Esmeray watched Klaus try to blend in.
He had woken Katherine and Esmeray up as soon as daylight streamed through the windows, asking them to help him be a good fake Alaric.
They had to speak to him about who Alaric even was and what his relationship was with the Salvatores and any other associates. Katherine had been most displeased, since she was still tied in the chair, though now without vervain. Otherwise, she would have loved to spill the beans about the others.
"Ugh," said Klaus dramatically as he looked through the shirts in Alaric's closet. "Who is this guy, Safari Sam?" He held up two shirts and held them up to his body. "Okay, bad, or badder?"
Katherine, who had been compelled to be truthful (and helpful) glared at him. "The dark colors suit you better."
Klaus smirked. "And what does my little werewitch think?"
Esmeray, who despite being pleased with their deal, did not like being addressed like this, and stared at him as though she would like to asphyxiate him with either shirt (she wasn't picky). "The darker one," she agreed, shooting a venomous look at Katherine.
"Thank you, honey," he told her, setting the shirt aside. "Okay, Katerina, pop quiz. The dagger and white ash are in the Salvatores' possession, correct?"
She nodded dejectedly. "The dagger was used to kill Elijah. You'll find him in the basement of the Salvatore house."
Klaus clasped his hands together. "Okay, that dagger needs to stay exactly where it is. The last thing I need to do is resurrect Elijah. Oh, that guy is a buzzkill." He came closer to Esmeray, because she was sitting near Alaric's desk. "Tell me, what did you think of my brother?"
"He's nice," she said truthfully. "He was kind enough to help me learn about the world. I wouldn't be able to speak English if it wasn't for him."
Klaus rolled his eyes. "You ladies, you always prefer Elijah. What is it with that? My brothers and I are just as good looking and yet they always go for him. He had that long hair going on up until the 1800s, it was atrocious."
"Maybe they like the fact your brother doesn't kidnap them," said Esmeray reasonably, casting Klaus a stink eye.
He laughed heartily. "You're just as snarky even with a deal in place, aren't you, love?"
"I said I'd help you, that never meant I was going to be very delighted about it. You want my magic, you're getting the attitude with it."
Klaus looked at Katherine while pointing at Esmeray. "I like her," he told her. "She's like you but... more powerful and actually cooperative. Not to mention her remarks are a lot funnier."
Katherine gritted her teeth. "Don't forget you're on the outs with your girlfriend Jenna," she replied, getting him back on track to impersonate Alaric properly.
"Right," said Klaus, peeling off the shirt he was wearing and changing it right in front of them. "Elena's aunt. For all the lies about Isobel. What else?"
Katherine let out a harsh breath. "That's it."
He stopped as he pulled the shirt down and tucked it into his pants. He walked over to her and grabbed her face, making her flinch. "Oh, so jumpy..."
"Please, just kill me," said Katherine quietly. "I've told you everything that I know."
"You see, I believe that you believe that, but what would you not know?" he mused. "What could they be keeping from you? Hmm? Anything? Tell me."
He easily compelled her to spill, "They were trying to see if Bonnie could find a way to kill an Original without a dagger."
Klaus made a face. "Bonnie the best friend? I thought you said she didn't have her powers anymore."
"She doesn't— or didn't— I don't know," spluttered Katherine. "You kidnapped me, remember? I'm kinda out of the loop."
Klaus pursed his lips. "Well, we'll have to get to the bottom of that."
Katherine grimaced. "Please, just kill me, Klaus, and be done with it."
"And show you kindness? I've searched for you for over five hundred years. Your death is going to last at least half that long." He pulled out a pocketknife and looked into Katherine's eyes. "I want you to take this knife... and stab yourself."
Albeit hesitantly, she took it, and with a pained expression, she brought it down into her thigh, making her hiss in pain. "Now take it out," he commanded. She did so, and the wound immediately began to heal. "While I'm gone, I want you to do that over and over and over again and if you get bored, switch legs."
"Where are you going?" asked Esmeray, sitting up. He hadn't done anything to her, and she felt... suspicious.
"I'm gonna go lay eyes on my precious doppelgänger," he said, kissing Katherine on the forehead before coming over to Esmeray, who leaned away from him, thinking he was going to do the same thing to her. "Don't be afraid, love, your only task is to sit here patiently and wait. I'll be taking the magic wolf with me to make sure you don't try anything funny."
He straightened up and looked at Katherine. "Again," he said. There was a pause as he watched Katherine stab herself, then remove the knife, and a truly wicked smile came upon his face. "And why don't you tell Esmeray the truth about how she got here?"
Katherine gave him a mirthless look as he went out the door, leaving them alone. Esmeray immediately ran to the door, trying to see if she could even get out, but she couldn't even grab the handle— it was as though an invisible force was blocking her from making contact with the door.
"Fuck," she said, then covered her mouth. "I shouldn't say that..."
"Who cares?" said Katherine gruffly, stabbing herself once more.
Esmeray stared at her. "Well, what did he mean when he told you to tell me the truth about how I really got here? I know you tricked me. I want the full story."
Katherine turned away. "As soon as I heard out that they'd found you, I told Isobel, Elena's biological mother. She immediately started to investigate and found out that you must be the hybrid. I told Elijah to make sure he woke you up so he could see what sort of power you had. John Gilbert... Elena's biological father... genuinely thought Isobel was on his side, and I used him to communicate with her. I had her try to contact Klaus to make me a deal for my freedom. I'd make the others put down Elijah, and then I'd get you and the moonstone delivered to Klaus so that I wouldn't have to run anymore. It was a win-win— Klaus would get his ritual with a hybrid, he'd get his doppelgänger, and Elena wouldn't need to die, which ensured John remained Isobel's assistant through the process. Isobel had Maddox try to snatch you up. That didn't work, so I stalled you that day to ensure Maddox caught you off guard. I just wasn't anticipating that Isobel would betray me. So now we're here."
The hybrid stared at her, not sure how to react. She felt a surge of hate and she knew that if she had her magic, she might've caused some pricey damage to the plumbing.
They did not speak to each other for the entire afternoon until Klaus and Maddox returned.
"Ah, you were right, Katerina, that witch is all juiced up and aiming to kill," Klaus said, sitting on the couch beside Esmeray, who was not looking at any of them.
"That's terrible," said Katherine sarcastically, looking down at her legs, which were covered in blood.
Klaus got to his feet and went over to one of the dressers to look for another outfit. "We're gonna have to kill her, Maddox." He then scoffed. "Do you think this Alaric guy has anything vintage?" He lifted a seemingly hidden compartment in one of the drawers, tucked under several shirts. "Crossbows, wooden bullets and automatics? Who is this guy, again?"
Katherine shot him a bored look. "He's the local vampire hunter."
Klaus snorted. "Ahh. Well, that explains the clothing." He looked up as Maddox approached him holding a glass of bourbon. "All I could find. Guy likes his bourbon." Klaus looked appreciative as he took a swig. "I knew there was something about him I liked." He glanced back up at Maddox. "There's a high school dance and I'm gonna need you to take out witch bitch."
Maddox frowned. "If she has that much power, she can sense me coming from a mile away. I won't be able to get near her. You have to do it."
Klaus didn't look pleased. "In this body? I'm a haggard history teacher. She can easily hurt me. I mean, not me, Klaus me, but you know what I mean."
Maddox pursed his lips, deep in thought. "No witch could handle channeling that much power. It'll kill her. It would kill me. You just have to make her use it."
"You mean, like provoking her death?"
The warlock nodded. "Won't take long. Just keep attacking her until it kills her. His body, Alaric's, will last longer than hers will."
"How? He's human."
Maddox looked pleased. "I can help in that department. I can do a spell to protect you."
Klaus clapped his hands together. "By all means, get along with it." He held out his arms, and Maddox put his hands on either side of his head, beginning to mutter quietly for about a minute before stopping.
The Original cracked his neck and faced Esmeray, smirking devilishly at her. "I must at least ask, love, would you like to go to the dance with me? After all, you're only a wolf now."
Esmeray shot him a cheeky smile. "I'd rather be bathed in wolfsbane and skinned alive, but thanks."
He winked at her. "Don't think I won't make it happen. You're giving me all sorts of sinister ideas. Maybe that's what I'll do to Damon Salvatore... except instead of wolfsbane, I'll use vervain."
"How creative," said Esmeray lowly, crossing her arms. "Am I really just meant to sit here all day?"
"I never said you couldn't eat, love," he said, coming over to her. "You have to be nice and healthy. There are only a few days left until the ritual will be taking place and I need you in tip top shape."
"I have to be stuck here with her?" she demanded, nodding to Katherine.
"You see, my little werewitch, I trust you only to a very miniscule degree. You understand, of course, that it's because I don't know you all that well. Prove to me that you're devoted to my cause and maybe I'll let you come outside with me."
He left soon after, with Maddox following behind. The vampire and the wolf were left alone again, and Katherine just muttered under her breath.
"There's one thing you need to understand," she said at one point when she watched Esmeray rummage around for food. The hybrid stopped to look at her. "You can't trust him, ever."
"I don't intend to trust him," she said blankly. "Not even when he helps me with my ritual."
"Well, then you're not as dumb as you look." She ignored the angry look on Esmeray's face. "Look, I may be a bitch, but I know Klaus, and I know he's just going to try and hurt you."
"I figured that out for myself, thanks." She turned her back so that she could make herself a marmalade sandwich.
"You haven't. You're sitting here a little too calmly without thinking about what he's trying to do."
"He wants to break his curse. I understand that. I was suppressed for a thousand years because no one knew how to help me. His mother took a part of him away, something that wasn't his fault."
"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
Esmeray stopped. "I don't understand. Are you speaking about the stupid ritual or—?"
"Do you not see the way he looks at you?"
"In case you haven't noticed, I have hardly looked at him, because I don't care about him unless he's going to get me what I want after I help him."
"Then pay attention to the way he's acting."
"Creepy. That's expected."
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Look, you're young. You're nineteen and no one's ever tried to hurt you, and you really don't know enough about the modern world to understand that you need to be afraid. He's just going to use you and toss you aside."
Esmeray didn't actually understand what she was talking about. How could she? It wasn't something she'd actually witnessed, and it wasn't something that her memory donors had gone through explicitly, so she had no idea. "I'm going to be able to control my wolf side," said the young girl. "I can defend myself. I can tolerate him being an ass if it means I get to be free. I'm only helping him now so that I can get closer to my own ritual. After that, it won't be easy for him to use me. He says he only intends to ask me for some favors. I'd be a fool to believe that, but I don't think he intends to keep me as his slave after he helps me balance out my witch and wolf nature."
The vampire let out an exasperated groan. "Stupid girl, he wants to go to bed with you!"
She blinked, and turned to look at her. "What?"
"That man may not look like his usual self, but I know the look in his eyes, and it's lust. He's trying to sleep with you. You know what he does? He makes you think he cares about you. He gives you something you want and he says he wants one or two small favors. He isn't just talking about you doing spells for him. He'll make you think you owe him so that he can use you for his pleasure. He'll manipulate you into thinking that you have feelings for him, and he does it so easily because he's just so charming and handsome on the outside, but he's really a monster. As soon as he gets tired of you, he's going to toss you aside, but by then, he'll have left his mark, and you'll feel so devoted, so desperate to get him back that you'll do anything, and that's what he wants. He wants to ensure your loyalty so he's going to try and make a connection you can't easily forget. If you're going to trust anything I say, trust this— that man desires you and he's going to try and reel you in. I've seen that look too many times. He's even more enticed because you're from his time and he knows that you've never been with anyone. He loves the idea of a chase and marking his territory."
Her face grew increasingly hot as Katherine spoke. She felt embarrassed and more afraid than she had been before. Her fear had dissipated greatly after Klaus had proposed a deal to her— she hadn't even given his actions a second thought; she assumed he was just trying to bother her. Now that she thought about it, Katherine was right, and it made her feel incredibly uncomfortable.
When Klaus returned in the evening, rejoicing at Bonnie's death, Esmeray noticed more and more how right Katherine was.
It was the way he looked at her, even when he wasn't speaking to her. She forced herself to pay attention, and she watched his eyes travel over her body. He'd pause and bite his lip slightly, and it made her feel uneasy, knowing he was practically undressing her with his eyes. He spoke to Katherine like he only wanted to taunt and torment her, but whenever he was addressing Esmeray, that stupid smirk remained plastered on his face. She had never noticed how close he got. There was a moment when she closed her eyes just to sense what he was doing, and she found out that all too often, he reached out his arm tentatively to try and touch her, but withdrew as if he knew better than to try it.
There were obviously many things left for her to learn. She thought back to Elijah, and a horrible feeling pooled in her stomach, making her want to throw up. He and Klaus were close, at one point. There had to be a sadistic aspect to Elijah, too. She thought of those many nights in a row where he had a meeting with someone, who, of course, wasn't Katherine— he hadn't actually released her from the tomb. She recalled how stern he'd been when she questioned him about it. Two Original vampires, stronger than basically other creature... surely they had imposed their power onto others in more ways than one. Esmeray thought of all the victims that the two had, combined. Hundreds, definitely. She didn't even want to think of Klaus's brothers... she heard they were worse.
Esmeray felt herself growing sicker and sicker as her thoughts continued to pile up. In the time she'd been awake, how many people had looked at her and thought of something sinister? Had Elijah thought of her like that? Maddox? It made her skin crawl, and she tensed more and more, trying not to think of the fact that even complete strangers on the streets might have looked at her and let their minds wander to dirty places where she was the object of their darkest fantasies.
She wanted to cry. She hated the world. She knew this sort of abuse had existed long before she was even born, and yet, it had never struck her this heavily to think of the constant danger she was in. It didn't matter how many good people there were out there— nowadays, the overwhelming majority thought of hurting others, especially men to women. It sickened her to know that people were worse now, and she felt like she had several needles pricking into her skin when she thought of what might've happened to her if Katherine hadn't warned her. Or worse, what could still happen to her despite the vampire's warning.
"I feel like celebrating," Klaus said, taking a bottle of bourbon and coming to sit beside Esmeray, putting his arm around her and making her flinch as she was snapped out of her thoughts. "Only, we have to delay it a bit, this body isn't the preferred party vessel." He gripped Esmeray's chin and tilted her to look at him, ignoring how scared she looked. He was only thinking of his needs in the moment. "Perhaps I can make Katerina perform for us." He dragged his knuckles down Esmeray's face. "You've been a good girl, you've earned it."
She immediately wrenched away from his grasp, standing up and hugging herself as she looked away. "Don't do that," she said shakily, feeling her heart thumping hard in her chest. She was thankful he couldn't hear it.
"Don't do what?" he said, thinking he made her flustered. He was used to women falling for him with ease. Anyone who didn't, he could compel so that they would be infatuated and unafraid. "Is it the fact I keep calling you a 'good girl?' I thought you'd like it."
"Don't touch me," she said, still shaking. She knew Katherine was looking at her just as intently as Klaus was. "Don't talk to me like that. I don't want to celebrate like that with you or with anybody. Don't mention those things like you're trying to get me to bend over backwards to do your bidding."
He stared at her for a moment without saying anything. "You've never had a man flirt with you, have you, love?" he said, standing up. "I bet all the wolves in your Pack were too cowardly to try and court a girl with so much power. And I bet Elijah was keeping his distance, hmm? My brother's really quite a lecherous person, I imagine it took all of his self control not to touch you. I expect he dreamed of you. Who wouldn't?"
"Stop it!" she said, holding her head, expecting to hear something break, though nothing happened because she still didn't have her magic. "Stop— I don't want you saying those things! If you're not going to talk to me about the ritual, I don't want to talk to you, and I don't want you touching me. I'm not going to let you hurt me."
Klaus seemed to figure out what was wrong. "Katerina's been running her mouth, I see," he said, glaring at her, and he really did look angry, realizing Katherine had ruined his attempts at swaying Esmeray into his hold. He wasn't used to being denied, and he couldn't compel her to submit. At the moment, he was far too selfish and cruel to think— or care— about the fact that he was making her fear him. He sought to be revered as a king without first doing something to earn it. Klaus Mikaelson had yet to become the better man he could be.
Esmeray gulped and kept her back to him. "Either put me to work on the ritual or let me go until then because I don't like this, Niklaus—"
He grabbed her throat from behind, whirling her to face him. "Do not call me that!" he snarled.
She trembled and shut her eyes, thinking he was going to hit her. He released her, scoffing. "Fine," he said coldly. "Fine, you wish to be put to work?" He moved over to the coffee table and picked up Maddox's grimoire. "Here. Make yourself useful. I expect that spell to go off without a hitch. If it doesn't, you can forget about your ritual. I'll make sure your death is painful, and you can remember that no one denies Klaus Mikaelson. If I find that you sabotaged the spell to unbind me..."
"I'll do it right," she said, holding her hands in surrender as she tried to remain brave. "I just want you not to act all flirty with me. That's it."
"Fine," he sneered, shoving her back. "Tend to the spell. I don't wish to hear your complaints anymore."