𝟒𝟓

a/n: Char's outfit for the chapter is above!

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄━═☆

"Are we going to keep walking forever?" Charlotte asked, huffing out.

Paulina furrowed her eyebrows, turning to her, "You walked for five minutes before making Klaus carry you, why do you get to complain?"

"I am bored. You guys are no fun," She replied simply.

The Gilbert shook her head, walking forward as Klaus turned to Stefan, who was carrying an unconscious Ray, on his shoulders, "You okay? Is Ray getting heavy?"

Stefan responded bitterly, "I'm fine."

"You sure about that? You know, we've been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or a little sit-down—"

Paulina interjected, snorting, "If you want to rest and say Charlotte is heavy, just do so. You won't hurt her feelings because she has none."

Charlotte grinned, "At least I am not the desperate, lonely vampire, rolling a rock up an endless mountain."

"It's not endless, it's just bumpy," She shrugged her shoulders, smiling in response.

The Bernard rolled her eyes, "Are we there yet?"

"Yes, we are," Klaus answered, stating, "Thanks to our pal Ray, we found ourselves a pack. There."

Charlotte climbed down, running a hand through her hair as they stopped in front of the pack's camp, "Well...that's promising."

Stefan walked in first, putting Ray on the ground as a woman rushed over to him, "Ray! Oh, my God. What's going on?" She looked up at the four vampires who invaded the camp, "Who are you?"

Klaus stepped in front of Stefan, correcting, "The important question is who am I."

"Like I said," Paulina crossed her arms over her chest, murmuring under her breath, "Narcissistic asshole."

"Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus," He ignored her, introducing himself.

"You're the hybrid," She realized, rising to her feet.

"You've heard of me," Klaus smiled, showing off his dimples, "Fantastic."

"Thank you for infuriating his ego," The Gilbert commented, taking a seat on one of the rocks, "Like I wasn't dealing with enough."

Klaus sat down, elaborating, "It's fascinating, actually...A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun. A true hybrid," He said before Ray gasped awake, "Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic."

"What's happening to me?" Ray questioned before his eyes found Charlotte's and he backed away, "You crazy bitch."

"Good morning, Ray!" She smiled, greeting back, "You know, thanks to you, I found a favorite torture method but I am new at this so I am not sure yet...just to be honest with you."

Stefan got up, asking, "Are any of you human? Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition to vampire. If he doesn't get it, he will die."

"Doesn't take much, just a sip. Anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend, along for the ride?"

Charlotte folded her arms together, looking over at them. She met the eyes of one, who shook his head. His eyes practically begging her to spare him before she smiled, pointing over at him, "That one!"

Klaus rushed over to him and bit his forearm before Stefan grabbed him, throwing him on the ground in front of Ray. The woman protested but Klaus strangled her as Stefan turned to Ray, "If you don't drink it, Ray, I will. Problem is I don't know how to stop."

The hybrid looked at the girl, stating, "t's the new order, sweetheart. You join us, or you die."

"I'd rather die than be a vampire," She spat out.

"Wrong choice," He fed her his blood, forcefully, just as Ray drank from the human, "She'll thank me for that later. Heh," He twisted her head back, killing her.

Paulina pursed her lips together, sighing exasperatedly, "This is gonna take a while."

"Okay, who's next?" His eyes are yellow and his fangs were out as he turned to face the rest of the pack.

✵ ✵ ✵

"I can't believe you got me into this," Serena shook her head at herself, continuing to walk along the river.

Elena adjusted her bag behind her back, responding, "Charlotte is here and you need to talk—"

"What part of I don't want to see her again got lost in translation?" She exhaled sharply, turning to Elena.

The doppelganger shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe the part where it couldn't have been her fault. Or the part where we both know how far Charlotte could go carrying that much guilt."

"She should be guilty, she should be in pain, okay?" Serena declared, slumping her shoulders back, "She is the reason my sister is dead. Cassie died, Elena."

"She—"

Serena cut her off, screaming out, "She was dead in her arms! You try walking out to find your brother dead in her arms and she is crying out sorry's before you come making up excuses, yeah? Because let me tell you, it's not something friendship can make for."

Elena took in a deep breath, responding, "If you want to leave, go...I won't hold you back."

Alaric cut in, shaking his head, "You can't go back on your own..."

"Yes, I can," Serena claimed, walking the other way before she paused, turning to Elena, "For a girl who has been my friend since kindergarten, you surely have a way of showing how much you care about my feelings."

"Serena...uh, wait. I didn't mean that."

"It's okay. I know what you meant."

Serena turned around to leave, only to be pushed into the water. Instinctively, she screamed out before swimming up to find Damon had been the one to push her inside, "Hey! That was not my idea!"

✵ ✵ ✵

Back in the camp, Klaus gave his blood to the human and compelled him, "There. Good as new. Now you relax, okay, mate? We're gonna need you when the rest of them wake up."

Ray was sitting on a rock nearby, grabbing his body and shivering, "They're dead. They're all dead."

"We can see that, idiot," Charlotte rolled her eyes, passing by him to pull a blood bag out of her bag before he moved away, trembling, "Chill, I am not in the mood to kill."

"Huh, that rhymed," She chuckled, sitting back on the rock where she left her bag.

Stefan looked around, raising his eyebrows, "So is this your master plan? Build an army of hybrid slaves?"

"No, not slaves," Klaus shrugged, correcting, "Soldiers, comrades."

"For what war, might I ask?" Stefan folded his arms together, asking.

"Oh, you don't arm yourself after war has been declared, Stefan," The nefarious hybrid shook his head, stating, "You build your army so big that no one ever dares pick a fight."

Paulina sighed, tilting her head back, "Yeah, sure let's all take political advice from the psychotic maniac who dismantled the politics of seven countries."

Klaus turned to her, claiming, "Three of those were accidental."

"But four of them were intentional," She replied, rolling her eyes at him.

"What makes you so sure that they'll be loyal?" Stefan asked.

"Well, it's not difficult to be loyal when you're on the winning team," Klaus shrugged his shoulders, smiling simply, "That's something you'll learn once you shake that horribly depressive chip off your shoulder."

"That's why you're, uh...you're keeping me around?" Stefan laughed, inquiring mockingly, "To witness my attitude adjustment?"

Klaus looked at Ray, sitting next to him, answering Stefan, "You'll know why I'm keeping you around when I've decided that I want you to know," He examined Ray, shaking his head, "Something's wrong."

Paulina knitted her eyebrows together, "He should be feeling better by now."

"That shouldn't be happening, should it?"

Klaus rolled his eyes, "Well, obviously."

✵ ✵ ✵

"Get out of the water, Elena," Damon told Elena as Serena took Alaric's hands climbing back up. Somewhere along the way, Damon had managed to pish Elena as well, just to be fair.

"If I get out of the water, you're gonna make me go home."

"I would like to go home, flies here are irritating my town girl spirit," Serena said, slapping a fly that landed on her shoulder, "And fuck you for throwing me into the water when I had every intention to go back home."

"Sorry about that," Damon shrugged his shoulders, not seeming very apologetic as he turned to Elena.

"You gave up on them, Damon."

He shook his head in response, "I didn't give up on them, Elena. I faced reality. Now get out of the water."

Elena protested, "No!"

"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh? You gonna walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan or Charlotte to stop by?" Damon jumped down and walked into the water, asking her.

"My plan is to find them and help them," Elena shook her head, saying ever so determinedly, "Damon, this is the closest that we've been to them since they left. I'm not going home."

"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse. That makes you safe," He reminded her, pointing out, "This? This is not safe."

"I'm not leaving before we find them both."

Damon added, "It's a full moon tonight, Elena."

She sighed, "Then we'll find them before then. Damon, please."

Serena shook her, crossing her fingers together before Damon mumbled, "Okay."

"What the...," She tapped her feet on the ground, expressing her clear as the sky annoyance.

✵ ✵ ✵

Ray was shaking and his eyes were still bleeding, "You said it was gonna feel better. Why doesn't it feel better?"

Stefan mocked, "Some master race."

Paulina chuckled, crossing her arms on her knees as Klaus ordered, "Lose the attitude."

The woman woke up before Klaus turned to the human, "Derek, come feed your girlfriend."

Derek got up as Ray snarled, making a few jumps before vamp-speeding away. The hybrid turned to Stefan, "Go get him."

He did, running after him as Charlotte commented, "This day keeps getting longer and longer."

In a few minutes, Paulina and Klaus followed up where Stefan had gone as the Mikaelson questioned, "Where did he go?"

Stefan stammered, shaking his head as Paulina eyed him suspiciously, "He, uh...he got away. Forget him. Let's go."

Klaus saw Stefan's arm and grabbed it, "A fatal werewolf bite. Ouch."

The Salvatore nodded, shrugging, "Yeah. I'm gonna need your blood to heal me."

"Well, I tell you what," He raised his eyebrows, conditioning, "You find Ray, and then I'll heal you."

"Can't be serious," The brunet shook his head, exhaling.

Paulina patted Stefan's shoulder, sighing, "Oh, he is. Which is why we are both going to look for Ray. You know what they say? Two pair of vampire ears better than one."

"Is that an actual saying?"

"No, I made it up. Now move."

Paulina and Stefan made their way after Ray as Klaus returned back to the campsite, spotting Charlotte staring in bewilderment at the werewolves as they woke up, all of their eyes were bleeding.

"Some setting of a zombie apocalypse movie that is."

✵ ✵ ✵

The sun was setting and they were still walking as Alaric noted, "We got about a mile left."

Damon turned to Elena, "The sun's about to set."

Elena sighed exasperatedly, "I can see that, Damon."

"I'm just saying."

Serena folded her arms together, hesitantly asking, "So...if we find them. What do we do?"

"We get them back and we leave," Elena stated simply.

"That easy?"

"That easy."

The human Bernard ran her tongue over her bottom lip before stating, "What if they don't want to come back?"

Elena paused before shaking her head, "No, they will want to."

"How can you be that hopeful?"

She turned to Serena, shrugging her shoulders, "Because hope is all I have right now."

"And that's what dear old Charlotte passed onto her. We lose one talkative positive lama and get another," Damon snarked, laughing at his own remark.

They heard some twigs snapping before Ray staggered out, Alaric pointed his crossbow at him, "Stay where you are!"

"Vampire."

He rushed over to Damon and they fought before he pushed Damon against a tree. Ray tried to bite him before Alaric shot an arrow at him. However, Ray was still tried trying to bite Damon.

Elena took the wolfsbane grenade from her bag and pulled the pin from it, "Damon!" She threw it to him and he made it explode on Ray's face. He screamed as his face burned before Damon kicked him in the stomach, making him fall unconscious.

Serena breathed out, "What was the word...Cross-breed?"

"Hybrid but you were close enough."

Within a few minutes, Damon and Alaric were tying Ray to the tree as the vampire stated, "These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer. What else do we have?"

Serena pulled out a vervain spray from her bag before throwing it over to Elena. She sprayed it over the rope before holding it out, "Ric, here. Take these."

Damon touched it but his skin burned, "Aah! Ow!"

"Dumbass," Serena scoffed out, "She said Ric."

Alaric took it and put it around Ray, "All right, that's the last of the vervain. We don't have enough stuff to hold him. I don't think we're gonna make that Ridge before the full moon."

"If we can get him to talk, we don't have to," Elena said, reaching out her hand to touch Ray's face, but just before her hand touched, Ray woke up and screamed, starting his transformation.

Serena's eyes widened, questioning, "Is he turning?"

She shook her head, refusing that, "It's impossible. It's still daylight."

"Tell him that."

Damon got closer to Ray, holding his shoulders against the tree as Elena implied, "There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon is full."

"You know, those ropes aren't gonna hold the wolf," Alaric shook his head as Ray screamed and snarled, his bones shifting.

"Damon, we've got to get out of here. We gotta get out of these mountains now!" Elena said, calling out louder when he didn't make a move, "Damon, now!"

✵ ✵ ✵

"I don't even know why you bother with this," Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, asking, "Aren't there enough people in the world who tremble in fear when they hear your name?"

"I thought you didn't care about anything, why are you asking?"

She chuckled, resting her chin in her hands, "Oh, I still don't care. I am just wondering, it sparked my...curiosity?"

"I just want them," He shrugged, rolling his eyes at her.

She pursed her lips together before raising a suggestive eyebrow, "So it's not to prove yourself to someone, right? I mean...why else bother going through all of that trouble."

Klaus snapped Derek's neck, grumbling, "I liked you when you were annoying Paulina."

Charlotte laughed, rising to her feet, "You just don't like it when people see the truth behind your actions, it makes you feel...transparent."

He turned to her, making no move to correct her before she continued, crossing her arms together, "It's actually quite fascinating."

"Had I known you were such a deep person, I would have told Paulina to go easy on you with her redeeming overrated speeches," Klaus claimed, turning as all the werewolves started to stagger around the camp.

"Not to be repetitive or anything," Charlotte started, taking a look at the werewolves, "But they don't look like the world's next master race."

"Bloody hell..."

✵ ✵ ✵

Damon, Elena, Serena, and Alaric were running before Elena tripped. They froze in their place, looking over at her as Damon said, "Don't move."

She raised her head, coming face to face with a werewolf before the vampire captured its attention, "Here, doggie, doggie."

He ran at vampire speed before the werewolf ran after him as Alaric ushered them ahead of him, "Come on. Let's keep moving."

"What? We can't leave him here," Serena shook her head.

"He can handle himself," Alaric stated, repeating himself, "Let's move."

"No," Elena stayed in her place, insisting, "If he gets bit, he'll be dead. I'm the reason he's out here!"

"I am the reason he's out here. I told him where we were, and I'm telling you to keep moving," Alaric corrected before demanding right back, "Let's go. Both of you, now!"

✵ ✵ ✵

Stefan and Paulina walked back to camp with Ray over Stefan's shoulders. The rest of the pack were lying on the ground, dead. Klaus and Charlotte in the middle of it all as Stefan dropped Ray on the ground.

"They went rabid. Some of them, we killed...," He looked at the failures of his, "The others just...Bled out. In the end...They're all dead."

He yelled out and threw the bottle of beer in his hand before screaming at the sky, "I did everything I was told!" Klaus continued, regaining a bit of his composure, "I should be able to turn them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelgänger."

Stefan and Paulina looked uncomfortable at the last sentence of his before Klaus sighed, turning to Stefan, "You look like hell."

"Last I checked, I'm dying...and you don't want to heal me," He saw Klaus looking down at Ray's body before clarifying, "I had to take him out. I didn't have a choice. I failed you. I'm sorry. Do what you have to do."

"It should have worked," Klaus repeated, turning around. He took an empty bottle of beer before biting his hand and closing his fist of the bottle.

He held out for Stefan, stating, "Bottoms up. We're leaving."

Klaus led the way before Charlotte picked her bag off of the ground, "Finally."

✵ ✵ ✵