice. With a thought and a bit of effort, Not-Alaric gasps in pain and releases me.

"I'm surprised you'd risk hurting him," he stutters, catching his breath.

I am not even sure what I did to him, but it didn't matter as long as it worked. It's taking everything I have to stay standing in front of him right now.

"He will always be stronger than you," I hiss, but it barely comes out as a whisper.

"We'll see about that," Not-Alaric laughs. "We'll see."

I'm suddenly back in the corridor where the locked door is. There is not a shimmering light from the rope or from me this time—just plain old darkness.

"Clara," a voice echoes, but it's too distant for me to reach.

I urge my feet to go towards the sound, but they don't budge. Closing my eyes, I use whatever I have left to force myself out of Alaric's mind and back into my own.

My eyes flutter for a moment, even though they are much too heavy to do any good. I hear my name again a few times and a cold sensation on my hand, but it's nothing I can acknowledge right now. All I want is sleep.

"She completely out of it," I hear the real Alaric say, and it sends a fearful shiver down my spine.

"At least she's breathing again," Stefan assures him.

As my body regains its feeling, I think that I may be in someone's arms. I'm surprisingly comfortable in this embrace, but I'm not exactly sure why.

"Will she be alright?" Alaric asks, softly.

He's still him. For some reason, I'm relieved, even though it means I failed.

"No thanks to you," a new voice answers. "I will take her upstairs. She's freezing."

Klaus.

I can't help but wonder how he found me. It's not exactly hard to do, considering Damon and Alaric are the only two people I care to associate with in Mystic Falls, but I didn't exactly tell him where I was headed when I left this morning. He would have been jealous or quick to jump to conclusions if I had been honest with him, so it wasn't an option.

Now, though, I wish he had been with me a long time ago. His voice alone is calming and sweet towards me, which also seems to improve my performance of power. With him near, maybe I could go another round with Not-Alaric and actually win it.

He sets me down on a cushioned surface upstairs—probably the couch. The orange glow of the fire blinds my blurred eyes for a moment, but I appreciate the sudden warmth from the flames. Klaus strokes my hair gently, calming my racing heart.

"I'm right here, love," he whispers, "Take your time."

For his sake, I want to speed up the healing process, but Evil-Alaric took a lot of my power from me. My eyes are heavy, and my mind is tugging me towards sleep, even though I am trying to fight it.

"Niklaus," I groan, my voice coarse and hollow.

"It's alright," he hums, "I'll be here."

With his words, my body relaxes. He's not going to leave me, which means that I can finally rest.

*******

Chapter 32: 9/07/20 -- 12:00 am

Okay you guys... who has seen Hamilton on Disney+? I'm obsessed!!!

I started school again!!! That's partly what took me so long with this chapter. I also had another part written, but I got bored with it. I guess we'll just have a short chapter.

^^ Adelaide Kane, Elizabeth Schuyler, Anna Kendrick and I all share the same birthday and I didn't post anything for it.

(Also, you may have noticed I named Adalynn after Adelaide)

How do you guys like the story so far?

Like and comment please! I absolutely love hearing your feedback!

- Mae