Two long and boring months have Stefan and I been with Klaus. He's been on a long search for werewolves, which I've come to learn are particularly rare. Two months of searching with leads that left to empty houses and empty parks. My guess was that they've learned about the infamous hybrid and decided to hide. One of Klaus' leads was for a man named Ray Sutton in Memphis, Tennessee. If found, he would be the first werewolf that would be turned into a hybrid. 

    "This is the house," Klaus hummed, smirking as we got closer to a house in the middle of nowhere. The house was big, with a white picket fence, a swing on a tree, and the comfort of having neighbours miles away.

   Klaus sped out of the car as soon as Stefan stopped. It felt as if I could finally breathe when he was no longer in the car. I finally let out a breath that had been caught in my throat, passing a hand through my hair. Was I suffocating when Klaus was near? His presence alone made me want to blow my fucking brains out.

   "I'm suffocating," I confessed, pushing myself to the edge of my seat so I could take a closer look at Stefan. He kept a tight hold on the steering wheel, his knuckles white and his mind probably filled with thoughts of murdering Klaus. "We're doing everything he bids. Would we even wipe his ass if he asked for it?"

   "We did tell him that we would do everything," Stefan sighed, glancing back at me. "Clara, you didn't have to make the deal with Klaus. You should have let me do it, alone."

   "What can I say?" I chuckled, looking down at my hands. "I'm a budding hero. "

   "You're in love," he chuckled.

   "Was in love," I corrected him. "I want to stop loving him, Stefan. I don't want to continue to think about him and have my chest cave in when I remember that he doesn't really love me anymore. So, I'm going to start saying it until I believe it."

   "I think he still loves you," Stefan breathed, watching me. "You were going to get married, Clara, and then you suddenly died. He was heartbroken to the point where he pushed himself onto Katherine to forget. Your sudden death messed with us all." He turned from me and looked at the house, saying no more. "It's my turn."

   I wanted to know what had happened after I died, whether my mother sobbed over my grave and whether my father tried to sooth her. Whether my sister spent her time in my room, watching my bed, reading my books, playing my instruments in hopes that I would somehow come back miraculously. I wanted to know whether my brother drank himself to the point of passing out as he remembered the wonderful and bad times we had. Did my father blame Damon for my death, or did he allowed it to pass by and blamed himself? I wanted to know the answers to all of these questions, but Stefan didn't really want to speak about it. Did my death truly affect them all in the horrible way he made it seem?

   "I can go instead," I proposed, laying a hand on Stefan's shoulder. "You don't have to do this, Stefan. I know how much you hate it."

   "I appreciate your concern, but I have to do this one." He ran a hand through his hair and got out of the car. I followed, ready to stop him. He stepped in front of me, hands in his pockets as he stared at the house with a frown. "You've killed in my place already, and I can't have you continue to do that. Klaus will catch on sooner or later, and knowing him, he'll do something horrible. I have to do this, Clara." With no other word, he sped to the house. 

   I sighed and got back the car. The hot summer night made me put the cars' AC to maximum, making the leather seats feel like cold against my arms. Tennessee summers were hot, I've come to learn, with temperatures that reached more than a hundred. I lowered the window to hear what was happening in the house. The only thing I heard was Klaus telling Stefan to kill the girls in the house, a door close, and them screams echo into the hot night. Klaus' oncoming figure held a smirk around his red lips. He finished his walk and got to the passenger's seat, looking out the window. 

   "You should have been there, love," he chuckled. "Keeping Stefan some company would be what any friend would do."

   "I'm not hungry," I excused, looking out the window. Stefan was coming, his chin and the neck of his grey shirt covered in red. It seemed that he felt me staring because his eyes connected with mine through the darkened window. He kept the hold of our eyes for a few seconds, breaking it when he had to circle around the car and get in the drivers seat. Stefan was the kind of ripper that fed so hard that he ripped his victims apart. The remorse he had made him want to put the bodies back together. I wondered how it felt to have so much remorse to the point where one wanted to put the bodies back together. 

   "To Southern Comfort," Klaus commanded. "Our friend is there." Stefan nodded and began to drive, not bothering to clean his chin. I watched him with a straight face, wondering what was going through his mind. 

   In the last two months, we have grown close. One reason would be because we both detested the deal we made with Klaus, the other was because we were both rippers, like Klaus liked to call us. In other words, we enjoyed abusing and mutilating our victims. We were feral, predatory vampires, with far more savage and beast-like than our human appearance suggested. Unlike other vampires, the enjoyment of hunting and terrorizing humans was far more entertaining. There was a part of me, even though my humanity was still intact, that enjoyed it too much. I had lied to Stefan about my enjoyment, telling him that I hated it.

   Southern Comfort was a small bar in Tulley. It was the kind of bar that held more beer than any other alcohol, with pool tables all around, darts, and the usual truck stop bar. Klaus went in first while I stayed behind with Stefan. I handed him an extra shirt, eyeing the blood on his neck. The bloodlust of a ripper was strong enough to overtake our morality, and the blood on his neck made me want to feed. Stefan took the shirt and thanked me, pulling it on with no other word. When he was about to walk in, I grabbed his hand and looked out to the road.

   "We could leave," I uttered, watching the few cars speed by. "We could run."

   "Run for 500 years like Katherine did?" he questioned, making me look at him. "If we left, he would kill everyone, Clara: Damon, Elena, Caroline. Do you want them to die?"

   "No," I frowned, looking down at out hands, "but I don't want to continue being a slave to Klaus."

   "Neither do I," Stefan sighed, tightening his hold on my hand, "but... We're not doing this for us. We're doing this so that Damon could live. Now, come on. We need to compel everyone in that bar." He let go of my hand and walked in. I followed behind, putting on a straight face. As soon as we walked in, we compelled everyone in that small bar as Klaus spoke to Ray Sutton.

   "Not so fast, mate," Klaus stopped him as Ray tried to leave. "You only just got here. Now, your type are very hard to come by." Ray turned to leave again, but collided against Stefan's chest.

   "I wouldn't do that," Stefan told him, pushing him back. I moved to stand besides Stefan, watching the man.

   "Vampires..." Ray swallowed hard, glancing at Stefan and I with a harsh look on his eyes. The hatred was visible.

   Klaus smirked. "My friends here are vampires," he told him. "They compelled everyone in the bar, so don't look to them for help. I, however, I'm something else, a different monster; I've got some vampire, I've got some wolf."

   Ray looked stunned, and blinked several times. "You what?"

   "A hybrid, Ray," Klaus explained. "I'm both. You see, I want to create more of me. Now, you've been 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," Ray shook his head.

   Stefan began to scratch his head, a signal for Klaus, who only looked at him and made eye contact as a return. Stefan nodded and pulled out something from his back pocket as he turned to the barman. "A scotch on the rocks, please." He turned to Ray. "Tell you what, Ray. We're gonna play a little drinking game, something I like to call truth or wolfsbane." He pulled out the yellow plant and showed it to the man, keeping a straight face. 

   I wrapped my arm around Stefan's shoulders, pushing a smirk through my lips as I stared at the wolf. "Oh, this is gonna be fun, Ray."

   It ended up with Stefan and I chaining Ray to the wall. He groaned and tried to pull away, but it wasn't the full moon, and he wasn't nearly as strong as we were. I walked around the bar, watching the compelled people around me. They not once look at me, not even when I went behind the bar to make myself a simple rum and coke. As I made my drink, Stefan began to shoot darts to the chained werewolf. He'd dip the ends of the darts in wolfsbane and throw them at the wolf's body, uncaring where the dart would land.

   I leaned against the table, watching Stefan. He kept a straight face, showing no emotion of amusement or horror. Behind us, Klaus sat at the bar with a beer in hand and a smirk around his lips. To make it more believable that I had turned off my humanity, I took a dart, dipped it on wolfsbane, and circled around the table to stand next to Stefan.

   "Let me try," I said as I threw the dart. It landed right on Ray's neck, making him scream out in pain. I walked closer to the man, forcing a smirk around my lips. Act tough, I thought. Act like I'm enjoying this.

   "Ray, you can end this right now," I told the wolf, keeping an amused smirk. "Just tell us where the pack gathers for the full moon."

    "I can't," he whimpered, shaking his head. 

   "I know, I know," Stefan added, standing next to me. "You live by the code and all that, but see he's not gonna let me stop until you tell me. And we do whatever he says, so that's the way it goes around here."

   "So, you can tell us where they are, or we can continue this fun little game," I forced a wider smirk and brushed my fingers down his cheek. "Your choice."

  "Hello, Mr. Klaus. I have some information for you." I whipped my head back to see the owner of the voice. There was a woman standing in front of Klaus, compelled to do his bidding as well. "You told me to tell you if I saw anything; I saw the guys spotted Damon at the farm house."

   "Well, thank you, Claudine," Klaus smiled. "You'll just tell your friends to keep up the good work or they're gonna watch her." As soon as the girl left, I made my way to him. Stefan followed as well.

   "My brother's still on our trail?" Stefan questioned, keeping a straight face and crossing his arms.

   "He's getting closer," Klaus answered, watching Stefan cautiously. "I'm gonna have to deal with that."

   "No, no, no," Stefan stopped him, grabbing Klaus' arm. "Let me handle it. "

   "Why should I let you leave?"

   "'Cause you'll know I'll come back."

   "Do I?"

   "You saved Damon's life," I broke in. "We're at your service."

   "Ah," Klaus sighed, shaking his head. "You sound so tedious and indentured. Aren't you two having the least bit of fun?" He pointed to Ray with a small grin.

   "I'll make sure my brother doesn't bother us anymore," Stefan ended, and walked away. I went after him, grabbing his hand before he walked out the door.

   "What are you gonna do?" I asked, furrowing my brows. Stefan was a nice guy, so I wondered what would he do to stop his brother from following us. Certainly, it couldn't be something horrible.

   "I'm going to do something I'll regret later on," he uttered under his breath, glancing behind me to Klaus for a few seconds.

   "What are you gonna do?" I repeated, taking a step closer to him. "Do you want me to come along? I could do this instead of—"

   "No," he cut me off, shaking his head. "I have to do this alone. I need to have Damon believe that I— that we—no longer have our humanity on and that it's a waste of time trying to follow us."

   I nodded and sighed, quickly glancing down. "Fine, whatever," I breathed. "Don't do anything too harsh."

   Stefan game me a half smile—it came as quickly as it disappeared—and squeezed my hand before speeding away. I looked at the empty space in front of me for a few seconds, biting my lower lip. There was a part of me that was worried about what Stefan would do to stop Damon. Stefan was morally a nice guy who hated hurting people, but he had pushed himself to do so because of Klaus. He wouldn't do anything bad, right? It's not like he would kill someone without Klaus commanding him to.

   I sighed and turned, directing myself behind the bar to see what kinds of drinks they had. They had: gin, light and dark rum, tequila, bourbon, rye whiskey, vermouth, the infamous absinthe, vodka, Cointreau, and the famous beer. There wasn't a lot to chose from, so I decided to make myself a classy Manhattan. 

   Klaus had put the wolf on top of a pool table. "Okay, it's a three step process, Ray. This is step one: I want you to drink from my wrist." Ray was panting, out of breath from the wolfsbane Stefan had injected into his body with the darts. If I weren't working with Klaus, I would have saved him. Even though we were natural enemies, the man had done nothing for me not to care about his life. But, I was with Klaus, I had to stop caring so much.

   "I already told you where to find the pack," Ray panted. "What more do you want from me?"

   "Have you been listening to a word I've been saying, Ray? I have great plans for you." Klaus had no amusement laced in his voice. The moment he pulled the wolf from the wall, he had turned serious. Was having his own race that important to him? Klaus cut into his wrist with a knife, and forced it to the wolf's mouth. He looked at me and grinned. "You'll thank me for it later, huh. There we go, at a boy!"

   "What are you gonna do now?" Ray asked, scared.

   I stepped forward slowly, laying my hands on his cheeks. They were covered in blood, both his and Klaus. If I wanted to make that I had no humanity on believable, I needed to act like it. While staring at Klaus, and keeping a soft hold on the wolf's neck, I said, "It's time for step two, Ray." I looked down at him with an apologetic look, and broke his neck. 

   There were two reasons why I killed him. One was because I wanted to let Klaus believe that I had no humanity on even though I had been doing it for two months. The second reason was because I wanted to give him the slightest bit of mercy. If Klaus was the one to kill him, there would be no mercy. Klaus was merciless, a ripper without knowing.

    "You're back," Klaus said. I looked up to see Stefan standing a few feet away from me, his hands on his waist. 

   "Did you doubt me?" Stefan asked, glancing from Klaus to me. The look was quick, but I could tell that he had done something terrible.

   "Not for a second," Klaus responded. "I knew you'd past the test. You still care for your brother, for your old life." I widened my eyes in surprise, and stared at Stefan with a terrified look. Knowing Klaus and how horrible he was, he could kill Stefan at any moment.

   "Nah," Stefan brushed it off, smirking. "I don't care about anything anymore."

   "You put on a good show, Stefan," Klaus mused, "I almost believed you. Let's hope, for your brother's sake, he does. You never stop caring about family, do you? But, every time you feed, the blood makes it easier to let go."

   Stefan staid still for a couple of seconds, and then marched out of the bar. I looked after him, wanting to follow but staid put because of Klaus. As I bit my lower lip, I glanced from the door to Klaus. He was looking at me, almost curious. Why was he so curious about me? Had him an Elijah spoken about me back when I used to travel with Elijah?

   "Go," Klaus said, turning. 

   "What?" I furrowed my brows and looked at him. He took a seat at the bar, taking back his beer. 

   "Didn't you hear me, love?" There was an annoyed expression on his face. "Go!"

   Without another word, I ran out the door. Stefan was standing in the middle of the road, phone by his ear. When I tried to listen in, I heard Elena's voice telling him that he would be okay, that she loves him. He didn't say anything, only nodded and then ended the call. I took his hand from behind, giving it a gentle squeeze.

   "Stefan..." My voice came out like a whisper, just like the breeze gently caressing us. He turned, a tearful look on his face. I could hear the beat of his heart from the few inches apart, beating wildly like the beating of a drum. It wasn't the beat of happiness; it was the beat of defeat, one where sadness made you hold back tears, your nose itch, your throat hurt, and your chest cave in.

   I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him to me. Even though he towered a few inches, I laid my hand on the back of his head and let him fall his forehead on my shoulder. My other hand was on his wait, holding on to him if he fell over from the sadness. When I felt a tear fall on my my arm, I pulled him closer to me. He was crying, but there was no sound emitting from him. 

   "It'll be okay," I whispered to his ear, brushing my fingers up and down on his hair. I recalled my mother doing this when I was sad, and it calmed me. If I did the same with Stefan, maybe it would calm him as well. "It will all be okay. I'm here, Stefan, and it will all be okay..."

   It was then where I promised myself that I would do anything to get Stefan back to his old life. I promised that I would get him back to Mystic Falls, back to Damon, back to Elena. He needed his old life, he needed it more than I did. Maybe I could strike another deal with Klaus, my will for Stefan's freedom. There was something inside of me that told me that Stefan was more important than me, that his happiness was more important than mine. And, he was. He was more important than me. He had friendship, he had a home, he had family, he had love. I had none of those.

    I had a house, but it wasn't exactly home. It was nicely decorated, but my heart, soul, and memories were nowhere in that building. I had a niece, but Caroline and I didn't spend that much time together. Was I friends with the Save Elena Squad? Not really. Did I have love? No, I did not. My love loved another. There was nothing left for me at Mystic Falls. But, Stefan had everything. He deserved to be free from Klaus. It was then where I promised myself that I would do everything to get him back to his old life