𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀
ミ★ ( perfect prey, act one ) ★彡

     When Stefan wakes, he can immediately feel the delirium that surrounds his head. His vision his blurry and everything feels as if it's moving in slow motion; it's exactly how he feels when he wakes up after getting his neck snapped. He doesn't like it—no one does—but, it's the most effective way to knock out a vampire for a few hours. After a few blinks of his eyelids, his eyes finally focus on two blondes standing near an opened back door. He recognises them as Cordelia and Rebekah. He can see how annoyed they are to be babysitting him and he remembers his last encounter before the world went black for him.

   "Oh, he lives." Cordelia commented, almost impressed that he had woken up so soon after what Klaus had been putting him through.

     Her arms crossed at him as Stefan groaned. He rubs the back of his neck that felt extremely sore to try and soothe him, "What happened?" He asked them. He knows his neck has been snapped, but the way he feels, feels like a lot more than just that.

     "You took a beating." Rebekah told him and he looked confused once again.

     "My husband has been breaking your neck all afternoon. You were practically his punching bag from Chicago all the way to here." Cordelia explained and she sarcastically winced, "Quite the temper."

     Stefan looked around his surroundings and he recognised the town immediately, "Why did he bring us back to Mystic Falls?" He feigns innocence. He knows exactly why they're there, but he tries anyway despite the odds being stacked against him.

     Rebekah's eyes rolled and she scowled at his attempt to deter them, "You can stop playing dumb now. It didn't take him long to figure out what you've been hiding."

     "I'm not hiding anything. I've done everything Klaus has asked me to." Stefan insisted.

     "Yes of course, you just failed to mention that the doppelgänger is still alive." Cordelia uttered sarcastically and Stefan's green eyes widened in shock and fear.

"Where is Klaus now?" He questioned them demandingly, looking around the room. His heartbeat racing at the thought of Elena being harmed. He feels he failed to protect her.

Rebekah scowled in disgust before she smiled fondly, "With any luck, ripping that cow's bloody head off."

Anger flooded through Stefan at the thought of Klaus harming Elena and he rushed at Rebekah, the two of them flying out of the truck and onto the ground with him on top of her. Cordelia whistled at the action as she left the truck, "Where is she?" Stefan asked the blonde original.

"You really do love this girl, don't you?" Cordelia asked, remembering how he used to feel about the woman who's neck he held harshly in his hand.

Rebekah quickly got up and pushed him against the truck, she punched him hard before taking a crowbar and hooking the hook of it behind Stefan's neck to pull him toward her, "Consider me jealous." She purred before she drove the crowbar through his stomach.

Cordelia looked impressed as the two linked arms and walked away, "Nice work. Very Vlad the Impaler of you."

Rebekah smirked, "Where do you think he got it from?"

Inside the gym, Klaus was smirking proudly of his work; watching as the human girl in front of him was struggling to stay on one foot like he had compelled her to do otherwise her boyfriend would beat her to death. She was letting out whimpers and cries while her boyfriend was trying to encourage her to not drop her foot, despite how tired she was.

"Keep it up." Klaus says, even though his words of encouragement was probably only making her fear worse.

"Where's Stefan? What did you do to him?" Elena demanded to know angrily.

     "Stefan's on a time out." He smirked, thinking about how Rebekah was probably tearing him up outside. She's a jealous woman and she most likely isn't happy to hear that the man she loves, loves someone else other than her.

     The doors suddenly opened and Bonnie and Matt entered the gym. Elena's eyes widened in fear for her friends' lives, especially Bonnie's since it was because of her that Elena was alive, "Bonnie, get out of here!" Elena shouted.

     Klaus was almost immediately in front of Bonnie in an instant, "Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up. Now, we can get started." He looked back at Dana, "Dana, why don't you relax? You and Chad sit tight." He said, the human couple relaxing before he turned his attention back to Bonnie, "I assume you're the reason Elena's still walking around alive?"

     Bonnie nodded, not a drop of fear in sight, "That's right. If you want to blame someone, blame me."

Klaus smirked in amusement, "Oh, there's no need for blame, love. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem, I'm going to have you find the fix."

The doors opened and Cordelia came in, hauling Tyler—the werewolf—into the gym, the teenage boy struggling to get out of the woman's strong grip, "Get off of me!" He snarled.

"Hush now." Rebekah scolded patronisingly as she followed after them.

"Found this one hiding in the other room. Thought he'd be perfect." Cordelia told Klaus as she threw him to the ground, his body slamming against the wooden flooring and sliding towards her husband, landing at his feet.

"Leave him alone!" Elena yelled out. It was fruitless though as no one paid her yells any mind.

"Well, I'd be a fool to question your judgement." Klaus smiled adoringly at his wife, walking over toward her to press a kiss to her cheek while Rebekah let out a gagging noise. He looked at everyone else, "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet my sister, Rebekah." He pointed at his sister before pointing to Cordelia, "And my wife, Cordelia. Word of warning... they can be quite mean."

"Don't be an ass." Rebekah scoffed at the same time that Cordelia fake coughed, "Asshole."

"Exhibit A." Klaus grinned at them before he walked over to Tyler and harshly picked him up, "Now, I'm going to make this very simple... every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible, actually."

He then bit into his wrist and shoved it into Tyler's mouth, forcing him to drink his blood, "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler's sake... you better hurry." He says before twisting Tyler's head in an unnatural direction, snapping it and killing him instantly while Elena, Matt and Bonnie jump in shock.

Klaus simply grinned.

Dana and Chad were still sitting on the floor crying a few minutes later while Matt was practically whimpering by Tyler's side, "He killed him." He stated, still in shock as to what he had just witnessed, tears in his eyes at the sight of his dead best friend from childhood. He still wasn't accustomed to the supernatural, nor the sight of death like everyone else seemed to be since they weren't even too concerned that he wouldn't come back.

"He's not dead, darling. Yet." Cordelia said as she was sat on Klaus' lap, her hands playing with his soft dirty blonde hair, "If Bonnie is successful, he'll live through the transition. If not... it's bye-bye Tyler." She pouted sarcastically and Klaus chuckled at her.

Matt looked worried and Klaus gestured his hand, "Go on, then. Go and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and what-not. We'll look after Elena... for safe keeping."

Bonnie looked in between them nervously and Elena signalled for Bonnie to go, the witch grabbing onto Matt and the two left the gym. Rebekah looked at Elena with disgust, "So, this is the latest doppelgänger. The original one was much prettier."

Cordelia hummed in agreement before she looked at Klaus, "I know you hated Katherine and all, but at least she had the balls to fight back." She looked back at Elena with a grimace. "This one bores me."

Klaus rolled his eyes, "Enough, you two. Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you, Rebekah?" He ordered and Rebekah dragged Tyler behind her by his arm and left the gym. Klaus looked over at Elena, "Just ignore them. Petty little things."

Cordelia smacked his chest harshly with a glare, he only smiled at her adoringly as if it would make her any less mad. The two eyeing each other off before Elena went to comfort Dana who was still crying.

Stefan entered the gym a few moments later. Elena's eyes practically brightened like he was her knight in shining armour that had come to save her from the great evil next to her, "Stefan..."

Klaus smirked, "Come to save your damsel, mate?" He tainted while Stefan only continued to walk towards them, ignoring Elena completely.

"I came to ask for your forgiveness." Stefan corrected him, "And pledge my loyalty."

"Well, you broke that pledge once already." Klaus pointed out.

"Elena means nothing to me anymore." Hurt spread across Elena's face, "And whatever you ask of me... I will do."

"Fair enough. Let's drink on it." He then pointed to Dana and Chad, "Kill them." He ordered and Stefan hesitated.

     "What are you waiting for? Kill them." Cordelia urged when she saw his hesitation, knowing it's because of Elena. She realises that Elena has probably never seen the real side of vampirism—the side that enjoys the hunt and the kill. Stefan probably hid that from her to not scare her off.

Elena's eyes widened, "No! Stefan, don't! Klaus promised he wouldn't hurt me." Elena stated.

Cordelia rolled her eyes knowing Klaus and how he operates, "Oh, really? Did he pinky swear?" She pouted.

Elena wasn't sure what to say next as she sputtered, "He already said—" She started but before she could blink, Cordelia was in her face and hit her so hard that she had fallen to the floor.

Stefan rushed over toward the blonde vampire, fangs out but Klaus stopped him from getting any closer by grabbing him by the throat, "She's right. I wasn't going to hurt her, I never said anything about Cordelia." Klaus smirked before it dropped to a snarl, "But, she means nothing to you, huh? Your lies just keep piling up, Stefan."

     Stefan snarled back, struggling against Klaus, "Let her go! I'll do whatever you want, you have my word!"

     Klaus shrugged, "Your word doesn't mean much. I lived by your word all summer, during which time I never had to resort to this..." He says before he begins to compel him, "Stop fighting."

     "Don't do this, don't do this." The younger Salvatore begged.

     "I didn't want to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now, I'm going to have to take it." Klaus continued despite Stefan's protests, "You will do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey." He compelled.

     "No. Stefan!" Elena shouted while Stefan couldn't resist the compulsion. His body relaxing and looking completely stoic.

     Klaus looked as if he was proud of his work, nodding his head towards the human couple's direction, "Now kill them. Ripper." He ordered and without hesitation this time, Stefan vamped out and rushed over to Dana, killing her almost instantly as he sunk his fangs into her neck and began to drain her dry, her screams only urging him to continue while Elena looked on with fear.

     By the time he reached Chad, Cordelia looked impressed, "It's always nice to see a vampire in his true element." She stated.

     Klaus nodded in agreement, "The species has become such a broody lot."

     "No. You did this to him." Elena snarled.

     "I invited him to the party, love. He's the one dancing on the table." Klaus defended, not at all offended by her accusations.

     Before she could respond, Rebekah came storming into the gym again as if she was on a warpath, heading straight toward Elena, "Where is it?! Where's my necklace?"

     "What are you talking about?" Klaus asked his sister.

     "She has my necklace. Look." She informed him, giving him a phone that she had in her hand so he could see the picture of her with Caroline and Bonnie, Rebekah's necklace dangling around her neck.

     Klaus raised an eyebrow at Elena, "Well, well. More lies."

     "I don't have it anymore." Elena told them.

     "You're lying!" Rebekah snarled before she vamped out and not into Elena's neck but Klaus quickly stopped her and pulled her aside.

     "Knock it off!" He scolded her.

     "Make her tell me where it is, Nik!" Rebekah whined.

Klaus looked at Elena, who was nursing the bite on her neck, her hands stained red with blood, "Where's the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest." He asked her in a patronising tone.

     "I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it." Elena answered at Klaus let out a disappointed sigh.

     "Katerina. Of course." He mumbled and Cordelia smirked to herself lightly, her friend was always causing trouble in some way, "Well, that's unfortunate. If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?" Klaus then turned on the gym clock, a buzzing sound is let out when the time appears on the board before he goes over to Stefan once more to compel him, "Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again—only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to."

     "No, Klaus! Don't do this to him!" Elena protested again. Stefan has only wanted to protect her, she knows this'll break him if he harms her.

      "No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine." He tells Stefan calmly before grabbing onto Cordelia's hand and walking out of the gym with Rebekah following after them.

     Cordelia watched with boredom as Klaus continued to toy with Stefan and Elena's relationship, making him turn the younger Salvatore's humanity off before making him rip into Elena's neck. It wasn't until Bonnie finally told them what the original witch had said as to why his hybrids weren't working that they joined Rebekah in a seperate classroom where she was toying with the werewolf and his girlfriend, "Well, the verdict's in. The original witch says the doppelgänger should be dead."

     Rebekah got up from her spot, her mood seeming to be elevated, "Does that mean we can kill her?" She asked with excitement.

     Cordelia scoffed, "Please, the original witch hated him. I'm fairly certain she's trying to trick us and it actually means the opposite."

     "What!?" Rebekah exclaimed with annoyance and disappointment before she held Caroline back to restrain her from getting in between Klaus and Tyler.

"Call it a hunch..." He shrugged before he held up a test tube containing blood to Tyler, blood that he had procured only moments before they entered the classroom.

"What is that?" Caroline asked nervously.

"Elena's blood." Cordelia answered, nodding her head at it, "Drink it."

     Caroline's eyes widened and she thrashed in Rebekah's arms, "No! No, no, no, Tyler, don't!"

"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, darling." Cordelia reminded the other blonde vampire, "Consider this an experiment."

"It's okay." Klaus assured the werewolf and Tyler takes it in his hand and finally drinks it after a few moments of hesitation. "There we go. Good boy." He remarked and Cordelia rolled her eyes.

Tyler began to cough, he rolled over the desk, and fell to the floor, screaming and groaning and clearly writhing in pain. He held onto his head and screamed and his face finally changed. His eyes were yellow, his fangs were protruding from
his mouth and had veins under his eyes like a vampire.

"Well, that's a good sign." Klaus stated.

Later that night, Klaus, Cordelia and Rebekah were in front of the local hospital while they waited for Elena to finish unwillingly 'volunteer' blood. "So the doppelgänger isn't the problem. Her blood is the solution." Rebekah scoffed as she crossed her arms.

"Seems so." Was all Klaus said in return, his mind swirling with thoughts on how differently things could've ended if he hadn't of figured it out.

Rebekah looked at Cordelia, "How did you know?"

"Well, you know how much the original witch hated him." Cordelia reminded her with a shrug.

Klaus raised an eyebrow, "Do you honestly think I would do anything other than the opposite of what she says?"

"A thousand years in the grave, and she's still screwing with you." Rebekah commented and Cordelia nodded in agreement.

"Well, it makes sense if you think about it from her perspective. It was her fail-safe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse." Klaus pointed out, "The doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead..."

"Then you couldn't use her blood to sire yourself a new species." Cordelia finished the sentence.

"Leaving me alone for all time." Klaus added and both Rebekah and Cordelia sent him a funny look.

Rebekah scoffed at her older brother, "Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids? You just don't want to be alone?" She asked him, "Not to mention, you have your wife by your side again after you left her desiccated in a box for ninety years."

Klaus scowled. "What I want is to take my girl, take my doppelgänger, and take my hybrid the hell out of this one-pony town." He stated, "You know, why don't you, uh, why don't you get the truck? I'll get Elena."

Rebekah doesn't say anything beside her letting out another scoff before she left to go get the car. Cordelia went to berate him but the breath caught in her throat when a familiar face stepped into her line of vision.

She should've known that he was still alive since Stefan was still walking around, but Stefan had never mentioned him—even in the 1920's, so she assumed he died back in 1864. Seeing his face just only opened up what she thought was healed wounds, "Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party."

"Where is she?" Damon asked, his voice sounding the exact way she remembered it all those years ago. He hadn't aged a day and it told her that he must've turned the same time that Stefan did.

"Elena? Ah, she's making a donation to a greater cause." Klaus answered, sending Cordelia a quick side glance at how strange she was acting. Damon went to go toward the hospital but Klaus quickly
stopped him, "I'm afraid I can't let you interfere, mate."

"You'll have to kill me." Damon stated and Cordelia's eyes widened at the thought.

"Oh, I would love to kill you, but I made a pledge to your brother, and unlike him, I keep my word." Klaus replied before he smirked, "Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore."

He quickly pushed Damon against the hood of a car by his neck, just about to kill him when Damon spoke up, "Don't you want to know about your friend, Mikael?"

Both Cordelia and Klaus froze, "What do you know about Mikael?" Cordelia finally spoke and Damon's eyes met hers, the breath catching in her throat once more.

"Just that he knows Klaus is here." Damon said, nodding his head at the original hybrid.

Klaus scoffed, "You're bluffing."

"Katherine and I found him. Consider it our leverage." Damon smirked.

Before Damon could say anything else, Klaus threw him against another car, letting him fall to the ground with the wind knocked out of him. While he was knocked down, Klaus picked up Cordelia and disappeared, the married couple gone by the time Damon stood up.

"I won't let him touch you." Klaus assured Cordelia as they were in the car, the hybrid placed a hand over hers comfortingly, thinking it would ease her troubles since she was quiet ever since they got into the car.

He could only assume that the mention of Mikael was what got her so spooked. Cordelia spared him a glance and offered him a half smile, lacing her fingers with his before her head turned back out the window to watch the trees blur by as he sped over the limit by double to get to their next destination.

The two Salvatore brothers ran out of the house into the front yard, Damon holding onto a oval shaped ball. "Wait, where did you learn this game?" Stefan asked as he followed after his older brother.

"A camp outside Atlanta, one of the officers picked it up at Harvard." Damon explained, throwing the ball at his younger brother, telling him to catch it before it hit him in the face. 

Stefan caught it just as Katherine and Cordelia walked out together side by side. Damon jogged over towards him. "Wait, what are the rules?" He asked him as he dodged his brother's attack.

"Who needs rules?" Cordelia called out, letting her and Katherine's presence be known. The brother's stopped playing and walked over towards them. "Mind if we join you?" She asked.

     "Ah, well, you could get hurt." Stefan warned them, he would hate himself if he or Damon accidentally hurt them. "My brother likes to play rough."

     Katherine laughed. "Somehow, I think that you play rougher." She winked at her friend, Cordelia rolled her eyes at her suggestive tone. Katherine always loved to try and set her up with men so she could have romantic relationships with them, no doubt the Salvatore brothers would be any different.

     Cordelia used the opportunity to snatch the ball from Stefan, running away giggling as she looked back at them—more specifically, as she looked back at Damon.

     Katherine chuckled and looked at the older Salvatore brother. "Damon, can I give you a piece of advice?" She asked him, Damon turned to look at her. "My friend is a girl who loves to be chased." She simply said and the man quickly took off running towards her friend, leaving Stefan and herself alone once again.

     Cordelia could hear Damon chasing after her, his breath picking up the faster he ran and she let out another giggle as she turned a corner, nearly smacking into a statue that she wasn't aware was there. "Got you." Damon whispered into her ear and she jumped in fright. He laughed at her before snatching the ball back, "You lose."

     Cordelia only pouted at him, "No fair. I am unaware of the rules. How do I know you're not cheating?"

     "What happened to us not needing rules?" Damon smirked.

     "That only applies if I know the rules and you don't." Cordelia commented as she flicked his nose.

     Damon leaned in to her ear slightly, "Then tell me why I get the feeling that you're not playing by the rules?" He asked her, a shiver of excitement going down her spine from how close he was.

     "Because I'm not." She whispered back into her ear with a smirk before pulling away and going to walk away back to the house.

     Damon quickly jogged in front of her and held his elbow out with a smile, "Shall we?" He asked her.

     She looked intrigued for a moment before she took his elbow. "Where are we going?" She asked him.

     "To look at the garden." He informed her, her eyes softened and she let out a small awe. "I believe it's a sight during the evening but I thought you'd want to look at it in the daylight." Cordelia couldn't help the small blush that formed on his cheeks, resting her head against his arm, ignoring the small sparks she felt from it. It felt nice to be courted, to feel like a lady for once instead of the monster that she really was.

     Instead of the killing machine she was made to be by her husband, it felt nice to be human again.

     The two walked over towards the garden in a comfortable silence, Cordelia felt very calm in his presence despite how fast her heart was racing. When they reached the garden, the vampire could only stare at the flowers in wonder, they were placed so beautifully and had flourished wonderfully during the springtime. All the colours and flower patterns matched so well that she couldn't help but commend the person who had done it.

     "It was my mother's garden." Damon informed her. "She was a lot like you, always loved the simple yet beautiful things in the world." He said to her with a sad tone.

     Damon squeezed his arm, catching onto the way he spoke about her in past tense. She was obviously not around anymore. "You don't have to speak about her if it hurts too much." She said to him. "We can just walk around the garden and not speak, I don't mind."

     He let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you." He told her, "For not judging me. If anyone heard how sensitive I was being, I'd lose all respect."

     "Don't worry about it." Cordelia assured him, "It'll be our little secret."

     Cordelia could only gulp. Her little secret was going to get her in trouble now.