❝I won't be afraid just as long as you stand, stand by me.❞ - Ben E. King "Stand By Me"

⊳⊳|⊲⊲

The dark, night sky spread out high above. Stars sat shining, as they had for thousands of years and would for thousands yet. In the lateness of the night, the smear of the Milky Way was barely visible. A colorful smudge against the dark, vastness of the inky void. 

The hybrid had always been a little fearful of the night sky. It made him feel weak and powerless, which wasn't a feeling he was used to. It promised secrets and mysteries he felt he'd never have the answers too. Looking up at it always made his breath catch in his throat and his undead heart, beat a little faster. 

His icy blue eyes moved away from the vastness of space to the grassy lawn to his left. The stunning, strange blonde lay lounged in the grass. Her hair was a messy tangle around her head, her eyebrows were creased and she had an almost angelic look to her. 

A bit of drool stained her chin and dribbled to the grass. She had grass stains on her cheek and dirt in her hair. Her mascara was smudged under her eyes and her fist was bunched next to her parted lips. An ant crawled across her nose. 

She looked so normal. So natural and completely at ease in the comfort of the Mother's embrace. As he stared at her, messy and jaw-dropping, he felt this emotion he'd come to recognize as familiarity, bubble up inside of his chest and blow apart his heart. Clawing at his insides and at his skull. Trying to force him to remember where he knew her from. 

She vexed him, and angered him. But, she was so incredibly beautiful. He knew her. He knew he knew her. Beyond the coffee shop, he knew her personally. He could feel it. Like a part of his soul was lying right there, waiting for him to just figure it out. It felt like it was just out of reach. 

He wanted to grab her, to shake her until his soul came back. Until the memories could be reached and this maddening feeling of confusion was gone. 

He'd contemplated whether or not she was telling the truth. For a minute there, he'd even contemplated if she was the Ghostess. But, he decided she couldn't be. Roxanne seemed too tame. He sensed the power in her, but he didn't believe she was the monster that hunted history. 

He could never see the Ghostess playing twenty questions under the stars. Or sleeping in the grass, with mascara stains and drool. She began to snore softly, burying her face into her arm and letting out the softest grunt. 

It was so, utterly entrancing. Klaus would've been happy sitting there all night, just watching her. Observing how she slept and lay and he was dying to know what she dreamed about. This desire to be inside her mind was a powerful one, and he wasn't sure if he could stop himself from doing it. 

Gently, the hybrid stood and picked her up. His arms gathered her up, sliding under her legs and behind her back. He placed her hands around his neck and she quickly buried her face into his shirt. A soft whimper coming from her parted lips. The ant was gone. 

The air was chilly, but still held the taste of the summer warmth. It tugged on his curls and tussled her blonde hair. Moving between the strands and bringing with it the smell of her citrus shampoo. Her vanilla body wash. He inhaled slightly and then exhaled quickly, expelling the thoughts that were gathering in his mind. The hybrid moved towards the house, making sure not to jostle or wake the girl in her sleeping state. 

It was perplexing to him, who she was. What she was doing there and what she meant by the things she said. That the Ghostess loved him, but was going to kill him. His paranoia was strong, and he always suspected someone was trying to kill him. But, the Ghostess was the first time since Mikael's death he felt a little more than worried. She was known for her brutality, for her dangerousness and he feared for his family's safety. 

The hybrid looked down at the girl in his arms. At her soft features and long lashes. She was the soldier of the Ghostess, and she was betraying her master, her friend, for him. Why? 

He stepped into the house and went up the stairs before pausing at the top. He didn't know which room was hers. There were too many rooms in this house. He internally cursed himself at how lavishly he had built the place. A manor like Versailles. 

He was tired and didn't feel like searching, either. So the hybrid walked to his bedroom and pulled the covers back and placed her there. When he did, he stared down at her sleeping form. She was relaxed and content. A few freckles dusted her cheeks, and she made a quiet noise as she rolled over. She began to snore again. Her hair was messy with dirt and grass. Her shirt was stained and her face had the remnants of laying in the earth. She was so beautiful, like Persephone herself. The Goddess of Spring, the Goddess of Vegetation. 

For a moment, just a moment, the briefest of moments, Niklaus almost compared himself to Hades. 

To banish the thoughts, he decided to do something else to distract himself. With one gentle caress over her forehead, the hybrid quietly entered her mind. He slipped in easily, and it felt like moving through water. A gentle, quiet entrance that had no fight. 

⊳⊳|⊲⊲

It looked like a mirror stood in the woods. But it wasn't. Two girls were in a clearing, completely identical in everything except their clothing. They both were tall, thin and pale. With gray eyes and hard features. One was dressed like a knight, with a sword across her back and a steely look in her eyes. The other was dressed like a maiden, in a plain, white dress with a dagger at her hip. 

 The warrior  stood proud. Her chin was lifted and a familiar fire lit her cold gaze. The other one was frailer, less confident. She was fiddling with her fingers and looking around nervously. Her eyes darted around the trees, examining each and every one of them as if they would turn into something evil.  "What if he comes?"

The one in the armor, the one Klaus was pretty sure was Roxanne, rolled her eyes dramatically. "Dear sister, I carry with me a sword." She brandished it, and the metal caught the light of the sun. A bird sang in the forest. "I can kill anyone." 

The one in the dress shifted her weight and then froze when a branch cracked in the trees. "He's here." She went completely still, her eyes fixated on one spot in the trees. The warrior turned as well, a predatory air to her build. She felt dangerous, monstrous. 

Cracking sounds filled the air as a man broke through the trees. He was older, maybe mid to late forties with black hair that was streaked with gray. He had narrow, deep set eyes that were the color of steel. He was dressed simply in a leather jerkin and cloth clothing. In his hands he held a longsword that glowed purple and swirled with magic. Both girls flinched visibly at the sight of it. 

"Hello, Cloelia," he smiled wickedly, "Or is it Katya, now? It's been so long, my dear, I never know anymore." His head tilted, his eyes cold and dead. A lifeless smirk crossed his face, but the girl said nothing. She lifted her sword and charged. 

The sound of metal against metal filled the air. 

⊳⊳|⊲⊲

Klaus exited her head swiftly, his gaze searching her figure. That was her in the clearing. Or someone that looked like her. Was she a doppelganger? Was that actually the Ghostess? Was she the Ghostess? Who was that man? What was that sword? Who was the other girl?

The questions flooded his mind. The one in armor, the one the man called Katya or Cloelia, she had many of the same mannerisms as Roxanne. The eyerolls and the sass and the arrogance. That vicious confidence. That was Roxanne, it had to be. But, her name had been Katya . . . who the hell was Katya?

The man had reminded him all too well of Mikael. An angry hunter ready to rid the world of the two girls. Specifically the one in armor. Klaus didn't recognize the sword, though. That metal...

He pulled the covers carefully over her sleeping body and stared down at her. He could kill her right now. Rid himself of this problem. She was a problem. She had threatened his family with her knowledge, she knew too much and she told him that the Ghostess would kill him. She had this control over him and he hated that feeling of being small. 

Klaus ran his hand over her knotted hair. He respected her, though. He deeply respected and admired the girl, and that respect meant he wouldn't kill her. At least, not yet. Not until he knew more. She was too dangerous dead, she knew too much and he needed to know it too. She also had told him that she was there to protect him. 

He didn't trust that she wanted to protect him. He sensed that whilst that may have been her reason, it wasn't her true reason. What she had told him was true, she was there to make sure her friend didn't make a drastic mistake. 

He admired that, too. 

However, he did not trust her. There were too many strange things about the girl that he felt he needed to get to the bottom of. 

Such as their matching tattoos. Or, the sense of familiarity he had with her. She felt like an old friend, someone he had known for centuries. But, she wasn't. He met her once, fifteen years ago and then again, four days ago. Which was an odd coincidence in itself. 

She was no one. But he knew her. 

He also desired very strongly to know exactly what she was before he killed her. He called her a witch, but that was because he knew no other words to call her. She was something, and it wasn't human. The power he sensed from her spoke volumes to that. 

But truly, Klaus didn't believe she was the Ghostess. The images just didn't match up in his head. 

He turned off the lights and meandered downstairs to sleep on the couch. Many thoughts ran through his mind, and none of the questions could be answered. He had to know, and the only way to learn was to wait. Gain her trust and kill her later. 

He decided that was his best plan. He would kill the girl once he'd learned everything he needed to know. Like, who exactly is Roxanne St. Claire? 

Edited

May 28th, 2020

Rewritten

March 22nd, 2023 - April 19th, 2023