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chapter twenty-one ━ trust is the key to friendship
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❝ how can you say you care? ❞
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A MONTH HAD passed since Melody left Mystic Falls with Klaus and Stefan. Her phone hadn't stopped ringing and eventually, Klaus had just chucked it out the window of their moving car, instructing her to never contact her family. She hated him. No, she despised him. After she had made that deal with him, he never followed through with it. He still was the same murdering psychopath. She wasn't judging him for killing people because her family had done the same. Melody was just angry because he treated her like dirt.
Though she still had "freedom", it didn't feel like it at all. Along the trip, they had stayed at motels. Every single time Klaus got two rooms. One for Stefan, and then the other for Klaus and Melody. He was infuriating. However, the only kind gesture she acknowledged was that fact that he allowed her to have the bed, and he took the floor. It was little moments like those that she didn't completely hate him.
But her family was worried, Melody knew that. It pained her not to just call them and tell them that she was alright. They probably tried a locator spell, but with the spelled necklace he made her wear, she, along with both Stefan and Klaus were untraceable. And what she didn't know was that her entire family had traveled to Mystic Falls to find her.
The kids had stayed with Belle, Ruby, Henry, and Robin while the rest came to find her. Damon had explained the situation, saying that he didn't care what happened to Melody because of what she did to betray them. Her family didn't care even though it was true. They were proud. Caroline had graciously helped them adjust, filling in the holes Damon left in their current situation.
Meanwhile, Klaus was trying to get to know Melody. He would ask her simple questions and she would respond with either a smart answer or silence. Klaus infuriated her, and she infuriated him. It was what she liked to call revenge. The good thing was that he always kept her well fed, rested, bathed, basically anything she needed to survive.
Stefan was stone-cold. He hardly ever spoke or reacted. However, on the inside, it was a completely different story. The Salvatore had to stop himself several times from Klaus talking, yelling, touching, or overall anything the hybrid did to Melody. Several times Klaus had brushed the hair out of her eyes, touched her cheek, or even just lightly touching her hand. Once he had touched her waist and the resulted in him getting his neck snapped by the fairytale woman. So he never did it again.
Melody hated it. She didn't know if that was just his way of showing her affection, or if he was just being creepy. Either way, she hated every moment of it. After that night they left, she was mentally kicking herself for being so stupid as to think he cared about her. Klaus still hadn't told her the truth, giving her another reason to hate him.
They had been tracking werewolves the entire time. Klaus was obsessed. All they needed was one werewolf to led them to an entire pack. Melody felt like she was hurting Ruby. But she'd never give away the location to which her home resided, even if she died because of it.
Ray Sutton was the werewolf they were currently searching for. Landing in Tennessee, Klaus had driven to a small little house in the woods where Ray supposedly lived. The two guys had gone to the house while Melody waited in the car, tapping her fingers against the car door. She had caught herself doing that a lot more: tapping her fingers which was her sign of nervousness. And she didn't even know why she was doing it so often.
The driver's seat door opened and Klaus sat down, closing the door. But in the small time frame in which the door was ajar, Melody heard screaming. She forced away a wince. Klaus settled down and looked over at her. "What's your favorite color?"
"The color of your blood."
He cracked a smirk. "So red then?"
Melody looked over at him with a sarcastic smile. "Your blood is red? I assumed it would be black like your heart."
Klaus's smirk dropped. Sure, her sass amused him sometimes, others it didn't. This was one moment where it didn't. Lately, he had begun to get fed up with all of her witty comments because she never gave him the answer he wanted. "It's a simple question. I don't understand why you can't just answer it."
She didn't answer him. Of course, this only made him angrier. His jaw clenched and his knuckles turned white. Melody wouldn't admit it out loud or to herself but sometimes, Klaus scared her. Hardly anything scared her and yet he did. Stefan got into the car not long after that and Klaus immediately started the car, driving off.
———
"Memphis," Caroline announced, pointing to a map she had attached to a whiteboard that she had dragged into the Boarding House.
Since Damon and Elena didn't really care about Melody and only wanted to find Stefan, Caroline made it her job to led the fairytale group. They were most keen on finding Melody, though Mary Margaret and David said that Stefan needed to be saved as well, ever so hero-like as they wanted to save everyone they could.
"Are you sure it was Memphis?" Emma asked.
The entirety of Melody's family were in the living room, each with their companion. No doubt there was a split in the room. One side of which voted for saving Melody, the other voting to save Melody and Stefan. The only people on the Stefan and Melody side were Mary Margaret and David. The rest were on the Melody side.
"Yes, I'm sure. Would I tell you guys if I wasn't?"
"I don't know. All you've gotten us are dead-ends," Hook pointed out.
Caroline threw her hands up exasperatedly. "Well, I'm sorry. Look, we know that they are out there. And who knows? Maybe Melody will give us a sign or something."
Regina put her head in hands. She was worried beyond belief. The former queen hadn't had a good night's rest in weeks. Now that she thought about it, Regina couldn't recall ever having a good rest since Melody went missing. Her head lifted up and she stood. "Why don't we just go out there and look? We follow Klaus and then we kill him. There has to be some sort of pattern in the locations."
"I hate to say this but Regina's right," Pan agreed, also standing. "We need to follow this lead and then we can track them to their next location."
The rest of them stood and Caroline nodded. "Alright. Let's do this."
———
Unfortunately, it was all her idea. And because of it, Klaus was ready to rip her head off. They had made their way to the Southern Comfort bar and Klaus wanted his meeting with Ray to be dramatic. So Melody offered to flirt with Ray to get his attention. The hybrid was not happy with her suggestion. But after Stefan spoke up to agree, Klaus hesitated before waving her off like he didn't care.
Melody entered and instantly saw the werewolf sitting at the bar. She took a deep breath and then walked toward him. The boots she wore hit the ground, making a soft tapping sound, but it came across as powerful. She slid into the seat next to him and ordered a whiskey. Ray looked over at her with a grin. "Hello there."
She smiled back at him flirtatiously, using her accent. "Hello. What's your name, darling?"
He grinned and then set a hand on her knee. "Ray. What's yours?"
Klaus came barreling and stomped over with a fierce glare. He pushed Ray away from her. Melody was surprised. Was Klaus jealous? Nothing even happened yet. "I wouldn't touch what's not yours, mate."
Ray looked confused. "Excuse me?"
Melody was both shocked and offended. Never had anyone spoken about her like she was property. And she was not property. She'd never had been and never would be. Klaus was pushing her limits. In all honesty, she didn't care if he was jealous because it was stupid. He barely knew anything about her because she didn't allow him to.
Klaus forced himself to calm down. "Never mind that. I've been looking everywhere for you. We started in Florida, Pensacola. I met a young chap there who you used to work with before you moved to Memphis, now he directed me to two lovely young women. And they led me here, to you."
Ray glanced over at Melody who was taking a sip of her drink with a glare aimed at Klaus. "I think I'll be going."
He got up and Melody used her magic to push him back. Klaus saw but did not acknowledge it. "Not so fast. You only just got here, now your type are very hard to come by."
The werewolf then tried to go the other way but was blocked by Stefan. It wouldn't have mattered because Melody used her magic to move him back again. "I wouldn't if I were you."
"Vampires."
When Melody went to correct him, Klaus cut her off. He was clearly still pissed. "You're swifty swift Ray! Yes! My friend here is a vampire. He compelled everybody in the bar so don't look to them for any help. That beautiful girl that you just spoke to is a — what people like to call — fairytale character." Melody rolled her eyes. "I, however, I'm something else, a different kind of monster. I've got some vampire, I've got some wolf."
"You what?" Ray questioned.
Melody downed the rest of her whiskey and then jumped onto the bar counter, sitting down. Klaus smirked. "A hybrid Ray, I'm both. You see I want to create more of me. Now you being the first werewolf that I've come across in many a moon, pun intended Ray! I need you to direct me to your pack. So, where can I find them, Ray?"
"You can't compel me, it won't work."
The other two in the room made a face. Melody knew that since Ray wouldn't give them what he wanted, the werewolf was now going to be tortured. Klaus glanced over at Melody and she jumped down. She glided past him, purposefully brushing his shoulder, making him smirk. The woman leaned on the counter, calling to the bartender. "May we have some darts please?" Her attention then switched to Ray. "You're not going to give him what he wants, so, we're going to play a game: Truth or wolfsbane."
Pulling out a pouch of wolfsbane, she poured some into her hand and then set it on fire with her magic. Klaus smirked. He had always loved the little tricks she did with her magic. And the fire was his favorite. "Oh, this is gonna be fun, Ray."
———
While Melody's family followed a lead with Damon and Alaric, Melody was forced to watch Stefan torture Ray. Klaus sat next to her with an arm draped across the booth, nearly touching her shoulder. She didn't move, knowing that he'd probably follow her anyway. He was definitely jealous and still pissed from not only Ray's little act, but also from her constant sass and void answers.
"Isn't this fun?" he asked her. "Just the two of us, sitting here—"
"It makes me want to stab myself with a knife," she interrupted.
Klaus shook his head with a sigh. "I don't understand why you dodge me."
She scoffed and then looked at him. "Maybe it's because I don't like you. You took away my freedom, and plus you broke the deal we made. You aren't worth my time."
Before Klaus could defend himself, a girl walked over. She was clearly compelled. "Hello, mister Klaus." Melody snickered at the title and he shot her a glare. "I have some more information for you. You told me to tell you if I saw anything. I saw the guys spotted Damon and some others at the farmhouse."
Melody's heart rate picked up speed because she knew the "others" were her family. Klaus didn't look all too happy with the information. He had heard her heartbeat and then rested a hand on her shoulder. "Well, thank you, Claudine. You'll just tell your friends to keep up the good work."
The girl walked away and Klaus sent a warning look to Melody. She glared at him. Stefan approached. "Are they still on our trail?"
Klaus removed his hand from Meldoy's shoulder. "They're getting closer, I'm gonna have to deal with that."
She instantly sprang up and was ready to attack him when Stefan grabbed Klaus's arm. "No, no, no! Let me handle it."
He turned to Stefan. "Why should I let you leave?"
Melody stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Because he'll come back. Besides, he wouldn't hurt my family like you would."
Klaus looked hurt by her words but covered it up. "Aren't you even having the least bit of fun, Stefan?" He pointed to Ray with a big smile.
"I'll make sure that my brother and Melody's family don't bother us anymore," Stefan insisted.
He walked away, leaving the other two alone. Melody looked around. "I need some air." The fairytale woman walked to the exit and left, standing outside the bar to see it was now dark. She pressed a hand to her forehead, looking down at the ground. Footsteps sounded as they followed her outside. "Gosh can't I just get some space?"
Klaus stopped a few feet from her. "Are you alright, love?"
"Do I look alright?" She spun to face him, gesturing to herself. "You took my freedom away, I haven't spoken to my family in a month, you're filling my head with fake bonding, shall I go on? Or have you got the message that I'm not alright?"
He looked apologetic. "Well perhaps if you would just trust me I would allow you to speak to your family. But it is clear that you don't."
"How can I?" She paused and took a deep breath. "I don't trust you because you have given me no reason to."
When she passed him and went to go back into the bar, he called out to her. "I killed the deputy that killed you." Melody stopped but didn't turn to him. "I had a witch put a protection spell on you to keep you from being killed and not coming back. Then she linked us together so I would know if you were harmed."
Melody finally turned to him. "Why? Why are you protecting me?"
Klaus didn't move any closer to her. "That's all you get for today." He then took a few steps toward her. "All I want is to get to know you. You're right, I have given you no reason to trust me. But you have given me no reason to trust you. So how can you expect me to tell you everything?"
She didn't say anything in response, thinking about what he said. He walked past her and to the door of the bar when she said, "Blue." He stopped and turned to her to see her looking at him. "My favorite color. It's a light blue color."
He smiled slightly and then held open the door. Melody walked up to the door and then walked inside. It wasn't much, Klaus knew that. But it was a start.
———
Gosh, I love them so much! I can't wait to reveal the reason why he cares about her! :) Why do you guys think Klaus cares about her? I hope you guys have a great day/night and don't forget to vote on this chapter, comment your thoughts, and follow me for updates!
( credit : @pepperronys )