25 | kill them all
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀WREN WAS ROUGHLY KNOCKED OFF OF HER CHAIR, HER BACK SLAMMING AGAINST THE HARDWOOD FLOOR. A SHATTERED GASP LEFT HER THROAT AS THE WIND WAS KNOCKED OUT OF HER, struggling to move.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Somewhere along the chaos, a voice growled in her ear. "Stay still." He used his body to cover hers. A groan of pain erupted as his body flinched from the impact of the wooden bullets connecting with him.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren trembled, hiding behind Klaus as much as she could. Tears of fright leaked from the corners of her eyes as screams erupted all around.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀The tires squealed again, and the shooting came to an end.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren gasped, trying to get her breath back as the piercing silence met her ears. Ringing erupted from her left side, making her flinch away and cover her ears to block out the noise.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus grabbed her face, speaking to her. She stared blankly into his eyes. "Wren, listen to me." Her eyes looked straight at him, looking - but not seeing. "Can you hear me, love?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren stared straight at Klaus, trying to focus on something to bring herself back to reality. She traced his lips with her eyes, following the perfect bow and trying to memorize the rosy color.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus stood, bringing her with him and seating her on one of the still-surviving chairs. He flashed over to Marcel, who was groaning as he plucked bullets from his chest. He wasn't hit in any vital places.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren clenched the sides of the chairs hard with her hands as she looked around the room. Shattered glass and blood were everywhere - it looked like a massacre. Charred bones lay a few feet to her left, still smoking. That had been a person, once.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Nik," Wren whispered, "what..." What happened? Who did this? All of her questions fell limp in her mouth.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Marcel chanted as he paced around. "This is on you!" he shouted, pointing his finger at Klaus. "Now that you're in charge, those are your guys laying dead. If you're gonna run this city that better mean something to you or no one worth a damn is gonna follow you!"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus smirked at his friend. "I was beginning to worry about you. I don't think I could've taken any more of this deferential nonsense." He gestured around. "I mean, clearly, I underestimated The Faction - but now that we've arrived at this point. Now that they have come into our home, visited this upon our people - how would you counsel me to respond?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Marcel snarled, "Let's go kill them all."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren looked around the room - at the havoc The Faction caused. They had killed people from their own communities - humans who were probably compelled to come and be fed on. They had killed people from the vampire community - the body count was higher than the human deaths. At least ten vampires lay dead.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀In the moment, she couldn't help but agree.
♔
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren sat on the bed, looking at her hands. They were clean - free of the blood and dirt she had found on them when she first returned to the compound. Her bags sat around the room - she hadn't the heart to unpack them yet.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Her troubled mind wasn't budging, even as footsteps appeared outside her door. She could feel his presence, his yearning to enter.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀His bedroom was just next door, adjoining to hers via a balcony.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"You've been avoiding me," his voice came through her open balcony door, "may I ask why?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren sighed and continued unpacking her bag. In the bottom of her suitcase was a small Victoria Secret bag full of lace bras and underwear. The notion of him even discovering it made her face flush.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Avoiding me while I am trying to determine why you are avoiding me does not fix the problem, it only further irritates us both. I am going to continue to stand here and pester you, since you've put a barrier spell on your quarters. And you, well - you're going to be forced to listen to me."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren sighed and stripped off her hoodie, letting her bare back face him as she dug for a tank top. She found a black one and slipped it on, sighing as the cool fabric brushed over her heated skin.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Teasing me will get you nowhere."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Who said I was teasing you?" Wren asked as she turned to him. "You're the one on my balcony. If you want to keep standing there, then I'll just go about my business while you watch."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Wren." Klaus' tone was serious. "Please, invite me in."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Why?" she asked, exasperated. "Why can't I just have a moment where I don't have to think about anything? A moment where all of this chaos just pauses."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"If you're having second thoughts about coming here with me..."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren closed her eyes. "That's not what I'm talking about." She took her suitcase off of her bed. "Everywhere I go, everything I do - you're always on my mind. Always. I can't escape from you."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"And you think I don't feel the same?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"I know you do," Wren sighed, "it's different because it's me." She tugged the covers back, sitting down on her bed. "It makes me feel vulnerable. Helpless."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus shifted on his feet. Car horns and shouting erupted behind him, drawing a look of annoyance to his face.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren sighed in exasperation. "Just come in here." She flicked her wrist, closing the door behind him to drown out the noises of the city.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus walked slowly toward her before sitting down on the bed in front of her, watching her closely. "You know what I've learned about you, darling?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren hummed, closing her eyes as she leaned her head against the headboard.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"You like being with me. You like the feeling that comes with having something dangerous put your needs before his own." He watched her face change. "It makes you feel powerful - like you can do anything."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren opened her eyes, observing his face. She realized he was right. She felt like nothing could stand against her when she was with Klaus.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Sighing, she moved toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck and laying her head on her bicep. "I just feel like sleeping for ten years."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus pulled back to look at her. "And why is that, love?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"I've been Queen for a day and I've already been undermined, threatened, shot at." She listed them off on her fingers. Dropping her face into her hands, she let out a long, dramatic sigh.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"You're a natural," Klaus murmured, "I've seen women who were raised to inherit a crown and they weren't half as talented with it as you are."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"The people don't respect me. They don't even fear me - they fear what you will do to them if they even breathe in my direction." Wren rolled her eyes. "Apparently, everybody is scared of you but me." She shot him a look.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus smirked at her. "That's because you have no reason to fear me, love." He pulled his leather jacket off, laying it on the foot of the bed. "The others know I wouldn't offer them the same mercy and kindness that you receive."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren scoffed, standing up to dig in her suitcase again. If he was getting ready for bed, she would as well. She didn't even bother to glance at his reaction as she bent over to look for a pair of shorts.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀She stood, garment in hand, and reached up to let her white hair down out of its bun. It tumbled down her back, ending at the bottom of her spine in damp waves. She ran a hand through it before pulling it forward, over her shoulder.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Turning to face Nik, she dropped her sweatpants and slid the pair of soft shorts up her legs, watching his hands clench at her mattress. "Don't rip my bed," she mock-glared at him, "I just got that."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus' hands pulled away from the plush mattress. "If you wanted it to remain unharmed you shouldn't have made such a brazen attempt to coax me to you."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren blushed slightly. "Well, you don't have to tear my bed up because you want to touch me." She walked forward, crawling onto the bed next to him.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"And if I hadn't? If I had followed my true desires?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren lay on her stomach, shivering as she felt him slide a blanket over her. "Who knows what could've happened?" Her voice held an edge to it, her breath hitching as she felt his form hovering over her.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus felt his resolve fading as she rolled over to face him. Her shirt had ridden up to just above her belly-button, revealing her milky white skin to his eyes. Her pale hair splayed out against the pillow like a halo.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Her plump lips were parted, her eyes staring up at him like a doe caught in the headlights. He could see her nipples hardening underneath that thin tank top she was so fond of wearing around him.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Tracing her jaw with his fingers, he thumbed her lip, sucking in a breath when she caught the pad of his finger in her mouth and sucked on it lightly.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren could've died a little bit in shock at what she just did. Her cheeks felt like lava as his body stiffened in response to her action. "I'm so-"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀His lips slammed against hers.