Over the next few days, Esmeray felt good.

She went on runs every morning with Elena, who showed no hostility towards her, and appreciated her company, since she had had a man following her one day, and it had made her nervous. In the afternoons, she trained with Alaric and Damon at Alaric's apartment, since he had a punching bag.

She had still been speaking to Anya, after telling her about Damon. Anya was quite understanding, letting her know she still wanted them to be friends, and was willing to wait if, in the future, Esmeray was available.

This particular morning, Esmeray had come with Damon to bother Alaric while he was grading.

"I give you both a choice," said Damon after he had several alcohol bottles arranged in front of him. "Bloody Mary or Screwdriver. Brunch in a bottle." Since Alaric was busy and Esmeray didn't drink, neither of them made a selection. "Come on, I can't drink all this by myself. I mean, I can, but then... somebody's getting naked." He looked at the bartender across from them, who smiled back, but shook her head.

"Sorry, honey," the blonde said. "I swing the other way."

"Even better!" said Damon, putting his hands on Esmeray's shoulders. "She swings multiple ways, even into the cooking utensil category."

The bartender smirked at Esmeray, and winked. "You know where to find me," the blonde said before walking off to the side.

Damon groaned when even after that moment, neither Esmeray or Alaric accepted a drink. "I can't believe you two are making me drink alone," he complained. "Why do I call you my best friends?"

"I'm busy," said Alaric, gesturing to the papers in front of him.

"It's the eve of Klaus-ageddon," said Damon, nudging Esmeray with his hip. "And you're doing homework?"

Alaric looked up at him in annoyance. "This may come as a shock but I am not here to hang out with you. I'm here to see Jeremy. Who is an hour late for his shift."

"Kids today," sighed Damon, tickling Esmeray and making her giggle. "Where are their values?"

Alaric slid a stapled piece of paper toward them, with the title "American History 201." It had a big red 'F' on it. "That's his midterm paper," Alaric explained. "Copied it straight off the Internet. Didn't even try to hide it."

Esmeray winced. "Yikes."

"Somebody's getting grounded," teased Damon.

The bartender had returned by then, and she furrowed her brows. "Did you say you're waiting for Jeremy, as in— Jeremy Gilbert?" When Alaric nodded, she gave them all a sympathetic smile. "He was fired last week."

"Shit," muttered Esmeray, looking back to where Bonnie and Elena were talking at a nearby table. "Who wants to be the one to break the news?"

"Should probably be me," said Alaric, grabbing at all his papers. "Need to be a responsible guardian at least once..."

Damon put his arm around Esmeray. "Meanwhile, let's stay far from the nuclear explosion that's about to happen, and play some darts."

"I hate playing darts," said Esmeray bluntly as he led her off to the side.

"Exactly! That allows me to win every time." He gathered some darts before beginning to throw them. "So, how come you didn't immediately ask for that bartender's number? You let her walk off!"

"I'm not going to ask for her number when you're here," Esmeray told him, crossing her arms. "I don't want you cracking jokes. I can do it another day. Learn more about her first. She's cute, but she's also human, and I feel... worried I'll hurt her. If magic bursts out of me..."

"Oh," he said, frowning. "That's right. She's gonna flip out. But... can't you just do one of your wacky Mind Spells on her? You can basically compel her."

"That's not the reason why. But I will say, I don't like using those Mind Spells if I don't have to. And not on humans... they don't need any exposure whatsoever to the supernatural world, it gets them hurt. What I'm worried about is killing her, Damon. We've seen how my magic kills things around me, mostly plants, not any of you because well, you haven't pissed me off. But even in my excitement, I could accidentally stop her heart. My energy bursts are usually destructive. Either that, or I'll make daisies sprout out of her ears. It's embarrassing."

They both suddenly sensed a presence behind them, and they turned to see Klaus was watching them with a smirk on his face. "Don't mind me," he said. From behind, Elena saw this, and came over, likely thinking that she could keep him from hurting Esmeray and Damon.

"You're gonna do this in the Grill?" asked Damon while making a face. "In front of everyone? It's a little beneath you, don't you think?"

Klaus was amused. "I don't know what you are talking about. I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink with a mate." Behind him was one of the hybrids, and it made Elena's breath hitch. Instantly, Esmeray knew that this man had been the one that was following her before. "Get a round in, would you, Tony?" He looked over at Esmeray. "How are you, love?"

"I'm fine," she said quietly. "I thought you'd be gone."

"My sister seems to be missing," Klaus replied, glaring fixedly at Damon. "Need to sort that out."

"Cute blond bombshell, psycho," Damon recalled. "Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Truth is, I've grown to rather like your little town," continued the hybrid, walking closer to them. "Think I might fancy a home here. I imagine you're wondering how this affects you. The answer is: not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves you can go on living your little lives however you choose. You have my word." Once again, he faced Esmeray. "You, love, would be quite welcome to take up a room with me."

Elena frowned. "Leave her out of this, Klaus, you don't need to trap her anymore," she begged. "What more could you possibly want from us?"

"Well, for starters, you can tell me where I might find Stefan."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass."

Klaus picked up one of the darts. "You see, that is a shame." He threw it right at the bullseye, lodging it deep into the board. "Your brother stole from me. I need him found so I can take back what's mine."

"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem," Elena muttered.

Klaus moved toward Elena, but Esmeray blocked his way, making the hybrid smirk. "This is me broadening the scope, sweetheart," he said to Elena. "As for you, my little werewitch..." He gave her a small slip of paper. "I know you haven't saved my number yet. "Tell me if you'd like to move in." He winked and walked off to meet Tony.

"I need to go find Jeremy," said Elena quietly, shaking her head and leaving quickly. Damon and Esmeray shared a look before deciding to return to the Salvatore House. Esmeray looked at the slip in her hand on the way there, and despite her conscience telling her not to do it, she decided to save the Original hybrid's number.

Klaus decided that he wanted to swing by the Boarding House in the afternoon. Damon had been pouring himself some bourbon while Esmeray sipped on some water, the two of them having been relaxing. They both tensed at the feeling of someone watching them, and turned to see Klaus in the doorway. "I think it's about time we had a drink, don't you?" he inquired innocently.

Damon looked mildly annoyed. "I'd say we're overdue."

Klaus walked forward, his hands behind his back. "Well, then again, you've been so busy with all your plotting and scheming."

"And you've been busy with your stalking and kidnapping," said Esmeray under her breath, knowing very well the hybrid heard her.

"You know me," Damon said, drawing Klaus's attention back to him. "Never miss a chance to plan an epic failure."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," said Klaus as Damon started to prepare another glass. "Who could have guessed your own brother would betray you?"

"Well," Damon said, "I did have a front row seat when your sister lied to you."

Klaus scrunched up his nose. "Yeah, well she's fickle that one. And you say you have no idea of her whereabouts?" He leaned over near Esmeray. "You might know."

"No, I don't," she said honestly, since the others hadn't told her anything about Rebekah. "I don't keep tabs on your siblings."

Klaus elected not to answer to this, and took the bourbon when Damon handed it to him. They came to sit by Esmeray, who was still happily sipping on her water. Both men watched her for a moment, and she raised her eyebrows. "What?" she said a bit sharply. "Don't tell me you're going to team up to make fun of me for not drinking alcohol."

The Original hybrid laughed. "No, love, there are other things I could make fun of you for, though..."

Esmeray shot him a death glare, and Klaus grinned back wickedly. "Female wolves are so... needy when they're in heat," he said. The werewitch thrust her hand out instantly, making Klaus's drink fall to the ground, and sending a sharp pain through his head. "What the fuck are you telling him that for?" she demanded.

Damon held out his hands. "What does that mean?"

Klaus laughed weakly, rubbing his temples as he picked his glass back up, drinking what hadn't spilled. "Oh, I'm merely referencing the fact she almost slept with me while we were in Oregon."

Damon didn't look at all perturbed, not even when half of the books around them flew out of the shelves. He looked at Esmeray and winked. "I think we have another candidate," he said, leaning forward. "Since we're such pals, Klaus, now that we've established you don't want to kill me... we were just joking about threesomes. Are you interested? I bet Esme would love to be in a hybrid-vampire sandwich. Oh, wait, you probably don't like sharing... she'd die in the process."

Esmeray covered her face immediately as Damon started to laugh. Klaus even followed along, though his laughter wasn't as strong. He wasn't sure why he'd gone back on his promise. Was it because of his jealousy? Had he wanted to create animosity between Damon and Esmeray? Was it to tease her? Did he seriously think that was the way to win her over? He'd been impulsive again, and it was making Mikael's words ring in his ear...

Your impulse, Niklaus. It has... and forever will be... the one thing that keeps you from truly being great.

He knew he wouldn't manage to gain her affection if he acted like this.

"I swear, I'm going to commit a murder right now," said Esmeray, holding her head in her hands as the laughter subsided. "I hate both of you."

"Hey, don't loop me into that pile," Damon warned. "I'm just trying to get your needs met. That was the deal. Threesomes are still on the table."

"It seems we've actually got a lot in common, you and I," said Klaus, gesturing toward himself and Damon, eager to change the subject. Thinking of Esmeray and Damon being together like that just irked him.

Damon snorted. "Really? Well, yeah. Esmeray hates us both. We can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother." He paused. "Why are you so mad at him? He stole something?"

Klaus assented. "My family, the Originals. I had them daggered, boxed-up awaiting the day when I saw fit to wake them. And he went in and pinched the bloody lot."

"Of course he did," sighed Damon. "Such a buzzkill, my baby bro. Well, I'd love to find him. Just the trouble is, I sure as hell don't work for you."

Klaus glared at him. "You know, your drink stinks of vervain— so I can't compel you. There'd be no point in killing you because you're actually the one with the most hope of getting me what I need. And yet it would seem a demonstration is in order. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find Stefan. Well, it seems you people respond best to displays of violence. Why don't you take this as an example of my reach?" He pulled out his phone and dialed someone's number. "There he is! So, that thing I told you to do... why don't you go ahead and get on with it?" He hung up, smirking triumphantly at Damon and Esmeray.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" snapped Esmeray as he got to his feet. "We obviously don't know where Stefan is! He didn't exactly send a postcard or announce that he was going to steal from the man who took his freedom for months!"

Klaus came closer to her. "If you don't want me to hurt anyone, then it'd do you well to remember that you have a duty to me. As you've seen, you're quite free to remain here. But you're my witch, and I know even you don't condone stealing."

"First of all," she snapped, "I'm not anyone's witch. If you want people to do things for you, Klaus, maybe you should ask nicely without making threats and causing problems. How can you think that I'll want to help you if you go around saying things that I told you not to bring up? I didn't care about how Damon was going to react, you know. It's embarrassing for me because it's the only connection I have to my wolf nature and it's the worst thing to experience when trapped in a house of hybrids. You don't get to make fun of me and then have high expectations. I'm sick of people teasing me for things that I can't easily control. So next time you dare to ask me for a favor, it'd do you well to remember that you have to respect my privacy before you start hoping for my aid." She pointed at the door. "Now get the hell out. I'll do what I can to find your family, without Stefan getting hurt. And if someone gets hurt..."

He held out his hand, pulling out his phone before calling again. "Nevermind, mate," he said darkly into the phone, though he'd never admit that he wasn't mad— he was ashamed of himself. "Don't go through with it." He flicked his fingers, beckoning for Esmeray to follow him. When she didn't, he growled. "You need my blood, do you not? This spell will be performed where I can supervise you."

Esmeray crossed her arms before following after him to his car, which he'd parked not far from his house. Klaus looked back at the face she was making, and rolled his eyes. "Are you really that angry with me, love?"

"Of course I'm angry!" she hissed, her face red. "The last thing I wanted was to have to remember what I was doing that day! That wasn't the most sane version of me. Going to heat is absolutely useless for me, and just a burden, and I have hated it ever since it started happening to me!"

Klaus smirked. "Your heat brings out subconscious desires, love. Some part of you was very eager to sleep with me. I remember quite clearly that you were the one who pushed me down and started rubbing herself over my body as if I were a doll. And I hear you're interested in threesomes, now. What a naughty girl..."

"It's for experimenting and learning," she muttered as he opened the passenger door for her. "That doesn't make me 'naughty.' It just means I want to have fun, and there's nothing wrong with that. Besides, you've been in threesomes before."

He shrugged. "But as you've seen, only with other women. Not another male."

"I know, I'm not stupid. I'd have been in shock if you said yes to Damon's offer."

Klaus hopped into the driver's seat and winked as he put his arm around her seat to begin driving. "Is it that appealing to screw the both of us?" he cooed. "It almost sounds like you wanted me to accept."

"I'd rather with Damon and Elijah," she sneered.

"And I'd rather with anyone but you," he shot back.

"Yeah, that's why you were so willing before...."

"I'll sleep with anyone who offers, love, don't think you're special."

"I saw into your mind, bastard, I know exactly what you think of me."

"And I saw into yours, and I know you've thought of me that way, too, even once."

The rest of the ride was silent, and Esmeray was just irritated, not having liked being called out, because it meant admitting that she did find Klaus attractive, even slightly.

"I don't understand why you care about your family now," she muttered as she set up for the spell once within the new place he'd acquired. He'd purchased a large mansion that needed some remodeling, and there were hybrids everywhere working on painting and fixing the walls. "You don't like their opposition. Why not have a few happy months to yourself?"

Klaus came to stand beside her, watching what she was doing. "I'll meet less opposition now that we no longer have to run from Mikael. Finn might've learned patience by now. Kol will adore the women in this town without worrying about drawing Mikael in. Elijah and Rebekah will stop betraying me now that I've killed the man who ruined our lives for so long."

"From what I heard," said Esmeray, "Rebekah knows you killed your mother."

Klaus tensed. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. I was recently told. You'll have to deal with her ire. Not to mention Elijah's, because she'll tell him. And if Kol and Finn care enough..."

The hybrid gripped her throat, yanking her arms behind her back and forcing her to look at him. "Why don't you get on with the spell?" he said darkly. "Let me deal with my siblings."

Esmeray struggled to draw breath for a moment before he let her go, making her scowl and turn away, massaging her neck. "You've got a funny way of showing interest in people," she murmured as she smoothed out a map of the United States. "Maybe you should join a BDSM community."

"Be realistic, love, they'd all be dead if I joined," he taunted, continuing to watch her beadily. "Are you ready, or not?"

She held out a bowl, and he bit into his hand obediently, letting the blood dribble into the bowl. Once she had enough, she removed the bowl, and as his wound closed up, she chanted, "Blod bror hitte, blod bror hitte, blod bror hitte."

She set the bowl back down and with a wave of her hands, lit all the candles she had found. Pouring the blood onto the center of the map, she hovered her palms over it. "Brodir blod finde familj, lokalisera opprinnelig gai stykker strava skjule. Finne familie ha sonder trylleformel stave gemmer sig." She repeated the chant several times, and the blood moved steadily toward Virginia.

"Stop," said Klaus, leaping to his feet and speeding over as the blood came to a start over Mystic Falls. "They are still here... in this city." He tore the map up, splattering blood all over Esmeray, but he paid no heed. He sped off and returned with a map of Mystic Falls, slapping it down. "Again."

"Why should I?" she said coldly. "I've narrowed it down enough. Stefan is obviously still somewhere near here!"

"Do not question me!" he yelled. "I said again!"

She flinched, moving the candles onto the map. Before she could ask, he took the bowl from her and dripped more of his blood into it. Esmeray stared down at the map, letting him set the cup back down in her field of view. She patted the sides of it before pouring it onto the map once more, repeating the same spell from before. This time, however, she grimaced, and the blood did not move. Klaus was just about to threaten her when all the candles flared up, and the blood began to leak off of the map at an alarming rate.

"Wherever they are, there's a great deal of interference," she said, waving her hands to put out the flames. "Chances are, multiple witches are helping him. There's not much I can do. In fact, I suspect they aren't actually on this paper. Spells can be done to make a person appear stationary when really, they are traveling."

"How is that possible?" he demanded. "You're stronger than any witch in Mystic Falls!"

"I may be, but this... this is like a whole group of them. I don't know how that's possible, because I thought Bonnie was the only witch here. And I know for certain she isn't helping him, so..." she shook her head and looked up at him. "Can I go now?"

He waved his hands dismissively toward the door. "Get out. I won't make any promises about leaving anyone unscathed, seeing as this was a complete failure."

"It's not my fault you took Stefan's freedom, and mine," she spat. "Of course he retaliated! Maybe if you weren't such a dick, people wouldn't gang up against you. Why don't you stop and fix your attitude before you fixate your resentment and fury on people who don't deserve to get hurt?" When he didn't answer her, she stomped her foot down, making the lights flicker. "Excuse me, I'm talking to you!"

"For one bloody moment, can you stop throwing tantrums like a child?" he said, facing her. "You ask me to fix my attitude, and you grow cross when I attempt to do it by remaining silent instead of yelling at you. Tell me, werewitch, does it really peeve you to not have attention even for one minute?"

Esmeray scoffed. "I just want you to take ownership of the fact that you're being unfair and hurting those who aren't to blame here. Like I said, I'm going to try and help you, but only if you swear no one gets hurt."

"What you can do, then, since you're so eager to help, is to get me Rebekah. Perhaps, I'll spare the person I was going to hurt earlier— Jeremy Gilbert."

"Fine," she said, taking out her phone to text Damon and Elena. "I'll get you Rebekah. Next time, it'd be more pleasant if you were more polite about it."

"I'm not a polite man, you know that," he snapped, rubbing his forehead. "What would you like me to say to you? Pleaseget me my sister, who probably wants to murder me, and please bring her to me, safe and sound, so she has the chance to try it?"

Esmeray snorted, and he stared at her. "What?" she said, smirking to herself. "It was funny."

He turned away, his cheeks pink. "Tomorrow night is a full moon," he muttered. "Will you be prepared for it?"

"I expect so," she said quietly. "It's back to the quarry for me."

Klaus swallowed thickly. "You'll always be welcome here, Esmeray," he told her quietly. "Just... remember that." He walked away, leaving her watching his departing figure.

A/N: Just a note about the pronunciation of Esmeray's name. Technically, it's Ez-meh-rai (I always say it as Ez-meh-ray in my head, oops). So when her dad calls her 'Ray' in her memories, he's not saying it like a sun ray, he says it more like 'rye.' Also, do I have any idea what I'm really doing with this story? Nah, but it sure is fun to write.